Traitor!

*looks around guiltily* Shhhh, don't tell...I was just "trying" it out. You know, testing the waters, seeing what else was out there. It's nothing major, I would never pick another over my first love...

So, yeah lets talk a little about "Allods" .

My first impression of the MMO, wasn't anything outstanding. I'm not really "looking" for another game to play. I wasn't out actively seeking it but it happen to fall into my lap.

So we downloaded and installed it and after a few hiccups, I was able to create a character. Seems that any time they do maintenance or patches, which is pretty often since it's still in the open beta phase, they have issues with the files getting corrupted in the launcher.

Now, this was pretty easily fixed. The forums on the official website listed a step by step guide on how to force the game to download a new launcher without uninstalling it.

It's a very short process to create your account and then you're off to the character creation screen. There are 2 "factions" you can choose from. The League and the Empire. The League being the "light" side, similar to the Alliance in WoW and the Empire appearing to be more of the "dark" side, equivalent to the Horde.

Both factions have the ability to create a human type character. The League also has Elves and an adorable little class called "Giberlings". Now the Elves are whimsical creatures with wings. They look very similar to the Blood Elf race in WoW with the exception that the males doesn't look nearly as girly.

The Giberlings, on the other hand, are just plain adorable. Kudos to gPotato for developing a pretty unique looking race. When you choose to play a Giberling, you aren't exactly playing one toon as they come in groups of three. You get to control the "lead" toon while two other Giberlings follow you around and assist. They are independent of your main toon. You can customize how they look but you can not control their movements.

Sadly, the Empire wasn't blessed with a unique race of their own. They have a human type race as well as Orcs and the Arisen. Orcs look nearly identical to the model we are all use to seeing in WoW. The Arisen look like a cross between blood elves and undead. If you can imagine this. They have a very pale, slinder almost ghostly appearance to them.

Once you've chosen which faction and your race, it's time to pick your class. The interesting part here is that that the title of your class changes based on the faction and race you selected. For example, if you are a League Human mage type you are called a Magician but if you are a Empire Arisen mage type you would be called a Sorcerer. But all in all, the classes are the same that we are all accustom to. Warrior, Paladin, Scout, Healer, Warden, Mage, Summoner, Psionicist.

I don't know a lot about each class yet, since I haven't played them all but I'll give you the best understanding I have. Of course warrior, paladin and mage speak for themselves.
Scout = Hunter without a pet
Healer = Priest type
Summoner = Warlock
Psionicist = The best way I can describe this class is Shadow Priest that mind controls? Stay tuned for more info.
Warden = No clue! But based on class you could be called a Druid, Shaman or Animist if that helps any. I'll let you know more as I find it out.

I stayed simple for my first toon, she's an Archmage or League/Elf/Mage. Yeah, yeah...girl remember! I like pretty things.

She's pushing level 6 after a couple of hours of playing. And here's my good, bad and ugly on the actual game play:

Good:
1. Very familiar controls
2. Entertaining and amusing quests
3. Lots of "help" in general chat
4. The game is beautiful!!
5. Easy quests
6. Very little lag or server issues, especially for a game in beta phase.

Bad and UGLY:
1. WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE! - Open Beta for this game started a little over a week ago. I started playing 3 days after the open beta started. The were so many people that everyone was waiting in lines to kill the quest mobs. There was no wondering where to go next, just follow the masses. Sadly, ALL the races start in the same zone for the same faction. This means that every player that rolled a League toon, was in the same starting area as me.
2. Only TWO servers!!
3. Very little customization available on the UI and controls
4. Grindy - The first 5 levels felt very grindy but I hear this gets better when you are out of the starting area.
5. Lots of arguing in general chat - People are constantly arguing between two main groups...the "ZOMG, WOW ripoff!" group and the "Sheesh, give it a chance people, it's NOT WOW" group.

Now we all know, there is only one WOW. So if you're looking for an identical replica of Azeroth, don't bother. You're better off staying where you are. But if you are interesting in a game that has some of the same things to offer and some totally new things. Give this one a shot. It's not going to replace WoW by any means but I think it will appeal to a lot of the same types of players.

Remember, it's a "Free to Play" MMORPG that will eventually have the functioning "buy with real money" store. And if you can get past the Beta stage then you may just like it. And if you do give it a shot, my toon name never changes so Kalyanna's waiting to say HI!

