Another Day – Another Failed Pug Run

The following post is nearly 88% true.

Ugh. Last night was a particularly miserable run. I believe I’m actually starting to understand how some of the “less-informed” players of WoW think. The random heroic brought up the Pit of Saron instance. Ok, not too difficult. Of course, this is assuming that the people you are with know boss fights, know how threat works, know class mechanics, etc. Oh, how ignorance is pure bliss! Actually, ignorance is more like drinking just a bit too much alcohol – the initial effect is pleasing, but the aftereffects are just a really bad headache. I would have thought that, if very few in a group don’t understand a particular boss fight, or maybe they don’t understand the mechanics of some of the more challenging “trash” mobs, those individuals should, at the least, start to learn those things through trial and error. Hell, I’m even willing to sit and type out as best as I can a detailed explanation of the fight – no matter how long it would take. But, as was the case in the heroic Pit of Saron last night, it’s more like trial and keep-making-the-same errors will be the standard one should come to expect from bad pugs.

So, let me just point out that what I’ve learned has been though extensive field study. More research will be needed to confirm my findings, but I may be able to explain some of the more mysterious, bizarre behavior exhibited by pugs. What I’ve learned can be best described as a sequence. This process is a series of steps that many pugs experience when attempting a challenging instance. Starting with the first reaction, I’ll demonstrate the process that many pugs follow from first entering the LFG dungeon finder right up to the point when a pug leaves the party. First, whenever a well-geared tank leads a group through a challenging instance, pugs can become very insecure, particularly if that tank can match or outperform a pug’s dps. When faced with this performance, pugs will often lash out at anything they feel they can take one-on-one – which can be practically anything that happens to be hostile to the pug or to other party members. This is known as the “Dps E-peen effect” wherein a pug sees his/her dps lower than or matched by the tank, and thinks to himself/herself, “Oh noes! My deeps isn’t the highest in group! I must attack something else and unleash my rawr to raise it! I MUST!” This is a common trait among most anthropoids but it can lead to behavior that is harmful to the pug.

To address this, most team leaders will resort to marking targets to identify a specific “kill order” to help prevent pugs from pulling threat and possibly killing themselves. My studies have shown that this will do no good at all. The reasons for this aren’t too complex but a quick, simplified answer will be the immediate thought the pug will have once marks are introduced, “A skull! That means that it’s important! I must avoid hitting skull and probably ‘X’ so that I don’t get one-shotted and my deeps goes down! Therefore, I must hit anything that isn’t marked! I MUST!” The correct term for this is the “Unknown kill order” reaction. This is normal, and indeed, should be expected by group leaders.

A natural response by most group leaders would be to try to explain the concept of threat buildup and management. The intricacies of threat and dps will most likely be alien to the pug. One should expect statements from pugs such as, “Omen Threat Meter? Will that help my deeps?” This is known as the “Manage your threat” response and is indigenous to all competent group leaders. Despite their best efforts, even the best group leader or tank will often have difficulty helping pugs understand threat, and how not-managing it can lead to premature character death. Premature character death or PCD is a common problem among pugs. But there are resources available that can help. It’s at this point where the pug’s insecurities can become a real issue socially. This is usually the point that will make or break a pug. Pugs that are capable of learning will begin to demonstrate traits that show responsible behavior such as: keeping threat below the tank’s level, avoiding threat-building AoE abilities, and waiting patiently for a tank to generate enough threat before using hard-hitting abilities that can cause major threat buildup. Other, less-skilled pugs will continue down the process this article is describing.

The next step in that process is defined as the “Berate your teammates” action. This is where the uninformed, and un-teachable, pug lashes out again, only this time towards his/her teammates. Statements such as, “L2tank noob” and “Noob healer Y didnt U heal me” are so common during this action that one could argue that it’s deemed mandatory by the pug. Please note that the contraction in the latter statement may not be available to some pugs and the statement would be revised as, “Noob healer Y U not heal me.” It’s theorized that the pug may not even realize what he/she is saying at this point. Perhaps this is instinctual behavior. It is usually at this point that the pug will often quickly progress through the final phases in this overall process.

