Running with the pack

One topic on Tobold's blog was about mistakes made in the Burnign Crusade. Tobold wonders if he should level faster to 70 or take it easy and enjoy the journey.

I said if he wants to raid he should level faster. And this goes against what I've said and how I want to play the game. But I'm basing it on my own guild's experience. So take it for what its worth.

This is going to sound a bit on the negative side, depending on your perspective:

In the guild I'm in the fast levelers hit 70, got their Karazhan key and started raiding with another guild. While it stings to know the first time our guild entered Karazhan it wasn't a full guild raid, I can understand it. Why wait and help the rest of your guild get keyed when you can work on new content for yourself?

The guild I'm in has some nice, fun people - so before BC I got lulled into remembering that we are a raiding guild first, social second.

The very competitive (with lots of free time) pushed to 70 within days of release and started working on getting keyed. For some reason I thought they would help us stragglers with instances and the like, but I was wrong and I really shouldn't have been surprised by it.

I've been left with this feeling of - get to 70, get keyed, get attuned on your own (which makes me wonder what is the purpose of being in a guild is) and if you make it there, THEN we'll group with you.

I have to admit I'm disgruntled by the fact (a fact I've known for a while now) you simply have to either not have any real life responsibilities or let them suffer in order to keep up. I have a feeling that someone will come here and say they have a full time job, go to school part time, have wife and kids and other hobbies and are still able to raid - but I beg to differ. I honestly feel that either your spouse or kids or school or work or something is not getting the attention it deserves if you're really a hardcore raider. But this has been discussed ad naseum.

Simply put, you have to keep up and run with the pack. No one wants to run an old instance (old as in Slave Pens, yeah 3 weeks since its been released and its old) when they can make attempts on heroic mode. No one wants to help you run your second alt through Blood Furnace. They've been there and done that and they want to improve their own character not your slew of alts. Does this sound harsh? Then you're probably in the wrong guild. If you fall behind its hard to catch up, if you dawdle you'll lose ground, because those who push content don't really take a break. And let me say I'm only talking from the outside looking in.

I have to make a decision do I want to continue to be a part of a guild that requires you to be competitive? Watching my guild's dynamics I have a feeling that decision will be made for me.

Life in Outland?

You can tell the Burning Crusade has been keeping me busy. I've hardly posted since it was released.

I wonder if I should rename my blog, because the Outlands have been keeping me busy and and you can tell its been keeping other players busy too. I rode through Ironforge (IF) a few times this weekend (only because quests brought me back to Azeroth), and it was like a ghost city!

I haven't been putting anything up for auction so I haven't had the need to come back for that. And my class trainer is literally right beside the portal in IF. So I'd immediately hearth back to the Outlands to continue doing whatever I'm doing at the time. I never noticed how dead the once bustling hive of activity had become.

Its sad really. I remember, being late to the MMORPG scene, trying to play games like Anarchy Online, Horizons and Star Wars, which were well past whatever prime and no longer had anyone in their starter areas. It was lonely and definitely not the experience you'd want to have in a multiplayer game. Sure there were always a few diehard players trying to keep dying games going that willing to welcome newbies but there wasn't that feeling of "we're all new here and in this together as we explore undiscovered lands" type of thing. I wonder if that's what new players that aren't choosing Draenei or Night Elves are feeling?

There will never be another Ironforge. Ironforge was not only a major hub, but due to the slow release of a new expansion, it was a place to hang out when you didn't have anything to do. Which was the case for alot of veteran players. It feels weird that a place where so many players would just hang out now only had enough to count one troll hand. Shattrath City is Outland's major hub, but if Blizzard releases expansion within a year instead of two years as is rumored, I doubt players will reach that state of "nothing to do but hang out in Shattrath".

I got this feeling of "I remember when Ironforge was the place to be, what happened?" I remember when IF lag was commonplace! When players wouldn't even set their hearth there because the lag was so bad. There was a spot right before I got to the bridge that my character would freeze before it continued running. Sometimes I would fall into that pit (?). Of course they added new auction houses to all the major cities eventually, but Ironforge still remained populated. Because it was the hub for all the top end instances too. And now its not. And as I ride through, only because its on the way to something newer and "more fun", I can't think of anything that will make it that way again.

A good problem to have?

I'm sure this is a result of playing so much, but over the course of a weekend, I upgraded my cloak 3 times.

As soon as I put one cloak on my back, I finished another quest and they gave me another - slightly better, but better so I took it.

When I first started questing in Hellfire Peninsula, it seemed like every reward was a cloth robe. I really had a hard time decided which one was better. And for someone indecisive like me, it was a pain! Should I get this one or that one, this one or that one, this one or that one!?!?!

I'm glad there are so many quests and so many rewards.
But being bag-challenged I can't just keep them all. And it just feels weird vendoring something you've only had for a few hours.

The meaning of MMORPG

One thing that the release of BC has impressed on me is we are not playing a single player game. I think only during new releases do you really feel how massively multiplayer a game is.

Between the first release and the second, you usually come across a slew of players in a major city. But once you were out questing I'd hardly ever come across someone questing in the same area as I was.

Normally an NPC gives you a quest to kill Mob Y, you travel to the area, hunt Mob Y and kill it, return to the NPC and you're done.

Well right now, little more than a week after release, an NPC gives you a quest to kill Mob Y, you travel to the area and you either see Mob Y already dead or you see other players waiting for Mob Y to spawn so they can kill it before you do. Players with instant casts are able to tag it first and get credit and you may be waiting for a while before you get your chance.

As we tried to find one of these mobs the friend I level with said "Why can't I just pick up my quest and finish it without having to fight someone over mobs!"

This is what multi-player means. Your world is affected by what other people do. And we don't even play on a PvP server, so those around you can have even a bigger affect on what you can get accomplished.

Within alliance it is easy to ask someone to join us for a kill instead of trying to beat them to tagging it first. With horde its tougher, but I've had /wait work.

While it can get annoying and you definitely wouldn't want to be the victim of griefing, I like to think it is neat that someone else affects my gameplay. It adds variety to "kill 10 x". After all these are the same "someone else's" that if I find a mob I can't kill by myself will be the ones I ask for help.

Are you the type of person who tags first whether you were there first (come on admit it!) or not? Do you try to work with the people around you to finish the quest? Or do you just leave and come back later when there are less spawn campers?

How do you level?

In an attempt to enjoy all the content BC has to offer I am trying to complete every quest (within reason) I have before moving on to the next area.

Now of course from the start this may not be a very good plan of action, considering hundreds of other players are vying for the same mobs I am. I'm looking at you Hellfire Peninsula!

Some of my guildmates simply skipped Hellfire altogether and didn't spend much time in Zangarmarsh either, just to get away from the crowds. But I have a tendency not to go back and do old quests if I didn't do them the first time around.

WoW seems to do a good job of having NPCs move you on to the next area when its appropriate. So I usually have a few quests in the next area before I finally finish up the previous one.

Some players just grind on mobs only doing quests if they include the mobs they are grinding on. I did that when I was trying to "powerlevel" an alt. Doubt I'll do that again - its really boring.

Overwhelmed!

Just like millions of other gamers I was eager for the Burning Crusade to be released.

Unlike many gamers, once I stepped foot in Outlands, I didn't know what to do!

Well, I didn't know what to do first. Create an alt? Blood Elf or Draenei? Work on hitting Level my 61 on this character or that character? Try out jewelcrafting? Continue leveling up an existing profession? Explore?

Even though I had been in beta I was still at a loss for what to do. Its a bit overwhelming for me at the moment. And you know what? That is okay by me. I'm so glad to have options again - so many new options!

Someone hit 70 already

In no small feat a little gnome mage named Gawell with the help of his french guild Millenium hit level 70.

Of course there are the badmouthers, saying Blizzard will nerf xp and the normal "no life" jab. But I say if players enjoy pushing the limits of this game - then by all means do so.

Apparently it took a lot of planning - not just I'm going to get a pack of mt. dews and stay up all night.

Still I do want to say "Don't try this at home!" Enjoy leveling at your own pace! Remember all that time you complained there was nothing to do at 70. Well 2 years later now you have it - enjoy it and make it last!

The reason I'm respeccing to shadow

I came across this accurate representation of What it's like playing a priest at Mischiefblog.

Multiply those bars by 8 and you have what it's like to be a raiding priest.

When I step foot into the Outlands, it will be as a shadow priest.

Blizzard WAS prepared?

I haven't had a chance to experience the game during server peak times, but for the few moments I was able to log on and from what I heard about the Europe and America Burning Crusade openings things started off smoothly!

If this is true, gg Bliz!

Too soon to tell

The announcement that WoW would be moving from a 40-man raid model to a 25-man was made several months ago. Some successful raid guilds felt as this player did and were unhappy with the idea. How do you decide who will get cut from the roster? Will your guild run two 25-mans? Will there be an A team and a B team?

Some players and smaller guilds felt finally they would have a chance at being autonomous yet be able to progress as well as larger raid guilds or alliances. Their problem wasn't finding the time to play, but finding 39 other people to play with.

Until recently, my guild's raid leaders hadn't said much on the matter. Finally, with BC upon us, they gave their plans to push 25-man content: Grind fast to 70 and forming alliances with other guilds who have players at 70. In other words there are no plans to wait on slow levelers in our own guild before tackling the new dungeons.

This is what I think separates a raid guild from a regular guild. A raid guild is less about playing with people you like than playing with like-minded players.

While it is too soon to tell what will happen with the guild, I can speculate. If you don't get to 70 soon you will quickly be left behind. Guild ties will not hold you a spot.