Happy MMOing!

The time has come...

I've logged in twice over the course of the last week.

Once to mill some weeds for Eto and turn them into Darkmoon cards. The second time, to do a JC daily and check on the guild. Both times, I was logged on for less then 30 minutes.

So what does this tell me? It's time for me to take a break.

In the 3 years that I've been playing, I've never hit this point where I don't want to play or when I do log in, I can't find anything to do. I've finally gotten to that point.

I think this is bothering me a little. Simply because I did love this game for so long and now I can't find anything that interests me.

I'm not saying this is goodbye for me. No way! I've been looking forward to the Cataclysm. So I know I'll be back again. Its just that I think the time has come for me to take a little break. I may or may not let the account lapse. I haven't decided on that yet. I'll still blog occasionally when the urge hits me or there is new updates to blog about.

Even as I write this, I'm torn. Part of me wants to hit the delete key. Seems that saying it out loud somehow makes things so permanent.

But it's not permanent. I'm not giving up, just taking a break and knowing me, it won't last that long anyway!

So, I'll see you all on the flip side...assuming we all survive the Cataclysm!

Happy Monday!

The State of Things

It's really been over a week since my last post?

Guess that's a reflection on my current gaming situation...at least as far as WoW is concerned.

So, I'm starting to experience the oh, so familiar pains of "burn out" that seems so common these days in the blogging community. Finding myself logging in less and less. Honestly, there has been more days that I don't log in at all. The days that I do log in, it's to check on the guild or transmute or mill or disenchant things for someone.

What's causing this burn out? That's totally opinionated I'm sure. It's different for everyone but for me I believe it's the lull before the storm. It's a combination of things. It's the anticipated down time between now and the release of Cataclysm. It's the guild, it's the grind, it's the boredom...

I had such a wonderful "Bucket List" of things that I thought would help tide me over or at least help me get prepared for Cataclysm. hmmmm

So what's going on?!?!

I know how the Lich King dies, I know how the story ends...what's left to do? Push to see him die myself? Why? I've already seen it on Youtube. I've successfully tanked all of ToC over this past weekend. Found it more stressful then fun, that was another warning sign for me that I'm getting close to "burn out".

I've got a well geared tank and a well geared healer. I've got a shaman that I can't make myself gear because..well, apparently shaman just aren't my thing. Can't find any fun in her. Couldn't find it in BC, can't find it now.

I've got a lovely little gnome warlock that is slowly, ever so slowly, working on her gear and maybe a Loremaster title. If she gets it, that's great, if not I don't think I'll be too disappointed.

The guild...well this all comes down to a question asked by a reader.

"Do you think the LFG tool is killing guilds, or do your think the lack of useful guilds created the LFG tool?"

Morph posted this in the comment section of my last post a couple weeks ago and got me thinking. The result? Well, the more I think about it the more if I wonder if this isn't part of the reason for my potential "burn out"?

So which one is it, you may ask. The new LFG system or the guild?

Well, I think the answer to this question on my part is simple. I think the LFG system is the start of the end of the smaller guilds. I don't think it will totally kills guilds in general but I do strongly believe we will start to see and have already, the smaller guilds disappear.

Why? Well because you don't need a guild anymore. Think about it. It use to be that you "needed" a good guild, or any guild really, to be able to easily run instances and heroics. You needed that guild if you wanted to see the end game content.

The guild that played together stayed together. It was that simple. You kept your members by making sure they got to see what they signed up for. They were more willing to work with the guilds raiding schedule because that's the only way they could see the content. If they couldn't work with your schedule they found a guild who's schedule worked with theirs.

Back in BC and the early days of Wrath, hell even in vanilla wow, guilds used their calendars, scheduled events, talked in guild chat, made plans with members when they wanted to raid or grind out some emblems. Guild chat, at least for Last Call, was always full of chitter chatter from the members looking to put together heroic groups or world events or unscheduled raids. It was never a silent game for sure.

This "chitter chatter" that started as looking for people to form the group led to other interesting conversations. It led to people getting to know each other. People forming more then just a group...they formed friendships.

That group might have to pug a spot or two, yes. But if they needed to pug that spot, it was often the opportunity to recruit someone. That person they pugged often wasn't in a guild..thus looking for a home and on more then one occasion, we ended up gaining a member.

