#God #life #WoW #mmo #life #coffee #more
wow
GearScore + Anon = Net Bullies or Skill > GS
Jan 23rd
Back in the good old days of Burning Crusade I began to get discouraged when I hit 70 on Paravel, my resto druid. Why? Because I would look to join a group doing a heroic or raid and they would demand that you had a magically determined bonus healing stat. Often time this stat was pulled out of the “wow forums floating cloud of trolls”. No real science or crunching of numbers determined what made an effective player. And more times then not it would be a number that could only be reached by already being one of the few who have cleared the highest content at the time.
I mean really, does it make sense to demand gear from Sunwell for a Kara run? Does it? O.o
Fast forward to Wrath. We no longer rate a player on spell power, healing power or AP but instead on something even MORE mystical, Gear Score. It started with sites back at the close of BC that would guess at an items gear score and create a data base to try and rate your characters place on a progression bar. Site like http://be.imba.hu/ were tools where you could look up your level 70 toon, see missing enchants, gems, get suggestions for your class and build. All and all a very helpful tool if you used it to work on your progression. However things changed
The problem started when competing sites raised up on the net using different formulas for coming up with their base score. Remember, the scores at this time where a mystery, and value that enhancements, set bonuses, mixing and matching for stats, were all guess work. With this arose no standard of a “gear score”. One group would ask for a GS of 1000 when another would ask for 750. The issue being that depending on what site they used the 750 could be a better geared player than the site that provided the 1000. Talk about a headache.
Enter a mod author who, more than likely had good intentions, that released an in game mod that would make a GS based on a math of his own. His statement was that it was not the end all to be all, but DOWNLOAD AND USE MY MOD! Drama can be so fun to watch in the mod community at times, especially when someone wrote a mod to break this mod and the rumors and flame wars flared.
But, I digress, so what else is new. Issue is back. If you don’t have a GS of XXXX you cant come and you get kicked out. This problem and mod leaves out some important information, like player skill. I have said this before, but I would take an under geared skilled player over a noob or jerk in gear any day on a run. The argument that you must have a high GS to clear the highest content is negated by projects like clearing ICC 10 in all blues!
If you know how to play your class and work with others you can and will be successful. If however you expect to be carried through a run to get better gear but have not a clue how to play then you are more than likely the one who stands in the fire, misdirects onto a clothie, or taunts the boss off the tank at enrage. It does not matter if you have the highest gear in the game at that point, you still fail at the game and cause issues within your group.
I know you are probably wondering where the bulling part comes into this argument, and well you should. If you have a slightly lower GS than the “floating cloud of trolls” have determined for that hour, and you end up in a random LFG group, you could be exposed to behavior you would never see in a face to face social environment. Just stop it people, treat others with respect please. How much more enjoyable our gaming life would be if we could just learn to get along and not be jerkwads.
GearScore is a tool, and measuring stick, not the end all. What we really need is a mod that will take gear score provided by Blizzard, enchants, gems, set bonus and all into account, along with rating and notes into account so its not about a bottom line number but more. Oh wait, their is *smile*
Enter Elitist Group (used to be Sexy Group, from the same author who did Sexy Map and Sexy Cooldown)
Again, EG is just a tool. I will write a review and tutorial soon covering its usage and how to maximize the information gained from it without being a jerk.
Just remember that we play World of Warcraft for fun. So does the person on the other side of that avatar, treat them as you would face to face.
Lost and Bored – Need New Goals
Feb 4th
I have been feeling a since of being lost of late. I just hit another goal of mine, to get Bricklethumb, my dwarf hunter, to level 80. This makes my 4th 80 in WotLK, which according to some would label me hardcore. I am not so sure I am hard core, but I do like to push myself in all areas of my life to see how well I can do. It is part of the “gamer DNA” that is in me.
I have been splitting some of my time between WoW and Lord of the Rings Online right now. While I seek a new place to serve, resumes out, making follow ups, and finding it hard to find employment as a 40 year old geek who has been in ministry for over 20 years, I have had to much time on my hands. So Instead of the joy and fun I have always had in my chosen form of entertainment, much more stimulating that TV, IMHO, I now face a wall I, and others, have or are facing.
What to do now?
As I logged on WoW last night discussion started in guild chat on what to do. This is where some frustration sets in. We often spend way to much time just trying to decide what to do. Added to this issue is that two of us have multiple toons to help the guild out. I have a tank, healer, and two DPS. Iss, a good friend, has a healer, tank and DPS. We both do not mind playing whichever character is needed, but sometimes to put our personal goals on hold to help out. . But that is what we like to do. On top of this, we have 1 to 2 to many for a five man group. So someone has to sit out. Normally you would think that people would whine and complain about this, but our guild is different. We fight over who will sit out to make sure someone else has a go at it. *smile* I love that in them, even though it prolongs getting things done.
So I finally bit the bullet and made a list of people who where going to go do an instance that 2 people needed for quests. I jumped on Vent where Iss and I got a chance to talk before and after the instance. He made a very good observation after asking me a pointed question.
“So, your getting bored with the game too?”