That leads me to make a decision. Do I focus on grinding or leveling at a more relaxed pace? Do I focus on enjoying the quests and content, or do I grind instances over and over again for rep and xp gains. More simply, do I want to be a raider or not in BC?

Are any of you facing that decision? What will you do tonight?

Hurry up with the BC already!

As I mentioned in Life in Azeroth: The Ant and the Grasshopper I didn't really want to spend much time getting prepared (take that Illidan!) for BC. So I'm in the position of not really having to rush around and do anything beforehand.

I've been playing a rogue that I initially made to be a twink but never did. I have no plans on getting this character to 60 so I'm not worried about what mobs I can kill for the highest xp gain. Happily, I'm still finding things in the game I never noticed. I purposely have been going to areas that in the past I skipped for whatever reason. I'm also taking more time to read the quests I'm given and I'm actually keeping grey quests and taking the time to complete them, instead of skipping them because they won't give xp. I've done several quests that I never have done - or maybe I don't remember doing - and generally having a good time.

And yet.....I'm itching for BC.

I came here to whine!

Invasions, release day, everyone by now should know the servers (or specific areas on the servers) will be overpopulated.

Yet we still rush to be there, because no one wants to miss it!

I think during the ringing of the very first AQ gong (the opening of the Ahn'Qiraj gates) so many players came from other realms it crashed (or so the story goes) and GMs started removing anyone under a certain level.

I heard how bad the Dark Portal invasion is (aoe tagging of all the mobs for the quest - pvp server bloodbaths) so I didn't bother going.

Hopefully I'll still have time to go see what its all about, preferably once the hub-bub has died down but not to the point I miss the immersion of battle.

One thing I won't do is go there during peak hours then run to the forums or to my blog to complain about lag.

If you already know what a slide show-fest events like this cause - why not embrace them and not whine about it?

Blizzard has no way of stress testing anything to the extent of what happens when things go live. 7 million customers and all that. I know I sound like a fanboy but there it is.

I plan to be there on opening day...watching my log in screen...wondering if I'll make it to the character creation screen...hoping once I get there it won't boot me back out...crossing my fingers that I finally get in...then waiting to move a few inches...not getting anything done...asking everyone is there lag as bad as mine...and in a few months or years looking back and saying "Remember how bad things were on BC release day!?!?"

If things work out better than expected - I'm a winner either way.

WoW Resolutions

If I could sum up my 2006 WoW experience in one word it would be raiding. The majority of my time in game this past year was spent raiding.

Even with its low points (even wanting to quit the game altogether because of it) I can say overall I'm happy that I got to partake in what I consider what is unique of MMORPGs. See, I never played EQ so I didn't know anything about raiding. I'm sure some old EQ players will say I still don't. *smile*

Well, because of this past year I have a few WoW resolutions, I may add more as I think of them.

In no particular order:

1) Go to bed at a decent hour. I've lost count how many times I've stayed up wiping on a boss by choice or because I was asked to stay for "just one more try". I don't know if the final solution will be to find a new raiding guild that is closer to my own schedule or what.

2) No more catassery*. I wish I could find the blog that made me include this. That blogger said they quit WoW as soon as they realized it required catassing.

*Term as described on Urban Dictionary "Some one who plays a Online game and excludes everything else. Often used to describe when some one has a lot of time to spend in a online game.
Came from a article in a newspaper on Everquest. The player they interviewed played so much Everquest he forgot to change his cats littler box, leading the reported to comment his house smelled like "a cats ass""

I use it to describe a much less smelly experience but still along the same vein - anything that requires a lot of time and I mean A LOT of time to do, you don't necessarily find fun, and by the time you finally get the end reward you think to yourself "Was that really worth it?" In the past that would include the GM grind. Grinding for a Wintersaber mount also comes to mind, or pvping not because you enjoy pvping but because you want the pvp reward.

I think alot of people did these things out of boredom, but with the Burning Crusade out there will be more things to occupy our time. I'm hoping I won't resort to catassery or if it gets to that point again, I hope I have the frame of mind to finally uninstall the game.

3) No more chasing after sets or one particular weapon. One way I made the game grind on my own was pining after a full set of this or that. One of my friends was worse than I when a set piece seemed to become an obsession. I continued to go to old dungeons long after I was extremely sick of them just for a chance at an old set piece I was missing. And when it didn't drop I dreaded going back. If I can't get a piece after a few visits (few in WoW is relative of course!) I'm going to keep moving on.

4) Learn to say no AND not feel bad about it. As a priest this is a toughie. I chose a priest to be helpful. As a result it has always been hard for me to say no when asked to help with something - although I really didn't want to. (100th UBRS run anyone?)

These are the ones I have off the top of my head.

Now the question becomes, will this fall to the wayside like many resolutions? Or will I hold strong!

Stay tuned in 2007...

The Ant and the Grasshopper

"Blue" (what we call any blizzard employee forum poster because their text is in blue - in this case Nethaera) started a thread on the official forums about preparation for the Burning Crusade.

I'd link it here, but Blue posts have the tendency to grow large, break then disappear. Anyway I've copied it here for posterity:

For those that are getting the expansion, what do you look forward to most and how are you preparing for it?

At current, I'm doing some last minute rep adjusting, storing away a few items I know I'll need and pretty much enjoying the hustle and bustle of everyone else.


Some players are farming cloth for bandages. Others have been mining so they can level up jewelcrafting. And some are working on Exodar/Silvermoon reputations - for mounts I guess.

Someone mentioned reserving names for their brand new blood elves and paladins. I'm glad they mentioned that, because in the past I've spent literally an hour thinking up a name for a given character. If I go ahead and get that out of the way now, my friends won't be waiting for me in the starting area while I sit at the character screen wondering if this name sounds too exotic for a alien race and if that name sounds to valley girl for a pompous elf.

I have mixed feelings about preparing for BC. Anytime I start planning I feel like I'm taking a game and making it a job. On the other hand, I'm the same player who saved gold from the time she started her second character until she hit 60, so that I could buy an epic mount as soon as I dinged. So I know the value of preparing, stockpiling and saving. Work before hand saves time later.

But still, sometimes I think, its a game - why don't I play it by ear? If I feel like farming runecloth (for some crazy reason) so be it. Otherwise why spend time doing something I'm really not up to doing, just so I can level up my first aid to 375 as soon as I enter Illidan's realm?

If I'm a grasshopper now, will I envy the ant in the Burning Crusade?

PvP reward

Tobold compared the recent popularity of the new pvp system with Running with the lemmings.

The easiest epics to get in the game now are via pvp and guess what? That's what everyone is doing.

I have my GM weapon - not as quick as some, but I dare say quicker than most. But after the time I've spent to do so, I've decided that pvp grinding is not for me. No more than reputation grinding.

I fell easily into the trap of grinding non-stop in pvp. I wasn't able to stop until I finally got something but in the end I felt a bit of disgust and I won't do it again.

Happy Winter's Veil Everyone!

Horde...you too!

From the Sad But True files...

What priests really see when choosing a spec from their talent trees.

Yes, some talents are such jokes they didn't need to be changed! Thanks Menae for making me laugh through the tears!

Swapping one with the other

The holidays, the release of "easy epics" by way of the new pvp system, and the impending release of the Burning Crusade - have slowed down my raiding. Which is a good thing right?

Well I've replaced it with pvp. I spend just about as much time, if not more pvping as I did raiding because I want one of those GM weapons. Do I really need one? No.

As my friend said "there is always something to do in this game". Which is awesome when you want something to do, but not so great when you don't want this game to be all that you do.

So once I get my GM weapon, I'll be done with having to pour so much time into pvp. But I wonder....what will be the next time sink? What will I swap pvp with once I'm done?

I'm hoping, eventually, I'll quit setting these virtual goals.

Pee vee Pee!

I've been spending more time lately pvping. I'm sure lots of WoW players are doing the same.

Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin PvP only requires a group of 10-15 which is fairly easy to put together. And for Alterac Valley the group of 40 is organized for you.

You don't have to really focus on group makeup. Although a few paladins, mages for cc (and lucky for me - priests!) and nice to have.

I do feel sorry for pugs, because for the majority of my pvp history I've pugged it. I know what its like to be steamrolled by organized groups.

With that said, it is worth your while to find yourself a group. PvP, at least for priests, is extremely more fun in an organized setting.

Other classes can get joy out of entering a bg, and although the group loses, they can check out the leader board and say "Hey I was #1 on Killing Blows!" While Blizzard has added a healing done column, if the team still loses its small consolation to say "Hey I was #1 on Healing Done!"

Although some priests who focus on dps may disagree with me here. My very purpose - support - only functions well in a organized group. In fact, I'd say it increases exponentially.

In pugs, you will be told (not so politely) to heal. It doesn't matter that for 60 levels you've been doing that and you've learned to prioritize who will live and who will die. No, you will be told to heal mages with no mana. You will be blamed for losing matches. And the very success of any BG somehow hinges on the fact you didn't heal a rogue who decides to try and fight a group of 5 people or a warrior with subpar gear facing tier 3. Then you have the constant dropping midgame for another bg. And Alliance seems to struggle at working together. As you can imagine pugs lose...a lot.

Counter that with an organized group. If I'm escorting a flag carrier, they won't run off from me if they are in need of heals. Warriors won't charge in to the fray unless they know I have the mana to back them. I'm not yelled at, and more often than not I'm thanked (this is not required but wow - for a support class it feels great to be acknowledged!). Rogues and druids try to ninja the flags instead of getting extra HKs. I have teammates that actually try to help me stay alive. And I survive long enough to actually heal people! And it comes as no surprise, we win more matches than we lose.

