Props .... out to ... :)

I've read more than one blog and forum post that are full of people's frustrations and dissatisfaction about players, game mechanics and our game designers and so I thought I'd start a post that I can come back to and add to over time. It is way too easy to fall into a trap of focusing on the negative aspects of WoW. I have met some amazing players in game. Some have been masters of their characters, others steeped in the lore that holds our world together and others simply good fun to spend time with.

My inspiration came from a couple of places. Firstly there was BBB's Happy Days are Here Again post and his Cub Report post then Animositas' post on the forums and finally there was Twoflower.

Thus, my first 'props' go to Twoflower of the Legacy guild. We met in a dungeon, Tsu healing, as usual, and Twoflower tanking. The run wasn't anything special ... 'just' a normal cata heroic. Same old, list, run, hit and heal. It was some of the most enjoyable healing I've done for a while and it was by and large due to Twoflower's considered tanking. He maintained control of the fights, managed his character and worked in well with a more than competent team of dps'ers. Healing 'pugs' rocks when the team is good. Healing 'pugs' is blissful when the tank is confident :).

15/5/12

My second props go out to Pete the Turtle and his owner Adaptiive from Frostmourne. We rolled a dungeon and scored norm Halls of Origination. No biggie ... Tsu's well more than over geared these days for normals and I run them for fun. The tank took one look at the dungeon and bailed and we waited and waited ... no tank ... so I asked Adaptiive if he had a tank pet. He replied that he had but that he was, well, not very good or words to that affect and popped out 'Pete' the tanking turtle. Pete tanked us through the first few trash mobs with a bit of nice cc work from Adaptiive on the frost trap and Dandella from Rexxar on the polymorph and Maddogkarl of Nagrand dropping that nice rain circle of healing. We got to the first boss ... and went what the hell lets have a go and :) a beautiful job of tanking was done. Pete and Adaptiive, are my latest people to demonstrate the cool people you meet in WoW. Really I should extend that also to Dandella and Maddogkarl as they were happy to go along with the hairbrained scheme in the first place. About half way through the boss fight, Skrynik the druid of Nagrand joined the group and was somewhat amused to discover that at the end of the fight he'd be replacing a turtle pet. :)

11/7/12

Well I'll be honest. I've been trying to avoid this props as I've never actually met the guy in game and technically I want to target people I've actually encountered. He does, however, reflect all that I like about people who play our game. I came across him first back in 2010 when looking for some advice on bear tanking (sigh, yes you all know where I'm going with this one now) and saw his post for the day ... Come join the raid from the Heart in which he invited us all to join a global activity. It's clear from his post that there were many people who were involved from crafters to mage porters but it was he who acted as the lynchpin. Now in 2012 he's 'at it again' this time getting together a group to track back over a lot of the achieves that for one reason or other were missed out. Following his blog it is easy to see the sense of community that has developed around his blog and that he is very much a part of. Thus, John 'Big Bear Butt' Patricelli, props to you. Cheers for your sense of humour, enthusiasm for just getting in and enjoying yourself and taking us all along for the experience :).

Advice on tanking from your friendly druid healer ...

1) Know that as a dk, dodge, parry, mastery, stam and strength are your friends ... coming into H GD in 75% dps gear with lots of crit and haste is not going to make you a sturdy tank. I don't even mind pvp tanking gear (since I've been known to do a dungeon in fully speced pvp lol) but it should still be tanking not dps gear.

2) Make sure you are repaired before you come in ... coming in then admitting you can't afford to repair your almost totally broken sword is not a good way to be an effective tank.

3) Don't ever, ever, ever equip a mining pick when your weapon does completely break and expect to keep tanking. I don't care how much health you carry. Mining picks were designed to dig holes in the ground not to dig holes in monsters.

4) Don't try to tank in blood spec/frost presence unless you really know what you are doing. Thank you for swapping to blood presence when asked.

5) Do listen when your healer directs your tanking, sets up cc for you and makes some suggestions on gearing (okay, well I've got to admit that along with the first 4 points, he did also do this one which made me sympathetic)

ah .... maybe I can tank

The feral druid stretched, muscles and joints cracking in suppleness. At 58 she was young yet and knew she needed to visit her trainer in order to learn more. He smiled at her and agreed 'A little tidy up would be good'. She sighed and handed over the gold that would allow her to rebuild her talents. As she built, she thought of an older feral who had given her guidance before allocating talents in such a way as she remembered his words. That job done she listed as tank/dps looking for group but, being the first time she'd looked to tank, added a comment that she'd prefer to dps.

Waiting for a job to come, she moved off around the Hinterlands mining and exploring. A call went out ... 'LF tank ST' ... her heart stopped and she thought ... well I do have a quest there ... It is grey ... ah I'll have a go'. A quick check on the caller showed her to be a 48 warrior. The feral druid explained that she'd like to have a go, but as it would be her first go as tank, she'd understand if people gave advice or booted her if she made too much of a mess. The warrior assured her that they would not yell and promptly invited her to a the group.

The group was made up of the warrior and the feral druid, a level 56 hunter and shaman and a 58 pally resplendent in his cloth robes to heal us where needed. The feral druid worried that she would not maintain the attention of the monsters ... holding agro ... was the term she'd heard whispered in the garden dells of Darnassus and a thing that was, apparently, difficult to do. 

The run ended, they dusted their hands wiping sweat down their leggings and turned and smiled. There had not been a single death on the journey nor a single instance where they had even looked like collapsing. The feral had known that was in part due to the work of the whole group and that they were at the higher end of the experience level for the area, however, she was secretly pleased with how she had worked. When others had picked up agro, she'd had no trouble at picking them off the warrior, pally, hunter or shaman with a quick swipe or growl.

It was, all in all, a wonderful experience where she discovered that she could bear it with the best of them.