Forum post of the day: Table plz
by Amanda Dean 
Jul 9th 2008 at 2:30AM
In my humble opinion the refreshment table is pretty neat idea. A Mage spend two Arcane Powders and starts casting the ritual, then two others join in. Viola! A buffet of yummy, health-and-mana-regenerating, Manna Biscuit goodness appears before your raid. The table sticks around for five minutes or however long it takes to deplete its fifty stacks of food. This is probably one of Blizzard's best additions.
In it's own way, the Ritual of Refreshment is also kind of a curse for Mages. True- the reagents cost a total seventeen silver at the vendor, that's not hard to swallow. Keylogger of Stormscale is annoyed by requests for tables. She pointed out that anyone with a friendly level of reputation with the Shattered Sun Offensive can purchase Naaru Rations, no badgering required. Other posters agreed that it's not the process of casting that's at issue, but the sense of entitlement from other folks about a table.
Yorec of Azuremyst argued that the mage table is equivalent to buffing. As a Paladin, he often has to rebuff when people are unhappy with his first cast. Group buffs from Mages, Paladins, and Priests require reagents purchased from vendors. Gold isn't a problem for most players anymore.
Conjured Manna Biscuits and Naaru Rations give back 7500 heath and 7200 mana over time. Warriors and Rogues have it easier because they need only pick up any edible food from a vendor. These are more expensive alternatives, but should be in every non-Mage's inventory in case of an emergency.
Tables are necessary in raids but a nicety in battlegrounds. I have to admit that I find "table plz" in the battlegrounds mildly irritating. I'm always happy to grab some grub when there's a table down, but I don't think it's fair to place demands in PvP. My philosophy is to come prepared and be happy if I get a little something extra. Thanks mages.
Do you expect to cast or benefit from Ritual of Refreshment in the battlegrounds?
Filed under: Mage, Analysis / Opinion, Buffs, Forums, Battlegrounds, Forum Post of the Day
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
Regals Jul 9th 2008 2:47AM
"Keylogger of Stormscale" links to the Manna Biscuits again
Regals Jul 9th 2008 2:52AM
Your link to the Naaru Rations goes to the thread instead. I missed it earlier.
Tenros Jul 21st 2008 4:31PM
The way I see it is that you should act the way you would in any other similar situation. Putting down tables should be something Mages do, but at the same time people need to be polite about it. If you go to a store, you expect the salesperson to help you, that's why they are there. However, you are still polite to them and appreciative of the work they do. It's the same in BGs. Appreciate that they are doing their best to help you. A simple "thx" can do wonders, and it's not like it takes a lot of time and effort to be polite. Hell, you can even create a macro that does it for you if you feel like it's too much effort. It's not "being treated like royalty," it's basic etiquette, something which many people seem to lose entirely the second the game starts up.
By the same token, mages should realize that other classes also spend their time and money to get their buffs. Last time I checked, Prayer of Fortitude was not free either, so when a Priest casts one on you, be appreciative. Realize that Warlocks do i fact have to use up a soul shard. If you expect them to be nice in order to get your table, you have to be nice to them to get there buffs. It's a two-way street.
What it really boils down to for Mages is the fact that since the first time the rolled their little dress-wearing, staff-toting, fire-throwing ball of awesomeness, they have constantly been seen as vending machines and nothing else by many players. When we make a table and then don't even get buffs, we start to wonder why we are even here. So when a Mage doesn't make a table, ask yourself if you are really trying to be polite and kind to them, and appreciating what he does. If you are being considerate and polite, and the Mage is just refusing you a table out of spite, then he is just a jerk. Feel free to deny him buffs and heals as always. But if not, then try asking nicely. Use something other than "table plz". You'll be surprised how much using entire words will ingratiate you to a good deal of Mages out there.
Remember, that little table the Mage put out is a gesture of goodwill. Do everything you can to keep that goodwill flowing.
Illumanti Jul 9th 2008 2:47AM
I *HATE* it when I join a PVP BG and straight away get attacked for "Table" "Mage table pls" "Make with the table magebot". The new naruu ration doesnt cost much and if I am pvp all day thats alot of table's.
Some BG ppl have even sent me tells demanding a table and hurry up.. WTF??
Stop being tight ass's and by food like I buy regents, I dont mind making tables but the more I get nagged the less I make them. Its not your RIGHT to have a table like I understand its not mine to get buffed.