So for the priests out there who are tearing their hair out pugging it? Just like in PvE where once a priest finds a guild they never go back to pugging instances - find yourself a organized PvP group! You'll have a ton more fun I promise you!

Shiny Shoulders

With the new PvP system, players are able to earn honor and tokens and spend them on whatever items are available.

They do not have to earn a certain rank to get items, as was the case in the past. For example you would have had to hit Lt. Commander to purchase any Lt. Commander items, Field Marshal to get any Field Marshal items, and so on.

Now with the new system, if you have enough token/honor to buy a Grand Marshal weapon, you don't have to rank up to do so. You can go straight for it.

This has lead to some "pointing-and-laughing" that seems to be occurring a lot lately.

Field Marshal shoulders are one of the cheapest epic pieces in the reward system. As a result many players have chosen that to be the first piece they purchase. (And since you don't know if Blizzard will hit honor with a nerf bat yet again, its best to grab whatever you can while you can!)

I think several classes' Field Marshal shoulders have some type of a glow to them, so you hear a lot of cracks about "the warlock in glowing shoulders wearing greens and the priest in shiny shoulders still wearing devout".

This is a put-down of course, because it comes from players who earned their shoulders in the old system. They are understandably miffed at how easy anyone can get them now.

On a side note, I don't know why Blizzard didn't implement a transparent rank system, where you had to purchase a Private item before you would be able to earn a Sergeant item, then Master Sergeant and so on. This would put the time sink in that Blizzard wants the game to have. Then, if you ever see anyone in shiny shoulders, you'd know they invested a decent amount of time to get them.

But as it stands, the system works as it does and I'm happy for the players who otherwise may have never had a chance to get an epic before now. I, for one, congratulate you on your shiny shoulders. ;)

PvP Honor Nerf

It seems after the first week of the release of PvP 2.0, players were earning their rewards entirely too fast.

Today Blizzard has hotfixed a 30% decrease in honor gain that results in a 40% increase in cost of items (don't check my math because I'm just parroting what I read on the forums.)

I heard some players got their GM/HWL weapon within 2 days and I know for a fact (some of my guildmates) players got their weapons within 5 days.

I felt this was too fast personally. But that was only because these people played more than the "average" player. For the amount I planned on playing it was still going to take me a few months.

So just like they revamped the old pvp system, because players CHOSE to play without sleep, food, sunlight - Blizzard had to nerf the new system.

The losers are once again the players who choose to exercise some form of restraint. The players who refused to sit at their computer for 24 hours a day would never hit GM in the old system. Had players chosen to only play a reasonable amount of time each week, the system probably would have been okay. Instead you ended up with shared accounts GMs, and worn out-bleary eyed HWLs.

Those players who will play 10 hours a day will still get the rewards faster than they should and Blizzard will probably nerf it again.

Systems probably are truly "Working as intended". Its the human factor of working the system as it never was intended that screws things up.

Raiding 2.0

I've had the opportunity to raid since the patch but I will hold my final verdict for a few more days (or depending on how much I raid - weeks). I think we need to get some basic kinks out to see how this patch really affected things.

Patches always bring problems. I really don't have a problem with that. If it was a passenger on a plane, sure I wouldn't want the controls to be buggy. But this is a game, I'm willing to give some leeway as Blizzard gets the kinks out.

Yes, things have been bothersome. The interminable clicking sound caused by Blizzard's raid ui. The missing pet bars. Our guild has had trouble with bosses we've had on farm for a while. I don't know whether to chalk that up to the mods in general, or the changes to decursive. My guild has been gracious enough not to lay blame at any particular class or group - we're all adjusting to the changes.

Normally I'd be more upset with what I consider to be a detriment to support classes. But I'm growing more apathetic with each raid.

Insert Eye Catching Title Here

I don't think you could beat this one: Priests and Bikini Waxes

Discussion of the cost-benefit analysis of playing a support class.

Quite apropos given the fact with this recent patch I just specced out of any support talents (unless you count vampiric embrace).

Patch Day!

I thought patch day went relatively painful.

While live was down, I went over to beta and tried out the Eye of the Storm new pvp battleground.

It appears to let anyone over 60 in it, so there was a bit of being overmatched.

I also noticed it won't let me in the AV. I don't know if that's because of my level or if they are wanting people to test the new BG and not play in the old one.

I haven't raided with the 2.0 changes so I don't know how that's going to work out just yet.

What I was suprised by was the amount of Burning Crusade changes were included in the patch. Except for being able to journey into the Outlands and level to 70 all the stuff from beta to have been implemented. The new hunter arrow, the felgaurds, the additional bank spaces, the pvp system, etc.

Slowing down

I wish I had have known more about blogging back when I first started playing WoW. It would be interesting to look back on how I felt then and how I feel now.

I've only blogged a few months and at times posted more than once a day, but now I'm already slowing down. I think I've hit a bit of a lull here which is mirrored by what's going on in the game.

Raiding is more of the same. I still get excited when my guild is close to downing a new boss for the first time. But I've grown tired of the "work" that occurs before that first kill.

I've also grown weary of being a support class, well even more so. I'm starting to wonder however if its not necessarily being support as it is playing the same role all the time. That's bound to be boring for anyone regardless of what class they play.

I've decided with this patch I'm going to switch it up and maybe pvp in shadowform for a while. I'm imagining there will be a rush of people gunning for the pvp rewards now that the system has been revamped. I think this is a prime opportunity to "melt faces".

#1 on the healing meter!

People love talking about crits and seeing where they are on damage meters. But healers, if they are anything like me, don't get that same sense of satisfaction. Who cares if I crit heal for 2400? As the very wise prophet Exe from the WoW priest class forums said "problem is that once healed, warrior gets damaged mroe, and healing must continue".

This poster - well I think he copied it from the EU forums, so I can't give the original poster credit - highlights all the things wrong with the use of healing meters in raids. It has its uses, it can point out who stays afk entire fights sure, but on the other hand it can place added pressure on an already stressful role.

Its lengthy but copied it just in case the forums eat this link. Here you have it, the secret to How to Top Healing Meters:

Alot of people have been saying to me how much trouble they have getting in the top heal spots. One person was warned that she may be kicked if she didn't starting
healing more, and get higher on the heal meter. So I decided to produce a guide for these people to help them reach that top healing spot. This guide is currently only for priests.

The objective.
Your only purpose is to top the healing charts, whilst maintaing a low overheal %.

Your spells:
Power shield : Alot of heal meters don't show this as healing so just ignore it, someone else can shield to stop burst damge, and get their low heal position.

Dispel Magic: Again this is useless let some low heal person waste their time dispelling, if you do it you'll lose ranking.

Res : Useless, but make sure to heal the people who have just been rezzed, they are at like 1 hp so thats alot of potential healing. It might take a bit longer to recover after a wipe, but you'll be higher on the heal ranking so its worth it. If for some reason you are the only res 'er after a wipe left, make sure to res the other res classes last to make sure they dont get a full 99% hp heal bonus from healing the res'd people.

Renew: Spam this like no tomorrow, make sure you have maxed out all talents to increase your renew ability, and always cast your own on top of someone with a weaker
renew, this gives the tank a better healing / tick from renew, and prevents that player from getting ahead of you on the heal meter.

Flash heal: This one is essential for stealing heals from other healers espically druids with their slow heal. In trash pulls and some tank and spank bosses there aren't enough people to heal for the healers, so this means you need to heal first to maintain that #1 healing spot. If you see two people at 80% hp and a druid just starts to heal one, DONT heal the one the druid isn't healing, assist the druid and land a flash heal getting that person to full, then whilst the druid goes ??? and lands an overheal, quickly heal the other players, congrats you just got twice the healing , and your competition (the other healers) got none.

Greater heal: This is good for longer fights to keep your mana up. Getting it talented to a shorter cast is a must to land it before other healers. Dont worry too much about using it for mana conseravtion in trash though, use flash heal to steal heals and make others overheal (this also means they have less mana so they drink more and you get more heals) , the guild bank can always get you more major mana pots to use during trash, but if you dont get a high healing you could lose your officer status or be /gkicked

Fade: This one is quite good for avoiding death, if you see another healer is high on the aggro meter, espically one who has no aggro shedding abilities, run over to them and fade it off onto them, this'll interrupting their healing and give you a target to spam heals on to get more ranking.

Buffs : Inner fire on yourself, get other priests to cast the others on you and other raid members.

Downtime
If there is downtime perhaps after a wipe, or the raid leader calls a 5 minute break, etc try to find a warlock with an imp and run in and out healing yourself when your hp drops, if possible try to enlist other players so you can use prayer of healing as it will get you more healing much quicker. If you see other healers doing this you must heal them first so they dont get any heal ranking out of it. If for some reason there are no imp warlocks, this is the one exception in which you should cast fortitude on yourself and then heal to get ranking that way.

Healing Assignments
If you are in charge of healing assignments then follow this plan to maximize your ranking, if you aren't ignore the assignments and do this plan anyway
You should assign yourself to a tank who will take large amounts of damage constantly, so you can spam your best heals for 100% healing no overheal, with trash
assign at most 1 other healer to the main tank and tell the other healers to "spot" heal i.e waste mana with 4 priests healing one person. Once you get to the boss
assign your worst healers with the slowest reaction times and lowest heal ranking to help heal the maintanks, if you have good healers with a high healing ranking assign them to dispel/cleanse or if you must, to "spot" healing. This will insure the good healers heal ranking is crippled and you maintain a healthy lead as the best healer.

