So while the patch is out, and everybody is working on different new things, I'm stuck at work. And due to maintenance taking so long yesterday we couldn't play in our evening anymore either.
Well, we did play on our EU characters a little (close to 77 now yay!), but it's not the same.
This morning I went to grab my raptor pet, picked up an orphan and flew around like mad to try and get that done before I had to leave for work....no chance.
The saddest part is that I can't even take time off since my schedule at work today is just too busy and I unfortunately have too much sense of responsibility.
Darn, I want to play so badly and go into that new dungeon, darn, darn!
PS: Don't expect a post tonight, I'll be playing!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Your fault, our fault, my fault
Matticus has a post up to see who or what is to blame when someone dies. And while he's accurately pointing out possible causes of raid deaths and wipes, I really cannot advice the blame game that comes with your fault, our fault.
Now I have to say that I hate pointing fingers anyways. I also don't like fail mods too much. If you're in a guild raid you should be able to expect people to do the best they possibly can. And people simply make mistakes sometimes, it happens.
And there are much better ways to discuss what happened, and how to prevent it in the future. Ways that will keep your raid motivated, because once you start pointing fingers there is always someone who will play less good afterward. Either because that pointed finger is aimed at you, or because it is aimed at someone you need to trust to do your own job properly and a little seed of doubt is planted.
What to do instead?
There are several ways to handle these situations. Some are a bit more general, while others are definitely a bit more direct. Depending on the situation, the how manniest wipe it was, and how often this player has already been the cause of wiping you can use one (or combination of) the following.
For non fight related issues I would almost always take step 3. Talk it over with the person and ask if it's ok to discuss it with them after raid. You generally don't want to make your entire raid wait for some non-raid related issue.
What Matticus list is good for
Matticus has lined out perfectly the sources of damage that should be avoided at all cost since there is simply no repair possible from them. They are the abilities that you should recognize immediately and stamp them in your head the first.
The red rockets from Mimi is an example. Everybody in the raid should run like hell when the red square is under their feet. It should be your first priority, over preventing other sources of damage.
A lot of damage is preventable or repairable, but these are the things you should recognize instantly and and just get the hell out of them.
So I would suggest to use his list, not as a guideline to find where you can put the blame, but as a guideline to which priorities the 'getting out of the fire' crap has. If you run out of a red rocket into a napalm...well darn, that stinks, a lot. And ideally you should run out of the red rocket and the napalm, but of two bads you at least chose the least bad.
Now I have to say that I hate pointing fingers anyways. I also don't like fail mods too much. If you're in a guild raid you should be able to expect people to do the best they possibly can. And people simply make mistakes sometimes, it happens.
And there are much better ways to discuss what happened, and how to prevent it in the future. Ways that will keep your raid motivated, because once you start pointing fingers there is always someone who will play less good afterward. Either because that pointed finger is aimed at you, or because it is aimed at someone you need to trust to do your own job properly and a little seed of doubt is planted.
What to do instead?
There are several ways to handle these situations. Some are a bit more general, while others are definitely a bit more direct. Depending on the situation, the how manniest wipe it was, and how often this player has already been the cause of wiping you can use one (or combination of) the following.
- Analyze the raid in general terms. If you saw 3 or 4 people die to void zones mention that everybody should be more careful to not stand in void zones. The people who did die to void zones do know it was them, really they do.
And that without you needing to point them out, sticking a hunter's mark above their heads with neon signage and saying that so and so should not be standing in the void zone. People are left feeling a lot more comfortable with this. - If with the general discussion people don't seem to grasp that they need to pick it up because it was them screwing up, whisper them.
Yes, this may take a moment away from spending the time to your entire raid. But, if your entire raid can profit from a 5 minute whispered conversation, there is nothing wrong with doing so. By not calling this person out publically they get to keep their dignity, and you can actually give out tips specifically to this person. - If people are still not clear on what they should do it is generally best to wait until after raid and go over the fight with them and explain what they did wrong.
For non fight related issues I would almost always take step 3. Talk it over with the person and ask if it's ok to discuss it with them after raid. You generally don't want to make your entire raid wait for some non-raid related issue.
What Matticus list is good for
Matticus has lined out perfectly the sources of damage that should be avoided at all cost since there is simply no repair possible from them. They are the abilities that you should recognize immediately and stamp them in your head the first.
The red rockets from Mimi is an example. Everybody in the raid should run like hell when the red square is under their feet. It should be your first priority, over preventing other sources of damage.
A lot of damage is preventable or repairable, but these are the things you should recognize instantly and and just get the hell out of them.
So I would suggest to use his list, not as a guideline to find where you can put the blame, but as a guideline to which priorities the 'getting out of the fire' crap has. If you run out of a red rocket into a napalm...well darn, that stinks, a lot. And ideally you should run out of the red rocket and the napalm, but of two bads you at least chose the least bad.
Patch Today?
So WoW.com is indicating that the patch will be dropping today after all. Either way there's extended maintenance today on the US servers.