The “Acceptance” phase is the point where a team leader will realize and accept that the pug is beyond help. No amount of explanation, regardless of how simple the process was kept, will help the pug understand the problems he/she is facing. Additionally, it is at this point that the pug is more properly referred to as “fail pug.” This is a more accurate description of the individual’s abilities. The following “Separate” and “Search” phase can be described as two phases but in application can appear concurrently. It is the point in this process where separation occurs from either the pug(s) removing themselves from the group, or more commonly, the group removes the pug themselves, followed immediately by the searching phase. The searching can have a double meaning; one description for the pug and another description for the group. The group begins their search for a suitable replacement for the recently removed pug and the pug begins his/her search for another group, and starts this process over again.

The overall process is as follows:

1. Deeps e-peen effect
2. Unknown kill order reaction
3. Manage you threat response
4. Berate your teammates action
5. Acceptance of pug failure aftermath
6. Separate fail pug from group reflex
7. Search for new pug outcome

While this process is still being studied, it may ultimately lead to a better understanding of pug thought processes and behaviors. Again, more field study may be required and this process may become a “living” document. That is, the steps shown might not be absolute. Careful study could prove to show that each step is fluid and may lead to other steps not yet known. To help better understand this process, we can label it with an acronym that would best describe it to others. Let’s call the process – D.U.M.B.A.S.S. It is hoped that this article will be beneficial to all pugs interested in improvement as well as a benefit to all fledgling tanks or group leaders. Once one understands D.U.M.B.A.S.S. one will surely understand fail pugs. Hopefully, understanding D.U.M.B.A.S.S will give novice and maybe even experienced group leaders some ideas or techniques in handling fail pugs in future instances. Thank you.

Ok, yeah. I know I probably seem like some elitist. And I know all pugs are not that bad. This is just another attempt at some creative writing. Well, writing made to look a bit scientific. Hope you enjoyed. :-P

BB

Desktop Screen Cleaning

The following post is approx. 90% true.

Ok. I'm sure we've all came across a point in our lives, interfacing with our computer, adding more programs, additional folders of those "important things," which have forced ourselves to look at our "desktop" and say, "Maybe I need to clean this up a bit." As an instructor, this frequently happens to my computer. I'll sometimes have to bring my work home, create lesson plans, handouts, etc. Or, sometimes I need another folder to help generate new projects for the students to complete. Also, I often research (if one could call it that) information about WoW and a particular class. Currently, my focus is on hunters and I rarely, if at all, look up any information concerning my main - Blackbear. So in researching information about a class, I'll also add articles, screenshots of talent builds, etc. and add that to additional folders on my desktop. As one would expect, this can cause quite a lot of clutter on the desktop screen of my computer. Therefore, I decided to look around for anything - a program, a script, a "cleaning" technique, that would help me keep my desktop clean. And believe it or not, I found one! It wasn't easy, and depending on your net browser and how strong your firewall system is, it might not work that well - I usually right click on it and open in a new tab. But here goes...

I present to you - the best desktop screen cleanup tool EVAH!



Screen cleaner!







XD

F.U.N!

The following post is mostly true.

I was hoping it wouldn’t get here. I was really hoping I didn’t get to this point. The possibility of having to actually – GASP, write, something again so soon was just too much for me to bear. Well no, not really. I was just being a bit lazy, enjoying a minor lull in school activity thanks to some help from Mother Nature. Snow (approx. 6+ inches of it) mixed with sleet on top of that, has a tendency to stop things here in the southeast. And by that, I mean, everything, just, stops. Of course this follows the typical “spaz shopping” I see so often anytime a weather report even mentions snow, even if it’s just, at most, a slight dusting. People panic buy things that they think they’ll need. For example, MILK! Oh, good heavens! Let’s not forget to purchase at least two gallon containers of milk. Even though it’s entirely possible that we might not be capable of drinking that much milk before it spoils, we have to have two gallons of it. God forbid, we might actually have to drink water! Ah yes, let’s include another loaf of bread, along with some lunch meat. We simply must have additional bread for sandwiches. That’s probably all we’ll be able to make anyways. Never mind the fact that we may already have a loaf and probably can get by without having to purchase another one. No-no! More bread! And more lunch meat! NOW! Let’s all hop in the family car and go out to flood the grocery stores with panic shoppers and wipe out their stock of milk, bread, and lunch meat! Alright well that was me raging a bit. I guess that’s just one of life’s little ironies; living in the southeast, every time we get snow, despite the fact that it probably won’t hang around for very long (a few days – maybe?), people will spaz shop for nearly a month’s worth of groceries.

