DPS Tracks 12: I Am Hated

I AM HATED
By: Slipknot

The whole world is my enemy - and I'm a walking target
Two times the devil with all the significance
Dragged and raped for the love of a mob
I can't stay - because I can't be stopped
Eat motherfuckers alive who cross us
I know you're all tired of the same ol' bosses
Let me tell you how it's gonna be
I'm gonna kill anyone who steps up in front of me

Welcome to the same ol' fucking scam
Same ol' shit in a dead fad

Everybody wants to be so hard
Are you real or a second rate sports card?
They all lost their dad or their wife just died
They never got to go outside - SHUT UP
Nobody gives a fuck
it doesn't change the fact that you suck

(We are) The anti-cancer
(We are) The only answer
Stripped down, we want you dead
But what's inside of me, you'll never know
(We are) Bipolar gods
(We are) You know what we are
My life was always shit
And I don't think I need this anymore

Now I'm not pretty and I'm not cool
But I'm fat and I'm ugly and proud - so fuck you
Standing out is the new pretension
Sreamline the (sic)ness, half-assed aggression
You gotta see it to believe it, we all got conned
All the mediocre sacred cows we spawned
Put your trust in the mission
We will not repent - this is our religion

(We are) The anti-cancer
(We are) The only answer
Stripped down, we want you dead
But waht's inside of me, you'll never know
(We are) Bipolar gods
(We are) You know what we are
My life was always shit
And I don't think I need this anymore

I AM HATED
YOU ARE HATED
WE ARE HATED

Everything sucks and I can prove it
Everybody dies, shuffle on, remove it
Individuals, indispensable
I'm the paradox deity vessel
...the other side holds no secret
But this side is done, I don't need it
Before you go, you should know you're breaking down
You'll be rotten by the time you're underground

(We are) The anti-cancer
(We are) The only answer
Stripped down, we want you dead
But what's inside of me, you'll never know
(We are) Bipolar gods
(We are) You know what we are
My life was always shit
And I don't think I need this anymore

(We Are) The source of conscience
(We Are) Distorted sentients
There's only one thing left
And I can't leave until it's sated
(We Are) The absolute
(We Are) Controlling you
They're closing in, I can't escape
I AM HATED

Feeling sick...

2009-10-21: Blargh

Haven't been feeling that great lately. Having dizzy spells. Thinking it might be related to how freakin hot it is here, regardless of how cool it is outside. I hate this inbetween weather. Too cool for the AC (which is the only thing keeping my computer from heating my entire bedroom) but too warm for the weather to cool me down. Yeah, I have a window wide open, but with no breeze and an unusual lack of fans (someone threw them out when we got central heat and air...), it's hotter than dog shit in here.

Oh yeah, and if you're a ret paladin and your name begins with the letters RET you probably deserve to be slapped.

That is all.

Beasts of Northrend - 4919
Twin Val'kyr - 9486
Anub'arak - 6549

No moar yogg! :O

Huh..

Every once in a while, the guild will surprise me.

Actually, that's a lie. It wasn't a surprise. We really worked that sonuvabitch over, and took his obsolete loot. Guild firsts are never bad, no matter how late in the game we've hit it.

Moar Yogg

I know, it's odd to post before the raid. But I've got so much data on yogg already that I don't really plan on parsing it. Besides, it's more about gauging my own improvement than anything else, and it's hard to see the improvement in the stop-and-go environment of Yogg 25. Our DPS have really itchy trigger fingers, and the adds die in seconds, which is disastrous for the first phase.

I think we're getting to it, but we're having trouble learning the transitions and the things that come in the later stages of the fight. The issue, obviously, is that it is tiring to get to the 3rd phase, and people usually lose focus by the time we're getting there consistently. I hope we can just hop back into 3rd phase attempts tonight, and maybe even get Yogg, because it seems our raid leader isn't giving us the go for ToGC until we get him down.

Justicebringer

Finally.

After two content patches, Lexi and I both have a 25 man weapon drop. The sword dropped off Onyxia too, and the long time we waited to get them finally paid off.

Go team DXL.

DPS Tracks 11: Crush'em

Blah blah competitive spirit blah blah.

It might have something to do with my work in the arena. I don't know.

And yes, this is from what is likely Megadeth's worst album (although it and Cryptic Writings are pretty close in that respect). Also of note, is that you'll notice (somewhat) famous film and t.v. personalities Jean-Claude Van Damme and Bill Goldberg. This may be the last Van Damme movie that anybody actually cared about. And by care about I mean... it was in theatres.

Edit: The hyphen was in the wrong place -_-



Crush 'em
By Megadeth

Enter the arena and hit the lights
Step up now you're in for a ride
this is war, ain't no fun and games
we get it up, you go down in flames

Party time, going down
you better not mess us around
the stakes are rich, take a hit or stay
the price is high, someone's gonna pay

Heads I win, tails you lose
out of my way I'm coming through
roll the dice don't think twice
and we crush, crush 'em

Looking for trouble, now you've found it
you're a drum and we're gonna pound it

Last one standing wins the fight
hear us scream and shout all night
down on the floor and eat the grit
this is gonna hurt a little bit

Heads I win, tails you lose
out of my way I'm coming through
roll the dice don't think twice
and we crush, crush 'em

Now we lay you down to rest
you'll never be more than second best
step inside you're in for a ride
and we crush, crush 'em

Don't need reason, don't want names
just a John Doe to put to shame
step aside let me explain
the name of the game is pain

Now we've found you
We're gonna pound you
We're gonna beat you
Gonna defeat you
We're gonna bust you
We're gonna crush you
We're gonna crush 'em

Rules of Raiding: Never Blame the Healer

I figure this was a pretty unspoken rule. At the very least, it's something that I've always lived by, and something that our guild upholds to a fairly high standard. And it makes sense: Piss off the healer, and you might not get heals anymore. Do you have a replacement? Then it's time to put something in that cake hole.

Here's my story: I'm on my little paladin, and get recruited for a 10 man ToC pug. Now, these usually end pretty badly. The tanks aren't usually well-geared enough for the encounter, and the healers usually follow suit. But, this is good practice, I figure, for when my healer has to do the real thing for the guild.

