Saturday, December 19, 2009

Yes, I am a 3.3 fanboy

Hello fellow wanderers. Random LFG tool how awesome I think this is, almost game changing. I was always a avid battleground person on all my toons. Not withstanding the occasional asshat telling x number of people they suck and he,she,it are ubber leet; I readily enjoyed the random aspect of a on-line game throwing x number of people in for a common cause. I love running with friends and guildies always have, if ask pre-3.3 I would have cheerfully said I was anti-pug. That I would get the random asshats in battlegrounds and they were enough. Well 3.3 been out for a bit and I have pugged every toon I have that is above 70 at least once and multiple times on most. With by far the general experience being positive. Heck I even made use once of the random raid finder and ran into my old old guild filling in spots for a 25 man VoA.


A few things I have discovered more on Grai doing the random heroic than on Fanabb doing the random regular; first of which is the speed which 95% of the tanks chain pull trash. The other day did a random heroic daily on Grai that turned out to be Halls of Lighting. Double check make sure the tank is set right on healbot and away we go. We ran that dungeon + trash as AoE to the boss burn everything down. I was incredible fun for me playing Grai holy because in the average fast speed 5 man I never need to worry about mana and may only drink prior to final boss simply to have back to a full bar. No worries about judging wisdom and running into melee range to grab a little back or using divine intervention wisely. This run pushed me into every mana back trick I had including my darkmoon card. We finished and I had many real life things to do and was unable to continue as they were going on to chain run and pull I'm sure many more. Fanabb who is currently 75 moves a wee bit slower disc priest w/alchemy so I make free use of endless mana pot out of combat, the nice trinket with the + 40% boost and have to sit to drink, for instance in violet hold regular and the end of each boss waiting for portals again. It seems that the zerg mentality is definitively this patch's flavor of the month.

Heroic Halls of Reflection is probably the instance I enjoy most on my hunter. I get to use CC again, I try and frost arrow either the mage or the priest if they are both in AoE damage ill try for the rifleman but for me he is harder. Same thing with the casters on the gauntlet, some tanks use their AoE abilities other just save them for the last to be killed. I know blizz said that CC would be back in for Cat, just very glad that its made an appearance so soon.

My DK has even tank a few random dungeons. Soloing never need to worry about icebound fort or bone shield. Now I throw on the cobalt defense set pop frost aspects and have a different group of cooldowns to manage. Having played prot for so long on Grai its AoE tanking but different. Now get your AoE attack down and then insult the groups lineage,weaponry or sorry I meant death grip one taunt the other and have ghoul boy annoy the third. I mark on Sheenah because I not toatly confident in my aggro building on her and only had one fail group when healer was half and half on gear and at the low minium level for the instance.

Ah Carack my long ignored rouge, love him at max level for PvP never found a like of rouge PvE play. He was and is incredible fun in AV and annoying in WSG, but never leveled him fast and never felt comfortable in any spec but sub.. Done a few randoms on him and went assassination and do decent plus hes an enchater so I offer that lol.

Fal poor Fal is still languishing on the couch of WoW he's done a few random heroics but still havent gotten back into him post the fury nerf. When the shine dims down on the others he'll get his run.

Well I guess thats 3.3 for me on the whole a hugely positive at a time when WoW was getting stale. Perspectives change on many things and for me pugging has been a very good thing

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Well it sure hasn't been boring

Hello to all who still have this moldering away at the bottom of your rss readers, and to anyone whom might have stumbled by here on accident. Its funny haven't posted in ages and now find that still having this here old thing around might just come in handy. Seeing how I havent posted a story or even a blurd to say hello let me give a readers digest version of the last 5 months.

Summer was fun and busy trying to manage the schedules of 5 boys 16 to 7 and two adults with opposing work schedules was fun, yeah right. First semester of school lead to 2 honor role students and 2 merit role, the elementary school doesn't have a system like that. 12 soon to be 13 yr old son broke the tib + fib in left leg in mid-Nov. and that has been and adventure in and of itself. That fairly well hits the high points of casa Grai, and now onto the game which is what this silly thing is supposed to be about.

When I first started this thing it bloomed out of a pug run I was on with this at the time small guild called Sidhe Devils on my server. Members of that guild had blogs and that was my introduction to WoW bloggers in general outside of the magazine type sites. At that time I was in my original guild that I was currently GL and RL of. We were a moderately successful Kara level guide that had around 20 active raiders. I personal had gotten to a point where I no longer wanted to put out the numerous brush fires that flare up when any divergent group of people are communally seeking a shared goal. So I decide that a smooth orderly transition would see the guild on to bigger and better things and I could be one of the many again. Well that didn't happen as opposing factions took root in the guild and it split into two successful guilds that both continued to raid. Me I left and went and became of of the group of sidhe devils to have a chance to quietly remember what about this game I enjoyed.

Sidhe Devils is a remarkable place and when I first found it, I knew I had discovered nirvana. The place kids not the band.(grumpy old man segment). Adults who would understand in the middle of a raid, a 5 man or just general chatting in guild that life happens at the speed of life and people need to flexible and go with these changes. We raided and we wiped, and we raided and we succeeded, always putting whatever in the perspective of the time spent with our friends was time well spent. As Sidhe Devils grew into becoming a much larger guild it still to, kept the feeling of it being "Cheers" but everyone being "Norm". As time and growth bring changes to all things, so did Sidhe Devils face points of change. As a member of,and a holder of many found memories of the guild. It was during this time of change I decide to look at what I wanted to do or if WoW had for me run its final daily.

After much personal introspection I decide to leave, to venture forth into a different path in the game. Much of the process of where or if I will land on my current server is unclear. I said to a friend last night that I am befouled of a hellish dilemma in that I view myself as to casual to be hardcore and to hardcore to be truly casual. Added into this is the fact that I do like to ponder and view things for as many angles as I can wrap my head around leads to sometimes glacial like decision making times. Do I wish to someday write Grai's spin on how he and his gang were key elements of the downfall/ maybe redemption of Artha's, hey I'm a sucker for the sappy ending.

So I'm sure right now as much as I'm sure of anything I'll be playing somewhere. So if we share a battle group or a party or mabye even a raid someday in the future; please, please remember one thing folks. The pull is always on the wings. Good luck and many blessings to everyone this holiday season.