Posts with tag blind

BoK brings up something I've thought a little bit about lately: their guild will occasionally run an encounter "blind," which means they'll go in without researching or learning any boss strategy ahead of time. This is generally something that only the highest-level guilds often do, and even then only on the PTR -- by the time bosses hit the live realms, their abilities are usually posted online somewhere. But some guilds enjoy a challenge, and doing a raid without knowing what's coming definitely keeps you on your toes. A lot of raiders think that's actually the "right" way to do it -- Blizzard's game doesn't come with strategies installed, so if the designers created the fight correctly, it should be clear, just from watching buffs and boss animations, what to do during a fight.

So today's query is: have you ever run something blind, or would you like to? I haven't run any raids blind -- my guild raids so little already that when we do, it's best to be fully prepared. But I did run the new 5-mans blind on the PTR, and it was an interesting experience. You really have to stay alert and try to analyze the fight as you're doing it, look for buffs and balances and try to position yourself as best you can, all while running your usual casts and abilities. It's a fun challenge, though as the fight gets tougher, it's probably less fun -- we were running with premades on five-mans, and I doubt a high-level raid would be as easy on us. Still, some of you must do it regularly, or at least be interested in going blind. What say you?

Uber-popular (and uber-cool) WoW machinima The Craft of War: BLIND has spurred more tipline emails than we can count, even after posting about it a second time, and rightfully so. Percula's work on the video was incredibly impressive and it was a joy to watch.

The bad news is that Percula recently updated the video's YouTube description to let everyone know that no, a sequel is not planned for the video. He says that he was laid off earlier in the year and had to quit WoW to focus on finding a job, and in the time since, his interest in the game has waned. That's the bad news!

The good news is that he still plans on making other animated videos, just likely not WoW-based ones. And for those interested in seeing what he's come up with between the release of BLIND and now, he says to look for upcoming Id Software releases, which he had a hand in.

Too bad about the discontinuation of the series, but at least this means that we won't get a hojillion tipline emails for BLIND II, right? A boy can dream.

Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the rogue class. This week, we talk about leveling a rogue from level 11 to level 50.

As we discussed in the comments last week, rogues play fairly simple for the first several levels. Without any real finesse techniques and the simplest of opponents, there's no reason to do anything besides run up to an enemy and just start swinging away. It may not seem very rogue-like in nature, but that is because low level rogues are still learning the tricks of the trade.

The trip from 11 to 50 will be much of the same. We receive a few awesome new abilities that help us in a few situations, but until level 50, we don't really see any of rogue that you can expect to play at 80. Luckily, at 50, you get a completely new skill set that will rewrite how you play your rogue. With the mount changes to allow low levels to ride epic mounts, you'll be jetting around and having a great time questing and finding enemies to slay. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, you've still need to get to level 50 first, and so read on for full details on the process.

It's been a few months since we've posted Craft of War: BLIND, which means we're due to start getting tips about it soon. To try and help head that off, I figured we'd take a moment today and re-watch one of the finest World of Warcraft movies so far. (That being, Craft of War: BLIND by Percula, of course.) While I love the embedded player, if this is your first time seeing BLIND, make sure to watch it full screen.

Some time ago, BLIND's original page had been removed by Vimeo, who had mistaken the animation for being mere "gameplay footage." I'm not exactly sure what game has this kind of footage, but I'd sure as hell like to know. After some wrangling, and then an apology on Vimeo's part, Percula was able to get his smash-hit video back up on the site. (In the mean time, other sites still featured BLIND, so it's not like the film disappeared from the face of the planet.)

BLIND has had an incredible impact on the fanbase. While machinima fans are already familiar with what authors like Soosdon and Selserene can do with the game models and animation tools, the incredible work performed by Percula brought in brand new fans to the hobby. It's worth taking a second look, and enjoying BLIND all over again.

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Machinima's a pretty big topic. Depending on who you talk to, "machinima" could include story-based movies, PvP footage, boss kills, music videos, and even videography of altered in-game landscapes. There are uncounted thousands of videos about World of Warcraft roaming the internet, so it can be very difficult to know where to start.

In honor of the ticket queue for BlizzCon 2009, Moviewatch presents seven machinima movies and machinimators you should know. Certainly, these aren't the only 7 movies or authors you should know, but they do include some of the most popular staples of the art. If you find yourself chatting it up with a machinima enthusiast around the BlizzCon water cooler, you can probably be certain they've seen these shows.

