Friday, July 30, 2010
Additional Page
I added a page for a free trial and some other World of Warcraft propaganda, check it out!
So what is there to do in World of Warcraft?
What is there to do in World of Warcraft? Well, it depends on you! One of the most interesting aspects of World of Warcraft, is that a player can do whatever they want. Traditional games have a story that is intended to be completed in a specific order, or in certain stages. World of Warcraft allows players to experience the story in any order that they please. Don’t like the story? No problem, the game can be played without any involvement with quests or lore whatsoever.
To illustrate what you can do in World of Warcraft, picture this scenario: There is a game show where people who want to be involved are picked up, and dropped off in a city far away. What would those people do? Well, some might start a business, or start working for one, some might try to make friends, or find social groups that they fit well in, some people may go sight-seeing, and others may just hang around and not do anything. This is similar to what a player can do in Warcraft.
A picture of the auction house
Starting a business… There is a truly free market system in World of Warcraft. There is an auction house that allows players to place items up for auction for any price they choose, and they auction can last anywhere from 12-48 hours. The auction house has an enormous range of goods, ranging from useless to hard-to-find. The amount of items on the auction house varies from server to server, but there are typically 10,000 to 11,000 auctions going on at any given time each day. In the end, all of the prices are set by individuals just like you and I, playing at home. Some people use the auction house to buy an item put up at a cheap price from other players, and resell it at a higher price. Some people also take over markets, buying every single item (usually crafting materials) on the auction house, and reposting those for a price of their choosing as a way to make profits.
Mining a saronite node
Working for one… There are a few gathering professions in World of Warcraft. These include, skinning, herbalism, and mining. All of these are considered “gathering professions” because they require the player to gather some form of raw material. Skinners gather the leather of slain animal-type creatures and can use them to create leather items, and sometimes other items as well. Herbalists can pick rare herbs found throughout the game, they range in size and appearance and typically look like a very colorful and unique flower. Each plant yields a different herb. Herbs are used to create potions, and also used as ink for inscriptionists, which make scrolls and other items. Miners harvest nodes that range in size and appearance as well, ranging from the lowly copper ore, to the highly coveted titanium ore. These items are all typically found on the auction house, and prices are set by the player. People also pay (in-game gold) for labor as well for services such as, creating various types of armor, creating potions, or people will even pay for help with a quest or dungeon. There is no set price for any of these as well, if people want to rush they can pay more gold for a person who is there immediately, or they can search around and look for someone to help them for less.
Saying hi to the the locals
Making friends… Some folks take issue calling people over the internet, and that you will never meet in person “friend.” I have come to just call them “online friends” because they are really in a different social realm. However, just because you will never meet these people, does not mean that you cannot talk to them, learn a little bit about them, share interests, and have fun playing the game with them. How might someone meet these online friends? It can happen anywhere. People tend to make friends by helping each other with a quest, or crafting an item, or just standing around in one of the major cities. If someone finds someone they would like to talk to again, or may need their help in the future, they can add them to their “friends list.” This list is very similar to a World of Warcraft version of AIM or MSN messenger. You simply add their name, and talk to them whenever they are online.
Social groups… There is an array of social groups that players can make themselves a part of if they choose. There are guilds, arena teams, friends’ list, and places where people hang out regularly. If they don’t find a group to play the game with, there is no penalty for that either. Typically the people that players communicate with the most are their guild members or people on their friends list.
Icecrown Citadel
For a sense of scale... here is another picture with my character in it this time.
Sight-seeing… The map and geography in World of Warcraft is absolutely humongous. There are four continents, and each span a huge distance. To truly discover the entire map, to cover one area in detail, and ride (on horseback, the fastest way to travel on foot) from one end of the continents to the other would take at least 12 hours. The landscapes vary from dry deserts, to dense jungles, snowy plains, to brutal mountains, and even areas that are infected with plagues and undead.
Doing nothing
Doing nothing… There are many people on World of Warcraft who don’t do anything. People aren’t forced to do anything, or play a certain way, if they want to log onto the game to do nothing, that’s fine.
Perhaps the best part to all of this is that no one is forcing anyone to play a certain way. People can do whatever they find pleasure in, which could be all, none, or any variation of these. So, what do (or would) you do in World of Warcraft?
