Thursday, July 30, 2009

Disconnects = Fail

Now, we barely squeaked out a victory for last week's Guild First Thorim success. So it's nothing new that coming back for more wasn't necessary going to mean a one shot. But Blizzard wanted to insure our failure: Constant disconnects. From both arena tanks. And then there was the kick-in-the-face disconnect that I, my brother, and 8 other people suffered in the middle of the arena.

I mean seriously... it's not like we don't already have enough problem downing this boss.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

2009-07-29: Calling It Early

Some people might call me petty. And they may be right. But tonight's performance can teach a very important lesson.

All Bosses Parse

The pink bar is the only person to receive an Aesir's Edge. The lesson: Skill > Gear.

On another note, the closer Gincan gets to matching my gear level, the closer he gets to matching my dps. It's kinda scary how close he gets. I guess if anybody needs real proof on whether or not I know I'm doing, then there it is. If you know it well enough to teach...

Monday, July 27, 2009

Little Bitches

So apparently, saying something derogatory in trade chat about a certain class equates to you making a cheap shot at one of your guild mates. True story.

So there's this level 16 warrior named Armaggeddon (or some unfathomably stupid name) who's asking what he should use as a fury specced warrior: Two one handers, or a sword and board. My tolerance after last night is pretty low, so I tell him to straight up -not- spec fury. I didn't go into the details with him, but needless to say, the last thing fury warriors, as a community, need is another idiot who can't tell you the difference between bloodthirst and that one time they drank a bunch of Mountain Dew: Code Red.

So some paladin, thinking to promote his own class, tells him to re-roll a paladin. Cuz it's cool or something. I throw it out there: That and paladins can get away with sucking because of their buffs and replenishment. This was a blanket statement, and you know it's true. And it was directed to our poorly named warrior because, without divine intervention, he will undoubtedly suck at whatever he chooses to do.

But someone who DOESN'T EVEN FUCKING PLAY WOW ANYMORE thought that I was making a cheapshot at a guild member. And he decided to tell me on an alt. On his wife's account.

You see where this is going.

Now a disclaimer. I don't make it a secret that I don't like our resident retribution paladin. He's loud, he's annoying, I've both ignored him in-game and in vent. He's lucky, winning /random rolls in 10 man (bye-bye the only Aesir's Edge I've seen drop) and going on more of the raids than I'm invited to. And in spite of this luck in gearing up, he isn't close to my performance in terms of DPS.

But here's the big selling point. I have -never- in a public forum discussed a guild member in a negative light. I haven't even gone so far as to say "This one paladin in our guild sucks balls." Not in trade, the WoW forums, or anywhere else that one could think.

But this person thinks there's a connection between what I said and what he meant anyway. So to this person I say: Go fuck yourself.

Azurya was a fury warrior in Malfurions Raiders when I joined, and it should be noted that I was at his heels in terms of performance from the moment we met, in half of his gear. I surpassed him easily, and he's been jealous ever since. And all of that jealousy ultimately resulted into:

One little whisper. That said I sucked at fury. And that I shouldn't make cheapshots in trade. Well, my performance record is in the side bar. The data is nice and neat and in perfect order. Scrutinize all you want, you whiny little douche bag.

Next time send a bomb in the mail. At least that way I won't think of you as an impotent little prick.

Edit: I thought it'd be neat to wrap up my little "Xi is greater than you" rant with a little screen shot of a dps comparison between us. But what do you know.. I went back as far as my screenshots are logged, and I couldn't find a single one of us on a single parse. All the way back to TK. I guess his bitch ass either got kicked off the progression team a long time ago, or he left in a huff. Oh, well.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Guild First: Thorim

Guild First: Thorim

So I'm horrible about starting my freakin' combat log at the -beginning- of the night. I just forget when people ask me to tank and help with the arena. So this parse is only -slightly- misleading in that there were, in fact, several other attempts tonight that lead to our success.

The other thing I want to say is that I -hate- being the last tank standing. It's my off-spec set. It's a lot of pressure throwing a full-grown, 10+ stack, really pissed off raid boss at someone who has been collecting hand-me-downs. I died in the last percent.

And we got to see Mimiron 25. Whee. Apparently, my guild members aren't as retarded as I thought. Not -all- of them, anyway...

