Today's Contained Rant: The FNG Tank.
Perhaps he's been a DPS for most of the expansion, but decided it was time for him to hop into his protection off-spec and go at it. Or maybe he's a newer player to the guild, again, main spec dps or healer, who's doing some temporary tanking. Or maybe she thinks she's doing the raid a favor. Hey, cool, sometimes we need those less-than-full-time tanks to be ready. I do appreciate the efforts that people take to keep us raiding.
That being said, there's a huge difference between being a new tank and being that guy. It's attitude. I find myself having lots of patience for folks learning new roles, but I think we can all agree: no one wants the FNG. You know, the guy who is new but doesn't think he has anything to learn.
1. I really am glad you're doing your best to pick up the adds, but please don't EVER use Righteous Defense on the main tank. The Lich King is not a ping-pong ball, and it tends to freak out everyone in the raid. Yeah, and please don't, when you're asked by the raid leader not to EVER DO IT AGAIN, respond in vent with an attitude that clearly says you're waiting for it to come off cooldown to use it (again).
2. It's great that you're learning your class, but please don't assume that the other tanks have an equivalent to each of your abilities. Oh, and please don't assume it was the tanking that wiped us suddenly. It's not okay for you to get in vent in a 25-man raid and ask the tank "why don't you just use your AOE taunt on the player who has the adds?". That's because warriors, druids, and death knights don't have anything quite like Righteous Defense. And really, we didn't wipe from a tanking issue so please clear vent so we can trouble-shoot what DID wipe us.
3. Thanks for your flexibility, but we don't suddenly need you to to tank all the time. No, really, we've been doing this boss for almost a year now with these two tanks who are BOTH HERE RIGHT NOW IN TANK SPEC, why are you whispering the raid leader about this?
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
setting new sails
'Tis International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Have ye joined in the fun?
For me blatherins today, I've got a bit of secret, 'twill change me an' Mayhem's lives. Fer a long time, I been a bit unhappy in the ship we sailed in, how we took care of our crew, an' how we charted the waters. It be hard, it be!, to serve as first mate when yer captain and you want different shores and treasures! 'Twere it not for the love I had for the crew, I'd not've stayed so long.
So t'day we got a hard day before us, breakin' the news to the crew and handin' back me hat. We got a new ship waitin' to set sail, an' the monsters they seek be fearsome indeed! We're headin' into some harrd modes, ahoy!
I'm quiverin' in me boots, that me sword will be sharp 'nough and me hand steady. Will I be paladin enough for these new sailors, or will they make me walk the plank?
Saturday, September 18, 2010
is WotLK over yet?
Not for me :)
Since we've been wrapping up the last handful of achievements for Glory of the Hero, Mayhem joked with me: we'll be finishing Wrath the same way we started, doing violet hold every day...
Up to 73 H-VH runs now, but I'm okay with that. He needed A Void Dance, then I won't ever be going back. Well, till my next 70+ character. It'll happen. Maybe this time it won't be a healer!
Yeah, right. My shaman is 36 and specced resto. It's a lot of fun.
Whether I realized it or not, the Lich King might have been my last big goal of this expansion. Considering I've always enjoyed the social dynamic of 10's more than 25's, getting my KS title, then helping my guild get it a week later, was pretty satisfying.
I want to clear 100k gold, but, I'm so close that earning another 5k over eight weeks isn't anything. There's no reason for this goal, especially since if I had just not gone so crazy with BOE gear every tier I'd easily have 300,000 gold. (Wow, I should really be embarrassed about that). This is a good reason NOT to power-level enchanting, tailoring, leatherworking, and alchemy. In Cataclysm, I swear I'm gonna slow down...
Glory of the Hero. I have three our four left, I just need to do them. Mayhem got his drake last night, hurray! Seriously, I just need to buckle down and do them.
