I’ll remind everyone again before the domain expires

Post from: Casual WoW by "J" (Byaghro)

Reminder, Casual WoW has moved!

I have thought of a number of various topics that I wanted to explore, but when I originally created Casual WoW I sort of limited myself in scope with its name. In addition, I now have a solid plan and desire for growth that this site is not really the best suited for. Rest assured I have no intention of quitting WoW or of not writing about the same types of topics, but I am planning to expand and do so through what amounts to a combination of both a new project and a complete rebranding of this site (I alluded to these potential changes back in April, though the implementation has completely changed since my original idea).

While I will not be taking Casual WoW offline, I will be posting everything to my “new project” and home at Diabolical Minds. Eventually I’ll be able to create an archive section at Diabolical Minds as well and move all of the content there to make it easier to locate older information in addition to the new, but that is not a high priority at the moment.

I hope everyone becomes as excited as I am about this new endeavor, and I cannot emphasize how much I truly want to know what everyone thinks of these changes. Send me an email, talk about things with me on twitter, leave a comment… whichever you are most comfortable with. The point is, I really want your feedback!

Post from: Casual WoW by "J" (Byaghro)

A Number of Changes

• Expected live/launch date is on or around October 2 (next Friday). Watch here for more details!
• I have had a few responses and all have been positive thus far. If you’re curious and want to see what is coming up let me know (based on this post and whether you are interested in potentially contributing, everyone else gets to know what’s coming soon enough!).
• A note on potential contributions: I’m looking for some type of commitment, but it doesn’t have to be huge. To give an idea, if you want to contribute once a week, once a month, once every quarter… pretty much any frequency is fine by me, I am just wanting to have more than just my works included. Even a guest contribution is fine!

I also want to steal the idea of a post from Syrana and ask these questions:

• What do you like/dislike about Casual WoW?
• What would like to see more/less of?
• Do you even still visit the site or do you just read through a RSS reader?
• What would make you even more interested in the site?

Time for me to get some more work done, but these particular questions I am extremely interested in hearing feedback on. Who knows, you might just be helping to shape quite an interesting path for Casual WoW… or maybe I’m delusional and that subscriber count is only from people who don’t actually visit/read any of my somewhat irregular postings!

T minus 10(ish) days!

Post from: Casual WoW by "J" (Byaghro)

Coming Soon!

First the bad. Ulduar is still where many guilds are working through content (and I’m focusing on the 10-mans here), but with the loot available in ToC and from Emblems of Triumph/Conquest there really is no point in running Ulduar unless you’re one that just wants to see the content (thankfully I fall into this category). Further, the gear disparity between Tier 8 and Tier 9 seems huge, and the multiple versions make it confusing for some players to figure out where they need to go to get what.

I can’t help but feel a lack of desire to work through the new content. The first couple of encounters in ToC are easy enough for us to complete, but then the “PvP” encounter is like hitting a brick wall repeatedly. Don’t get me wrong, I love a challenge, but going from smooth sailing to suddenly making absolutely no progress isn’t exactly the way levels of progression should work in my opinion.

Granted, a lot of this could simply be related to <devnull> not being interested in PvP-type play as a whole, and I’ve heard many grumblings surrounding a feeling of resentment for being forced to play that type of encounter. I can understand the feeling well even if I don’t completely agree with it, but I do agree the “bull****” factor is there when the NPCs do not have diminishing returns on their crowd control abilities but we do, and ours seem to start with roughly half of their typical length.

However, the good outweighs the bad significantly. Once you have a couple of level eighty characters things tend to seem monotonous, and running the same heroics/raids for gear over and over gets old. While this is the opportune time for many to take a break, Blizzard has certainly provided a number of alternatives for those interested in taking part.

I play the game for the social aspect and for raiding, generally speaking. The achievement system has its merits for getting me to do other things as well, and for the most part I have no gripes with the achievements as designed. Currently <devnull> is struggling a little on the first two points, and I can see where my desire to log in and play is curtailed a little as a result. However, I still enjoy logging in and playing around with one of my numerous alts (especially my Blood Elf Paladin), and while my time may be quite limited I still want to log in even though I, quite often, end up not getting near as much time to do so as I plan.

Great, but what does any of this mean to me? Simple, this is the type of situation that makes a lot of people take breaks. I have no doubt <devull> is going to be at a serious disadvantage when Icecrown Citadel finally lands, but compared to destroying morale by trying to get people to sign on and fight through an encounter they really don’t even want to face… well, I’ll take the disadvantage in gear any day.

