Player's Perspective Gaming

By clicking the story link above, you can view the original content, located on one of my favorite World of Warcraft websites, WoWInsider. Otherwise, click Here

The above post mentioned in the link, was a post made about a guild on my server, Winterhoof. The player, Strakken, of the guild Shattered, proceeds to tell us that guild raiding into progression is serious business. I somewhat agree with him, and admire his passion for progression...But, some say is he taking it a little too far? Others have called him "A Raid Nazi".

I plan on interviewing him tonight and getting the full story. More after the long break.

Its all really the same. All bosses before Ulduar were "hard" at some point. Sure, people just went in and cleared the content, cause we had a preemptive strategy to work off of. All of the kind hearted players who ran the Naxxramas content in the “Vanilla Wow”, and even the lucky few who ran through during The Burning Crusade, all knew what they were up against, and all had an idea of what was going to happen in there. So, when the time came in Wrath of the Lich King, people knew exactly what to do in these fights and situations, which were toned down slightly and revamped for 10 and 25 players, rather than the classic 40.

Ulduar, The new raid dungeon introduced in patch 3.1, is only hard for some, due to its “newness”. As a collective, the players who were experiencing the endgame content in the initial installment of wrath, were asking and craving a challenge that would take them time to complete. Their answer, was Ulduar. With its release, people were rushing to the area to view the new dungeon, and Northrend and servers were crashing left and right. While some were able to clear and have content down the launch night, the world first Yogg-Saron kill, came to Ensida, only 2 days after the patch was released. People have questioned whether or not the guild had pushed themselves too far and too hard, or if they were coordinated and geared enough to do it without much error. Others, complained that the content was far too hard to be completed even by classic “hardcore” raider's standards.

Now in the recent patch of 3.1.1, there has been some noted changes about the fight, making it so that some mobs and add's that appear during a few of the boss fights, can be snared and controllable, making it easier for some of the people to progress into. Also, but this falls under the list of bugs that are more and more less apparent, but they have fixed the issue with pets and minions not being able to attack Kologarm. These, along with they hot fixed an issue with being able to sneak past some mobs leading up to the Mimiron fight, some argue that they are making some of the fights easier.

While the instance has been difficult for some players who can't PUG the raid, and some guilds have even disbanded over the difficulty and drama that results from the instance, some people are regretting that this instance may be “too hard” raid that was given by Blizzard. Comparing to the situations involved in the past, this raid could be similar to the installment of The Black Temple or Sunwell Plateau raids, that were released sometime ago during the end of The Burning Crusade, and that most guilds were not prepared (no pun intended) for the Ulduar experience that was intended. Though, the initial intent by Blizzard, was to bring in a raid that will simply “Amaze and blow people away” with its gear, graphics, design and challenges. This goal has been met.

Many guilds and their management, are now gearing up, recruiting and retracing their steps through the old instances, collecting any missing gear, glyphs, and rethinking their actions and rotations with the new changes to many of the classes and abilities that Patch 3.1 has brought among us, and some who had relied heavily on the abilities and moves that they have grown to be used to over the past near 5 month ago release of patch 3.0, have dubbed this patch as the “Worst patch ever” and a ruiner of the World of Warcraft. While some have either left the game or are taking a break, their voices can still be heard on the official community forums, located on the World of Warcraft website.

So, a new question has risen with this insertion of “Hard” endgame content. Will this be the first and only time that blizzard listens to the player base and inserts what is asked for, a “hard raid” that requires planning, training and strategies? Or will this be a harbinger to what is come ahead in later patches. We still have yet to go fully into the area of Icecrown, though with the introduction of the Argent Tournament, you are placed in direct vicinity of the Icecrown Citadel in their later quests. I could not wait longer, and went around to ask some players what they thought of the new instance. The initial thought was that many players I spoke with are wondering “If ulduar is this hard, what will the Citadel be like?” and “Will Blizzard make Arthas as bad, mean and tough as the lore and story makes him out to be?” Over time, we will tell.

So now, I open it up to you. What do you, the readers, think will happen? How are you favoring with Ulduar and the “Hard Mode” content that is a savior to the bored, hardcore raider? Is this a new chance for you to come back into the game with a challenge at hand, or is this a reason to quit all together because the content is simply too tough for the casual or mid-level raider? I myself have not been able to make it into Uldaur, and have not witnessed the Flame Leviathan fight that many players are all talking about. But I do believe the talk that has been going around many of the servers, and that is Ulduar, is no cake walk compared to Naxxramas, Obsidian Sanctum and The Eye of Eternity, and to progress into this new dungeon, your going to need a lot more than your Flasks, Feasts, and Bandages to make it out alive.

