Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am! 15 min meeting! Those that missed it missed the following;
We rock! Like, seriously we all rock in what we are doing. We have no drama, (lately), we are cooping with friendly guilds, Guild bank re-duex X 5. We will continue to recruit but being very picky as we all love the mix of personalities and don’t need to fuck it up with the wrong attitudes.
We will continue to work on old content like BWL, SSC, MC, GRUULS and others.
Great bunch of peeps!!!
Filed under World of Warcraft
Meeting will be in Vent, if we go over 25 people we will boot any TOSA that are on. lol Please be sure to, at the very least have your speakers on and if you want to chime in audibly a mic. I would like full participation about the direction and topics we discuss especially if you feel differently about a topic. The highlights about what will be discussed is a few post below, simply scroll down.
Have a great weekend and see (hear) most of you tonight!
Filed under World of Warcraft
Since my Sunday marathon I decided to take a break from WoW for this week. Monday I didn’t log in. Tuesday (last night) logged in for a total of 30 mins to work on my Jewelcrafting and Tailoring – Tailoring I’m sitting at 345! My friends in the guild were gracious enough to send me 5 Frozen Orbs (free of charge) so I can wrap it up tonight *or this week*. Much thanks to everyone sending me the materials over the past months and…jeeezz my left hand is shaking like a jackhammer….anyways…umm…yes thank you to all helping me reach my goal. I appreciate it! I have mentioned before I will make anything you need free of charge if you have the materials. Cooldowns included. *thanks Rob and Chris for the Orbs!*
Last night I logged into Star Wars Galaxies since I heard the ‘purge’ came and went. Purge is where they (SOE: Sony Online Entertainment) in their enlightened beings of self worth decided to remove any structures that didn’t have active players (14.99/month). Any items you had collected, stored, designed, organized are now GONE. They did give you a 3 month window to sign back up for FREE to get your house(s) in order but you wouldn’t know that unless you were notified via email or your friends. This game is over 5 years old….I think the whole concept of deleting the items from a server is ludicroussss. Insane! I would have done it differently. I would purge but simply housepack it automatically onto the characters datapad (which is what they had you do in the 3 month window) but you had to LOG IN to do so. I don’t have a background in programming (nor do I want one) but it would seem to me it couldn’t be that hard to filter something to read who is a dead account, flag them then pack all their housing into a file. It’s just data…right? So, me being one who owned like 6 accounts at one time ( I know of others with 9-12 accounts X 14.99 ea) logged into my others and did what SOE told me to do. I packed em up and now they are on a digital warehouse much like the Arc being towed into the cavernous warehouse from Raiders. My “WookieLuv” and “Musashii” are lovingly stored away and at peace.
If I ever won the lottery I’d buy my seat on the board of SOE and take over the MMO departments as a visionist. I play these games and hear what people need, want and demand. SWG could have been the jewel of their gaming department and was for about a year…the licensing alone is worth a billion geeks influences. There has been hundreds of articles on what Sony did wrong with SWG so I won’t add to it besides this post….and that they royally screwed the pooch and WoW was the one to Reign them All.
So I was roaming around with my Jedi “Excalibur” in my friends player city “Primacord” on Talus– my friend of 5 years Minguss/Bulletproof whose armor is legendary (he’s an Armorsmith) on this server and noticed the place is cleaner…but not sure if it had to do with the purge or not. I didn’t venture out to the other cities. I did kill some cats with my nerfed Saber…and looted some enzymes…of which when you do you get a small badge achievement when it’s a NEW enzyme by the sound byte of “UTINII!!!” (Jawa’s own WOOT!), which kept me going for about 10 mins wanting to hear that sound byte over and over again..then I got bored. Logged off. I miss my friends from the game. Though I DO get yo enjoy hanging with and playing with Sokym now that he’s back into WoW on his first server. Sokym and I grew up together in SWG. 90% of my SWG screenshots have him in the picture or in my ‘group’. We hunted and hunted….and PvP’d. My Alosatche was with me too! (My wife’s ingame name) Seeing the hundreds of screenshots the other night was amazing.
