You know it’s pretty bad when you have to post on your guild’s forums to make yourself feel better.  Gwarden is nothing more than a mere Wrath, FotM, druid.  Sort of sad.  He simply proved my point bragging like a twelve year old to his guild(Just for laughs ).  It’s funny considering he’s the one that came over here all upset in the first place.   I mean does this guy seriously sit and google all day?  Poor kid, he gossips to his friends and is oblivious to the fact he knows nothing about what he speaks.  Oh well just another sign of the deterioration of the game and its community even more.

And yes, Infallibull, raiding is second rate now.  Deal with that fact.  You have to have a buff to down any content.  Try at least turning the ICC buff off.   And I find it funny how you guys talk about raiding, but neither one of you made it even to Yogg-Saron in Ulduar.   Why call yourself a raider if you couldn’t even down said content in this expansion.   Call me a nerd raging, hardcore fool all you want, but the proof’s in the pudding as the old saying goes.   Try completing the content that was set before you before ICC.  I’d sure take you up the challenge if you find a decent Alliance raiding guild that has good hours.  If your buddy, Gwarden, keeps up with my twitter feed as much as he says he would know my current situation, but alas I doubt he does.  Oh well keep flapping your jaws on your guild’s site.  Stroke the epeen.  It’s funny.  Thanks for giving me something to laugh at tonight.

Cheers

So it came with a blue post.

So you feel “vindicated”. And oh yeah this blogger must be a “smug little dick”. Do some of you even study Blizzard’s history on these promises? Until you see it done think of it as a fantasy. Hell, we don’t even have Cataclysm on the shelves and some of you are screaming over the supposed changes! Was I upset in some of the possible changes? In some ways and in others I could careless. But calling me a dick over my point of view? Get off your child’s soap box and step back to reality.

It’s okay if you’re a bad player and they just continually have to make the game easier for you. This game isn’t even that hard. It has become simply a place to spend your time. You want gear? Go farm heroics for badges. Want to see content? The bosses aren’t that hard you just have to have the time. I’d admit I enjoyed the raiding of Vanilla through TBC. Yes, it took some time, but it actually took some thought. I’ve had to fight to the end of Ulduar and turn on it’s hard modes to truly find a challenge within it. ToC…I could’ve slept walk through if I’d had a decent computer. Raiding at 1 fps doesn’t work out well for any player. ICC. I’ve seen up to the Princes and really and truly have to say most of it is rehashed fights from previous dungeons. I tanked up to Dreamwalker on 10 Normal with little knowledge other than on the fly from a friend. Maybe Sindragosa and LK would change my mind, but probably not.

Am I bitter? Again in a way I am. We were promised a raider’s dungeon in Ulduar and Blizzard went back on its word and made a free-for-all, easily puggable instance. ToC is nothing more than a filler where Blizzard experimented with the “gating system”. ICC, the “pinnacle” of Wrath raiding, isn’t the pinnacle. It’s closer to SSC/TK level than Sunwell.

And Blizzard stated they’d never make another raid instance at the level of Sunwell. How sad is that? A great company won’t rise to the challenge of its greatest challenge. That’s when a company begins its descent. I question why I play much any more. I find no fun in the raiding scene as it has become full of greedy people who think they deserve everything because they pay a few dollars a month. They whine if the content takes remotely more than a few buttons and thoughts. Strategy is a joke and is reflected in VoA where any half witted person can enter and leave with a shot at least one or two epics.

What’s the issue with wanting a challenging? Wanting a purple to be something more than one step up? Nothing. It’s not about sitting on drakes or warbears. It’s about wanting to keep that Tier set. It’s about never disenchanting or selling it and treasuring the memories made obtaining it. I disenchant Wrath gear regularly. I could careless to keep it. There’s nothing special about it. No memories are held within it. However I keep both my Tier 5 and Tier 6 sets with weapons in my bank. I treasure them and they hold dear memories of fond times with friends, good laughs, and so much more. That has been lost in this expansion. When Yogg-Saron died there was no jubilant shout of triumph outside of a few new raiders in my old raiding guild. Just another boss died. No one spoke of how many times we switched tanks, strategies, or members to get the kill. No one really cared. It was another progression boss on the totem poll to the top of the server. Don’t get me wrong. I know many of you had your first taste of that kind of satisfaction in Wrath, but also for many of you Wrath was your first time in WoW. So you never have known much outside of Naxx, Ulduar, ToC, and ICC. You’ve heard stories, watched videos, and seen pictures, but you lack that experience. To actually have to truly work out a strategy and down a boss is one of the most fun experiences in game.

