I’m sure we’ve all heard the people in general chat saying things like, “LF4 More, Heroic MgT” or “LF2 More for H UB, need tank and heals.”  Why you would announce that you’re looking for more when you have neither of the most important classes, I have no idea.

Anyhow, no, I’m not actually looking for 24 more for Black Temple.  BT is, however, in my near future, I hope.  I raid in an alliance of about 5 guilds on the Whisperwind server.  None of the guilds can effectively run 25 mans on their own, so for some time we’ve had this alliance.  It start with Gruul, and moved on to Mags, SSC, TK and MH.  Now, we are set to hit the Black Temple.

Now then, I don’t agree with our progression, but I don’t have any say in these discussions, so my opinion doesn’t mean jack.  For some time we were running Gruul, Mags, SSC and TK pretty regularly.  We were spending 2 nights a week on TK and SSC, and we got to 5/6 in SSC and 2/4 in TK.  (That could be wrong on TK, don’t quote me on that.)

I have only participated in a couple Gruul and Mags runs, but I have been in a LOT of the SSC runs.  I was in the group that first killed Morogrim, FLK and Leo.  I was also in the first (and maybe only, I’m not sure) group that even took a crack at Lady V.  Personally, I wanted to continue down that path.  2 nights a week in SSC, the first night hopefully getting at least the first 4, then the second night taking out the last boss and then working on Lady V.

It hasn’t worked out that way.  You see, it was slow going at first.  It took us a couple months of 2 SSC runs a week to get to 5/6.  There was a LOT of wiping going on, as a lot of people had to learn the various fights.

2 months ago, I didn’t even have to sign up.  I could just log on shortly before start time, and they ALWAYS needed one or two more people.  Around the time we took down Leo for the first time, and got to have regular success in SSC, signups exploded.  Where before we were sometimes struggling to fill runs at all, we now had 30+ signing up for every raid.  We also took a hit in our efficiency, since many people each week were totally new to the instance.  I don’t think we’ve seen Lady V since.

Anyhow, shortly after that, the Alliance leaders decided to switch up our targets.  One night each of SSC and TK were dropped in favor of MH runs.  I don’t agree with this, but as I said before, I have no say.  I wish we could try to be at least a LITTLE more selective and make some honest attempts at the last T5 bosses, but that ain’t happening.  Instead we are moving on.

So, anyhow.  This Saturday, we are going to make our first foray into the Black Temple.  Now, I am already signed up, and though I disagree I am excited to finally see this instance, but I have a problem.

I need to get to 9k unbuffed HPs by Friday.  I think I can do it, but it will take some work.  I have an old pair of Earthsoul leggings that I can gem for stamina and swap out my present badge legs, and I also have the blue boots from MagT just sitting in my bank.  I don’t have the playtime to farm furiously for badges before then, but maybe I can pick up another useful piece or two.  Hopefully I can get there.  If I do, I will certainly blog about it!  Also, if anyone has any recommendations on what I could do, you can go ahead and peek at Pummra’s armory in my sidebar.

It’s been a little quiet around here lately, sorry about that.  I’m a key player in a HUUUUGE project at work, and our launch is this weekend.  It’s been one of those weeks.  I’m sur a lot of you out there can sympathize.  Anyhow, here’s a little bit about the latest goings on with PTD.

The Shammy Ditches the Elekk

As a lot of you know, I’ve been working my Stormwind rep so I can dump the hated Elekk with my Shammy.  I’m so sick of getting STUCK everywhere, I can’t take it anymore.  Well, the deed is done.  I conveniently saved the last couple of turnins that would push me to exalted for the mini quest hub in Elwynn where horses are sold.  The first thing I did was destroy that stupid Elekk mount.  Poor guy, don’t tell PETA.

Do I want to delete? HELL YEAH! I hopped on the cheapest horse on the lot, a beat up Pinto.

Wow, I sure look big on that thing.  I actually feel kinda sorry for that horse.  I hope he has a warranty!

So there it is.  Exalted Stormwind rep with my Shammy.  As an added bonus, I know where I’ll be vendoring and repairing from here on out!

Hunter Gears Up in Karazhan

I also put together a Kara run last night.  It seemed like it might not go off, and I actually half-cancelled it, when suddenly two of our best tanks threw their hats in the ring.  We had 2 priests, a Warrior and Pally for tanks, and a mix of DPS that included my Hunter, 2 Mages, an Enhance Shammy, Kitty Druid and a Fury Warrior.  Interesting mix, to be sure.  Luckily we had the Shammy along who made the melee DPS very strong.