A lot of the changes made with patch 3.2 were certainly for the better, but some of those changes aren’t panning out as well as I hoped they would. My desire to try to gear for Icecrown isn’t really there when comparing pieces of loot yields very little difference, and in my mind a small enough difference I can overcome the deficit with skill. Granted, we’ve lost a few players recently as well and are back to barely having enough for 10-mans… fighting that cycle gets to everyone eventually.

I hope this is a temporary issue that works itself out before too long. We’re going on a few weeks now with these types of issues though, and honestly I’m curious if recovery will occur or if this spells the end of our progression raiding for a while. In the meantime, maybe it’s time to finally do some of those other achievements, like Obsidian Sanctum leaving all three drakes up?

Post from: Casual WoW by "J" (Byaghro)

State of the Guild: devnull

The basics (or at least what I’ll divulge publicly for now) of what I’m looking for:

• Contributors (sorry, I can’t get more specific on this one yet)
• If someone has solid graphic design skills and wants to help I would love to hear from you and get some assistance, and the same goes with web/php development skills (not to worry, I’m only looking for help on getting a few things set up initially, and while I’m slowly figuring it out, someone with the skillset that wants to help would make it much easier).

And some basics about the project itself:

• The project is blog-related.
• I’m looking for both guest contributors and regular contributors, so even if you’re concerned about time if you’re interested send me an email.
• Contributions are not limited to articles only, though there will be some guidelines involved.

I know that is still very vague, but without having a definite timeframe for wrapping things up and not knowing the types of responses I will or won’t receive I don’t want to give out too much information too soon. Things are coming along nicely, though, and I’m anticipating being able to launch this endeavor by the end of the month!

Post from: Casual WoW by "J" (Byaghro)

New Project!

Those who I play with currently would know more about my current state than any of those I have played with previously, and they would be much more likely to show up at my door in the event I went unheard from for any length of time. Those who I have kept up with, albeit horribly infrequently, might never know one way or another. And there are still others whom I miss that I couldn’t even tell you if they were still around or if something had befallen them.

With the proliferation of other services, specifically things like Twitter, the blogging community in general and certainly those who do visit this blog, and text messaging for those who have my direct contact information, it is certainly easier to keep track of those we grow fond of in one way or another. Yet, there is still, quite often, a barrier between those who have never met in person (and far too often even those we meet in passing in “real life” as well).

These are just some thoughts to ponder after reading Syrana’s post:

• Are there people you have met online, regardless of venue, that you care enough about to wonder what happens in their lives?
• Have you made and lost friends over the years that you wish you still had a chance to speak to, or that you recollect fondly and have no idea where they are now or what they may be up to?
• Why do we persist in keeping others at bay when they are not a part of our daily lives in some fashion?

Thinking back, these are a few of the people (some in-game names and some forum handles) that I’ve lost track of and think of on occasion (and forgive me if I have forgotten the exact spelling):

• Arcaeus / Agraulus
• Tuck / Oomph
• Andronicus
• Batpat, whom I even met in person and had the opportunity to go SCUBA diving with.
• All of the wonderful people on the Smuggler and Teras Kasi forums (SWG). The sense of community there is only matched in WoW thus far.
• My fellow correspondents during the “pre-combat revamp” phase. (SWG)
• Those who were a part of la Cosa Nostra during my time as Guild Leader, as well as those who played on Stormrage under the original Aeternus Veritas guild banner.

And to all of those whom I know now, whether I know you well or if we are only really developing any semblance of friendship as I write this, I hope our paths remain in contact. Sometimes it is the relationships we form virtually that shape aspects of ourselves in ways we never expected, and those threads of friendship and camaraderie tend to stay with us long after contact is lost. To you all I raise my glass, and hopefully this time we all manage to stay in touch!

Post from: Casual WoW by "J" (Byaghro)

Forming Relationships and Finding Friends

Will it be successful? Absolutely no idea. Will it be full of frustrations being ganked by playing Alliance? Absolutely. Yet the hearts and spirits of those who have decided to attempt to retake the server will not be easily destroyed. The initial flood of new people, myself included, who joined the guild yesterday by creating a new character will no doubt wane. Certainly more will falter or lose interest as it becomes increasingly more difficult to level beyond the initial 10-15 range.

