Moved

http://slice213.wordpress.com/

Proper equipment

This is kind of an extenion from a previous post. A recap of the previous post.

1.) Be on time and ready to go. Don't be Wintergrasp at raid time, don't be on an alt running an instance etc.

2.) Be prepared with knowledge of fights. If you have a suggestion, don't hold back if it is a valid suggestion.

3.) Have appropriate addon downloaded and updated.

4.) Come to the fight with needed items as needed.

5.) Listen, absorb, and evolve. Be ready for changes.

6.) Raid with an open mind - be prepared for wipes.

7.) Know your limits - if you are not feeling it, take a night off.

8.) If you sign up show up!!! If you are not sure...mark tentative, please.

9.) If you cannot make it, please advise.

10.) Be spec'd appropriately, gemmed correctly, rotation worked out, glyphed correctly, and enchanted appropriately.

11.) No ninja afking.

Going to focus on points #3 and #10.

Have appropriate addons downloaded and updated.

This is a very important things raiders need to have. Although, I guess you do not really need them. Addon will however, enhance your play and make it easier on you and your raid. (Unless you are fail like me and cannot read.....Liyhe is being targeted by an enchanced fireball!)

Keeping your addon up to date also may help to prevent issues with the program from going "screw you" and crashing/freesing etc.

Another point to this is to understand how your addons work, take for example Dozzer pointed out we may want to tone done on the number of things DMB announces to use. To announce only the big I am going to kill you and your raid abilities (Enhanced shock vortex, enhanced fireball).

Be spec'd appropriately, gemmed correctly, rotation worked out, glyphed correctly, and enchanted appropriately.

This is also important....you get new loot...why the hell wouldnt you want to "pimp" it out. Making sure you have properly "pimped" out your epic lootz will ehance your game and make things easier. Also if you don't it makes you looks like a scrub. Scrubs get no love in WoW, unless its from other scrubs.

0/0/71 specs ARE NOT acceptable. Just say no!!!

Or an crusader enchant on your Bryntroll, the Bone Arbiter is not cool...

http://www.wowhead.com/?item=50709

Fun or Progression?

Ok Day 2 - no nicotine and no caffiene. Not fun. Cold turkey.

Anyways.

Why do you play this game? Why do poeple raid? What keeps bringing people to the kitten box/litter box? hmmmm???

Why do you play this game/Raid?

This will get a freakin huge range of answers. We will see care-bear answers of "oh i wanna play with my friends and family, we dont care about raiding." Midrange answers like: "I wanna play with my friends, meet new people and raid on the side." Asshole answers "I want loots and will do anything to get it." Hardcore answers of "I want to complete all content, analyze the encounter to its elements and destroy it, and collect the phat loot, at the expense of real life!"

Seriously poeple there is an easy way to answer it....you like it. Simple. It you didnt like it, why would you keep on spending $15 on it. (people doing it as a job...face it they dont enjoy it. They either cheat and hax to accomplish stuff, or they are earining 10 cents an hour farming eternals in Shadowmoon Valley - NI HAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! )

I correlate WoW to me at least, a fun way to blow off some steam. Spam healing people is fun or Crusaders Striking mobs in the face is also a blast. I admit seeing shields on people and big heal crit #'s make me smile....

I also think making progress in content is fun. If things are not working, go back and re-evaluate, swap individuals in and out as needed. Face to wall - not fun. If this involves doing outside research on fights do it. If it involves doing research about your class - do it. (although I admit i have been slacking a bit on looking up anything recent in the world of priesting, also I need to work on my awareness as well)

It does not take a lot of time to watch a video and jot down a few notes. It doesnt take a degree in rocket science to know that str is not going to help you as a priest :P

Internet people....look into it.

Other people may think this is crazy and I do not think so. Its the same damn thing as people going ape shit over a concert or a movie star. I dont see why people cry at the sight of seeing someone....weirdos.

One thing I am really enjoying is leveling a new character...Paladin is at 70 at the moment. Not sure how to DPS on real mobs....you know like the ones in dungeons. On a dummy I can get to 1475 DPS....any tips on melee dps are appreciated.

Christianity.....why.....

Giving something up...seems kinda silly....but for this lent...giving up caffiene and nicotine....and this is what i feel like. (see above). I have a headache, grumpy, and irritable....wanna kill teddy bears....or wind rider cubs.

Hmmm. Monday...elitism, ITSSSS GRRRRREAT!!!

http://clearcasting.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/ok-in-uk/

OK I am not trying to call people out or anything that is not my intention!

Just brings up what is an elitist and what is a non-elitist.

Just to let you call know...labeling groups of people is never a good idea. Defining a group of purple will usually bring about different ideas and definitions on a group. Groups of people never fit a given mould or idea.

Heck what exactly is an "elitist" or "Elitism"?

"The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources.

The sense of entitlement enjoyed by such a group or class.

Control, rule, or domination by such a group or class."

Not a very flattering label, in my honest opinion.

How the hell does this term fit to players of an MMO?

1.) For some reason many people think they are entitled to something, more then likely undeserved. Example, Divine"don't remember rest of name" had to QQ cause he lost a roll on a staff.
2.) They think they know everything to know about everything...and when they get called out...their reply. "STFU NOOB!"
3.) Their reply when someone asked a valid question is to be an ass....woo go trade channel.
4.) They are really good at the game, but is an ass to anyone without helping etc (I.E. i am talking about people who do not help friends or guildmates, strangers...who cares.)

One has to amaze at the anonymous nature of the Internet does to ones bravado....trade channel and other trolls never cease to amaze me.

I guess in that sense; it makes perfect sense that the term does fit many players of MMOs.

But then why do we call people who are actually quite knowledge, and play their characters well, "Elitists"?

These players actually know what the heck they are doing, etc etc. So why do they get a negative label? Sure they may not be the most approachable people, but hey who is to total strangers?

Sure they may expect others to play and research to their level, but as long as they are wiling to raise the group up, (and no I am not talking about strangers), is there anything wrong with this attitude? No, I really do not think there is. If someone with more experience at the game is willing to share knowledge, hell yeah. If someone needs help in guild, I will gladly help...someone not in the guild...more then likely not. But eh in 25 man raid, Blessed asked what to do, I sent him a whisper....heal heal heal etc. Ti then said on vent in more detail on what to do, but for gunship battle...heal heal heal, stay of fire, is a pretty much it.

It is when one thinks one is the "shit" and not willing to share knowledge etc is when you get negative definition for elitist.