We blasted through pretty much everything.  We had one wipe after the ramp leading to opera, where we accidentally pulled the whole room.  Other than that, we one shot everything, skipping only Illhoof and Netherspite.  We would have gone back, but a couple people had to bail so we called it a night.

Loot-wise, it was both good and bad for me.  I actually got one of the best cloaks a Hunter can have in the Drape of the Dark Reavers.  Nice. I also happened to pick up TWO pairs of gaunts. I got the Gloves of Quickening from Maiden and my T4 gloves, the Demon Stalker Gauntlets from Curator. I already have the Crystalhide Handwraps, so I have some thinking to do there. Anyone have any thoughts on those three? None have enchants as of yet, the Crystalhide are gemmed but with easily replaceable stuff, no epics.

Anyhow, what I REALLY wanted though was a new ranged weapon.  No dice.  No Crossbow from Attumen, no Gun from the BBW (which I REALLY want…I am a dwarf!) and no bow from the Prince.  Bah, humbug.  Someday I will upgrade from my old, blue Valanos’.  I just don’t know when.

Well, that’s about all for now.  I do have some more in depth posts brewing, I just haven’t had the time.  Next week things should start to clear up, right about the time all the adulation and cash starts rolling in at work for the great job I did on the site.  We’ll see.  Thanks for reading!

AH Insanity is killing me.  Honestly.  I had fun leveling my warrior for awhile, got him to 40, and said “yay, time for plate!”  Then I saw the AH.

You have GOT to be kidding me.  10g for a pair of level 40 plate bracers of the Wolf?  25g and up for anything of the Bear or Tiger?  SERIOUSLY??

I mean, aren’t I going to be using this for, like, 5 levels or so?  Which at the present rate of progression amounts to about a week of playing?  /scoff  I guess I’ll be rocking the mail for awhile longer, until I can get some good quest rewards or something.

What I’ve found is that the insanity is all over the place.  Yes, I realize Blizz dumped a crap load of cash into the economy with the SSO dailies, but this is getting ridiculous.  My shammy, now level 45, is still wearing bracers and gloves from level 30.   I refuse to bow to ridiculous prices, and farm with my 70 to outfit an alt.

Now, in some ways I understand the ridiculous prices for, say, level 29 BOE blues.  I know the twinkers fall all over themselves for those.  But this craziness about other sub 70 stuff must end.  How long do we spend in those midlevels anyway?

Now, people -  the only way this will change is if YOU change it!  You must agree to not bow to ridiculously priced green stuff on the AH!  If we work together, we can move mountains, you and I.  We shall overcome!

I’m the Part Time Druid, and I approve this message.

And no, I’m not talking about loot.  I’m talking about my Enhancement Shaman alt.  Generally, I’m having a lot of fun with him, but I’m starting to notice a trend.

The ease of fights with him depends a LOT on the good old RNG.  If Windfury procs in a fight, it goes pretty quick.  If it procs a couple of times, it usually means I’m standing over a corpse.  If it doesn’t proc at all, however, the fight can sometimes be painfully slow.

Now, I understand that all fights are in some way beholden to the RNG for success.  Warriors love to see a mob dodge, so they can obliterate their foes with Overpower.  Feral Druids love to see Omen of Clarity go off, Rogues love to see their poisons proc in succession, and so on and so forth.

With this Shammy, though, I feel like the RNG has a much larger impact on the outcome of a battle.  This doesn’t usually translate into whether I succeed or fail, but it can play a big part, especially if I have multiple mobs hammering away at me.  (On a side note, I’m also not to sure about my ability to handle multiples…I seem to have had more problems with my shammy than any other class I’ve played when the numbers are against me.  But that’s for another day perhaps.)

So is the Enhancement Shammy’s reliance on the RNG a good thing or a bad thing?  It can obviously be good on those times when it works in my favor, and a back to back Windfury two shots an equal level mob.  It can also cause me huge headaches when I have to lean on shocks and boring white damage whilst fighting multiple enemies.  I’m thinking that it also gives me a certain level of unpredictability for other encounters.

Can I take on equal level elites, for instance?  Or even elites a level or two below me?  With my druid, elites were never a real problem.  I had many tricks that I could use against them.  With the Shammy, though, I kind of feel like if I attack an elite I have to pray that Windfury does in fact go off.