Guess I can’t expect to have a company keep up that high of a capability to produce amazing raids forever. They must cater to where they see the money. The money is in the more casual player who wants everything to take less thought and time. Those purple pixels must flow! It’s funny. I’ve collected a lot of those purple pixels, but could careless to keep most of them. Those pixels may look nice, but are devoid of memories. Is my time with WoW over? I’ve given it thought, but I enjoy my time in SAN and the low level PvP I’ve been doing. Maybe I’ll try to twink more and forget about raiding. Why stick where it’s sadly going from bad to worse by the patch? Low level pvp’s only changes haven’t killed it. SAN is full of great people and is always a place for a good chat or just to find a good group to quest or dungeon with at night. I know many of them won’t share my sentiments on raiding. I hope none of them see it as an attack on their playstyle or feelings toward Wrath and what they have completed.

I’ll ask myself the question again. Am I bitter? No. Hardcore raiding has shined brightly throughout WoW and will continue in some form or another into Cataclysm. My time was TBC and I miss it, but I will always find those memories and old friends in my bank in the form of a couple tier sets that collect dust. It was fun learning the in’s and out’s of my class. I will continue to do so, but most likely at a much slower pace. My job and family keeps me busy so I’ll catch up to LK some day in the future. Just as I did KJ in Wrath I’m sure I’ll meet LK some day. Not with the fond memories you may have of him, but with the insight that he was once a difficult raid boss that took a bit of strategy and determination to finish off by many a lucky raider. This is by no means a white flag of surrender, but it is an acknowledgement that Blizzard will sadly never again take up the banner of the challenge. If it ever does I will be there and see it for myself. The continual caving into the money pit that casuals provide them is more of a sad annoyance. But most of this is for another long post and I’ve already done one. To which you can see one commenter has already replied to as if he thinks Blizzard completely sticks to its word. We will still have to wait and see what Cataclysm brings, but be reminded of the folly of counting your chickens before they hatch.

Cheers!

No, that’s my next post!

So the Cataclysm class previews are out…well if you are any class, but a Pally. I am still musing and grumbling over how blind Blizzard can be to simple feral changes that would transform the class tremendously. I currently have been working on a post about the previews, but it is still a bit under construction.

Obviously I’m not playing WoW that much and for many that means they place zero value on my opinion. Well I could careless. People listen to theorycrafters at EJ that haven’t played in over a year. I still know my class and LOVE it. Do I know when I’ll get back into the raiding scene? That’s like tossing a deck of cards on the floor and picking up the two of clubs on my first attempt. I would love to get back into raiding, but real life right now has a hold and will lead me on. But expect a post almost as controversial as my last about 10 man raiding. Maybe I should start adding a warning to the beginning of all my posts. “Warning: You may hate what I say.” lol As always feel free to disagree, but be prepared to talk about it in the comments.

My apologies to any that find white text on a black background hard to read. I know there has been a post in SAN about it for a while, but I like the look of it. I also know many people use readers that remove any of the formatting, etc we bloggers do. So it won’t be changing any time soon. Maybe if I ever decide I have time and the energy to make my own page.

Cheers!

Sick of 10s and Whining

Are you a 10 man only raider?  Yes??  Guess what?  You made the decision.  There is no gap.  10 is not meant to equal 25.  There has to be a gap.  If 25 man gear was on par with 10 man gear 25 man bosses would be impossible.  If 10s man gear was on par with 25 man gear it would make each boss fight trivial.   There is no point to this argument.  It has its reason.  A person may not like it, but there are a lot of things we all don’t enjoy.

In my opinion 25s are and always will be better than 10s.   “But 10s are tighter?”  Misconception.  I’ve been in 10s and seen the “tightness”.  It just led to division as cliques developed just the same as 25s.  I raided TBC in a very tight 25 man guild.  We were closer at the end of TBC than any 10 man guild I’ve ever seen or heard of.   The idea that 10s are closer is and always will be a lie perpetuated by people who haven’t been in a close-knit 25 man raiding guild.  Ending raiding with my 25 man raiding guild took me near a year and leaving server has severed great friendships.  Don’t even say most 10s are closer than 25s.

“But 10s have less drama!!”  That makes me laugh so hard.  There is drama in every guild.  The best guild masters know this and deal accordingly.  No, guild has less drama than another.  It is how their leadership deals with the drama.  My 25 man raiding guild only ever had one major drama event.  It ended with some split friendships and /gquits, but that’s the test of any guild.