Some hard mode ICC10 fights. Last night we went and got down LDW, Fester, and we almost got Rot and dangit if we just had time for one more attempt we would have had it. (Oh, lootship, too, but, duh.) It was a lot of fun, and this might be the raid I'm most looking forward to in the coming weeks. I
So, how about you? Is it game over yet, or do you still have things to knock off your list before the expansion?
Also, since bloggers are also writers, I found this hilarious:
Since we've been wrapping up the last handful of achievements for Glory of the Hero, Mayhem joked with me: we'll be finishing Wrath the same way we started, doing violet hold every day...
Up to 73 H-VH runs now, but I'm okay with that. He needed A Void Dance, then I won't ever be going back. Well, till my next 70+ character. It'll happen. Maybe this time it won't be a healer!
Yeah, right. My shaman is 36 and specced resto. It's a lot of fun.
Whether I realized it or not, the Lich King might have been my last big goal of this expansion. Considering I've always enjoyed the social dynamic of 10's more than 25's, getting my KS title, then helping my guild get it a week later, was pretty satisfying.
I want to clear 100k gold, but, I'm so close that earning another 5k over eight weeks isn't anything. There's no reason for this goal, especially since if I had just not gone so crazy with BOE gear every tier I'd easily have 300,000 gold. (Wow, I should really be embarrassed about that). This is a good reason NOT to power-level enchanting, tailoring, leatherworking, and alchemy. In Cataclysm, I swear I'm gonna slow down...
Glory of the Hero. I have three our four left, I just need to do them. Mayhem got his drake last night, hurray! Seriously, I just need to buckle down and do them.
Some hard mode ICC10 fights. Last night we went and got down LDW, Fester, and we almost got Rot and dangit if we just had time for one more attempt we would have had it. (Oh, lootship, too, but, duh.) It was a lot of fun, and this might be the raid I'm most looking forward to in the coming weeks. I
So, how about you? Is it game over yet, or do you still have things to knock off your list before the expansion?
Also, since bloggers are also writers, I found this hilarious:
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
tank healers and vent
There's a school of thought I've run into more than once that healers don't have to be as aware of timers as DPS and tanks because they should be staring at bars. I have to say, perhaps my perspective is unique as I've only really been raiding in 25 man content for less than a year now, and I have since learned how to communicate in vent.
I know, it sounds so simple--just push the button and talk, right?--but there are lots of ways to communicate well and many more ways to communicate poorly. I remember trying to help my man RL 10 man raids, and complaining to him about all the things that people weren't doing, as they weren't doing them, yet I would refuse to just open my vent channel and say "please switch to the kobolds ASAP" or "remember to move the fire away from the raid" or "phase transition, get ready to run". I was, and still am, afraid of being the Bitch.
I'd like to think I've gotten better. It took getting to know the group I played with, and learning that sometimes I really do need to impart information right now. I call out timers. I remind the raid that stuff on the ground is coming up or to get ready for the big fear. I announce my status: I say "Enlynn's valked, big heals on the tank" or "Enlynn's dropping stacks, big heals on the tank" or "Enlynn's silenced, big heals on the tank" (recurring theme here, yes?).
I struggled with calling out my status for a long time. I don't wish to be perceived as self-important, but tank healing and tanking are the most communication-sensitive parts of the game. It's a natural thing to coordinate tank-swaps, adds, debuff management, and anything else that endangers the tanks. It's the first check of the game, keeping the tanks alive to soak the beating. Healers and damage dealers come second.
(I'm not suggesting that tanks and healers and damage dealers are more or less valuable in a group. Tanks are a single point of failure in an encounter, we won't get to the enrage timer if the tanks can't stay alive to see it).
Part of tank healing is not hps or gear or skill, it's reliability. It's not very exciting that our peers are talking about hypothetical damage per second, set bonuses, and pew pew, while I'm maximizing... my reliability factor. How many times have I been incapacitated by an encounter mechanic and thought I didn't need to call it out on vent, only to have the tank go splat because, get this, no one knew to help me heal.
How many wipes could I have prevented if I just pushed the button and said "big heals on the tank"?