Perhaps they should get a new label? As to what who knows?

Bacon

Bacon. Essentially it is a cured meat that comes from Sus scrofa domesticus, aka domestic pigs. The pig meat is 1st cured with brine or dry packed (stored in large amounts of salt). Either way this bacon still needs to be cooked before consumption. Some types of smoked bacon may not need to be cooked before eating.

Bacon is made from many different type of cuts. In the United States it is typically from the belly of the pig.

Bacon is awesome.....especially on a cheeseburger....or with eggs...


now Bacon Salt...

http://baconsalt.com/

No thanks...gimme the real thing.

Kitten herding? People herding? Boat people?

Ok its thursday night...raid night, videos watched, forums searched, and a energy drink ready at my side. Green light is go!

Log in - check mailboxes, log onto main, 15 people on give or take a few. Our GM, Ari logs, and the work computer connection is being naughty and cannot play tonight, people would need to organize something without her.

It was as Ari said - at 1st - it was like crickets chirping when the question was posed to the officer corp.

(Disclaimer - I do not recall all what was said etc, just recalling what happened. etc)

And this is my own fault, I admit I was caught off guard when the call went out. Wasn't expecting this.

Dozzer made a good point when there are other officer's to lead etc besides him and Ari.

Ari, Tel, Doz all had their hand at RL earlier this week.

Ideas as far as where to go, totc 10, togc, uld, etc. (people were saved in a mixture to ICC and VoA)

Invite sent out went to normal totc 10

Liyhe, Sorak, Glendor, Rott, Diessel, Wica, Flavi, Tireal, Darthknight and Arvash.

going to 2 heal this (me and sorak). tanks were Darth and Arv

....invites went out and I didn't even know how to convert into a raid....people advise its in the raid window...now why didnt i think of that...go in, I assume people know the normal fights and what to do.

The ugly dude Gormok comes out....start healing tanks, staying out of a fire, getting snobolds killed...I was thinking damn...why are people taking sooo much dmgs....time to play whack mole in hyper mode. WTB turbo controller/mouse.

The worms or is wyrms, Dreadscale and Acidmaw pop....lots of dmg is happening....OMG wtf is going on....think we wiped here. Screens are checked....everyone favorite cow shaman was in the wrong spec....lol. Definitely was funny. 4k DPS as resto outrageous! Specs are corrected and proceeded to stomp the rest of the encounters with over half time remaining on a fish feast.

ToTc 10 normal i think was done about 9:30 est??? Give or take a few minutes.

Head out to ToGC 10. People swap characters as needed. Head in and I do not know what the hell is going in regards to how EP/GP works exactly. RL then passed to Tel. I may be wrong here but I do not know how many of us had been in the heroic version and passed thru it. At this point Ti offered advise and guidance. (much appreciated) The 1st 3 fights went smoothly....almost exactly like the normal versions. The FC once down was easy. The Valkyrs....sorta the same, except the orbs hit for a lot more, and apply a DoT, the Valkyrs will also apply a DoT. Nice loot dtops for people.

Eventually got those down, and then Anub. Very different then 10 or 25 normal version. I was shocked as to how little HP he has in heroic version. Got him down to the 50's and prob would have him down if had more time, but it was getting late!! :(

All in all not a bad night, in mu opinion, others may differ, but i had a good time. Again as I said...I am down for doing anything in game.

I am a relatively new to the game of WoW. I guess the only way to get used to RL is to do it more often. Will need to just suck it up and listen to other's advise.

http://clearcasting.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/kitten-herding-101/

Rolling the D20...wall of text crits ya for a crap load.

(image above mithra (cat girls) scholar - wearing scholar relic gear - think school girl outfit...dirty yes i know.)


It really is true; once you leave you can never go back. About a month ago, I had an urge to play Final Fantasy XI again. What can I say I was feeling nostalgic? Comparing FFXI to WoW is like comparing apples to oranges, but many feel the need to try and dangit I will as well.
Why am I saying once you leave you can never go back?
When I went back to the world of Vana’diel for a brief stay, I was shocked as how I was not used the graphics anymore…







Sure when I was playing it the graphics were great and I would look at WoW and say…damn WoW looks horrible. However, with the ability to ramp up the appearance of WoW, I had to say FFXI looked kind of funny to me. WoW has the “cartoony” kind of feel I had grown accustomed to. FFXI had the more 3rd realistic look going on. (As if any game could look realistic lol)

General chat/Trade Chat/Names

FFXI the general chat for the most part is only full of people looking for teleports and LFM for various missions. There is no real stupid conversation going on in the general channels…if there is…..it is shut down fast. Things are a lot quieter in the towns of Vana’diel. There is no WTS or WTB shouts as well. No shouts about ninja this, ninja that (well sometimes but not often). Not very interesting to watch.

WoW on the other hand is a plethora of expletives, rude comments, and anything under the sun going on in trade chat. Things that one should not say in everyday talk are thrown out there, like it is common day vernacular. However, it can be VERY VERY entertaining.

One thing in common is some player’s desire for an unusual name, example Stabbie in WoW would be XxxStabbiexxX in FFXI. /facepalm (I do admit Orangeslice is an unusual name)



Alts and characters

In FFXI, I had no desire for an alt or to make a new character. On one character I had all the skills and jobs I could level at my fingertips.

http://www.ffxiah.com/player.php?id=1022563

My monk (this was the job i logged out in) if i had to grade it, i would give myself a B. I could have upgraded to the black belt (but I aint camping no world bosses for the 3 items needed 72 hr respawn rate), and a brutal earring. But other then that i really had most of the items a monk needed.

This was my character in FFXI, 75 white mage (healer – good single target, good AoE heals and HoTs), 75 ninja (evasion tank, although no one uses ninjas anymore), Warrior (2 handed weapon DPS), 75 ranger (think hunter without the pet), 75 Monk (punching and kicking stuff to death is fun – could also tank certain things). If I got sick of a certain job or the Linkshell (guilds in FFXI) needed a certain job I could swap on the fly.

The issue with this system, is if you got sick of your character, it was a PAIN the in the ass to get back to the same level if you were to make a new character.

When you start out you have no subjob (if you see the link above I was last logged in as a 75 mnk/37 nin), you do not gain the ability to have a subjob till you hit level 18. So as you can see your SJ is half of your main jobs level. Depending on your “Main job” you would need to lvl certain SJ to not be a gimp.