Finding a guild, and staying in one…
What is a guild? A guild is like a club that you can join in World of Warcraft to keep in touch with certain players, friends, and others. Typically a guild helps each other, raids together, and socializes together. There is a shared “guild chat” that everyone in the guild can see and type in and there is a guild bank that is like a guild’s warehouse of items and materials they have stocked up. It’s the group of people you choose to play with because you want to, and the guild is there for organizational purposes.
It is common for guilds that focus on raiding to have an application process (Yes, you apply to play with a certain group of people in a video game). This may seem excessive, but its uses are actually practical. For instance, someone who does not fill out an application probably does not want to be in your guild, to rephrase that; if they do not put forth the effort to answer a couple of questions, what makes you think they will put forth the effort with anything else? Questions range from guild to guild, but typically they ask a person’s age, their World of Warcraft experience, who their character is and who their last guild was (and why they left). In a way it resembles a job application. An application is an easy way to gain a snapshot of how a person will perform in a guild.
Just joining a guild does not make a member a “full fledged” guild members yet. In most cases, they undergo a process where they are allowed into the guild, but not allowed full access to guild perks; guild paying for your armor repairs, guild contributing materials from the guild bank to craft items, guild raids etc. A person has to earn their stripes, and prove that they can be reliable by showing up to guild raids consistently, being polite by how they interact with others, and proving that they can play the game well by staying alive during raid boss fights while completing their role (tanking, healing, damaging) well.
Guild structure usually consists of a guild leader (like the owner/big boss), officers (like managers), members (employees), and applicants. The guild leader usually has the final call on decisions like what to raid during a week, who to bench during a raid if they are playing poorly, etc. Officers usually help give input to these decisions or make suggestions, they also deal with issues the guild leader might normally handle when they are offline or away. Members are really the backbone of a guild. With solid members a guild can do very well, because the better the members are, the less guidance they need from officers. Applicants vary… some are very dramatic, loud, rude, bossy, helpful, kind, friendly, etc. It’s the officers and guild leader’s job to gauge how well they think an applicant will fit in with the rest of the guild.
If a person wants to make an impression on their guild, they can do so by being helpful. A guild in general always appreciates Fish Feasts (http://www.wowhead.com/item=43015/fish-feast), these items give a buff (or power-up) to the entire raid, and can be obtained by crafting, or purchasing ones someone has already crafted on the auction house. Being polite can make a very big impression on other members, and that will also increase a new member’s chances of success. Last but not least, performance is the biggest tell of how well a person will be received in a guild. If a person plays their character exceptionally well, people may be more lenient on their personal flaws. It’s important to remember that as a new member, you’re making an impression regardless of what you are doing, so act accordingly and as if everyone were watching you.
Every guild is different, some have different motives, different conduct, different structure, but this is how most guilds handle themselves. Guilds are also very popular in WoW, and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who is not in one. Overall, a guild should contribute to the social aspect of your gaming experience, and if a guild is causing more problems than resulting in fun, perhaps you should find a new guild. Remember that all members represent a guild, and if you’re in a guild with a people who play well and are polite, you will be perceived as such. However if you join a guild full of jerks, and poor players, you will probably be considered a bad apple as well. Post a comment if you have any questions you feel like asking, thanks.
It is common for guilds that focus on raiding to have an application process (Yes, you apply to play with a certain group of people in a video game). This may seem excessive, but its uses are actually practical. For instance, someone who does not fill out an application probably does not want to be in your guild, to rephrase that; if they do not put forth the effort to answer a couple of questions, what makes you think they will put forth the effort with anything else? Questions range from guild to guild, but typically they ask a person’s age, their World of Warcraft experience, who their character is and who their last guild was (and why they left). In a way it resembles a job application. An application is an easy way to gain a snapshot of how a person will perform in a guild.
Just joining a guild does not make a member a “full fledged” guild members yet. In most cases, they undergo a process where they are allowed into the guild, but not allowed full access to guild perks; guild paying for your armor repairs, guild contributing materials from the guild bank to craft items, guild raids etc. A person has to earn their stripes, and prove that they can be reliable by showing up to guild raids consistently, being polite by how they interact with others, and proving that they can play the game well by staying alive during raid boss fights while completing their role (tanking, healing, damaging) well.
