[1.Local]: Readers speak their minds

Armorying potential group members
Do you check out potential PuGgers on the Armory before extending a group invitation? Reader Dave is one who does: I check people on the Armory before most groups (or most groups if I'm tanking for them) just to get a baseline level of competency and experience. Not necessarily to see that they've got all epics and a specific set of talent points or whatever ... but I personally like to see all PvE gear for a PvE instance, a PvE spec and generally the right sort of gear in the right slots, the right gems, etc. Depending on the instance, decent stats with their gear too. If you're going to be a healer for a harder heroic, Kara or a 25-man, I personally insist on no green gear and things to be enchanted and/or gemmed. Stuff with no gems is bad, not sucking it up and enchanting your gear is bad, etc. Having caster gear as a healer, or just poor choices in general is not desirable. It's not to be elitist, I'll play with someone in nothing but dungeon blues, but they have to at least show that they make an effort at understanding the game.

However, I think at the same time a lot of lesser intelligent people (like that tank in the post) treat gear inspections like a bad internet meme. They see other people doing it and figure that if they do it but are totally more strict than the guy they're copying or set some arbitrarily high limit (preferably one that will overcompensate for their own lack of gear and/or intelligence) then they're going to be successful.

I really don't think that's the case, and it's fun to see Kara PuGs demanding +1800 heals, +1200dmg or 1800AP DPSers or whatever. You can almost always spot the guy who organizes it, based on their own gear being mostly blue and you know they're doing the run in hopes of getting 9 people to carry them through the whole thing and gear up their new alt. Maybe 1/10 of the PuGs like that are really all T5+ geared people just looking to do a quick badge run, but for the most part it's always one slacker getting everyone else to do their work. At least on my server.

So, a good idea but taken a bit too far by people who shouldn't be throwing stones in the first place.

More calls for midlevel content
How should Blizzard satisfy players who are hungry for more WoW yet don't enjoy end-game raiding? Is the answer more mid-level content for more alts, or is there another solution? Heilig appreciates the idea of retooling old content via the Caverns of Time: Wow. Just wow. I was all set to come to Blizzard's defense with an explanation of how no matter how much content you add in the middle, people eventually pass through it, while the 70s are stuck at 70 no matter what they do, so you are obligated to prioritize new content that can't be progressed beyond simply by grinding boars if that's what you choose to do.

Then I read this post. And it is simply brilliant. It would require a massive hardware upgrade, but having an "old Azeroth" and "Present-Day Azeroth" is the best idea I've heard in ages. It makes all the old dungeons heroics for all intents and purposes, and provides a real reason to go back and visit the old world again, which even the most jaded 70 has to admit is a very cool place, if only there was a reason to be there. It would allow for all the unused instances to be updated and used, like Grim Batol, Uldum, Timbermaw Hold, Hyjal, etc.

Excellent idea, mate. Too bad they'll never do it, but great idea nonetheless.

SK Gaming interview
When our own Allison Robert interviewed Neg, a bleeding-edge raider formerly with Nihilum and now with SK Gaming, the very first issue she got out of the way was why he changed guilds in the first place. While some readers were turned off by what they perceived as the airing of dirty laundry, others felt it shed light on what many other players experience as they move through end-game raiding. According to Bastiaan: I liked the first two questions as well. I agree with you, moink, that it's only one side of the story, but it would've been very unprofessional not to ask about why Neg switched guilds. Basically, the guy leaves the world's top guild RIGHT at the moment that they are starting to decline, and joins the new number one guild. I'd say that the reason behind his decision will probably shed some light on what can go wrong in top guilds.

It would've been even better if there had been some comments on this from someone who still IS in Nihilum: why did he/she make the decision to stay? Were the issues that Neg quit over felt in the same way by the other guild members?

His reasons for leaving can be summarized by ''leadership problems" which, in itself, is indeed pretty mundane. However, the cause of these problems, the nine-month gap between the release of BT and the Sunwell, is something that is felt much less by the majority of WoW players. I find it interesting to see how incredibly hard it is to maintain people's motivation in times of inactivity, and how even very experienced guild leaders apparently can not deal with this.

Tank Talk: Do you feel lucky, punk?
This week's brand new Tank Talk column proved a hit with many readers. Commenters chimed in with their own perspectives on the challenges of tanking, including insights on handling the drain of filling a role that's in such high demand. Observed Ktok: ... I've led my guild since EQ1, through EQ2 and into WoW. I have always been a front-line tank, and usually the best geared in the guild because it's what I love to do. Tanking fits my personality very well, and it's just my "thing." However, I do like to do other things too. I barely got a second character to the cap in EQ1, and I *never* got a second character to the cap in EQ2 because people wouldn't stop bugging me to tank this or that. Even the other, slightly less skilled/geared tanks in the guild or on my friends list would bug me to tank for them. Once people know you're a good tank, that's it. Game over. You're absolutely screwed out of any "me" time unless you manage to lead a life of complete secrecy with an alt (which as the guild leader I really can't do).

WoW isn't as bad for me because, well, my Prot warrior is currently Arms and intent on PvP :P Plus most of the current members are very respectful of the fact that I really do have a life outside of tanking. Several former members honestly got *offended* if I didn't want to tank that night, seeing it as a personal slight against them, and shirking my duty toward them and the guild ... even though there were plenty of other guild tanks they could have asked, and indeed at least two of them were tanks themselves.

My fiancee had the same problem due to being a very good healer, and generally available to go along with my tank. So, if you want to have free time in an MMO to do your own thing, it's really best to not be a primary healer or a main tank. Trust me on this one.

Forum drama leads to legal threats
Is WoW "just a game"? When players threaten legal action over in-game squabbles, the question takes on new meaning. Darian notes: While I don't buy the whole "I wasted three hours of my life" argument, I also don't buy the whole "You're a loot whore if you care about loot" argument. Having loot stolen sucks hard, whether you raid purely for the loot or for the fun of it.

It's kind of like going on a date. You have a blast bowling or watching a movie, you enjoy a fine dinner, and after all is said and done your date hits you with a tire iron and runs off with your car. It's unarguable that everything you did up until that moment was fun, but that's hardly the point.

Similarly, thinking about how you could have better spent those three hours, or what else you got out of those three hours is pointless. In both raiding and dating it is implied that the parties involved are going to be working together to have a good time. Anything that impinges on that is implied to be a mistake or unavoidable. It is completely natural that when something intentionally destroys that purpose that those on the receiving end are hurt, bitter and angry.

Using the phrase "it's a game," or any of its relatives, as a cure-all to the ill deeds and injustices that occur within the game is both insincere and ignorant. If such measures worked anywhere, half the strife that besets us in real life simply wouldn't happen. People wouldn't have reasons to be angry about the economy, foreign affairs, the mistakes of government or their recent breakup because "that's life" or "life isn't fair."

Hello Warcraft Kitty
We leave you this week with a fashion-forward note for those of you who care about, well, about your slippers. Reader roguedubb observes: I keep coming back to Hello Kitty because... oh wait, I never left. There are some things Warcraft just can't do for me; like my HK slippers - sure there is a lot of nice footwear in Warcraft but I just can't quite imagine wearing KJ in slipper form.

To which Mattarias replies: KJ slippers sound uncomfortable. Spiky and dripping with fel magic.