With the example of monk, a player needs to have the following jobs leveled to a minimum of 37. Ninja (VERY EXPENSIVE TO LEVEL), Warrior, and White Mage (only for 1 fight did you really need this SJ). Oh yes and dancer for soloing stuff.

While for Warrior (as main) one needed the subjobs of ninja, thief, and samurai.

So as you can see it can take some time to get to 75 as you need the appropriate sub jobs for the given situation. Now you could just take the most common sub job for your main job and get to 75, but then for endgame content you will need to get the other sub jobs leveled.

Another issue with making a new character was one had to earn your way back into certain areas of and endgame content. For access to “sky” bosses one had to get through mission 17 in the expansion Rise of the Zilart, for “sea” bosses and Limbus – one had to get past mission 7 in the Chains of Promethia expansion. Both sets of missions cannot be knocked out in a day and requires a decent party of players. Mission length can vary from a few minutes to hours.
So for many….you stuck with your character as you had a long road ahead of you.

While in WoW…I can have a load of alts and not have to worry about limit breaks (FFXI you are initially capped at 50, then you have to do a quest every 5 lvls to unlock 75), not having for the most part worry about having access to certain endgame content as it is all free to enter!! No requirements to gain entry. I was kind of shocked as to how “easy” it was to level. I could solo all the way to 80…wow….no more looking for experience points parties etc, I could quest till 80. Then again it also felt like cheating, somehow I was not really “earning” max level character. And your character is a one trick pony. Sure you have different specs, but you cannot become Zugzuug the disc priest all of a sudden.

Combat/Endgame content/Equipment

One thing of annoyance for me at least is the constant outdating of gear in WoW…new patch comes out…get new gear…new expansion comes out…get new gear. It cycles over and over it seems. Although, I admit, new purples are always nice. And the new looking gear is sweet looking.

FFXI much of the gear that came out in the 1st expansion Rise of the Zilart is still comparable to gear that is out now in its most recent expansions. FFXI seems to get the right balance and relevance of older content with older content. WoW old content is dead and redundant once something new hits the streets.

For equipment looks low lvl to about max lvl gear FFXI > WoW as far as looks. When it comes to endgame gear in WoW kicks the shit out FFXI’s gear look. (However, both games pale in comparison to the equipment look and character models in Aion)

Macros for WoW is like a foreign language and if it was not for ArI would have never figured it out. And to a large extent I still don’t get it.

Macros in FFXI were to me at least were a lot simpler.
/nin “Utsusemi: Ni”
/echo recast
What this macro would let me do is recast the spell and tell me when it is available for use again.

Combat in FFXI…we did not have any addon’s like grid, clique or DBM. If a mob was using
ability….you had best be better paying attention and run or do something to interrupt it.
Combat in WoW…I am sure you could play without addons…but they really do make the game easier to handle, not easier to play.

Crafting

I absolutely have nothing good to say about the crafting in FFXI. NOTHING.

Crafting in WoW is relatively painless and 1000000000X better then in FFXI. Nuff said.

After playing WoW….FFXI seems old and static…and in essence it had…many of the boss fights are simple tank and spank. Bosses don’t do anything too crazy…./yawn. When I logged into FFXI last…I sat around and really didn’t do anything…I did a few dynamis runs…but was boring….not the same excitement it was…..old and dependable is what FFXI is….guess I need something that is fast and unpredictable…lol like WoW I guess. FFXI is a grind, plain and simple, WoW is brisk walk thru the park.

Warning....wall of text in coming.

coming soon.

*lightbulb*

Ok now i just get it...when Del and Lyssi and others were saying Cataclysm will fix it.

Critical QQ

Too many things to read. too little time.

whining and winning.

Ok. Last night...Blood Princes kicked are asses. I played horribly. Freakin got hit by an empowered fireball. Dozzer even called it out...I dont know what happened..just froze up...choice between healing Kagan and running....guess what happened....

Anyways, we did get better at avoid a lot of the empowered vortex, target swaps can be an issue. Beach ball hit the ground a few times. Shadow lances ripped thru Sorak. And at times I got out of range of Kagan. Overall a very chaotic fight.

And that is the brilliance of this fight lies. My experience so far with WoW, many of the encounters is the raid vs the boss. Every know and then an add with annoying abilities may spawn, but nothing at the level of the Blood Princes. In essence you have 3 bosses chucking all sorts of nasty at you. Stuff that can wipe your raid fast.

Personally speaking I am not a fan of chaos. It throws me off rhythm. Other fights prior to this have a flow and ebb after a few tries I can feel and go with the flow. This fight is WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA'AM. Deadly Boss Mods is like a kid on too much sugar or a speed head - FIREBALL, SHOCK VORTEX ZOMGGGGG OVERLOAD.

Thank goodness Dozzer made a very good sugeestion of turning shit off you dont need to be warned avout turned off. And he is right. The stuff that does not raid wipe you the damage is quite minimal and easily healed thru.

Because I am new to the group. I do not like making suggestions or etc. But I think we definitely could have benefitted from maybe just taking a 5 min breather after a few wipes to clear heads and get away from staring at the pixels. Would have given more of a chance to step back and think, what the hell can I/raid improve on??

Other then that back to watching the blood princes video again and trolling the forums for any hints and gems of knowledge hidden in there.

Damn you Sorak.

Thanks to a certain cow. I have been craving a certain food...

What could it be....?

What else could it be...?

Red Meat...marinated in soy, sugar ( or some kinda of apple or pear juice for sweetness), onions, sesame seeds, and garlic.

KOREAN BBQ.....this weekend it will be mine, plus a 6 pack of some frosty beverage.

Late post is late. Herding Cats - Hey it's raiding time!

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!

Anyway.

Assisting the raid leader/GM

How can you be a good little raider?

1.) Be on time and ready to go. Don't be Wintergrasp at raid time, don't be on an alt running an instance etc.
2.) Be prepared with knowledge of fights. If you have a suggestion, don't hold back if it is a valid suggestion.
3.) Have appropriate addon downloaded and updated.
4.) Come to the fight with needed items as needed.
5.) Listen, absorb, and evolve. Be ready for changes.
6.) Raid with an open mind - be prepared for wipes.
7.) Know your limits - if you are not feeling it, take a night off.
8.) If you sign up show up!!! If you are not sure...mark tentative, please.
9.) If you cannot make it, please advise.
10.) Be spec'd appropriately, gemmed correctly, rotation worked out, glyphed correctly, and enchanted appropriately.
11.) No ninja afking.

