Raid Tanking the Abyss: All dressed Up...

So I'm just hanging out during Blizzard's maintenance (which may or may not go on for the rest of the day) and pondering my new role in Kirin Tor's premier raiding guild. Now, I don't have any complaints about my crew. They're freaking awesome, even by elitist standards. They're just kinda... small.

My old Alliance guild started raiding 25 mans last week, and we're stuck in the limbo that is guild recruitment. We've received exactly -one- application since we switched to horde side. A month ago. 30 DAYS! ONE APP!

It's a little frustrating, to say the least. Our days are spent chattering on vent, working on archaeology or alts (Go pally power!), or just staring at each other. Raids will come, I know, because there is always the option to pug a few people. Until then, I have to find ways to keep myself and my crew motivated while we warm the bench.

Heroic Deadmines! (Or: Ripsnarl's Revenge)

Trying to keep my sanity together long enough to get through a few heroic dungeons. Unlike their normal counterparts, heroics seem to require one to pack a lunch. Even when a group is mostly guildies (not my guildies, mind you), it seems to take forever to organize pulls and talk over boss strategy. Of course, this might be the way that blizzard intended it to be, but it makes it difficult to farm your gear in a timely fashion.

Complaints aside, I actually enjoyed the dungeon and the boss mechanics we faced. For posterity, I want to talk about those boss mechanics, so that my guild and I can reference them at a later date.

Haughty Victory Pose!

I'm back, bitches!

Note the usage of a comma.

That's right. After a long hiatus, I'm back in-game and making people suffer. I know it's a little late for it, but I got my Kingslayer title last night, right before the Cataclysm launch. Obviously not a world first, but not bad for someone who got back into the game like... a month ago.

While pugging for said achievement, I met an awesome guild who invited me to tank for them horde side. So guess what I've been doing?

PVP BITCHES!

Keep an eye out for me, former alliance! If you get between me and my former guildies, then you'll be considered an appetizer.

WTF!?!?

Okay, so I was looking for a crappy video of a kid singing for my mom, when I came across the most fucked up thing I've seen in a long time. I usually don't post this kind of thing because there's a freakin' website dedicated to it, but seriously.... what the fuck?!?

I'm Seeing a Theme Here...

So... I quit my own supergroup. I'm feeling pretty lame right now, but christ I can't keep dragging the ball anymore. Dayn was supposed to help me... hell, it's his supergroup, originally. I just don't have the connections or enthusiasm to make the Peacekeeper Initiative anything more than a group of alts.

So I just gave it up. Booted everyone out and left them a nice letter telling them the PKI was done, and put in an application at a currently active supergroup. Why? Because I've spent too much time freakin' recruiting and tampering with that silly effin' base to actually enjoy myself. And I miss being a part of a super team. I haven't done that since my first few days on Virtue. The rest has been working on this stinkin' group.

So yeah... I quit a lot of things... Probably should learn to stick it out... but whatever. It's a video game, and if you're not having fun in a fucking video game, it's time to bail.

DPS Tracks 28: Cover week!!! part 5

The Supergroup leader scene in City of Heroes sucks ass. Imagine that... you know what, nevermind. There is no WoW analogy. Basically, because the majority of the content is before max level and they give you 12 character slots, people in CoH make a -lot- of alts. This makes it very difficult to keep your members active since, once joining, there is a good chance that they'll just not log into that character ever again. Kinda silly, isn't it?

...I need to clean up my roster...

Anyway, Friday wraps up with another Dragonland cover. Don't know why I couldn't bother to find another band... but whatever. The heat does funny things to my brain.

DPS Tracks 27: Cover week!!! part 4

It's entirely possible that I'm running out of covers... well, not really.. Sonata Arctica and Dragonland seriously have one or two cover songs on each special edition album, but it would be way too easy to whore those guys out. So instead, as is the case at least once in every party ever thrown, it's time to bring out the fucking Bon Jovi.

And yes, that's how -everybody- dressed in the 80s. EVERYBODY.