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When the moonkin was first introduced, people thought nothing of it other than a big iron bird, that shot magical beams of light out of the sky, pummeling its victims into oblivion, and effectively logging their enemies out of the game, banning their accounts with all the moonkin's might. Do you remember that? Of course not, cause it never happened. The Moonkin's were a simple feathery bird, nicknamed the OOMkin, that threw out a few attacks, than ran around the area, /danced and watched as it became overly useless around its friends due to its lack of mana and ability to continue attacks.

Although, at endgame in vanilla WoW, it was a formidable opponent, yet still downsized. When The Burning Crusade hit, the class was looked over, tuned up, and changed around. Many people loved the changes, and as a whole, the class took a hit. Its raid effectiveness was damaged to some and buffed for others. The fact that people could use most of the main abilities that were needed in raids, like Abolish Poison, was a slight hindrance in some situations, but not too much to complain severely about. The plus crit and damage that is applied to most of the raid that was introduced in the 2.4 Fury of the Sunwell patch, was a huge help for those who wanted to raid and be useful as well. But, some people were not happy with some of those changes. They still complained about not being completely useful in most situations of PvE and nearly useless in PvP. What this melted down to is not enough sustained DPS in raids, and not enough burst or max damage in PvP, unless you were feral.

So, in light of the occasion, most druids decided to make the switch to feral or restoration. While in feral spec, they were able to farm, pick dps spots in random 5 man groups or daily heroics, do some pretty good pvp, and when the time came, they could dps in the raid that they wanted to go into, if allowed by the leader. As restoration, they could go into pvp, whether it be arenas or battlegrounds and heal many, they could heal some questing friends or guildies, heal their 5 man groups or daily heroics, and most of the time, they would be a shoe in for their scheduled raids, as many have come to realize, a druid healer, is one of the best around. But, when they switched to that “Spec of Taboo”, that arcane / nature combo, it quickly became Nuke or Nothing. If things were not destroyed in the time it got to the Moonkin, it was almost doomed without the proper gear. But with it...it was glorified.

So thus, the Boomkin was born. With the major changes to the class in patch 2.4, it brought many different changes, including the epic flight form changes and many revisions to the balance tree, bringing the Moonkin to dangerous threat levels all across the boards. They could now cast a number of spells at level 70 with the proper gear which made them a force to be reckoned with in the arena's, battlegrounds and in raids. They were great with crowd control, great with burst damage and great with sustained DPS, and were awesome with their “ganking” power. For awhile, with their constant cyclone with no diminishing effects, and the ability to put other druids into quiet mode with hibernation, made them tough to beat in pvp, and mostly in the arena. But still, the nerf came when Wrath of the Lich King was released.

With the slower cast times, improved levels of spells, and limited range on spells, it makes some casting druids completely respec back into feral, simply for leveling up to 80. Or, if the druid was audacious enough, they would stay as restoration and either solo mobs and just heal through damage as their dots ticked away, or heal through instances after instance which could become quite tedious fast. As a collective community, there is a huge outcry that the druid class is horribly underpowered as a whole, and that some serious buffing is needed. I, for one, do not play a druid, so I cannot attest to these claims but from what I have seen, a druid, with a light off-healer, is a near unstoppable opponent in pvp. I have fallen victim to a druid many times on my mage and on a rogue, they simply apply barkskin and laugh as I try to break through their defenses while their teammates stop me in my tracks.

Though within a Naxxramas raid, things can be hectic for all casters, especially during the Heigan fight, but for druids, whose main burst of damage rely on their procs, it can be especially difficult. See, the new eclipse buff they have been given, allows for a buff towards their damage, but allows you a limit of almost one attack given you are under the casting debuff, and with another 11 seconds of Eclipse left, well, its times to dance. After the dance, you must apply another wrath of moonfire, and hope for another Eclipse proc that you can make use of before its dancing time again. While some say that it is uncalled for, to have casters, even while under a full effect of Nature's Grace, a talent which gives spells a 100% chance to apply a 0.5 reduction in cast time, is still out spectrum as spells simply take too long a time to cast.



Most druids I have talked to during the PTR have something to complain about there also. They noticed that they no longer have as much armor in their “Tanking” forms, and some less damage mitigation. Some say that this patch, 3.1, with the release of Ulduar, is a patch for Death Knights to rejoice about, while other classes look on with envy. Could this patch, with no real improvements for druid tanks or moonkin's have anything to offer for the rest of us? Or is it a simple misunderstanding and people are just jumping to conclusions? I for one, hope that when my druid reaches 80, I will have as much as I have seen people have in the past.