I know it, I understand it, I dont mind it at all.
With the massive cash flow dailies bring, you have no excuses so stop being asshats.
Phohammar Jul 9th 2008 4:44AM
I bet you don't like to cast AB in bgs either
Kieran Jul 9th 2008 5:00AM
Speaking as a mage (Gralin on Shadowsong/EU):
A single stack of Naaru rations is more expensive than a table, and not everyone has the rep.
They shouldn't be impolite, I agree, but nor should you be a tight-ass. Drop the damn table and stop whining.
Roxton Jul 9th 2008 5:30AM
@ Phohammer.
I have never cast AB in a BG. Seeing as I have nothing else to buff, I go through the list person by person and buff it that way. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Also: I will drop a table in a BG, but I don't feel that everyone else there has a God-given right to that table, which they clearly do. Which is why I won't always conjure a table - why should I have to pay for their food? It's not much, but the principle remains the same.
slimj091 Jul 9th 2008 8:02AM
"I have never cast AB in a BG. Seeing as I have nothing else to buff, I go through the list person by person and buff it that way. I'm sure I'm not alone in this"
correct you are sir! there is no reason to waste reagents for group buffs on people that will die in a few minutes and get those buffs wiped. whenever i bg on my mage i always do single AI's, and throw a table down only if "I" need more biscuits.
amanda hit it right on the cute little gnome button nose. mages cue up in BG's for the same purpose as everyone else. to PvP and get some honor points. not to be everyones biscuit delivery boy's/girl's. if i drop a table then hey.. it's your lucky day. take 4 stacks of food and be on your merry way. if i don't.... the energy you spend typing "table plz" "omg! table plz!" "table nubz!" would be better saved for mashing your attack hotkeys after the battle starts.
Jeaz Jul 9th 2008 8:42AM
I do agree that you should at least ask nicely, not just "table plz".
Other than that, I find the attitude of you and slimj091 kinda depressing. I mean, battlegrounds are not every man/woman for themselves. It's about working together and defeating your opponents.
I mean, I could say as a priest - I won't waste my mana on healing others, i might need it to heal myself or dps an opponent.
Ofc, other players, playing other classes than mages refuse to buff and so on, so you are not alone, but that doesn't excuse it.
As a side note, I've always thought that Blizzard should remove the reagent costs from all spells during the buffing part before fight starts.
In AV there's just not enough time to single cast 40 Fort, 40 spirit and 40 shadow res, so you have to do mass buffs. That's 12 candles per AV, so you could be alot worse off mages.
/jeaz
Jeaz Jul 9th 2008 8:45AM
Reply to myself, can't even count. It's 24 candles per AV for a priest.
slimj091 Jul 9th 2008 9:28AM
yes.. but fort,spirt, and shadow resist are buffs that we can't do ourselves. you can buy and/or make food yourself. when i BG i AI all of the mana users because... it's a buff that i have that helps the team.. same as fort.. however biscuits are not buffs that enhance your character in anyway. so they should not be compared to prayer of fortitude.
guitarskoota Jul 9th 2008 11:08AM
I've got news for you buddy. You are not the only person in the game. MMO's are about community. You sound like you should be playing a single player game.
It's this me vs the world mentality that makes the game not fun. I'm willing to bet you are alliance. And alliance wonders why they always lose to horde in BG's... Also, mages are always the biggest QQers in wow. They wonder why no one cares about their woe-is-me problems. Maybe its because they are the whiniest and most greedy class in the game.
As a rogue, I cannot heal myself. Having 1 person put down a mage table can allow me to eat over the course of many games. So when I am solo defending a tower because no one else bothers to defend, and I've just killed a wave of attackers, and see another wave coming on the horizon, that food I eat to get health up fast to hold off more, can mean the difference between win and lose.
We all do things that we dont like to do, for the sake of working as a team. As a rogue, do you think I like checking my mailbox or the AH, and having some random person come up and dropping a lockbox in my trade window, closing the windows that I was in? That person could just grind up tradeskills and make, or buy a seaforium charge or a blacksmith key rather than ask me to open it for them.
Do you think that that warlocks like using up all their shards to summon you healthstones, which only have a few charges in them? I always see many soulwells at the beginning of each BG.
Do you think all warriors like being protection spec so they can tank 5 mans so you can get your mage loot?
Do you think pallies like spamming tons of blessings on everyone?