DPS Tracks 26: Cover week!!! part 3

*Yawn* I've been sleeping all day and I just can't think of much to say. Don't you hate when your dog (you might not own a dog) hogs the blankets and you're just laying down from 4am-8am out of habit and not actually sleeping?

Yeah... I need to have a talk with that dog...

Coming up is a Sonata Arctica cover of the Scorpions classic "Still Loving You."

DPS Tracks 25: Cover week!!! part 2

My brother's going back to World of Warcraft. Who saw that coming? To put it in perspective, he has asked me on more than one occasion when I'm going to stop playing those "stupid MMOs."

w/e

Next up, it's time for a cover by the champs of American mainstream metal. Five Finger Death Punch (affectionately known as FFDP) has enjoyed quite a bit of success if radio is any indication, and released their second album late last year.

On that album was a cover track originally written and performed by English superband Bad Company. Of course, Lexi and a few others enjoy the original version more than the covers... but at this point, I'm just amazed that Lexi knows who the band is. Gotta take your victories where you can get them.

DPS Tracks 24: Cover week!!!

I don't know if anybody remembers that far back, but the first DPS Tracks entry at WWOD was an awesome cover. Since then, I've run into more than my fair share of bands eager to pay homage to the greats that came before them in the form of B-sides and bonus tracks. So, I thought it'd be appropriate if I shared.

And y'know.. it gives me an excuse to actively post... for at least a week... (shut up)

First up is a Dragonland cover of the Helloween (Japanese-released) single Sole Survivor.

Lyrics have been omitted for space and sanity, since some artists like to ad lib for their covers. (Editor's note: Blogger can eat me).

DPS meters... the good and the bad.

Holy Fucking Dog Shit Batman! Yes, dear readers you're eyes aren't deceiving you. I, Gincan, am actually writing something after seven months of silence. I've decided it's time for me to finally stop being so fucking lazy and actually post something that I've been meaning to post for quite some time. Today's topic is the ever controversial DPS meter, but I'm sure you already figured that out.


So there is this add-on that many people know and love called recount. It will tell you and your parties personal performance in simple and easy to read format. Sounds great right? The simple answer is, it can be. However, this seemingly harmless add-on can cause a veritable shit storm if it is abused.

So here's the good side of damage meters. You can use them to track your own personal performance. It's a great tool to use when trying to perfect your rotation while swinging away at a training dummy. I've personally tested many different strategies of a Fury Warrior rotation and seeing what worked the best. This is in my opinion the best use of a meter.

The bad side of a damage meter is why I believe Blizzard has never taken the time to add in this feature to the default UI. The majority of the people abuse the fuck out of recount. You'll see it everywhere. Ass clowns posting the damage after every pull in a random dungeon. Dumb shits getting so obsessed with the number they actually believe the higher the number the better the player, hell I've even believed this one for a while. Unless you're an officer in a guild with the responsibility of making sure everyone is doing an appropriate level of DPS you should just turn recount off during a raid. It really doesn't fucking matter as long as your team can kill the boss.

Now I brought up the guild officer position about making sure players are contributing their fair share of the damage. This is a vital role that every guild should have, but this isn't supposed to be make fun of the guy in last place. His job is to simply look at the damage meters and make sure that people are meeting the requirements for the fight. If they are consistently under performing, then it's his job to try and find out what the problem is. From their he can either help the player out himself, or find someone of the same class that can give him some tips. That's how DPS in a guild should be run. I'm sure their are other ways of doing it that can work, but that's how I've seen it run smoothest.

And since we're on the topic of Damage meters I'd like to pass on an important lesson that I've learned. You can't do it all on your own. No matter how fucking hard you try, it's just not possible. You can cleave your way to the top of the charts, making everyone look like a god damn chump, but it doesn't amount to shit if the boss is still laughing at you when your group wipes. I've personally seen myself do over twice the amount of damage done in a single fight than the player in the number two spot on the meters, but guess what? We still wiped. Was the wipe my fault? Usually no, but to be honest I've caused my fair share.