Guild structure usually consists of a guild leader (like the owner/big boss), officers (like managers), members (employees), and applicants. The guild leader usually has the final call on decisions like what to raid during a week, who to bench during a raid if they are playing poorly, etc. Officers usually help give input to these decisions or make suggestions, they also deal with issues the guild leader might normally handle when they are offline or away. Members are really the backbone of a guild. With solid members a guild can do very well, because the better the members are, the less guidance they need from officers. Applicants vary… some are very dramatic, loud, rude, bossy, helpful, kind, friendly, etc. It’s the officers and guild leader’s job to gauge how well they think an applicant will fit in with the rest of the guild.
If a person wants to make an impression on their guild, they can do so by being helpful. A guild in general always appreciates Fish Feasts (http://www.wowhead.com/item=43015/fish-feast), these items give a buff (or power-up) to the entire raid, and can be obtained by crafting, or purchasing ones someone has already crafted on the auction house. Being polite can make a very big impression on other members, and that will also increase a new member’s chances of success. Last but not least, performance is the biggest tell of how well a person will be received in a guild. If a person plays their character exceptionally well, people may be more lenient on their personal flaws. It’s important to remember that as a new member, you’re making an impression regardless of what you are doing, so act accordingly and as if everyone were watching you.
Every guild is different, some have different motives, different conduct, different structure, but this is how most guilds handle themselves. Guilds are also very popular in WoW, and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who is not in one. Overall, a guild should contribute to the social aspect of your gaming experience, and if a guild is causing more problems than resulting in fun, perhaps you should find a new guild. Remember that all members represent a guild, and if you’re in a guild with a people who play well and are polite, you will be perceived as such. However if you join a guild full of jerks, and poor players, you will probably be considered a bad apple as well. Post a comment if you have any questions you feel like asking, thanks.
Raid Rage
Anyone who has played a video game has probably experienced a moment of extreme frustration. It could be that part of the game is very difficult, you don’t know what to do or where to do next or something as simple as, “the dumb guy won’t jump that high, this is impossible!” These are all too common in gaming and it happens very universally. One of the hardest parts of gaming is keeping your cool.
So what are the causes of rage? Usually in World of Warcraft, you will be attempting to defeat a difficult raid boss for the 100th time, and the SAME person keeps standing in fire. High expectations can often cause rage because deep down, you know this person is oblivious, you’ve seen them repeat mistakes 99 times before this one, so why did you expect a different result?
How should you handle your rage? There are multitudes of ways to express and handle your rage. The first and easiest (although not the most effective) way to handle your rage is to yell at the game. If you’re playing with other players, you can yell at them. Don’t let them sass you back in any way, if they start yelling back, yell louder. Throwing things is another way that people exert themselves. Hurling that controller or headset really channels your rage into the fuel that propels this poor technologic object across the room. Even though your wallet will ultimately be the victim of this rage propulsion, you are still satisfied enough to possibly do it again. Giving up is also a worn path that gamers also take. They tell themselves, “If this mother front door does this one more time, I am done” and sometimes follow through with their threat. Upon failure, the said gamer will toss remotes, fling headsets, and leave the area. If someone were to enter the area directly after departure, it would be like a modern day ghost town. These are just a few ways that gamers express their rage.
How I handle my rage? I’m guilty of all of the activities listed, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. However, lately I’ve found that it helps to laugh at the situation now. I laugh because it is really funny, I am raising my blood pressure because some “ones and zeros” aren’t acting the way I expect them to? Well deeper than this, I believe that gamers freak out because of failure. They may be playing these games to win and anything that denies that win is a direct oppressor to their happiness. I’ve learned that playing the game itself is what’s fun about playing games, not necessarily seeing the credits roll. Not that any of these excuse failure, but they help to deal with it when it’s inevitable. I haven’t had a freak out since I was a juvenile, but I do know that gamers ranging from young to adult still have fits. Just remember that the situation is funny, and if you really want to laugh, take a third-person’s perspective on the situation. I highly recommend going to youtube.com and search “video game freak out” to get a glimpse of how funny freak outs look.
So what are the causes of rage? Usually in World of Warcraft, you will be attempting to defeat a difficult raid boss for the 100th time, and the SAME person keeps standing in fire. High expectations can often cause rage because deep down, you know this person is oblivious, you’ve seen them repeat mistakes 99 times before this one, so why did you expect a different result?