Battle plans, and cheeseburgers.

Ok the picture and the title have nothng to do with the actual "meat" of the entry. By the way, I am dying for a good cheeseburger, have not had a decent one for months. Five Guys burger is ok....Graffitti Burger is awesome, but kinda small. I am so sad Cheeburger cheeburger closed down, 1 pound hamburgers for the win! Thurman's cafe is not worth waiting 3 hrs for a table. All the Fuddruckers in Columbus have closed i think. *SIGH*

Anyways back on track.

What makes up a successful raid? Concise battle plans? Composition? Raid Awareness? Mods/Addons? Cheezburgers?

A successful raid encompasses 4 out of the 5. Cow + cheez + bacon is optional.

Battle Plan aka strategy

There is something to be said about running head long into something and figuring out how things work, but meh who has time in this day and age to do so. So I am glad there are others out there figuring out intial strats and ideas. (Tankspot etc)

Now this may sound like a elitist notion (am i turning into Soth??) or me being an ass. But if you are not willing to listen, read, and watch....you probably shouldn't be raiding. It is not up to the GM or the RL to explain down to the last detail on what one needs to do. Dozzer and Arioch give a great over view of the fight, hints and nuggets of win.

But in general...everyone should also research on their own time as well. Going over a strat right before a fight does not mean everyone will know the fight....in one ear out the other! Also if you go over the strategy you may find things you can add and also the RL or the GM may gloss over things that may not be important to your role. They are giving an overview of the fight, it is up to you to know what tricks are out there for your specific role.

For example, throwing a Pain Suppression on a tank after a slime explodes in Rotface - people tend to get scattered and you may need to spread heals a bit. Pain Suppression on tank will help a lot. Also in Festergut...saving Pain Suppression for the 3rd or 4 inhale, when hits on 2nd tank are getting crazy!!! Throwing shields on people during Festergut right before he exhales.

Composition

What was that one quote people like to throw around "Bring the player, not the class."

No offense to those that think it is true or wish it to be true, but I really think that the comment is rubbish. As long as they design raids in such a way, that forces specific combinations, the above comment is rubbish.

Take for example, everyones friend, Festergut. Now he has a lovely ability where he causes people to vomit and cause everyone close by to vomit and take a metric crap ton of damage. Also while puking you cannot do anything. Now lets say Raid A takes in 2 tanks, 3 healers, and 5 melee DPS.....I doubt they will get past the 1 min mark. Raid B takes 2 tanks, 3 healrs, and 2 melee and 3 ranged DPS - as long as they can work together...they should be able to take down Festergut.

Further examples of having a butt load of melee DPS will make your raid night hell - Deathbringer Saurfang (sure it can be done...but prepare for a lot of marks and dead melee), Blood Princes - Beach ball, empowered fireball, empowered shock vortex, Lady D - the adds - without a decent mix of DPS - the adds can mess your raid up yo.

Raid Awareness

Now I will fully admit..i need work in this area. As playing a healer i get tunnel visioned a lot. Especially as the nights goes on and nothing is dying, except for us of course. I get focused on watching the tanks only and forget about others, and that is a bad thing. Unless you are tank healing, but helping out your fellow healers is not a bad thing.

Raid awareness can also be watching where you are standing and avoiding the various boss mechanics. (if you want chaos - look no farther then the blood princes). different raid call for different mechanics to avoid, some easier then others. Festergut for healers is easy...stand under his arse, heal, heal, heal, pop cooldowns so tanks dont die...collect loot. For the ranged DPS they have to watch for the spore and run accordingly. They have the tougher job for that fight.

Addons

Addons.....I have to say...don't raid without them. And when I mean "them" some of the bare minimums - Omen, DBM. Please don't raid without them....a kitten dies everytime a person without these causes a wipe.

Other add-ons will only make things easier for your associated job. Grid, clique, scroll text, buff watchers, etc etc. These things will only make your job easier and less of a pain to handle.

Make your life easier...get the addons! Don't raid without them. Gotta get catch em all!

P.S. Also make sure you don't have fishing macroed to your DPS buttons, have the wrong stance/presence on, or even a WHACK spec on before raiding. Your fellow raidmate will thank you for it.

Priest chat. Prob not going to be G rated.

http://divineaegis.com/2010/02/11/upcoming-priest-related-podcast/

March 1st Raidwarning podcast.

Actually interested in this one...as its going to be all about priests!!!!

Some of the guests are ones from the blogs i read - Joveta from Snarkcraft!! Matticus from World of Matticus, and Lilitharien from Divine Aegis. And many others.

When i 1st started priesting Jov/Seri's site had a lot of info for holy (I thought I was Holy4life) as that is where is specced 1st, then when i made the change to disc. Lith's blog was very helpful.

Although, Jov may call me a traitor, I am entralled with disc. No failangel for me.

Clash of the Titans pt 2 ----- Holy

OK finally got sometime to get around to writing up part 2 - How 2 holy.

Although, by no means am i an expert on all things Holy. I can give some insight as to what the basics are.

Comparing Disc to Holy

Disc is like having a blueprint as to how to heal, when to heal, and what spell to use at an appropriate time.

Holy on the other hand, is not as much as planning ahead but being able to react to a situation and using the best spell at the right time.

Prayer of Mending (instant cast)

"Places a spell on the target that heals them for 800 the next time they take damage. When the heal occurs, Prayer of Mending jumps to a party or raid member within 20 yards. Jumps up to 5 times and lasts 30 sec after each jump. This spell can only be placed on one target at a time"

Is an awesome spell, it a lazy man's spell, let is go and watch it bounce around. Combined with T9 gear you can get it to heal for 20% more. On fights like Festergut, Twin Valkyrs, Marrowgar, it helps a lot, in my opinion.

I recommend using it on every cool down. Cast on a tank or someone you know that is about to take damage....Zug....tanks.....

Circle of Healing (instant cast)

"Heals friendly party or raid members within 15 yards of the target for blah blah blah."

Also an awesome spell in a Holy Priests arsenal. This spell has advantages over its big brother Prayer of healing, as CoH hits targets that are needed, rather then the targeted party.

This spell is as use as needed. Use it when you know when raid wide damage is incoming.

Prayer of Healing and Greater Heal

"A powerful prayer heals the friendly target's party members within 30 yards for X"

"A slow casting spell that heals a single target for X"

Both of these heals are situational. Both are too slow to cast without Serendipity.

