Is WoW (still) a good game?

I am really losing my fucking mind. Most of it is over forum trolls. People that all day complain about how crappy and "casual" and easy WoW is and how everything Blizzard does is ruining the game ON WOW/WOW RELATED FORUMS. THESE PEOPLE ARE WASTING THEIR TIME POSTING ON HOW SHITTY A GAME IS ON FORUMS ABOUT THE GAME WHEN THEY COULD BE PLAYING ANOTHER GAME AND SAVING THE QQ.

It is the most hypocritical load of bullshit ever.

"Hey everyone WoW is so easy and everything is so casual and this game is dying. /end post"
/open WoW.exe

You know that is EXACTLY what happens. People run their mouth and then run to the game.



The question I wanted to pose is this. Is WoW a good game?

My answer obviously yes. I think the problem people have is they keep judging WoW on every change it has ever made and comparing it to everything it has ever done. But if someone was to go out today and pick this game up off the shelf, never having played it before, what would they think of it? My guess is, if they like MMO's, they would like this game. Of course this game isn't for everyone, but why are MILLIONS (you really can't even comprehend millions) of people playing this game if it is so shitty? Also, if everything Blizzard is doing is ruining the game and everyone is quitting because it sucks now, why is there proof subscriptions are growing.

World of Warcraft is the most successful MMO of all time (based on subscriptions) and how would that be possible if the game is dead and dying and sucks. The game got there some how. Anyone can have a valid complaint about anything, but all these people that keep saying that "the next patch is going to kill WoW" (which has been said before EVERY SINGLE PATCH EVER) need to just fucking stop.

I will leave everyone with this link which, in my opinion is a pretty fucking awesome list.

BEST SELLING VIDEO GAMES OF ALL TIME

Expansions, Patches, Raids, Progression

Yes, this insane wall of text is planning on covering it all... I want to talk about how expansions and patches change the game, as well as, how raids and progression has evolved through said expansions and patches. Last, I want to speculate on how all of this relates to the future/Cataclysm.

Expansions:
I love expansions and I love keeping a game that deserves it going and alive with expansions. A big complaint about the expansions in WoW, is that as soon as one comes out, all the end game in the previous version is obsolete. When an expansion for WoW comes out, they try to bridge the ilvl gap quickly and some items that were once epic are replaced quickly with blues or greens. Granted, in Wrath of the Lich King the ilvl gap wasn't closed as quick as it was in The Burning Crusade, but it is still a valid point to make. Honestly, I don't have a problem with expansions making gear and content obsolete, I believe a lot of people play for the moment and are ready to move on by the time an expansion comes out. So the complaint I mentioned before was not mine, just one I have heard. A complaint that I have, is when content is not left in it's original state. Example, Naxxramas and Onyxia. While I am glad they amped them up so they are relevant to a max level now, I wish they kept stuff the original way so future players could see it, should they choose to. An example of this, Karazhan, a really crazy and fun raid and I am glad I can go steamroll it at 80 so I can show my girlfriend, who didn't play during TBC, cool stuff like the Opera Event and Chess.

Patches:
People pay $15 dollars every month with the promise of new content and maintenance. I am very pleased with how open Blizzard is about the details of patch development, the rate new content is implemented, and the quality of said content. My only current complaint about patches is something that I will also address further down the post, the fact that patches are actually making content obsolete now and not just leaving that to expansions. For example, in patch 3.2 a 5 man dungeon, Trial of the Champion, was implemented that dropped ilvl 200 epics on normal and a fresh 80 (technically 78) could go run it and get epics, actually making the need for any other 5 man normal (or heroic), and even 10 man Naxxramas/Sarth+0, obsolete. However, there are certain drops that are really good in those dungeons and might warrant a run in them, but you could in all actuality, run the 5man ToC normal until you gear up enough for Heroic, then only run 5man ToC heroic until you gear up fully in there, and then go straight into 10man Trial of the Crusader. Therefore making normal 80 dungeons, heroic 80 dungeons, 10/25 Naxx, and 10 Ulduar obsolete. In the next patch, 3.3, 3 new 5 mans will be coming out that will drop ilvl 219 on normal and 232 on heroic. So if they are not any harder than the other normal 5 mans and heroic 5 mans in the game currently, the next patch will make almost every dungeon and raid in the game obsolete in terms of gear, save for Trial of the Crusader 25man and Trial of the Grand Crusader 10/25 man.

