Things to Avoid, Part I

(Hey, who knew we could get a rant written down so quickly?)

First thing to avoid:

As a WARRIOR…

Trigger-happy mages!

Specially while you’re still leveling!

So I was working on my Warrior. New to the server, haven’t got enough money to paid for a transfer, so I had to start from the beginning. Again. It’s okay, I’m trying out leveling as Arms and having a blast! Hit level 26 and just as I had bought my new skills and was leaving Stormwind, I got a mage /whispering me and asking if I wanted to tank through Blackfathom Deeps.

“Hey, sure. Why not?”

Guy invites me, I accept. We got a full group now. Resto Druid (had Heirloom shoulders, so he was someone’s alt who knew what he was doing), Human Mage (he invited me), Human Rogue (didn’t check his spec), Human Arms Warrior going sword and board (that’s me!) aaaaand… a level 31 Gnome Mage, specced Frost for AoE grinding.

The Gnome is considerably above dungeon level, he’s not going to get any XP or good loot out of it, and level 15-20 greens don’t sell all that well on the AH. I just shrug and run to BFD. On the way, I read the Frost Mage commenting he’s drunk. And pissed off, I can’t remember why. So we summon everybody and run into the instance. What happens?

I tank. Lacking the Prot talents I’m so used to, I’m a little bit rage-starved early in the pulls. But that’s alright. I tell people to wait until I get one Thunderclap off before dropping the hammer.

The Rogue does his job, stabbing mobs and generally focusing on the same mob I’m targetting.

The Mage throws Arcane Missiles, sheeps things and does the occasional Flamestrike after he’s sure I got enough threat.

The Druid… heals. He’s very good at that.

The Gnome Mage… curses a lot and tosses his talented Blizzards around as soon as he sees the “in combat” symbol pop up.

By the end of the run, the Druid had healed that Mage for at least 50% of what he healed me. The guy was pulling aggro quicker than a level one in Icecrown! Sure, he could take a few hits. But just because you can drop massive AoE damage while your low-level Warrior tank is still trying to build up threat, it doesn’t you have to.

So here’s today’s Thing to Avoid: Mages Without Control Over Their Massively Overpowered Fireballs.

~O2

Intro!

or “What’s that weird guy talking about?!”

Hello, I’m O2! Yes, like that: Oh-Two!

I’ve played RPGs since I was 12. Caught the end of the AD&D train (I know what THAC0 means…), and then I started playing D&D3e and other games. Always liked playing other characters, bashing heads in as a medieval paladin or blowing things up as a modern mage. To me, the biggest hurdle to my RPGing habits has always been finding enough players for it. I’m not an american, and my country isn’t exactly famous for its roleplaying culture. I used to play in high-school, but then I moved to a nearby town and things got a lot more difficult since then. Last year I’ve found a new group for Storyteller-based games (Werewolf, more exactly), but I still felt I missed the medieval genre I had in D&D.

So… last December I decided to go and give MMORPGs another chance. Made a new account, picked up the 10-day trial, tried out a few different classes to see how they felt now, and well… here I am! Let’s go to the part that really matters here!

Here’s what to expect from [Verb] It Up:

• Lots of talking!
• Lots of talking about Alts!
• Lots of Tanking things up!
  
• Lots of Hitting/Shooting/Blowing things up!
• Hitting/Shooting/Blowing other players up, occasionaly!
• Lots of praise to healers!
• Faction-neutral speech!
  

Explanations after the jump!