So, are there any other classes that are as reliant on the RNG for success?

I’ve never been much for the rep grind.  Never.  I have 2 70s, a level 60, and numerous, numerous alts of virtually every range.  I have a grand total of 2 exalted factions, SSO and Violet Eye, both on my druid.  I think I got soured on the whole rep grind due to the Timbermaw Furbolg pre BC.  Back then, you had to grind a LONG time just to get to stupid Winterspring.  (I did notice, however, that they made it much easier.  Now you only have to complete one quest to make your way through the tunnel safely.)  Since then, I’ve always avoided rep grinds.  The 2 exalted factions I have came naturally, through Kara runs and griding out cash for my epic flyer.

That being said, I find myself in a rep grind for the first time.  I’ve been spending a good deal of time on alts of late, and in the interest of letting my 60 shadow priest accrue some rested XP, I picked up my 42 shammy recently, and have since gotten him to 45.  He’s a lot of fun right now — Windfury crits FTW!  (As an aside, if you ever want info on Shammys, Too Many Annas is a good place to start!)

The problem?  I cannot stand the Elekk mount.  I don’t like how they look, I feel like they are “slower” than the other mounts, though I know they are not.  I especially don’t like the fact that I fricking GET STUCK ON CRAP ALL THE TIME.  Especially doorways.  With every other mount in the game, you can run into just about anywhere, not so with the stupid Elekks.

So, I made the decision that I needed to get a different faction’s mount.  Taking a look at the state of my reputation, I found I was already revered with Stormwind.  A horsey sounds good to me!  I punched up WoWhead, and analyzed the factions page to find some level appropriate quests to boost my SW rep.

Off I went to various parts of Azeroth, and struggled to find quests that were worth my time in terms of rep and time.  I bemoaned this on the guild channel, when a guildy asked me something:  had I gone back and done all the starter quests?  No, I had not.  I had assumed that rep rewards had diminishing rewards based on level.  It turns out they do not.

Wahoo!!!

I jumped the nearest bird and headed to Stormwind.  I left Stormwind riding my ugly purple elephant, and took a hard left towards Northshire Abbey.  Yes, Northshire Abbey.

It turned out to be quite fun to annhiliate the old level 1-5 content that was there, completing all the quests, and netting pretty healthy faction awards.  I did feel a LITTLE weird, since there were level 1s and 2s actually doing honest leveling, so I tried to stay out of their way and finish the quests quickly.  I also made sure to kill only exactly what I needed.  I didn’t want to lay waste to the area and screw over the poor level 1s.

It sure was nice to blow through a lot of that stuff.  I remember wiping once or twice to Garrick Padfoot, and a single Chain Lightning in his direction ended him this time.

I also had a bit of nostalgia, as that was the first zone I played in the game.  I still remember watching the cinematic for the first time, then the flyover narrative intro to the human race.  My first character, a human rogue.  Way back in the day. 

I also remember that from the very first quest, I could see that WoW was different, different and far better.  I had played every major MMORPG previous to it, and from quest 1 WoW blew those others out of the water.  Asheron’s Call, Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot, Star Wars Galaxies, and more — none of them held a candle to WoW.  In a way, I guess WoW was kind of like I was the other night, a 2 ton bull charging through a china shop of level 1 content.  WoW to the MMORPGs that preceeded it was kind of like me compared to the Kobold Vermin running around Northshire Abbey.  Most of them died before they could raise their protest of “You no take candle!”  It was much the same for WoW, they nuked the hell out of the competition in an instant.

That’s why whenever I hear mention of the “WoW killer,” I just don’t believe it.  Blizzard has been on their “game” for a long time, and I expect it to stay that way.  The only WoW killer, in my mind, is World of Warcraft 2.

Recently, I’ve spent a fair amount of time playing alts, and I’m sure I’m not alone.  Things are in a bit of a lull for many people right now, what with no Wrath release in sight, and the sunny summer months, so more “organized” play is more difficult.  When looking at my collection of alts, and trying to decide which to play, I got to thinking about not which classes I liked, but why I liked them.  Could there be a psychology behind my class choices and the choices of others?  First, let’s take a look at some of the choices I have made, and then try to address possible generalities.

My First Character

Ok, so not necessarily my first character, as I started with a rogue, but my first character I stuck with all the way.  A Hunter.  One of the reasons I took the hunter is that I was in closed beta, and it was one of the last classes that was added to the game.  I also had a previous fondness for pet classes, as they were often very self-sufficient.  That is exactly what the hunter turned out to be.