Raids:
Raids have gone through A LOT of change since WoW was released. I wasn't raiding in the original WoW, although I had a lot of friends that did, I don't want to try and sound like I know everything about it since I wasn't doing it personally. What I do know is this, when you got to about 57 - 60 you started running the high level 5 man dungeons to start gearing up for raids. You would start putting together a dungeon set of gear, while questing to get attuned to raids, and while trying to get rep with certain end game factions like the Argent Dawn. Back then the raids varied in size, from I think 10 to 15 to 20 to 40.

Fast forward to The Burning Crusade. Now you hit 70, run normal dungeons and quest to try and get rep up to "Revered" with certain factions so you can buy the key to the Heroic version of their dungeons. So basically new heroic dungeons were introduced and that is how you started to gear up for raids. Also, you had to get attuned for Karazhan, so attunements were still in. Also they tried to standardize the raid size to 10 and 25 man raids. I wont go into the drama it put some guilds in but you can imagine I'm sure going from a 40 man to a 10. However, the problem was that you had to gear 25 people up in Kara to progress to Gruul's Lair and Mag's. 10 + 10 = 20, so where are the other 5 people getting gear? then after that you had 25 man raids in Tempest Keep and SSC, but then they added another 10 man in ZA. Then the finished it off with a 25 man Black Temple, then a 40 man Sunwell. SO AS YOU CAN SEE, Blizzard was all over the place.

Fast forward once more, to Wrath of the Lich King. Blizzard stuck with the standard in The Burning Crusade of Heroic dungeons to gear up when you hit 80, but they dropped the rep requirement. Also, no attunements to run raids in Wrath. They also standardized the raid sizes to 10 and 25 man, which makes it to where you can actually run with a raid group and not have to worry about who is geared and how you are going to gear them up if the raid members are consistent. Not much to say about raids in Wrath, chances are if you are reading this you already know all about them. My personal opinion is that the way they did raids this expansion is by far the best and I hope they continue this. From what was said at Blizzcon, they are going to keep this format.

Progression:
Although I touched on this a couple times in previous segments, I want to make myself more clear. When you hit max level in every version of the game, where did you go for gear and where did you go once you got all that? WoW has a tiered gear system. You get a certain level of gear, then you are ready for a harder level of raid. Tier 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 and so on. In the original WoW, progression was pretty straight forward once you knew what the path was. The Burning Crusade progression was similar, except when they released the Sunwell patch, then you could obtain high level gear by running lower level dungeons and raids and buying the gear with badges. In Wrath of the Lich King, they have actually changed the progression path more than once and are continuing to throughout the next major path as well. Honestly, there has been so much time between the patch changing that the only people really effected are Alt's (for the better) and slow levelers not max level yet. Like I said before, I have a problem with patches changing the progression path, because of the making of content pretty much obsolete. However, as I am writing this one of the big changes of Patch 3.3 is weekly raid quests that will send our heroes back into lower tier raids to kill a boss and get a phat lewt turn in. So Blizzard is already trying to fix the patch obsoleteness.




I wanted to cover all of this to say, I think Blizzard is on the right track how they are going, and I hope a lot of what they have learned over the past 2 expansions they are putting in Cataclysm. You can see things have changed quite a bit, so who really knows how they will handle the 4 things I mentioned above? I would like to think it will be more like Wrath. They made all content available for all players which is good. However, I hope they don't kill progression paths every patch. Basically, I hope you don't just have to wait until patch 4.3 to kill Deathwing even if you only gear up in 5 mans up until that point (which is how it will be come 3.3 with the Lich King). My final thought on that is, just because Blizzard is making many modes of the content so everyone can see it, doesn't mean you shouldn't have to raid and progress to get the gear before hand. Thoughts? Opinions?