Do you think priests like dropping out of shadowform to toss you a heal?
Suck it up buddy, buy arcane dusts, do what your class can do that others cant, and help your team win. All those little greed portals that you guys seem to have no problem charging 5g for, take some of that highway robbery profit and use it to buy a few arcane dust. That or maybe blizzard should just take the ability away from you and give it to warlocks.
Heilig Jul 9th 2008 12:13PM
Mage Tables are absolutely nothing like group buffs, I completely agree. group buffs are useless in BG's, they MIGHT last 3 minutes before they're purged/dispelled or you die.
Mage food, on the other hand, doesn't leave your inventory and can't be purged. They are FAR more useful than group buffs by any measure. They let people get back in the fight faster, save healer mana, and can mean the difference between beating that rogue that just jumped you or making a long run back from your GY early in the game.
Considering that Naaru rations can be purchased, I say this: If you think I should go spend 2 gold on something that costs you 34 COPPER to make, you're out of your mind. That's just being a punk. You will make back the cost of your table just by looting the bodies in AV. You don't even have to go out of your way to make the cash, we'll even loot the bodies for your lazy ass. Hell, if it makes you feel better, I'll start bringing the reagents.
But no, it's not that anyway, is it? You just don't like feeling like people think they have a right to ask you to do anything you don't want to do. Well, I'm gonna tell you the same thing you tell me when I complain about the repair bills and thanklessness of tanking for you: If you don't like it, go reroll. Tables are a part of the class now, and it IS your job to drop it, just like it's my job to keep your squishy self alive in PvE. I don't care if it's a BG, drop the damn table. If you don't like being asked, then don't wait for people to ask. Just do it because it's your job and you're not a douchebag. That way all you wille ver get is thank you's instead of people saying "Wow, that mage is a dick."
Ikarus Jul 9th 2008 1:03PM
Some of you other Mages actually get a "plz"? I usually see /y TABLE! or /y TABLE NOW! When someone is particularly rude, I'll make sure to point them out to everyone as the reason i will not be dropping a table. And it's especially annoying when that person is a class that has a buff I could use and they haven't applied it. I do occasionally lay a table, but most times, after I've laid it I don't receive a single buff from anyone else.
sure 17s isn't a lot. but it adds up. on a BG weekend I can easily hit 50+ games. thats 8.5g. Is anyone else spending any of their gold on me? No, I neither give nor expect group buffs. the short duration spells that are free are plenty. I can and do easily apply AI to all mana using classes before the gates open, even in AV.
So, drop your selfish since of entitlement and move along please. If you want a table so bad, roll a mage.
Ikarus Jul 9th 2008 1:22PM
even "sense"
slimj091 Jul 9th 2008 5:29PM
"Ofc, other players, playing other classes than mages refuse to buff and so on, so you are not alone, but that doesn't excuse it."
except that RoR is not a buff. it doesn't help you in combat. it doesnt make you kill quicker or live longer in a fight. the only thing it does is SAVE YOU GOLD! now if mana biscuits had a "after eating for 10 seconds" buff on them. then yeah i could see the argument. but they don't. so no buff.. it's not a buff. AI and AB are buffs. RoR is not.
Rugus Jul 9th 2008 2:48AM
Everyone has problems like this one, and to be honest even if "pretending" is always a bad habit, getting irritated because people ask... is the same thing. You are in a party and you are going to raid: you have to DPS and sheep. That's all. Other classes have to buff, re-buff, re-buff, re-buff all the time.
I understand your point: you would like people being polite. I agree, I like polite people too. But getting irritated is pointless. As a raid member, you're expected to offer the table, exactly as any other class able to party-buff... will be expected to party-buff.
I understand *much more* warriors who get blamed/offended whenever they say "NO tank, I'm DPS". People do not want dps tanks because they do not provide CC and, so everyone in wow "pretends" to have them as tanks only. That IS annoying, I suppose.
But again, I understand: no problem if you want to solo/quest. Instead, if you want to join a party and raid... do your job.
Krianna Jul 9th 2008 3:08AM
Um...Hello, mages buff, too.
Abedabun Jul 9th 2008 4:32AM
PVP - not raiding. That was the point.
elprogramer Jul 9th 2008 2:49AM
I expect every and all soldier in the Horde to his or her utmost to ensure victory.
Unfortunately, most of Shadowburn would rather we let the Alliance win so they can grind PVP tokens one at a time. *grumble*