Put the hammer down...and PvP Debate Team

Stumbled upon this blog, The Crimson Hammer, through Navi's blog, and this post on Mogu'shan Vaults.  Even though I am semi-retired from raiding (although at the casual level I was raiding, that is like saying I am semi-retired from being a millionaire - I never really was one, so yeah...) I still find myself drawn to raid strategies and good reads. Some of the Youtube videos are a bit squirrelly for me; the music is awful, and the voice overs sometimes either too smug or too panicky, but they are a good resource, too. But the well-written blog post: now that is something I can get behind. I have always been a fan of Navi's, I'll call them "Captain's Logs," reports of what went down in a raid - they are fast-paced reads, just like a raid, and provide subtext and insight.

One of my Azerothian buddies, who has been a great restoration shaman healer mentor to me over the years, leveled his own shaman into LFR, and in his usual style, rocked the house in healing. I am posting this link for him too, because like me, (although he is a "real" raider as opposed to my poser status) we were both laughing about whether or not we cared about this sort of thing. Well, I do and don't - I'm still interested, and I like to know stuff. I just do. And what's cool about him is he understands my real life demands, and still thinks I'm pretty smart even though I may ask a dumb question from time to time. Like this one:

My next research project is to find out answers about PvP gear verus PvE gear. Last I remember reading, there were supposedly going to be some changes so that if one was wearning PvP to a PvE event, it wouldn't be such a big, fat deal. I'm still hearing players complain of "he's wearing all PvP gear!" and am curious about this shift. Did it change? Did it not? I understand the stat of resiliience, always have. The way I had it analogized for me in the past was gear stats were like a bucket--you had to make sure you filled your bucket with the right things. Resilience used to take up a lot of volume in your bucket. Okay. Simple enough. But now what? Is resilience just an extra layer of protection, Mormon underwear if you will, when one is doing PvP? Or is it the same, where if you're caught wearing PvP gear to a PvE ball, you will be stripped not only of your glass slippers, but risk being heckled?

/shrug

Not sure I care this much. Nerd Judges, what say you?


Postscript: By the by, this is my 999th published post.

You gotta fight. For your right. To PVP-ay!

Great new PvP blog: http://pvpzen.tumblr.com/

Please check it out when you have time!

Where's the money, Lebowski?

So, just logged in for my quick dailies before I go about my business, and sure enough, Trade Chat was already alive with nerd-rage over no honor points, as were promised (okay, rumored?). Check my bags, too, and sure enough, no 4000HP's.

I'm sure those Honor Points are around here somewhere. I'll just go find an ATM.

 I am mad, bro. Say what you will about national socialism, but at least it's an ethos.

umadbro?

There was a recent debacle with the Season 9 versus Season 10 PvP gear, in the way that you save and work for that "perfect" pair of Jimmy Choo shoes and the next day they're out of style. Okay, I've never spent more than $125 on  pair of shoes, but I can imagine (and witnessed) the anger and frustration many of my PvP player buddies felt when that injury to insult happened: imagine grinding all weekend for the Call of Duty Alterac Valley Season 9 honor points, and then not 48 hours later, having it all be 10% "less" for the Season 10 gear. The nerd rage was most unattractive, let me assure you. Apparently, the new Season 10 gear was called exactly the same names, and had a 10% improvement factor. It was like a clearance sale that was a bit of a bait-and-switch: great vicious gear for honor points, not conquest points, and the Season 10 went for the same cost as the Season 9 gear. So, players busted their a**es for ostensibly worse gear. PvP players could have hung onto their points, worked on something they would have liked to grind through, and get Season 10 gear.

Perhaps I am not explaining this well; suffice it to say, it pissed a lot of players off.

(Although, when I asked Senor if it upset him I could hear him laughing in the message back, as in no, whatever...another reason why I value his friendship--keeps things fun.)