How should you handle your rage? There are multitudes of ways to express and handle your rage. The first and easiest (although not the most effective) way to handle your rage is to yell at the game. If you’re playing with other players, you can yell at them. Don’t let them sass you back in any way, if they start yelling back, yell louder. Throwing things is another way that people exert themselves. Hurling that controller or headset really channels your rage into the fuel that propels this poor technologic object across the room. Even though your wallet will ultimately be the victim of this rage propulsion, you are still satisfied enough to possibly do it again. Giving up is also a worn path that gamers also take. They tell themselves, “If this mother front door does this one more time, I am done” and sometimes follow through with their threat. Upon failure, the said gamer will toss remotes, fling headsets, and leave the area. If someone were to enter the area directly after departure, it would be like a modern day ghost town. These are just a few ways that gamers express their rage.
How I handle my rage? I’m guilty of all of the activities listed, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. However, lately I’ve found that it helps to laugh at the situation now. I laugh because it is really funny, I am raising my blood pressure because some “ones and zeros” aren’t acting the way I expect them to? Well deeper than this, I believe that gamers freak out because of failure. They may be playing these games to win and anything that denies that win is a direct oppressor to their happiness. I’ve learned that playing the game itself is what’s fun about playing games, not necessarily seeing the credits roll. Not that any of these excuse failure, but they help to deal with it when it’s inevitable. I haven’t had a freak out since I was a juvenile, but I do know that gamers ranging from young to adult still have fits. Just remember that the situation is funny, and if you really want to laugh, take a third-person’s perspective on the situation. I highly recommend going to youtube.com and search “video game freak out” to get a glimpse of how funny freak outs look.
Friday, July 23, 2010
details details...
So it’s time for an awfully technical post. Although I know I’m not the only one to deliver this information, I hope that I can provide a unique way of explaining it so that makes sense. Here’s a breakdown of certain stats in World of Warcraft relevant to tanking, and my opinions on them.
Threat: Threat is a mechanic in World of Warcraft that controls the (raid boss or) monsters’ desire to attack you. The highest person on the (raid boss or) monster determines who they will attack. The stats that affect a tanks’ threat are: strength, hit, and expertise (these will be explained further down).
Opinion: So as a tank, your job is to be at the top of this list, meaning you are causing the most threat. In a raid environment this is a top priority, because if the (raid boss or) monster runs amok, killing people who are not designed to take hits, the raid will cease to function.
Strength: Strength is a character stat that affects the damage capabilities of your skills. The more strength you have, the higher your damage will be. The more damage you do, the higher your threat will be. Strength also plays a part in how much damage is blocked with your shield, which is explained in the block value section.
Opinion: Strength is not a stat to worry about in general, your other stats are of greater concern, and strength always improves with better gear.
Hit rating: Hit rating is a stat found on gear that contributes to your overall chance to hit a (raid boss or) monster. It takes approximately 32.79 hit rating to gain 1% hit.
Hit: On your character sheet hit determines the percentage chance that you have to hit a monster. It’s an odd thing in World of Warcraft, because as a tank once you have 8% hit, you will always hit the boss (100%).
Opinion: The hit percentage a tank has is one of the most beneficial stats to have, but in moderation. Once you pass 8% hit, it’s essentially a useless stat. It’s also hard to give a static number to how much will be most effective for your raid, if the tank has enough hit (balanced with other stats) so that he can cause more threat than the raid, he’s fine.
Expertise rating: Expertise rating is a stat found on gear that contributes to your overall expertise. It takes 8.1974973675 expertise rating to gain 1 expertise.
Expertise: Expertise reduces the chances that your attacks and abilities will be dodged or parried by the boss. 26 expertise will cause the boss to be unable to dodge your attacks. 56 expertise will cause the boss to be unable to parry your attacks.
Opinion: Expertise is similar to hit, because it controls how many of your skills and attacks actually connect to the boss. Expertise affects your overall threat, and is also good in moderation, like hit. There is not enough expertise rating to hit the 56 expertise mark. It’s best to settle for around 26 expertise, going much higher than this will not dramatically increase a tank’s threat, so it’s best to concentrate stats elsewhere once a tank meets this benchmark.
Stamina: Stamina is a character stat that directly affects a tank’s health. 1 stamina equates to 20 health.
Opinion: Stamina may seem simple, but it’s one of the best stats for tanking.
Essentially more stamina gives people who are supposed to heal you, more time to react. For example; if a tank has 20,000 health and takes 18,000 damage, they are left with 2,000 health, and must be healed immediately, otherwise the next attack will kill them. However, if a tank has 40,000 health, and takes 18,000 damage, they are left 22,000 health, and can take an additional hit before they die, granting healers a few precious seconds to heal them. Stamina is perhaps the most valuable tanking stat, and should be concentrated on regardless of the difficulty of the raid or dungeon.
