Professions in Garrisons – what do we know?

A Professions in Garrisons question is on, as part of Blog Azeroth Shared Topic.

I noticed – or could not find – any topics relating to the information about WOD!! I don’t understand!!

So with that in mind, here is one of my first questions:

With you being able to build a third profession area – what are you likely to choose? Have you got all professions covered by alts so are just going to focus on money making? Did you take professions specifically for mounts/raiding or some other purpose but didn’t really want to?

Is there a profession you want for specific reasons?

– Dragonray

I thought the professions aspect of the garrison idea was going to introduce a more Star-Wars-ToR-ish feel, where your NPC helpers go off and do mini-quests as part of assisting with professions (official Garrisons source, and the artCraft blogpost). Maybe that was what I wanted, and  I’m almost certain that something I’ll use.

The garrison will also replace some of the daily activity which was part of the Half Hill Farm in Mists of Pandaria. That might mean a work order area like the current daily farming, or might mean a wider approach which is more like your personal home within the game. I hope it is a home within the setting, as it is something lacking from a story perspective.

They are also going to reflect major achievements, and be “sharable” to others. That is pretty interesting; especially if a degree of customisation is allowed.

In terms of my professions (the question asked in BA) I have almost all profs covered by Alts, but those alts take ages to catch-up to current max. For example the MoP professions have been available for a very long time, but I am still raising my Inscription and Jewelcrafting.

Talk Azeroth had a summary of the recent Blue Tweets on Garrisons too, worth a gander.

Some pretty cool building specs are coming in. “City Portals” is a Mage Tower spec that opens ports to every major city. Source

We should be clear that garrisons is not about decorating and placing furniture. Gameplay is our focus. Source

Buildings need to be unlocked and upgraded to get specs. Mage Tower is no different. Source

We do have Monuments that you can place from achievements. Source

If a garrison helps me, then that is brilliant. Happy killing, TyphoonAndrew

Background Music – Blog Azeroth Shared Topic

The current Blog Azeroth Shared Topic – Background Music is on now (8th to 14th Feb), and its something that factors into how I play.

• When leveling the first times through anywhere I’ll have the sound off, unless I’m totally solo’ing. When solo’ing I like the music.
• As above for instances, when in them for the first few times I won’t use the sound so I can concentrate.
• Solo’ing old instances I try to remember to turn the sound on.
• If I’m not listening to the music, I’m listening to Podcasts, both WoW related and all the other odd podcasts I like.
• If I’m on vent I’ll not have the sound on, but sometimes will have both my earbuds from my phone in so I can hear podcasts or different music, and also my gaming headset. It means there are a lot of cables around, but during a heavy wow session I don’t move much.
• The music I’ve been listening to recently is some of Wagner’s Ring Cycle (an opera), and some 90s grunge music. Both styles are the music of my youth.

Happy killing, TyphoonAndrew

Shared Topic: What do you want for Winter Veil?

This week’s Blog Azeroth’s topic comes from Be MOP, with the question:

Winter Veil is around the corner and it’s time to sit upon Greatfather Winter’s lap and answer the important question, “What do you want for Winter Veil?” Is it that expensive grand expedition yak? a nice transmog custom outfit? or a Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock?

What is on your Winter Veil wishlist?

Well a full set of item level 509 gear would be a treat…

…plus maybe 100 magic coins that each convert to 1000 Valor Points when used. And maybe 500,000 gold just to splurge on fun things. I’m not greedy.

Or the Yak mount (above), or Rocket mount, or Mimron’s head, or the undead dragon mount from Wrath.

Or a permanent “Footsteps of Illidan” effect so that I leave a trail of green fire behind me when I walk.

Oh, how about the ability to cause idiots in 5 mans to log-out for 10 minutes?

And as my birthday falls between the 3rd to 9th – I’d also like some ingredients to max out Cooking.

And every Bind to Account item in the game too. Just because I might use them.

I was never a kid who had a problem asking for the huge impossible gifts from Santa, but had some trouble understanding why the big guy never quite got the messages.

I’d settle for a little bonus rep with Shieldwall and the odd few others.

Such is life. Great topic.

Whats your Guild style?

A snappy little shared topic was raised by Tzufit in the Bloz Azeroth forums.

Every guild has a certain personality, style, and even traditions all of its own. Do you have certain abilities that you always need to use on a boss kill screenshot? Or perhaps your guild holds an annual holiday party? What special traditions does your guild have?