Patch 3.3 Emblem Change

I might go back to posting on the ridiculousness of restrooms in my area soon, but today I wanted to give my thoughts on something that generated a lot of rage, not so long ago, and the potential rage it could currently bring. I go where the rage goes people!

In patch 3.2, all dungeons that currently dropped Emblems of Heroism/Valor started dropping Emblems of Conquest. This got a lot of people up in arms about loot, gear, welfare epics, etc.

The big deal was that people who raided complained that they worked for their gear and now any scrub running 5 mans could one day get the gear they have. (Notice I didn't use the word "achieved," while it is true gear can be a representation of what you have achieved, it is no longer a standard.) The counterpoint from other raiders was basically this, "Fine, give them the gear we have, they haven't ran raids and we know what we are doing. Skill>gear. Also, we can gear up our alts faster to so why are we even complaining?"

Now in patch 3.3, "All dungeons that previously dropped Emblems of Conquest will drop Emblems of Triumph."

I am going to be honest and say I did not see this change coming and was excited when it was announced. After I settled down the change makes sense and I know what Blizzard is trying to do. There are millions of people that play this game for a hundred different reasons. In this expansion, Blizzard is trying to make sure that even someone who doesn't raid and only runs 5 mans can possibly gear up to one day fight the Lich King, should they have the time to get the group together and such. It is about content. Blizzard has said they they don't want to put content into the game that only 5% of the players get to experience. So if that means giving away epics like candy so that you can raid the current content, fine.

I would like to think that everyone who plays this game is playing to have fun. As much as I started to rage when my friends started out gearing me with 5 man ToC gear, I see where Blizzard is going with this expansion and what they are trying to do. If I only have to run 5 mans for a couple of weeks and then get to fight the Lich King with ten different alts, awesome. If you play to see new content, why not make gearing up for it easier (for many people) the second time around? If you are a raider you probably already have a geared toon ready for the Lich King, so now, you can grab and alt and not have to raid so much to gear up to do it again. Blizzard is making things easier the second time around and i think it is all for the better.

If you play the game because you want a challenge and you want to beat your head on the desk after wiping constantly, WoW has hard modes. However, if you just want to see all the content because you paid $50 for a game and then $15 bucks a month for a year waiting for the "Final Boss," well then go down the Lich King.

One point I do want to make soon is how raid progression has evolved through WoW and it's 2 expansions and what the future will hold for raiding. Post on my thoughts about that, coming soon, when I can collect them all coherently.

FOLLOW THE CODE FFS!

OMFG. Yeah, you can probably already guess what happened. If you can't, here is a hint, I POSTED A BLOG ON THE EXACT TOPIC YESTERDAY. Before you read further, I am warning you, you might wish you hadn't. So here it goes...

10 minutes ago.

I walk to the bathroom (floor 2) and see one of the two stalls is occupied. So I walk out and head to floor 3. Walk into the third floor bathroom, empty. Go into the stall and start my business. Someone walks in, I wait, they use the urinal. "THANK GOD," I was thinking. They leave. Then someone else walks in. Could I be so lucky as to have two pissers in a row? OF COURSE NOT! Some fucking guy comes in and sits right down next to me. So I hurry up and try to finish and bolt out of there. But no... Not fast enough. No, I couldn't make it out unharmed. I was subjected to hearing him pissing, grunting, shitting, and some other noise that I am hoping I can repress.

Look, I get if you gotta go you gotta go, as the old saying goes. But why couldn't he have done what I did and try to find another bathroom, or hold it for 5 minutes? It's not like it grosses me out to where I am going to be sick, I know everyone does it, but why does he feel the need to subject someone else to his bodily functions?

I almost feel the need to put fliers in every bathroom at work, reminding people of the code.

So yeah, just a quick update and a chance to say, FML!

