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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Daily Quest: Call to Arms
by Anne Stickney 
Apr 11th 2011 at 4:00PM
WoW Insider's on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere.
Though nowhere near as controversial as the Real ID fiasco of last year, people are still talking extensively about the new Call to Arms feature unveiled last week. Some are for the change, some are against the change, many think the change isn't going to do a bit of good in the end. Myself, I rarely queue for randoms, so it's not really likely to affect me directly either way -- but the blogosphere sure is hopping over this particular topic. Let's see what they've got to say, shall we?
Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment, and you may see it here tomorrow! Be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW-related sites.
- Big Bear Butt points out there's a real reason why tanks aren't queueing, and it isn't a lack of decent rewards.
- Primal Precision thinks people really ought to just suck it up and accept the new system.
- Blessing of Kings discusses the nature of the tank shortage.
- Troll Racials are Overpowered points out the flaws of introducting a rating system to the dungeon finder and points out the rating system of years past.
Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment, and you may see it here tomorrow! Be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW-related sites.
Filed under: The Daily Quest
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
The Brain Apr 11th 2011 8:37PM
I like tanking. I don't belong to a big guild, so I PUG tank all the time and I don't dislike it. I may be tooting my own horn, but I feel I'm good enough to compensate poor player skills elsewhere in the group, so I don't mind poor players and in fact I like helping people get good at the dungeons. I also don't mind dying. It's just gold, and gold flows in Cata. So when when I'm gearing up my tanks, I PUG and queue LFD over and over again, and why not because of the insta-queues?
The problem is that once I've geared up, there's little incentive to queue anymore. I PUG for my daily valor, I tank for friends and guildies for their dailies, but once that's done, there's nothing more for me to gain until the next day. It's time to move on to my healers and DPSes for their dailies because I know I'll have to spend a lot of time on them waiting in queues.
So will this additional loot encourage me to queue more? No, because I don't need gold, gems, pets or mounts. Personally, I want gear to improve my tanking. If they allowed valor points for each Call to Arms LFD completion, I'd be queuing all day. Or at least until I've maxed out on valor gear.
DragonFireKai Apr 11th 2011 9:22PM
What I find priceless is the fact that the last thing people got up in arms about, realid, would have actually done quite a bit to fix the issue people are claiming CtA is merely a bandaid for. Take away their anonymity, and a lot of the people cause conflict in groups would be too afraid to let their true colors fly. Irony at it's finest.
Although what I find most entertaining is that this, and the majority of the problems in heroic dungeon groups can be traced back to a single root source. Skipping bosses, ditching dungeons, the inordinately long DPS queues, the impersonal groups that never see each other again, all stem from the fact that random dungeons give valor points. It forces an inordinate amount of players who would otherwise not be running dungeons to queue for their daily inconvinence. If they are removed from the equation, then those who need gear from heroics, need JP, or simply choose to run 5 mans as their endgame activity don't have to slow down raiders who only care about VP. The total population in the LFD would plummet across the board, rendering queue times closer to the 10-15 min wait times seen in leveling instances during the post release push. Bosses won't be skipped because everyone in the group is there for loot or for JP. Instances will remain challenging, as there will no longer be groups of DPS in greens afking while being towed in the wake of a tank who outgears the content by 50+ item levels, who is just looking fo his two frost badges.
Al Apr 12th 2011 1:38AM
A forum and friend only set-up would have ended Random Dungeon asshattery? I don't really see how, but I agree with your second point.
Comito Apr 11th 2011 11:07PM
Interesting list of reading material, about the new "Call to Arms" that will be in place in the future. A lot of mixed emotions, postive and negative, with a lot of great ideas of possible improvement to it.
Firstly, its a start I suppose for experimentation as mention in one of the blogs above, we've gotta start somewhere to solve our problem of lack of tanks/healers for the dear DPS.
Lets just see how this rolls out, it'll either cause an initial up-roar to start with, but eventually die down with people accepting whats going on and it maybe taking effect in lowering DPS queue times. Or just blatantly mess up and blizzard withdraws the idea..... though I haven't met Blizz making too many wrong moves so far!
acthomas2401 Apr 12th 2011 4:16AM
I think the problem isnt helped by low level dungeons. Im levelling a mage in fire spec atm and doing lots of randoms. Im struck by how ridiculously easy they are, most are just a race to the goodie bag. TBH this gets a little dull, and while it may be teaching the tank to keep aggro, dps don't need to learn any skill except how to nuke as quickly as possible.
