When it’s the sound made of your minivan bouncing off a wall in the underground parking at work.
Fortunately, it was just the rear right panel in front of the wheel well. That and it’s a minivan… that is paid off. If it was my mid-life-crisis-mobile I’d be pissed.
If I had one that is.
The mid-life-crisis-mobile. I think I want one.
A co-worker pointed this game out to me. It’s supposed to be available sometime this year and has been in the making for awhile now. I took a peek at the videos and have to admit it looks cool – uses DX10.
It appears to have PVE and PVP elements but I haven’t looked it a lot. The videos looked good (of course) and it’s got the typical “next generation MMO” phrase plastered all over the place – we all know how that doesn’t always apply or succeed.
That’s all I have to say about it now.
Aside from, “I like bewbs.” And it seems the DEVs of this game really like them too.
Blizzard dumped a load of information about the upcoming (proposed) changes to raiding in Cataclysm. HERE
On one hand I like them, but on the other I can see it being the death of 25 man runs.
Why?
Exactly.
Why would anyone in their right mind want to deal 24 other people when they could deal with just nine instead? Unless you’re in the group thing and like a lot of … oh wait… I mean, seriously.
If you could choose between (1) a very good group of nine other people that do their role exceptionally well, are reliable and willing to play at the same time you do without bringing any drama to the table or (2) 24 people where some people are awesome, others are good and some few still are being carried all while they add more coordination, management and stress?
Call me crazy, but I’d go with choice number 1.
Each person adds a variable to the equation you’re trying to solve. Each person also adds another belief or opinion to the pot. Each person adds more needs to the guild.
That’s not to say there aren’t positives that people can add, it’s just you’re more likely to get negatives the more people you have than you do get positives.
What is that going to do to existing guilds?
Cataclysm indeed.
EDIT: I was doing my morning blog surf and saw that Frostheim has a piece up about these changes which you can read over at Warcraft Hunters’ Union.
I’ll pull out a part I think is really well written and summarizes how I’m seeing things go:
My Opinion
I’m kinda waiting to hear the next wave of blue posts on the subject — particularly what the intent with legendaries is — but this is the first Cataclysm change that makes me very leery. And I don’t think we have to wait to see what it will look like to understand the ramifications.
As a guild leader of a casual progression, it’s already hard enough to field a 25 man raid of skilled raiders, hard enough to recruit for it even when it offers demonstrably the best gear in the game. I worry that it will be harder than ever in Cat if when the top performers get frustrated, then can so easily wander off into a 10-man.
After all, take almost any average 25-man raid team that’s struggling their way through progression. You can probably fairly easily pop out the top 10 players and put them in a 10-man that will now do much better. And I really worry that the best player — or the players who think their the best — will be extra motivated to leave a struggling 25-man rather than working through the tough bosses.
I already see some signs up this and grumbles from Officers in TS that make this sound like a possibility. And I can’t really blame them for it. Handling 10 really good, reliable players over 25 (or more!) people that have a large range in proficiency, opinions, issues, etc. just makes sense.
I dusted off Lannister for a run through ICC10 yesterday. I had him go in as Ret spec (which was his main spec) and was delighted to discover there was only one other plate wearer present – a DK tank who was already sporting gear that was better than what would drop from 10 man.
Cool, I’ve a chance at getting Lannister some upgrades. Lannister’s gear is in a bad state since I’ve neglected him. He’s got a mix of T9, with some ICC dungeon drops and some drops that go as far back as Naxx. I’ve been using his EoF to pick up Primordial Saronite so I could get Smaken some boots made or just to make some cash.
His Prot spec set is much the same. T9 with ICC dungeon drops and Naxx trinkets/items (heck, he even has the trinket from AN heroic!).
Oh, and two drops from ICC10 – a cloak and a 2h sword.
Like I said earlier, awesome, I’m bound to get some upgrade for his miss-matched ass.
First drop was a cloak and a set of plate boots. PAWN (an addon that adds up the stats on the item based on weight assigned each bonus) said the cloak was better, though it was questionable because I got the cloak from the boat chest in ICC 10. People in vent said I was better off with the cloak I had so I passed it on.
The plate boots were just handed over to me and at first glance they looked like an upgrade. Okay STR, okay STA, two gem slots which, if gemmed, would push the STR bonus over what I had. Cool, I then realized all the other bonuses were MP5, spell power and haste.
Holy spec boots.
Damn.
I handed those over to be DEed.
Most of the remaining drops were not plate or suitable for DPS other than a trinket that dropped off Saurfang which went to a Feral Druid – rightfully so since it was an upgrade and the character was his main.
We took out the lower spire and the two big plague guys, skipped Prof and tried Dreamwalker.
I don’t think I’ll ever be so lucky to have that sort of raid make up again – which wasn’t all that ideal really. hehe
I’m debating what to do with the Emblems of Frost Lannister picked up… do I hang on to them and work towards T10 set? Or do I pick up Primordial Saronite for selling because I know I’ll likely play my upcoming DK more?
Darin over at the Squid Zone has been having some fun with some email spammers looking to con people out of 360 pounds.
Take a read: http://www.squidzone.ca/the_squid_zone/2010/04/scamming-the-scammer.html
Too funny.
I feel like typing stuff and I’m not sure why?
Of course, there are a lot of other things I could be typing instead of this but then it becomes typing with a purpose rather than simply typing for the sake of typing.
I could be typing up a background for my new D&D character, who is a Xeph Soulknife, but I don’t feel up to it just yet.
I think the underlying reluctance is due to starting the guy off at 11th level and the fact that the game world’s time line changed a lot. Just as I was starting to get a feel for the game world, it got changed. Now I’m left trying to get a feel for it and figure out how to fit my character in.