All that time wasn’t wasted. Not to me. Time wasted is when you do something you don’t like to do.
The past couple nights I’ve been drawing, playing Travian and hanging with my family. Myself, my son and Alix played Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe on his PS3 for 2 hours last night, it was a blast. “SHAZAM!!!!!” We had to take turns because I feel like a sucker if I have to pay $50.00 for a 2nd Joystick…you’d think if you spend over $400.00 for a gaming system they’d include another Joystick. Fucking Sony. =D
Filed under Daily Dose
This was my Sunday incarnate. Started at Noon Sunday and finished it at 7:30 P.M. I had the opportunity to upgrade my T7 Helm to T7.5 but lost the roll. I did win some very nice ‘Boots’. We cleared it to the end and I was able to garner a load of achievement points in the process. I was invited by ‘Bal’ the guild leader of “Order of the Templar” and they have a tentative agreement with the guild ‘TDK’ which stands for “Too Damn Kewl” or whatever you want it to mean….mmmk.
They had cleared the Arachnid and Construct Wing the night before but couldn’t get Thaddiusdown..while Thad is a bitch for newbies to the fight, once you die a couple times you def. get the hang of the fight. It’s all about positive and negative movement and READING your screen. For some, reading is asking too much.
I was the lone “Pug” which could be a good thing or bad thing, meaning I better not fuck up. I didn’t…cept the first go on Mind Controlling the NPC on Instructor Rav We wipe but got him down 2nd shot. Click the link for explanation of fight– Priests are used (2-3) to MC the 4 Elites guarding him. The idea is to MC the front 2 while everyone is on the boss and the tanks on the other 2. Timing is essential as the MC timer is only good for so long and may break. Use the MC’d ‘bone armor’ THEN taunt the boss, using vent you need to tell the other priest when you do these so you can trade off the taunts and bone armor cool down. You also have to count on the other healers to be healing YOU the priest as there are some AOE’s happening from time to time, once you see the MC running out ANNOUNCE it. ** before I go on, almost forgot– set your ‘FOCUS’ on your MC target, although the boss is in a shiney blue armor set he does get lost among 25 other people, the focus will let you ONLY target that…target.** ok, so you announce the MC is about to run out, I usually bubble then immediately go back to MC, the bubble is incase I miss as the NPC’s hit…hard. Once you get a 2nd MC he should be down quick. Announce you are onto your 2nd MC target. **also note have the Leader MARK these guards and assign the appropriate marks**. Once you get your 2nd mark rinse and repeat and announce all of your actions in vent, only you and the other priests OR tanks should be talking. Other than that…he’s easy. More on Boss fights as time permits. Thanks for the long read.
Froto (Rob) recently added a reply to the upcoming guild meeting with a gem of information about the requirements when it comes to raiding Naxx & OS. I quote it below.
Naxxramas Raid
This is the minimum gear requirement guideline for Naxxramas
Minimum Requirement for Tanks
• Defense Rating: 540 (Defense Cap)
• Health: 25k
• Armor: 21k+
Minimum Requirement for DPS class
• All dps class should have at least more than 1.5k dps… 1.8k would be ideal.
• Classes whose dps depends on AP should have at least 2.5k AP.
• Classes whose dps depends on Spell Power should have at least 1350 SP.
• Dps should have at least 75% towards the hit cap.Obsidian Sanctum minimum gear/stat requirements
Minimum Requirement for Tanks
• Defense Rating at least: 540 (Defense Cap)
• Health: 26k
• Armor: 22k+
Minimum Requirement for DPS class
• All dps class should have at least more than 1.5k dps.
• Classes whose dps depends on Attack Power should have at least 2.7k AP.
• Classes whose dps depends on Spell Power should have at least 1400 SP.
• Dps should have at least 80% towards the hit cap.