Well, from what I understand, (and I am planning on trying to verify this as soon as my PvP player friends return from the front lines), is that Blizzard actually had a rare mea culpa moment, and they are giving 4000 honor points to players who ground their way through the Season 9 gear. This may just be a rumor, but I will verify it as soon as the communication lines are back up. These 4000 points will be above the cap, and will happen Tuesday.

I won't hold my breath. But I might for the next wish:

My next mission is to get Blizzard to give me more closet space for my shoes. Think about it: after four versions, from Vanilla to Cataclysm, and all the patches in between, many players not only have multiple sets of gear for different needs, but the sentimental factor cannot be ignored. I personally have a DPS set, a PvP DPS set, PvE heal set, and PvP heal set. And my letters. And my tarnished crown. I have pared down as much as I can, and am resentful of the time I have to go back and forth with alts for bank space, etc.

Does anyone have the name of a good contractor in Azeroth who can build this addition for me?

Postcript: He is the architect of PvP excellence: Need more answers? Look here, please: http://cynwise.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/ilvl-365-vicious-gear-and-the-phantom-tier/


Some links: http://www.arenajunkies.com/
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/184245/pvp-season-10-begins

Medic.

Having an amazing healer along for the battleground ride makes all the difference.

Thank you, my friend.

Awfully glad to see this big Marine,*even if the Marine has purple braids and face tattoos. Semper fi, elf girl.

Luperci on furlough.

Maybe that's where Matty needs to get some healing experience, in battlegrounds: change into some camo, and get out there and take care of business. Our guild needed a healer tonight, and Matty slunk into the shadows and did not answer that call to duty. She was 4-Fand AWOL tonight. To be fair, there was some alt-aholism at play, too. Luperci has a pretty strong desire to be a good tank, and had some beaches to storm.

*Theme song: Camouflage/Stan Ridgeway

An army of one.

Contemplating on last night's play a bit more, I talked to my favorite cross-dressing rogue who plays a lot of battlegrounds. He currently also has a draenei paladin who has decked herself out in all purple PvP gear, and generally focuses on battlegrounds. Since I lost every battle I did last night (did we win the war, though? Well, if the goal was to have fun, then yes), I wanted to know his thoughts on how much one player affects change in outcome. His analysis of the different battlegrounds and their strategies was insightful: depending on size and teamwork, it can make or break the results. Ultimately, though, if it's a war of attrition, meaning it comes down to having to take out two players for every one of yours, or working as a cohesive group to down one big boss, such as Alterac Valley, it's important to practice, train, and think. PvP is unique in philosophy and style. He said if he could change one thing, though, about the culture of PvP, it would be a banishment of all the battle rage during a loss. I have been in good, solid battlegrounds where a group leader will issue calm, clear directions. True steely-eyed missile men. One can hardly imagine the Tom Hank's character in Saving Private Ryan yelling at the soliders during the invasion, "NOOOOOOOB!" Most of the time, and this is sad to say, players are doing the best they can in the chaos. It's not pretty, it's not organized, and good elves die. When he spent some time on the Horde side, he said the rage was just as emphatic and pervasive. A lot of blame gets thrown around, and not much damage. Sticks and stones break those bones, folks, and nerd rage doesn't touch them.

I did have a lot of fun yesterday, but I know my friend and I would have had a lot more fun if we had won a few. It's not like we didn't try. He even got into the relic room in Strand of the Ancients: and that event is what sparked the conversation with the rogue: can one player affect the outcome of a battleground? Like a good sports team, the answer is "no." It has to be a concentrated, or somewhat coordinated effort; but even if the group does everything right, the other team may have a slight advantage when the buzzer rings. There will be a winner, and there will be a loser. Nerd rage on a real-world scale may mean overturned cars and riot gear. 

Even in times of great conflict, heroes find time to kiss and comfort the damsels

So, I've enlisted again, and will see how it goes. Hoping for more Inglorious Basterds (WIN!) and less Full Metal Jacket.