The Daily Blues

People often ask if the blues, or Blizzard employees in general, ever tell guildies who they are in game. I know that a few of them have, but only if their eventual discovery is inevitable or if they really really trust the person. Otherwise, I've been told they keep it quite secret. Zarhym talks about it in a blue post in today's edition of The Daily Blues.
I started playing World of Warcraft because it's fun, not because I thought it was easy. For me, there is a significant difference between those two concepts. While the kind of fun that I have has changed and evolved over time as I play new classes and new content, I still really enjoy it. Some of the changes have required some adjustment, of course, but for me, that adds novelty.
Right now, there's a lot of push-me pull-you going on regarding Heroic Dungeon difficulty; some worry that instances are too difficult, while others fear that they'll be nerfed into mindlessness. It's my opinion that these opposing stances might be a bit premature because Cataclysm is still very, very new. I rather expect that dungeons will get easier. Not necessarily because they'll be altered, but because the tactics required to win will become common knowledge and the overall gear level of the players queuing will improve over time. For those fearing that the challenge will evaporate, raiding will, hopefully, prove to be a significant hurdle. Naturally, it's probable that those encounters will also seem relatively "easy" once players are fully geared and know the tactics backwards and forwards. By then, we hope to have new challenges ready.
Right now, there's a lot of push-me pull-you going on regarding Heroic Dungeon difficulty; some worry that instances are too difficult, while others fear that they'll be nerfed into mindlessness. It's my opinion that these opposing stances might be a bit premature because Cataclysm is still very, very new. I rather expect that dungeons will get easier. Not necessarily because they'll be altered, but because the tactics required to win will become common knowledge and the overall gear level of the players queuing will improve over time. For those fearing that the challenge will evaporate, raiding will, hopefully, prove to be a significant hurdle. Naturally, it's probable that those encounters will also seem relatively "easy" once players are fully geared and know the tactics backwards and forwards. By then, we hope to have new challenges ready.
My personal approach -- which is by no means canon -- is a healthy combination of "trial and error," "study online sites," and "hope someone else has been there before." While I prefer not to spoil the visual experience too much, if I'm about to take on more difficult content (like a new raid boss, for example), I'll sometimes watch encounter videos, too, just to make sure I'm as prepared as possible.
Trial and error is certainly my favorite method, though (provided that I've some base understanding of the encounter). I feel that I'm able to learn more by making mistakes, wiping, analyzing what went wrong, and then trying something new rather than simply walking into a dungeon and knowing all the mechanics outright. I can get a better feel for what I should be doing and, perhaps more importantly, what I shouldn't be doing -- which I think makes me a better player and a more groovy person all around.
Again, that's just my personal preference, and the idea of wiping more than once may not always mesh well with the other players I group with -- especially if they have a greater understanding of an encounter than I do. If that's the case and they're able to just tell me where to go and what to do, I'm happy to defer to their wisdom, even if that means I don't get to learn the fight the way I prefer. For me, running dungeons is all about working together, and -- hey! -- I can always go and wipe with my friends some other time if I'm really jonesing for a repair bill. :P
Trial and error is certainly my favorite method, though (provided that I've some base understanding of the encounter). I feel that I'm able to learn more by making mistakes, wiping, analyzing what went wrong, and then trying something new rather than simply walking into a dungeon and knowing all the mechanics outright. I can get a better feel for what I should be doing and, perhaps more importantly, what I shouldn't be doing -- which I think makes me a better player and a more groovy person all around.
Again, that's just my personal preference, and the idea of wiping more than once may not always mesh well with the other players I group with -- especially if they have a greater understanding of an encounter than I do. If that's the case and they're able to just tell me where to go and what to do, I'm happy to defer to their wisdom, even if that means I don't get to learn the fight the way I prefer. For me, running dungeons is all about working together, and -- hey! -- I can always go and wipe with my friends some other time if I'm really jonesing for a repair bill. :P
We don't post on our play accounts. If I want to give feedback to the developers about my play experience, I do the same thing I do when I'm compiling player feedback from the forums. I email them directly. And I wouldn't dare troll these forums and create more work for our moderators. ;)
But yes, we do play on normal accounts with standard character names. I've been playing five different characters since patch 4.0.3a launched, some on PvP realms and some on PvE realms.