From my perspective, we have a few consistent jokes:

1. We rant about killing Dragons, often. Rawr!
2. We always try to blame one of a few players for small mistakes. If you slip and fall from the AH roof, then it’s time to find that scapegoat. Firstly its Ram’s (boomkin/resto Druid) fault, then its Dia or Gen’s fault depending on who you ask, and then if that fails we blame Ram anyway. We used to blame any Shadow Priest, but they’re scarce now. I wonder why?
3. Most raiders argue about who should get loot instead of them. That is so great.
4. We help each other. We ask questions, and we go a little extra for each other.
5. Most of the guild types almost complete sentences, and we have a few folks who are grammar fanatics. I love that, the avoidance of leet-speak makes me happy.

Happy raiding

What non-tanks need to know: CC

Dangfool/Kallixta from the Blog Azeroth shared topics created this thread, and its darn topical to me:

It was a little change and we’ve had some time to adjust. What’s life like now that Tanks need not worry as much about threat? What should tanks be aware now they have one less thing to stay aware of? What bad habits have DPS been freed to pick up?

While the change to threat is the obvious inspiration for this topic, it could just as easily be “What non-tanks need to know about tanking?”/”What tanks need to know about non-tanks?” We’ve never had that as a shared topic either.

The TLDR version of this post is:

• Crowd Control is critical to a successful run – this has not changed since day one, and the threat change has nothing to do with it.
• Interrupts are not optional. Dps need to do them, and so does the Tank. ZG is a bastard if nobody uses interrupts on trash and bosses.
• If you don’t understand the fight script / mechanics, then ask beforehand. There is only shame on you if you ask afterwards, or don’t ask at all.
• If you can’t do more than 7k or better dps on a single target, non-moving fight then do not sign up. You’re not ready. By comparison I’m wearing a jumble of gear that is basically similar to tier 11, and I can do 8-9k as the tank. You had better be able to keep up with me.

It resonates as the Tanking change has made Tanking better for threat but had no affect on the overall skill in the LFD community. It even looks like some dps have taken the stance that as Tanking is now easier then the fights are easier. No! The threat change means that it is much harder to pull threat, but all other constraints and limitations still apply.

I Tank the ZA/ZGs regularly to try to cap my valor points each week. Typically this means spending 45 minutes to 1.5 hours in a single run, hammering my way through the instance. Often I’ll do these back to back, as I get a few nights a week to play, and I don’t want to “waste” them on other activity when I have Valor to earn. This provides me with a wealth of experience on what it is like as a Tank in the LFD system.

For example recently I tried to complete ZA three times.

Group One:

• The first Shaman healer left straight away, and I suspect he/she didn’t want to run ZA. The second Priest healer stayed until I left.
• One of the dps (Warrior) insisted on pulling, and wiped us on two occasions. He was kicked, just after the first boss.
• Nobody killed the Scouts, even when they had a Skull icon over them.
• The Mage dps did not want to CC, and had to be told every time.
• I quit after the 4th wipe, which due to battle res was my 5th death. We didn’t successfully kill the 2nd boss. Apparently a key fault was mine for not gathering up all the small birds, although I was regularly dying due to the amount of damage from the same birds…I’d say they we not being dps’ed at all.

Group Two:

• We started in ZA again, with two Hunters from the same server, but different guilds. They were clearly friends, and both hated to trap. One didn’t seem to understand the idea or a re-trap at all. The other was slow, but generally polite.
• The Hunters left just before the 3rd boss, both quit without explanation. They were replaced by a Mage and Hunter from different servers, who also didn’t know how to CC properly.
• That team also had a Rogue who didn’t like to sap or interrupt, and just responded with “Lol” when asked. I decided early that he was a waste of oxygen, but was at least more useful than the Paladin dps who stood in front of the bosses next to me and did less than 5000 dps.
• I quit just after the 3rd boss when the dps started insulting the healer. Now the healer was doing an average job, but to my read was busy keeping the fire-standers alive more than herself, so perhaps not valid criticism.
• So many deaths.

Group Three:

• Polite. Everyone said hello when we started.
• I joked about having a metal head suited only to tanking, and the healer (priest) thought I was cake to heal and we started a casual banter through the rest of the run. Even when we had the odd death, it was ok as the mood was lightened.
• The dps Shaman and Mage used CC regularly, with the Mage never being needed to be told. The Shaman was not as good, but got better as we went.
• We lost a Warrior to a disconnect, but gained a DK who was basically the same. Both did what they should have, and despite them having average dps (~10k) they were still useful.
• We completed the run after a long time, but we finished. Even the otherwise silent players said thanks at the end, and I would contemplate recruiting that healer if she was not on another server.