Armor: Armor is a character stat, and a stat found on gear that contributes to physical damage reduction.
Opinion: Armor is the second most valuable stat behind stamina. Armor is so valuable because a tank will always take damage from a (raid boss or) monster. It is impossible to avoid every attack a (raid boss or) monster deals during a fight, so armor is a tank’s best friend. Armor is also important because bosses deal raw hits as high as 85,000 or more, and armor can reduce the damage from these attacks to a much more manageable 25,000.
Defense rating: Defense rating is a stat found on gear that contributes to a tanks chance to be missed, increases dodge rating, increases parry rating, increases block rating, and reduces your chance to be critically hit. Defense is subject to diminishing returns, so this stat becomes less effective the more a tank has.
Defense skill: Defense skill is an important stat to mind at all levels of raids. Once a tank has enough defense rating to reach 540 defense skill, they can no longer be critically hit by bosses. Removing critical hits from the damage table is vitally important to regulate incoming damage, and make it much more stable. A critical hit from a boss delivers double damage, and can create a situation where a tank can be killed in one hit, which would cause the death of everyone in the raid.
Opinion: 540, 540, 540! You must always have 540 defense skill as a tank. It’s crucial that tanks reach this number, but once it is reached, it only needs to be maintained. It’s important to always watch this number; it’s easy to forget, especially with gear upgrades.
Dodge rating: Dodge rating is a stat found on gear that controls how much dodge a tank has. Dodge is subject to diminishing returns, so this stat becomes less effective the more a tank has.
Dodge: Dodge is a tank stat that is a percentage chance. Dodge itself is a percentage chance for a tank to completely avoid an attack.
Opinion: Dodge is the third most important stat for tank survivability. Completely avoiding a bosses attack gives healers time to restore your health. Because dodge isn’t reliable, it’s not a stat worth concentrating on to a large extent.
Parry rating: Parry rating is a stat found on gear that controls how much parry a tank has. Parry is subject to much more harsh diminishing returns than dodge, so this stat becomes much less effective the more a tank has.
Parry: Parry is a tank stat that is a percentage chance. Parry itself is a percentage chance for a tank to completely avoid an attack.
Block: Block is a tank stat that is a percentage chance. A blocked attack essentially subtracts your block value from incoming physical damage.
Opinion: Block is one of the most outdated mechanics to date. When bosses are attacking for damage in excess of 25,000, subtracting 1500 from these kinds of attacks are negligible. Block is not a stat worth stacking, and should be placed very low on the priority list.
Block value: Block value is a stat found on gear that is subtracted from a successfully blocked attack
Block rating: Block rating is a stat found on gear that adds to your percentage chance to block.
That’s all for the complicated and technical posts. From here out I will discuss more strategy and opinion and fewer fine details. Thanks for reading.
To make it up to you, I'll show you a screenshot, here's a cool picture of my guild and I working on the newest boss, Halion, in Ruby Sanctum.
Threat: Threat is a mechanic in World of Warcraft that controls the (raid boss or) monsters’ desire to attack you. The highest person on the (raid boss or) monster determines who they will attack. The stats that affect a tanks’ threat are: strength, hit, and expertise (these will be explained further down).
Opinion: So as a tank, your job is to be at the top of this list, meaning you are causing the most threat. In a raid environment this is a top priority, because if the (raid boss or) monster runs amok, killing people who are not designed to take hits, the raid will cease to function.
Strength: Strength is a character stat that affects the damage capabilities of your skills. The more strength you have, the higher your damage will be. The more damage you do, the higher your threat will be. Strength also plays a part in how much damage is blocked with your shield, which is explained in the block value section.
Opinion: Strength is not a stat to worry about in general, your other stats are of greater concern, and strength always improves with better gear.
Hit rating: Hit rating is a stat found on gear that contributes to your overall chance to hit a (raid boss or) monster. It takes approximately 32.79 hit rating to gain 1% hit.
Hit: On your character sheet hit determines the percentage chance that you have to hit a monster. It’s an odd thing in World of Warcraft, because as a tank once you have 8% hit, you will always hit the boss (100%).