So there's this tank that decides to take over as raid leader. And to his credit, he does a decent job at explaining the boss fight in detail. His problem? Not only is he really undergeared (and inappropriately geared, with a 2.6 speed agility weapon and a lot of block rating and block value), but he absolutely has to tell you how -you- wiped the group and how you just need to fucking do better.

First he was all over the melee for not killing the kobolds. Then the ranged for not avoiding the fires. Wipe #6 comes around and he eats a huge spike of damage while he's got 4 or 5 stacks of the bleed debuff on him and I can't keep him up. Next thing you know, in whisper and over vent, he's letting me know that my healing ratios are off, that he knows healing and that I fail.

Hmm...

Now, I'm not the best healer in the world by my own admission. But if someone wants to tell me how to play my class, they better be playing that class at the very least. This guy could barely play his own class.

It didn't help that he was playing a warrior, a class that I know like the back of my hand.

This comes back to my original thought. Never blame the healer. I don't even care if it's their fault. In a guild setting, you have the opportunity to correct any healer issues through other channels, through suggestions from the main healer and other members of the healing ensemble, or through assigned readings from the wealth of articles online. In a pug? Just replace them if you think they're that bad. But don't fucking waste everyone's time trying to micro manage every aspect of a fight. It makes you look like an asshole. That warrior was an asshole.

Why don't you blame the healer? Because you won't get any more heals, which is what happened to this guy. I just left. And ran it later when my guild leader's 10 man had an open spot. Guess what crappy healer got to clear 10 man ToC for the first time?

I really hate...

Yogg-Saron!

Seriously. I'm not even parsing this crap, since it's the equivalent of handing someone a stack of food, 4 flasks, and 200g to slap me in the virtual (or actual) face for a few hours.

I can only imagine we're after the achievement, because the loot pinata that is ToC has been relatively good to us.

Relatively...

I hate adds. I hate them.

Hate.

Adds.

Back to the fight. >.<

Hmm...

So I've been kinda speechless lately. I've been working (very little) on a guide to raiding, which I'm sure nobody actually needs... but every other thing out of my mouth sounds like "don't be an idiot," or "don't be a douche bag." I've just had nothing to report. Just like those few weeks that we were stuck on Thorim. Nothing new is happening.

In raiding, anyway. I've been playing my paladin a lot lately. I've joined our guild leader's Monday Night 10 man roster, and now have more access to Badges of Triumph and the possibility of loot (you know how me and loot don't get along). When I'm not raiding, I pvp my ass off. My paladin has a full Deadly set (with the exception of gloves), and we're working our way past the 1200 arena barrier in a 3v3 team. Doing the holy pally thing is pretty fun, since we have a lot of tools to get through the high burst that a lot of teams and specs have.

I see a lot of people covering the next "great" update already, and the thing that always sticks out in my mind is... what's the rush? Why is there such a huge urge to move forward the -moment- something has just changed? It's not like the ToC content is old. It just came out! The very day that 3.2.2 dropped they were talking about 3.3. I wonder if it's just a sign of the times; The masses suffer from a form of commercially induced ADD and are unable to sit still for more than 2 seconds.

That's just my thought, anyway.

Post #69: Disappointment with a Side of Fries

2009-09-30: MOAR ToC

I can't seem to catch a break. Y'know there was a death knight on our server that had the Justicebringer on the very first week that the Faction Champions were available? The "prolific" ret paladin from the server's top guild has a heroic version of the reckoning, and I'm still swinging a silly ass Betrayer of Humanity and a 10 man weapon. I have been passing -all- loot in hopes of upgrading the one thing that has been stagnating since Naxx, and quite frankly, I'm getting a little disgusted at being left hanging by the ridiculous RNG.

To be more clear: Since Naxxramas, no strength based two handers have dropped in 25 man content.

Beasts of Northrend - 4883

DPS Tracks 10: 99 Ways To Die

When I was young (read: in high school), I stopped into a used record/cd store and picked up a random album, thinking I needed to branch out my musical tastes. I just happened to pick up an album with some skeleton on the front. Seemed relatively harmless... What I found was a fast-paced metal experience that changed my life.

This particular track was featured on The Beavis and Butthead Experience, and was later available on a sort of greatist hits compilation album.

And yes, I realize that thar be controversial images in this video. Deal or don't press play.



99 Ways To Die
By Megadeth

If I see the morning hours
Ill have one more yesterday
Take life from tomorrow
Cause Ive burned out my today

If I get up to the top I know
Ill just go back downhill
Gotta terminal future
And its time to write my will

Down another glass of courage
And a shot of thorazine

Were not ready to see you yet
99 ways to die
Were not ready to see you yet

Gotta short between the earphones
Wringing my hands in dismay
A more efficient maniac
With two feet in the grave

Aint got no last words to say
Yellow streak right up my spine
The gun in my mouth was real
And the taste blew my mind

In a black tie and straight jacket
Man Im gonna try again

Chorus repeat

Demitasse of arsenic
Try on this tie
Never mind the tree

There is only death and danger
In the sockets of my eyes
A playground of illusion
No one plays they only die

Theres a prison in my mind
And the bars are gonna break
Im as mad as a hatter
And strung out just the same

Taunting rigor mortis
I feel it draw me in

Xi hates Yogg-Saron

I was half asleep last night, so my anger may seem a little... muted...

But would it be bad form if I made the following macro for the pedestrians that wandered into the spawning clouds instead of into traffic?

"Congratulations, you're our 1,000,000th customer!"

Seriously. It's not that fucking hard. And it's the same two or three people -every- time. Sometimes multiple times. Our group, for whatever reason, can barely handle -one- extra spawn, let alone a legion that is spawned when a hunter takes a step forward, into the cloud that is right in fucking front of him to take his shot.

I move around the entire freakin' room if I have to in an attempt to avoid a cloud. There is never an instance where it is okay to move through a cloud to get to where you need to go. The fact that I have to say that is embarrassing, to say the least. We're making it into phase 2 fairly consistently, but without enough people alive to take on the tentacles and that stupid portal room, we're not really making any progress.