"When you heal with Binding Heal or Flash Heal, the cast time of your next Greater Heal or Prayer of Healing spell is reduced by 12%. Stacks up to 3 times. Lasts 20 sec." HOWEVER, watch your casting...don't want to burn thru your mana by maintaining the stacks.

Flash Heal (1.5 second cast, affected by haste rating)

"Heals a friendly target for X"

Probably your most common healing spell. This will activate Serendipity along with Binding Heal.

"Heals a friendly target and the caster for X. Low threat." Very useful spell. :) I prob should use it more often.

So in essence, holy can be a balance of Serendipity, raid healing etc. Holy is reactive rather then predicting.

Holy Stats, Gems and Glyphs

Once again Spell power is king.

Spellpower > Int/Spirit (some sort of ratio) > Crit/Haste > Mp5

One important thing to note is the ratio of int to spirit - this will help regen of your mana. As keeping your mana up is important.


As far as Gem use - Spellpower is king for red slots. As far as yellow slots - King's Amber +20 int and the luminous ametrine - +12 SP and +10 int. For blue....that is an issue - I personally go for +12 SP and +10 spirit purified dreadstone.

Also I cannot condone gemming for haste or crit as that will come from your gear choices...but there are those who do so, to each their own. For Holy, if i recall, about 15% haste is what one should shoot for. But i have seen other get up to 750 haste as Holy, but to each their own. Choose what suits your playstyle.

Glyphs i recommend for Holy is Glyph of Circle of Healing, Flash Heal and Guardian Spirit. But choose what matches your play style.

Some use Glyph of Prayer of Healing - adds a HoT effect to Glyph of Healing.

Your Prayer of Healing spell also heals an additional 20% of its initial heal over 6 sec.

I used it for a bit....but i prefer Guardian Spirit Glyph.

Before I forget Guradian Spirit is awesome, I personally forget to use it sometimes.

"Calls upon a guardian spirit to watch over the friendly target. The spirit increases the healing received by the target by 40%, and also prevents the target from dying by sacrificing itself. This sacrifice terminates the effect but heals the target of 50% of their maximum health. Lasts 10 sec." With the glyph the cool down on Guardian Spirit - is reduced to 1 minute if the effect is not used.

One last glyph worth mention is Glyph of Renew

Reduces the duration of your Renew by 3 sec. but increases the amount healed each tick by 25%.

Combined with full point into renew and empowered renew, and this glyph maybe worth getting.

Other blogs/sites i have found useful and fun to read.

http://missmedicina.blogspot.com/
http://snarkcraft.wordpress.com/
plusheal.com
tankspot.com - the healing section has useful entries on boss fights etc
http://www.worldofmatticus.com/
http://zusterke.orderoftheathanor.eu/ - useful calculators and such.

Part 3 specs when i get around to it.

Cuteness overload.

http://www.mmo-champion.com/news-2/icc-heroic-plush-pets-q4-2009-results-blue-posts/

Skip past the heroic news...look at the Windrider Cub.....wants. Normally i dont collect things like this...but the windrider cub is awesome. The griffon looks goofy and reminds me of a looney toon...blarg!

Miracle Cold Cure discovered!

http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/soondubu-jjigae

My favorite food when I am not feeling so great. Also great when not sick. The heat will kill any nasty germs destroying your immune system, and will sweat all the nasty poison from ya. When i am sick I will make it spicier. The recipe link above is a very easy to make and taste almost like my mom's. (I cannot quite duplicate her recipes yet!)

Wednesday

Going to be short and sweet. Still kinda tired from the raids last night.

Shadow Rising 1st went to Uld and killed Flame Leviathan and Razorscale. I was especially nervous as I have never been there...but went in with 24 poeple and got the achievments for both. (and 5 nom frost emblems).

After that popped over and got my new T10 helm....very nice, actually looked decent.

Then its off to VoA for another chat with the super easy Torvalon (sp?)....guess they had nerfed him again yesterday....was boring...nothing excited...looooottt dropped and there was much yawning. Killed his burning friend as well.

Due to some people having to leave...22 manned ToTc 25 (if full coulda went to ICC!!!). ToTc dropped some nice loots for people, i managed to snag some new boots and a trophy.

Again thanks to everyone who attended. Big thanks to Ari for doing what she does and being awesome. ^^ Hope your blog gets fized soon..going thru withdrawl. (enjoy the cat pics)

No I am not going to make a lame reference to the prof's lines.

But on Sat 2/6/2010 Shadow Rising has taken down the Professor....4 tries with each try getting better...BAM! 5th try he goes down like a (dirty reference here) from Bangkok.

I admit 1st try was awesome....got him down a decent amount. Only real issue with the fight is the adds that spawn, the damage they cause from getting to their target is massive. His other mechanics are quite easy to avoid. 3rd phase is annoying...as tanks will be getting stacks of debuff which causes raid wide dmgs. 6 stacks and its a wipe. Prof is definitely easier then Rotface....

Per WoWProgress Shadow rising is #11 for ICC content!!! Woot! Hmm but guildProgress puts us at 16....looks like some other Horde and Alliance guilds just got some new kills.

GuildOx places Shadow Rising at 26th for all 10 man content

Sorry for the shorter then usual post. Work is busy...freakin snow...

2/4/10.....epic raidness.

The lolgiant....kinda disappointing.....






Rotface down....the plague is over!

Cheating???

Sorry I just needed to day something about this.

http://www.pinkpigtailinn.com/2010/02/should-we-feel-sorry-for-ensidia.html

A quick recap...Ensidia kills Lich King on 25 and gets 3 day ban for exploiting.

People are all over the fence as is this fair etc or they got their just desserts.

Maybe this is me being too willing to damn people for their actions...I do feel the punishment fits. If you do something in this game to cheapen or exploit the game...you do deserve to be punished for it. Common sense and rules are there to keep society out of anarchy. (for example, I sped to work this morning, so I got a damn speeding ticket. I am not happy about it but I broke a law etc)

People have know about the 10 man lich king kill and I assume other guilds have been watching and planning etc. If something in the 25 man version then allows you to give you an "unfair" advantage over the encounter....you shouldn't use it. You are deliberately breaking in essence a rule, and approp punishments should ensue.

In FFXI, poeple were duping items that were rare and difficult to obtain...they were doing this for 6 months. Square Enix investigated the data for 6 months and banned 12k+ accounts. Sure there was drama about that....and all the same QQ i saw there is the same QQ about this issue. I still think the same way....don't cheat...or you will pay the consequences.