What do you think? Reply in a comment or drop me an email at my registered email in my profile with the subject “Questions & Comments”, and ill be sure to answer your questions in my next article. Until then, Enjoy your stay in the World of Warcraft.

So, have any of you been listening to a simple song, and been reminded of a certain someone? I have. Matter of fact, I was in the middle of a Rock Band 2 session, and in the middle of the song, i became entranced with another song that me and a special someone were playing awhile ago on Rock Band 1.

Then, while driving home from the store, I heard on the radio her favorite band and realised that she might have felt like a load of shit this weekend...You see, this past weekend, Feb. 27-28, Nickelback was in Detroit...and she REALLY wanted to go badly, but i sadly could not go with her, and we did not have the money for the tickets...

So, to my dismay, I was unable to talk to her or anything through the day and called her later and heard her depressed state. I kinda felt bad.

Has a song or something you have done made you think of a certain someone in your life? Maybe someone you care for but just haven't said it to them yet? Post your answer in comments below and ill be sure to reply to them in my next posting!

I have posted some ads on the side of my blog and on some of my youtube videos...

Plain and simple, the economy sucks. If you have the time, help me out, but other than that, a little money to help pay the bills from a student's funds would be the most helpful...

Don't worry. I chose some advertising for some gaming channels and funny stuff on youtube. I think people will like it...

Today's Suggested Blog Topic is "Is it possible to fall in love with someone's voice?"

And today, I can take people's answers on that. I asked a simple pact of gamers on xbox live, and ZeroOzzy69, has said that it can happen. MasterofMayhem also said that it may seem low, but to some people, its a way of "Love at first sight" but in this case, sound.

Myself, what this blog is really about, Yes. I think it is possible.

That is how I met my first girlfriend. It started out as one of those all too commmon E-relationships, where its the simple "Oh hunny" this and the closer we got, we found out we lived near each other. Sometimes, a simple voice is all it takes to create a frendship, relationship and much more.

Back when the Xbox Live service started, I read a story that was reported by resident reporter Trixie herself on a couple in Canada (I believe...) that had met online and socially played Unreal Tournament regularly for a long while. Then, when they took it to the next level and started to hang out offline, their relationship grew into something more. Later on, they were married and were the first couple to be officially united via the Xbox Live gaming service and are still together today (to my knowledge).

Now, a happy couple. Married, and still happily gaming after, all by a simple voice. They apparently fell in love with each other's voice, whether not that much at first, but certainly over time. Where voice communications are the new text based IM's, you can hear almost anyone now adays by plugging in your headset that came with your xbox. Yet, more and more, the service is being plagued by the smack talkers, immature and underaged people of the internet and society, which are making more and more people forsake thier talking ability and playing their game in silence.

Whether or not someone can consider me a low being for falling in love with a voice of someone I have never met before, I ask this. What if you were lonely enough to just look for a friend. Falling in love doesn't have to be a relationship of love, but that of a loving friendship. There are many relationships that involved a form of love that having nothing to do with the common conception of love, but the simple loving friendship.

So, if you are looking for a simple friend, or are looking for a player 2 in your life, Xbox Live may be answer. I say may, because while the shot is a long one, it certainly is a try. As long as you are spontaneous enough to try, and aren't afraid of being rejection. There is somene for everyone, and it just takes a little bit of time to look, whether the person is in your game right now camping your spawn, topping your kill charts, or on your friends list. If you can hear a voice that you adore, and have an aspiration to top his / her leaderboard of love, you may have the chance, whether its a simple online infatuation or a full blow article of love.

This Review can also be read at http://superthrust.blogspot.com where I attempt to review games all the time. Please, drop by, say hi, and maybe even subscribe. Soon, I will have some Youtube videos for my reviews. Don't worry, not all are as lame as some. WARNING, Most of my reviews May and most likely WILL contain Spoilers. READERS BEWARE!!

Now, where do I begin...Bethesda, the creator of some of the best RPG's to play that don't involve a monthly fee, constant internet subscription or are horribly addic--nevermind, that last one is the worst one to say. Bethesda created the Elder Scroll's series, including the pinnacle of the series, Oblivion, which I am sure, if you are reading this, you have played at least once. And now, their gaming greatness, have done it again.

Fallout 3, will take you deep into the past of a post-apocolyptic world that has to have happend sometime in the late 50's or so (I am only going by the music, talk of Commy's and way things seem in the game). While the game can be classified as a awesome gaming experiance, I cannot help but notice that I am playing a similar game.

