[1.Local]: The WI week from the inside out

Don't be that guy
You are not prepared – but do you really need to be? Readers are of varying minds when it comes to how much preparation to expect (and even to demand) from fellow players in heroics and pickup raids.

"Whether you like the idea of being 'carried' or not, I don't see a problem with people diving right in on heroics," notes Steve. "As many posters in this thread have demonstrated, if you know how to play your class, you can make up for being undergeared. ... I recognize that most of the folks out there in your PuGs will not be min/maxed or have ever heard of the Elitist Jerks site or have an optimal rotation. No worries -- I don't bother to look people up on the Armory, since Armory doesn't tell me anything about their skill level. And now that I'm outfitted head to toe in Naxx epics, I can do the carrying for low party DPS or a tank that isn't def capped.

"I actually enjoy healing bad PuGs more than guildie groups, because if everyone is geared and knows what they are doing, there isn't a lot for the healer to do -- the tank is taking steady predictable damage and I occasionally need to throw out an AOE heal if the party takes damage from something. So go ahead and 'be that guy'; I'll still heal you as long as you aren't rude and are at least trying. Just be up front with the group about where you are at in gear level or DPS when you join."

Your most embarrassing WoW moments
Plenty of fun to be had in this roundup of most embarrassing moments. Head right over and watch other readers lay bare (we just had to turn that particular phrase, in light of the comment selected below) their foibles, faux pas and blushable moments.

"Not too long after the Armory came out, another Rogue friend and I got into a discussion about basic stats between classes and races," remembers Akilos. "We stripped naked -- removing gear, trinkets, rings, weapons, every single item -- and had a few fistfight duels as part of that discussion. After the last duel, I logged off, without thinking too much of it.

"One of my guildmates posted a screenshot of my Armory page on the guild forums, all nicely updated to show my (female) Rogue without one stitch on, right next to a screenshot of the guild roster in the game showing my last location as Elwynn.

/facepalm

"The character was unplayable for a couple weeks. Every time I logged on, I'd get whispers inviting me out to Goldshire."

Raid ID lockout fix in the works
Raid ID mixups are a mess, no doubt. Everyone agrees with that much, and we're all glad there's a fix in the works. But do raid lockouts serve a valuable purpose?

"Who cares if I want to run Naxx two times in a row?" shrugs The Claw. "Because then you could clear Naxx several times a day, all week. How long do you think the game would be fun if every serious guild were pulling in 1,000+ epics per week? Everyone would certainly be in best-in-slot gear for all their possible specs in a week or two."

"So what? If I put in the time, who cares?" counters nirv. "The raid lockouts are OVER, and you know it. You can't seriously defend that crap anymore."

O RLY? What do you think?

The Ghostcrawler factor
Greg Street, aka Ghostcrawler, is the lead systems designer at Blizzard for World of Warcraft, known for his outspoken posts on the state of game balance in today's game. Many players have come to appreciate his shoot-from-the-hip attitude and frank assessments (whether they agree or not).

But not everyone is a fan. Robert M. addressed their views from his side of the fence:

"Here is the answer to what's wrong with GC: He's without a doubt a Renaissance man," opines Robert M. "Though many of us who play WoW can appreciate the insight and understand that it prevents him from missing the forest from the trees, there are just too many players (those who might be described as 'hardcore' in some circles) that refuse to believe that WoW is anything less than a virtual world where perfection is not only possible but expected.

"GC is the everyday WoW player to some degree. He is well read and a pop culture dork. He drinks gin in his coffee, and I'm guessing he sits down with some booze like many of us when he logs on to play or when he's hanging out with folks at the local sports bar.

"No offense to anyone on the WoW team, but does anyone remember there was a time when hybrids were really considered healers? Warriors were the only real tanks in vanilla WoW?

"We should appreciate someone who both works and communicates with the rabid customer base about the company's efforts to balance classes that are inherently unbalanced and is also willing to say sometimes it just can't be done the way some players would like."

What's in a name?
Reader comments on this chatty Breakfast Topic post about character names range from philosophizing on political correctness to fascinating explanations of character name choices. Well worth the read, for the thoughtful insights as well as lighthearted anecdotes such as Ogre's: "I ran into a guy who named himself Cryptorchid, from the Marilyn Manson song. He thought it was 'Crypt Orchid,' until I informed him that no, it was one word and it's the name of a medical condition involving undescended testicles.

"Three days later, he wasn't named Cryptorchid anymore. :P"

What R U playing?
WRUP (What R U Playing) writer Elizabeth Harper's regular behind-the-scenes WRUP inquiry to the WI staff last week provoked one of Big Red Kitty/Daniel Howell's infamous lists ... which included a reference to The Food Network ... which in turn provoked what Elizabeth called "a lively discussion about whether Bobby Flay would play on a PvP server, whether he or Alton Brown would win in a fight, what classes the rest of the Food Network team would play, and all manner of related silliness."

Ametrine added more foodie flair: "Alton Brown starts at level 1 with 500 Cooking, knows every recipe regardless of faction, dual-wields a Mace and Dagger (rolling pin and chef's knife) regardless of class, and always smells of fresh-baked Mulgore Spice Bread. True story."