The Twit Storm

I honestly did not realize that many of you keep up with my Twitter.  I have such a hard time following everybody that I usually just skim, so you guys have my kudos.  You are much more patient people than I am.

I’ve had quite a few messages and responses asking me about my recent tweets (it is tweets and not twits, right?!) concerning my guild and what exactly happened.

I’m not going to go into extensive detail.  It’s unnecessary, and it’s guild business.  I will give you enough of the scenario to understand what happened, and we’ll call it a day.

It was brought to my attention in an extremely undiplomatic way that my dps is horrible and that my purpose for being invited to raids was to provide the crit-hungry casters my buff.

The fact is, I was already aware that my dps was low.  I’ve been checking into different things at EJ and Graymatter and other sources, trying some new specs (like the idea that Typhoon might be better for moving fights than speccing into Brambles, since it’s an available instant cast that won’t interefere with our DoT time), and swapping gear in and out to try to find the best fit.  It’s been a frustrating few weeks on the damage meter, that’s for sure.

I switched between 2pcT8/2pcT9.25 and 2pcT9/2pcT9.25 a few times, and found no real difference.  The 4pcT9 seemed to do better at the target dummy, if only slightly (I took an average of damage done for three 3-minute, no-cooldown rotations and used that to find an average dps), but in a raid scenario, it was hard to tell the difference between the two.

I double checked my enchants and my gems.  I made sure my rotation was still accurate.  I played around with things to minimize latency and movement.  I swapped trinkets and rings, and then swapped them again, and then swapped them again.

I still haven’t quite nailed down why I’m pulling 4.5k on 25-heroic Northrend Beasts compared to most other dps being between 5 and 7k.  But I’m doing everything I can to find out.

Finding out that people think you suck is pretty bad.  It’s worse when they downplay the work you’ve put into trying to make it right.  And that’s what it all came down to, and that, combined with some other recent developments, lead to my /gquit.

However, I was poked, prodded, talked to, and convinced, and after discussing my concerns with some of the officers, I agreed to come back.

I love my guild; I really do.  And it’s good to be home.

So now, I keep going.  Keep experimenting; keep learning;  keep trying to improve.  I’m not going to agonize over my consistent 13th spot, but I am going to do everything in my power to push past it.

I am more than a buff.  I am a moonkin.

A Little Birdy Told Me

Game director Tom Chilton and Director of Production J. Allen Brack logged onto Twitter and answered questions for about 45 minutes (for a total of 39 questions).  I have to be honest, I expected more.  A lot of the questions they answered are things that are either common sense or things that anyone who follows WoWInsider or WoW’s own news info enough already knows.  Neither one of my questions were answered, sadly.  If you’re at all interested, I encourage to you read the full post here, but if you want a brief synopsis of some of the more interesting things, read on:

Did Someone Say Druid?

Wow, talk about disappointment.  I know I couldn’t have been the only druid asking questions, and yet there’s only one druid mention in the whole post.  If our questions needed to be geared towards Chilton and Brack’s collective pool of knowledge, they should’ve been more specific.

Q: When do hunters get to tame druids?

A: Right after druids get a hunter form.

They really answered this question?  All of the questions they must be receiving, and this is the one they choose?  /facepalm

Patch 3.3 Related

Q: Ulduar had one kind of hard mode(triggered).. ToC had another (ToC vs TOGC).. Ony has none. What will ICC have?”

A: ICC’s hard modes will be triggered, but via in-game UI (much like how you toggle between normal and heroic modes today) rather than triggered by game mechanics (like not killing the three drakes before you attack Sartharion).

I kind of liked the immersion of the game-mechanic triggered events.  Did anyone really struggle with how that worked?  I hope the hard modes are interesting.

Q: Any plans for a gated system in IIC like in Colliseum that prevents us from doing hardmodes from day 1?

A: We do have a system that unlocks bosses similar to how we handled TOC and Sunwell. We are restricting hard modes to raid leaders that have defeated Arthas in regular mode.

THANK YOU.  Are we going to moan and groan all the way to Arthas?  You bet.  Is it going to be super rewarding to make our way through normal mode and be “qualified” to do hard modes?  Oh my goodness YES.