I hate Sunday raids.

MOAR DOWNTIME

No, the WoW servers aren't down. I've actually been spending a lot of time playing Champions Online. I've been trying new builds, different character concepts, and checking out the player community.

But I have to say that the player community is probably the worst part. Maybe I'm not used to it because I hardly ever go to the WoW forums. But each and every post I see is negativity about the game's changes since launch. Everyone is either a doomsayer or a troll. They're leaving because the game is doomed, or just bitching because the game is doomed, and regardless of my own opinion, it's hard to even browse through all of that crap.

A lot of these people don't have valid arguments, either. Mini-mines and the ability to hold something with ice by just blocking 100% of the time was just plain cheap, and the -only- reason so many people used it was because word got around, and it was just the easy way to play.

Naturally, when something too powerful gets nerfed, there are people who can't adapt. And then the QQ starts. And my bottle of aspirin gets popped open.

This kind of reminds me of the biggest nerf I ever experienced to a class/AT I actually played. Back in City of Heroes, I played a Fire Tanker, long before the power sets were transferred to scrappers (melee dps). And we had something that seriously destroyed wave after wave of mobs: burn.

Burn was an interesting ability. All it did was drop a patch of fire at your feet. Because you were a tank, you taunted your enemies into melee range, drop the burn patch, and throw one more taunt while the single patch ate away at their health. All of it. Admittedly, it was overpowered, but it was the general assumption that this high AoE dps tool had been given to us because of our rather low survivability (for a tank, that is). And that is not something that even the devs argued with the community: Fire tanks were fundamentally inferior for tanking purposes. I myself found a lot of situations where the objection was to kill the large group that I pulled before the incoming damage took me down.

They kept adjusting it, and the community continued to shrug off the changes. They adjusted it's cooldown, damage, number of ticks, threw a hit roll in, anything they could think of to keep it in line with other AoE powers. And then they broke it. Devs don't break very many things, mind you. In my opinion, the average player will claim a broken mechanic when they don't get their way. This is far from the case. They added a 'fear' component to the burn patch, so that enemies would run away from you when you dropped it, and in some cases, targeted other characters.

There are two problems with this fear component. All enemies have a ranged attack in City of Heroes. So, when you drop a Burn patch, they all get out of the way (which takes them out of range of all the rest of your attacks, which are melee range only), and start firing at range. The goal of a tank in City of Heroes is simple: grab agro of a large group of villains, and hold them together while the group takes care of them. Yes, there's knockback, and there's a target limit on taunt, and all kinds of things to make it interesting. But all of the Fire AT's -big- AoE threat generators are melee range. If you scatter them, it makes it infinitely harder to do your job, especially since villains, once ranged, have a tendency to stay at range.

The second problem is the sometimes wonky threat mechanic. Sometimes, mobs at range will randomly begin attacking non-tank team members. And when it's the squishies, this becomes a dangerous scenario. All because they wandered away from your burn patch.

Here's my problem: Because the ability Burn was too powerful, they changed it into something that a tank would never use. It doesn't fit into the tank mentality. You need to stand there and eat melee damage to the face, and keep your team safe. Using this ability, with no attack power upgrades, will scatter the enemy and turn a controlled situation into chaos. Cryptic Studios very effectively removed the power from the power set entirely, because there was little to no way to make use of it's damage or it's threat implications.

And so I say, they broke a rather important power in the fire tanker set. What's all this mean? I don't know. Maybe I'm trying to say that I know what it's like to see a power or power set broken. And that's not what's happening now, in Champions. People need to chill the hell out. I got on without Burn, and I made something of my Fire Tanker, that wowed every single person I teamed with.

I think the servers are finally up. Time to beat up some bad guys.

Oh, yeah...

So, yeah, in case you've been in a cave for the last five years, this is possibly the most hilarious Onyxia related video ever created. And for those who have seen it... it -never- gets old.

Ony's Back?

2009-09-23: Ony's back?

No, I'm not really surprised she's back. I read the blogs and wowinsider and every insipid website that has to give us "up-to-the-minute' coverage on things going on with the PTR.

And I still suck at starting the freakin' combat log on time. The Beasts parse is, for that reason, a smidge short because the first minute or so was cut off. For that reason, I'm discarding fight entirely. Y'know... for my records anyway.

Anub'arak - 5957

SSDD

2009-09-21: SSDD

Nothing new to report. More wipin' on a boss that doesn't actually drop loot we need. Cool.

Dread and the Last Boss

There aren't very many bosses that scare me. I've been taunting them since Vancleef. But there are two bosses that stick out in my mind as bosses I -never- want to run into again.

One was Archimonde...

The next will be Yogg-Saron, of this I have no doubt. Our guild has never been that great at the seriously complicated encounters. I thought Mimiron was going to smear us against the wall, but we took him down with surprising ease. What's really got me scared here is everyone and there mother has run into a freakin' cloud. That's right. We can't get past phase 1.

Even I hit a cloud. And our main tank hit a cloud. And everybody we thought would be too skilled/coordinated/attentive to run into a cloud did. And that's seriously got me worried. That's why this scares me, and reminds me of Archimonde. It's the same "one mistake costs the raid" mechanic that made me hate that stupid, red skinned douche bag.

I'll still raid, and throw myself at him until they call it a night. But I'm just saying... if there were ever a time that I thought about not showing up... tonight would be it.

More Like Snog-Your-Mom

2009-09-17: Anub-Yogg

Yeah, I don't know what I was going for there. First 25 man attempt at Yogg EVER. And I think I might hate him nearly as much as my ex. Maybe... depends on whether or not he likes dog...

Anub'arak - 5488

DPS Tracks 9: Get Inside

Corey Taylor's other band. Yes, you can laugh at that.

I personally enjoy the sound of Slipknot much more than the traditional five-man setup that Stone Sour uses. But they still crank out a few hits. Here's one of my favorites.

