[1.Local]: we're acusing him of been respoble

Stats simplification: simpler, or simple-minded?
Warrior columnist Matthew Rossi pointed us toward this conversation on stat simplification that came in just a hair late to slip into last week's [1.Local].

MusedMoose: I agree with pretty much everything in this column, but most of all, I'm right there with you on the stat simplification. I know I don't speak for everyone, but I think that if you have to use a spreadsheet, then it's ceased to be a game and has become a math problem, which isn't something I want to pay $15 a month for.

Heilig: The only problem is that they have said repeatedly that they don't want gear decisions to be brain-dead. What they don't want is someone to automatically equip something because it's higher item level, which is exactly the direction they now say they are going.

MusedMoose: @Heilig: You do have a point, and I agree, there should be more than just the iLevel or "higher stat = better item" to consider. However, I think that it's gone too far. Whether Blizzard is cutting it back too much remains to be seen, but I am glad that they realize that there is such a thing as too many stats to keep track of.

theRaptor: @Heilig: What intelligent decisions? You download a spreadsheet or sim from EJ and just do what it tells you to do. It is currently so complicated that only savants and maths geeks actually sit down and do it manually.

Heilig: Well, one could argue that reading a site like EJ is an intelligent decision that many players don't make.

bigjonno: There's a world of difference between making intelligent gear decisions and the current level of stat-juggling required. ... In my opinion, good gear decision making is something like "these gauntlets are better overall than my current ones, but they don't have any armour pen. Which pair should I use?" Bad decision making would be the 20 minutes of gear-swapping that Matthew described in the article.

Poor, poor dragon
The Breakfast Topic at hand: Which boss made the most impact to you as a player and what about it made it so special? Your answers warmed our broken hearts.

Tirrimas: Keristrasza. First time after doing that quest chain on Coldarra, I cried. Now, every time I run Nexus, I /hug her.

Tasty: Same here, poor dragon lady.

regisfrost: This.

Virtualgigi: Yeah, especially when she enrages and says that last line that goes something like "Finish it! I swear if you don't kill me something something!!"

Daniel: Keristrasza for me, too; I always feel sorry for her. Most people on Vent always call her a him. I always remind the people that the dragon is female.

Kia: Was just logging in to say this.

Rhabella: Looting Keristrasza's Broken Heart always breaks mine.

sankto: What she says is: "Finish it! FINISH IT! Kill me or I swear by the Dragon Queen you'll never see daylight again!"

VioletPheonix: Aw, I am glad I am not the only one. That encounter, seeing her standing there and hearing her anguish while fighting, always gets to me.

Karilyn: I still cry every time I do that fight.

vocenoctum: Same here, I did Nexus before the quest line originally, and it was just another dungeon with a bunch of randoms. After doing the questline, which is so great, heading back in feels different. It really resonates emotionally.

Shardrell: Yeah, I think Keri's death is particularly affecting because we knew her, y'know? Poor Keri. :(

Senor: This ^ Breaks my heart to kill her after she was so protective of us during the quest chain.

Silversol: For those that don't know the story. And what's said upon death is sad as well: "Dragon queen ... Life-Binder ... preserve ... me." Nothing like finding that glimmer of sanity upon the throes of death ...

Side note: To-do this week: Kill Malygos again.

Dazaras: Ditto, very sad.

kabshiel: Of course she did kill Malygos's girlfriend and mutilate her corpse ...

Croe: If I remember correctly, she does appear back at the shield in Human form and thank you for freeing her. It is a consolation.

Wulfkin: This. You fight alongside her only to see her taken and turned against you. Of the millions of mobs I have killed in WoW, she was the one that made me feel sadness.

Alja: Yep, I was gonna say Keristrasza as well – poor, poor dragon. :(

Pie, ice cream -- and a little something special
How is WoW holding up to other MMOs, past and present? One reader shared a unique viewpoint in the summation of this short exchange.

theRaptor: Meh, I am over grindfests. Diablo III just looks like a new and improved grindfest. Already tried that, it was called Titan Quest. Killing wave after wave of random monsters is just so '90s and doesn't interest me any more. I was annoyed at WoW on release because I was expecting World of Diablocraft, but I have realised over the years that I find WoW gameplay superior. When I have been off WoW I have tried to play DII, and the magic is just gone. It is like going and watching some movie that scared you as a kid only to realise how incredibly shonky the special effects are. Gaming has moved on.

t0xic: @theRaptor: Or maybe you just grew up. =) I empathize with how you feel (because I feel the same way). However, I chalk it up to age. The gaming industry just makes what people will pay for. In the case of "wave after wave of bad guys," I think it's just a different crowd. Blizzard wants a piece of that pie, too.

Tetsuo: Last I remember, Blizzard made that pie good. I'm not sure if something came pre-Diablo 1. I'm quite young, I guess, but if they did think "that's a cool idea" and used it, then they took an apple pie and added some ice cream and made it bigger. And maybe some boobs to go with it.

Fix it yourself!
Several smarty-pants readers fussed about outdated lines in the article linked from this week's WoW Rookie.

Snuzzle: Indeed. The mentions to CC (which is now all but obsolete), and AoE damage putting you at the bottom of DPS meters (AoE is currently king) just further reinforce the fact that this article is woefully outdated.

Lee Gibson: It's a wiki. Fix it.