Q: With T10, are we going to see tokens like in Ulduar? or like CC? CC style had every class and spec rolling on same thing.

A: With t10 we’re going to see a hybrid. The tier 10 items (the ones with item levels you’d find in the 10-player raid) will be purchased with Emblems of Frost.

The tier 10.5 items (the ones with item levels you’d find in the 25-player raid) will be obtained by getting a token (one that is specific to 3 or 4 classes, much like the ulduar tokens) and using it to upgrade the tier 10 item that was purchased with emblems of frost.

I like this.  I liked class-specific gear tokens.  It streamlined gearing without being complicated or messy.  The ToC any-class trophy method is way too messy in my opinion.  If this works seamlessly, as I hope it will, it’ll be the perfect blend.

Q: Crowd control is all but dead in raids. Is that something you plan on bringing back?

A: Like say… with the Faction Champions encounter in ToC? ;]

I have to disagree with ya here, dev.  Our group doesn’t use any traditional type CC for that fight.  We have melee keeping certain targets stunlocked, but that’s about it.  The rest is self-preservation and burn-the-heck out of them.  This fight for me looks like this:  Target Skull > FF > MF > IS > Wrath > Wrath > Eclipse > SF > SF > SF > SF > OH CRAP THE DK IS CHASING ME > Nature’s Grasp > Strafe > Strafe > Phew > Target X > Rinse & Repeat.  The druid healers sometimes cyclone things that are chasing them, and there’s a lot of slowing going on.  But traditional sheep this, sleep that, keep this and this tanked?  No way.

It’s the End of the World

Q: Thousand Needles is getting a big change in levels; how has the Cataclysm affected it?

A: As a result of the Cataclysm, Thousand Needles has been completely flooded with water!

I’m sure I knew this, but it apparently escaped my consciousness.  I can’t wait to see Lake of a Thousand Needles!

Q: Will there be anymore epic storylines with cinematics like the wrathgate questline?

A: We have big plans for additional in game cinematics! We are happy with how the Wrathgate questline worked out, and want to do more lines like this.

I loved Wrathgate.  I still save it as my very last quest for my alts on the way out of Dragonblight, and I still get all shivery as the dragons come flying in over the horizon.  I hope they duplicate this two or three times.

Q: Will 10-man raiding guilds see Legendary quality weapons (items) drop in there raids anytime soon? Or in Cataclysm?

A: Our current plan is to reserve Legendary weapons for the 25 person encounters, I wouldn’t rule it out in the future though.

I’m sorry, 10-man raiders, but this makes me sad in the pants.  Do you know why there are still warriors who equip Thunderfury when they’re running around farming?  Or why my guild master sat in Yogg-Saron’s room until our little Val’anyr issue was resolved?  These weapons are special, they’re unique.  They’re supposed to be a challenge to obtain, and a badge of honor for your character and your guild.  10-man raids, in my opinion, are too easy to merit legendaries.  Please stick with your plan, Blizz.

So there you have it.  Again, read the whole post if you’re not a WoW newshog like me and want to know what else was mentioned.  I think there will be more chats coming, and hopefully they’ve taken a few ideas away from this one to make the next one better.  I think they need to narrow the focus of these chats based on who’s answering the questions, but I guess only they know what’s really going on over there.

Moonkin: Entertainment

I’m working on a new series of post (read: I’m trying to figure out what I should write about next), so in the meantime, enjoy these snippets of moonkin celebrity.

In the artwork category:

First off, two pretty cool moonkin wallpapers (click on the pictures to get to the original deviantart link).

Then we have this plush moonkin.  I want an alliance version of this for Christmas, but not more than I want a dishwasher:

plush

And finally, our fabulous noise-making ability is featured in The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf.

When you venture into YouTube, there are hundreds and hundred and hundreds of videos.  And that’s not an exaggeration.  Here are some that I actually clicked on and let play all the way through, but it’s by no means the best or most extensive moonkin video list:

For those of you on a PvP server…well, this might just make you the most hated druid on your realm.

Of course, who could forget the moonkin dance in Madcow’s Hard Like Heroic? (I’d say this link comes with a PG-13 rating).