As a general rule I tend to not enjoy PvP servers. Being a part of something larger, however frustrating the experience may prove to be, has won my support.

Regardless of my general choice of faction on other servers (I do play both Horde and Alliance), the time has come for the cry of battle to erupt from the lungs of those who have chosen to face overwhelming odds. War is upon us once more in a manner not seen since the rivalries seen in the original iteration of Alterac Valley.

With courage and confidence, armed with the knowledge that even against a drastically larger force we will still stand together, and for the first time since my level 60 days in AV in “vanilla” WoW, I proclaim:

For the Alliance!

Original Information:

Official WoW Forum Thread (One of them)
Guild Website
The Resistance Begins (Image 01)
The Resistance Begins (Image 02)

Post from: Casual WoW by "J" (Byaghro)

The Resistance

‘The Magister seems quite confident that this vial will resurrect Stillblade, but how can such magics exist and not be corrupt and vile? Are we not twisting the powers of the light by our inability to wield them naturally and thus bending them to our will?’

Prognosis kneels down, setting the vessel on Stillblade’s chest and whispering for guidance. Taking a deep breath, Prognosis opens the vial and closes her eyes. A flash of light radiates from the vessel with a force so strong that it almost knocks Prognosis over, and with a warmth so comforting that any thoughts of the magic within being corrupt are immediately banished from thought.

‘By all that is holy, how can the power of the light be so strong when the magisters that this magic was pulled from are so weak and lifeless?’

Only a few seconds passed, but to Prognosis it felt like years. So many unanswered questions now consumed her thoughts, and yet a confidence previously unknown filled every fiber of her being.

“I must speak to Bloodvalor about my duties. Death is not an experience I want to relive, and I am certain it is not an experience that could grow more pleasant with time,” grumbles Stillblade, the color having returned to his skin. “I will admit, I thought I had you at first. You are the first to beat me, Prognosis, I will be quite interested in hearing of your progress within the ranks of the Order.”

Not waiting for a reply, Stillblade walks down the ramp and out of the inn and leaves Prognosis kneeling on the floor, her head still reeling.

‘To what end will this path take me? I know very few of our people have been able to wield the powers of the light proficiently… a fact that is evident by the dwindling numbers of the Blood Knight Order. Never before have I felt such power, such pure and righteous power, as was unleashed mere moments ago. Could this be our race’s path to redeeming ourselves for the many years we were misled under Kael’thas Sunstrider’s rule?’

Prognosis slowly rises to her feet. An unfamiliar power flows within, a power that not only conveys warmth and confidence but also a sense of protection and retribution.

‘I have made the right choice. Whether this path leads me to destruction or salvation is yet to be seen, but there can be no denying the true, pure power the light conveys upon those who walk the path of the holy.’

Prognosis emerges from the inn and turns toward the Blood KNight Headquarters. No longer driven by a strange paranoia, or a fear of being attacked at random, she strides toward Farstrider’s Square calmly and confidently.

‘Bloodvalor, you have some explaining to do.’

DISCLAIMER: The events in this story are based upon actual elements of the World of Warcraft game, although I am taking liberties wherever I decide to make the events fit the story I am crafting.

Table of Contents:
• Installment One – (RP) Blood Knight
• Installment Two – (RP) Blood Knight: Acceptance
• Installment Three – (RP) Blood Knight: Redemption

Post from: Casual WoW by "J" (Byaghro)

(RP) Blood Knight: Redemption

Anyway, I thought this might be a good time to give some screenshots of my UI’s evolution, so here we go in order of oldest to most recent starting with the first UI I put together that was not based on the stock UI (and a follow-up post will provide information on what I decide to do with my UI currently):

From July 2008

This layout served me quite well for a long time. My primary frustrations were with the haphazard placement of unit frames and the irritation from having buttons stretch all the way across the bottom of the window. This particular setup actually evolved some (while retaining the ugly factor), as shown here:

From September 2008

This one actually started to look better. Breaking myself from the long-time exposure to having the unit frames in the top left section of the screen started to really open my ideas on how to evolve my UI from this point.

From October 2008

From April 2009

And this is where I finally realized I needed to weed out a lot of the duplicated information I had taking up screen real estate. This is also where I started the drive to be even more minimalistic and actually be able to see the game’s graphics instead of just the information I needed to see per encounter.

