The WowArmory Meta-Game

Sometimes when I get bored, I search wowarmory.com for fun.

First I do the stalker thing and look up friends/players I’ve lost contact with. If the last updated is recent, I might logon to say hello. The last time I did this, it was to contact my former manager to ask if I could use him as a job reference.

Then, I look up the names of my own characters, to see how many other players have the same name as me. It makes me feel good to know that I’m the only person IN THE WORLD using the name of my main. (All three entries for my main are me). It is discouraging to know that my alt warrior I never play anymore has a name used by 112 other people .

Then I just start typing random names. For example, there are more Kurt Vonnegut fans than I expected. Charles Bukowski is also well represented in the WoWiverse . How about John Fante? Suprisingly more than I would expect. No question George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway are pretty popular. But even more popular than street fight legend Kimbo Slice? Apparently so.

Sadly, 1988 National League Rookie of the Year and Rec Specs icon Chris Sabo’s WoW presence is underwhelming at best. Former Dodger first baseman Steve Garvey has yet to establish a WoW presence. And Mike Tyson’s legacy as champion will be forever enshrined with this touching WoW tribute (one of those is my character).

In the political arena, Barack Obama proves his appeal, sizing a large block of the WoW demographic. But he just might yet have his hands full with likely contender John McCain . Meanwhile, current president George W. Bush struggles to garner support among Azerothians.

PVP, TerriBAD and Filling the Gaps

I have to admit something here—I’m an average player.

But I’m always looking for ways to improve my game.

I think an often overlooked aspect of self-improvement is recognizing yours goals. Sure, things may change along the way, but you gotta start somewhere. Real Life Example: I know a lot of guys who want to work in the game industry. And the majority of them are stuck in shit jobs. So I ask them what they want to do. “Well,” they say, “I’m good at Maya, but I really want to be a designer. But it’s tough because I’m working on putting together a demo reel of my animation stuff. Also, did you see that COMPANY X is hiring producers?”

People sometimes get so attracted to some nebulous concept like working in the game industry that they don’t even know what they want to do, let alone how to get there. You can apply this to WoW. Everyone wants to be the best player, want to be decked out in the sweetest gear, be the first to accomplish something. Generally, people just want to be recognized. Few know how to do this, and even fewer will achieve it.

Since switching to a healer role in PVP, I’ve started to see the big picture. There are a lot of people who really suck at this game.

Paladin Update – HOLY PVP HEALING, BATMAN!

Got sick so I didn’t work. Played some WoW. I actually like my job, so this was kind of lame, but gave me an opportunity to GSD.

I hit 68 running Slave Pens and Underbog. I decided to respect as a SHOCKADIN for some HOLY LIGHT HEALIN, DAWG. My current spec is THIS with the next 2 points going to Eye for an Eye and Sanctity Aura. I’m sitting at about 400 spellpower and 500 healing (with Holy Guidance) and while it’s pretty low, I really love this build. I spent the majority of the day healing in Battlegrounds, and while I had to deal with some idiots, it was fun to play as a PVP healer. Putting talent points into Retribution instead of Protection means this isn’t the ideal PVP healer build (you miss out on a lot of utility talents like Blessing of Kings) but it means I can heal pretty effectively and still do some decent damage.

Paladin Update – 67 and Gankin’ Fools

Uneventful weekend. Hit 67, no problem. Sitting at about 8 bars from 68. Will probably hit 68 on Tuesday or Wednesday. 69 on Friday. 70 on Saturday.

I’m still a little intimidated by Nagrand. I hate having a full quest log, and it seems like I can’t make any visible progress. Running around with a full quest log all the time is very annoying to me. At least when I’m out of quests, I know I’m ready to move on.

I struggled through Nagrand at 66. My gear is decent, but I’m still rocking pieces that are 63-65 level. My armor is pretty low, so I’m getting my shit rocked by melee mobs. I have to drink up after 2 fights. Not a good situation when Alliance gank patrols are constantly roaming.

Sweetness Moment– I’m killing Windroc’s for the mastery quest. Level 66. I’m at about half health. I just finish blowing out a mob when I get hit by a serpent sting. A level 70 night elf hunter. Fight plays out as follows:

Keeping Motivated – Paladin Update 66 and 1/4

As the title of this post implies, I’m currently ¼ of the way through 66. I haven’t played at all this week, save for about an hour and 30 minutes last night. It hasn’t’ been an issue with time, either.

One of the central issues in my life, and this extends to WoW, is getting motivated to do things. In a sick and pathetic way, WoW is one of the few “hobbies” I’ve kept up for an extended period of time. The key to this, I think, is making sure I don’t take this game too seriously.

Over the past few days, WoW started feeling like my second job. So I had to take a couple of days off from playing.

The key to keeping motivated is to always remember the big picture goal, while at the same time re-evaluating and updating your smaller goals. My big picture goal is hitting 70, but in doing so, I need to build an infrastructure for end-game success. This means, learning to play my class effectively, building a network of in-game friends, and getting sufficiently geared. This all sounds pretty sad and pathetic, but it’s true. The best players in this game aren’t just skilled players . . . they also have a network of people they can rely on for support.

Scarlet Monastery – Where Dreams Come True

I first solo’d Scarlet Monastery at level 38. It’s not something I recommend, as it’s much easier and more efficient for players to level through questing, especially with the amount of XP you receive from quests in “new” Azeroth. It’s not easy, and you can really only solo the first sections of Library and Armory. Cathedral is too hard at this level. Graveyard might be doable, but I never ran it.