I have to mention Crank Dat Druid Boy; check out his action bar.  Now THAT’S how you spam.

This next video has nothing to do with moonkin, or even druids.  I just like it, and it seemed like a fitting way to end this post.

A Cord of Two Strands–Part 3

I’ve seen some renewed interest in my fanfic venture, so I’m posting the third installment.  (If you missed parts I & II, you can find them here: Part I: A Successful Experiment and here: Part II: An Introduction)

Progress

That evening, as they sat together pushing the foul mixture around their plates, Sonora looked closely at him.  He looked unnaturally worn, though she guessed he was only middle aged.

“What is your name?” Sonora asked.

“They call me Ultraking, Highness, and Majesty,” he said, his face twisting at the words.  “They have quite a sense of humor.”

“I did not ask what they call you,” Sonora replied.  “I asked you for your name.”

He smiled bitterly at her.  “It has been a long while since someone called me by my name. It is Aleron.”

“I am Sonora.”  Silence made her nervous, so she said, “Tell me about yourself.”

Aleron blanched.  “There is not much to speak of,” he said shortly.  Sonora looked at him in surprise at his cold response, and he added gently, “I prefer not to talk about myself; why not tell me about yourself?”

Sonora explained about her father and her trip to Stormwind as she had to Markus.  Aleron listened with some interest, having not had anyone to talk to in a long while.  His mind wandered to a similar scene in a much different place.  A table next to a warm fire; a young girl chattering on about the Kirin Tor and friends and the future…

As she finished, Aleron sighed deeply.  “I think we should go to sleep,” he told her.  “There is no way to know what they plan for us tomorrow.  Goodnight, Sonora.  I wish we had met under better circumstances.”

“As do I, Aleron.  Good night.”

The next morning, they had barely gotten through breakfast when the door opened and the now familiar figures entered.  There were no comments, no taunts.  They were eerily silent, and Aleron and Sonora looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

In a few seconds, the guards outside their door joined the warlocks, and Aleron eyed them warily. “Come here.”  Neither moved.  The night elf glared from under her hood.  “This will be easier for you if you comply, but you will do as I ask regardless.”  Suddenly the two guards were at their sides, and in the next moment, held them tightly.

“Turn them so they face each other,” the night elf commanded.  The guards followed orders, and Aleron and Sonora looked at each other.  Aleron could see the terrified look in the draenei’s eyes, and tried to silently reassure her.

“Are you ready?” the warlock asked her short, hooded companion, who merely nodded.  “Then let us begin.”  The gnome stepped forward and began to channel some kind of spell on Sonora.

Some aspects of the spell Aleron recognized.  They are trying a direct siphoning! Aleron realized suddenly, knowing that it could lethally overwhelm the young draenei.  “Stop!” he shouted.

“Silence!” the night elf hissed, and the orc holding Aleron drew a sword and held it effectively against the human’s neck.

The gnome finished her spell.  Sonora felt strange, and the concern on Aleron’s face combined with his shout terrified her.  She watched as the night elf approached him and began to cast her own spell, and the black circle seemed to descend into Aleron’s body, causing him to twist and wrench painfully.

“Now!”  The gnome and night elf together began to chant, channeling what Aleron knew must be a complex matrix.  He wished he could trace it, examine it, find its flaws; but the unnatural power inside him made it impossible to focus.  And then the bands of light began to move out of him.  He groaned at the familiar and unpleasant soul-sucking feeling, and doubled over as it intensified.  Sonora gasped, but before she had time to consider Aleron’s fate, the full force of the magic struck her.  At first, it was like a small pang, but it grew and grew, radiating through her body.  She cried out fruitlessly as the burning sensation she felt increased ten fold, and she felt as though she would certainly burn from the inside out.  Her head began to throb, and then it felt as if her whole body was vibrating.  She completely lost herself in the pain, not seeing or hearing anything but the increasing sensations in her own body.