Special Tips for Certain Bosses
Snowballs can easily get you some 20 second silences on opossing healers in places like aq20 with kurinaxx, just stand in a blob of people and throw the snowball.
When nefarian does the priest call, use prayer of healing and lots of heals to make sure you have plently of targets to heal once the corrupted healing effect ends.
If you are a bomb of some sort, run towards the top healers in the healing ranking, this will keep them from overtaking you due to a chance death. (You can say something like whoops sorry my mouse died LOL, if you want to. If anyone complains remind them how you are always #1 healer and hence obviously the most skilled player)

Other Raid Members:
Hunter :
You can use alot more flash heals to get ranking first without going oom, if you keep nagging the hunter (or whoever is pulling) and tell him to slow down and stop pulling, even if the other healers are at 95% if you keep telling him that the healers are complaining he'll get paranoid and hopefully slow a bit meaning you can steal more heals with flash. It is worth noting your rating will drop if you run out of mana so make sure to moderate how many flash heals you use instead of de ranked greaters. And always remember to keep using those major mana pots every 3 minutes, guild banks have 1000's of gold so it doesnt matter in cost, remember higher heal ranking = better healer.

Druids
You must get druids to innervate you. It doesn't matter if someone else has more spirit of if you are at 85% mana, more healing = better healer and you want to be the best healer. If you are an officer its quite easy to tell them to innervate you, if not you can claim that priests are better healers with more benefit from spirit, make sure only to mention how much better priests scale if you scale better than them with more spirit. If you have worse equip just be vague about priests better healing bonus and keep pestering them till they give in, alot of people don't understand the mathematics, in this case its quite easy to make up some numbers to prove you should be innervated even if in reality someone else should.

Warlocks
You should always be soulstoned so you can start healing soon after a death, in addition in can be quite usefull if you find a warlock to spam lifetap even if he doesnt need the mana, in order to get heals in when noone else needs to be healed.

Priests & Paladins
In order to reduce the healing you do you can tell them "Your cleanse /dispel is a little slow" hopefully this will make them heal a bit less and have their finger hover over the dispel key or "Try not to overheal so much" even if they aren't overhealing, if you are an officer this works even better and will help keep the other healers from catching up with you. Sometimes this wont work so make sure to cancel buffs and whisper them all the time to rebuff you, this will keep them healing and lower their mana.

Druids
If the enemy curses try to convince your raid leader that you need mages dps, and just make druids full time de-curse duty, druids have pretty slow heal so you can beat them easily with flash. If you see a druid HoT someone quickly flash heal them and then the druid will not only be denied healing but he will get a load of overheal. These tips can help you become a better raid healer than druids. Again cancelling and asking for buffs can be quite usefull to keep their mana drained.

Shaman
Try to heal 1-2 people near the shaman at all times, this will help make their healing wave overheal more often. If you macro some questions , like "I would to talk to you about your spec for a moment" and use them as an officer you can also interrupt their healing.

Loot
Obviously you need good gear to maintain a high healing position, loot councils work best with you as a coucil member or a loot master if you are the guild leader, try to create an argument for gearing up a "maintank healer" first which basically means you get most of the healing items, if someone complains remind them of your #1 position as the best healer, and then remark to your officers that that person isn't a very good player. If someone is consiently doing well and possibly threatening your healing position you can stir up some drama and try to get them kicked ( I am not an expert on drama so you'll have to find another guide for that) . If someone wants to know why they were kicked just say they were a poor healer and didn't live up to the standards of the guild ( they had a low heal ranking).

Remember everything here will help you get a higher heal ranking. The higher a ranking of a healer, the more likely they are doing these things to increase their ranking, Good Luck!

Report to Goldshire

It was almost two years ago that I was first given a document to take to Marshal Dughan in Goldshire.

"Goldshire lies along the southern road, past the border gates."

I had no idea what would await me. I remember not having a clue how far Goldshire was, and it actually seemed far away!

Funny, when you think how far it is to travel to Darnassus, Stranglethorn Vale, or Nethergarde Keep, or Ratchet, or Light's Hope Chapel, or to the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj.

I've been feeling nostalgic for the feeling of awe and wonderment that WoW gave me.

Give me a moment while I make my way past the border gates and head south down the road to this small town named Goldshire, perhaps I can find a place to rest once I get there...

Time sink

On 11/25/2006 Tobold asked what was Your worst World of Warcraft decision?

I commented that starting out on a pvp server was my worst decision. But that got me to thinking about the things I regret about this game.

I like playing WoW. If you could see my time played (which I refuse to look at!) you'd say I LOVE playing WoW.

One of the things I regret is the immense amount of time I've spent in-game. And its seeped out of game with this blog and reading the forums, etc.

What I can't seem to get a grasp on is how is it so easy to lose so many hours in this fantasy world.

Over my holiday vacation, I didn't even raid much yet I still spent a lot of time leveling, crafting, farming, pvping and beta "testing".

As many have said this is an endless game. There is always a better item to obtain, alts to level, instances to conquer, ranks to hit.

What is it about WoW that makes a time sink appealing or at least transparent until its too late?

From my standpoint I feel like I really can't get anything done in an hour's time. If you want to pvp, you have to wait in a queue for at least an hour before you kill one opponent. If you want to instance (is that a verb?) you may wait for an hour to get a group started. And raiding really isn't all that better, if you want to raid you have to wait at least 15-30 minutes for the raid to assemble and then you're looking at 2-4 hours raiding. If you want to craft you'll either find yourself farming for the materials or farming for the gold to buy the materials. If you want to hit 60 you have to spend more than one or two hours here or there, or you'll be like the player who has played since Dec 2004 and still hasn't hit 60. And let's not talk about trying to get reputation rewards!

Is this why we embrace the time sink?

Just in case I forget...

Have some Roasted Quail on me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of you has got to go

The aptly titled blog WoW or sleep - one of them has to go features the writings of a player with six, count em, six level 60 characters! Not only that, if you scroll down further you'll see she also has four characters over 40 (all with mounts) and five more over 15.

Several months ago, I decided that I should delete some of my lower-leveled characters that were crying out for attention. It was an attempt to consolidate my time in WoW. Perhaps with less characters I wouldn't spend so much time in-game (you see how that worked out - it didn't.)

I had alts I created when my main realm was down. Ha-ha instead of just logging off and doing something else when the server was unavailable I would create a new character! How's that for addicted?

I also had alts I created to make up for what I felt my other characters lacked. My current main character - a priest was made because my first character only hack-n-slashed. I wanted a priest so that I could heal. And boy would I! But I won't go off on a healing rant tangent right now...

I made a warlock because I heard they "pwn". I made a rogue to twink. I made a mage because I heard they farm well. I made a druid solely for roleplaying.

What I really wanted was one character that could do it all. But the only "pwn" my healing spec priest would see was "getting pwnd". Also try farming with a spec made for you to stand back and let others do all the work - let me just say, it sucks.

So I had all these alts that together would make my WoW experience "whole". My plan was to heal on my priest, wreak havoc in pvp on my rogue, farm gold on my mage and enjoy easy mode on my warlock.

But I forgot about that leveling thing. The quickest I've ever leveled a character to 60 was 4 months. I can't realistically do another that fast (fast for me) and with each one I level - contrary to the blog I referenced above - the fun factor dies out. And unlike Guild Wars you don't have the option of starting a character at max level.

So my plans for having it all died quickly, and I was left with a cast of characters from level 5 to 35 just languishing about.

Instead of neglecting them, I deleted many of them. I no longer have any characters on any other servers. I transferred the one high-level one to my priest's server. So now they all reside in one place. The next time my server is down - I'm just going to go outside.

I deleted all the characters that didn't make it past level 15 - the only one that was saved from the chopping block for that reason was the druid, because I don't have to level her in order to roleplay with her.

I kept the twink because of all the extra effort I put in to her and I may decide to level her up one day - I hear rogues are easy to level. I'm holding on to the mage for the same reason, although I plan to transfer all of her stuff to a draenei once The Burning Crusade is released. Then off with her head!

Will I ever delete my 60s (70s)? I've seen videos of players disenchanting (destroying) all their epics and deleting their character before quitting WoW for good. But what if in 10 years, for nostalgia's sake I want to boot up WoW and jump on my priest and relive her times in Azeroth? I heard Everquest recently released some of their original classic servers. So just in case, I'm holding on to a few of my characters. I'm sure my priest is rubbing her neck with a sigh of relief...

Exhalted

Through the magic of raiding (i.e. raiding all the time for hours, days, weeks, months) I've managed to hit exalted (or exhalted as the WoW forums say) with a few factions. You get nice rewards such as rare profession recipes, patterns, etc. and also some epic items.

Now that I'm cutting back on raiding (or intending to), I can't imagine I'll ever hit exalted with any other faction on this character or my alts. I just can't bring myself to do so. Since I've come to hate grinding of any kind its almost an affront to think I should do so!

Instead I'll admire from afar those who put the time in to own their own cross-faction mount, have their own furbolg protector, ride their own rare saber, strut around in GM gear or don a red pirate hat.

In the past, I actually thought I'd put in the time to do these type of things. Except for the GM part, anyone can do it by putting in some time here and there - given enough time. But just like I'm trying to put aside raiding, I can't justify that amount of time investment for the payoff. Exalted with the Hydraxian Waterlords will have to count for something, heh.

Giving it another go

I'm going to try to cut back again. Granted I've tried this in the past - for instance around the time I started this blog. I think I'll stick to it this time...maybe.