Though I realize this is an MMO, I often spend a good deal of my time soloing.  I always have.  Part of this is due to my playtimes, as it is often difficult for me to group much at the times I normally play.  With the hunter, soloing was a breeze from level 10 on.

There was also a good deal of complexity with the hunter, which also appealed to me.  There is a vast world of pet selection, pet skills, weapon types, shot selection and a bevvy of other intricacies built-in to the Hunter.  Of course you can quite easily doze as a hunter, just send the pet and auto-attack, but a well-played hunter takes focus and multi-tasking ability.  Perfect.

The problem I found with hunters once I hit 60 was that there were so gosh darn MANY of them.  It was both a powerful and quick leveling class, so of course just about everyone had one.  What was happening was that when I DID have time to group up and start tackling the end game, I had a hard time finding a fricking spot.

My Character Evolution

Soon I decided I needed a class with which I could get groups whenever I wanted to.  The druid appealed to me because it was also a very intricate class, perhaps even more so than the hunter.  Druids can do anything reasonably well, and, more importantly, can spec for healing in the end game.  Healers rarely want for groups the way hunters do.  I also quickly found that once I hit 20, they were as good at soloing, if not better, than hunters.  It was truly the perfect class for me.

I also quickly found I quite enjoyed healing.  There is something about the whole group RELYING on you for success that appealed to me.  I loved the level of responsibility I felt I had, and enjoyed that I was often the difference between life or death for the tank and the group.

My Character Conclusions

For me, the hunter was appealing because of its combination of versatility, power, and intricate playstyle.  The druid appealed to me due to its versatility and, later, its power as a healer.  Not eveyone is suited to healing, but I found that I flat out LOVED the resposibility.  As it turned out, I found the perfect pair of characters.  On one hand, I had the solo friendly Hunter, who could take on most content quickly and efficiently, and made for a good time when alone.  On the other I had my very sought after healer, who also challenged my multi-tasking abilities and my resilience.

With that out of the way, let’s take a gander at the holy trinity of greater class “types,” and see if we can’t find some correlations between their respective play styles and the psychology of their owners.

The Tank

The tank is a very complicated class to play in WoW.  It’s not so much the mechanics of the class itself, as they generally only use a few skills over and over again, but the overall play style.  Tanks are usually responsible for marking and leading instance runs, for starters.  When you join a group as a tank, people just plain EXPECT you to mark and lead.  Because of this, tanks have to know the instances better than anyone else.  They need to know all the mob types and their skills, all the pulls and how they should work, all the boss fights.  Where a DPSer can sit back and wail on the skull, the tank has no such luck.

Not only do they have to know the instances front and back, they also have to have intimate knowledge of all the player classes as well, in order to use them to their fullest ability.  They need to know who can adequately CC mobs, who can use other utility skills to the benefit of the group, and how best to squeeze every last drop of performance out of each and every group.  Once that’s all in the clear, then they have to manage all the mobs coming their way, and do their best to keep control of all of them.  In the end, they also often carry the highest repair bills, and are the most dependent on great gear to succeed.

Whew!  So who in the heck would want to be a tank?

Well, on the “good” side, true leaders.  The people that ENJOY sitting at the head of the table, and shouldering the load for others.  The people that aren’t afraid to hand out orders, or give people advice if they are doing something wrong.  This kind of player gets a great deal of satisfaction out of having a successful run.  They know they did a good job when they get their group through a tough instance, and they often enjoy the respect and admiration they receive for their willingness to lead.

On the “bad” side, the tank classes can also attract the arrogant and the control freaks.  Yes, there are difficult people who like to play tanks.  They can’t enjoy the game unless they can tell people what to do, and when to do it.  They like to bark orders, and they especially enjoy yelling at people for doing things the wrong way.  They get off on the way people “need” them to succeed, and they don’t care so much if people admire them so much as respect them.

The Healer

Healers find themselves in their own predicaments.  Healers are often the first ones blamed for a wipe, and at the same time they seldom get credit for a “good” run.  They spend all their time playing “whack-a-mole” with health bars, and consequently don’t really “see” what’s around them as much as other classes.  Healing can also be VERY difficult in ways people don’t expect.  An undergeared tank can be a total nightmare, and the healer may still get blamed if the group wipes repeatedly.  Strong-willed DPSers who seem oblivious to threat monitoring can also make a healer’s job a living hell.  A bad CCer can cost a healer as well, as the healer is usually very high on the threat list, and the first person a free-roaming mob will go after.

