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The Daily Grind: Do you like to tank in MMOs?
The very first serious MMO tank I ever played was my day-one Warrior in World of Warcraft. I'd had dozens of characters in MMOs before that, but I was too chicken to step up and actually tank endgame fights. After all, as Massively commenters pointed out, there's a lot more to tanking than just taunting the boss and knowing when to hit your specials. Tanks need leadership and game knowledge far exceeding what's expected of other party archetypes. They're expected to lead the party, to know how the fights work, and to keep everyone else in line. Tanking is setting yourself up for a world of stress and the judgment of strangers. Depending on your temperament, it can become unfun in a hurry. I still play that Warrior when I resub, Protection-specced for all the days I've played her (minus an hour back in 2006 when I foolishly thought Fury might be nice for a change). But I'm always leery of dungeon-queueing with that character even though I love the actual mechanics of being the meatshield. What about you folks? Do you actually like tanking in MMOs? How do you overcome the stress? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Breakfast Topic: Do you still PUG?
The idea of playing in a PUG -- or a random pick up group -- was once a painful one. You might spend ages in chat trying to find random players willing to join you for a dungeon only to get stuck spending hours trying to successfully navigate the dungeon... or even longer if you were unlucky enough to be trying to run Blackrock Depths. Grouping could be painful, which meant you tended to stick with guildmates or friends for dungeon runs that wouldn't leave you wanting to tear your hair out. Of course, in today's game, the dungeon finder and raid finder make getting groups together a simple task, and dungeon running itself has been streamlined to make it easier for random groups to succeed. With these changes, it's gotten a lot easier to run a random dungeon, and so some of the stigma around PUGs seems to have faded -- or perhaps just transferred to LFRs. For today's discussion, I'm wondering: do you play WoW in random groups? Or do you rather stick with guildmates and friends?
Random Acts of Uberness: Good times with good people
Good deeds are all well and good, but good people truly make the world go 'round. If you're recruiting for your guild, you couldn't do better than to find players like these. Good times with good people -- that's taking the random roll out of Random Acts of Uberness. Caught being uber: Aret, Baelgun (US- Alliance) I'm leveling a Priest alt, Holygears, and I'm in Uldum. The area seems particularly busy perhaps because so many of us are trying to push alts to 90 (we have to use all that yummy Timeless Isle gear, don't we?). My quest was The Bandit Warlord and required killing Warlord Ihsenn. While I'm flying there, I'm thinking I might have to wait awhile for a respawn because of how busy the area is. As the Warlord shows up on the horizon, I realize he's alive but already tagged. Bummer ... worst timing ever! Just to help him go down faster, I start hitting the Warlord with Penance, Holy Fire, and a Smite. In the middle of whacking buttons, up pops a group invite. Since the Warlord is going down fast, I quickly accepted, the Warlord died, and I got credit. I typed "Thanks" in party chat and Aret of Baelgun replied with an abbreviated "No problem." Aret managed to invite me and Mesmerizze of Whisperwind before the Warlord died so we could all three get credit. It's not a huge deal, but it turned a potential "sit and wait" depressing scenario into a "keep on going" moment. Thanks, Aret. -- Holygears, Alexstrasza (US-Alliance)
Random Acts of Uberness: Around the world with a friendly troll
Why stop at one world boss when you can knock out a whole handful of them? It's easy with a little help from a fellow Hordie. No transportation? No problem! Caught being uber: Kaza, Zul'jin (US-Horde) Why hello there! I'm Evianary, a level 84 Undead Mage, that's currently on Zul'jin. While on my mage the other day I found a World Boss group and thought why not do it on my mage to try and get prepared for level 90? Unfortunately, I cannot fly in Pandaria, and there were no Warlocks in my group! I was in quite the pickle, till Kaza, an awesome troll hunter also from Zul'jin. She, or he, flew me to all the various bosses including Sha, Galleon, Oondasta, and Nalak! I even got some shiny epics that are currently waiting for me. I'd just like to really thank her/him for helping a fellow Hordie out! -- Evianary, Zul'jin (US-Horde)