Outside activities. Life outside WoW.

Procrastinating on writing on priests for the moment, cause I saw a topic which interested me more.

http://bossypally.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/shared-topic-leave-of-wow-absense/

What do you do outside of WoW? (I know this is a filler post...deal with it)

1.) Work - I would in insurance..not too bad. Stable industry, but dry.

2.) School - working on my 3rd bachelors degree. Comp Sci with a focus on gaming. (1st 2 were in economics and history)

3.) Reading - when i get a chance I love to read. I can devour a book in 2-3 hours. Wies and Hickman, Eddings, some of Jordans stuff. Fantasy only, Sci - Fi is meh to me.

4.) PC and Console gaming - I own a PS3, Xbox 360, SNES, NES, Saturn, Dreamcast, PS, PS2, PSP, DS, and 2 computers. Though most of my gaming time has been with WoW.

5.) Martial Arts - 1st degree in Tae Kwon Do. Hopefully will get 2nd degree soon.

6.) Reading verious blogs about WoW....and Food....

7.) And I admit I do like to drink. but have to watch it nowadays...takes too long to recover, like the cat above.

LMAO ZOMG double post day

http://highlatencylife.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/so-you-met-that-dream-geek-girl/

Sorry I dont know how to do fancy links...but Rivs has a very funny post...full of win and sarcastic dark humor. Check it out.

Clash of the Titans.....how to resolve?

Holy vs Discipline.


My character Liyhe is currently specced for healing only, PVE only.


Both specs have very different requirements in regards to what to gear up for. And this causesme a huge headache sometimes. Especially when getting new gear.


Discipline (bubbles and more bubbles, and lazer healz)


Stat priority (as far as I look at gear) - Spellpower > Int > Haste/Crit > Spirit/MP5 > Stamina (i guess)



Nomnomnomnom...Spellpower...this is like a great medium rare steak....as disc this is always a primary concern. Discipline's bread and butter spell: Power Word:Shield, is dependant on your spellpower (well in conjunction with Borrowed Time (increase your haste by 25% after casting PW:S and also increasew the amount of damage absorbed by the shield equal to 40% of the caster's spellpower). Another reason as to why this is important is disc priests do not have a talent to increase their SP from spirit. (while every other spec class does.....)


Intelligence - more int more mana - simple right? Maybe. Int also increases crit hit chance, so int is very important (more crits means more Divine Aegis bubbles). There are some disc priests who gem for more int then SP....I really cannot say if this is good or bad.

Haste vs Crit - 2 very important considerations. Crit of course helps with heals and Divine Aegis procs. Haste is nice as it lowers casting time and GCD. Most agree that shooting for about 10% is good (as disc has a talent which adds to haste which does not show up in the stat screen). I am at about 15%. Crit i have seen it stated 25-30%.

Spirit vs MP5 - although spirit does beat MP5 for disc as well, only by a little though. Disc priests do not benefit from a SP bump from spirit like holy priests do. So as far as if a piece has MP5 on it or spirit...not a huge difference for disc priests in my opinion. But one will still need some spirit for mana regen.

http://zusterke.orderoftheathanor.eu/ is awesome calculator to find a balance.

Right now i am sitting at 1670 int, 865 spirit. (to make sure this balance is ok...i campared my stats to a lot of popular disc priests across the game, this appears to be ok for disc)

Stamina....duh more HP...means you can survive longer...sometimes...


Discipline Gemming


Gemming for the most part is easy for disc. follow sockets and gem accordingly. Except for freakin blue sockets....i guess meh could use Purified Dreadstone (+12 SP and +10 spirit), i prefer Runed Cardinal Ruby (red gem, +23 SP) for those slots. (Although, with a holy spec...I may have to use those Dreadstones....eventually....meh.)

An exception...for blue sockets (for me at least)...if the SP bonus is +7 i will go ahead and match...not a huge difference between +19 vs 23 in my opinion. (also makes me less annoyed...I do admit...I hate not matching socket bonuses.)

Although, some may gem for crit and haste..i do not think it is really needed; as haste and crit will come from gear.


Discipline Spells of note.

Flash Heal (1.5 second cast, affected by haste rating)"Heals a friendly target for X"Probably your most common healing spell (also common for holy as well :).

Flash heal (along with Greater Heal and Penance) will also activate Grace.


"Your Flash Heal, Greater Heal, and Penance spells have a 100% chance to bless the target with Grace, increasing all healing received from the Priest by 3%. This effect will stack up to 3 times. Effect lasts 15 sec. Grace can only be active on one target at a time."

Tip - Binding Heal will not remove grace from your main target. ^^

Penance

Use it, love it, glee as it hits people. pewpewpew!!!

"Launches a volley of holy light at the target, causing 375 Holy damage to an enemy, or 1484 to 1676 healing to an ally instantly and every 1 sec for 2 sec."


Power Word: Shield

Should be self-explanitory. Shield targets as appropriate. Predict incoming damage, rather then react to it, if possible. For example, 4th inhale on Festergut, you know raid wide dmg is going to happen, pop a shield on members if you can. Remember tank must stay stay living.

"Draws on the soul of the friendly target to shield them, absorbing 2230 damage. Lasts 30 sec. While the shield holds, spellcasting will not be interrupted by damage. Once shielded, the target cannot be shielded again for 15 sec"

Another thing tied to PW:S is Borrowed Time.


"Grants 25% spell haste for your next spell after casting Power Word: Shield, and increases the amount absorbed by your Power Word: Shield equal to 40% of your spell power."

If you need to cast Greater Heal or Prayer of healing try it after casting a PW:S and triggering Borrowed Time. (I don't like really using either of those spells in disc spec...but I will do as needed - With Holy, 3 stacks of Serendipity, and it seems I can power out a Greater heal or Prayer of healing a lot faster - for me at least.)


Prayer of Mending (instant cast)

"Places a spell on the target that heals them for 800 the next time they take damage. When the heal occurs, Prayer of Mending jumps to a party or raid member within 20 yards. Jumps up to 5 times and lasts 30 sec after each jump. This spell can only be placed on one target at a time."

This an awesome spell, it a lazy man's spell, let is go and watch it bounce around. Combined with T9 gear you can get it to heal for 20% more. On fights like Festergut, Twin Valkyrs, Marrowgar, it helps a lot, in my opinion.I recommend using it on every cool down. Cast on a tank or someone you know that is about to take damage....Zug....tanks.....