Stone Sour - Get Inside
by Duketrasher

Seed, gotta let it grow, why ya gotta watch when I let it feed?
Better look into the mirror for the face you hide away, everyday
But I don't give a fuck; I let it roll - I smoke the old
Gotta run, gotta rend, gotta maim, gotta make it through another maze
STAY AWAY!
Please: wring the blood from my hands
Don't pretend that you understand me
I don't even want you looking at me
Motherfucker, GET INSIDE!

Get inside, get inside (motherfucker) x4

Christ, have you seen this guy? Make ya sick, gonna peel away all the impurities
Cuz all you wanna do is keep curin' me, but I don't give a fuck I kill everyone
You'll be mopping up blood and guts and all the shit when I'm done
Isn't this fun? Gimme a gun and I'll tell you all the secrets I hide
BEFORE I RUN!

Please: wring the blood from my hands
Don't pretend that you understand me
I don't even want you looking at me
Motherfucker, GET INSIDE!

Get inside, get inside (motherfucker) x4

[Solo: Josh]

Maybe if you look away, I can slip away, gotta get away (RUN, MOTHERFUCKER)
Right now I stare at shit, I'm a heretic, but I'll never give you none of it
Tied up in the back of the lab, laid on the slab, got the gift of gab, what'choo want from me?
I don't even know I got a damn disease, but I KNOW YOU WANNA KILL ME!

Please: wring the blood from my hands
Don't pretend that you understand me
I don't even want you looking at me
Motherfucker, GET INSIDE!

Get inside, get inside (motherfucker) x4

Another Tuesday: No New Weapon

2009-09-16: 2-handers are a lie

I got nothing. Exhausted and dog sitting a stray. Posting the milestones and gonna find some grub.

Beasts of Northrend - 4226
Lord Jaraxxus - 6636
Faction Champions - 4256
Twin Val'kyr - 7271

Weird: Guild first Mimiron + Vezax

2009-09-14: Mimiron + Vezax

It's funny how it takes us longer to clear Ulduar than it has taken us to clear normal ToC. We haven't attempted the hard modes in the Trial yet (the beasts look lovely), but Anub Arak was cake. I guess we're working on Yogg next week. Oh, it sounds like great great fun.

Least I got to dps Thorim for once:

Thorim - 4634
Mimiron - 3964
General Vezax - 4980

Hot Dog Buns

MOTHER FUCKING BULLSHIT!!!

Warning: The following is a rant. Run for your lives.

How hard is it to make a mother fucking hot dog bun without it falling apart as I pull it out of the package!?!?

I mean, I don't know jack about making bread. But how hard can it fucking be. I get ridiculously cheap hot dogs from places like wienerschnizel (yum) and corner stands all the time and their buns are fucking perfect. But I buy some from the store, and the package of 'fresh' hot dog buns can't stand to even be pulled out of the package, let alone hold a frank.

Learn to make hot dog buns, bread vendors! Learn or I will find you and make you suffer!!!

Can I Have Your Stuff?

I'm sure you've all seen them. Posts on the forums about how so-and-so is "fed up" of "this stupid game" and how "they're quitting because can't get it right." This type of stuff is seemingly prerequisite in the endless QQ that is the MMO forum community.

Every once in a very great while, I'll find someone who posts in a very refined manner, with intelligent points of view on different mechanics or circumstances in-game that they weren't pleased with which ultimately led to their departure.

Even these are responded with: "Can I Have Your Stuff?"

And then the "power" gamer chimes in: "I'm just fine, l2play."

And then the troll comes by with some remark that is completely unrelated.

And by page two, you can't even remember what the thread was about.

I don't have a problem with people quitting a game. I encourage it, actually. It is the -only- way to let the guys upstairs know that you're truly discontent. Online games are a democracy where votes are cast with your game time cards. And while I personally like reading through the more intelligible "Here's why I'm leaving, I hope this is helpful" posts, I kind of feel that they are out of place outside of a direct line of communication with the game's development.

The reason for this is the trolls. Everybody and their mother has been infected with this disease that started over at 4-chan. All of a sudden, griefing/trolling/being a douche bag is popular. So they think they're actually being cool when they come by and completely derail any conversation that could've blossomed into something good.

I think I"m rambling... I'll get to it... maybe...

Basically, I read a post about a lifetime subscriber who canceled (!) his subscription to Champions Online due to several gameplay bugs as well as the drastic change that occurred on launch day. And while the post left me feeling all right, the following horde of zombie-trolls pissed me right off.

So trolls: Go home. Oh, wait, you -are- home. You probably never left home. Because no one out here loves you. Try as hard as you like to get the attention you crave, but you will -never- find true happiness.

Suffer!

Guild First: 25-man Faction Champions and Twin Valkyrs

Yay. A bunch of carebears from a roleplaying server beat down a pseudo-pvp encounter. After trying for a looooooooong time.

Heads against a brick while for like... 20 wipes only killing one person. Until we got our cc coordinated and pushed past the first 3, after that it was cake.

And the Twin Valkyrs were a little disappointing in comparison. Seriously, after being stunted on the champions for 4 nights, you would think the Valkyrs would pose some sort of challenge. Not really. We wiped twice learning the fight. 3rd time was easy mode.

I dunno if this is what Blizzard had in mind. But I'm not complaining. Actually... I think I will until they drop a goddamn 2 handed weapon.

In other news, Champions Online is totally borked. WTB working servers. Yay.

Daily Maintenance -_-

Yay, extended extended maintenance!

Seriously, I wouldn't have such a problem with this if they actually fixed something. Which, it is important to note, they didn't last week.

This isn't hard, guys. You take the systems down. You do what you gotta do. And then you bring them back up. Didn't start that 4 hour procedure till 5 minutes till deadline? Do it next week.

I swear that if I get another "Additional instances cannot be launched" message, I'm gonna go postal on some Blizzard employees.

I don't know if I have anything witty to say... I'm just bored.

I pre-ordered Champions Online, which is supposed to release today. In fact, I think that if I had taken my lazy ass to the store and purchased a physical copy, I would already be in game. But, because I used some company's digital download service to pre-order, the whole thing is screwed up. Apparently, my order is still pending.