“10s are harder because of fewer people.”  While I do agree to some extent the fewer people make some fights harder on most fights the fewer number do not matter.  The few fights were it do matter are normally almost as hard on 25 man.  Hey, my first Yogg experience was 10 man Yogg with a friend of mine’s 10 man guild.  It was a fun experience and I will never forget it, but I know the difficulty stepped up quite a bit in 25s.  Having more people made it even more difficult in 25 Yogg.  With 10 you had much more control of the situation.

“But I pay $15 a month!!!”  So do I.  And I’m sick of the loss of challenging content I saw before real life and other in-game events took away my ability to raid.  I want a challenge.  Where’s my challenge?  You want “equality”.    We do not get every thing we want.  I wanted my own 25 man raiding guild to hit Cataclysm with and you see where that went.

This is my barely legible and probably not too well explained rant over WoW for the night.  Is it that well constructed?  No, but I have my points and I will stick to them.  Just as I cannot change the minds of many of you nor can you change mine.  I will always say 10s should be a step behind 25s.   If you are upset with me that’s okay.  As people  have said we will have to agree to disagree.

Blizzard, keep the gap.  It’s there for a reason.  You will realize you have made a grave mistake if you decide to try and remove it.

Cheers!

A Hiatus?

You could say I’ve taken a hiatus from the blogging scene.  Real life hit hard this past month and even my gaming time has shrunk to almost zero.  I have managed to level my duo to 30 and even leveled my DK’s mining to Outland levels.  My shortened timed with WoW reminds me of how short a game’s lifespan can be.  Yet some how WoW has surpassed it and allows for a vacation even if it’s not by choice.

Aleia, my level 30 druid, is finally getting some of those abilities any feral druid misses from 1-30.   And as most old and even many new druids know Glyph of Claw is a must for any leveling feral until Mangle is obtained by at whatever level is done.  Faith…well she’s just a healbot.  What do you expect from me?  This druid lover to actually play the priest over the druid?  I pull her off follow at times for heals and even the ocassional DoT/wand kill.  Overall, I am enjoying my very slow progression at moment.  I’d of never thought I would like the slow pace, but it has allowed some much needed family time.

On that note druid Cataclysm glimpses are coming soon!  I add the exclamation with mixed emotions.  Druids have changed so much since Vanilla.  Being the laughable bear tank trying to tank bosses is no more.  Cats aren’t just for prowling.  The amount of change from TBC to now is still hitting in waves on me.  I don’t gear for bear and just push aside rogue gear unless it’s passed on.  I actually gem, spec, and gear for cat!  Guess we will have to wait and see what Cataclysm bring.  Will I go Worgen?  No.  Al was and  is a Night Elf.  I may try a Worgen druid once the insanity of the opening months fades, but as of right now you won’t see me as a Worgen or with a Worgen alt for a while.

So that’s a small update.  If you’ve read twitter or are even in SAN you know the situation.  And I thank each of you that did pray or even just light a candle.  It was felt more than you know.

Cheers!

“But all specs should be able to raid!!”

I hear that cry more often from many players than I wish to hear. I very much disagree with it due to the impossibility of it in what I believe to be true raiding progression guilds. Seriously how can every spec in every class be a 100% viable? Many bring nice buffs, but lack the dps, flexibility needed in certain situations, etc.

Now before anyone gets all upset I do understand there are tons of casual guilds that have raid and could care less about being top on their servers, but to any of you wishing to actually be in the thick of your server progression what I say has much truth. While on Shandris in TBC and into Wrath I did not sit as one of the better feral druids by gemming, enchanting, and specing completely by my own accord. I studied and made sure I was using the proven specs. This allowed me to perform to my maximum in any situation even if my computer wasn’t cooperating. You may hold tight to that spec, but when it is being outdps’ed by another spec or is showing signs of tanking weaknesses it is time to invest in the tools and vast knowledge provided by countless bloggers and theorycrafters.  These people don’t solely invest their time in testing theoretical ideas for themselves alone. If that were they case why would they take the time to publish it for you to read??

So what’s the excuse? You enjoy it? Well you claim to enjoy raiding as well and you say you want to progress at that of a high end guild’s ability. If so why aren’t you going for what those people want and need? Progression raiding requires sacrifice. Much of it is time, but there are many other parts to it. Spec changes are one area a hardcore raider must learn. To sacrifice is almost always for the betterment of the raid and that achieves the guild’s goal, progression.

So you still want to keep that spec? How about Dual Specing? It’s a simple solution. You can have your raid spec as your main spec and your favorite spec as your secondary spec. I know this isn’t a simple solution for the average hybrid and even many hardcore raiders snub the idea of a person making their second spec their “fun spec”. Still it is a simple solution to an issue that hinders a desire.