“No!” Aleron cried out, seeing Sonora wracked with pain.  I will not be the reason she dies! He fought against the darkness using him and tried to focus.  He closed his eyes, forcing himself to probe; to find the place within him from which the flow originated.  It took precious time.  He pushed onward, finally finding the end of the spell matrix; the thread that tied the two of them together.  With the last bit of energy he had, he tugged at it with his mind, whispering a counterspell and successfully unraveling it enough to break the flow.

He fell to his hands and knees, winded, and looked over at Sonora.  She flopped, completely lifeless in the guard’s arms.

“How dare you!” the night elf yelled.

“Never mind,” said her counterpart.  “I would still call this progress.”  The night elf nodded, but continued to stare furiously at the mage.

“Leave them.”  The guards dropped their victims like sacks of grain, and Sonora landed with an unceremonious thud.

Aleron crawled to the place Sonora lay.  “Sonora,” he said hoarsely.  “Sonora, can you hear me?”  He could see her shallow breaths, but she did not respond to him; did not even flinch.  “Not again!  Do not let this happen again!”  Aleron carried her to the makeshift bed, biting back against the sorrow he felt within him; she reminded him so much of another lifeless form…

Letters to my Guildies: Kiss My Butt

Before I embark on this week’s letter, I want to take a second to ask you to make me popular.  Oh, you’re not a miracle worker?  Fair enough.

There’s a new WoW site in town, and from what I’ve seen of it, it’s pretty neat.  It’s a blog-forum hybrid for WoW advice called, appropriately enough, EpicAdvice.com.  At Kazzamalla’s request, I’ve put my blog up there as part of the druid blog roll.  If you have a sec, I’d love for you to go vote for TLBC.

Now that the housekeeping is taken care of, let’s get back to the matter at hand.

Dear Suck-up,

I understand that you really want to succeed in the guild.  I am a people-pleaser myself, so I completely empathize with wanting to make the right people happy.  It’s definitely okay to have aspirations; when you care about what other people think, at least in a healthy amount, you’re going to try harder to do well, and that’s great.

But while you might think you’re being smooth, we can all tell exactly what’s going on.   “So-and-so is right” or “Yeah, I think you should all shut up and do what Officer Blah-blah said” are phrases taken from the Brown-Noser’s Playbook.

Paraphrasing what the raid leader says also seems to be one of your favorite strategies.  I learned how to summarize in 3rd grade, and while this might be  a new skill of yours, it’s pretty plain to me.  It’s like a neon sign that says: “Oooh, ooh, please think I’m smart and important!”  and it’s not working.

And then you fall into the same trap as the previous personality.  You and Know-It-All really seem to enjoy telling everyone how much they suck.  The problem is, I don’t look to you to find out if I’m doinitrite.  You might think that by trying to act like the raid leader you’re helping him out, or you might think that you’re getting respect from the rest of us.  I can pretty much guarantee you that neither is true.

Chill out a little.  Perform well in raids.  Help people with heroics.  Whatever your profession is, donate some of your things to the guild bank.  Be polite.  Be thoughtful.  These are the things that get you noticed in the right way.

Sincerely,

Ambermist

Letters to my Guildies: An Answer for Everything

I hope you had a wonderful weekend; I certainly did.  My deceptively sweet husband (I know, you think he’s a big bad mageboy.  And he is, but with a big, soft, fluffy warm heart.  Don’t tell him I told you) took me out Saturday for a long-overdue daytime date.  We went and saw Zombieland (Rule #2 is my favorite), stopped in at the comic book store and bought a pack of trading cards each (no loot, sadly), and went to the mall for some lunch and shopping.

It’s a new week, though; and it’s time for a new letter.  This time, I’m covering someone we probably all know pretty well.  I actually know several of them.  They’re both an asset and an annoyance.  Sometimes they change, sometimes they never do.

Dear Know-It-All,

I have to tell you first that I really do appreciate all of your knowledge.  You’ve certainly taken time to read up on a lot of things, and that’s great.  Maybe you have more experience than I do; maybe you just have more time to research.  Either way, it really is helpful when you know the answer to my questions.

But you have to understand that it gets on our nerves sometimes that you know everything.  The fact is, you don’t.  You do know a lot, and answering questions you know about (your class, for instance) when you’re asked is fine.