Well, I'm pissed off. Maintenance isn't over for another three hours, and I'm stuck with my thumb up my ass.

Oh, and Dayn's still MIA. Someone remind me to hurt him when I see him...

DPS Tracks 8: Only for the Night

I know it seems like only yesterday that I was ranting and raving about these guys. I can't help it, I think they're so freakin' awesome, I might just commit violent acts if they requested it.

Just kidding. Don't call the freakin' police.

I remember debating on whether or not to use this on my playlist, because it's subject matter is a little less than... up to my usual angry, violent standards. But the song is just so intense, that I can't help but look -forward- to listening to it. Decide for yourself.

Edit: God fucking damn it. I got psyched about embedding a youtube video that -didn't- look like it was made by a retard. And guess what. It fucking was. Apparently, some people think it's cool to only have a primarily audio listing available in WIDESCREEN. A track from an album... with only the album cover for video.. as widescreen. Needless to say, the widescreen vids take up my whole effin' blog, including the side bar. Makes the kid below seem like a genius.



Dream Evil
Only For The Night

How I hate to see you leave tomorrow
Leave behind a man in pain and sorrow
Silly me, who thought we'd be together
But tonight we'll say goodbye forever

Only for the night
Take me to the moonlit sky
Only for the night.

Even though I do respect your wishes
All we had in a whiff has turned to ashes
You and I were perfect for each other
Can't you see, you and I must be together.. but!

Only for the night
Take me to the moonlit sky
Only for the night.

This is wrong - Don't you see
We belong - you and me
How I wish that you could change your mind

Only for the night
Take me to the moonlit sky
Only for the night.

This is wrong - can't you see
We belong - you and me
How I wish that you could change your mind
Only for the night

Improving DPS

Okay, let's get the silly, preface crap out of the way. World of Warcraft is just a game.

Wow, I said it. It's pretty true, too. It runs on your computer and everything.

But before you start quoting those words on your license to be retarded, there is something else to consider. World of Warcraft is also both a social medium and a group activity. Well, raiding is a group activity. As with any other group activity (sports, D&D sessions, etc.) a certain level of maturity must be brought to the table to ensure that you don't let your team mates down.

With this in mind, I bring you the DPS = Sacrifice way to improve your dps performance. Because "it's just a game" doesn't give you an excuse to suck.

Improve Framerate:

I don't see this one mentioned very often, but there are times when I have personally felt that a slow system/game client can limit a person's DPS ceiling. Think about it. Every time the game stutters, you lose a few seconds where you could (and really should) be doing something.

Unfortunately, due the vast amount of computer configurations, I wouldn't really be able to list any specifics on improving your framerate. This type of improvement would take a bit of research on your part. Don't have the time? Make the time. DPS = Sacrifice.

I can provide you with a few of the following places to start:

-Disable unncessary Windows Services
-Update your hardware drivers to their latest versions
-Update Windows appropriately
-Turn off all unnecessary programs in the background (ICQ, MSN, browsers)
-Browse the tech support forums for system and game-related advice (Here and here are good places to start)
-Lower your video settings for raiding

Spec for Success:

I know I've said this before: If you want to be successful, do what successful people do. I suppose that doesn't mean that you have to get the 'most awesome cookie-cutter build EVAR,' but you should probably find a build that suits you that is pretty darn close. Alterations to your build should be adequately researched to determine if they suit your role and playstyle.

I'm always lounging around in my tank getup, so for those who need easy access, my build is here. For more in-depth discussions on your spec and class, I would recommend heading over to Elitist Jerks. Yeah, those guys are awesome.

Rotation:

This. Read it. 3.2 didn't change anything.

Gearing up:

There are several ways to make a "gear progression list." I personally prefer to use the spreadsheets instead of word-of-mouth advice or the infamous 'eyeballing' method our resident retnoob employs. I used to swear by maxdps.com, but in the update-deprived weeks that followed 3.2, I found a tool I like more. The spreadsheet I use was here, but there were some... uh... issues, and the thread was locked. Hopefully, our buddy Landsoul will get things straightened out and that link will actually be useful in the near future.

Analyzing Your DPS:

Of course, all the gear lists in the world won't help you if you're not actually improving dps. Either use your combat log or recount to analyze your dps. This is the only way to ensure that what you are doing is correct, and that you are improving as a player.

I prefer to turn on combat logging and then use the WoW Meter Online client to upload my parse at the end of the night. I do this for two reasons:

1) It lets me record it for posterity, and allows me analyze my progress from week to week.
2) I'm not tempted to look at my dps during combat

The last one should find a way into your brain. I'd recommend a silver hammer, if necessary. DO. NOT. LOOK. AT. YOUR. DPS. DURING. A. FIGHT!

The reason for this is pretty simple. Unless you're a super genius (Chances are, you're not), staring at a flashy number is going to distract you from the task at hand. More importantly, if you're doing well, it could cause you to do something stupid. And for the uninitiated, when DPS does something stupid, they die. Tell me, class, how much dps does a dead person do?

Don't do it. It's bad DPS.

And there you have it. The unofficial compendium of ways to make you DPS just a little harder. Now press the buttons faster, I'm gonna make me a sammich.

Tuesday Night: Back to Work!

2009-08-26: Back to Work!

I'm lazy. Milestones are down there. I'll have something witty to say tomorrow. I need to find food.

Kologarn - 7494
Auriaya - 6414
Hodir - 8663

Heroic Daily: The Oculus

So let's get it out of the way. I -hate- Oculus. I'm talking about hate. The kind of hate that most people reserve for their former employers (Fuck you, Steve), their exes, or that guy you caught masturbating in your closet.

...you know who you are.

What I hate about Oculus is that the entire dungeon makes you use a stupid game mechanic that completely trivializes your gear and experience up to that point. If you will...

Development meeting #152
(...2 minutes before lunch)
Ron: We need to do something special for Oculus.
Alan: How about a boss with adds?
Tim: You're an asshole, Alan. How about...
Ron: I know!
Tim: I was talking...
Ron: How about we put these annoying dragons that you have to fly around and clear trash with! We'll even make you fight the boss in them, and their abilities will be full of suck and fail!
Tim: ...that's a terrible idea.
Boss: I like it. Let's do that. Off to lunch!
Tim: ...you guys are assholes.