Now, this is where I will have people screaming at me, leaving hateful comments, downvoting, death-threats, etc., but please, keep in mind, I have NOT beaten the game, nor even followed the story of either of them. Yes, I am one of the people who treat the game as a simple sandbox to run around and kill anything that moves or farts wrong, steal anything that isn't bolted down to the floor and calculating exactly how much I can carry to the point where i am 1 point from being over encumbered with loot.

Now, Down to the nitty-gritty. Fallout 3 is easy on the eyes, ears and other loved senses. It treats your mind to a plethora of joy in the simple opening video. Once you start the game, you are born. Yes, born into a "Vault" like underground housing system that was created to keep radiation out, and you in. Your father, Qui Gon--I mean, Liam Neeson (Great voice actor, Star Wars, Batman Begins, & Taken) explains to you who you are, and allows you to pick your future self. Once you have decided whether you will have a full out Fu-Man-Chu or a "Tony Stark Stache", your mother passes and the game jumps you a few years / months ahead, where you pick stats and learn some basics. Past that, you have a birthday party, where you are awarded the very easy to use inventory system and meet some of the characters in the game. After a quick introduction by your hellish bullies, potential love interest, and other characters, you are treated to the bread and butter of the game. The combat system.

This is where I fell in love with the game. Now, when Oblivion was first announced, the combat system, graphics, and feel of the game was enough to make any non-RPG player to at least check out the game and to this day, they still play it because, by god, it is addicting. This combat system, takes Oblivion's and throws it out the window, but not before Drop Kicking it.

The "VATS" system, add's a shooter's dream to the game. While the "bullet time" feel to it seems a little redundant, the fact that you can pick which part of the enemy that you want to defile, makes me love it much more. While you are simply hunting a pesky roach at the beginning, it allows you to choose to shoot it in the back, head, each of its legs, butt, left antenna or wallet pocket...ok, so im joking about the last 2, but its etensive.

After learning the combat system, you will be thrusted later into the future, where you must take a test deciding your Profession, or as a term we are all comfortable with, "Class" by taking a funny test in game known as the "G.O.A.T."...I never cared enough to know what that meant. After your class is chosen, the fun begins...you find your daddy has ran out of the vault and for some odd reason, his best friend was murdered and now you are being hunted. While running out, you gain some weapons, basic armor, and have a chance to get back at your bullies, affecting your Karma (I'll get to that later...).

Once you are done with the beginning, you have completed your "Oblivion entry dungeon" level, and are now free to roam the open world...

Here is where I began making my judgements and allegations. Bethesda got a little bit lazy. If you remember playing the very beginning of Oblivion, as soon as you came out of the dungeon, you came out of the side of a mountain, and were treated to a lush plethora of grass blowing, trees swaying, and some deer prancing by, with land as FAR as the eye can see...or at least your Far Plane clip (PC users). Fallout 3, is very very similar. Land. Lots of it. Almost if you took a simple spot, and copy & pasted it over and over again, adding a few baddies every few feet, copying that of Oblivion. Imagine Cyrodil after being hit with a few Nukes. Welcome to post War DC.

Which leads me to my next two things. The baddies, horribly over powered at first. When I first "Escaped", I was greeted with a welcoming party of VERY angry bandits, who told me I "was not going to make it out alive" and immediatly started firing at me off screen...from a long ways away...and hit me with every shot... As i turned around, I was smacked with a flamethrower, set ablaze, and respawned after watching a slow-motion ass whooping of my character. When I finally came back, again, i was greeted with the gun-toting bafoons of the future-past, and killed. After 5 times, I started to run and sucked down every restorative item I had on me until I ran inside a house occupied by a former lady of the night.

This is when I engaged in coversation and noticed the new Karma system. Upon further investigation, I found out that all your actions in the game affected your charisma and how people saw you, and your story's outcome. This quickly changed when I stole everything this woman had, and shot her several times. Wielding a new weapon, more liqour than i knew what to do with, and a bunch of health items and drugs, I ran outside and quickly dispatched my pursuers. After it all, I noticed I had quite a bit of lower Karma. Karma system Bad. So, i decided to make it worse.

While the game is great on the eyes in this apocolyptic world, I wouldn't like to take a trip here any time soon. Now, i say that when the world ends, it will be a Nuclear war (like this game) or a Zombie Apocolypse (please see L4D review). The controls just flow into the game inside and out, with ease, while the audio is amazing down to the effects.

But the fun factor falls where some of the bad guys are simply too strong for your low level character until you beat them all. I was strolling down the street, seeking out a story point, when suddenly the combat music came on. I was immediatly in the middle of a firefight between some bandits and "Super-Mutants" who look like some serious steroids abusers. After they riddled my body with as many bullets as they could, they turned to each other while i was hiding.