Discipline Glyphs

Again glyph to your own tastes and playstyle. But I recommend the following Glyph of Flash Heal (lowers cost on FH by 10%), Glyph of Penance - reduces cooldown by 2 seconds, and Glyph of Power Word: Shield - Heals the target for 20% of the absorption amount.

IRL....huh? You aint an belf? *sigh*

Disappointing aint it....I am not an elf...which one do you think I iz? (hint: far right, i iz pimpin)

Sidenote: if you have the change defintely visit Japan. I had a blast...would so go again every year if I could.

Ari had a very interesting post on identiy and names. How we ID people with their names or even their characters is a very interesting notion.

Names and characters identify an individual in ways that can be positive or even negative. Take a name like XxxVegetaxxX. I automatically think....watch out noobbbbbbb alllleerrrttt...will prob spam chat channels, with intelligent l337 speak.

Lets take a example from the guild, Dozzer, Tauren - warrior, just from appearance and name.. Dozzer sounds ilke a tough guy name. Prot spec - like to get in the thick of things. Tauren - dont mess with me, i will warstomp you. Character fits with name. A+

IDing people purely based on names is bad....i know the old phrase is dont judge a book by its cover....however, in WoW...its way to easy to throw that phrase out the window and beat it with a dull spork.

My rules for dealing with unknowns in WoW. (/ignore)

1.) Any XXX or etc in the name....prob good chance going to be a moron.
2.) Any variation of name involving the male or the female anatomy....once again prob you found a moron.
3.) Named after a porn star.....see above.
4.) Has a normal name but spams chat with anal jokes etc.....you get the drill.
5.) Has long extended conversations with other moron in chat.....
6.) Does not know how to type out coherent sentences......
7.) Named after Cloud, Sephoroth, or any Final Fantasy character.....
8.) Any Dragonball, Bleach or Naruto name....

We got the plague!!! And how it burns!!!

Oh plague quarter how I hate thee.

This wing still plagues us...yeah i know bad play on words.

The trash is being handled easily. Festergut also is being downed (although with the 3 ranged setup) quite easily...one shotted last night.

Festergut kill (my thought process)

1.) Pop shields to help cut down on raid dmg when there is a lot of gas.

2.) PoM on MT and laugh while it bounces around the raid. Rince and repeat.

3.) If hit with the spore make sure to move in a little to make sure tanks and hit, never hurts to make sure. :)

4.) Keep tanks shielded whenever possible - and the boss.

5.) Keep other members shielded when possible. When I can spare a GCD

6.) As damage gets heavy on the 1st tank...heal heal heal. shield shield shield. Pop trinkets and other abilities as needed to keep 1st tank alive and keep mana up.

7.) Once the 2nd tank gets to dance with Festergut. 3rd inhale. Pop Pain Suppression. And Spam heals...shield on others as needed, since raid dmg should be minimal. Keep 2nd tank alive.

8.) Once Festergut is about to cast Pungent Blight...shield the raid. Keep tanks up and top off raid.

9.) Loot!!!

Rotface on the otherhand...still kicks are arse all over the place. I might be incorrect in thinking this...i think the healing is ok. The problem occurs when the slimes become unmanagable. Slime management is the key to this fight.

At least for me...this fight throws my rhythem off. For other fights...other fight mechanics for the most part does not phase me too much. However, when I am hit by the infection...have to stop and run out and find the other slime. That means...its me time...keep myself alive and try to keep kiter alive etc, not run in the puddle and avoid Rotfaces slime spray. And when the slimes come out hot and heavy....argh!

Rotface (my thought train)

1.) Doz runs in - PoM, Del has the hots. Once Rotface and Doz are dancing cheek to cheek. Shield.

2.) Watch out for Slime Spray - watch for the infection.

3.) Once infection hit....hope its not me....shield the victim. Watch them and heal them.

4.) Once a big slime is out....watch the OT...chase them when they get out of range....shield shield, heal heal.

5.) If I am infected....crap.....run out and find the other slime...dont stand in slime.

6.) Crap a fellow healer is infected.....

7.) Slime explodes.......doh....where is everyone.....Doz...where are you!!!!

8. ) SLIMES.........crap....ahhh.....shield....flash heal....wtf is going on.

There was improvement in the Rotface fights last night though. Getting very good at not getting hit with his slime spray. That cuts down on the oh shit healing. Things also seemed smoother till the 1st slime explosion and the faster slime spawns.

One point the healing team does need to work on (again i might be wrong) is better awareness on the MT after the slime explodes. Need to not get to far from MT and always be ready to pop heals on them.

Once we get the slime management down, he will go down...and at least then I can internalize a game plan and fight will become like clockwork. :)

Not related to post - sorry to me guildmates if i seem quiet during raid time....that's just me...when time to raid...i shut up. Time to listen and think what i can do better....cause i do feel I need to improve :P

Communication in....raids!!! Wut???

Communication....a very important thing while raiding or really anything in general. However, communication is also neutral, it can be used for good or for ill.

Communucation can be: verbal (talking etc) or visual (written, videos, diagrams etc).

Why is communication important? If one does not listen...one does not learn, take in, absorb information one needs to succeed. Without being able to convey information, one cannot impart knowledge to others.

In raids...information needs to be conveyed and people need to listen lol. That can be a tough issue...as it appears in a 25 man raid, it can be like herding cats.

A bad example of communication failing, healing Rotface last 10 man raid time....me and Del were healing the wrong assignments...information was miscommunicated. Lets say that did not work out too well.

A perfect sterling shining example of when people listen - last night Shadow Rising went and took on the 25 ToTc. Went smoothly for the most part. The Valkyr fight then came up....this was the fight which kicked are are last time. Walked in....assignments given, quarters assigned....roflstomped those overgrown chickens.

That Alliance NE spy Del...posted on his blog (don't know how to link stuffs) but he wrote a very believable entry where it sounded like everything that could go wrong went wrong. I believed him for a second...till the very end. Someone sounds like they need attention!!!!!!!!!

ninja screenshot

Random instance run....everyone else is running around in their b-day suits......naughty naughty....Zambra killed us on this run.







What is that cow doing????? Also right before the 2 angels decided to come down and play....the rogue doubles decided to come as well.....Zambra strikes again!!!! :)

Nakama....busting the azian out

Nakama - Nakama (仲間) means colleague, compatriot, friend or comrade.