Low-level: troll hunter, worgen druid, goblin shaman
80+: gnome warlock, undead death knight
But yes, we do play on normal accounts with standard character names. I've been playing five different characters since patch 4.0.3a launched, some on PvP realms and some on PvE realms.
Low-level: troll hunter, worgen druid, goblin shaman
80+: gnome warlock, undead death knight
Filed under: The Daily Blues






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Lumi Dec 20th 2010 9:17AM
Second!
...Wait what?
Valcore Dec 20th 2010 9:26AM
First! Yesss...WAIT, Wha?!
Matt Dec 20th 2010 6:24PM
I guess I understand why these comments were down-rated, but can you honestly say you didn't giggle a little?
Xano Dec 20th 2010 9:01PM
I uprated both, because they truly were the first two comments that made me laugh for once.
Asmor Dec 20th 2010 9:24AM
I think the cataclysm heroic dungeons are perfect right now, which makes me kind of sad. They were too difficult when I first hit 85 and started running them, but it seems like they're very, very quickly becoming easier, and I fear that soon they'll be more or less trivial.
I'm really enjoying all that we have to do with CC and such. My friend started tanking in wrath, and last night I had to tell him to wait for the rogue to sap and for me to freeze before he pulled. :)
The difficulty and requirement of CC, marking and coordination remind me of the fun parts of vanilla dungeons. I really enjoy 5-man content, and while raids are nice, I wish there was more end-game 5-man stuff to do.
Vogie Dec 20th 2010 9:37AM
You never know, they may blindside us with Magister's Terrace again...
Josin Dec 20th 2010 9:41AM
Agreed. I've been having a blast running the Heroics, reacclimating to CC like it was "back in the good ol' days of BC."
As a tank, it's like going back to my roots. Now if the random Dungeon Finder would stop sending me to H-Grim Batol and H-Lost City of the Tol'vir... I'd really like to see some of the other dungeons!
Shadowwind Dec 20th 2010 10:31AM
I play a shaman, which means I had no CC until the beginning of Wrath...which meant I never got to use my shiny new ability. (It also means I never learned the ins and out of CCing, either, so I'm having to pick that up as I go.) Let's just say that atm I'm having a blast CCing everything the tank will let me get away with!
On a related note for my fellow shamans, if you're having issues with the tank or AOE dps accidentally breaking Hex/Bind, we now have a TAUNT (!) which means that we can throw a quick Rockbiter on our weapon, cast Unleash Elements on the mob we want to CC (Unleash + Rockbiter = mob taunt), wait a second or two for the mob to get near us, and THEN hit Hex/Bind. Far less chance of CC getting broken (at least if you have a tank who likes to charge in instead of pull). To save on tank heart attacks, it would probably be a good idea to let the tank know in advance about this technique!
Robert Staszek Dec 20th 2010 12:28PM
I totally agree. I play an Elemental Shaman and I absolutely love being called upon for my Hex and Bind Elemental whenever the need arises. The Dungeon difficulty is perfect in my eyes. All the people bitching and complaining about the difficulty are the ones who can't get down the coordination and mechanics of the fight and should be playing "Hello Kitty: Island Adventures" anyways. Suck it up, step your GAME up, or quit. You're making my random queues too long by being a douche.
Tokhand Dec 20th 2010 1:34PM
@Shadowwind
I'm having issues with this sort of situation, but with a mage. Specifically, it is tanks not waiting for the sap/poly/hex/freeze trap/bind/whatever. But, without a cool special thing - as it really is a cool "oh-no" button - I'm left with the choice of focusing on what the tank and other DPS are on or trying to peel it off the only way a mage can- by setting it fire and hoping it cares, and by when it cares the rest of the groups' target is gone or my turtle-to-be is close enough to dead that it doesn't matter (Always Polymorph: Turtle. Always, unless they make a new one that lets me turn you into a gnome).
That said, tanks and the rest of the groups have been incredibly forgiving, even learning what happened, apologizing, and everyone doing it right next time, as even I could have done a PoM-Poly. This is not Wrath of the Nerd-Rage anymore.
silentk Dec 20th 2010 10:42PM
@ Robert.
Yes. In a nicer fashion, I agree.
Too many players (not saying all, don't troll me yet) are comfortable with a standard of play that ignores simple mechanics, stands in fire, and refuses to interrupt. I don't see a lot of "I want to be the best *insert class here* I can be." on my realm, or in my pugs.