Several reasons:
1) While some people, on their second visit to raid instance like Molten Core, immediately have that feeling of "been there, done that, got the t-shirt", its taken me longer. I knew I was seeing the same sights, but it didn't bother me. But now, finally after going to MC for almost a year, my tolerance for going to MC has reached zero. I have an alt I've been leveling to 60 and I don't even want to take it to MC.

2) I wasn't with my guild when they first entered MC, but I was there as we learned the final 3/4. Still, I felt as if I had rode their coattails. However when they pressed into BWL, I was there from start to finish. I can say that I've experienced entering an instance for the first time with a group, going through learning stages, feeling the growing pains of losing people due to the stress of it, seeing the end in sight and the climax of beating the final boss and then, yes! enjoying the rewards of having an instance on farm. And that's what all instances are essentially like. I may not do it with AQ40 or Naxx or any others. But I can say I know what its like first-hand.

3) The epics have lost their sparkle. For any players who know nothing about raiding - epics are like blues to raiders. Actually they are like greens. You raid, you'll get an epic - plain and simple. After awhile, at least for me, they aren't so "epic" anymore. Perhaps its due to the fact I'm a healer. For the past few months, I've received new pieces and I honestly can't tell much of a difference in my play style. While a warrior getting a new weapon can quantify the difference.

4) Good ol' healer burnout. I've mentioned this several times in my blog and don't need to rehash it here.

So, for all these reasons, I'm cutting back. But I've said that before...

Priest blogs

I shouldn't be surprised at the number of people who play the priest class and have a blog. I play a priest, so perhaps I gravitate toward them.

Sadly, I found this blog around the time this player seems to be migrating from WoW to EQ2 (Everquest 2).

Looks like she hit 60 the other day, saw what awaited her (raiding) and knew that path was not for her. (It is taking me a bit longer but I'm very slowly coming to the same conclusion for myself.)

Contrast that with this blog. This priest also recently hit 60, but it seems she's looking forward to raiding, as refrenced by her mention of obtaining the Vestments of Prophecy (a priest set that you can only get in Molten Core).

From what I can tell the former seems to have experience with raiding, if not in WoW perhaps some other MMORPG. I wonder if the latter does. I wonder what her experience will be like. Will she enjoy raiding and become hardcore? Will she quickly realize as this other priest did, the raiding path is not for her? It will be interesting to see where she is a month from now.

Raiding for the wrong reasons

One of my guild mates, who became a good friend of mine, decided to take a break from raiding over the weekend. For how long he doesn't know. And just like that, the past two raids I've attended where he wasn't there haven't been very fun.

I've toyed around with cutting back on raiding or quitting altogether for a long time. Healing gets stressful, loot drama occurs. But with my friend there I had a good time. In fact, I think I started this blog saying that in part it was him that kept me playing.

So I wonder, has it been him that kept me raiding?

I've raided several times when he wasn't around (due to work, other engagements), but that was with the understanding he'd be raiding again soon. But now, he may not raid again, maybe not for a few days, weeks, months or ever. And knowing that makes me want to quit raiding. Perhaps I've been raiding for the wrong reason?

Leveling to 70

I heard that someone has already hit 70 in the Burning Crusade beta. A rogue. Color me surprised.

I guess one thing the Burning Crusade will allow is a new list of firsts. First player to 70. First < insert class here > to 70. First blood elf paladin to 70. First draenei shaman to 70. First pvper to get whatever equates to the old Grand Marshal/High Warlord rank. First guild to finish the highest content...on hard mode.

Considering that I'm not competitive in the least, I won't be the first of anything. Add in the fact that some players are actually scheduling their vacations around the release! Yeah, you can't compete with someone who plays 24-7.

But I do hope to hit 70...someday. I think I'll hit 70 on my main character, a priest, but that may be the only one. I'm betting my priest will be the easiest one to level. She has the best gear of any of my characters. And I recall 50 to 60 flying by her. Parties had trouble finding healers, so they were willing to take me along although I was rather low for whatever instance they wanted me for at the time. And there was ALWAYS someone wanting to run an instance.

I don't know if BC will be the same way. It would be nice to ride the instance train to 70. Balancing it with stop offs at all those solo quests along the way. I wonder how many priests are around? The priest review (1.10 I think) caused a influx of priests (notably dwarves) but I wonder how many stuck around to level to 60, and how many will want to level to 70? I may not be in demand.

Level 62 Priest LFG PST.

Raiding guild has a spot for a rogue!

I'd be surprised if by now they haven't filled the spot this rogue left behind.

I don't keep up with guild recruiting trends, but I can't imagine keeping enough rogues being a common issue (especially a guild pushing progress in Naxx). Perhaps I'm out of the loop and rogues have become the new "dwarf priest"? Nah.

A night off

The other evening our guild didn't have any "official" raids planned. But as usual, someone puts one together anyway. I decided to sit out.

Instead, I jumped on one character to get something enchanted. I jumped on another character to help a friend on his lowbie character kill a few things, I jumped on another character to help a guildmate swap something from one character to another. I ran myself through a lowbie instance, first to find an roleplay item, but once I was there I just wanted to see if I could get through the entire isntance. It was a pretty low instance but I'm still proud to say I was able to kill every single mini-boss, rare boss and end boss in the place. I dueled *cough* a guildmate who just got a kick-ass sword the night before. I added my 2 cents to guild chat and I attempted some very brief roleplay with a passing priest. Fun times and I didn't get a single epic!

Happy Friday

My previous post about being "in your blog, reading your words" has never been truer.

Tobolds is blog I like to check every day. He starts some good discussions about the game and I always enjoy reading other perspectives.

The other day he linked my blog and since then not only have I a few visitors, they actually commented! I've really enjoyed that someone has read what I've had to say and whether they agree or disagree, added to it.

I've written my blog as if no one is reading it but me, yet knowing there is always a possibility one other person may drop by.

I can't promise that any of it has been or ever will be interesting. Just know that I enjoy blogging and if you enjoy reading it...well that's just icing on the cake.

IM INUR BLOG

REEDING UR WERDZ

I don't know what the very first phrase was. I'm assuming some variant of

IM INUR < BLANK >
< BLANKING > UR < BLANK >

Just wondering if it is something originally spawned from WoW forums. Because you see it there...alot.

Old School Priest

I came across a thread titled "You know you're an Old School Priest When" on the official forums. I won't bother linking it here because WoW forums links tend to disappear. But I'll try to list many references to old priest abilities I never got a chance to enjoy.

I'm not an "old school" priest. My first character to 60 was another class, and it wasn't until much later (the game had been out for almost a year) that I rerolled a priest and made her my main.

Ah well, looks like I missed out on some good times, but sometimes its best not to have a thing in the first place if its just going to be taken away:

*You were called a pumpkin for wearing the devout set

*You bypassed content with mind soothe

*You were considered extremely overpowered and basically unstoppable in PvP. (beta)

*You could give durability hits to people by MCing them off of cliffs or into a group of guards.

*Crit was actually important to you. (holy crits gave 100% mana regen for 20 seconds)

*You could rez people in combat and from any distance. But then what did druids do??? j/k silly there were no druids!

*You remember climbing mountains with levitate

*You didn't find out about racial spell significance until after you hit 60, because no one knew until then Common thing to ask on the priest forums "Didn't you know how important fear ward would be when you chose your character?" Uhmmm, no.

*you remember being able to use people's spells/abilities with mind control What fun!

*You remember when shield would protect from fall damage Okay I remember this too, and I still find myself trying to do it

*You remember when your shackle could actually shackle undead players (beta) I was so disappointed when I found out this wasn't true, the first time I set foot in WSG on my priest and tried to use it over and over again


*You remember using staff/wand combo's to have awesome dps while leveling. I have no idea what they mean by this

*You remember PW:Sing random people soloing in Westfall And not being able to do so, before forced grouping in WSG, was a pain in the butt

*You remember having a 10k mana pool fully buffed (alliance MC level) I don't know how they achieved this

*Spirit was a godly stat that always ticked (beta)

*Using Levitate to get into all sorts of cool places - above IF anyone?

*Brainwash, anyone? Okay this sounds cool, wonder what it was?

*I remember when I could cast a easily-interrupted channeled spell for 8 seconds, uninterrupted. I dunno either

*You remember when Mind Blast was instant cast. (beta)

*Holy Fire was an actual Fire spell, and you were tempted to collect +fire gear. I've always wondered why it wasn't a fire spell.

*I remember when Shadowform was 20% damage and 20% mitigation :( Wonder if this one's true.


*When you had the only prayer of fort in the core and had to buff all the groups. Okay, some things are best left behind.

*Spirit didn't had the 5sec rules(cry)


*When the best staff for priest was the Argent crusader staff I keep hearing apple on a stick, I think I want one!

*Soft cap at 300 spirit.

*You could eat and drink during battle. Okay...wow!

*Shield was spammable (no weakened soul).

*Dying caused a loss in xp rather than a loss in durability. Goodbye hardcore mmorpg and good riddance!

*The Halo of Trans was really the Orange Turban of Trans. Another thing best left forgotten. I don't like turbans, especially orange ones. Remember this around Christmas time.

*When there was no such thing as mana/5.

*You have a green wand of healing that has more +healing than anything short of an epic.

And now for something completely different

Like I'd climb Mt. Everest instead.

3rd month update

I'm still raiding.
I'm still playing more than I feel I should in general.
I like blogging, but I didn't even realize it adds to the pie slice of WoW takes up of my life.

Hmm.