Yes, you had those rare people that joined for the community or for the guild chat or other benifits but mainly, guilds were needed for raiding and end game content.

Fast forward to the current day. Getting into a heroic is as easy as clicking a button and waiting a few minutes. It's even easier then that if you're a tank or a healer. Just click the button and your in. Deal with a little bit of stupidity, walk away with your loot and call it a day.

There is no reason to "chat" unless you're the social type of person that wants people to talk to while you quest or instance. Even if you are that person, you have general chat or your pug group to chitter chatter with if you like.

What about the end game content? Well, obviously you don't need a guild for that anymore either thanks to Blizzards super simple gear up policy. Push the random LFG button a few times and *poof* you're fully geared to get into Toc and ICC.

"Oh, but I need a guild for that, right?"

Nope...not anymore. Tune into the "LookingForGroup" channel on any well established server and what do you see ever 30 - 45 seconds?

"LFM, ICC 10, pst your role and gear score"

Thus the cycle is never ending. Push the button, get the loot, pick up the pug and see the end...

So tell me again, why do we need the guild when I can grind it all out in PUGs????

Exactly...and now I know why I'm looking forward to the release of Cataclysm. Give me something to do beside push the button, damn it, this isn't LOST!

Casual Hard Core

"The Greedy Goblin" had an interesting article today. Normally, I glance over his stuff and pass it by since mostly is slamming this person or that, but today he actually wrote an article about raiding in his guild. Now if you follow Gevlon, you know he formed a guild a EU server where he is determined to test his theory on raiding only in blue gear.

He actually pays people 100g to join his guild then when they hit 80 they get boosted to a status of raider and given 1000g, if they pass some kind of class understanding test.

I think it's a very interesting concept but not enough that I'm willing to try it. I do however agree with today's post since it's on the concept of raiding.

"PS: many people claim that they are in a casual guild that is progressing. In these "casual" guilds the leadership and the tank/healer corps is HC. The same people tank, lead the raid or do main healing every raid. The DPS and the off-healers rotate casually. Without the HC core, the "casual" guild dies."

After thinking about this for a bit, I've realized this is so very true. Without those "core" members you just don't raid in a casual guild. There has to be dedication from somewhere that keeps you raiding when no one is required to attend.

From what I've learned from our "casual" guild...more often then not you don't have enough people to actually raid. The dedication just isn't there in a casual guild.

The way around this is seems is to over populate. Easy enough right? Well not in this day and time. Guilds are more and more becoming a thing of the past. The LFG system has seen to that.

*sigh*

Computer Envy

Ok, with all the lag I've been experiencing the last couple days on my server, I'm officially jealous of people who have "instant load".

Or, well, relatively instant load times. I sit and wait and wait and wait some more for my loading screen. I could literally walk away from my computer, go make a sandwich and switch out some laundry in the amount of time it takes for me to actually be able to move around after hitting the log in option.

So, maybe not that long but seriously. Eto's computer..jealous. I have an awesome video card..but my processor can't handle the potential my card has. We can hit log at the same time and he's in, moving around and on his way well before me.

He doesn't fight the disconnects and lock ups that I do either.

Graphically, his game doesn't look much different then mine. At least not yet, we'll see how much that changes with the new 24 inch monitor he just ordered. Our video cards are very similar.

But I'm also one of those people who rarely ever spends money on myself. The only thing I've bought for myself, at least for my computer, is my video card and hard drive but only when both went out and stopped working completely.

So, my question for my fellow gamers. What parts of your computers do you splurge on? What pieces do you find it more beneficial to spend a little more money on?

Improvements!

Thanks to the help of two lovely readers, I am seeing a slight improvement on the dps of my lock.

What did I do?

Nothing really major. They had mentioned that I should make sure my spec was PvE specific, research spell rotation, check my gear and practice on the dummies. So I did the research part and swapped a couple of pieces of gear for T9 since I earned some emblems.

I'm excited to say in H-VH, H-OK and H-HoS (maybe H-AN too can't remember) last night I saw my dps jump from it's normal 2800 - 3200, to 3800 - 4200. That's a 1000 dps jump.

I was top of the dps charts for 2 or the 3 or 4 runs. Not that it means a whole lot, I know. Could just mean the other dps were really low, etc. But I was excited none the less. I at least felt like I wasn't being carried any longer.