But, back to being lazy, I played a lot of wow during the break. Hit a few of my other, neglected toons to inch (more like millimeter) their leveling up a bit more. During that time, I had the opportunity to hit the random daily instances a lot. Also, during that time, I had the opportunity to hit my head against a brick wall a lot. Guess which one was more appealing? Ahh pugs. Can’t live with ‘em, and you want to kill ‘em. Ok, well maybe that’s not the best idiomatic phrase to represent my experiences with pugs, but it does express my frustration and sometimes just outright anger at having to deal with some of them. Not all pugs are bad, obviously. But the ones that are a real pain to deal with turn out to be really bad. And those pugs that clearly know what they’re doing and don’t have to be told to watch their threat level are usually really good. That’s it. There is no “in-between.” There’s no happy medium. Maybe it’s just me. With a tank as my secondary spec, I don’t have the irritating wait times that others have to deal with. Folks always need a tank and a healer. Dps, just have to stand in line and the amount of time waiting can be frustrating. But, pugs lately have been either very efficient or very excruciating.

Consider the arms spec warrior I recently met in a regular Utguarde Keep. His character was arms spec, and he was dual-wielding…two one-handed weapons…with a spec that has 5 talent points in axe specialization and 5 more talent points in mace specialization…and to top all of that, he wasn’t even using weapons that he had dumped a whopping 10 talent points into, he was using swords. Sometimes a pug isn’t necessarily bad due to inexperience with the game or just low skill, or to a lack of understanding with class/game mechanics. Sometimes, a pug is bad just because he/she is a total ass.

Another “gem” to consider is a recent pug I did with a buddy of mine – Nash. I believe we also had two others from our guild. We were hitting a random heroic and came upon Gun Drak. This particular instance can be challenging for under-geared groups. But it’s usually a quick and easy run with multiple opportunities for decent gear and a lot of emblems. We only had 4 so we pugged the last dps spot, which led us to a DK of epic fail. Let’s just refer to him as Dopey. So Dopey is helping us through the instance and it becomes immediately obvious, this person is either an adult high on something illegal, or this person is probably under 13 years old and really high on sugar and/or something illegal. Dopey’s comments were bizarre, to say the least, and they became more frequent as the instance rolled on – even during a boss fight. Now, I’m not too strict when it comes to party chat. But typing in party chat during a boss fight only means that the player isn’t performing during the fight. After repeated attempts to inform Dopey to focus or risk being kicked out of the group, he finally started to calm down. After the second boss he then decided to pull an elite, deliberately, and with no healer around. Brilliant. Of course, his character died, and my character nearly died with him. Dopey eventually started back up his rants (possibly looking to get kicked?), which led to the ultimate fail statements from immature players. Those, HILARIOUS (sarcasm) statements that start out with “your” and end in “mom.” Yeah. There’s a real mature player for you folks. The final straw came when he said something to the effect of raping someone’s mom. And if you think I just mistyped that last statement, let me assure you that you read it right. “That’s it! I’ve had enough!” I said out loud, and quickly typed “F*#k it. Kick ‘em!” in party chat. I clicked on the vote-to-kick option, and less than a split-second later, he was gone. I didn’t even have the chance to blink. We were going to continue on and 4-man the rest of the instance but, fortunately, a shaman decided to allow himself/herself to be saved to the instance and only collect loot and emblems from the final boss. Bless him/her whoever that person was.

Am I too demanding? Do I have expectations too high to meet? Am I irrational to expect others that I run instances with to, at the very least, try to act mature? Should I hire a nanny every time I go looking for pug instances? Is it unreasonable to expect my fellow evolved beings to be capable of doing more than simply breathing out carbon dioxide and spamming one, maybe two buttons? Or, for those individuals that truly have difficulty doing just that simple task, am I to be expected to remind them to breathe every few minutes? I’m just curious. If that’s true then I have no problem with that and I’ll eagerly accept my new responsibilities. I would just like to know ahead of time.