From June and July 2009

The July revision is actually quite nice. Honestly, I could have left it alone and been fairly happy. I wanted to try to open up a little more screen space though, and decided to move a few things around. The result is the UI I am currently using (and am about to change):

Where will I take it from here? Absolutely no idea. I think I may play with state changes more to utilize fewer action bars, or perhaps just relocate the one to the right to not be obscured when I open my bags (for some reason I cannot use any bag addon, they simply irritate me and I have no idea why). Maybe I’ll completely revise it yet again and try to make the elements flow together better. Regardless, I’ll have another post coming in the next few weeks that shows the next iteration of my UI.

By now I’m sure the question of why my UI changes so much has crossed your minds. Well, it has a lot to do with the classes/roles I fill. I’ll end up with a UI setup I absolutely love for healing, but then it doesn’t work well for me tanking. Or I’ll love the minimalistic number of buttons I have on my Druid, only to find I’m short buttons on my Priest or Paladin. My goal is to have one UI setup that works across all of my characters, not to create individual interfaces per character. We’ll see if I get it right this time!

Post from: Casual WoW by "J" (Byaghro)

Can’t I Just Leave My UI Alone!?

Step One: Forget About Healing Meters

Typically a druid or holy priest, and occasionally a shaman, will top the healing meters. This is due mostly to the nature of their abilities, and being able to quickly put out a lot of healing energy. While meters can be useful, and often encourage friendly competition among healers, they cannot provide an adequate idea of how a healer will perform.

As an example let’s examine a basic raid (25-man) with five or six healers. A druid could do nothing more than toss Lifebloom as much as possible in between Wild Growth cooldowns and easily be at or near the top of the healing meter. In fact, if their sole responsibility is raid healing this might even be the method used. Does this necessarily mean they are a good healer, or even that they adequately performed their duty? Not necessarily. Certainly they contributed a significant amount of healing to the raid, but at what expense? Were the other healers feeling pressure to heal as a result? The meter alone does not provide us with any answers.

Take the same scenario to a ten-man raid with two healers and the results may vary significantly. There is much less room for error, and a single lifebloom or wild growth may prove to not be anywhere near enough to heal the members of the raid.

Step Two: Don’t Forget the Value of Mitigation

Discipline Priests often get snubbed by those lesser-versed players who think meters matter most, or by most anyone who does not understand what the spec brings and then looks at healing meters. Fairly simplistic, but think about it in terms of damage absorbed equals healing done. Although it is not really a direct correlation, it gets the point across. On fights where large amounts of damage are being absorbed and healed through (think fights like Patchwerk) or fights where mana conservation is of the utmost importance (think fights like General Vezax), a discipline priest can make a significant impact on whether a group is able to complete the encounter smoothly by lessening the strain on the other healer(s).

Step Three: Situational Awareness. Situational Awareness. Situational Awareness. Situational Awareness.

I cannot emphasize this point strongly enough. It is the same value that contributes to making good tanks and good damage-dealers. If a healer does not pay attention to their surroundings and stays in the “big circles of hurt” that are prominent in so many encounters then they are not a good healer.

I do want to mention an exception to this particular one, however. There is one trait that relatively few healers, or at least those I have been exposed to, possess: self-sacrifice for the survival of the group. If a healer dies to an environmental ability due to a decision to get that extra healing out to a party member in order to finish an encounter, knowing that they will not be able to escape the damaging ability in time and will subsequently die, I can support that decision. Sometimes it happens. However, if the healer constantly dies doing such an act they need to reevaluate their healing style and adjust to not be constantly in such a situation.

Step Four: Observe Reaction Time.

Any healer should be able to swap assignments on the fly in a raid situation. They may not be best suited for the change in assignment compared to someone else, but they should still be able to adjust quickly to the situation as it unfolds.

In <devnull> there have been numerous times where our healers have had to adjust, and even times when our tanks have had to pull off some pretty miraculous saves working in conjunction with our healers. That type of synergy will obviously not be present in random groups, but in groups that run content together often it is a wonderful thing to see, and it is directly a result of adaptation and reaction time.

While there may not be a clear-cut method for measuring a healer’s performance, it is easy to see where simply the knowledge and application of some basic concepts will produce good healers. Over time those that apply that knowledge and adjust to find what works best for them will be the healers people remember.

Great healers are an entirely different story, and one that I’ll address soon… ish… probably… *grin*

Post from: Casual WoW by "J" (Byaghro)

Thoughts on Measuring a Healer’s Peformance