Breakfast Topic: Alt-zheimer's

My pally will always stay near and dear to my heart. He's my beloved main, and no other class is ever going to take that coveted position from him. Recently, however, I've found myself leveling a few alts just for the fun of it. I always used to be a one-character kind of guy, so the experience has been new and exciting for me. During these excursions into altoholism, I've learned that I find a death knight's blood DPS -- may it rest in peace -- to be extremely fun to play. I've also learned that healing isn't quite the frightening endeavor I once thought it would be.
However, there are a few other things I've learned during this time, which I'd like to share with you now.
- Priests are not tanks, and running head on into the first pack of mobs in a dungeon will likely make one die.
- Death knights cannot leap from ridiculous heights with impunity because they do not have Divine Shield.
- Paladins cannot Death Grip loose mobs.
- It's dangerous to bind Divine Intervention to the same key as Power Word: Fortitude.
- Responding to a trade chat ad for Vault of Archavon from a level 45 character will get you ignored rather quickly.
I could go on, but I'll spare you all of my stories of momentary in-game fugue. The point being, bouncing between alts can make it very easy to forget exactly what you're doing at any given time. Of course, the more alts you're leveling at once, the harder it becomes to keep track of each little difference.
For many of us, World of Warcraft is full of moments like these. People jump off of cliffs because they fail to remember that their trusty epic land mount can't fly. Keybind discrepancies lead to interesting mistakes with unintentionally hilarious results. The myriad of abilities offered by the 10 classes can make even the sharpest player forget that some of them exist.
As you may know, the internet is partially fueled on the most renewable resource in existence: embarrassment. So, let's do our part in keeping it powered for one more day. We want to hear your stories of alt-induced failures. While you're at it, let us know if you've got any clever tricks up your sleeve to help the rest of us avoid these symptoms of Alt-zheimer's disease.
Filed under: Breakfast Topics






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
klink-o Jun 9th 2010 8:03AM
You may actually have to check your mana before the pull and monitor it during the fight when you're not on your warlock.
Rakah Jun 9th 2010 8:36AM
i have kept trying to lifetap on my priest and mage alot. I've alos forgot i switched alts and was meant to be healing rather than dpsing.
SunGod228 Jun 9th 2010 9:46AM
"i have kept trying to lifetap on my priest"
This.
Speaking of which switching from shadowpriest dps back to my lock made me want to cry.
Vogie Jun 9th 2010 10:15AM
My Main is a lock.
All other casters have a stack of Dark/Demonic Runes macro'd on Alt-4 as well
macster Jun 9th 2010 8:08AM
Rolling Need on a plate helm. For my rogue.
zweitblom Jun 9th 2010 8:08AM
You know, if you had a relative being hit by Alzheimer's it's not really that funny anymore. But, well, carry on, I only speak for myself.
BigDumbFace Jun 9th 2010 8:14AM
I had a witty comeback, but i can't seem to recall what it was offhand...
Anuillae Jun 9th 2010 8:17AM
He's not joking about Alzheimer's, he's talking about the way that being used to playing a different class can make it seem like you are replicating the effects of Alzheimer's (i.e. doing odd things that don't make much sense to anyone else).
lisapoisso Jun 9th 2010 8:23AM
My mother passed away from Alzheimer's. Sure, the subject is tender in certain areas -- but in my own experience, if you can't find a way to smile about some of the bittersweet moments, you lose more than you gain by barricading yourself into an emotional corner about it.
Best wishes to you and yours.
messiahxi Jun 9th 2010 9:11AM
I don't think the OP deserved to be down-rated. It seemed like a reasonable point to make, and it was made without hysterics.
vinniedcleaner Jun 9th 2010 9:27AM
@messiahxi
I have to agree...
Is this what passes as an exact fit for this site?
Kaylad Jun 9th 2010 9:54AM
I'm sorry for what you are going through, truly. But,speaking as one who has also watched two generations of her family descend into the depths and not know who anyone was, including themselves, by the time they died; and as one who therefore fully expects her own mother (the third generation) and herself to experience the indignity firsthand in the future (I hope like hell that a cure or preventative measure is found, of course, but am not going to hold my breath), I found the headline moderately amusing. If one allows these things to steal one's sense of humour, one might as well crawl into a hole and pull it in behind oneself.
You might as well complain the the term altoholic is offensive because you have a relative or friend that is an alcoholic and how alcoholism destroys families.
Vaeku Jun 9th 2010 1:26PM
My grandfather passed away from Alzheimer's, and I found the title amusing.
Like what Kaylad said, you might as well complain about people using "altoholic" because it's offensive to alcoholics.
Falcom Jun 9th 2010 2:32PM
Everything is offensive to someone, somewhere.
david.a.alt Jun 15th 2010 6:33AM
For a lot of people, especially younger people, Alzheimer's is just something old people get when their memory starts to go. The fact that it's a fatal disease - NOT part of the normal aging process, and deadly within ten years - tends to escape the casual references.
Ozzard Jun 9th 2010 3:38PM
I lost a grandmother to Alzheimers (not that that's what it said on the death certificate *sigh*). My father's showing some symptoms, and it's likely I'll be there too. I liked the title, for similar reasons to the above: you gotta laugh, or else you'll cry.
Gamer am I Jun 9th 2010 8:09AM
Two of the three characters I usually play have some form of passive self-healing: my druid has Improved Leader of the Pack, and my priest has Vampiric Embrace. This makes playing my shaman quite jarring because I need to, you know, push buttons to make him heal himself, and I forget that quite frequently and find myself wondering why his health is getting so low.
I can say with pride, though, that I have never jumped off of a cliff or dismounted to re-buff myself mid-air because I forgot that my alts don't have Swift Flight Form. I'm sure I will one of these days, but it hasn't happened yet (probably because I don't do it very frequently on my main).
Balmer Jun 9th 2010 9:31AM
I have Jumped off a cliff, forgetting I didn't have Swift Fligh Form... Luckily my Death Knight was wearing his Flexweave Underlay. :)
Luci Jun 9th 2010 9:47AM
@Balmer
I heart your avatar.
ambermist Jun 9th 2010 9:49AM
I frequently jump off of high places and die on my lock. Druid main, mage alt, and even pally bubble...guess what my warlock doesn't have?