So my little rant is coming to a close, and I'll leave you with this small nugget of knowledge. Don't get so caught up in the damage meters. If you play a Fury Warrior, congratulations, you should be beating just about everyone in dps. It's just the way the class is designed right now. We have more rage than we know what to do with at this stage in the game, that's why so many people have chosen to apply a rend when they have a hole in their rotation, the lost rage just doesn't matter that much. You'll be back to a full bar in one swing. So please don't piss me off and go posting the fact that you beat my dps in Heroic Nexus... I really don't fucking care.

2leep: You're next!

I've found a new target for my ire. Ever see a link on the side of a random stumble page and think, "That might be interesting!" For one, trust me, it's not. For two, the fucking link won't send you to the desired page... it'll send you to a page of links (in a shiny new tab or window), with one of them being your desired destination.

2leep is the offender's name, and it's punishment should be death. It claims that it's goal is to "connect bloggers," but I haven't been connected to anyone's blog yet... unless you consider those massive picture dumps a blog. And I fucking don't.

It takes absolutely no talent, journalistic integrity, or even thought patterns to put that shit on the internet. I'm not claiming that my blog is an ode to intellectualism... but at least I take the time to think and type out my thoughts in a constructive manner. I'd need a lobotomy to regress to simply posting stupid pictures and captioning them with 'lulz.'

So seriously, 2leep, get the FUCK out. You're part of the problem.

DPS Tracks 23: Bulletproof

I know I shove FFDP in people's faces, but I freakin' love this band. As far as I'm concerned, everything they do is golden. This one's no different. I like this one playing in the background to remind criminal's that they might as well have left their guns at home...

High School of the Dead

Wait a second... Xi's not an anime critic.

STFU, Earl! I am too an anime critic.

Well... I am in the sense that I can criticize -anything- with a straight face.

So out of the blue, Lexi (the draenei, not the dog) sends me a link to watch this anime called "House of the Dead" on some streaming website. It's a show based on a manga that is pretty much one of those zombie apocalypse stories.

Given it's rather simple setup, I think it's done really well. The writing is above par for a zombie flick, and the zombie killin' is as juicy and gory as it should be. The only thing that kinda rubs me the wrong way is the amount of gratuity shown in the anime. (LOL SPOILERS) The level of fan service reaches a shameless crescendo in episode 6 where the girls are all bathing together, and we get to see a lot of awkward, albeit completely nipple-less, breasts.

Gratuity in moderation, people. I mean, I don't mind nudity one bit. But I figure it should at least do something, plot-wise. I don't expect boobies to advance the plot or anything... but at least they provide sexual tension and/or development of a romantic interest. Nudity for the sake of nudity has always kinda ticked me off, in both American and Japanese films/t.v.

But if you can stomach that, I think the series, which apparently is still being shown on Japanese network/cable television, is worth a recommendation. And the theme song is kinda cool, too.

DPS Tracks 22: Anthem

My dog has been keeping me up at night. I'd have more to say about this band... but I'm half asleep, and it's only noon, so... yeah. Wiki links and junk after the youtube vid, which are naturally after the jump.

Ser-i-ously, Lindsey? (Or: Our System is Broken)

I don't really follow celebrity news. Mainly because I don't really get how anybody could give a shit about someone -just- because they were in a movie. Spoiler alert: Their lives are just as boring and they're just as big of an asshole as the rest of you.

The same applies to everyone's (FotM) favorite child-star-turned-alcoholic/drama queen Lindsey Lohan. Again, I didn't follow this story with much attention. All I know is that she was supposed to go to jail for 90 days. Ninety days... Three months, for you laymen. And what happened? She was out by day fourteen..

I've had WoW-inspired isolation sessions that lasted longer than that. Could the justice system not cope with her intense, awe-inspiring lameness for more than two weeks? My mom said she was out due to overcrowding, so with red in my eyes I started browsing the internet for a source... and I couldn't get a clear read on why she was released on account of my constant passing out. Why, you might ask?

Every article was filled with the kind of stuff that made you think she was a kidnapping victim, and had been missing for no less than a calendar year. There was an article about how she and her mother were "reunited" after two weeks apart. "I finally got to hug my daughter after two weeks of talking to her through glass."