I understand and have read countless other blogs about this issue. My opinion is held by the few. Fine. I personally would rather hold the view of the few than the many. Plus it allows for many interesting debates and late night conversations that I would otherwise most likely never see. I am a hardcore raider being held against my will by a job and real life, but that doesn’t mean I will give up my ideas.

Cheers!

Feral. Finally!

Aleia and Faith in Westfall

Yes, my dual boxing group finally hit 20!  I had spent a lot of time attempting to max their professions and messing around on the death knight and paladin, but I decided to make a push last night.  The shot above was before I hit 20. Yes, my druid was Balance.  Why? Bear form is more of an “Oh crap” button until you have the talent point to pick up Natural Reaction due to the lack of rage.  The priest is confused with point in Holy and Discipline.  And neither is well geared.  Level 17 killing mobs in a white!  But now with cat form I can finally Claw it up!

Enjoying SAN still and the chats rarely end.  Yes, there are the quite leveling times especially during the afternoon, but at night this guild is more active than any I’ve ever been in.  Plus we actually have worthwhile conversations.  Haven’t seen a lot of those since TBC!  And dual boxing.  What can I say it’s a learning curve.  I died for the first time yesterday to like five mobs in Moonbrook while my priest was left out of combat.  Yeah, the learning curve is amazingly high with two different classes, but having the druid with leatherworking and jewelcrafting and the priest with tailoring and enchanting is so nice.  Plus with my paladin I now add blacksmithing and inscription to the list.  Now I need an herb gathering character.  I think I’ll roll another druid(HELL YEAH!) and grant my RAF’s levels to it.

MOUNTS!!!

All that being said my two young ones now have mounts.  That means the priest can actually keep up with the druid.  Once the druid got travel form it was off to the races, but now they running fairly smooth.  Add the addon Jamba and dual boxing is now a must when leveling!

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the post I linked in my last post please do so.  <Single Abstract Noun> is still recruiting and if I have to say anything it’s not going any where anytime soon!

Cheers!

Single Abstract Noun Recruiting!

So in typical Of Claws and Paws fashion I am a bit behind.  As many bloggers and blog reads know a guild compromising mostly bloggers and blog readers has been formed on the EU Argent Dawn server by Tamarind of Righteous Orbs called <Single Abstract Noun>.  Well seeing as many of us US players do not have EU accounts Miss Medicina was nice enough to take up the cause and create a S.A.N. guild on the US Argent Dawn server.  The two guilds are faction opposites.  The EU guild is Horde and the US one is Alliance.  This means I have rolled ANOTHER druid, Aleia.  Now my druid does not play alone as I recently purchased a second account so I made a priest, Faíth.  Here’s a nice little picture of the two of them finishing off the Teldrassil quests at 13! (RAF ftw!)

Yes, both Aleia and Faíth are Shadowmelded.  I was on the quest to kill the Furblog leader and a hunter had just demolished so instead of hanging out in the open while they all respawned I ‘melded both.   I’ll hopefully have a better picture in the near future.  Maybe a picture of Pema, my Death Knight.  Until then this is as good as it gets! lol

S.A.N. has been an awesome experience so far and I encourage any new bloggers or any of my few readers to join up.  You don’t have to give up your main.  You don’t have to transfer your main to Argent Dawn either.  Just roll an Alliance character of your choice and /join singleabstractnoun channel for an invite!  Look forward to seeing and meet more people as I hope to stick around AD for a good while.

Cheers!

Out Looking

The title of this thread speaks volumes on my current situation in WoW. Has my love for druids diminished? Of course not!! I love druids as I’ve rolled more druid alts than I can count, but Al has certainly hit the roughest of times. I recently left the guild I was in to try and start my own. Believing I had well-thought through all the scenarios and was ready for what ever awaited my guild’s triumphant arrival on the raiding scene I posted two recruitment threads on the Azuremyst realm forum and the Alliance recruitment forum. To my dismay I have not heard a single peep from either of them. A good hunter friend of mine kindly bumped my realm forum post, but it seems for nothing.