Rant over Public Bathrooms

Ahh... "The Code." Many men know of this fondly. Instead of familiarizing everyone with the code I will link to some awesome other articles I found while doing "research." They have a lot of the same rules and stuff so you can just skim through if you like. (Note: Image above is from a t-shirt that can be purchased at the first link below.)

http://t-shirts.cafepress.com/item/stick-to-the-code-light-tshirt-neutral-grey/283534551

http://www.listafterlist.com/tabid/57/listid/9325/Everything+Else/Mens+Bathroom+Etiquette+and+Toilet+Stall+Rules.aspx

http://www.thoughtsfromthejockstrap.com/articles-2009/august/taylor.html

http://nowthatsnifty.blogspot.com/2009/07/urinal-rules-and-ettiquette.html

Now we are back to the original reason I wanted to write this. What happens when there can be no code? Well, at least, no code in the original sense of the code. For example, at my office on each floor there is a restroom. Two urinals and two stalls. You have no choice but to get shoulder to shoulder and get down to business. And I am not just talking about urinals. THERE ARE ONLY 2 STALLS RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER. I can't stress this enough. Also, no they are not like the big handicap stalls or anything. They are both, combined, about 6 ft across. So you are literally sitting in a less than 3' cube with about 6 inches separating you from the guy next to you. So while it is already bad enough you have to sit in the stall next to some stranger and listen to them do their business, YOU ARE LITERALLY INCHES AWAY FROM THEM.

It is so bad that if there is someone in there already in a stall, I have to walk to another floor. The most I have had to go up was three floors to find an empty restroom. Luckily, some other guys recognize how horrible this is and as soon as they walk in and see someone going, they turn right back out and leave. So I guess that is the code for my work. "If someone is already in session, just turn around and leave. Hold it for 10 minutes and try again." A very shitty code, no pun intended, but it works.

Of course, not everyone follows this code. It is so torturous to me to have to sit that close to a stranger that I have actually, swear to God, gotten up and went up a floor to finish in private. Immature? Maybe. Better? ABSOLUTELY.

So I will close this up with a quiz. Hopefully you browsed through the links. Answers are below the quiz to check if you passed.



















Answers: A-1. B-3. C-1. D-5. E-Sink. :)

Raging over Bestial Wrath change and my findings...

I used this picture because I had planned on being a happy hunter after testing the new Bestial Wrath on the PTR. So does is actually get the seal of approval? NO!!! The change is SHIT! Blizzard had the perfect opportunity to close the gap in PvE dps from BM to MM and SV and what did it do? Gave us an overall 2% dps increase. FUCKING 2%! Honestly, after taking forever to download the PTR, testing my dps on the PTR, and then testing my dps on live I could see no difference. It seriously looked like I was doing less dps on the PTR if not the same. This could be because of procs and crits and the sort, but what I am trying to say is a 2% increase on a spreadsheet can easily lead to an increase of NOTHING when actually fighting.

Here is what Bestial Wrath was changed to and what I assume will be it's final rendition before going live this week or next:

Bestial Wrath - Blah blah blah lasts 10 seconds.

The Beast Within - "Increases all damage you deal by 10% and while your pet is under the effects of Bestial Wrath, you also go into a rage causing 10% additional damage and reducing mana costs of all spells by 50% for 10 sec. While enraged, you do not feel pity or remorse or fear and you cannot be stopped unless killed.”

The newest change was reducing the shot cost by 50% for the ten second duration. What I got from that when I tested was that I lasted about 10 - 15 seconds longer before I was out of mana AT THE MOST. I didn't really test this as much, but it was just something I noticed.

And here are a few links for the mathy stuff behind the change... Which like I said, 2% increase is the general consensus, even though it looked pretty much the same.

http://huntsmanslodge.com/3860/beast-mastery-buff.htm
http://huntsmanslodge.com/3871/how-bout-them-apples.htm
http://huntsmanslodge.com/3891/beast-mastery-changes-acceptance-and-ponderings.htm
http://hunter-dps.dungeoneer.com/2009/09/new-ptr-tooltip-reads-increases-all.html

So, in closing, Blizzard/WoW Dev Team/Ghostcrawler all know what to do to increase BM dps. They had a perfect opportunity and didn't go for it. This actually reminds me of a reflection I had about the new mastery system unveiled at Blizzcon... Maybe I will post about that next...