There's another huge upside to learning to communicate with the team. My silence means that all is going well. If I want the raid healers to trust me to heal the tank, I really do want to call it out when I can't, otherwise we have three raid healers twitching tank heals because they can't trust me to ask for help when I need it. If they trust me, they can focus on what they need to do, knowing that if I get unchained magic, frost beaconed, or sucked into the sword, I'll ask them to heal the tank.
In a pug, it's even more important. Assuming that the raid leader is paying attention can be a dangerous mistake. I joined a pug LK10 last week, and I unabashedly called out each time I needed help. It covers my ass. If I'm asking for heals on the tank and the tank dies, I did the best I could do and I am not the only one to blame. If I ask for heals on the tank and the tank lives, I've saved us from a wipe. Was it actually necessary? It's hard to say, if they other healers were good they saw it on their raid frames that I was valked or in the dream or in the sword, and were adjusting before I called it out. But again, that's making some pretty serious assumptions.
I'm not an expert on when to call out and when not to. I'm sure that I've called out the most unnecessary things, while keeping my mouth shut when I shouldn't have. Most of the time, it wouldn't wipe the raid if I didn't (or would it?). It's not a chance I want to take. I'll call it out just in case.
I'm sure half the raid thinks "ugh I wish she would just shut up sometimes", but they can deal. I'm not trying to be self-important, I'm trying to give us the best shot we have of boss kills and shiny lootz. Given the choice, I'm sure they'd prefer that I'm calling out my status than calling them out. How many times do you have to be mind controlled before you learn to bite, hmm? (Whoops, the Bitch came out after all!)
What do you call out in your raids? Do you help announce timers, remind players to focus an add, or speak out when you are locked down by a raid mechanic? Do you appreciate it when your tanks and healers are proactive in vent, or does that healadin drive you crazy?
I know, it sounds so simple--just push the button and talk, right?--but there are lots of ways to communicate well and many more ways to communicate poorly. I remember trying to help my man RL 10 man raids, and complaining to him about all the things that people weren't doing, as they weren't doing them, yet I would refuse to just open my vent channel and say "please switch to the kobolds ASAP" or "remember to move the fire away from the raid" or "phase transition, get ready to run". I was, and still am, afraid of being the Bitch.
I'd like to think I've gotten better. It took getting to know the group I played with, and learning that sometimes I really do need to impart information right now. I call out timers. I remind the raid that stuff on the ground is coming up or to get ready for the big fear. I announce my status: I say "Enlynn's valked, big heals on the tank" or "Enlynn's dropping stacks, big heals on the tank" or "Enlynn's silenced, big heals on the tank" (recurring theme here, yes?).
I struggled with calling out my status for a long time. I don't wish to be perceived as self-important, but tank healing and tanking are the most communication-sensitive parts of the game. It's a natural thing to coordinate tank-swaps, adds, debuff management, and anything else that endangers the tanks. It's the first check of the game, keeping the tanks alive to soak the beating. Healers and damage dealers come second.
(I'm not suggesting that tanks and healers and damage dealers are more or less valuable in a group. Tanks are a single point of failure in an encounter, we won't get to the enrage timer if the tanks can't stay alive to see it).
Part of tank healing is not hps or gear or skill, it's reliability. It's not very exciting that our peers are talking about hypothetical damage per second, set bonuses, and pew pew, while I'm maximizing... my reliability factor. How many times have I been incapacitated by an encounter mechanic and thought I didn't need to call it out on vent, only to have the tank go splat because, get this, no one knew to help me heal.
How many wipes could I have prevented if I just pushed the button and said "big heals on the tank"?
There's another huge upside to learning to communicate with the team. My silence means that all is going well. If I want the raid healers to trust me to heal the tank, I really do want to call it out when I can't, otherwise we have three raid healers twitching tank heals because they can't trust me to ask for help when I need it. If they trust me, they can focus on what they need to do, knowing that if I get unchained magic, frost beaconed, or sucked into the sword, I'll ask them to heal the tank.