...I didn't know you were living in your mom's uterus, Lindsey.

Seriously, though. The media parade surrounding little Miss Lohan is a fucking farce. They're all treating her like she's done nothing wrong; as though she's just a child in the wrong place at the wrong time. Every other word that I have read today has sent an impulse of pure, unadulterated rage down my spine, the kind which, if it could be harnessed into kinetic energy, would make Fat Man look like Milla Jovovich.

(That was a size pun. It was not a pun related to the proverbial bombs that are the Resident Evil movies. Thank you.)

So yeah, there was so much blood in the center of my brain responsible for being pissed off that I passed out while reading about it. At least three times. Whatever happened to being held responsible for your own actions? She had a DUI, which luckily didn't result in the injury or death of an innocent, and then violated her probation. Ninety days in solitary is too good for that little wench. I would've stuck her in gen-pop, and warmed up everyone the day before her arrival by making all the inmates watch Herbie Reloaded.

Then I'd take bets on who got to shank her first.

Bored.

Blogging these days is hard. It's not so much that I don't have anything to talk about. It's that, times like these, I feel like I don't have anybody to talk -to-. Yes, there are followers down on the sidebar, but they're all from my old "WARKRAFT RULZ" days. And I kinda miss that, honestly...

No, I don't miss Malfurion's Raiders or parsing through lists of sub-par gear upgrades. None of that junk. I miss browsing through all the blog/community links that holds everyone together. They've got massive websites dedicated to this mammoth of the game, and it feels like playing City of Heroes is like moving from the big city into sunny little Bumfuck, Egypt.

Yes, everybody knows each other and all that crap. I used to sift through articles, blog posts, freakin' miles and miles of comments, and now I get to kick around a tumbleweed. The forums aren't even very active. The Virtue forums ("Unofficial roleplaying server") only kick over like 20 times a day. And that's considered busy.

Holy fuck, where are all the people who -like- this game!?!?

Roger Ebert's Regrets

Ho-hum. It's not every day that a douchebag wishes to make up for his past mistakes with a public (sort-of-an) apology, but Roger Ebert is expressing that he "was a fool for mentioning video games in the first place" in his blog post on Thursday.

Of course, his blog post was marred with the dribble "I still think I'm right, I just should've kept my fat, cock-mouth shut." And what kind of shit is that? I guess he felt he had to say -something- when the shitstorm that is all gamers (and anybody with a modicum of common sense) rained down on him and his blog for what could've been the dumbest comment in history.

Anyway, I've gotta wrap this up because I've got some bad guys' asses to kick before 1:30. Roger Ebert doesn't get off the hook that easily. Nobody else on my shitlist does, so why would I let some no-talent movie critic off the hook?

Instead of offering to send Roger Ebert a bunch of video games so he can familiarize himself with games as an artform, I'm going to simply send him a spoon.

So he can eat my ass.

DPS Tracks 21: Duke Nukem Theme

Haven't really been around, for a while. Been discovering the joys of Xbox Live with Lexi and leading a new supergroup, at that. Well, it's an old supergroup.

The Peacekeeper Initiative is back after a two year hiatus, and we're doing reasonably well, if I do say so myself. I wish our attendance was a bit higher, but what can you do. This is City of Alts, y'know.

Anyway, I was rummaging through some old cds and found this gem. Thought I'd throw it out there. XD

DPS Tracks 20: Dying Breed

Over the course of the last year, DPS tracks has changed quite drastically. I used to have a playlist on my winamp client (god bless that little music player) labeled DPS, and I'd use it every time I raided (for maximum face-to-keyboard action).

Obviously, I don't raid anymore, and since the upgrade to Windows 7, I've lost that old playlist. Where does that leave it, then? Not that anybody cares, but I consider "DPS tracks" "music to rock to." It's my personal blend, and obviously everyone's mileage will vary. But it's what I game to, and it doesn't seem hard to imagine that others could game to it, too. Game on.