We went for variety in this selection, choosing videos with different styles and subjects. They certainly aren't listed in "countdown to the best" format, since trying to rate these videos like that would be dang near impossible. Instead, they are simply listed alphabetically, according to the creator of the movie.

Check out the selection behind the cut.

Everyone and their mother has seen Blind by Percula, right? If not, go ahead and watch it above. Better yet, go to the actual vimeo page and watch it in high definition. Then come back here for more Blind-goodness.

Blindly satisfied? Great! It's been the #1 search topic on WoW Insider for a bit, so I know people must love it.

The only complaint that folks have about the video is the sound can be rather rough at times. I have to admit that I think this as well (to some extent), however it's nothing that really detracts from the video itself. Further, it's interesting to note that the audio distortion is present in the original song Percula uses as well, which leads me to believe it was an artistic choice of the artist.

But no matter what you think of the audio quality, I haven't ran into anyone who thinks the song doesn't match up beautifully with the animation and story itself.

But therein lies the question – what are the lyrics? The song playing is "Hide & Seek" by Namie Amuro. I wasn't familiar with her, so after some Wikipediaing, I learned that she is a Japanese singer that was, and to a large extent still is, quite popular.

Take a look after the break for more about the song "Hide & Seek," including the lyrics.

Reader comments – ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have been chatting about in the back room over the past week.

You'd have to be "Blind" not to have seen the machinima everyone's been talking about this week. We posted about it not once, not twice but three times – and we're still receiving chastising notes to get busy and run it. (Come on, folks, read the blog!)

So what's all the fuss about? This machinima has garnered rave reviews (and even offers to have "man2man babies") from virtually everyone corner – although some viewers aren't fans of the music selection. "I disagree with many of the others about the music choice," observed Fawkes, who took up a midstream position between hotly contested views. "While these weren't my favorite genres to listen to, I must say I found the 'Hide and Seek' song a playful match with the action scenes. My advice to Percula would be to take their complaints into consideration, but still take this your own way."

But we didn't hear only from WI readers. Machinima rock star Baron Soosdon and "Blind" creator Percula himself weighed in.

Have you seen Blind yet? Seriously. It's on the site, I swear. It's so good we posted it twice, even. Well, I guess three times, now. And seriously, guys. The music is fine. Awesome even. This is probably the most dynamic, well plotted, well choreographed WoW Movie to come across the desk here at WoW Insider, so even if you don't watch WoW videos, you are going to want to give this one a watch. Also, I just realized that the title "Blind" refers to the rogue skill, so that's cool too.

If you can't find the time to watch it now, you'll have time in a little bit when the rolling restarts start. They start at 5 AM Pacific for American servers, 10 AM Pacific for the Oceanic servers. And once you're finished watching that and you pop your jaw back into place, try some of these articles:

If you didn't catch the Craft of War: BLIND when we featured it on Friday, now's a good time to check it out above. The release of this machinima has hit several WoW news and comment sites like a storm, even being featured on the front page of MMOChampion. But the real news is that Percula, the creator and animator of the movie, has issued a little more information about who he is, and where he comes from.

According to Percula, the future of BLIND is somewhat uncertain. This is because he did work for a game studio, but was laid off a few months ago. The high praise he's received makes it more likely that he's going to do a sequel, probably called something along the lines of Execute or Counterspell. Percula does say that he's thankful for both the positive feedback and constructive criticism he's seen since the release of BLIND. Although, as you might expect, he's having trouble keeping up with sheer volume of emails.

It's heartening to see a newcomer to the machinima scene make such a big breakthrough. I'd like to thank all the folks who commented on Friday's post, since Percula definitely saw that feedback. Here's hoping that we'll see a new release soon!

Let's take a small break from the holiday festivities for something absolutely spectacular. Percula posted The Craft of War: BLIND on Vimeo, claiming that it's only the second creative work he's ever publically shared. I can't imagine what reams of work he must have privately, because I found this movie to be incredibly astounding.

There's no dialogue, but BLIND didn't need it. You can imagine a storyline, filling in the holes from the tropes and memes as you watch an expert assassin working her way through Stormwind. This is some of the best action footage I've seen from WoW graphics. The movements are believable and complex, the fights are well paced. Percula says if the response is postiive enough, he'll follow-up with more. I can't imagine anything but postive response to this movie. Even the soundtrack was spot-on, expertly pacing the aerobatics and ninja skills. Definitely take the time to check out BLIND, and let Percula know what you think. We'd really like to see more.

If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.

Previously on Moviewatch ...

Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.

