The Perfect Resource

I was sitting in English class today, bored, and so my mind started to wander and i bet you can imagine the topic that i started thinking about. I assume that many of you had the very same thing happen today.

Anyway, I started to think about my hunter and how focus has changed the way he plays significantly and how i am not sure that i like the way it plays. My mind then wandered to how the different resources affect the way all the different classes play and i came to a realization:

Energy is the perfect resource.

Think about it. When you play a class with energy, you are never starved for your resource and you are never swimming in too much of it. Sure, you can hit 0 energy but you know that you wait for a couple seconds and you will have enough energy for another attack. You can also be full on energy, but you can only do 2-3 consecutive attacks without running out of energy and having to wait again. and when you are running around killing monsters you can watch as your energy comes back instead of watching your rage tick away or the water in your bags disappear.

You could flip my argument and say that you are always starved for energy but i would disagree. When i think of being starved, I think of being without my resource for a long period of time when i should be hitting something. When you run out of energy, you are given a small portion of time in which to pause and look at your surroundings, plan your next move, and then use it. I never feel that when i am out of energy, I am not doing anything.

Blizzard has stated that they dont want classes to be GCD capped and always be hitting a button. The moderate regen that energy has seems to remove that GCD cap while at the same time making it so you always have that next ability incoming. There are talents that give you instant energy or make things cost no energy and they add the unpredictability to the rotation. Combo points, which are perfectly tied to energy also make the rotation and the game play less predictable.

It seems to me that energy is the only resource system that is immune to starvation and excess just by its nature (or is easily tuned that way). It seems to me that mana using classes are always in excess. They always have way more mana than they need. That is, until they run out, then they are completely starved for mana and they must resort to potions or CD's in order to get more mana. Yes, the good players will conserve mana well and will be able to go for a very long time, but not indefinitely; However, when you are casting a spell for 250 mana and you have 35k mana, you have an excess.

Rage seems to have the largest swings between having too much and having too little. Because rage is tied to hitting things or being hit by things, it is preone to very steep swings between 0 and 100. The new rage system has improved this, but a bad string of misses, dodges or parries can gimp your rage income. Yes you can become hit capped and soft capped for expertise for a dps class and you will not get these really low points but then you may get the really high rage situations that led to inflated dps in wrath. But there is always that situation where you hit the wrong button and drop really low again.

Focus, oh focus. The redheaded step-child of resources imo. I always feel like i am starved for focus when i play my hunter. The regen is not high enough on purpose so that you must use steady shot in order to get that focus back up. This has led me, in my short time playing my hunter after 4.0.1, to always be thinking, "ah crap i need to SS again." I think it sucks. You may disagree with me, you may love focus, but i always feel like i need more in order to develop any sort of rotation or priority.

I think energy and combo points allows for the most interesting and dynamic rotations or priorities in the game thanks to its unpredictable nature and its almost perfect regen rate/ability cost ratio. But what do you think?

The Shattering So Far

So i haven't had a ton of time to play around on my characters lately but i have managed to play some stuff on my shaman in the 49-54 bracket.

I started off with a run of ZF and then moved on to do Stratholm. I gotta say that i really like how all your quests are at the beginning of the instance now, it really cleans up the process for getting the quests. It basically allows you to knock out all of your quests in one go and not have to worry about losing a potential upgrade because you were not doing quests in the same area. I know some people probably feel some nostalgia for the old "run around and get my instance quests" mentality but i am glad to see it go. It makes sense to me to have all your quests at the beginning of the instance since it allows all players to grab the quests and lets all the players see them. I would not be surprised if a lot of the effort that went into making the instance quests got wasted because people were too lazy to run around and get them (I know i was).

There is also the newer, more stream-lined instance layouts that are there now. I know some of the old world instances like strath and mara used to basically be giant mazes, if you have ever tried finding the entrance to mara...not fun. I was farming the Piccolo of the Flaming Fire in strath on my druid and i got lost a couple times, even though the route there was pretty direct. If you have ever run strath and have a general idea of how you used to unlock baron, then the run is a lot easier to figure out and I never found myself wondering what to do.

Lowbie instances actually have bosses now. I know its hard to believe but yes, you can actually tell when you are fighting a boss. It could be because the instances are higher level ( i will let you know my thoughts on the lower levels when cata drops) but the instances felt a lot more epic than before. Trash generally seemed harder and bosses didnt seem like trash with a little extra health and cool ability that sometimes didnt get used. The bosses no longer die in about the same time as a trash pack and it really allows those classes the dont have the best aoe but have good single target to shine. I found myself actually having to react a little bit to some of the bosses abilities in order to stay alive, as well as occasionally healing myself or others to help the healer out. I would say that i thoroughly enjoyed doing low level instances again.

The second thing i did was work my way through ungoro crater. I have always like ungoro, it felt like it flowed well and was kind of interesting. It didnt really seem to have a concrete conclusion but I didnt care because the zone felt like it worked. I think the new layout for the zone is better than the old one. All the quests seem to flow a lot better between the different areas. There was actually a resolution to the plot with the crystal pylons that never used to make sense and I was actually laughing out loud while doing the Maximillian of Northshire quest line. Overall i would say that i am very impressed with the leveling and instances in cata.