First off, at level 38, you need to be prot spec, of course. I believe THIS was my build. The key talents are Reckoning, Redoubt, Blessing of Sanctuary, and Improved Righteous Fury. Important to note is that the tool-tip for Righteous Fury is broken and does not update when you put points into Improved RF. This might freak you out because you feel like you just wasted 3 talent points, but it’s there.

It’s been a long time, so I can’t give specific gear info. At this point, I had level 70s running me through instances, so a lot of my gear was blue mail items from various instances. As long as you have decent stamina though, you should be okay. In addition, a quick 1H sword and shield is a must. Aim for a 2.00 speed sword. Also, you ABSOLUTELY need a shield spike. If you can afford it, throw a thorium shield spike. With redoubt up, you will be doing a lot of blocking, so you want to be doing additional damage from that as well.

Keep in mind that I play as a blood elf, which gives me access to Arcane Torrent. Arcane Torrent is INVALUABLE as a prot pally, because basically your only interrupt is Hammer of Justice on a 1 minute cooldown. There are a lot of healers in SM so it might be impossible to run this as alliance at this point.

At this point, we zone into the instance.

Down the Pipe

Mostly I’ve been using this blog to document my leveling in World of Warcraft. I’ve gotten a couple of hits, but it seems most people coming to this blog are looking for tips on leveling and gearing their Paladin.

For future updates, I’m planning to add more tips on my gear as well as how I managed to level (quests I did, instances I ran, etc).

I’m also working on a few articles regarding the game industry, mostly in regards to production. I’m not really sure if people are interested in that kind of stuff though. Until then, stay tuned, friendos.

Paladin Update – 66 and an EPIC MOUNT

I didn’t think I could do it. Time was against me as I raced through the place that had become known as the “Blood Furnace.” But through my unwavering faith in the Light, I brought Judgment to the corrupted. And I also hit 66. Ding.

I manage to hit my goal this weekend of cracking level 66. I was really surprised, since I didn’t even play Sunday. I also managed to FINALLY complete my EPIC MOUNT quest (which couldn’t have been done without the help of a fellow Paladin—a level 70 protection spec pally who’s single handed decimation of UD Strat was inspiring.)

Friday, I didn’t play much. I caught a showing of THE DARK KNIGHT (really good) with some friends. I got home really late, but I don’t sleep weekends, so I played a couple of hours. I actually ran Ramparts with a group! SHOCKING! Its pretty much all I did that night.

I’ve had never actually run Ramparts, and I figured I’d finish up the quest for the Shoulders. At 64, I was pretty high level for the instance. The rest of our group was about 60-61, with a 61 druid tank and a 61 druid healer. I got a little nervous when I took a look at the Druid tank’s gear, but he did a great job. We did wipe once due to an errant pull, but it wasn’t really a problem.

Paladin Update – Still 64

Not much to report. I played for about an hour and 45 minutes last night. Once again, VERY rough going as a retribution paladin. More than once, I seriously considered ending this experiment and switching back to Protection.

I’m about halfway through 64 at this point. I don’t think my goal of reaching 66 by Monday is attainable, as I’ve got plans for the weekend so I won’t be able to play much. Add to that, I am almost out of rested XP, so it’s going to take double the time. So far, I’ve been able to get about 5 bars an hour, taking me 10 hours to level up. With rested XP gone, I’m estimating 20 hours per level. Of course, since I don’t play much, I’ll probably increase my rested XP along the way.

That’s actually a huge chunk of time if you break it down. I figure it’ll take me a week for each level, playing 2 hours a night during the week, plus another 10 hours over the weekend. As long as I hit 70 by the time the expansion drops, I’m golden.

ANYWAYS, things didn’t go as smoothly as I had hoped last night. I was struggling as a ret pally, having to deal with being out of mana at very inopportune times. Honestly, it’s like playing my rogue again. Except I’m also paying for water. And once again, life wasn’t made any easier by the level 70 alliance gankers. One hunter in particular was able to gank people inside of Stonebreaker Hold without being attacked by the guards.

Paladin Update – Ret Regret

Switching to Retribution was definately not one of the smartest moves I’ve made. Questing through Terrokar was . . . an experience.

Problem #1 – Weapon Skill

Like I previously mentioned, my 2H Axe skill was pretty low. I put a dent in the deficit running SM. But even at 290, I was not prepared for Outlands mobs. It was very rough going. The random level 70 alliance gankers didn’t make things much easier.

I can’t say I’m a fan of Weapon Skill. As a casual player, it only hinders my progress. When you play 2 hours a night, having to spend time leveling up your weapon skill is painful. There are a couple of tricks to speeding this up. For example, as a paladin, running a low level instance with Seal of Crusader up can speed things up. And as a Protection Pally, sitting in a pit of fire to proc Reckoning is a good idea. I guess Weapon skill makes sense, since at any given time, people are only playing with the best weapons available to them, so there isn’t much switching. I suppose.

Problem #2 – Gear

I need better gear. I have good Protection Gear. I have decent healing gear. DPS gear? Not so much. The main problem for me is that I’m not 100% sure which stats to focus on. I went mostly for STR, AGI, and STAM, at the expense of my mana pool.