Yes, I know that they made the drake's hp scale with gear. But I didn't notice it. The entire ordeal was just as frustrating as the last three times I did it. Which also happen to be... the only times I did it.

Pushing my obvious hate for the instance aside, I went back because, thanks to my guild's week long break from raiding, emblems of Triumph haven't exactly been falling from the fucking sky. So I go back, find a healer (pulling teeth), find a tank (God hates me), and two other slobs to drudge our way through another fun afternoon in my least favorite place.

Let's skip to the end. Because while there was a wipe on the 3rd boss (healer went one way, tank went the other -_-;), up until then I wasn't going to say -anything- about today's daily. Nothing at all. And then we wiped twice on Eregos. And that, apparently, is a deadly sin. Because our third dps decided that he didn't want to pay a large repair bill for two silly emblems.



Now, I'm not going to get up on a high horse. There have been circumstances where I have left a group hanging in an instance. Wipe 10 times on the first boss? Yeah, I'm thinking this isn't going to happen. Priest thinks they can heal in shadow form? Better start heading for the door. And then there was that one time where my brother's car broke down...

My point is this. This is Oculus. Not only do most people consider this to be the hardest of the Lich King heroics, but no one that I've talked to has even done it in the last 5 months. Expecting perfection from people you -just- met just makes you an asshole.

If you're just another dps in ToC gear, don't cry to me about wiping on heroic content. If you don't have the cash to cough up a 2 wipe repair bill, then frankly, you don't belong in heroics. That's what normal mode is for, you big pussy.

Ranting aside, it took five minutes to summon my guildie Volsh to man a green drake and kill him with no problems. Guess that says something about the type of person who can't finish a dungeon run.

DPS Tracks 7: The Devil's Own

Still raiding. Still being a little badass. I've just been distracted. Blizzcon and the new expansion, along with a week off raiding has left me forgetting about the blog. Sue me. Here's my new favorite song. :P



The Devil's Own
Why!?

[Chorus:]
Where did I go wrong? Who was I supposed to be?
No matter what I've done, you've always criticized me
Where did I go wrong? Who was I supposed to be?
When it's said and done, will you remember...

[V1:]
Slap on the wrist, smack in the face
The family tree, gave me a name and nothing more
Neglected seed, why!?

[Pre-chorus:]
It's because of you I'm broken
It's because of you I'm dead inside
I never asked to be here
It's because of you I'm godforsaken
I never wanted this
It's because of you I'm dead inside

[Chorus:]
Where did I go wrong? Who was I supposed to be?
No matter what I've done, you've always criticized me
Where did I go wrong? Who was I supposed to be?
When it's said and done, will you remember me?

[V2:]
A happy home, a fairy tale, a broken dream
Gave me a life, then turned away
Killed everything, why!?

[Pre-chorus:]
It's because of you I'm broken
It's because of you I'm dead inside
I never asked to be here
It's because of you I'm godforsaken
I never wanted this
It's because of you I'm dead inside

Fuck!
Father, bastard, I'm the Devil's very own
Mother, know not, just who I've become
Father, hate me, for being all your not
Mother's baby, I hate what I've become
I hate what I've become
I hate what I've become

[Pre-chorus:]
It's because of you I'm broken
It's because of you I'm dead inside

[Chorus:]
Where did I go wrong? Who was I supposed to be?
No matter what I've done, you've always criticized me
Where did I go wrong? Who was I supposed to be?
When it's said and done, will you remember me?

Anyway, user uploaded live footage sucks. The stuff is usually filmed from someone's iphone and sounds like someone farted into a blender set to the highest setting, with a hole in the bottom to get the sound to an industrial fan via a leaky pipe.

So instead, I just found the live recording which is on the actual album. Professional sound guys FTW.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Getting Old

I rant and rave in guild chat and then remember I have a blog.

You know what pisses me off? Waiting for a heroic. No, not sitting in LFG. I don't sit in LFG. People randomly whisper me to tank/heal in heroics. I'm that fucking good. No, I don't have to wait for groups...

I have to wait to actually go -inside- an instance. Like a 5-day waiting period. And I'm seriously fucking tired of it.

What -really- pisses me off about the whole situation is that this problem existed quite a few months ago, and has been increasing gradually up until this last Tuesday when Blizzard provided individuals with actual incentive to run heroics. And what happened? They fucking did.

Or at least they're fucking trying. So here we are, with at least 15 other people, sitting to get into Heroic: Culling of Stratholme. And all I can think of is... why the fuck aren't I still farming saronite?

Guild First: Northrend Beasts!

Or something.

I'd say something about this boss -not- having any adds... but it's 4 mobs for one "boss," so you do the math.

After a frustrating Tuesday (A seriously bugged XT and Coliseum attempts where we didn't know what the -fuck- we were doing), we came back with a little research and kicked the beasts' asses on 25 man normal. I even managed to snag a trophy of the crusade (might as well, a two handed weapon won't drop until I lost my sk roll).

And now I'm awake bright and early and can't play because of maintenance.

...on a Thursday.

I don't really think I ask for much. Two handed weapons. Performance-based loot system. Guildies that know the difference between damage-per-second and "double penetration." Don't google that. Anyway, I don't think it's too much to ask for our servers to be up and running, y'know, outside of the weekly maintenance window.

Yes, it's a new patch and there were a few kinks. That just means it should've been tested longer. A lot longer. Do I expect perfection? Hardly.

I -don't- expect to die in every Trial of the Champion (even on regular) because the damn thing bugs out. I don't expect to lose my ass to XT when we've had his ass on farm since the 3rd week of Ulduar. And I don't expect to be sitting on my ass on a -Thursday- with nothing to do but load up a free-to-play mmo to keep me from chewing my hand off.

Something else that bugs me: Full instances. Really, Blizzard? I thought that was part of the whole "20-hour maintenance" thing. I'm logging in Tuesday to make sure my meta gem works in the few minutes before raid time, scrambling really, and I -still- can't do a heroic when I damn well please.