Filed under World of Warcraft
Be there or be square. Topics of discussion;
While the focus of the guild is to have casual game time we also want to do end / raid type events as a guild. With such endeavors we need members who DO want to proceed that path to put forth the time and dedication of getting to the point of 10m Naxx, 25m’s etc. The main crux some of us are experiencing is that some peoples eyes are bigger than their stomachs. Meaning, some of you who do show up on time, offer to help with raids simply cannot go as your DPS, Heals or Defense are not up to par. This is nothing personal but there are certain well known requirements on certain raids, if you are not hitting that minimum then you YOURSELF need to get to that point just like everyone else has. It is not as simple as signing up on the raid calendar and showing up, you must have your gear in order, gemmed, enchanted. You also need to bring your potions, bandages and food, we cannot and will not ‘carry’ you. Those who cannot help themselves will not be helped. Again, this applies to those wanting the T7’s and want to do 25 man raids, this does not apply to those who log in once to twice a week.
One of the solutions that seemed to work last year when we were on Kara was to load up 80% geared and experienced players with 20% under geared players and inexperienced. Once that 20% (1-2 players) reached a certain goal/min level gear/stats they would trade out their spot to another 1-3 players also needing to gear up. If and when we have enough players to run 2 groups then we should be good to run most anything with a few pug spots here and there. This will be talked over in the meeting but I would like other peoples opinions on the topic– post here or talk ingame.
Filed under World of Warcraft
AutumnKnight is my priest. She’s beautiful. She’s everything you could want in a human. Let alone female. She had humble beginnings as she was originally made to heal my wife and my mother in law so they could level easier. Soon, our guild was short heals…so I began leveling AK on the power side. She became the guilds main healer and in that progression I’ve learned to roll with the changes WoW throws out at my spec(s). I also did one of the lamest things one can do when leveling a priest….not being Shadow. I leveled AK from 1-60 being 100% Disc/Holy spec…what that means to you is I wasted time grinding and extending my level time by at least 50%. The best way to level being under 60 is going Shadow since in most cases you will be doing solo quests and you need as much DPS as possible.
Since I learned the hard way going Disc. & Holy. I found that the nuances of DPS and basically…killing things took a little longer, a little more downtime (sitting and eating food/mana)…but all of this added up to me knowing my abilities in almost all scenarios. I soloed most of my levels unless it called for groups, I ran across a ton of horde and was camped for hours on end (but you never heard me complain in chat….we are on a PvP server and if you go get camped, yah it’s teh suck but it’s PvP….deal with it and don’t bitch and wine about it…there are plenty of other servers that don’t do World PvP.)…the flip side of goodness was I could always find a group. Never lonely being a Healer (or Tank) unless you plain suck. I don’t. Suck. I know a fair share of healer priests that don’t know how to maximize their talents, mana and timing heals…they skate by in raids and let others carry them. I would say it’s safe to assume that happens with every class except Tanks.
I spam 3 heals in 5 mans but it changes depending on the situation. I think one of the main reasons for WoW to be so popular is it’s learning curve is very small, like most games you pretty much spam the buttons. On vent I hear John/Logtar always mashing his buttons which is very odd to hear considering he’s a tank and when I tank my small CD’s (Cool Downs) are too long for constant mashing. I DO Mash when in 25 man raids when it’s the ONLY way to keep the group alive. Ala: Patchwerk hateful strikes. I use “Flash heal“ for under 25’s and use it on my self spam like when PvPing. The 2nd spell on the list is “Renew” which is KEY in so many scenarios, when in doubt renew. Any boss fights or trash mobs where they crowd control you or others like ‘silence’ or ‘polymorphed’, ‘iced blocked’, ‘fear’- calls for Renew on your tanks or party. That extra 1000-1500 life DOES make a difference. Next spell is Prayer of Mending which is a god send for it’s multi use of long ranged HOTS (Heals Over Time ‘ Spells). Of which Renew is one too– the Prayer of Mending provides an efficient healing spell that will JUMP to the next person (up to 5 times) on the hit list and heal them as well. For raids or extra mobs where the party is taking AOE (Area of Effect) I will use Circle of Healing (COH) which provides a 40 yard radius of heals which is not only efficient but effective and depending on your Spell Power (SP) heals nearly 30%, mine tends to heal 1200-2300 life per 6 second cooldown. It’s ESSENTIAL to have if you plan on raiding and also dependent on your spec. I will also again, top off people with Renew when a large AOE is occuring.