But what about you guys? What do you think of the new instance design? Or the new quest design? And have you come across any funny quests that you think i should check out first when i get some more time?

My Surgery

I have been wanting to post this for a while now, but i was like "no, they dont want to read about that." But then i realized that it is pretty interesting and that this is my blog and i can do w/e i want with it and so i am going to write a little about it. Maybe i will add pictures.

I just want to start off by saying that i'm sorry i havent done anything with the blog in a few days, but i am really busy with school right now.

So i am getting a major reconstructive jaw surgery on Dec 15th in order to fix a major over-bite and to close the gap in my teeth. As it stands, i can not eat tomato slices unless they are in large sandwiches, pizza without the toppings all sliding off, or pretty much anything that is remotely flat. I am getting both upper and lower jaw surgery, or maxillary and mandibular osteotomies. Basically they are going to lengthen my bottom jaw and shorten, and move my top jaw. Now because i am bored i am going to do some MS paint pictures (or i would have if it didnt make me look like a rat, lets try something else).

So this is essentially what it will look like after it is done i believe. keep in mind that i am no surgeon and that this is all information i have gleaned from appointments i have been to.

Top Jaw:
The surgery for the top jaw entails cutting a small wedge out in order to make the jaw shorter. After they will move the detached top jaw put it against the remainder of the top jaw, and then slide it forward slightly and then pin it in place.

Bottom Jaw:
For the bottom jaw surgery they will have to make a cut to each side of the mandible. There will be a cut in the same place on each jaw. The cut will be vertical and will start near the back of the mandible. They will cut outwards till they are about halfway through my jaw, then they will switch directions and cut down the length of my jaw and finally they will switch directions and continue to cut out wards. once they complete that cut the jaw will be in 3 pieces and they will slide the lower portion forward and then pin it in place with a metal plate. This is the more interesting part in my opinion.

So you can see why i may be out of it for a while. I will be spending at least one night in the hospital, probably two nights before i can go home. My mouth will be tied shut with extremely strong elastics for 6-8 weeks and I will be on an entirely liquid diet for that time (Maybe ill make a list of Jeys fav. liquid meals for you all). The recovery time is about 3 months before i am allowed to do anything physical and then who knows how long after that.

I am extremely excited for it but i am just starting to realize how big of a undertaking this surgery is. I am curious to see how it changes my appearance (hopefully for the better). So there you have it. If you have any questions i will be happy to answer them to the best of my knowledge and i will be doing more WoW related posts and hopefully a low level feral leveling guide when i have more time, which will probably have to wait till after my surgery. So there you go, now when i make a vague reference to my surgery you will know what i am talking about.

When I'm Right...

So just less than 2 weeks ago I posted THIS about how Gamon was becoming level 85 and I forsaw people forming up to kill him.

Well i was logged in for about 2 min before i saw someone yelling in org that Gamon was alive and about 30 sec later i saw him being kited around org and being nuked down. He doesnt appear to get DR's on slows so he was just being kited around while people attacked him. Every once and a while someone would pull off the kiter and Gamon would turn around and one or two shot them and then turn back to the kiter and keep going. I saw him die about 3 times in the half hour i was running all over org. This was not any major prophesy that i made but i think it shows you that you cant break a 6 year habit of killing a level 12 neutral npc by simply making him a level 85 elite with 2mil health.

Oh, and i have only been inside Org and ZF but so far i am very impressed. Can't wait to see the 80-85 zones, especially deepholm.

It's a Matter of Character

I am just going to assume that not everyone who reads this plays a druid based upon the fact that i haven't really been writing that many druid only topics lately. So i have a question for anyone reading this. What character are you gonna be playing when the expansion goes live on Dec 7th? Are you staying with your same character or are you switching to a different class? Are you taking this opportunity to transfer servers, or factions, or both? Is your first character that hits 80 going to be an old one or one that you are starting when the servers go live today? And what will be your first alt

Me? I am sticking with my Druid, I will probably level him tank specced and do some instances with my guildies. Gonna hit 85 and tear through some instances so that i can get into heroics as soon as I have the time. my next character i want to level will probably be my Goblin Rogue or my Belf Hunter.

Also, what is the first thing you are going to do when the servers go live to day? I know ill be checking out Peacebloom vs Ghouls if i have the time.

Patch 4.0.3a

So mmo-champion is saying that the new patch will be dropping tomorrow and i felt like there were a couple things to go over before that happens.

First off, obviously this will completely change the old world so you will have some alt leveling to do if you want. I know that I will be leveling my shaman who is just about 50, to 60 if i can find the time. This means that for any of you who don't have a druid...get on that.

You will be getting access to the new race/class combinations for the expansion so you will be able to roll your tauren paladin or blood elf warrior if you want. That being said, anyone who rolls a troll druid, you are a bad person. I don't know why but i just have a serious issue with trolls, they just don't look right.