Random Acts of Uberness: The power of glasnost
After a veritable hurricane of goodwill during the holidays, it's seemingly back to business as usual on the highways and byways of Azeroth -- except for these players who took something personally in all the right ways. Caught being uber: Glasnost and Purix, Zul'jin (US-Horde) So I've been trying to tame Degu for weeks on end. I'm just not coordinated enough to do it on my own. So tonight, after my fourth or fifth death, an 88 mage, Purix on Zul'Jin, asked if I wanted some help taming him. We both died a bunch more times trying. So I started advertising for a tank. Oddly enough, I had a DK volunteer, Glasnost on Zul'Jin. The three of us tried countless times, and the three of us died countless times. Finally, after the DK made the comment, "Alright, now this is personal," we tried a few more times with the three of us and died. Then the DK had the idea to have the mage not do anything, just to let him tank Degu alone. He took the beating until Degu was down under 20% and let himself die. I threw down the ice trap, Deterrence, and hit tame. I got him! I tried to pay both the folks who helped me and they wouldn't let me. I gave the mage all the cloth I had in my bags and the DK says, "Nah, just name him after me." So I did. -- Zentagia, Zul'jin (US-Horde)
Random Acts of Uberness: Defender of Hellfire Peninsula
Nobody ever protected me from the Fel Reaver when I was a mere young'un in Hellfire Peninsula ... /sniff Caught being uber: Fireßugz, Ravencrest (US-Alliance) I'd like to send a shout-out to Fireßugz, level 85 dwarf shaman on Ravencrest-US(Alliance). There I was, minding my own business killing Crust Bursters in Hellfire Peninsula ... when the notorious horror of Hellfire appeared overhead! It was a Fel Reaver, of course, and despite popping a health potion and Darkflight, things looked grim ... until suddenly the Fel Reaver turned aside from me, distracted by a flame shock! Fireßugz descended from the heavens, destroyed the Fel Reaver, and went on his way. I don't know what he was doing in Hellfire Peninsula, or what inspired him to stop to kill it, but it's truly appreciated. -- Carnassial, Ravencrest-US (Alliance)
Random Acts of Uberness: Recruit-a-gear
The author of this week's first Random Acts of Uberness letter reports hearing rumblings in trade chat as he was busily receiving Recruit-A-Friend levels. What happens when you attract the attention of townies when you're insta-leveling in public? Caught being uber: Axtin, Stormreaver (US-Alliance) I was in Stormwind receiving free levels from 23 to 85 from the RAF benefit. Some people were commenting about it, and when I hit 85, I mentioned that I needed to get some gear, now. I was just going to go to the adventuring supplies vendor and buy everything I needed, when Axtin told me to hold on. He came back a few minutes later and gave me a complete set of plate gear, rings, and weapon for my newly minted 85 warrior. I tried to pay him for it, but he refused. By far one of the coolest experiences I've had. Saved me a huge amount of gold buying all the vendor gear. -- Eriine, Stormreaver (US-Alliance)
Random Acts of Uberness: Some Crashin' Thrashin' good help
That one holiday achievement you can never seem to check off, no matter how many years you persist? With the help of a random act of uberness, consider it done! Caught being uber: Aliviani, Kilrogg (US-Alliance) I've been unable to complete the achievement Crashin' and Thrashin' for five years. My guild tends to scatter for the last half of December in order to enjoy the holidays, and I've had the darnedest luck getting people to crash my little toy car into. I had 4 crashes leading into the holiday this year. Well, that all changed! Thanks to cross realm zones I headed over to Ironforge and asked for help. Aliviani, a druid from the Kilrogg server kindly offered to group up with me and summoned her own racer as many time as necessary until I had gotten the achievement. She already had the achievement, and wanted nothing in return! She has no idea how much I appreciate the kind gesture. Now that one achievement no longer haunts me! -- Celna, Silvermoon (US-Alliance)
Random Acts of Uberness: 'Tis the season to be uber