I guess season 7 won't be coming at the same time as the patch then? At least this isn't too surprising, it happened before that this didn't come at the same time.
I guess season 7 won't be coming at the same time as the patch then? At least this isn't too surprising, it happened before that this didn't come at the same time.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Jaina the fortune cookie?
Hrm...so yah, it does indeed seem no patch yet this week, at least no news has gone out at all yet, and the PTR was working just 5 minutes ago.
Soooo..I went over to the EU servers and poked my priest there a little. Currently waiting for the others in my pug to show up for a violet hold run. (and of course once I start writing they're all there within 20 seconds).
Thror and I did the wrathgate event earlier. We went through the Undercity and everything, and one of the things Jaina said made me think about some things. Thror and myself got into a heated discussion about it, where he started telling me what could and could not happen according to lore.
But I say, forget about lore! Forget about what the world of warcraft has taught us so far, and lets think out of the box.
I bet you're wondering now what it was that Jaina said, heh?
This was in the throne room of Thrall.
And then the next thought came...what if all those masks that we've seen now, are not new races for either faction, but what if they were a faction?
What if the new factions are Horde teamed up with Alliance against the rest?
It would be such an epic tale to tell, and such an epic story to follow. And somewhere deep down (I don't care what lore says) it sort of makes sense as well that people come to see reason.
The whole world is at war. Horde and Alliance have common enemies, and the only reason that Alliance is still not working with the horde is that idiot Wrynn it seems. Well I say lets bump him off the throne, have Jaina and Thrall marry, and start a new kingdom!
Horde and Alliance unite!
PS: I'll personally come mail you a copper for the best description of what their kids would look like, as long as you're on EU or USA servers somewhere!
PSS: Patch is next week, confirmed by blue poster in French, here. (Yes, I do speak French.)
Soooo..I went over to the EU servers and poked my priest there a little. Currently waiting for the others in my pug to show up for a violet hold run. (and of course once I start writing they're all there within 20 seconds).
Thror and I did the wrathgate event earlier. We went through the Undercity and everything, and one of the things Jaina said made me think about some things. Thror and myself got into a heated discussion about it, where he started telling me what could and could not happen according to lore.
But I say, forget about lore! Forget about what the world of warcraft has taught us so far, and lets think out of the box.
I bet you're wondering now what it was that Jaina said, heh?
This was in the throne room of Thrall.
- Lady Jaina Proudmoore says: "I fear that the rage will consume him, Thrall. I remain hopeful that reason will prevail, but we must prepare for the worst... for war."
- Lady Jaina Proudmoore says: "Farewell, Warchief. I pray that the next time we meet it will be as allies."
And then the next thought came...what if all those masks that we've seen now, are not new races for either faction, but what if they were a faction?
What if the new factions are Horde teamed up with Alliance against the rest?
It would be such an epic tale to tell, and such an epic story to follow. And somewhere deep down (I don't care what lore says) it sort of makes sense as well that people come to see reason.
The whole world is at war. Horde and Alliance have common enemies, and the only reason that Alliance is still not working with the horde is that idiot Wrynn it seems. Well I say lets bump him off the throne, have Jaina and Thrall marry, and start a new kingdom!
Horde and Alliance unite!
PS: I'll personally come mail you a copper for the best description of what their kids would look like, as long as you're on EU or USA servers somewhere!
PSS: Patch is next week, confirmed by blue poster in French, here. (Yes, I do speak French.)
Back from Away
I'm back! I've had a great weekend, we've even been fairly lucky with the weather.If you want to see pictures, have a look here and here. Not my pictures, but they do give a good impression of what the festival is like. And yes, I too was 'in costume', like most other visitors. I have to admit that wearing a hoop skirt and a corset does somehow feel very feminine.
I was nowhere near as pretty as the girl in the picture though, and I don't even think she was an entertainer, I think she really was just a visitor who worked her ass off on her costomer (though I did see her score several cards from photographers that day).
The wicker man (beast) was set on fire on Saturday evening, and the atmosphere was amazing once again. So yeah, next year I'll be back there once more.
PugTastic!
I heard Xphile pulled it off to get a group together, and they even managed to kill Auriaya. Well done! They had a rough start on Saturday, but Sunday they pulled through and managed to get a few one shots!
I have to say that I'm still proud that a randomly grabbed together group can do so well. And almost everybody in the raid handles the loot pretty well as well. And almost all of the people in pugtastic understand that loot isn't a goal, loot is a means to an end.
Loot is only there in the game to help you get to the next level. To progress and beat the next encounter. It will be obsolete in the next two months again anyway.
Thanks Xphile for taking over in my absence, and doing such a good job. Raidleading isn't easy, and though we both know that as a leader you always try to do your best; there are always some who feel they know better. I'll be back this coming weekend to relieve you from the stressy job of herding cats ;)
Patch 3.2.
I have a little addon in iGoogle that shows me the server status of both my EU and US server. And this little addon has been going berserk all day already. Would this be a sign of patch tomorrow?
I'll have a closer look at some of the highlights of this patch later on today when I get home from work. So see you alls later!
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