No dps milestones, cuz I was an on-duty tank.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Tuesday Night Badge Farming

2009-07-22: Badge Farming

Remember in Karazhan when you only tagged along with your guildies because it was a good place to get tons of badges? That feels like what I'm doing in Ulduar, because even though only two plate dps are showing up consistently these days, not a single piece is dropping. And ever since I've been saving the number one sk roll, the Rune Edge has mysteriously disappeared from Iron Council's drop list.

>.<

I guess I'm getting a little burnt out. Thorim seems to be our guild's wall for one reason or another, and the bosses that we do see aren't dropping the loot we want. (Still haven't seen a freakin' Worldcarver). And if Ignis puts me in the goddamn pot one more time!

An interesting note: If you're in the pot when Ignis dies, the animation will show you being thrown from the pot, and supposedly safe, but you'll continue to take damage for the full duration. Har har free repair bill.

Iron Council - 4471

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

DPS Tracks 6: Spit It Out



LOL. Explicit Lyrics.

When I was a non-believer in the ways of metal, these guys were making their rounds on the airwaves. What I came to realize is that not only are they seriously hardcore, but their live show is awesome. I just wish I had caught them when I was younger.

Did you ever gave a damn in the first place
Maybe it's time you had the tables turned
'Cause in the interest of all involved I got the problem solved
And the verdict is guilty

Man nearly killed me stepping where you fear to tread
Stop drop and roll, you were dead from the get go
Big motherfucker, stupid cocksucker
Are you scared of me now? Then you're dumber than I thought

Always is and never was
Foundation made of piss and vinegar
Step to me I'll smear ya, think I fear ya, bullshit
Just another dumb punk chomping at this tit

Is there any way to break through the noise
Was it something that I said that got you bent
Gotta be that way if you want it
Sanity literal profanity hit me

Spit it out
All you wanna do is drag me down
All I wanna do is stamp you out
Spit it out
All you wanna do is drag me down
All I wanna do is stamp you out

Maybe it's the way you spread a lotta rumor fodder
Keeping all your little spies and leaving when you realize
Step up, fairy I guess it's time to bury your ass with the chrome
Straight to the dome you heard me right, bitch, I didn't stutter

And if you know what's good
Just shut up and beg brother
Back stab, don't you know who you're dissing?
Side swipe you know, the ass that you're kissing

Biggidy biggidy bitch boy, halfway hauser
Can't hear shit, 'cause it keeps getting louder
C'mon, and get a face full of tactic
Lipping off hard, going home in a basket

You got no pull, no power, no nothing
Now you start shit, well ain't that something
Payoffs don't protect, and you can hide if you want
But I'll find you, comin' up behind you

Spit it out
All you wanna do is drag me down
All I wanna do is stamp you out
Spit it out
All you wanna do is drag me down
All I wanna do is stamp you out

'Bout time I set this record straight
All the needle nose punching is making me irate
Sick of my bitching falling on deaf ears
Where you gonna be in the next five years?

The crew and all the fools, and all the politics
Get your lips ready, gonna gag, gonna make you sick
You got dick when they passed out the good stuff
Are you sick of me? Good enough, had enough

Fuck me! I'm all out of enemies
Fuck me! I'm all out of enemies
Fuck me! I'm all out of enemies
Fuck me! I'm all out of enemies

Fuck me! I'm all out of enemies
Fuck me! I'm all out of enemies
Fuck me! I'm all out of enemies
Fuck me! I'm all out of enemies

Spit it out
All you wanna do is drag me down
All I wanna do is stamp you out
Spit it out
All you wanna do is drag me down
All I wanna do is stamp you out

Spit, spit
Spit, spit
Spit it out

Monday, July 20, 2009

Mechanical Failure and Upgrade Woes

So these last few days have kinda sucked. I've had a Microsoft Optical "Intellimouse" plugged into a ps/2 port since I pieced this computer together... the -first- time. So it's at least as old as 2, possibly three motherboards ago. So finally, after like... 8 years, the little mouse that could simply can't anymore. It kinda sucks, but it's a fact of life. I know what everyone is thinking. Xi doesn't use a gaming mouse? No, I have never touched a gaming mouse, and I can play WoW just fine. >.<

Which brings me to a few days ago, when my optical mouse (which had been fizzling out for about 2 weeks now) was finally replaced by an MX Revolution.