Today is Friday and I would like to intoduce ya'all to some of the peeps I see in the crack know as WoW. (disclaimer - if i forget someone I am sorry!!! You all rule!)

As I mentioned before I part of the guild Shadow Rising on Drak'Tharon!! BTW we are recruiting so check it out!

http://shadow-rising.wowstead.com/

Prot/Ret pallys, warlock....and of course maor priests!!! (well that is my pref!!)

The boss lady, overlord, mistress of the dark abyss, aka our GM.

Arioch. - Awesome mage, great leader...and for some reason people find her intimidating? I don't see it lol. And did i mention - purple hair? (Fashion 1st! Do not cover up da foxtail!)

and her life mate - Zambra - cool guy, great rogue, and seems to always be chill and calm? At least that is they way it sounds on vent. (Rogue buffs, also has killed me 2x, once in HoS and then last night in the plague works....evil stun)

Dozzer - Warrior mooooo tank. Awesome tank. know his tanking stuff, has a lot of alts. Very amusing as well, his comments are amusing, great ldr as well. (Doz tanked the 1st ToC i was in, likes to fall thru floors though :P)

Zug! Orc DPS and has a PHD in WHIRLWIND!. funny guy...also a great tank...but refuses to tank anymore :P Awesome DPS. Always seems to be needing those shiny rocks. Also very knowledgeable about all aspects of da game, and an army of alts. (one thing of note - tried to get me to rhyme in my interview)

Moogik (crit chicken) - smoking is bad!!!! jk..i am an addict as well. Our resident boomkin....moonkin aura...yum...other then that...that is all we need him for :P Kidding aside, great DPS, cool guy, and pro at rooting those blood beasts.

Tel (holy/ret pally) - poor poor Tel. Always getting picked on. Nice guy though....never around when SP plate drops though.....just recently promoted to an officer...so Ari and the other officers cant trash him anymore lol.

Unholysoth (DK) - cool name. Lord Soth from Dragonlance is a great character. At least that is where I am assuming he got the name from (his alt is Darkdalamar...so has to be Dragonlance). Cool guy...very good player...rock DPS charts. Solid player. (seems to have bad luck in getting his trinket for his mage though)

Kagan (DK) - don't know too much about Kagan, but also a solid tank and player. His cats....dont seem to bright sometimes...lol. One tried to eat its own tail last night XD

Sorak (resto/enhance shaman) - great guy, and healer. Also has an army of alts.....*cough* no life. However, he has one flaw....seems to like to die!!! 3x in one fight! Suicidal Cow....prob on the inside wants to be a troll. Also I cant seem to beat him in the healing charts....ever....hax....

Del (bear/rest druid) - awesome dude. Great healer....talkative and does his research on fights. Seems to be infatuated with GS though :P (aint we all though, GS is life!) Also seems to kick me arse in healing...haxing druids and shammys. Also has an army of alts...with "del" somewhere in there. (he is an ally spy - he was a NE Druid.....need to watch him.)

Hal (orc hunter) - nice guy....a little tooooo infatuated with Pie. Beer is better then Pie imo. He is gearing up nicely to raid. Listen and researches. thumbs up imo.

Lyss - (lock) - new lock to the guild...lvl 50? Has an evil ally druid and lock on Bloodhoof.....recently transferred her horde lock here and joined up. Nice person, talkative and has a blog....named DoT and HoTs. (Likes to post WoW pron pics)

Spliff (MOOO hunter.....er....troll now) Dont know too much about Spliff....except pro dps and kiting those bloodbeasts.

Zar (troll shammy - elemental) Also dont know too much about Zar - except he is good player, and will not heal :P

Shirl - (belf lock) - alchy/herb - nice person. always courteous etc. Much grats to anyone who can get loremaster....I could never do that.....(she hooked me up with some herbage in game!)

Too anyone I may have forgotten about...sorry!!...as i said before...u rox. TGIF I'm out...well i wish....5 more hrs to go.

Guilds....fashion accessory or permanent plastic surgery?

Figured I would try this posting stuff....seems like a good way to convey my ideas, in a not so concise manner.

Will try a simple topic, but an important one nonetheless.

Guilds, the primary social grouping feature in many MMO's. They go by several names, in FFXI they were called linkshells, LoTRO - fellowships, WoW and others - guilds. No matter what these social structures are called, they all provide one important service, a way for players to gather together etc.

Guilds can further be differentiated in what they may stand for, what they do, and why they were created.

We have social/casual guilds, "hardcore" guilds, family/religion etc. guilds, special purpose - i.e. bank guilds. Even with these labels, in different games they may mean different things, or even be a compilation of a multitude of characteristics.

One may have a family guild, composed of family members (moms, dads, kids etc), and then also be founded on a basis of Christianity (it exists I saw one while playing LoTRO). Another example, would be the best of the best raiding guilds...."hardcore" and l33t players...where they are on so much etc etc etc.

But in MMO's are guilds really needed? In some games one could argue you need to...or you are not getting anything accomplished (FFXI, LoTRO). However, in many other games where PuGs are common and they are always going on....are guilds even needed. For example, take a look at WoW. There are shouts for 5 man instances, and with the LFG tool....makes it even easier.

Also there are many shouts for raids (LFM 25 ony, 10 ToTGC, 25 man VoA), and for the most part depending on the quality of the PuG these groups can be very successful....without the structure, support, and leadership of a guild. For the players who have no guild, PuGs are the way to go, and looking at some players while in Dalaran...there are some well geared people with no guild.

With the ability to get l337 loot without the "guild".....why do we have them in WoW? I think Blizzard has seen this and hopes to address this with the next expansion. I do think the idea of guild levels and other assorted benefits are very nice....feels like WAR. Without a system to benefit players to be in a guild (or have game mechanics that require a guild), WoW guilds sometimes, do seem to be window dressings...to be discarded when they are no longer in style. Scrub guilds come and go, morons get booted...mechanics to keep people in guild, keep guilds together are needed. I love guilds, they are a place to chill. find things to do, and meet cool new people.

Currently I am in Shadow Rising on Drak' Tharon....awesome guild. So glad i joined....if i hadnt seen them recruiting...I think I would have canceled WoW months ago.

The posts that made me think Shadow Rising is "da bomb" or the posts that have sealed my fate and condemned me to eternal slavery?

http://clearcasting.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/recruiting/#more-909

http://clearcasting.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/fashion-first/ - very amusing post.

random fun for the day.

http://rpgfan.com/news/2010/40.html ----- Boobie mousepad. win. fail? win!