As you get into higher level raids, instances, 10 mans and 25 mans you will start to see what works and what doesn’t but there is not a cookie cutter template for healing as it ALWAYS situational. You could have an over zealous DeathKnight (that NEVER happens) pulling aggro from your Tank and he/she messes up your focus. Someone’s pet goes all WILD and takes on 4 mobs down the hall and runs back scared only to have the mob focus on YOU for healing, shit happens and you being the healer have to account for it ALL. In the FUBAR situations your best friend- at least spell wise is FADE. Our Get out of Jail/Aggro card should be used whenever you do get aggro that the others can’t take away from you on their own. You can also find enhancements to Fade and reducing it’s cool down cost by talking to an inscriptionist. The thing with Fade is of course the timing, you don’t want to blow it unless you DO get aggro from mobs of which you cannot handle the initial attack. My current buffed, Inner Fire, food Stamina is around 19-20k HP (Hit Points) so in a Heroic I can take 1-2 hits from an Elite…three hits if I Bubble…but after that I’m a blood smudge. If you know you can’t take a hit then use it. If you get an aggro notification of 3-6 mobs at once, use it. If it’s a 1-2 Mob pull then speak up and say you have aggro, get them the FOOK off me. The communication from you to your party is very important and let’s hope you are using Vent.
I plan on posting future Priest information, specifically HOW TO tips on certain fights like Heroic Violet Hold, Naxx 25 Man, Vault 25 Man.
Filed under Whatever and ever Amen., World of Warcraft
Last night was a mix of good, bad and ugly. Not just in the World of World of Warcraft but real life as well, most of which is NUNYA but some tidbits are interesting (to me). My WoW Highlight was me being the only Priest in 25m VOA….I got my first T7 (Tier 7 gear) and didn’t have to roll (though I did out of habit and seemed natural to do so). The leggings dropped…Valorous Leggings of Faith. I hope to complete the set in the coming few weeks. Made my night.
Other item of interest is my Step Daughter was involved in a car accident and her being the passenger, she has a sore neck but is a bounce back kinda gal. The driver…well…let’s say he won’t be around this family any time soon, not if I can help it. 5 Squad cars showed up, 1 Ambulance and 1 Firetruck all at 151st & Metcalf. After I made sure she was safe I ran over to my son’s choir concert and I was amazed! AMAZED it only last 26 minutes. His teacher isn’t exactly mr. excitement and I’ve been going to his ‘concerts’ for over 3 years now….I was just very happy it wasn’t an epic concert like some are in the Blue Valley District…the Christmas one was just under 3 hours long…..
Tonight I plan on meeting up with fellow guildies Star and Moon (Dave and Ann) along with Logtar (John) and I think his wife (?) for some good eats and drinks. My wife will be going to once she finishes up some errands. I like meeting (some) guildies in real life as it provides the whole voice to face and pretty interesting.
Filed under Whatever and ever Amen.
The pic above is from ‘RONIN’ by Frank Miller — of which I’ve been tooting my own horn about how great THIS comic is for years…and now it’s being written for the Big Screen….go get the compilation and read the series, it’s very, very good. I have the original run from the 80’s and my copies are worn and torn due to my re-reading, drawing from and being amazed of Frank’s vision.
Engine, engine Number 9. On the New York Transit Line If my train goes off the track. Pick it up! Pick it up! Pick it up!