Also, do people play this game as if whatever they say won’t affect anything? It seems to me as if so many players (most are probably young and immature) behave this way and that those people view their actions as consequence-free. Maybe that’s true, but there are people that operate those other characters in the pug. People that the read party chat. People that can be offended just like anyone else at ridiculous comments. People that have used some of their own personal time to play a game with total strangers (pugs) and attempt to clear an instance with that team. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t take that too lightly. Someone else has decided to try to run an instance with me and is giving me a bit of their time, and I with them. Yeah, it’s only a video game. But a video game doesn’t make statements that could hurt someone’s feelings. Players do. Is that being overly sensitive? Could be. In any case, I feel that this game could really use more well-mannered people. Sometimes I feel like the only people worth playing with are my guildies. I realize that's a generalization and I sincerely hope that I don't appear to be an elitist. Fortunately, it's not all just one endless terrible experience. In another one of life’s little ironies, Dopey had to gall to whisper a message to me just after we kicked him from party and said, “That’s harsh man.” Maybe this game isn’t just a “say anything, do anything and expect no consequences” kind of game after all. Maybe there is just a wee bit of karma here. Just before I ignored him he tried to tell me that he was just having some fun. I resisted the urged to reply back, “There’s always an F – U in fun!”

Well…I might have said something like that back to him.


BB

See them phail?

M. R. Pugs

A. R. Not

O. S. A. R. C. M. Phail?

L. I. B.

M. R. Pugs

Blackbear Who?

So when did it all start out? What was the reason I started playing WoW (World of Warcraft)? Well, it actually started before WoW was even created. My very first mmorpg I ever played was called: U.O. (Ultima Online). I’ve enjoyed playing video games for a long time. Actually, my very first video game was Pong! Well, I guess I’ve given away a hint about my age. I’ve never actually enjoyed rpg’s (role-playing games) that much. Most that I tried out were always boring to me. And initially, I thought that U.O. was no different. I’ve tried earlier versions of Ultima prior to the U.O. game. In my opinion, big on content, not much on actual game play. But, oddly enough, the person that convinced me to try out U.O. was an older gentleman that I worked with in a good-sized machine shop. I seriously couldn’t believe it! Here was a guy; his youngest son was away at college. He was a grandfather. And he is an avid U.O. player! How ridiculous! But, as he explained to me, I started to realize that he’s not at all interested in the content, he likes to play against other players, also known as pvp (player-vs-player.) Not knowing much about online games in general, much less the jargon, I asked him how it worked. I became intrigued as he explained to me the mechanics behind the game and how he and his “guild” pvp. I’m not a big fan of rpg’s in general, but the team-play pvp aspect of this game caught my attention. So, I decided to give it a shot. I’m fairly certain that there was a ‘free-trial run’ for a limited amount of online time; otherwise I probably would not have bothered. But, as I began to play the game a little at a time a picture of this game started to form. I realized this game has an enormous “world” to explore. There’s quite a lot that I need to learn very quickly if I want to be successful at this game. And, online geeks are still geeks. I use that term (“geek”) with no meanness. In fact, it wouldn’t bother me at all if someone else considered me the same. But, back to geek-dom; one of the first encounters I had with my player and another online player was – awkward. I was learning how to operate my character, understanding just simple game mechanics such as movement, and I was approached by another player. Not knowing what to say I typed “Hi” in chat. The player responded, “Hail, friend! And well met!” I laughed and replied, “Male, phlegm! And Snackwells!” It did occur to me that the same type of individuals that: enjoy wearing rubber “Spock” ears, know all about the practical applications of in-game spell crafting, and can verify the “technical” data of most dragons in the world, would also play this game. But, I soon found out, that U.O. had a wide range of people that enjoy playing it. There was Thaddeus, the mage, a step-father, electrician, and maintenance supervisor and one of my earliest “online friends” in the game. Also, Morbus, the warrior, with his heavy “from-da-Bronx” accent, a retail salesman and leader of one of the guilds I eventually became a part of. And of course, my co-worker, Otheo, a treasure hunter and real-life fellow machinist.