Now I know that a few examples do not create a rule, but the disparity of attitudes seems to be present in almost every session I sit down to play in.

What needs to change:

• Crowd Control is critical to a successful run – this has not changed since day one, and the threat change has nothing to do with it. If your class can CC then you must learn when to use it, how best to use it, and how to reapply mid battle.
• Interrupt the casters, mobs, bosses…etc.
• Don’t be told every time to do it. Just use it and assume it’s needed.
• Don’t face pull through moving, stay aware.
• Don’t pull if its not your role. A tank may ask for a Mind Control or other affect that starts a fight, but nobody should ever take it upon themselves to start a fight when they’re not the tank. You just look like an idiot when some or all the group wipes.
• Ask for help if you need it.

It is not a revolutionary concept to think that people should know what their role is, and do it without complaint. Further I have more respect for people who are less skilled or unsure, but will ask a question than those who will proceed regardless and just make a mess.

Asking questions and making mistakes is how some people (like myself) learn. I respect it. Staying silent just gives the impression that you are OK, and don’t want or need advice. If you are silent in a group I assume that you will be quick, efficient, and not screw-up too much.

Happy fighting, and may all your LFDs be graceful, educational, and error free.

Let them burn

Blog Azeroth shared topic: When should Healer let folks die in the fire?

Ha! All the time. First mistake is free, the next one the dps should burn. Let’em use bandages.

The context I’m imagining is a random PUG five man normal or heroic at any level, but feel free to answer in any way that moves you

I think the content of a 5 man should be so well known, and so over geared by most folks that standing in the fire is not an issue. That is to say, the content can be done even with the idiot standing there, so no real issue; not at all that the person should stand there without feeling like a fool though.

Applying a rule that everyone gets one chance to be a moron; the first mistake is ok and totally forgiven. But the second time they should at the very least apologise for the mistake, and not keep doing it.

Third time I’d be happy for a Hunter or Rogue to MD to them constantly so they quit the group.

An example – In AN “pound” by the last boss is something that used to kill Tanks. Now a tank can pretty much be healed through it, but it still kills dps. This is ok and the way it should be.

If the Tank didn’t move because they were doing something else, then that is ok too, but generally the Tank should know better and should have moved. The Damn dps who do that deserve all they get, and should not be a priority in healing. Period.

Have a great raid, and I’ll leave you with some inspiring words: Give a man fire and he’s warm for a day, set a man on fire and he’s warm for the rest of his life.

What would you start over as?

If you had the chance to start all over again in WoW, what would you play?

Now I don’t know why on earth somebody would choose to restart from scratch, as I think there is always a strength in using your old toons. Starting a level 1 Alt is very different from starting on a new server clean. I tried this once, and did not last long until I transferred a higher level toon over to make the process easier.

TLDR – I’m too lazy to start over without a high level toon to grandfather gear and bags.

Would you switch to a new class or race at level 80?

I would only consider switching to something else if I had decided to switch Factions, then I’d grab an Orc – as I see it as the perfect Unholy Death Knight race / class combo. But I like my Draenei Death Knight, it has the mass which matches a Death Knight. Tauren would be another OK choice.

Maybe a Worgen in the expansion.

And also what if your account was destroyed and you needed to start from level 1? What and why choice of class, race, and faction?

I’d probably not play for a long time, if at all. Starting from scratch would be such an ending, that I don’t think it would work. Unless I was supported by a few high level mates.

Given a bit of time to get past the grief; my characters would be x2 bank toons, a DK main, and a Hunter, Paladin, or Warlock as alts. Got to have something to do when the rested runs out.

And most of all what would you plan to do with it? Raid, PvP or just hang out in Dalaran?

I’d keep casually raiding and running 5 mans. I only like PvP in bursts, and can’t take the RP side seriously. If  real life permitted I’d raid seriously, 3 times a week.

And yes, I’d be one of those guys who are also hanging about in Dalaran, looking for a PuG or some such to entertain me.

Proudly pinched from the Blog Azeroth Shared Topics

Kris Kringle shared topic on BattleChicken

As part of the shared topic by Blog Azeroth community, I was lucky enough to get a guest post on a very story based blog called BattleChicken by  Ambermist. My first world of warcraft fictional snippet-story, and about my main toon: Mortigen, the Death Knight.

Damn fine idea Gnomer!