Feeling inexperianced, I shut down the game for a little while. When I came back, I realized that I was not going to win this fight till later. I ran around seeking anything I could fight and kill in the game, to get stronger. After awhile, I had killed almost everything in the game...minus Liberty Prime. Then, once you have killed the baddies of the world, most do not respawn (at least they didn't for me), Leaving replay / rekill value at a very minimum for me, until the DLC comes out.

Not to mention, the fact that you have a level cap brings me down as well. I do not have the DLC nor will i be buying any part of Alaska (no offense) but I have had enough of it. But, I would have rather been happier to just kill anything that movies to raise my level to infinity rather than pay for an update. Although, I see their point they are subtlely tying to make. They would rather not want the player to out level all of the new content and FLY through it without dying once (I.E., Wrath of the Lich King's Level restriction / gear).

After all is said and done involving this game, I would rather play it for a bit when I have exausted all of my library of games, ran out of a XBL gold membership, and are playing something simply passing the time for a class, waiting for laundry or cooking. I recommend this game TO EVERYONE, whether you are a RPG player or not. Everyone will love this game, if not forever, then for a moment. This game is definitly a fun, time passing game, that is graphically gorgeous and sounds great in surround sound. Just keep in mind, there is a limit to your enjoyment, level and how much some people can take by going back over and over in the game.

Now if you will excuse me, I will be getting back to watching my friend annihilate the hordes of hogs in Kung Fu Panda, since she loves it, while i contemplate on more 1 liners from CSI: Miami, and sip my Monster Assault.

Just another installment of the Epic Gaming News. Not much here to report on, but if i think of anything more, ill add it in Break Installments.

Anyways, my weekend went good. For once. I went to spend it with a very special friend to me and as we hung out for the weekend, we had dinner, and walked around the mall and stores of Kalamazoo. I was approached by a reader who recognized me and it made me happier, knowing that I am not typing this all for my health, and worse condition of carpel tunnel...or however you spell it.

Full Story Here


With that link, you can see the latest in the ongoing trial for violations of Blizzard's DMCA and EULA licensing that some of you may click accept to, every time you install a patch, new game, or access the forums. This, however, also leads a scary assault on the limit and the extent of the DMCA that was signed and brought into the world in 1998. If used correctly, the information in this case can be used to stop the advance of many software companies or developers, who may attempt to bring something into a market, only to be shot down so a larger developer may maintain superiority, and basically, "Cutting out the Little guy".

The recent events in this case, justify that "Glider", a program developed by MDY Industries LLC, is classified as a Circumvention device, allowing players to bypass "The Warden's" detection capabilities and allowing players to access all of Blizzards "Non-Literal" content at once, allowing the reproduction of content to potential non-subscribers / non-license owners, and allowing the players who access the game unrestricted benefits that give some players the upper hand making it easier to kill others, farm faster and longer, and frankly, making the game a harder "world" to enjoy themselves in.

For those that do not know what glider is, Its is a program that allows you to not be at your computer, while the program plays your chracter for you. You can be outside, at work, asleep, school or wherever else you would like, while your character continues to level, grind and farm up those very costly materials that sell for big tickets on the Auction house. While some players see this as a non-issue, others who are legitimate can surely attest to the damages that programs like these are causing. As many players have seen in the ever changing economy in World of Warcraft, it is hard for one person to make any gold, when another is over-flooding the auction house with their own over farmed, illegitimately obtained materials. It is also known that most gold farmers / sellers use these types of programs to make their sales and transactions.

Where this is proving that Glider is in fact illegal and bad for the legitimate players of the game, this is also opening up many windows for all companies to lay an excuse that many other programs, which do not access the game or software in question, my also be in violation of the DMCA or personal copyright infringement acts. The result for a guilty charge for violation of Blizzard's DMCA or EULA; up to $150,000 in fines, termination of your license for the software (Ban Hammer) and Second or First degree Copyright Infringement.

As noted, this ruling is similar to the Garage Door Opener & Printer trials that were filed awhile ago, and how other companies attempted to shoot down their competition by claiming similarities with the product, and claiming Copyright Infringement. Also noted, the ruling may include all forms of content reproduction, including screen capture or reproduction of "Non-literal" content for the non-licensees, and possible other violations, with candidacy for fines, is the Naming Violation clause, that has apparently been recently updated.

In summary, I don't really know about you readers, but if i plan on making a PvP video, or any type of content video, i would not like to be banned for it, because of a violation of the EULA or something. This is all very troubling not only for WoW players, but all gamers alike, as it could open a very large window to what is considered DMCA violation, even by simply accessing content.