Now the Shaman, she's a different story, we'll see what happens with her this weekend. I haven't been on her to try the same with her.

How can this be?

Ok, I have officially come to the realization that I am epic fail when it comes to any DPS class. I know, I know, how can anyone not be good at DPS? Well, maybe it's because I refuse to conform? I want to play the specs that aren't "popular" or aren't really high dps specs? Who knows, but check these examples...

Subject One: Kalyina - Demonology Warlock
Now I know her biggest problem is that I refuse to go affliction or destro. Why? I like demonology. I know it doesn't push the big dps numbers but even duel speccing her for destro I wasn't able to push the numbers. And it's my Zili...it's my awesome felguard bodyguard! Who doesn't love him?

I can't really blame her problem on gear either. At the time she was geared pretty well actually. At least for her content level. At the time, in the appropriate tier gear, she was doing good to push 3K dps as Demo in a 10 man raid. Blah...

Demonology locks rely heavily on the raid make up to boost their DPS. I learned this early on. Paladin buffs are a must. Especially when you rely so heavily on your Felguard for his cleave damage. Getting Might on him is very important. Sadly, most paladin's don't understand this which means you have to ask for them to buff the felguard differently. Regardless, I've always believed if you can't pull the dps on your own, you shouldn't be relying on group make up to boost it.

Subject Two: Kalyista - Elemental Shaman
This one, maybe I can blame it on gear. She is able to get into heroics now, thanks to 2 pieces of LW gear that Eto made for her. I also threw on some leather BoE blue gloves and bracers I had on my bank toon and purchased the blue BoE cloth shoulders. She's now hit capped at least for heroics. I don't intend to raid with her so heroic hit cap is all I'm really worried about.

We ran 3 heroics last night, H-OK, H-VH and H-UK. Of those three the first was H-OK and my dps was pretty bad, I wasn't hit capped and was trying to figure out what I was doing. The last was H-VH and we had a Paladin and a lock pushing 5K - 7K dps. So over the course of the night my dps started at 1.5K and ended at about 2.2K - 2.3K.

Now that does give me a little hope that with decent gear, she has the potential to push some decent dps numbers. I've researched her, thanks to you guys who recommended sites. I've learned the rotation, glyphs, changed her build around some and hope that maybe I can figure out how to enjoy playing her.

Subject Three: Kalyanna - Shadow Spec
If I want to pass this toon up on the DPS break down I'm sure I could simply because I rarely have to go shadow and when I do, it's still her off spec. But this is probably the worst. I refuse to look at her DPS number. I don't run recount on her since 99% of the time she's healing. But I know there has to be more to shadow priests then just SW: Pain and spamming the purple beam of death thingy. *sigh*

I've also tried kitty dps, hunters, unholy DKs, just to name a few. Granted the hunter and kitty were not 80 toons and the unholy was in my tank gear. So I won't comment on those.

This isn't leaving me very optimistic about my up coming mage. Can I somehow manage to actually be good at DPS?

Seriously, I am a good tank and a good healer. Probably a better healer then a tank actually. DPS is suppose to be the "easier" role to play.

I have a couple other ideas on why I can't find a good dps class.
1. I jump around on my toons too much. Making myself ok at a lot of things and really good at nothing.
2. DPS requires consistency. Spell rotations, gear, stats, moving, adjusting, etc. I'm not so good at consistency.
3. I'm not willing to conform. I choose to play them differently so I pay the price with lower dps.

Who knows? But regardless, it's given me a new respec for the dps classes. I'm in the shoes of that person in the pug who's total damage falls below the tank. I'm that person in the pug who get lectured by everyone else about how I'm doing this and that incorrectly. I'm that person who often forgets to change to tremor totem or to put the soulstone on the healer.

I have a new respect. Learning to DPS is just as stressful as learning to tank or learning to heal...

Happy Tuesday!

I can has Shaman halp?!?

Seriously, is there no good blogs, websites, etc that can help this horrid shaman?

I believe this is the same problem I ran into when I was "trying" to play my shaman as elemental in BC, there is no helpful websites out there.

I needs gear! Just basic crafted or bought or normal 80 instance gear that will at least get Blizzard to "allow" me into heroics. Grrrrr

But for a noob shaman player, that has no idea what stats you need cause I've never done anything besides farm on her..that's not easily found.

So, my wonderful web friends...any suggestions on good Shaman help websites?