It was another co-worker, several years after I quit playing U.O. that introduced me to the World of Warcraft game. I knew just a little about this game. When the first WoW game released, I decided against trying to participate. At the time, the computer I had was low-end and probably could only barely manage to operate the game. I was familiar with the Warcraft games and thought of the mmorpg version as a phony “knock-off” of the original. I said, “That game’s only there because Blizzard wants to make money off of a monthly membership subscription fee.” Indeed, from the massive member subscription base that Blizzard now boasts (11 million + subscribers,) it would be hard to argue against that point. Additionally, by the time I stopped playing U.O., I became fed-up with the mmorpg experience. It’s important to remember that U.O. had many unexpected side effects from “in-game” mechanics. Severe exploitive problems with “bots” that gather in-game resources or duplicate them and the subsequent problems with in-game economy caused by that, issues with in-game social interaction, an aging gaming platform, and a perceived standoff-ish approach by Origin towards dealing with these problems, all of these challenges with the game eventually drove my decision to angrily call it quits after about a year and a half of playing. Basically, I did not want to go through another U.O. experience. And despite the fact that I’ve been playing WoW for just over two years (I think,) I am still cautious about the game. I actively watch closely the game patch updates to be expected from the next game patch. Although now, I can honestly say that I’m eagerly awaiting the next expansion. After some persistent persuasion by my co-worker, I agreed to try out WoW through a trial account. I will admit, initially I was floored with the graphics, the sound, and even the music for the game. I also remember the ease of interacting with the game. I remember the first flying mount ride I took from Westfall to Stormwind. I couldn’t believe how smoothly the game operated between “realms.” Granted, Stormwind could be a bit laggy but that’s to be expected. The view of the landscape was amazing, especially when flying. I even realized that the “sun” sets and the nighttime darkness will settle in while you’re playing. I quickly learned a bit about the game mechanics and decided to continue. My very first character is the one I have listed on this page with a link to the wow armory character sheet. Blackbear is my main character and a human warrior. At the time, Burning Crusade content had been out for awhile and the level cap was at 70. I really didn’t understand much about the different “specs” so I started out with protection spec. I soon realized that a prot spec warrior was painfully slow to level so I switched my spec to fury – and never looked back. I now have fury as my primary spec and prot as my secondary spec. At one point, my secondary spec was arms, mostly for pvp. While I enjoyed it some, I soon realized that prot pvp is just too much fun to pass up. At the time of this writing it has not yet taken a soon-to-be-expected nerf from the warbringer talent, so, it’s still very fun. Recently I decided to adjust BB’s secondary spec to a pve prot (player-vs-environment) spec rather than pvp prot but I still pvp as often as I can. As a fury spec warrior, I usually don’t get a lot of epic loot from raids that are meant for tanks; unless all present tanks already have a particular gear piece that drops, then I can pick it up for an off-spec. But I am fairly well geared for a fury spec warrior. And, with pve prot I can easily get into pugs (pick-up-group) for random instances either regular or heroic. And with a more robust pve spec, I have a much easier time of tanking heroic instances for those OH-SO-ENDEARING pugs.

Note: Caps can sometimes = sarcasm.