There are going to be some class changes going in with this expansion that you have to look forward to. Your health will drop, your swipe damage will drop, your LotP heal will be reduced and your brutal impact debuff will be less potent. Aren't things looking up? On the plus side, if you are ever in cat form you will not have to target something before you can swipe.

None of these nerfs seem too bad tbh though. We will make it.

If you you are a Druid, Paladin, Priest or Shaman your talents will be reset. this leaves us with a free respec going into cata that we can use to get ready. I dont know how many of you used the last reset as your "lets get ready with a cata spec" reset but this patch is close enough that i would advise you to just spec for cata this time around. The last reset i went for the (I think) optimal build so that i could do better in my raid. This time, no chance.

That being said...you may be wondering what the spec you should be going for is. well have no fear because I am here. This will be the bear spec only because there are more knowledgeable people out there that can give you a cat one. If you really want me to take a stab at it i will but i am far less comfortable making decisions about cat than bear.

So here we have the bear spec that you should be pushing for at 85 that will be your general raiding spec for tanking:

This will cover all your needs for tanking. The one point in stampede can really be put wherever you want but that will be where i am leaving it. This is the spec you should be working towards as you level from 80 to 85.

At 80, if you are planning on working  towards this you will probably want to take this spec:

Natural shapeshifter is not the best choice but it will allow you to move into the third tier as soon as you hit level 81. You can start off with points in perseverance and then move to master shapeshifter or go the other way. I would suggest going with perseverance first because i think damage will be quite high when tanking dungeons. If you are having issues with threat though, you may want to grab master shapeshifter on your next level as it is basically a 4% threat increase (not exactly but roughly). The last point you have left over after that can be put wherever you want, i chose stampede but if you have somewhere else that you would want to put it then go for it.

So there is your specs for 85 and 80. You could choose to go with the better spec for right now and put two points into stampede instead of natural shapeshifter but the difference is negligible so i would just go with the one i posted with it being so close.

All that being said, have fun in your newly shattered Azeroth!!!

ToGC and the Pre-Expansion Lul

This is getting a little annoying not having enough people to do the raids we want but I guess with about 2 weeks left before Cata I can understand why people don't want to come for H LK and beat their head against the wall. And you know what? Im fine with that. What i really find annoying is the people who just dont show up and dont  tell anyone. If you dont want to come because you are soaking your feet in the bathtub, im fine with that, just tell somebody. I know, I know, its just a game, and i would agree if you said that; however, if you join a raid group those people are expecting you to show up. I dont care why you dont want to show up, as long as you tell someone. I may make some jokes about you if you are whipped or playing cricket with your mother, but I wont care all that much.

I just think that if you were on a sports team, you wouldn't stay on the team very long if simply just decided to not go to some games without letting anyone know. It is not exactly the same situation as raiding but really, how hard is it to get a hold of someone and say that you wont be able to make it. Most guilds have a forum you can post on, my guild leader has his cellphone number available to people, and it is really easy to send an in-game mail.

You may feel otherwise but i think that just because you dont have to personally man up to the situation, doesnt mean that you should do something that would be really frowned upon in real life. I think a lot of this problem stems from how easy WotLK is. Wrath has enabled people who probably need to do more challenging heroics, to simply blow through them and get relatively good gear. The learning curve is not steep enough for new players at the moment. I am not trying to be elitist and say, "casuals shouldnt be able to raid," but i think that raising the barrier to entry would do a lot of good for the general state of raiding. This is why i am optimistic that the new stance on heroics will be good.

Having the ability to be able to raid by putting in less effort is a good thing. During Vanilla and BC, I think they lost a lot of good potential raiders because you had to do so much front end work before you could get into raids. I never got into raiding before WotLK because I just didnt have the time to get all that gear, gems, and enchants.

That was quite the tangent to what i wanted to talk about. Anyways, so we didnt raid ICC on Wednesday because we didnt have the people for it, so we decided to do 10 man ToGC and get the mount that drops when you have 50 attempts left. That was actually a lot of fun. Our gear trivialized a lot of it and it was pretty easy, but it was a lot of fun.

Our raid leader still insisted upon marking the faction champs and explaining the fights in detail, even though during the first fight we only got 4 stacks of the bleed, the worms only burrowed once and Icehowl only charged once. Me and our rogue had a lot of fun listening to "You Face Jaraxxus" to get us in the mood for some ToGC action. When we actually faced Jaraxxus we got one portal and one volcano and blew him apart but i couldnt get that song out of my head. Faction champs is a joke now with our increased health and damage. Valks was originally a really cool idea but it was never really that hard on 10 man in my opinion. anub'arak was pretty easy until P3 when he almost killed me because he was melee'ing me at the same time his aura was ticking for about 10k a second.

Overall it was pretty fun. Good light hearted time. There werent really an big challenges despite our GM saying that "Icehowl still hits hard guys" and then having him hot me for penuts. While i wish we had done our ICC i had a good time and i would do it again.

And if you are wondering about the mount, i had the highest roll with 91...until the pug rolled 100 :(