Until then, he’s going to be a bit bloodthirsty and harsh. Not maniacal, but he will be unforgiving.
Last session I played in (I think I missed one since then) I was caught in the area effect of our party’s Wizard. Once the dust settled, I tossed my Mindblade at him and told him to be more careful where he aims.
A common caster tactic in our group is to not be concerned about Rogue-types since they have Evasion (lets them avoid being hit by area effects that involve Reflex saves) but I’m not actually a Rogue so I don’t have that.
To be fair, he was playing his alignment, as was I, so it appeared to work out. I established my characters as an ‘eye for an eye’ type and hopefully gave the Wizard something else to worry about when casting spells.
In WoW stuffs, we (our 25 man raid group) advanced to the point where we only have three bosses left to beat in ICC (our 10 man raid group is down to the Lich King and had him almost beat); Blood Queen, Sindragossa and the Lich King.
Blood Queen is kind of tricky, but I think we’ll have her soon. We made a lot of positive progress on her last night.
Sindragossa, on the other hand, I can see being a huge problem for us. It took our 10 man raid group two nights of wiping to her over and over until we got her down on the very last attempt on the second night. The 25 man version adds more confusion and chances of error so good times ahead.
I scored one of the best ranged weapons currently available to Hunters last night – Zod’s Repeating Longbow. The bow’s proc seems interesting, but it’s base damage and DPS is a big jump from the previous weapon. I’m not sure if it will repeat the last shot at half damage or if it will simply trigger an extra half damage regular shot, sort of like Wild Quiver talent does.
Now all I need is to get my hands on the Saurfang trinket (Deathbringer’s Will). Oh and some pants from Festergut – they are pretty sweet and have three gem slots. As it is now I’ve got full T10 with one Sanctified piece – yes, that’s all five pieces; head, shoulders, chest, hands and legs. I also recently picked up some Rock Steady Treads which are the best boots available. I’m going to compare some other slots vs. what’s available and see.
I’m also stockpiling Cardinal Rubies (I need about 12-14 of them) so I can create Armor Penetration gems once I have enough to do a complete flip over from Agility to Armor Penetration, I will.
Oh, I made a joke that our guild site is lacking news and so they gave me rights to add news. Kind of sneaky, assign the task to the one asking about it…
… only it’s ME!
MOUAHAHAHAAHA!
Again.
It was really minor but the thought had occurred to me that it could cause problems.
What’d I do?
I named my pet after our raid leader’s real life name, “Jason”. Technically, we have three Jason’s in the guild and I really didn’t have any specific one in mind when I named my Hyena pet (PVP), “Jason”. I can admit there was some motivation because Jason (the raid leader) actually recommended it as a PVP pet since it was from the Ferocity tree and had a 50% snare that was on a 20 second cooldown (meaning it can fire a lot more than the Crab or Spider’s root).
Anyway, as you might have guess by the fact that I know we have three Jasons in the guild, we do tend to use real life names when talking in vent or guild chat. Well, that often creates a subconscious connection from the character name to the player name. It’s sort of funny how that works.
So when my pet named, “Jason” was almost dead, one of the healers panicked and started tossing a big heal on it while saying, “OMG Jason, you’re almost dead!” A little laughter ensued as people realized it wasn’t really “Jason”, rather it was my pet.
I admit, I considered naming the pet after the main tank’s character name but I wasn’t sure it would be allowed and I was worried it might screw up people’s macros where the closest applicable target appears to get selected.
I figure I’ll at least wait until my Inscription skill on my priest is high enough to create those pet renaming scrolls before I try that one…
… and I’m not sure what ‘it’ is?
That’s bad… I think?
I figured out why my cable bill took a jump up this month. When I bought the receiver (HD with PVR) with my new LCD (120mhz, 42”) TV the local cable provider (Rogers) offered me a free trial package for two months.
Well the free two months ran out and I forgot to cancel it so I called them yesterday about it. It appears you can go to their website to add packages but they don’t let you remove them without calling in.
Go figure.
The package was about 20$ more a month which really wasn’t a big savings and I should look at it again to see if I can hack off a bit more. I figured while I had their ear I’d ask about the other issues I was having…
I was getting fewer channels upstairs than I was downstairs which included the HD sports package and the time shifting. They promptly sorted that out.
In closing, they offered me a two month trial of the HD Nature package (I checked the price for that online – its about 8$ a month) which I debated getting for the kids so I figured I’d try it out.
Any bets that I forget to cancel it before the free two months runs out?
I have several books sitting in my queue waiting to pleasure my sore and tired eyes with their text, two of them I bought on the weekend.
What books?
Shadowline by Glen Cook, who wrote the whole Black Company series among other things. I’ve been a big fan of the Black Company series where some of the characters in that book inspired a few of my own D&D character concepts and even some campaign content. I’ve only read a few pages but it seems like it is being set up as the Black Company in Space, though I’m hesitant to say that given how little of it I’ve read so far.
This one is at the top of my list at the moment. I’ve been pining for a sci-fi book that might interest me. I almost picked up some of the Warhammer 40k books, but I kept looking and discovered Shadowline.
Unfortunately, I can’t remember the names of the others. One is a detective novel that I started but I’m having a tough time getting into because it’s slow to start. The other is the third book in the “Song for Fire and Ice” series which I’ve had a hard time investing time into. I’m not sure why. The last book is the other one I recently bought which appears to be about assassins. I picked it up because I thought it could be a good source of ideas.
I’ll spew out some more text about these books when I get around to reading them.