The druid, the Vlad, and the grubby

In far away Outlands, in a remote village somewhere in Nagrand, sits a pub of ill repute. Owned by a dwarf named Vlad, of such notoriety, that it is rumored that his own family shunned him and cast him out of his village where he was born and raised. The pub, known as The Wayward Frog, has a well-deserved reputation for a long history of violence. Many consider it to be the roughest place to get a drink, not only in Nagrand, but all of Outlands. Among its patrons, only the most nefarious ruffians, ne'er-do-wells, thieves, scoundrels, and murderers frequent this establishment; if a structurally unsound, filthy, wooden firetrap could ever be called an 'establishment.' To order a drink, much less actually find the opportunity to enjoy it without being challenged, attacked, or worse, in such a place is what many would call a death wish. But to the tough and rowdy familiar faces of "the frog," it is just a chance to prove one's worthiness, or even one's right, to become a 'regular.' Getting injured at the frog through one of the many various activities such as fighting, gambling, knife throwing, and others is simply seen as par for the course by its many customers. One typical day of violent drinking and chaos, an enormous, scruffy-haired bear came in through the front entrance. From the markings on the bear’s fur, and from the various anklets, earrings, and a well-worn bandanna around its neck, it was obvious to anyone that the bear was a druid. Noticeable to everyone in the frog was the fact that the bear was limping severely. The bear’s right front leg was nearly concealed due to the bear holding its leg and claws in so close to its chest. The bear’s entire leg seemed almost covered in dark blood that was dripping from its extended claws. Initially, the bear drew no attention from anyone. Injuries are frequent at the frog. Why should an injured bear be any different? It wasn’t until the bear roared out, bellowing its clear pain and discomfort at its injuries, that people immediately stopped their activities to notice. At first, the noise level simply lowered slightly while everyone turned to look at the poor bear. When the drinking resumed, the bear began to look very angry. Agitated, the bear stood up on its hind legs and let out a growl that overpowered every sound inside the frog. A deep, guttural, thunderous blast of anger and pain came forth, silencing every possible sound within the pub; the type of sound that could only come from a great, mythological beast. Finally, the mug clattering, the drinking, laughing, clanking weapons and armor, all stopped and looked in awe. All eyes were on the druid bear. Even the toughest among the rowdy crowd seemed to stop breathing, as if taking quiet, short, unnoticeable breaths would prevent the great bear from turning its attention towards them. Still on its hind legs, the druid in bear form stood nearly nine feet tall. It slowly uncurled its leg from its chest. The bear, attempting to conceal the pain of its injuries, made small, inconspicuous twitches. With the leg almost fully extended, the crowd realized why the bear was in pain. A clean, near-perfect hole had been made in the center of its right front foot. Despite the blood, one could see clearly through the hole as if a perfect sphere was cut into the druid’s hand. Vlad, fearing that this may have been the result of the activities of the frog taken too far, nervously addressed the bear. “We’re not lookin’ for any trouble druid,” he said in his typical heavy dwarven accent. “What do ye want?” The bear slowly turned his head and looked deeply into Vlad’s eyes. Now fearing for his life, Vlad uttered, “We don’t want any trouble druid! What do you want? Bandages? Ale? I can get that if you need! What do you want?” The bear stared intently at Vlad. Then slowly began to pan over the entire pub, subtly leveling its gaze at every member of the frog. After what seemed like an eternity, the bear finally replied, “I’m lookin’ for the man who shot my paw!”






Ok well maybe I "borrowed" an element or two from a famous joke. But still, another attempt at my lame creative writing. I still enjoyed writing it. I'm one of the very few among my classmates at school, and even among many of my colleagues, that actually enjoys writing. I sincerely wish I had more time to do it. Oh well. Hopefully, I'll get another opportunity in the future.

Life and death - whispers

Finally. After all the headache, Lady Deathwhisper is done. I honestly wanted someone to start singing "Ding! Dong! The Witch is Dead!" Well, briefly.

It was epic. Isn't that how all good stories start out? I remember the first, completed attempt on 10 man. After some "ironing out" of our strategy for the first boss, we moved on with a bit more confidence to the second. Progression raids. They can be both intoxicating and frustrating, often at the same time. When we made it all the way through the 10 man with relative ease, we exuberantly marched onward to our genuine attempts at 25 man. Onward, fellows. Glory surely awaits us. Our "epicness" is apparent. As is our overinflated, collective ego. How could it not be? We just aced 10 man ICC (Icecrown Citadel.) We're now allocating that raid for farming. Foolishly thinking, "We got this. We've got the basic strategy down, we've got epic dps, our tanks are well-geared, and our healers are among the top on our server. What could possibly go wrong?"Oh, how humbling it can be to see your fellow players, those players that know their class better than anyone, those individuals you've learned from and admire their skills in their class: the mage or hunter with dps so high it could only be possible as a glitch with Recount, the over-the-top geared tanks that can shrug off inconceivable amounts of damage, the valiant healers that seem to be capable of keeping death itself from taking hold of even the most innocent or arrogant of top damage dealers that, by mistake or on purpose, accidentally pull aggro...all dead!

Oh! The humanity!

And the aggravation! Imagine the preparation...