Ugh. People piss me off sometimes. On that note, anybody know how to dps a ret pally after the changes? Cuz I sure don't...

Too soon, Blizzard, too soon...

Okay, quick thoughts on 3.2.

A deadline is a deadline. 3PM PDT does not mean you can bring up the server 2 or 3 hours later. Seriously.

Second, way to test Ulduar and the other content you freakin' broke. *cough* XT *cough*

Lastly, the new instance kicked our asses. I'm out.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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

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

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. >.<

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.

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

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

Reasons Not to Screw with Xi

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

Buahahahahahahahaha! /doom

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^$#AZ$"

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 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.

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

DPS Tracks 3: The Way of the Fist

Took me a week to get over my depression. Just didn't feel like posting, really. There's a parse from Wednesday, and I figure I'll get around to dealing with it sooner or later. Some Death Knoob beat me on Hodir (same douche bag that took my Rune Edge), and everyone shit the bed about it.

So, being the vindictive student I am, I scrutinized the parse. Apparently, if you only break out one, maybe two flash freezes tops, you can squeeze out extra dps.

...by blowing your assignment.

He blew his assignment, and everyone sang his praises.

So yeah, gonna call him out on his lack of performance on other bosses, tonight. I don't give a damn who thinks I don't have the right.

That bitch is going down.

Edit: I used MusicJesus.com because all of the youtube videos, while uploaded by the license owners, had their embed functions turned off. This doesn't make MusicJesus a good choice. On the contrary, the embedded music vid is kinda retarded, because it starts when the page loads. I can only imagine how annoying that can be. I guess I'll reduce it to a link or find some stupid Bleach music video to post in it's stead.

Edit edit: I found a vid with some weird tearing at the edges of the screen. But it does it's job. After the advertisements, and the silly-ass auto-play, I've decided that I shouldn't use MusicJesus.com anymore. Ever.

Tuesday Night Raids

2009-06-24: Lazy Raid Night

The night wasn't lazy. Except for some of our dps skipping out to see Transformers 2. Tools. I was just lazy because I didn't feel like putting it up last night. I get tired sometimes, apparently. I think I'm coming down with something...

A Day in the Life...

...of Kirin Tor.

I changed my mind. There is something I've got on my mind. My server's most unsavory guild leader has returned, and with his public sex fiascoes also comes something I despise even more.

Yes, I know what you're thinking. How can anything be more offensive than public rape? It's an RP server. You learn to deal.

No, this fiend brings with him the reintroduction of roll dueling. Not role-dueling, implying that it is related to roleplaying and not inherently retarded. Rolls. Like dice.

They pay 15 dollars a month to play World of Warcraft. So they can roleplay. And duel with dice.

...what the fuck?

The essence of this system is that two characters, no matter what level, can fight (to the death, if pertinent) with text and /roll to determine the success of their "attacks."

I cry foul. There's already an entire combat system right in front of you. If you're too lazy to actually leave Goldshire and level, that's your business. If you step up to a warrior or paladin that's been to Ulduar, and you're just some peasant that gets laid in the Goldshire public toilet stall nightly, then you are going to get your ass handed to you.

I've heard all the arguments too. Disagree with them, and they'll insult your intelligence. They will allege that you lack the mental capacity to think out your attacks before hand.

Well, fuck them in their stupid, gaping, man-plundered assholes.

World of Warcraft is a game where fast reaction time meets planning. And by planning, I mean the time it takes to gear. You don't have any of those, then you suck at the game. Don't pretend to be a winner when you're not.

Comment if you have skills to pay the bills. XD

Lazy Post

2009-06-18: Freya-Hodir

Read the title. I'm too lazy to post anything even remotely interesting. I just forgot to put up the last parse. Sue me.

And leveling a mage is balls.

Tuesday Night Raid: Failtron 5000

Razorscale-Auriaya

I'm getting sick of this guild. It seems as though it's members (and the universe) is punishing me for doing good deeds. Which is bullshit, imo.

Long story short, a guild member above me in the SKG list claimed that they would pass the next Rune Edge to me. And he didn't. Even though he owed me. Douche bag.

My entire experience with this guild has been this way, too. I hear one thing, and get another. And I have absolutely no say in the matter because, despite my qualifications and experience, I haven't even been considered for an officer position.

I've come to the point where I can't think of a reason to show up for Wednesday night wipe night. Or whatever they call it.

Auriaya - 5725

DPS Tracks 2: Step Up

As I prepare for the new week, I glance over my playlist, and I think, "I need something fresh." A lot of this stuff I've been listening to for years, when I need to get psyched for something. Things have been rotated in, and some out, but I've never really listened to it at such a frequency before. It's only about 2 hours long, so raiding only 12 hours a week sort of puts a lifetime stamp on it.

I need to listen to more Pandora.

I keep hoping that things will get better in our raid group. We've been stalling lately, with all the personnel issues (I sound like a broken record). It just really irritates me that we're actually regressing, struggling on bosses like Auriaya when we were halfway through the keepers.

I think a new sword would chill me out... but I'm not holding my breath.

10-Man Mimiron: Guild First!

No, it's not a video of our kill. Although, I could probably get one from my brother... I think he fraps -everything-. Nothing really cool dropped (besides healing crap). Gotta go throw ourselves at Vezax. Fight gripes later.



So yeah. I thought it'd be a good idea to post up a youtube video of the track that was playing during a guild first boss defeat. I figure that, between that and weekly dps tracks, I can give people my entire play list. At least, I know one fury warrior who likes the stuff (IRON FIRE RULEZ).

So yeah, Mimiron took a few attempts to sort it out, but we made it through it after not trying for almost three weeks. I will say one thing about that fight that I can do without:

THE FUCKING CEILING.

I pull my camera out and up to see the mines during the first phase, to plot my egress route during the big "GTFOorDIE!" AoE attack. But while doing this on the 4th and most hectic phase, swiveling my camera around at that precise angle puts it -behind- the part of the ceiling that rose up from the ground in phase 2. Who the fuck thought that was a good idea?