In a pug, it's even more important. Assuming that the raid leader is paying attention can be a dangerous mistake. I joined a pug LK10 last week, and I unabashedly called out each time I needed help. It covers my ass. If I'm asking for heals on the tank and the tank dies, I did the best I could do and I am not the only one to blame. If I ask for heals on the tank and the tank lives, I've saved us from a wipe. Was it actually necessary? It's hard to say, if they other healers were good they saw it on their raid frames that I was valked or in the dream or in the sword, and were adjusting before I called it out. But again, that's making some pretty serious assumptions.
I'm not an expert on when to call out and when not to. I'm sure that I've called out the most unnecessary things, while keeping my mouth shut when I shouldn't have. Most of the time, it wouldn't wipe the raid if I didn't (or would it?). It's not a chance I want to take. I'll call it out just in case.
I'm sure half the raid thinks "ugh I wish she would just shut up sometimes", but they can deal. I'm not trying to be self-important, I'm trying to give us the best shot we have of boss kills and shiny lootz. Given the choice, I'm sure they'd prefer that I'm calling out my status than calling them out. How many times do you have to be mind controlled before you learn to bite, hmm? (Whoops, the Bitch came out after all!)
What do you call out in your raids? Do you help announce timers, remind players to focus an add, or speak out when you are locked down by a raid mechanic? Do you appreciate it when your tanks and healers are proactive in vent, or does that healadin drive you crazy?
Friday, September 10, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
stupid things i didn't know
Randomness here today.
1. I used to think it was great because early in Wrath I taught myself to fly from Dalaran anywhere from Northrend. Well, normal people with their functional computers can see Dalaran from miles away. This is only a skill when you have all your settings turned down (honestly, it's not even then).
2. I had some serious totem envy in Gnomergon when I saw that someone else's fire totems looked way sweeter than mine. I pondered this for runs and runs--was he specced for this?--and then it hit me. Each race of Shaman has it's own totem. Mine only look like fence posts because I play a cow. I've been on the Alliance side for so long I got used to their only being two types of shaman (big shoulders or not).
3. The Lich King is dead! And I was able to christen my shiny new computer by one-shotting him the very first day I had it with a well-constructed PUG. (Perhaps not a stupid thing I didn't know, but still news.) And no, I didn't release when we all died. I did DPS the hell out of him after we got rezzed, though. Gogo 3k judgements!
4. Paladin heals have graphics. I used to love Holy Shock when it made the recipient shudder as they got the heal, like Prayer of Mending or maybe that I was just trying to knock over the dps. Turns out there's golden light there, too.
5. Today is Tuesday. I woke up this morning thinking it was Monday, and wondered why in the world I couldn't fill up the Auction House before I went to work... Happy Tuesday, everyone!
1. I used to think it was great because early in Wrath I taught myself to fly from Dalaran anywhere from Northrend. Well, normal people with their functional computers can see Dalaran from miles away. This is only a skill when you have all your settings turned down (honestly, it's not even then).
2. I had some serious totem envy in Gnomergon when I saw that someone else's fire totems looked way sweeter than mine. I pondered this for runs and runs--was he specced for this?--and then it hit me. Each race of Shaman has it's own totem. Mine only look like fence posts because I play a cow. I've been on the Alliance side for so long I got used to their only being two types of shaman (big shoulders or not).
3. The Lich King is dead! And I was able to christen my shiny new computer by one-shotting him the very first day I had it with a well-constructed PUG. (Perhaps not a stupid thing I didn't know, but still news.) And no, I didn't release when we all died. I did DPS the hell out of him after we got rezzed, though. Gogo 3k judgements!
4. Paladin heals have graphics. I used to love Holy Shock when it made the recipient shudder as they got the heal, like Prayer of Mending or maybe that I was just trying to knock over the dps. Turns out there's golden light there, too.
5. Today is Tuesday. I woke up this morning thinking it was Monday, and wondered why in the world I couldn't fill up the Auction House before I went to work... Happy Tuesday, everyone!
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