Lovely Ceniza...

Maybe someday, when she's level 185, Ceniza will get the epic staff...

If Ceniza was getting a report card, it would say, "Charming student, very entertaining and quick of wit; however, not performing to potential." She would be the one in the all-girls school who sneaks out during detention for a pack of smokes and cherry pop. She is wasting her talents, that is for sure.

So, during an LFR run, another fire mage was once again kicking her tail. Did she dare look at his gear? Sure...he probably had all 410 etc., so that must be the reason.

Nope. Not even close. A few LFR pieces, and even a 359 trinket. Ceniza: This is your reality check.

Let's go about this the smart way, shall we? I mean, mages have a lot of intelligence, so put your nose in a book instead of a Marlboro for a change, girl!*

For this little fire girl, I looked over the other player on the armory, and studied recount thoroughly. I noticed on his pet abilities (i.e. mirror images) they were casting frostfire --mmmm...so this made me look hard at my glyphs and that spell. Bottom line, I changed some glyphs and spells around, and did much better during another LFR run, and a reforge, too. I'm still no where close to what I can and should be doing on that mage, so perhaps like a bad golf swing, I need to think about my rotation. In other words, the effort and study is not complete yet.

Many players are purists about using add-ons, or not, in game. I totally get that. From a game designer's perspective, they made the game and created a leveled playing field. Then come along the third-party developers making add-ons and bells and whistles and now the carefully configured gamers' world is customized. There have been many times add-ons have caused me much grief and play disasters. Some of that sh*t isn't street legal.

The case for use of add-ons is clear though: if you want information, data, at your own fingertips, and more control over the big plays of the game, then they are a must. Ones like DBM and Recount/Skada are some of what I consider non-negotiable. Data informs instruction. That's it. If you don't know where you stand, you will stand in fire, metaphorically and game-literally.

Recently I had a few leet players look over my shoulder and were horrified at GTFO. I took it off. It served its training purposes for me, and was starting to become a crutch. With anything, perhaps, it is that flexible thinking, the willingness to try something new, that keeps any learning experience fun. And hate to break it to you guys, but this is an educational game. I know you were ready to meet Ceniza in the girls' room for smokes and gossip, and that's cool, too.

This quote has been on my mind a lot lately:

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire:

Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien.

• The best is the enemy of the good.

• "La Bégueule" (Contes, 1772)

• Variant translations:
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
The better is the enemy of the good.

*No, I do not condone smoking in real life. Let me play out a Hollywood smoking stereotype, please.

Theme Song: Lovely Rita (Meter Maid) The Beatles