Studying videos created by people who "know these things." Trying to grasp a better understanding of each fight. Multiple attempts from the previous (3?) weeks. Getting a good "feel" or "rhythm" for the fight. Quietly noting those things to avoid as they nearly "one-shot" your dps/threat/healing off the face of the world. Constantly trying to stay on top of your game. Making sure you have enough materials like flasks, potions, and Lord help you if you forget gold for repairs. Making sure your keybindings are furiously spammed in a desperate attempt to push your dps just that much more. Pushing your abilities past your previously thought limits. Watching the numbers display smaller, and smaller percentages with each frustrating attempt. Victory, so close it's palpable. You can practically touch the epic loot that will surely follow after your team wins. You can even see the image of that one, sweet item, that you know will make your character that much more epic. Then...a brief, eerie silence suddenly descends...someone calls out, "Burn hard!" Somehow, your keyboard manages to hold it's plastic pieces together despite the terrible punishment that it's taking. Someone yells, "Three percent!" Pause, "Two percent!" Longer pause, "One percent!" And then...a long, ominous silence that portends only two things: epic victory or overwhelming defeat. And then the statement no one wants to hear...that dreadful call over your headphones, "I'm down!" Followed by the "death" of every other team member, one at a time, as they heroically attempt to stave off the inevitable. Thinking that, somehow, someway, you'll be able to do it! Don't give up now! You can do it! You'll do just a bit more dps/threat/healing to make it through that last one percent. Finally, nothing. Reset.



/facepalm


/RAGE





Ok, well that was my amateur attempt at creative writing. Hope you like it! On to other important stuff. I am not a clicker. I love my keybindings and, yeah, I turn with my keyboard. This is because my free hand is over the number pad. It's the best way for me to push my dps, even though by the end of the Lady D fight my hands felt so sore that I seriously considered asking the raid leaders to look for a replacement. But, we did it. It..was..AWESOME!

Speaking of keybinds, my keybindings didn't magically fall exactly where I wanted them too. In fact, it took quite a few weeks, maybe even several weeks, before I memorized each binding and what ability was tied to that binding. This is because I had to learn which keybindings are the most important when I'm raiding. For a dps'er, those abilities that do the most sustained or burst damage are obviously the most important. As a fury warrior, this means two primary abilities: BT (Bloodthirst) and WW (Whirlwind.) Really, that's it. As long as your spec is good, you'll want deep wounds, which should naturally come with impale, and 2h weapon specialization, follow the 'standard' fury spec build in that tree, and you're good to go. Oh, and that darn rotation. Yeah. Well, it's pretty easy to understand, a bit of practice to get it down. I usually open with WW, however, due to multiple mobs or trash pulls, this is not always a good idea. But the standard rotation is to start with WW as the cooldown will allow you to perform two BT's if timed correctly. Of course, while this is going on, and if you have enough rage, hit either HS (Heroic Strike) or Cleave while waiting on cooldowns, depending on how many mobs are left. Wait for one GCD (Global Cooldown) and start with WW again. And only hit Slam for instant hits, IF - AND ONLY IF, both WW and BT are on cooldown. (Caps = important.) Giving Slam priority over WW or BT will lower your dps. I've often lost the instant Slam proc because the timer ran out. This is because WW and BT will always do more damage than Slam. True, you may crit a Slam to perform a large hit. But risking a possible crit over a solid single hit from BT or multiple hits from WW isn't going to help your dps. Eventually the WW and BT cooldowns will be nearly synchronized and you'll have to start the rotation again with WW. If you have difficulty getting the rotation down, go practice on the practice dummies in the major cities. Seriously. Sometimes I get ridiculed by other players who wonder what I'm doing at a practice dummy. You know, "a level 80! With your lvl of gear? Cmon, dude! Why u goofing around with dat dummy." You'll often find me there as well practicing my fury rotation, or my prot pvp keybindings. Practice makes permanent, not perfect. Cool quote huh? I've no idea where I read that. But basically, as I pointed out, it took me weeks to get my keybindings exactly how I needed them. I was constantly adjusting my keybinds to make it easier for me to press them when I needed. As a result, I had trouble memorizing the primary abilities I had tied to a specific keybind. So, I practiced and practiced until I finally got it down. Still working on my prot pvp keybindings though. But, I'm always improving.

And I will eventually own all in bg's...I will.

XD

Anyways, more to follow. I hope. :-)