The reviews I've read (although I wasn't able to find this information on their product page, go figure) stated that this thing ran at 800 dpi. Not only do I not know what that means, but my old mouse didn't even have a dpi parameter. The damn thing slides across the screen when the air condition kicks in. It's that damn sensitive. So I have to freakin' fiddle with the sensitivity for 5 days so that I can play WoW.

/frustration

There's a morale to this story, kids. Don't wait too long between upgrading your stuff. The learning curve for a mouse this far advanced from my old one nearly killed me.

Oh, and fuck XT Deconstructor. Fucking Aesir's Edge. >.<

Friday, July 17, 2009

Today Sucks

There are a handful of reasons today sucks. My mouse finally shorted out, which means I'm posting from my brother's smaller, cheaper laptop. Not the fancy one with the buzzers and the whistles. The one with the 9 inch screen. -_-

Adding to my seemingly limitless frustration, I sit in the dark living area of our house while my mom watches 7th Heaven, which is possibly the worst show I've ever seen. Wait, scratch that. The worst show I've ever seen was Full House. I always thought the show was a bit odd, since Bob Saget's stand-up is actually funny. But that's not the point of this rant.

It wasn't my original intent to rant on this relatively harmless eleven season show. But as I searched google for a single negative review, I couldn't find one. Not a single one. It's mind numbing!

I've had to sit through the average episode, and due to my mother's hearing loss, I've heard the rest, and the show suuuuuuuuuuuuucks.

I heard someone once say that the show featured horrible writing, and worse acting. But one of the reasons I hate this show is the writing, and not because I think it's terrible. That might not quite be the word for it. I hate the writing on this show because of the same reason that I hate reality tv. I hate any show that indicates that it's okay to act like a bunch of crazy bitches.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Another Tuesday Night

Freakin' drop rates are bullshit, sometimes. Or maybe it's just my guild... or maybe it's both!

/standard rant

4 rune edges. On hunters. None since. /rage

At this point I think I just bitch because I don't know how else to fill up a post when I'm trying to link my parse. Hmm... Gotta work on that.

2009-07-15: Uneventful Tuesday

Milestone:

XT-002 Deconstructor - 7348

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

DPS Tracks 5: The Prophecy



I'm not going to lie. Sometimes, I'm in the middle of a Dream Evil album, and I think to myself...

"These guys could be the greatest band ever!"

Power metal, boldly pretentious lyrics, guitar solos, the way it was meant to be done.

Through endless forests in the night I walked alone
And there I found the prophecy carved in stone:
"To find the cure for the man who is your lord,
Use the magic sword"

So take your horse and ride it fast across the land
To find the city buried deep beneath the sand
Search for a man who can bless your heart with steel
It's the key to kill the beast

The ride is long, be brave and strong
You are the one, strong as the sun

I'd give my life for my beliefs
I will stay strong against the wind
The time is right , I feel it strong

If you want the answers and you wanna know them now
You don't know where to turn cause they will bring you down
Listen to what I say and what I say is right
You see, I rule the night

You've always been left out, you're always on the run
No matter how you've tried, you never saw the sun
Come with me now and you will not regret
Got to be quick or be dead

The ride is long, be brave and strong
You are the one, strong as the sun

I'd give my life for my beliefs
I will stay strong against the wind
The time is right - i feel it strong
The prophecy

Hunting the dragon - to save our king
Searching for wizards - is not an easy thing

/guitarsolo

I'd give my life for my beliefs
I will stay strong against the wind
The time is right- i feel it strong
The prophecy

Monday, July 13, 2009

Reasons Not to Screw with Xi



1. I'll run your ass over, and your fucking dog, too.

Buahahahahahahahaha! /doom

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Ulduar: Hard Mode Authentication?

So yeah... we've put aside two nights to work on hard modes and the rest of Ulduar 10. We've assembled some of the heaviest hitters are guild has to offer. And...

Blizzard is having authentication issues.

Again.

For what? Maybe two raid members? Problem is, we had a particular team in mind, and everyone else locked themselves to the other 10 man team. So here we are, an hour past go time, waiting for Blizzard to pull their colossal head out of it's ass and let us start our raid.

