taunt
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Taunting in PvP
Drito brings up an interesting question on the forums: Why no taunting in PvP? I really don't think Blizzard will ever implement any form of taunt in PvP, because at this point the general direction seems to be headed away from players losing control of their characters (as in, all the fear nerfs), and no matter what form taunt appears in, it'll likely mean losing control of the taunted character, no matter for how long.But it is interesting to try and think the dev's thoughts through as to why they didn't include it in the first place. We've heard all along that Blizzard is aiming to make the same spells usable in both situations (so it's not a completely different game when you head into PvP). A Taunt spell in PvP obviously wouldn't create aggro, but it might make the player's next spell or attack target the taunter, or give the taunted player a debuff that lets them only attack the taunter (no other actions for the duration). Distract definitely doesn't work the same way in PvP that it does in PvE, but it does at least work. It's not hard to see Taunt being the same way.Of course, it's hard to see the devs giving any more cool abilities to Warriors, either-- they're doing just fine as is. But putting in an ability like this would definitely spice up group PvP, and add some extra tactics to taking on human enemies.
Boy attacked by moose "feigns death," thanks WoW
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Boy_Attacked_By_Moose_Feigns_Death_Thanks_WoW'; A Norwegian news site is reporting that a young boy and his sister were attacked by a moose (same thing happened to my sister once), and the boy reportedly "taunted' the moose away from his sister, and then feigned death, causing the moose to lose aggro and leave. "Just like you learn in level 30 in World of Warcraft," the boy is reportedly quoted as saying.Cynic that I am, I find it hard believing any of this is true at all-- maybe one of our Norwegian readers (and I know we have them, because I met two at BlizzCon) can let us know whether "Nettavisen" is to be trusted as a source or not. But even if it is true, I'm just as hesitant to jump to praise WoW for supposedly helping as I am to condemn it for supposedly hurting.Still, I'm glad the kid came out of it OK, and if WoW is to thank, all the better. Now if only he'd been able to control his DPS in the first place, he'd never have aggroed at all.[Via TN]
Sticks and stones...
Yesterday a player on the WoW forums pointed out that the Warrior skill Demoralizing Shout would be interesting to see in action. According to Undamian's interpretation, essentially, the skill involves insulting your opponents to throw them off balance in combat. Taunt, Challenging Shout, Piercing Howl and Intimidating Shout could also be viewed in a like manner. Unlike similar skills in other classes, warriors aren't considered magic users, so they must have an extensive vocabulary and a lot of creativity in order to affect their foes with mere words and body language.The original poster's idea, of course, led to a slew of suggestions as to what it is that warrior's actually say when they use these abilities. Community Manager Nethaera even proffered a suggestion, and as the thread progressed, other skills, such as Commanding and Battle Shout were included. Some players even posted catch phrases that they have bound to their abilities in game via macros. What do you imagine your character would say when using these skills? Please keep it clean.
Wii Warm Up: A graceful taunt ...
... is worth a thousand insults. As soon as we saw the inclusion of customizable taunts in yesterday's WiFi-tastic Smash Bros. Dojo update, we started drafting up the four jeers that we'll be arming ourselves with when the game comes out. We quickly dismissed the mundane ("U GOT PWND LULZ"), instead investigating ideas more ridiculous ("It's over 9000!") and annoying (Spamming, "Hi, I'm Daisy!" while playing as the brunette princess.).What put-downs are you planning to use to demoralize your friends? We've already decided on the four bits of scurrilous text that we're going to map to our D-pads: "so much depends upon," "a red wheel barrow," "glazed with rain water," and "beside the white chickens." That's right, we're going to drop poetry on you suckas.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Aggro!
The Care and Feeding of Warriors is brought to you by the letters A, G, G again, R and O. It is supported by a grant from Wowinsider, and the support of readers like you. Matthew Rossi would like to thank his trusty iPod for helping him grind his way through another day's respec money.Am I the only one who ever wonders what, exactly, I am saying when I taunt a mob?Is there a school somewhere in Azeroth that teaches you exactly how to insult, say, a mindless undead? The other day, while running yet another Black Morass to try and get my Burnoose of Shifting Ages I started wondering how my tauren knows the draconic phrase that gets the mob to turn back and attack me instead of the dude who just set him on fire for 8000 damage. I mean, what could I possibly have said to that guy? "Your ass looks really fat today.""I heard that your mom is sexually attracted to iguanas.""You are a total poopy head."It's a mystery. How do all my warriors manage to assemble a list of catchphrases guaranteed to irritate all but a select few of the vicious denizens of Azeroth and Outland? Do we get together with Paladins and Druids and Hunter pets and discuss just how to attack the self-esteem of even the most self-confident foes? I imagine a wizened old gnome in full plate resting against a stump somewhere and reading from The Big Book of Bitching Out Beasts while I take furious notes on the inside of my shield."...I had no idea Belan shi karkun was so offensive! That's the last time I feed a netherdrake. Gotta make sure I remember that for Aeonus..."At any rate, the facts remain the same. If you're interested in running PvE content, sooner or later you'll probably have to tank it. You may end up being just one of many tanking options in your guild (if you're guilded) or you may be called upon to be one of the primary tanks for most runs you do. Either way, you need to know how to tank. Part of the job of tanking is knowing how to mitigate damage, and part of it is holding threat. We've talked about the basics of tanking before so now I'll just go into a little more detail on generating hate.