Loral's Rules for Everquest

Like a blue dropping off a random mob while slaying whelpings, I came across this gem. Except for exclusive EQ terminology it applies to WoW as well.

If you don't get a chance to read it, here are the basic rules:

Rule 1: Enjoy Every Day You Play.

Rule 2: The Grass Is Not Greener.

Rule 3: Gear, Experience, Levels, and AAs, aren't real. Friendships are.

Rule 4: Items, Levels, Characters, and worlds will fall apart in ten years. What will you walk away with?

Rule 5: Roleplayers Have More Fun and Roleplaying is Contagious.

The Unblinking Eye

My guild had it first night of real C'Thun attempts.

We had more than 40 people sign up, but still were down 4 people at the time of the start. That's always disheartening, especially on a weeknight. That mean we didn't start on time, and as a result we end up going longer than planned (and an hour longer than I should have stayed).

I guess we had some good attempts in, given that we really weren't prepared. But we didn't manage to make it to the second phase.

I like to call our guild a casual hardcore guild. We raid alot, but most of us don't really put the preparations in that would make it go smoother. Some people spend alot of time on raid kits, but it is not required. Fights like C'Thun and the other bosses we'll face in Naxxramas makes me think this will change.

It should go without saying that I find the idea of hours of farming for raid materials very unappealing.

Winning the game

Over at Kill Ten Rats, I came across this post about finishing a game like World of Warcraft (WoW), in this case City of Heroes (CoH the comic book, superhero mmorpg that introduced me to this genre of gaming). I think CoH's level cap is still 50, and WoW's cap is currently 60, but soon to be 70 if you buy the expansion.

I had a conversation with a friend last night about why is it we feel the need to "complete" a game like WoW? Why do we play it like we are playing a game of Mario Bros as if it has an end point.

WoW *should* be played where we enjoy it for the here and now, instead I think I, and many others, play it to get to that next level, and the next and the next til we hit 60. And I, like many others, find getting to 60 to be anti-climatic and after running around wondering what to do (or raiding) you realize maybe you shouldn't have pushed it so much.

When I heard the expansion was coming out I started playing my alt more in hopes to get it to 60 - forcing myself not to waste time trying to role play in Stormwind, but instead killing wolves. When I heard there was a chance to fight some higher-end bosses in beta, I started forcing myself to get quests done, instead of just exploring all the new areas. In other words, I started sucking the fun out of the game.

So when those people who find they no longer have fun playing a game and they quit at 59.5 in WoW or 48.7 in CoH, we shouldn't look at them puzzled, instead we should envy them a bit for being able to know when....to say when.

Leaving instances behind

For the first time, since I joined my raiding guild around the beginning of the year, we didn't have an Onxyia/Molten Core scheduled this week.

I, for one, was relieved! Many of the guildies I started with quit going long ago. But as a healer I still get asked. And no matter how I try not to feel bad about it, I do feel bad saying no. So....in most cases I go. In fact, I can't remember a time I said no. And I wonder why I complain about being burned out.

Funny thing is, someone else put together an impromptu Onyxia raid on one of our "free" days and I went anyway. I didn't really mind, because Onxyia usually only takes 45 minutes and that mostly includes everyone getting there , filling in the missing spots, getting summoned, getting water and buffs.

But since we didn't have our normal raiding guildmates there, we started with fill-ins and not a full raid. We wiped, but came back and downed her on the second try. It ended up taking 2 hours, but still not so bad because I actually had fun killing her with a under-manned, under-geared raid.

The same guildmate that put the Onxyia raid together had plans to do the same with Molten Core. But it was there that I drew the line.

I made a point to let them know ahead of time that while I would love to help them, I really didn't want to go back to Molten Core. Since I have a problem saying no, I made sure I wasn't logged on around that time.

One of my friends, who didn't single me out, said by not scheduling MC, it was like the guild had decided to not help anyone else get there gear.

The problem is our guild goes to Naxxramas, AQ40 and BWL. We've always squeezed in MC every week and if someone was willing, we ran AQ20 and ZG. At first I wanted to, and then when I didn't - I still tried, but I simply could not keep up with all those raids.

I've pretty much quit going to AQ20 and ZG and I tried to skip as many MCs as I could (not many).

I'm already looking forward to skipping BWL, so dropping MC is logical to me.

But I think MC should be dropped for everyone. Why do I say this? Because it is a strain on the geared people who also want to attend the new instances. We continue to show up on our main characters, while people on alts get to play different roles. The last MC I didn't recognize over 1/2 the raid.

I think it is at this point our guild should join another guild in our situation and run an alliance MC. That way people who are knowledgeable of the instance are their to guide it, but are basically there because they still want loot or are on their alts. In other words - they are there because they WANT to be!

I feel like I'm held hostage. As many have said, Molten Core has become Molten Chore, Molten Bore and Molten Snore. At what point do you leave MC behind?

Avoiding WoW burnout

Someone on the official forums posted 10 ways to avoid WoW burnout - common sense, something rare on the forums.


10. Good Hygiene - Keeping yourself is good shape allows you to interact with others much better and gives you a much better view of yourself as well.

9. Keep a healthy diet - Eating well gives you much more energy and will make your days feel generally better

8. Exercise - Get outside and run! Do somthing that makes you sweat some. Amazingly once you get past the soreness you will feel great after a good workout.

7. Get a job - As well as helping to support your WoW fix, this will be a good way to get out and meet some new people.

6. Schedule time with friends and family - Go hang out with some people, have some fun outside of warcraft.

5. Get another hobby - Try playing a sport or reading a book doing somthing constructive besides on your computer.

4. Meet some people that play WoW in your area - This would be a great way to get away from your desk, have some fun with friends and play with people that you know by name and face.

3. Get a girlfriend/boyfriend - This would be many people's most favorite way of taking a break from WoW. Takning the time away from WoW for your signifigant other is a great use of your time.

2. Prioritize - Dont allow Wow to take priority over family/fiends/job etc. Keeping your prioritys in line and realizing no matter how much fun it is WoW is still a video game.

1. Find a guild that will let you raid to your schedule not theirs - Finding a guild that does not require raid attendance and allows it's members to keep their priorities on RL rather than raiding.

Leveling Sweet Spots

Sorry I don't have any "Get to 60 in 3 days" pointers. I don't know of any secret areas that give double xp that no one else knows about.

No, I'm talking about a different kind of sweet spot. Those times where you can get to certain areas fast, pick up a bunch of quests do them quickly and gain several bars easily.

My hunter was getting close to 50 and these three spots helped alot:

*Western Plaguelands - You fly to Chillwind Camp, travel and get a quest to travel an extremely short distance - Sorrow Hill - to kill some skellies and ghouls. I also paid a visit to Felstone (?) Field to get a key, luckily a mage 2 shot the mob I needed, but I'm going to wait a bit yet to go back to that area.

*Blasted Lands - You can fly to Nethergarde, travel a short distance to the Blood Elves and do about 4 hunting quests (and the imperfect draenythst quest too) all in that general area.

*Searing Gorge - You can fly to Thorium Pt, pick up quests right near the gryphon master and do 3-4 hunting quests right below the flight path.

Doing this enabled me to hit 51 painlessly. Hitting a new level always send me to the Auction House (I will not have enough gold to get an epic mount due to impulse shopping habits!) and I found 2 nice bows for sale. I could'nt gauge which was the better, so I did a search for some of the more well known hunters on our realm and asked one for advice. I mentioned my level and he said don't bother with those bows on the AH, instead acquire the AV quest reward bow. A better bow, essentially free?!?!? I'm in!

In a moment of serendipity - I was pleasantly surprised to find out being level 51 allowed me to enter Alterac Valley (pvp). I hadn't really done much pvping on my hunter and it was far from my mind - giving the bad feelings pvp gave me on my priest. Of course my level 51 hunter was no threat to the horde, but I wasn't there to actually pvp anyway.

You can pickup about 5-6 quests outside the entrance and doing several of them, in addition to getting xp for 3 winning tokens took me 1/2 way into 51! Not bad, not bad at all. This is the type of stuff you miss once you're 60.

For the good of the guild

Letting a priest get a +dmg belt, letting a druid get a +agility chest, letting a paladin get a dps weapon. Things like this have caused guilds to say it slows raid progress.

But I argue how often have you not been able to start a raid on time because a warlock doesn't have +15 more damage? Or a rogue doesn't have and extra point of crit chance? Or a warrior doesn't have, yet another, shiny 2 hander?

Now ask yourself how often have your raids been delayed due to not having enough healers available?

In this same vein, a paladin offers here why it isn't beneficial to restrict loot by class:

What if?

What if everytime something in the game was not fun or easy I just stopped doing it? Would I still find fun things to do in the game? Would I accomplish anything? Would my alts get leveled? Would I rank up in pvp? Would I get anymore epics? If I didn't, would that be okay?

I'm reminded of when I leveled up characters and the time flew by. I didn't really notice the time it took. I remember working on professions (this happened just recently) where each skill up came fast and cheap. I remember going into raid instances with eagerness.

Those days seem long gone now. I've been trying to level my hunter, at first learning the hunter class, taming pets, it was all very fun. Lately, I haven't tamed any new pets - because unless you get them at the right level you have to spend a bunch of time leveling them up too. I was grinding on things for leather, but I'm at a point where I can't grind on mobs high enough that I need. I can't say I really enjoy playing my hunter. In fact, she was first made in rebellion of my healing priest. A hunter - a class able to survive without any help, not like my weak holy priest who has to attack green creatures lest she scream for help. I also wanted a class who could grind to make money, turns out - I hate grinding. So my hunter sits in her late 40s and I wonder at this point will I ever get her to 60. I have to schedule to play her, I hardly ever jump on her and say "Yay! I'm getting to play my hunter", instead I'm leveling because well, I said I would level her.