This lyrical genius is by BLACK SHEEP it can easily be related to Tanking. Or Not. This WoW past weekend was another time intensive run for me and a few others. Our guild added one “FrotoBaggins” a very cool cat from Philadelphia…I’ve been asking him to our guild for months as he has been running with us for months, mainly on Old School raids like Zul Gurub. We welcome him with open arms and I appreciate his sacrifice of leaving his guild of which he was the Guild Master. He joins us pre-made with Hunter DPS up in the 2200-2400’s as I personally witnessed this weekend in Naxx 25, he was just behind McTeague on the DPS chart. While I don’t believe a DPS chart is the best way to determine ones worth but in a Heroic it is the standard to which DPS is measured to see if your able to be IN the raid. Speaking of Naxx 25 I also witnessed Froto’s ability to roll like a punk. He had 4 chances at upgrades but rolled sooo low..I felt bad for him. I also rolled punkish losing a Tier 7.5 drop on a 67 vs. 94….QQ
We also added, it seems…a Logtar friend ( I didn’t know at the time…) Smidgeon who happens to be an 80 Mage of which we are in need of since the “Phrozens” and “Phreezins” had delusions of grandeur last month. I believe we added two Quality players this weekend and I hope to add more this week too! Please do remember to ask in tells when you run a pug if those in your pug seem like a good fit for our style of gaming then by all means ask them!
Non-WoW: Alix and I saw THE WATCHMEN with our friends this weekend and I was blown away with the epic movie. It’s move from print to film was among the best I’ve seen, ever. I plan on seeing it again soon as it’s a movie that has to be seen in full effect. The soundtrack, cinematography, acting, storyline and it’s tempo was right on. I’m a self-professed fan boy of comics and have been since 1976 and this ranks among the top 5 for me in the genre of ‘comic book’/’graphic novel’. Go see it if you can but don’t bring the kids…
I changed the ‘Theme’ of the blog and will be updating the header as well as I get bored with it. Hope you like it.
Filed under World of Warcraft
I’ve run into two different players who happen to be level 80 on a couple pug runs of Vault and Naxx, they both did not have Flying Mounts. Both had similar excuses, “I’m broke”. To be a level 80 in this game and not have saved enough jack for a mount that flies is tantamount to complete and utter failure, much like the movie ‘Australia’ was last night. It’s a mere 1000g, give or take a few gold due to your level of reputation. If you were around when the Isle was alive and kicking it was a gold mine, you can be on the Isle for less than an hour and make 100 gold, easy. Cap it off with a couple Isle related dailies in the Outlands and you would hit the 200g mark.
Filed under World of Warcraft
I had a geared up weekend in WoW- Sunday morning was invited to 25m Naxx via Bal the GM of “Order of the Templar” whom I’ve been chit chatting with a few weeks now. I gladly accepted since Sundays are usually quiet. I’ve been twice before but we usually imploded on Maexxna. However with this group is was a blast! We also attempted Patchwork and we diligently tried 6 times – one of which I screwed up as my heals were on the wrong tank. Hate Strike is a very, very, very hard hit on anyone…let me quote what it does…
Patchwerk will use this ability at a 1 second frequency on the target in melee range with the highest HP who is also one of the top three on Patchwerk’s aggro list. Cannot be used on the main tank unless there are no other targets. Does 79,000 to 81,000 raw physical damage which can mitigated by armour and parried/dodged. This is about 23,000 damage on a partially Naxxramas geared tank. This ability will add threat to the three most threatening on Patchwerk’s aggro list.
While I can heal with the best of them large slow heals are key to keeping the tanks up and running, if anyone of us misses a semi large heal let alone no crit heals then you will wipe. We moved onto a new quarter, it was a good experience though. I was lucky with some rolls and upgraded my neck, shoulders and gloves. Sunday evening I finished up some battlegrounds and WG’s to hit the 50k Honor to cash in for some HAWT Slippers. AK is coming along nicely methinks.
One little note we took down Heigan the Unclean and anyone who has done that will know the dance. Since this was a pug some didn’t. Our tanks lived while nearly all melee wiped – luckily Hotsz was healing so it was all good. Ended up being a 19 min boss fight, good thing he had no rage timer. Here is a sample of what the fight looks like 25m style–
This week (hopefully tonight) we will run 10man Vault if we win Winters Grasp just like last week. Followed up with a 25m provided we can find a pug or god willing, enough online to mostly be OS and/or TOSA.
Filed under World of Warcraft
Old School 