WoW Insider serves up a smattering of reader comments from the past week, from the sublime to the ridiculous.
PvP was very much on readers' minds this week: Blizzard's balance of focus on PvP vs. PvE content, new Arena gear requirements, the e-sport aspirations of WoW's PvP system ... We bring you a sampling of those, as well as plenty of other tidbits that readers poked at over the last week: meanie players who kill ogres, loot drama, even roleplaying coverage.
As always, be sure to dive into the comments area and add your own thoughts – unlike your mama, we like us some hot, fresh backtalk.
One reason tanks won't PuG When a PuGing mage snatched a valued melee/tanking trinket from a warrior who needed it, much popcorn was popped – and warrior advocates like Matt Rossi got popping, too. Reader Mike Whaley took time to send in kudos via the Contact Us link: "This is one of the best articles I have ever read anywhere on this subject. Judging by the seven full pages of comments (and climbing), it would be safe to say that Mr. Rossi has touched off a firestorm of opinions. Please ask him to do a followup article."
From the "seven full pages of comments (and climbing)," we bring you this comment from Ahoni on how things turned out for the infamous player who looted the trinket in question: "We have all made mistakes on gear. You see something, you have a couple seconds to decide on it, and you roll. I have made a few mistakes in my time. What makes this a truly epic story, is the fact that the mage created the thread and posted the screen shots on the forums to make his point that he is right, and the tank didn't deserve the trinket.
"Primula was /gkicked by his guild, who completely agreed with every other rational person that it was a complete tool move. If you log on to Rexxar Horde-side these days and do a /who primula, you are likely to see a bunch of level 1s named lolatprimula or primulasucks lounging around Orgrimmar.
"That trinket is pretty much the best trinket for a feral tank. Its pretty damned good for any tank, but it seems designed for bears. Nice job, Primula, taking the best in class trinket away from a tank you yourself said needed the gear upgrades."
Some readers actually did discern the opinion/analysis aspect of the posts, though. "I think the whole idea behind this article was to express his opinion that PVP is not core to this game, much despite the instance of a portion of the player base," noted VSUReaper. "I am geared up enough that I can walk into a T5 raid and hold my own, and I am also 4/5 Vengeful (only missing the shoulders, hopefully I get them this week!) and can walk into any BG or Arena and wipe the floor with my opponents. We all know that PVE is the background of this game, and PVP is something we do to break up the monotony of farming and raiding day in and day out.
"Was this article needed? Probably not. Did it help answer someone's questions about WoW? More than likely, yes. Therefore, this article is justified. And besides: no one made you read it. You volunteered. Don't like it? Then don't read it."
Keep your e-sport out of the battleground It's hard to see the forest for the trees sometimes, especially if you're strongly focused on either PvE or PvP to the exclusion of the other. From Ircasha comes this poignant note on the increased melding of the Arena and battleground systems: "I'd be happy to give back my S1 gear if Arena gear weren't allowed in BGs, but only Arenas. Getting S1 gear (if you aren't an Arena player) is just a matter of survival if you like to BG. Blizz essentially added access to the Arena gear for honor because they didn't want to update the Honor gear and with the gear disparities between Arena and Honor gear growing increasingly larger, they needed to do something.
"I love to BG, they are a blast when everyone tries (which is sadly a rarity). I dislike Arenas. It's a personal preference issue. As far as I'm concerned, they can make the requirements for Arena gear as difficult as they want, but adding an Arena requirement for Honor gear is BS. If they want to make a complete Arena set that's fine (and what they should have done to start with), but gear accessible for BG honor should not require someone to play Arenas to attain. Are the requirements that difficult? Not really, but that's not the point. I have a limited amount of time to play and I would prefer not to have to play something I do not enjoy in order to be reasonably competitive in a part of the game I love."
Officers don't do officers like u did ZOMG, more loot drama! This week's Guildwatch drama spilled over into the reader comments, where it rapidly degenerated into a flame war over grammar and usage, with "Officers don't do officers like u did" vying for position as the newest catchphrase among popcorn-loving dramaholics. "The funniest thing is that everyone in this guild seems to be afflicted with the same grammar-degenerating disease," observed Yeng. "The reason people correct your English is because in a context like a forum (or in-game chats), your thoughts and intent need to come across clearly.