I've quit pvping, and as anyone who has done it knows, you lose the ranks you've earned unless you keep at it constantly. Due to rank decay, you can't take off for a while and start right back up where you left. I kept playing long after it wasn't really fun for me. A healing priest in a pug spends lots of time dead. I finally admitted to myself I was waiting for a spirit rez so often I might as well not be there at all. Sometimes I still wish I could have hit the rank I originally set.

And then there is raiding. I've succeeded in cutting back. I don't raid every day anymore. I try hard to leave at the time I set, but when asked I end up staying. On days I say I'm not going to raid, I go when asked also. That is an issue I've yet to overcome, but I wish I would just say no.

So I'm left wondering, what would I do in this game if I didn't bother trying to level my hunter. If I quit thinking about pvping anymore, if I never raided more than 2 or 3 times a week. I really can't think of anything.

Sometimes this game is so much fun - like playing in Beta with a friend - and finally breaking down and spending gold - lots of gold - to get my enchanting up.

What if I only did what I deem to be fun and as soon as I felt something was a grind, irritating, exasperating, expensive, or time-consuming I'd log off?

I know in life, things don't come without work, discipline, effort - but this is a game. This is just a game.

Burning Crusade pushed back

...and I breathe a sigh of relief.

My goal was to play less, instead I had started playing more when I thought about all the stuff I wanted to finish in the current game before the expansion was released in Novemeber.

Now with the BC planned for January instead of November, I have more time to level up my alts and professions a bit more, continue raiding and also fool around in beta. And I don't have to cram it all in less than a month.

It also doesn't make sense to release something before its ready.

Hooray for delays.

Ramparts and Pugs

The first 5-man instance you can do in The Burning Crusade is in a place called the Hellfire Citadel. There are two: Ramparts and Blood Furnace. Ramparts is the lower leveled of the two - I think 60-62.

I think casual players will be very happy, it is a short instance that is easy to get to. I think hardcore players will run through this once to see what its about, get their quest credit and move on.

I did it with a pug, using the lfg function - what is great is once you form a group you can use the meeting stone to summon them - very, very nice feature for groups without warlocks. How many times have you sat around waiting for someone to travel to Dire Maul? ZZzzzzzzz.

We had a nice class mix at first - druid, priest, warrior, mage and warlock. The warrior disconnected early on and didn't come back, yet we still were able to pick up a paladin and continue on. I'm happy to report that both I and the druid were not healbot specced and the druid tanked and I was able to heal just fine. Given the fact we waited a little to get a replacement, I'd say it only took us an hour and a half or so. We wiped once because the mage didn't decurse - but the graveyard isn't very far and the instance itself is short in length and easy to navigate.

Like I said, casuals will be happy with this but if it was a group of people from my guild in the gear we currently have? We could probably do it under an hour. And after doing it once we could probably shave it down to 30-45 minutes. Maybe even quicker because it wasn't as hard as a baron run.

There was nothing there anyone really wanted. We greeded on all the green and I sharded all the blue BoEs. But I can see some casual players coming away with some upgrades.

I think it is a nice introduction to the new age of "Casual World of Warcraft".

He learned quicker than I did

Raiding blahs

Phasing out raiding?

My raiding history has been as follows:

1) I had never raided before, but seeing people link and wear epics and not knowing what things looked like inside dungeons whetted my appetite.

2) The fact I wasn't able to just waltz into a raid, I have to seek our and apply (just like a job) made it seem all the more enticing. Almost like being forced to wait outside of a exclusive club.

3) Finally making it in. Wanting to make my mark and contribute. Wanting to be known as reliable and dependable. I raided constantly and stay focused on the task at hand all the time. I got epics as a result and got to see encounters not many get to see.

4) Getting burned out as a healer. Becoming that person that was depended on, but feeling the backlash from it by always being called upon to heal.

5) Wanting to branch out (solo pve, pvp) and do something other than healing all the time, but realizing all the epics I acquired don't help me kill anything one iota faster.

6) Having to raid double time to acquire damage items in addition to healing items.

7) Finding out a healer or any other class for that matter - except for the MT - is just a cog in the machine. Although it seemed I was wanted to heal, if I wasn't available I was simply replaced to keep the machine going.

8) Getting the epics that I desired, but realizing there is always better and always something that can be replaced - but as a healer - they didn't really need to be replaced.

9) Finally admitting (in part because of the Burning Crusade) that maybe raiding is no longer for me.

I like being part of a group that accomplishes things but as a priest I haven't really grown with my class - I do the same thing now in Naxx as I did when I entered MC.

At first it was all brand new, then I did it out of obligation, then I did it because I had a friend raiding that I socialized with, now I do it out of habit.

The Burning Crusade cannot come soon enough.

Why the rush?

One of my raid leaders is in beta and almost each day he reports back on instances he's done. He tells us how we should hurry and get to them.

I'm not sure how long he was in alpha but it puzzles me why he is going so fast through the content. He's max level for beta (65? 67?) and it sounds like he's already done it all.

Some players live for end-game. The content that exists before you hit 60 (and now 70) is just something to plow through. Maybe my raid leader is like that, I didn't know him before I started raiding with him.

But looking back on things, although I've been doing nothing but raiding for most of this year, the majority of my fun was leveling up the very first time. Raid kills are definitely memorable, but to have a choice between raiding or doing something new? I'd have to leave raiding behind. I don't want to rush through the fun stuff just to start raiding again.

I've played around a bit in the starter areas of beta - I picked a paladin because I know for a fact I will never (ever) level another healing class in the live environment. Any time I put in on the paladin won't really feel like a waste, because she will be easily disposable when beta ends.

But when I get a chance to play my level 60 priest in beta (I've been waiting for a friend to join me) I don' t really want to rush through all the content. I've been longing for new things to do, I don't want to use that all up in a matter of weeks.

When you can't say no

Being weak-willed never serves in your best interest.

Blessing in disguise

I've been having some trouble with my computer. It has been causing me to play the game less. While it is irritating I think it is a blessing in disguise.

Guild goodbyes

The majority, maybe all, of the people who have left the guild I'm in did not do so on good terms. And mostly all revolve around loot and raid slotting.

Now before I go further, the initial goal of the guild has been long forgotten (RP) and was non-existent when I joined. I joined specifically to raid, and most people that join the guild now are doing so to raid. Or because their friends are raiding and they want to raid with them. So if anyone leaves because of raid issues that really isn't dropping a bombshell.

One left because he wanted to lead. But he had no position in the guild and as a result was always butting heads with one of the officers. He left for a guild further in raid progression than we are. He links what loot he's gotten and sometimes informs me of progress. I guess he's happy.

A few others left because of loot. I didn't know at the time but apparently they disliked some of the healers rolling on dps loot. They quickly found new homes, actually they found homes before they gquit. Our current raid leader has said if you want to join another guild, leave ours first. But really no one wants to be left guildless, even if the guild isn't exactly what they want at the time.

One, who recently posted on the guild forums that they would forever be loyal to the guild, left in a huff because more of his class was being recruited (meaning less raid slots). He had rerolled from a warrior to a rogue, in a nicely kept-from-the-guild stink about not being allowed a chance at some legendary loot. He sadly found out that most top end guilds don't have room for another rogue (priest? that's a different story but if you've read much of my blog you know why). He actually humbly asked for a spot back in our guild but was voted down by the officers. I was really surprised about that. He recently found home in another guild on their warrior. So after all that they still didn't get to play the class they wanted to.

Then others have left because, to tell the truth our guild officers do rule with a type of monarchy. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I realize the burden that officers bear and I would never want to be that donkey! My choice was to let them do what they wanted, since it really never affects me - although I think one day it will. The players that left couldn't put up with not having a voice or being blacklisted when they used that voice.

But the most recent gquit and the reason for this post was the saddest because it was a player who really never tried to rock the boat much. He hardly ever piped up about loot. And all he wanted to do was raid. He was always prepared and on time. However he was never at the top of the dps chart and perhaps lacked the best "skill" at pulling. They added positions that allowed you to automatically get slots for raids and he felt (since it was kinda his idea) that he would get one. When they didn't choose him, he felt that was a sign for him to leave. He openly posted he was looking for a nother guild and the officers said he could stay until he found one. He found one rather quickly that had old friends of his. I'm so happy he found it. But it was still sad to say goodbye.

More fun that is bad...

The View from the Top

Day 2 of disconnects

Another raid missed due to disconnects. And I spent several hours repairing (which meant stripping my game of the addons I use) seeing that it didn't make a difference, re-adding a few addons I needed for raiding, trying to raid with the disconnects, and finally giving up.

I should have just played beta.

Another first kill missed

After logging on early and preparing for last night's raid traveling to the entrance and camping until time to start I thought I was ready for the evening.

Around 8 I log in and my game disconnects, for the next 45 minutes I try to get in. My limit is an hour - but I made it in. Then for the rest of the evening I kept dc'ing.

I could tell my guild would kill this boss we had been attempting for a while. But I was useless as I kept disconnecting, and finally I gave up.

Today I heard they killed the boss just like I knew they would, in the past I would be really disappointed - but I can tell raiding, while fun, is finally becoming less important to me. And I'm happy about that. I don't want to be distraught because I can't play this game.

New beginnings

Recently, I was fortunate to get a Burning Crusade beta invite through my guild leader. Thanks he who cannot be named!