In the words of my raid leader:

"(&FD*Y^TCYITD^*X^*RC^*RCD%&$ES$#Z^$#AZ$"

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Macros and You

When I started this gig, I didn't know what I was doing. I had forty million buttons, and struggled to reach the right tool for the job at a moment's notice, and probably sacrificed dps by doing so.

Now I only have 20 million buttons (-_-), but have successfully whittled down my abilities to a few easy-to-use macros.

Use Bloodrage:

Sure, that seems like good enough advice. And most of you have it glyphed, and use it all the time. But for the beginner fury warrior, this is something that most people miss. Even untalented, this thing is 20 rage every 60 seconds, and with the recent changes to fury, that's just too good to pass up. On top of all that, Bloodrage isn't on the global cooldown, so there is no excuse not to use it. Here's where the magic happens. Because Bloodrage isn't on the GCD, it can share a macro with an ability that uses the GCD. I put mine in my Bloodthirst and Whirlwind Macros:

#showtooltip
/cast Bloodthirst
/cast Bloodrage

#showtooltip
/cast Whirlwind
/cast Bloodrage

Yes, you'll get a lot of "This ability is not ready" spam, but that's a small price to pay for optimal rage generation.

Trinket Macro:

I've seen a lot of different variations on this, but I'll keep it simple. I prefer to use the following:

/#showtooltip
/cast Deathwish
/use 13
/use 14

Because Recklessness is on the GCD (and on a different timer), it is not possible to place it into the macro without a castsequence or castrandom modification. I would discourage trying to make one of these work, simply because it would not be optimal for dps. Use Deathwish between your BT and WW cooldowns, and Recklessness in the next break. It's better to keep the rotation going than to pause to get all your buffs up, in my opinion.

Slam:

#showtooltip
/cast Slam
/stopcasting

I'm not entirely sold on this macro. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm sold on the idea, but the darn thing isn't guaranteed to work all the time. Maybe only half the time. The idea, of course, is to prevent any non-auto slams from interrupting your rotation. This happens to me every now and then because I do not prioritize bloodsurge/slam over bloodthirst and whirlwind.

Targeting Macros:

I wouldn't feel right if I forgot the basic targeting macro. Certainly, there are many of you who know what this is, but in the middle of intense combat, this can be the difference of a few hundred DPS. The syntax is as follows:

/target Mob's Name

It's fairly easy to set up and use, and I keep one on my bar at all times, so that I may easily modify it to suit my needs. An example of a useful targeting macro would be during the Kologarn fight, where it is imperative to jump onto the right arm as soon as it spawns. A simple, clickable button basically takes the guess work out of the whole thing.

I have a few more tricks in my bag of goodies, but most of them pertain to specific fights, tanking or Arms DPS. I think that this pretty much covers the basics though. Now to make a paladin cry about his low DPS.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Tuesday Night: Total Bust

Fuck two-handed weapons. Every hunter and their pet (except for their worgen pets, suck it hunters) has a freakin' Rune Edge, but when I hold my spot for one, we have a freakin' weapon drought.

The axe from Ignis won't drop, and our death knight tank has been saving a suicide spot for weeks!

Fuck Ulduar. DPS parse after the break.

2009-07-08: Total Bust

More of the same. At least I beat the rogue on the Hodir fight.

Iron Council - 4356

DPS Tracks 4: Kill for Metal



This has to be one of my favorite bands of all time. In fact, my theme song (and blog title) comes from their most awesome track EVER!

As I searched for something other than the regular line up of mainstream rock/metal, I stumbled onto Pandora which (while useless these days) introduced me to what would be my genre of choice: Power Metal.

I still listen to some of the older stuff, and most of what I've posted so far has been outside of that particular genre, but it still gets me through the day.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Week in Review

2009-07-02: Thorim Hates You
2009-07-01: Thorim Hates You
2009-06-25: Thorim Hates You

You might notice a bit of a trend.

I'm not saying I don't like Thorim. I'm just saying that he had better hope he doesn't meet me in a dark alley.

Anyway, I forgot to post all this information. And I wish I had. Looking through the parses and getting the links right all at once is a chore. Feel like I should be getting paid for it, you know?

Razorscale - 3898
XT-002 Deconstructor - 7049
Iron Council - 4099
Kologarn - 6746
Hodir - 7696
Freya - 3305