When i switch to my main priest healer for a random heroic i often see the same behaviour from the dps as i see in outland dungeons, with accompanying abuse of the tank and healer. Some people just have an expectation that instances are there to be sprinted through regardless and i believe the levelling process is fueling this.
Shopo100 Apr 12th 2011 6:11AM
Yes! Yes! So very much yes!
I hate low levels dungeons because they are so faceroll-boring!!!
Ugh, healing any content pre-level 80 is so boring because the tanks all take so little damage and the bosses die before doing any damage to the group.
Blizzard - make less trash in low level dungeons, but make them harder! That way they take about the same time.
Baba Apr 12th 2011 5:18AM
To be perfectly frank - dpsers shouldn't whine about us tanks getting bonuses for pugging dungeons, you're the judgemental little gits who are ten-a-penny and can't be asked to develop your own tank spec (here's looking at all you paladins, warrior, druids and DKs who've never gone tanky). Tanks have the most responsibility. Tanking doesn't allow us to kick back and simply hit whatever's in front of us. Tanks deserve rewards for allowing the rest of you to have your carefree dungeon lives.
Personally I think the rewards are stupid and won't encourage me to pug more than I already do (1 random a day and possibly a guild heroic run after) since if I want a mount I'll farm it exclusively in it's relevant fricking dungeon - hopefully this'll be changed up a bit.
@Dps, stop whining about "oohh tanks get better stuff because Blizzard loves them", get off your arse, roll/spec a tank and earn your rewards.
Neyssa Apr 12th 2011 7:11AM
Some of my ideas, and my solutions as well:
1) Blizzard's solution
The goodie bag is really irrelevant: just as some blog said, you either give mounts/pets a very low drop rate (and then I dont want to try to get it) or higher drop rate (and you would stop queueing as soon as you get it).
2) Not properly geared tanks for goodie bag
Call to Arms: Tank will only increase the number of tanks not ready for HC's (they get the ilvl from PVP gear anyways). Somehow LFG should check your TANKING gear. They will only queue for the bag and the insta queue, not being able to finish the dungeon, and the rest of the party is stuck there until a new tank comes.
My solution: this new call to arms should add a buff to that player, like Luck of the Draw. Extra hp, avoidance. It would help poorly geared tanks get into trying it. LFG tank queue should not be filled with epixxx tanks coming for pet/mount, but with fresh people WANTING to tank. Some extra buff would help them not to be afraid.
3) Looting problem
If you queue as dps, you should not need roll on tank gear if the tank needs it. Its ugly. It should be forbidden like armor type. But you cannot queue as a tank until you have the gear.
My solution: I dont know if its possible already, but provide good, affordable crafted gear to start tanking (FOR EVERY SLOT). I remember my druid loving Heavy Clefthoof set in BC. I know BS can already do all kind of stuff, but dont forget to add trinkets, weapons, relics. It would also be a nice income to those professions. It should be somewhere in the range of 5000 g to get good crafted gear, which would be sufficient for a HC. Everyone can farm that much money for insta-queueing.
!4) DPS are stupid/ agressive / not paying attention
First of all thats not really true, morons are morons in any role. However, about stupid dps standing in fire:
why does 'fire' has to decrease your health (which is then the job of the healer to fill up)? Make 'fire' (or any ugly thing you should not stand in) stun you, reduce your energy bar to zero, give you an undispellable debuff for minus attack power, spell power, whatever. Make 'fire' hurt your personal dps, not your hp.
Let me know what you guys think :)
thej6m Apr 12th 2011 9:18AM
Umm has anyone discussed that this may be a problem with the class homogenization that has taken place since WOTLK? If every class could only fill one role well this problem wouldn't be nearly as extreme. Either that or give the dps classes a heal/tank spec. Maybe this is just my sour grapes but the appeal of the classic D&D game play that the modern mmo is based on is everyone having a specific role and working as a team. Pure dps classes in wow have effectively been marginalized and its created a slew of problems.
Chris Apr 12th 2011 12:16PM
I've decided to start up a blog to talk about gaming - what put me over the edge was this LFD discussion.
My thoughts are here:
http://casualgamer4.blogspot.com/2011/04/solving-lfd-problem-in-world-of.html