Rage and Reflection: BM Hunter Nerf/Buff in Patch 3.2 PTR Build 10433

First things first,

New Format - I am going to go weekly with this blog!
No Holds Barred - I am going to cover anything and everything that comes to mind!
NSFW - Fuck trying to be polite and proper! I am an adult and time to rage like one! (Or will I be raging like a child? I think that only applies to QQ...)

So the topic of controversy today comes from MMO-champion.com (link to the right, fuck all that embedding shit).

Hunter
Beast Mastery
The Beast Within now lasts 10 sec (Down from 18 sec) but now also increases all damage you deal by 10% at all time.
Bestial Wrath now lasts 10 sec. (Down from 18 sec)


When I first saw the change I was like, "WTF IS THAT SHIT!!!!" Then I thought about it some more and realized that the change is a clever one, Blizzard nerfed BM PvP and "buffed" BM PvE. I used "buffed" because 10% increased damage at all times sounds like a buff but I have not tested it. But guess what? It just so happens I am a Hunter who raids as... BM! I also raid as MM, so now I can go download the PTR when I get home and actually test it and edit my post since I am obviously a fucking failure who would complain about something before ever doing any research on my own. Wait a second... isn't there a huge amount of people on forums about the World of Warcraft that do that? Like the classic, "WoW is too easy because you can get epics from heroics and a guild cleared a 25 man heroic dungeon in one day so everything is too easy even though my guild still runs Naxx." Another time... Another time...

Back on topic. Once upon a time there was a spec for PvP that was along the lines of 50/21/0. It was nicknamed the "36 second hunter build." If you didn't look at the spec or don't know anything about this, it meant that you popped all your cooldowns, zerged the other team, focus fire someone for 18 seconds, then hit readiness, and do it all over again to the same person (if they need it) or another person. Such a ridiculously FUN, and sadly OP, spec. So they nerfed readiness and made it to where is doesn't affect Bestial Wrath. Apparently 18 seconds is still too long to be OP, so they made it a 10 second duration. You know what else has a 10 second duration? A fucking mage's iceblock and a pally's I-take-no-damage bubble. So, as people pointed out on the MMO-champion forums, BM hunters in arena get to be laughed at as they blow Bestial Wrath only to watch a mage or pally sit there are be immune for ten seconds. Personally, I think they should change readiness so when BW is wasted, it can be useful again. I know this sounds crazy but isn't there another class in the game that excels in close quarters combat and can use all there cooldowns and then reset them? *cough* FUCKING ROGUES THAT'S WHO *cough*

So a rogue gets to open up on someone twice if they blow all their cooldowns but a hunter doesn't?

On the PvE side of things, as BM, your pet does about 40 - 60% of your DPS. The variety is from the mobility of the fight. If you get to stand still a lot, then you and your pet are even and you are possibly ahead. If you have to run around a lot, your pet usually passes you in dps contribution. As MM, your pet does about 20% of your dps, if even that much. So by nerfing (arguably) the only signature in the BM tree, your pet's dps is nerfed and yours is buffed. From what I have noticed with my own test prior to this news, my MM spec is a constant 200 - 300 dps above my BM spec. However, my MM spec isn't straight agility gemmed due to BM being my main spec so the dps increase from BM to MM could be more. If this change adds a flat 10% dps increase, with no loss from the shortening of BW (unlikely), my BM spec would be on par with my MM spec.

I PvE more than I PvP. So do I think the change sucks for PvP, yes. I don't know if it sucks for PvE yet but just throwing this out there, BM is a really cool tree. My one hope if this change goes live is that it brings BM dps up and people will stop saying that BM DPS IS NOT VIABLE.