"When you fail to type out full words, use punctuation, or capitalize the words at the beginning of a sentence, you are making people struggle to read what you are typing. This then causes them to get frustrated and build up hostility towards you. Then Drama Wars happen. Proper English and grammar is important!
"Bad grammar leads to Anger, Anger leads to Hate. Hate leads to suffering [of your Guild to be featured on GuildWatch]."
Tuar Annwn holds another date auction Friday night Roleplayers unite! Cynra took our post on a Date Night RP event to point out recent coverage of roleplaying on WoW Insider: "Badger, I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you. 15 Minutes of Fame recently posted an article looking at a young roleplayer who enjoyed roleplaying more than he did leveling his character. The engineering articles have a witty roleplaying theme to them, often tying in-game elements and lore as reasoning to be an engineer (and risk life and limb for the trade skill). Numerous roleplaying articles come across this site on a regular basis, sometimes to the effect that non-roleplayers wonder why the hell there are so many!
"In fact, I've been exceedingly pleased with the number of roleplaying-related articles that have been cropping up on WoW Insider lately. As others - roleplayers and non-roleplayers alike - have mentioned in the past, we're a minority in the World of Warcraft community and catering exclusively to our expectations effectively shuts out the larger community as a whole. It's understandable that roleplayers get less attention, but what notice we get is usually well-written and by experienced members who are active participants in the community. And I value that a lot more than an outsider who writes on roleplaying without knowing more than the Feathermoon tram incident and the phrase 'lawl arpee.'
"I don't care if Mike is a roleplayer or not (I honestly don't know); if he's interested in learning more about our sub-culture, I'm glad. This is a fun, engaging idea that has worked successfully on our server (as has a series Azerothian Speed Dating meetings, of which one of my girls somehow became the poster child); I'm glad that it's getting attention. Why denounce WoW Insider's attempts to help roleplaying gain further recognition when I think it's something in which you've expressed interest in the past?"
Grab your D-20's and your Logitech Headsets, eSports fans, because this is gonna be one night you won't soon forget (unless you get smashed-drunk and forget it ever happened)!
*sounds of dice rolling mixed with explosions*
Seminars! Deathmatches! Miniature painting! And the BATTLE OF THE CENTURY: Warlord Understudy Mike "PewPew" Schramm versus Tony "AngryDouche2K8" DiGerolamo.
... featuring a midnight "Fight Night" opening act: LIMO ZEEN!
*rawk riff*
"I got the heaaaaart of a Liiion And the wiiiings of a BAT"
Remember your Ethernet cables and your LCDs, boys and girls!
NERDRAGE 2008: GEEKS DONT DO GEEKS LIKE U DID!!!
*explosion*
(This event is intended only for manchildren of at least 15 years of age. Please prepare fake IDs well in advance. Refreshments will be provided by organizers' mothers. Please note: Organizers do not guarantee the presence of actual female participants at any time or related venue. Subject to cancellation without prior notice of /gquit.)
REGISTER *TODAY!*"
Killing ogres and feeling like a jerk We leave you this week with a short but sweet comment from Arthas M., directed at players who feel remorseful over killing those lovable ogres:
Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ), the zany speedrun event for a good cause, returns on January 5 to 12. One of its highlights will be a live backing band for a run of the Dreamcast classic Crazy Taxi.
The company behind the Ayaneo gaming consoles just announced the Ayaneo 3. This portable gaming device is an improvement over both the Ayaneo 2 and the 2S.
Ghosts of Sparta, you can now think in peace without your son reminding you how slow-witted you are. The latest console patch for God of War Ragnarok adds the PC port’s option to tone down the boy’s unsolicited advice when Kratos contemplates puzzles.
Black Americans throughout the country have been getting racist text messages about slave plantations. One texting platform called it a “widespread, coordinated attack.”
The AirPods Pro 2 have dropped down almost to a record-low price ahead of Black Friday. Apple recently added some hearing health features that make the earphones even more appealing.