Sometimes, though, we’re just chatting in guild chat.  Sometimes we’re bouncing ideas off of each other, or just wondering something aloud.  These moments don’t always require an answer.  If I wonder if Cataclysm is going to nerf moonkin, I really want the statistical chances of an incoming nerf based on previous patches.  A simple “let’s hope not” suffices.  Or don’t answer at all.  We’re used to saying things in guild chat that never get answered.  It’s okay.

Also, if you’re not an officer, please don’t boss us around.  You did this on the PTR, or you did it with another guild, or you read all about it on EJ.  Good.  When someone says, “What can we do about…?” then you’ll have an answer ready!  But you are the same rank as the majority of us.  Don’t pull some nonexistent superiority on us.   We know it’s a farce.  It comes across as snobbish and rude, and no one likes a snob.

Here are the points to remember:

1.  Not every question requires an answer.

2.  Not every question is directed at you.

3.  You don’t have to have an opinion on everything.  If you do have an opinion on everything, you don’t have to share all of them.

4.  Nobody liked the bossy kid on the playground, and we still don’t.

The best news is that this case is actually completely fixable, and you can lose your know-it-all reputation.  There was a guy in my guild back in BC days that really grated on a lot of people’s nerves.  He was exactly what I’m describing here, plus he was a real-life know-it-all (the two often go hand-in-hand).  Somewhere in there, he disappeared for a week or two.  He didn’t really disappear, he just stopped talking.  When he did start speaking up again, he was a lot more personable.  Before he left the game, I ended up liking him quite a bit.

Consider it a challenge, Know-It-All.  Can you stay quiet for a week?  Two weeks?  Can you be diplomatic and supportive about your advice, instead of a condescending braggart?

I think you can.

Sincerely,

Ambermist

Letters to my Guildies: TNK

We’ve all been the new kid at some point.  We’ve all also been the guy looking at the new kid with that glassy, who-the-heck-are-you-and-how-did-you-get-in-my-kitchen look.  So today’s letter is devoted to all the New Kids out there.  Except the ones on the block; they can stay where they are.

Dear New Kid,

Welcome to our guild!  We certainly enjoy fresh blood, especially when it comes in enthusiastically.  We’re mostly old and cranky raiders, and it’s nice to have someone who is excited about going into Ulduar for the 40 millionth time.

But please understand that while your enthusiasm is welcome, there is a limit to how far it will take you.  We’ve been successfully guilded, raiding, and operating more or less the way we are now for a few years (the guild as a whole is 4 years old, although I’ve only been in for 2).  You…well, you’ve obviously left your own guild for a reason or two.

Please don’t immediately jump in and tell us why our forums need revamping or how to communicate with each other.  Don’t tell us why you think our class or role-based chat channels are unnecessary, and don’t tell us that our strat for such-and-such boss is wrong.

I’m not trying to be mean; you might even have some good points!  But your good points are getting lost in your overwhelming tide of things you want to change. The fact is that what we’re doing is working, and you know the adage about fixing things that aren’t broken.

Instead, sit back.  Spend some time with us.  Watch our strange and sometimes hilarious conversations unfold in guild chat.  Pay attention to directions that are given and follow them.  Stop trying to make things the way you’re used to and try to do things our way for a while.  Then, if you have a suggestion, make it politely, one suggestion at a time.

You may find you like us the way we are, and you might even learn a few things you didn’t know, assuming you realize that you don’t know everything (none of us do, it’s admitting it that’s the catch).

Don’t worry, you’re not the first new member to come in a little overzealous.  I’ll bet for sure you’ll find that by the time you’ve gotten used to us, we’ll have gotten used to you, and we’ll be much more likely to listen to your ideas with a little enthusiasm of our own.

Sincerely,

Ambermist

With A Bang (Letters to my Guildies)

I took a month off of blogging to spend more time with my family and to play more (and I really enjoyed it), but things have settled down and I’m ready to return.  And I’m starting off with a bang.

I’m starting a series called “Letters to my Guildies.”  Don’t worry, I’m not going to start too much drama (although it would up my readership…).  Most of these won’t be written directly to guild members, but to certain traits or aspects that stick out to me that I think a lot of people can probably relate to. So, here we go, Letter Number 1, written actually to a few people who have apped or whispered asking about what we expect in our guild.