A EST raiding guild on a PST server? Sounded like a great idea. Just because a server is set in a certain time zone doesn’t mean all or even the majority of its players are from the server’s time zone. In the case of Azuremyst most are from the west coast of the US, but many central and east coast players exist. I have found the lack of interest to say that most of these raiders are happy in their current situations. Who wants to give up some progression for a guild just building up? Not many people. I tried to setup a guild that was as much a casual guild for the players as it was a hardcore one. The casual side being we would only raid three nights a week(adding Tuesday if a major patch came out). The hardcore being players would know their class inside and out and always be prepared for raids. I thought this seemed like a good balance for most wanting to see content and even attempt to get server firsts. My thought line was skewed. I began the guild alone after issues between myself and the only person who was interested. My recruitment threads lacked thought and weren’t well organized. The views came and went. So I’ve decided to cancel the recruitment of said guild.

Where does all this leave Al? Right now I don’t know. Not being on good terms with the GM of my previous guild leaves me currently guildless as I cannot commit to the average raid time of most Azuremyst guilds. Thoughts of transferring come to mind, but then I look at my current financial status and realize that to transfer Al and the two characters who complement his raiding would be a costly expense. So I’ve been surfing around lately. Finally, I have been able to get back in contact with friends from the past and it is awesome to see they are playing once again. Also meeting new people and checking out new servers has been fun. But this all leaves the one character I have put more time and effort into silent. He hasn’t done ICC in almost 3 weeks and I have to say I some what miss it. If you know me well or have read much from me you know my feelings on Wrath raiding content. Still the fact remains I enjoy raiding and progression. Maybe Cataclysm will change my path in-game. One always hopes so!

I wish to continue blogging, but the title of this blog certainly has not had much to do with what I’ve been speaking on lately. Plus I don’t blog much as it has been shown! But I do enjoy the blogging community as a whole because many of you are some the most knowledgeable people to play the game. So I raise a glass to happier times and a better future yet to be found.

Cheers!

Today’s Low Level Rant

So I’ve been playing one my little hunter alts a lot in hopes of having Al go JC/Enchant. I know! I know! I say I am going to a lot in game. It’s a work in progress.

So lately I’ve been doing random LFDs and BGing. In LFD I normally top anyone outside of a pally tank with BoAs and consecrate. What can I say, but hunter is literally rolling face for the first like 40 levels. In BGs, I top in damage, kills, killing blows and on rare occasions, healing! Yes, the bad healers come out or we get mostly hunters! All this is with solely wearing the BoA PvE shoulders. It’s loads of fun. The issue here is that some people think they are the best and if you disagree you’re a basement dwelling, scruffy nerf herder.

I recently did a LFD in which I was lucky enough to meet a shaman healer and druid tank that we stuck it through for a night. That night included a Blackfathoms Deep run. In this run was a warlock with BoA shoulders whom needed on every piece of gear. From “of the Boar” greens to the two handed axe off a boss. When confronted he tried to act like he didn’t know what we were talking about. Seriously? You’ve leveled a character to 80 and done enough heroics to get BoA shoulders, but don’t know the difference between Need and Greed??? Sorry to say we did not believe him. We tried to kick him, but we’d already kicked two offline players so the system would not allow us to do so. He finally left after we all teleported out. He wasn’t really that bad other than denying the obvious.

Tonight I entered Warsong Gulch to a mainly rogue group with one warlock. Said warlock was level 22 and with BoA shoulders I believe. I was group lead and he said something about keeping some people on defense. My strategy in Warsong has always been on the first go for everyone to run and run back. This allows you to demolish their team on the way back and run back before they can retrieve the flag again. The warlock calls me a fool, a fat guy, a basement dweller, etc. I had a few choice words for him myself, but mainly just said go do a few dungeons. Who enters at 22 in level 19 greens and complains about defense when he’s a walking, free HK and continues to complain when the group leader tells him that all should go on the offense. We end up across the map with half the team middle and myself and the warlock getting thoroughly owned by a few boa geared hunters in the horde’s flag room. I try to be good, but I can’t save the life of a bad 22 warlock and deal with 3 BoA geared hunters at the same time. lol I end up dealing the rest of the game with the kid who finally leaves after telling me he won’t take me seriously or give me any respect until after I cap a flag. Guess what??? I capped the our only flag that game after he left. Coincidence?? Maybe. Anyways we lost 2-1, but I left out top damage and near top in HKs.

Reminders From Today:

• Don’t talk in battleground chat! It only leads to dealing with bad players who continuously cry.
• Don’t camp the middle of Warsong Gulch! You’re annoying your whole entire team and letting their team walk around you with the flag!
• Learn your class basics. Even just knowing its base stats goes a long way.
• Take responsibility for what you do in randoms. We all know this isn’t your first character with those BoA shoulders.
• And most importantly have fun! If you aren’t having fun then you may as well logout.

Cheers!