Opinion: The hit percentage a tank has is one of the most beneficial stats to have, but in moderation. Once you pass 8% hit, it’s essentially a useless stat. It’s also hard to give a static number to how much will be most effective for your raid, if the tank has enough hit (balanced with other stats) so that he can cause more threat than the raid, he’s fine.
Expertise rating: Expertise rating is a stat found on gear that contributes to your overall expertise. It takes 8.1974973675 expertise rating to gain 1 expertise.
Expertise: Expertise reduces the chances that your attacks and abilities will be dodged or parried by the boss. 26 expertise will cause the boss to be unable to dodge your attacks. 56 expertise will cause the boss to be unable to parry your attacks.
Opinion: Expertise is similar to hit, because it controls how many of your skills and attacks actually connect to the boss. Expertise affects your overall threat, and is also good in moderation, like hit. There is not enough expertise rating to hit the 56 expertise mark. It’s best to settle for around 26 expertise, going much higher than this will not dramatically increase a tank’s threat, so it’s best to concentrate stats elsewhere once a tank meets this benchmark.
Stamina: Stamina is a character stat that directly affects a tank’s health. 1 stamina equates to 20 health.
Opinion: Stamina may seem simple, but it’s one of the best stats for tanking.
Essentially more stamina gives people who are supposed to heal you, more time to react. For example; if a tank has 20,000 health and takes 18,000 damage, they are left with 2,000 health, and must be healed immediately, otherwise the next attack will kill them. However, if a tank has 40,000 health, and takes 18,000 damage, they are left 22,000 health, and can take an additional hit before they die, granting healers a few precious seconds to heal them. Stamina is perhaps the most valuable tanking stat, and should be concentrated on regardless of the difficulty of the raid or dungeon.
Armor: Armor is a character stat, and a stat found on gear that contributes to physical damage reduction.
Opinion: Armor is the second most valuable stat behind stamina. Armor is so valuable because a tank will always take damage from a (raid boss or) monster. It is impossible to avoid every attack a (raid boss or) monster deals during a fight, so armor is a tank’s best friend. Armor is also important because bosses deal raw hits as high as 85,000 or more, and armor can reduce the damage from these attacks to a much more manageable 25,000.
Defense rating: Defense rating is a stat found on gear that contributes to a tanks chance to be missed, increases dodge rating, increases parry rating, increases block rating, and reduces your chance to be critically hit. Defense is subject to diminishing returns, so this stat becomes less effective the more a tank has.
Defense skill: Defense skill is an important stat to mind at all levels of raids. Once a tank has enough defense rating to reach 540 defense skill, they can no longer be critically hit by bosses. Removing critical hits from the damage table is vitally important to regulate incoming damage, and make it much more stable. A critical hit from a boss delivers double damage, and can create a situation where a tank can be killed in one hit, which would cause the death of everyone in the raid.
Opinion: 540, 540, 540! You must always have 540 defense skill as a tank. It’s crucial that tanks reach this number, but once it is reached, it only needs to be maintained. It’s important to always watch this number; it’s easy to forget, especially with gear upgrades.
Dodge rating: Dodge rating is a stat found on gear that controls how much dodge a tank has. Dodge is subject to diminishing returns, so this stat becomes less effective the more a tank has.
Dodge: Dodge is a tank stat that is a percentage chance. Dodge itself is a percentage chance for a tank to completely avoid an attack.
Opinion: Dodge is the third most important stat for tank survivability. Completely avoiding a bosses attack gives healers time to restore your health. Because dodge isn’t reliable, it’s not a stat worth concentrating on to a large extent.
Parry rating: Parry rating is a stat found on gear that controls how much parry a tank has. Parry is subject to much more harsh diminishing returns than dodge, so this stat becomes much less effective the more a tank has.
Parry: Parry is a tank stat that is a percentage chance. Parry itself is a percentage chance for a tank to completely avoid an attack.
Block: Block is a tank stat that is a percentage chance. A blocked attack essentially subtracts your block value from incoming physical damage.
Opinion: Block is one of the most outdated mechanics to date. When bosses are attacking for damage in excess of 25,000, subtracting 1500 from these kinds of attacks are negligible. Block is not a stat worth stacking, and should be placed very low on the priority list.
Block value: Block value is a stat found on gear that is subtracted from a successfully blocked attack
Block rating: Block rating is a stat found on gear that adds to your percentage chance to block.