As a raid leader, you say it over and over again: read the strat, read the strat, read the strat. More than anything else, reading the strategy for beating a particular boss (or watching a video of it) is the most important part of progressing through new encounters. These strategies are readily available once the hardcore guilds have figured them out, which they typically do before the boss even makes it from the beta server to live.

But what if your raid leader didn't want you to read the strat? What if he or she wanted you to learn it the way the beta guilds do? This week, one reader is faced with this situation.

Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the Rogue class. This week, we'll be talking about one of the most important things a Rogue can do that's not called 'DPS'.

In WoW, we don't get to decide much about our characters. A few pre-built faces and skin tone are about as deep as the customization options run. Gear is typically released in discrete tiers, and you'll find that most Rogues use mostly the same leather sets. Talents are similarly stale: there are rarely true choices in our trees. Choosing one talent over another either cuts your damage or cuts your usefulness, and for most Rogues the decision is easy.

Most people assume one Rogue is as good as another. Take two arbitrary Rogues, Gankenstein and Istabbedu. They're both undead Rogues: their chins are falling off. They're both sporting full Season 2 gear with a few PvE epics sprinkled in. And they both traded in their Slicers for Shankers & Shivs this patch; all aboard the Mutilate train. So what separates these two from each other, and from the other 9,000 Rogues on any given server?

Relmstein has an interesting commentary up about crowd control in World of Warcraft, and how balancing it is imperative to get PvP done right. It used to be that fear was the main problem, but now that fear has been nerfed and balanced with so many other abilities, it's just crowd control in general that has become the main issue. Instead of Warlocks and Mages ruling the roost with Fear and Polymorph, almost every class has picked up their own little methods of stopping other players in their tracks momentarily.

And thus, says Relmstein, the quicker abilities are becoming more powerful. Blind and Cyclone are the two main abilities he mentions, and both are extremely powerful in that they can be used by Rogues and Druids in conjunction with their escape abilities. And on the other side of the equation, Relmstein says that burst damage is king-- doing serious damage in between those moments where crowd control can stop you is critical. And that's why Warriors (and to an extent, he says, Hunters) are doing so well in the Arenas. When you can break out a ton of damage and debuffs during someone else's global cooldown, you're going to go a long way towards winning.

And it'll be interesting to see where this all goes in the future. With the recent changes to spell haste and the curving up of gear in the expansion, things are just going to get faster and faster-- players are going to be able to push out damage quicker and quicker, and crowd control will be more and more powerful.

Rogues got a good bit of blue response on the forums today. First, player Snlper of Ysondre server wanted to know why Vanish and Blind still required reagents. The Fadeleaf component to make Blinding Powder is particularly annoying to her as it has to be gathered with Herbalism, pickpocketed or bought at inflated price on the Auction House. Community Manager Drysc thought the complaint holds merit and will hopefully bring it to the attention of the devs.

Next, player Istarian of Lightninghoof suggested a new talent/skill that shifts some unused combo points to the next target when the current target dies before the rogue can pull off a finishing move. This is how he worded it:

Redirect Focus
Passive
When your target dies with 3/4/5 combo points on it, your next attacked hostile target within 15 seconds gains 1/2/3 of those combo points. (This effect will only be active if you have at least 3 combo points on your target).

CM Drysc responded that the dev team has considered ways to deal with unused combo points, but hasn't decided on anything yet.

Finally, this last bit of blue lovin' is a clarification on the melee haste nerf and the impact on casters. Drysc explained that haste and attack power were of similar value to melee players at their base level, but +haste was scaling much faster than +attack power when a player loaded up on it through equipment. Blizzard is bringing down the benefit of +haste for all classes. But then they noticed it impacted casters too much and now they are bringing back up (all the way? a little bit? just for casters? that wasn't clear.)

I can't really say I'm surprised to the response to the question Calipsa asked. But what I am surprised by is why she asked it: she wanted to know if sending group or even guild invites without whispering first was rude, and players responded overwhelmingly that it was. Why did she think it wasn't? There's almost nothing more confusing than receiving a random group or guild invite, and considering that even spammers are using group invites to spam, it's just not something you want to do.

Now maybe she meant just whether a whisper was necessary or not. If a player is marked LFG, or they're a guildie you know is available for a group, or they've just shouted out "LFG for group quests" in a chat channel, then I'd say they're fair game for a ninja invite. You don't need to actually whisper them and confirm everything you do (well, it's still nice to do, but in those cases, I'd say you don't need to).

But yes, invites out of the blue are a no-no. Rude, maybe, annoying, yes, and usually a waste of time for both parties.