So yeah, Vezax was neat. I honestly didn't mind the encounter that much, although it is a little annoying to throw money at the boss while the healers learn the encounter. Meh. Call CNN, that's a fucking news bulletin.

Naxxramas: Revisited

Due to personnel issues, our Friday Night extended (6-hour) progression raids have been turned into "Casual" clears of the last tier of content. Basically, we alternate between Naxx25 and OS/Malygos.

Our Naxxramas runs are a bit... lackluster. They started allowing individuals to bring their undergeared alts, in addition to the undergeared b-listers that usually run with the small handful of mains that attend Friday Nights (read: my stupid ass).

With our extremely diluted talent pool, we made three quarters in four hours, and had to call due to time constraints. That pisses me off.

This is extremely reminiscent of our forays into Gruul's lair, back when our progression nights were full of wiping on Leotheras. We took a large assortment of b-listers (read: people who weren't on the progression team) and alts, with only a scarce number of geared mains who were dedicated enough to show up. It's amazing how many people are interested in the ideals of the "team" when no loot is involved. /sarcasm

We'd try Maulgar almost all freakin' night. All freakin' night. Sometimes we'd call it early, because it just didn't happen. Others we'd manage to squeak out a victory, but only after losing my daily's earnings in repair bills and consumables. A tier 5 raiding guild wiping on tier 4 content... That's exactly what we're doing now. Tier 8 guild, working on the keepers, is wiping on Thaddius, because a few dozen people can't tell their right from their left.

And what pisses me off the most about the whole ordeal is that nothing noteworthy dropped for our new death knight tank, who the officers have expressed needs the gear. She's tanking every pull in Naxx to gear up for Ulduar, and when a morsel of tank gear does drop, she's gotta roll on it with every Tom, Dick and Scrub in the guild.

Add to that the fact that Wowmetersonline has been retarded lately, and I'm not a happy camper.

Oh, yeah, and Fuck Razuvious! >_<

Wrath of the Plate Wannabes

The lead-in to Wrath of the Lich King has lead to a very disappointing state of class balance in Azeroth. When I say class balance, I don't mean "QQ, I'm not OP." I mean, the balance of classes/roles across any given server. The introduction of Titan's Grip, the reinvention of the retribution paladin, and the introduction of death knights has lead to a plate dps spree.

And it...

Pisses.

Me.

Off.

Seriously, I've been doing this for a long time. I was rocking Aran when you were sucking on your hunter/mage/whatever-class-you-never-learned-to-play. So if you're a ret paladin who thinks they're awesome because they have an arena weapon, or those death knights that just won't go away, or those fucking arms warriors who switched when TG got nerfed...

Get off my fucking server.

I was putting up your numbers in heroics. BC heroics. A year ago.

...

Fuck-sticks.

Wednesday Night Blues

Kologarn-Auriaya

So I forgot to log the Iron Council fight. All you need to know about it is that we wiped a lot of times, and my dps was low because I was second on threat. When the tank dies, and you're the first person on the boss's shit list, that tends to happen...

Happened on the successful Auriaya fight, too. We need to find a way to keep the tank alive throughout the -entire- encounter. But I'm guessing that's not my particular duty, unless I reroll a paladin and try to heal.

>.<

Kologarn - 6679

DPS Tracks: Week 1

Call me geeky, but I have a special playlist I play during raids. It helps me focus, as well as keeps me going when I start getting tired at the end of a long wipefest.

So, somewhere in my twisted mind, I thought it'd be a good idea to share the joys of power metal, as I make things bleed for the 15 billionth time.

And don't call me geeky, I bite.

Calling It Early

Early Out

Sometimes, things happen during a raid that make the night unsalvagable. Permanent disconnects from tanks and healers can do the trick. But tonight we had to call it after XT because of a 30 minute phone call from our druid healer. And when we all left, he got back. >.<

So the log is small, and is full of Ignis wipes because someone couldn't pull their head out of their asses. But I don't know who.

I honestly don't know why I blog this crap. >.<

Ignis - 5094
XT-002 Deconstructor - 6629

Hodir and I HATE FREYA!

Hodir Attempts

This whole "Learning to fight Hodir" thing is really starting to piss me off.

I hate that the stars have to be in alignment to down a freakin' boss. And it's not Blizzard's fault. It's our raiding roster. And if I had the power, I'd slap them upside the head.

So I made a new dps "benchmark," although it's abysmal compared to what people have done on this encounter. And I suspect it has something to do with BITCHES RUNNING IN WIDE CIRCLES AROUND THE BOSS WHEN THEY HAVE THE FUCKING CLOUD!

...

Hodir - 5593

3.1.3: Night One

Deconstructor-Kologarn, Hold the Ignis

Overall, I think I'm pleased with the way they have changed warrior dps. The Bloodthirst rage reduction has helped cure some of the rage starvation issues I've been having since TG Nerf/Expertise Theft combo deal of 3.1, and that alone has allowed me to post numbers that I haven't posted since I was under 1% of reaching my crit cap.

Because I was an idiot, I forgot to start my combat log before Razorscale, so we're a boss short of what we actually did. Big deal, I hate that fight. (Read: Add phases suck)

Before I post my new dps milestones, big props to Lexi/Harleen, who successfully made the transition from raid healer to full-time Death Knight Sherman Tank.

XT-002 Deconstructor - 6054
Kologarn - 6204
Auriaya - 5209

P.S. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. After the 3 Betrayers of Humanity and 4 Rune Edges that have been scooped up by hunters since Lich King, I finally got a measure of revenge. The second Giant's Bane dropped, and I was at the top of the skg list. And I took it. And it was delicious.

Long have hunters been hording melee weapons as stat sticks, so if you think that I can't have a gun because a hunter would benefit from it more, than I've got two words for you:



Edit: Youtube may be retarded.

Rolling Restarts >.<

...in the middle of a raid.

Getting our raid through the entire Flame Leviathan trash + encounter in under 15 minutes? Cake.

Getting loot distributed in under 4 minutes? >.<

Not so much.