That’s all for the complicated and technical posts. From here out I will discuss more strategy and opinion and fewer fine details. Thanks for reading.
To make it up to you, I'll show you a screenshot, here's a cool picture of my guild and I working on the newest boss, Halion, in Ruby Sanctum.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
So you want to tank?
Do you think you have what it takes?
I am not speaking about your character in-game, I'm talking about you. If you're used to the internet at all, you know that people overly criticize and may not be very eloquent while doing so. So what can you do? I have two recommendations; learn as much as possible and get tougher skin.
People who might criticize you usually do not know what they're talking about. It is your job to remind them that they don't. If people run their mouth over a choice you made, you need to be able to explain to them why you made that choice, or to be able to admit that you messed up.
In order for your ego to grow effectively on the internet, you need to protect it with a very thick and intimidating callus. People are going to throw slurs, insults, and talk belligerently as long as they're able to hide behind a user name and a monitor, yourself included perhaps. It's important to keep in mind that it's easy for people to say things on the internet that they might not normally say in person. Just ignore the idiocy and continue what you know is right. If all else fails, next time a raid boss spews fire that kills everything in front of them, point it at the offender.
Qualities of a superior tank include leadership qualities, know-how, and quick decision making. In order to gain respect among fellow players, you need to exert a certain amount of command (not too much). A happy balance is necessary, essentially you want to be able to give people directions, correct poor performance, and not simply scream and yell until you get your way. Though I do believe some people can only hear you when you yell at them. The know-how I have mentioned comes from knowing your class better than others but on top of that, you must also know their class better than they do. If you are able to instruct others and give them advice, it shows your knowledge and upon proper delivery, helps earn respect as well. Quick decision making is not an easy quality to acquire. The best way to gain it is by getting as much experience as possible, the more times you do something, and the more chances you will have to experience every aspect of it.
There are more qualities of being a great tank, but I cannot speak about them all. What is important is that you find the qualities that are necessary to communicate effectively with the group of people that you play with, and that's probably the best summarized advice I can offer.
I am not speaking about your character in-game, I'm talking about you. If you're used to the internet at all, you know that people overly criticize and may not be very eloquent while doing so. So what can you do? I have two recommendations; learn as much as possible and get tougher skin.
People who might criticize you usually do not know what they're talking about. It is your job to remind them that they don't. If people run their mouth over a choice you made, you need to be able to explain to them why you made that choice, or to be able to admit that you messed up.
In order for your ego to grow effectively on the internet, you need to protect it with a very thick and intimidating callus. People are going to throw slurs, insults, and talk belligerently as long as they're able to hide behind a user name and a monitor, yourself included perhaps. It's important to keep in mind that it's easy for people to say things on the internet that they might not normally say in person. Just ignore the idiocy and continue what you know is right. If all else fails, next time a raid boss spews fire that kills everything in front of them, point it at the offender.
Qualities of a superior tank include leadership qualities, know-how, and quick decision making. In order to gain respect among fellow players, you need to exert a certain amount of command (not too much). A happy balance is necessary, essentially you want to be able to give people directions, correct poor performance, and not simply scream and yell until you get your way. Though I do believe some people can only hear you when you yell at them. The know-how I have mentioned comes from knowing your class better than others but on top of that, you must also know their class better than they do. If you are able to instruct others and give them advice, it shows your knowledge and upon proper delivery, helps earn respect as well. Quick decision making is not an easy quality to acquire. The best way to gain it is by getting as much experience as possible, the more times you do something, and the more chances you will have to experience every aspect of it.
There are more qualities of being a great tank, but I cannot speak about them all. What is important is that you find the qualities that are necessary to communicate effectively with the group of people that you play with, and that's probably the best summarized advice I can offer.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
tank my life
Good tanking is a skill often overlooked. Some even might consider tanks masochistic. Frequently tanks are subject to being the first to be blamed, and the last to be praised, and it is not until people are thrown into extraordinary circumstances where they are stuck playing with an exceptionally poor tank that they realize how skilled the better ones are.
For me, playing a character that specializes in tanking is more than just absorbing damage for a group ranging from 5 to 25 people; it’s about obtaining the best gear, researching or proving the best ways to gear, being dependable, knowledgeable, improving my reaction speed, finding and working with the best strategies for the overall success of the raid.
It’s been a long and arduous journey going from a newbie to an experienced/competitive player, but it’s been exhilarating the entire way.
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