The new Blood Elf and Draenei starter areas? As beautiful as they both were, the initial wonder of a brand new game wasn't there. I compare it to an alliance player going over to start a character hordeside for the first time. The mechanics are the same, the play is the same, just the landscape, npcs and mobs are different. Gather 3 of this, kill 10 of that. Well this is an expansion, not a brand new game - so I guess that is to be expected. Nevertheless I will save trying out a new race - I'll stay true to the Alliance - for when I actually purchase the game. I'll leave that type of beta testing to others.

My plan is to level up my priest a bit in the Outlands, I think this will be more exciting, because the stagnant feeling at 60 has always been a bummer. My priest has scrapped together decent dps gear at this point, so I'm respeccing to shadow in hopes I'll be able to heal just fine since we won't be facing raid dungeon bosses right off the bat.

There was a thread on the official forums about priests in beta dropping the ball on feedback to the community. As I kept reading the type of feedback certain players were looking for I simply am not interested in obtaining. What percentage of x does y do to z? While I understand games like this have always been a play in numbers - I'll leave that to the number crunchers.

From what I understand WoW wants the expansion to cater to casual more than raiders, and I can imagine many casual players are less interested in what will one more point of AP give them, than is the game fun to play again after 60?

Looking into the mirror

The friend of mine, who I mentioned when I first started this blog, recently said his parents talked to him about the amount of time he plays WoW.

Normally, they wouldn't have a clue - but due to a turn of events he ended up living back under their roof. And under their prying eyes as a result.

My friend recently got a job. So far his schedule hasn't stopped him from playing the game. And I thought everything was going okay with it, but out of the blue he says he hates the job.

He has a job he hates keeping him from playing the game that he loves. I wouldn't be surprised if he quits the job just so he can play the game more.

How do I know this? Because I can see it in myself.

I don't know how many times I've been disappointed to see players achieve what I could if only I had more time to play. How many times I've been disappointed that I had to log and get some sleep.

But in the Azeroth, many players are either young and have nothing but school to worry about, or they are housewives with nothing but home to worry about, or they are disabled with nothing but their computer or they are retired. In other words, people with tons of free time. People with real life commitments - namely work and children, should not try to compete or keep up with these people who have nothing to worry about but Tuesday outages.

That said, I find myself doing so and I spend way more time than I should in this game. I continue to try to cut back, but I keep coming back. I see the addiction in him because I see the addiction in myself.

Eek!

My blog isn't showing. Don't know what's wrong.

Mods

Without a doubt mods/addons have made my WoW game more enjoyable. Just like being able to use thottbot as added to the game.

People say it trivializes things or makes them to easy, and while I'm sure I could play the game without them - I'd miss them.

There has been a discussion about removing things like decursive. While several support classes will soldier on and learn how to play without it, it will add tedium to those of us who raid.

It adds one more reason why I want to try out playing a dps class in raids. Preferably one that doesn't have to look after anyone else but themselves. But that goes totally against how I am and how I like to play. /shrug

The Support Class

I'm getting tired of it.

Playing a thankless role is okay when just the act of doing it is enough. But once that enjoyment is gone, all that is left is the feeling that you're doing something for someone who could care less that you're doing it.

So couple the fact the person you are supporting could care less and the fact that you yourself could care less makes a light bulb appear over your head - "Why am I doing this?"

Life in Oblivion

After doing the 5-man I remembered I needed to pick some herbs for mana pots (groan!) I really didn't want to do and sticking to my "I will not treat this game like a job" I logged off.

I decided to try a little more of Oblivion - I didn't take the time to figure out how to save, so the last time I played I ended back doing a some of the same stuff over and over again. Finally I figured it out and was saving like crazy - I need to find out if there is an autosave...

Well the graphics are just INCREDIBLE and I haven't even made it from underground. Sad thing is I'm already having that feeling of "kill ten rats" - "kill a few mobs" - "kill a boss". Yeah rpg deja vu.

Its not that its a bad thing, and the less enamored I am with the game the less likely I'll spend every waking moment playing it - but I kinda miss that pull that WoW first gave me. Probably that same feeling players had when they first played Everquest (I didn't even know it existed until most players had quit - I tried out EQ2, but by then had started playing WoW). I guess from here on out, everything will just be an imitation.

5-man!

I was on my hunter (working on my leatherworking as usual) when someone in the guild said their Baron run was falling apart and they needed dps. Of course I couldn't help them in that regard, but a few minutes later their healer dropped too and I offered my services, they had worked all the way to the barrister so I figured what the hay.

Well, it wasn't a few minutes in that I died! I forgot how different healing in 40-mans is different than 5-mans. Huge chance for me to draw all kinds of aggro and not have a bunch of others standing in front of me to pick it up.

I shook it off and reminded myself I actually have to do things in a 5-man (gasp!) and as usual I had more fun. Being "uber" geared helped of course, my mana was not really an issue, except when the 60 pally tank went down and we were at the point where the mobs keep coming at you - so I had to try to rez fast and drink, before we were back in combat. It was furious fun, I actually holy nova'd some mobs after the mage went down. And helped wand Rammstein final hp away! Did I mention we had sub 60s in the party? They were getting hit hard!

Looking back I was impressed with how well we did. While you should never underestimate how kick-ass pallies are in undead instances - I still wasn't sure we'd get past those 5 skeletons right before the Baron. Once we did amazingly I still had doubts about the Baron himself. But we downed him with no deaths.

I'm thinking I should do more 5-mans again. With the gear I have now they really are fun (no more oom distress) and a nice alternative to farming - I got a few runecloth, coin and was able to DE some stuff - and I wasn't even there for the majority of the run.

Maybe I can do some more 5-mans this weekend...we shall see.

For reference

Spell Damage

A healer rants..

Not me this time!

Didn't play much

But still haven't gotten down to where I'm not playing at all on given days.

Got on my hunter and dinged 46 while working toward the tribal leatherworking quest - you get quests to make several different pieces (Wish I had known ahead of time and set aside some of the things I had made earlier!) in order to get to talk to the npc that gives you the tribal LW quest. In the meantime, I got a bunch of xp for those quests and little extra grinding on the wolves in the area is all it took. I didn't even really want to do the last few bars, but I was like what the heck.

I'd really like to get to the point where I don't push myself to do anything in this game I don't look forward to doing.

The whole "this is a game not work" thing...

Character creators

I installed Oblivion, but only had time to get to the character creator.

One of my favorite things to do in a rpg is to create a character. I'm not talking about its hardiness or diplomacy or intellect or strength - I'm talking about how my character will look.

If there is one thing that City of Heroes excelled in was its character creator. I spent alot of time playing - got a character to the max at the time - 50 I think. But I spent alot of time creating new characters just so I could choose how they would look, what they would wear, their name and identity. I big push was to earn influence (CoH money? I don't remember!) just so you could go shopping for more costumes. I don't know how many times I just created a character and did nothing but hang out in Atlas Park to see what people thought about it.

Then there is WoW. In WoW everyone's character essentially looks the same within the same race. You have a small set of faces to choose from - and some are so hideous you'd be hard-pressed to find anybody that actually chose them unless it was as a joke. And since the most coveted and best items are a small subset what's available, at 60 many start dressing in the same armor. I've caught glances of other night elf priests and for a split second thought they were me. One of the nice things about epics, is they are rare so you can look a little different than most - but even then you look just like every other raider.

While Oblivion is a single player rpg, I have no one to compare how I look - I still enjoy creating a "unique" looking character. Oblivion seems to allow that ability and of course, I'm sure I'll spend more time than necessary fine-tuning how she'll (I always make females) look.

Which is always funny because you spend most of your time looking at the back of your characters head.

I guess you can compare it to cars. Would you honestly enjoy the interior of a Bentley when the exterior was a Pacer?

Oblivion

Since things in WoW seem to continue to bother me a bit more than I'm sure they should - I finally broke down and purchased a single player rpg.

Yes, I probably should go outside instead, but baby steps!

I'm not even sure I'll play much of Oblivion. I guess I'm just hoping for something else to turn to when that gnawing feeling of I-don't-want-to-play-wow-but-I-am-anyway hits me.

Some guildmates shared screenshots, the graphics look great, and everyone who has played it seems to have enjoyed it.

I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

Anonymity and the Internet

Ain't it the truth

"It is just a game."

In regards to WoW, this is what people say to win an argument.

Regardless of whether your stance has merit or not, they get the upper hand by using this simple statement.

What happens is they trivialize the matter. But remember this - no one can put a price on what you value. Not an accurate one.

Funny thing is, the people who use this argument "it is just a game" don't really have anything else they can counter with - otherwise they wouldn't resort to it. Pretty flimsy eh?

Randomness of rewards

One thing any regular raider notices after a while is loot doesn't necessarily go to the most "deserving" person.

Some guilds gear up their main tanks first. Others may see this as favoritism toward warriors. Some guilds don't allow non cookie cutter builds (feral druids, shadow priests) first choice on non-set pieces, because they don't want to be unfair to the "pure" classes. Some guilds allow alts and guests the same chance at loot as the veteran players.

The last category is what bugs me most.

I think it would be hard to find a guild that is pushing progression, also allowing alts to win loot over the mains or guests who show up for one raid in a month over someone who has been there 4-6 days a week.

Gear and attendance are some very key ingredients to success. Those who attend most should have the best gear as a result.

But the randomness of rewards don't ensure this. Your class may go months without a shield dropping or a bow, etc.

So couple that with the issue of when it does drop, you can have someone not even in the guild win it. You can imagine how basically - sucky - that can be.