The answer is yes and no, and the funny thing is we have both gone through this before. When I started playing WoW I got to a point where things became boring. I was not in a guild that raided and I had pretty much done all I could do alone or even in the small guild we had. So when I heard about Lord of the Rings Online I jumped at it. We left wow, headed to LotRO and formed Redeemed, our kinship on the Gladden server.
While there we met a player who joined our Kinship named Issichar, or Iss. Iss was from WoW and bored and came to LotRO. Iss was the kind of guy that was helpful and giving, a perfect fit for our group. Several others either came with us from WoW or met and joined us while there. But after a few months we started to hit the “So, your getting bored with the game too?” wall. Most of us headed back to wow. New content helped, and then the promise of WotLK.
But, I ramble. So lets bring things back to point. I am not the only one feeling a since of loss, or boredom. We are waiting for our guild to catch up, and desperately need some new people if we are ever going to hit up 10 man, let alone ever want to see 25 man content. In the mean time what do we do?
The observation that hit me between the eyes was when Iss said that with ADD/ADHD he needs goals, once those goals are hit its sort of . . hit and miss. . .roam around. . get bored. BINGO! He hit it on the head. My first character to 80 was Paravel, my healer. Soloed her the 10 levels as resto, was fun. Valimonde, my tank, leveled with Tanya’s mage, so we would get levels when we could. I rolled Digory, my Death Knight and while not working on Val, got him to 80. Then Val and Tatiaana (Tanya’s mage) hit 80. Some gearing up . . all goals. . .pvp for Dig. Then bored.
Ok, no problem, let me level Brick. Pushed him from 73 to 80 in 2 days. Hit goal. . and . . . and . . . .
/run LotRO – work on new character – not many people around
/run WotLK – sit at character sheet and stair at what character to play. Log one in. . .do daily. . get bored . .
/sigh
So . . . what is one to do? How does and can this affect other areas of our life? If we lose our goals, or hit them, what next?
Let me know what you think? Are you bored? How do you overcome it? Game, Life, Church, Family, whatever.
Questing Together and Random Couple Thoughts
Dec 17th
Last night Tatiaana, aka Tanya, and Valimonde, aka Mike, got a long awaited chance to do some leveling. With the holiday’s upon us finding time to sit down and play together has been difficult to say the least. Then it seems when we do get time to play we are so beat that we fall asleep while questing. It is rough getting old sometimes. *smile* But we press on. Why? For a couple of reasons.
First and foremost, Tanya and I have been married for 18 years. We enjoy spending time together, even when it is in short doses. With all the distractions in our lives it can be hard to find a get away, or place to just run away and be silly or have a ball. Playing a game we can afford to do that. *snickers* She wont let me post the pic of us running through the tunnel linking Lock Modan with the Badlands as we traveled to free one of Father Winter’s deer. Seems the tunnel was rather hot and our armor sort of fell off while we where riding through. You know. . silly things. *looks over shoulder hopping Tatiaana does not thwap me in the back of the head*
Another reason we enjoy it is the challenge. Mike is a goal oriented, strive to do all you can do, learn every skill you possibly can, teach others if they wish to learn kind of player/gamer. Tanya is a puzzle and problem solver gamer. In the past these two styles did not always fit, but as we play and work together not only in game, but over the past 18 years of this thing called real life, we have learned how to take the differences and complement each other. I am the one who knows how to kill a boss. She is the one who knows how to get to the boss if its a puzzle. It is these differences that help us enjoy ourselves even more as we play together.
Gone are the days of parking ourselves in front of the television watching mindless dribble. Now we park ourselves in front of the computer interacting with other people who are playing a game just like us. Some may find it silly or possibly juvenile for adults to find so much enjoyment in a game. Recently World of Warcraft has been shot at by some pretty crazy allegations from the head of the FCC to would be competators in the MMO marketplace. The facts are that a ever growing number of adults in the United States, as well as the world population, are starting to turn to video games as their preferred means of entertainment and social interaction. Can and should it replace going out and meeting friends face to face? No. . it should not replace such activities as seeing daylight. It is however just as legitimate, if not more rewarding at times, than spending hours in an activity that might otherwise be dull and boring to you.
Tanya and I love to play. I am more into the game by far than her. Some might even think that we are obsessed. Honestly the nature of such games is made to keep you playing. To keep you pushing yourself to become better than you are now. TO achieve and reach forward. To work together and break down complex problems. To. . well, you get the picture. The game reflects life. It is what you do with it, how much time you put into it that matters.
I digress. Back on topic of playing together. We found time after a long two weeks of grabbing an hour or two. Last night we helped the guild run Nexus, Tatiaana got her Red Christmas Hat. We hit 76 and are very close to hitting 77 and getting our wings back. She is home today and we hope to get some “quality” us time in.
Take time with your spouse or significant other if you play with them. One of the best words of advice I can give to help you enjoy your time together is this. Communicate. *smile* Talk, discuss, work out small issues so you do not get frustrated if your partner does not play the same way you do. After all. . . that is the best advice for couples in the “real world” as well.