Dear Unexalted,

I know that daily quests suck.  I’m right there with ya, bro.  You think it’s bad now, you should have seen what Dun Niffelem was like 2 weeks into Wrath!  There were times people would steal those stupid little oily whatever-the-hecks right out from under my moonfire.  For weeks I toiled in Storm Peaks for that shoulder enchant.  And get this–that was before you could buy rep with Relics.  I KNOW.  Insane, right?

So you’ll have to pardon my frustration when you say “I just don’t think it’s worth it to get exalted for a measly extra 6 spellpower and 5 crit.”  You don’t think what is worth it?  Being invited to raids?  You realize, of course, that the reason you didn’t get invited to our guild to start with was mostly that line right there.

First of all, if you’re going to try to get into a guild or raid, you should put your best foot forward.  Chances are you’re not as geared as we are, so when we say every little bit helps, we’re trying to help you not be 21st on the damage meter (the holy paladins do better than that).

But more importantly, it shows us that you don’t care about being the best in your class like we do.  We are all fiercely competitive.  The first thing we look at after a boss fight is…well, actually, it’s the loot.  And then after the loot, it’s the damage meters.  We know what it takes to be at the top (apparently I can only tell you how to hover around 10th, except for an awesome Vezax last night), and we know you aren’t going to make it.

If it’s not “worth it” to grind to exalted, or to properly gem and enchant your gear, then it’s definitely not worth it to us to bring you to our raid.

So thank you for your interest, but we’re going to have to pass.

Sincerely,

Ambermist

A Cataclysmic Announcement

Go ahead and geek out a little, I did. Better?

There are a lot of cool things coming out of Blizzcon, and some I’m either neutral or dubious about. I’m super excited about the new zones, and changing the face of Azeroth, particularly from the lore point of view.  Ragnaros returning and Deathwing emerging from deep within Azeroth? Rock on.

Only thing I’m not sure about right now is the change to stats.  No more spell power (intellect will now serve this purpose) and Spirit will be the only mana regen stat.  For you meleers, no more attack power on items; instead, it will come from agility or strength, depending on your class.  In other words, the right side of your stat display is going to disappear, and only Intellect, Stamina, Spirit, Strength, and Armor will matter.

I don’t know; it just doesn’t sound as impressive to say “I have 3000 Intellect!”  Maybe it will be awesome, but it feels almost too simplistic to me.

I’ll have more reactions, I’m sure, but it’s late.

For all the interesting news, I highly recommend a jaunt over to WoW.com.  Between them and the live stream, I haven’t missed much.

I really want to know how other people are reacting to these things.  What’s your favorite announcement so far?  Least favorite?  Tell me what you think!

Blizzcon & One Hot Nelf

Blizzcon is in California.  I am in South Carolina.  I find fault with this, but alas, there isn’t anything I can do.  While I am jealous of all those making their way to Anaheim this morning (WoW.com team, I’m looking at you), I will be watching it from the relative comfort of my living room as the live stream is pumped through our TV.

I will also be eating eggrolls.  This part, at least, is total win.

Obviously, without control of where to go and who to see, I won’t be able to deliver any earthshattering Blizzcon updates, but I will, at least, mention the things I do see that interest me.  I’m most excited about the opening ceremony, for obvious reasons.  At last year’s opening ceremony, they unveiled the WotLK preview.  What will we see this time?  Icecrown?  The rumored “Cataclysm” expansion?  o.O

Everyone has surely seen Do You Wanna Date My Avatar from The Guild, right?  (If not, click on it, watch it, and then lie to me, it’s cool; I approve).  It got me thinking that Ambermist really hasn’t had a lot of pixelated love lately.  I mean, MY marriage has been awesome, but Ambermist & Ultraking hardly see each other anymore except to raid, at which point he pokes her until she gives him a few flasks for the night and then moons her and mocks her foolishness while she begs him to forsake the mages and give her Focus Magic.

For that reason, I have encouraged her to post a personal ad below:

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