IMHO - The game is actually MORE fun when you can use all your abilities and melt through a target's life pool the right way. (Anyone tried hexing or sheeping the bottom guy in one of those little Pygmy stacks in Tol'Vir? - It's amazing!)
silentk Dec 20th 2010 10:48PM
I should also add that this morning I met a rogue and a shaman (completely different realms) that both did an amazing job at their CC, learned from the group's mistakes on the bosses, and had a fun time of it. We still wiped a couple times, but everyone enjoyed themselves.
There is still good in the Dungeon Finder!!
Noyou Dec 20th 2010 9:28AM
I prefer trial and error for new dungeons too. I have studied a little and I know I might not be in popular opinion at all but when you have to "study" to learn part of a game something in that equation seems wrong. That being said I love reading about general class tactics and tips/theories on gear/glyphs/enchants. Bottom line is it still has to be fun. I am thankful for sites like this and wowhead where you can go and get some quick info to make sure you aren't being totally bad ;)
Snuzzle Dec 20th 2010 3:42PM
Same, really. There's few things in the game I find more electrifying than going into new boss fight and having absolutely no clue what's going to happen. It really forces you to stay on your toes and think on the fly. Better save my Swipe in case there's adds. Oh crap he heals? Interrupts stat! WTF just hit me for 75k?!
Ah, times like that sadly only come at the beginning of an expansion. But I relish them.
clok1966 Dec 20th 2010 10:06AM
I find it amazing, even the hired help doesnt play the dungeons fresh, they go watch um and then play them. I miss MMORPG (no names, dont want a E-penis contest on MMORPG's) that had encounters that people didnt figure out for months, not hours and you heard about it in game, not watched it on youtube... I still say WoW's bigget flaw is its player base, its all people who want everything spoon feed to them. I play Randoms and if you wipe once (sadly its somewhat often with all the people who cant play 15 minutes without a AFK or watching TV and playing) they drop leaving the rest of the group hanging. Thankfully with the new Expansion (and city rep) Randoms seem to be somewhat easy to get again, even if you play a DPS class.
Still like WoW... :)
Artificial Dec 20th 2010 5:57PM
Personally, I think they need to up the penalty for dropping group. Around seven days would be appropriate, I think, if only there were some way to distinguish intentional drops from bad intertubes. Alas, there isn't. My other suggestion would be to dispatch hit teams to the homes of people who intentionally drop, but I suspect that's even less feasible... ;)
The Lesser Evil Dec 20th 2010 10:21AM
Last week I spent hours in Heroic Throne of the Tides, simply because none of those present had any idea what we were up against on heroic mode. In the end, by trying different tactics, looking up video's and discussing in party chat what went wrong and what could be improved, we cleared it and it was incredibly rewarding.
Of course, I've also butted my head against the (then-impossible) third boss of Blackrock Caverns for about five hours before we all just decided to give up. The next time we ran it, the tank (guildie) had learned to handle the boss and his armor debuff properly, and it was completely doable (without the challenge vanishing completely).
The best way to run these will always be with guildies, by the way. Last night we had tactics like "Turn and run when the tank dies and head for the exit" and the more elaborate "Have the Goblin Warlock rocket-jump into that pack of trash, then turn and run when the tank dies and head for the exit", and while they were expected failures, we had so much fun failing.
Saeadame Dec 20th 2010 10:44AM
Urg that third boss in BRC ;_;. We did pretty much the same thing (butting our heads against it, I mean). I mean, it seems pretty logical to do it the same as regular, kind of, but it's actually pretty different.
(cutaia) Dec 20th 2010 10:53AM
Haha...the first heroic my guildies and I got was Throne. We thought, "Oh, good...this dungeon will probably be easy."
BRC was the first one we successfully completed as a guild group, but even that didn't happen until last night. And we left Beauty alone, too...
All and all, I'm having a damned blast.
Kuro Dec 20th 2010 12:45PM
Thankfully, third boss in BRC is skippable. I've never downed him -- only heroic boss I haven't beaten yet. (Nothing especially great on his loot table either.)
Beauty is super easy if you have the right classes -- all of her pups are CC'able. Hibernate, Hex, Sheep + tremor totems. It was too easy -- felt like cheating.
Then again, I've gotten that Resto Shammy geared out in full 346 gear now and I've moved onto my "main" holy paladin. I'm missing the CC and interrupt now that he's Holy Paladin's nearing heroic-level content.