They type of person that likes to play the healer role is often someone who cares more about the success of the group as a whole than personal achievements.  Very few people pay much attention to healing stats and numbers like they do DPS, but this type of player doesn’t really care.  They would rather see a successful run where nobody dies than a wipe-filled run where they collect loads of epics.  You’ll notice one theme in many healers is they fail to heal themselves. I think this tendency goes a long way to explaining the type of person that plays a healer.  They get lost in the group dynamics, and enjoy it most when the group works together like a well-oiled machine.  Healers often attract the most selfless of players.

Another type of person that can be drawn to the healer class is the player that is interested in quickadvancement above most else.  If you want to get geared up in a dang hurry, roll a healer.  Guilds are always looking to gear up more healers.  This type of player is in it more for the gear and the numbers, and they often fall off and focus on other classes when their gear progression begins to slow.  They may never take the time to really learn the “art” of healing, and likely will become bored with the playstyle after not too long.

The DPSers

In my opinion, nobody gets scrutinized as thoroughly as DPS classes, especially in end game raid situations.  Sure, healing numbers are looked at as well as tanks, but the first thing anyone wants to know is what kind of DPS is being put out.  This is also an area where some very hard numbers are bandied about, everyone seems to know that a BM hunter should be putting out XXXX DPS in SSC, and if you’re only pulling XXX, then you need talking to.  The same can be said about most pure DPS classes, while the more utility-based classes get free passes.  (Shadow Priests, Enhance or Elemental Shammys, etc.)

The most competitive players are often drawn to DPS.  If you want to prove your worth over another guy, this is the easiest class to get definitive answers with.  If you’re out DPSing the next guy by 100+, it’s pretty obvious to everyone.  DPS classes often draw those people flat out obsessed with number crunching.  Heck, there are numerous spreadsheets and gear evaluators out there, and they almost always focus on pure damage output.  If you want to try to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of a character, DPS might be the road you want to take.  There isn’t quite as much that is “ethereal” about DPS classes, just dish out the hurt.

DPS classes can also draw a couple other personality types:  the ego and the lazy.  The ego driven player wants to top the DPS charts above anything else.  They don’t care if the group is wiping, as long as they are in spot #1.  The lazy player sometimes picks up DPS classes because, well, they can be easy to play.  Hunters are classically associated with this type of player with the mean-spirited moniker “huntard,” since supposedly a 2 year old could get a hunter to level 70.  This “lazy” type of player is the polar opposite of the competitive type.  They probably know nothing of gemming strategies, DPS spreadsheets, or how to maximize their DPS in any way.  They know a couple of tricks, and stick to them.

Conclusion, Sort Of

So what exactly is the point of all of this?  Well, for one I think it’s interesting that if you pay attention you see these aforementioned types of players again and again.  I’ve been playing WoW for over 4 years, and it was like that from almost the start.  The leaders and the Arrogant rolled tanks, the Helpers and Gear Whores rolled healers, the Competitive, Ego Driven and Lazy rolled DPSers.  While it may seem I’m giving a “good” and “bad” type for each of the holy trinity, in the end I don’t think there is all that much difference.  Let’s face it, everyone is in the game to have fun, well, most everyone, and they have the right to do it how they see fit.  I’ve run many an instance with an Arrogant Tank, and I never quit because of it.  I’ve also been guilty of a bit of both Guild Whoring and Laziness in the past as well, but that doesn’t make me a “bad” player.

In a way, I think it goes to show just how great a game WoW is, and why it has had the longevity that it has.  I’ve really only scratched the surface with this post, as I’m sure if someone took the time to really analyze characters and why people play them, they could find many more common themes.  I also generalized into the three main types, and I’m sure that if you shifted focus to particular classes you’d see different things.  Heck, I didn’t even get into the altaholic, who likes to play a little bit of everything.  (But, in my experience, the Altaholic often has a Healer that they play the most – so I’m not so sure they aren’t just an offshoot of dealing with the often boring, thankless job that is healing.)

In the end, maybe you found yourself in one of the types I described.  Perhaps in reading this article, you gained a new understanding of why you play the character you play.  Maybe in some small way it can help you be better at what you do, and at the same time teach you what you really enjoy about the game at a basic level.  Then again, maybe not.  So what type of player are you?