The flood of holiday happiness continues this week with a record number of Random Acts of Uberness reported across Azeroth. This week, we start off with a note that turns the tables on the player who reported the lead story in last week's Random Acts, proving that when players reach out to build community, everybody wins. Caught being uber: Kazekana, Hyjal (US-Horde) Well, during the Winter Festival, Mistsofjade and myself (Lucidluna) passed out free cookies, milk and ports to everyone who came up to us, then Christmas Eve night we handed out Fortune cards! We got tons of heartfelt sweet messages from people as well as thank yous and even a few gifts from players, but Misty and I both were SHOCKED to find out that we were on WoW insiders! We received a whisper while in LFR about it and tons of congratulations from the servers players. Misty and I both really wanted to thank Kazehana from Hyjal for submitting us. Misty is actually my mom and we both were having a very less than fantastic Christmas this year, and that really meant allot to us both. It was really great of them to do that for us and they have no idea how much it lifted our spirits and made our Christmas! Thank you Kazehana for making our Christmas 100x better! -- Lucidluna and Mistsofjade, Hyjal (US-Horde)
Random Acts of Uberness: Uber-Claus is coming to town
'Tis the season to be uber, as demonstrated by this bursting-at-the-seams gift bag of Random Acts of Winter Veil Uberness. Caught being uber: Mistsofjade, Lucidluna, and Taise, Hyjal (US-Horde) These ladies are handing out free cookies and milk to everyone on my server. The mage (Lucidluna) is also handing out free ports. They are dressed for the season as well. They are super nice. I also attached a screenshot of them handing stuff out under the tree in Org. I think they deserve the love and kindness they are giving this holiday season. -- Kazehana, Hyjal (US-Horde)
The Daily Grind: Are you talkative in random groups?
Final Fantasy XIV's Duty Roulette has had an unusual effect upon me: It's made me more talkative in dungeons. Oh, I've always been happy to talk strategies and let people know what we're doing, but with the added incentive of the commendation system, I'm far more likely to crack jokes, be silly, and generally aim for making the run more pleasant for everyone. As cynical as that may sound, I find that I'm having more fun as a result, even when I'm doing most of the talking. Not everyone likes to be chatty in groups, of course. Some people prefer runs that are silently professional, slicing through content without so much as a "hello." Me, I like to say hello, get to know the people in my group, even if only briefly. What about you? Are you talkative in random groups, or do you generally prefer to let your silent competence (or lack thereof) speak for you? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Random Acts of Uberness: The secret of lending a hand
Apparently, the secret is getting out: It's building good times with other players that positions World of Warcraft at its most enjoyable. This principle helps explain why you'll find so many old timers not inside raid instances but spending entire evenings somewhere like the Amphitheater of Anguish helping other players. This week's Good Samaritan was spotted on the Timeless Isle. Caught being uber: Jakrer, Malfurion (US-Horde) Jakrer was using the new Raid Queue system to find those who needed Celestials, and he probably sat there all night doing it. I have a stack of alts, simply listing my name, earned an invite, the boss dropped fast, he remained with those who were left, invited more people from the Raid Que system, they downed it, and then he kept inviting more and more. Easily a great help for us Altaholics out there. He probably made sure a lot of people got their legendary cloak as well. -- Anonymous, Malfurion (US)
Random Acts of Uberness: No more anguish in the amphitheater
That point in the quest line where you fully expect to stall out unless you happen to stumble across precisely the right collection of alts at precisely the same time? No issue -- not if a level-capped good samaritan is already waiting there to lend a hand. Caught being uber: Kallirawr, Cairne (US-Alliance) While leveling my latest alt, and first alliance character, through Zul'Drak, I figured the Amphitheater of Anguish quests would be good for some fast XP and gold. Knowing there are usually people there looking for groups, I headed over figuring worst case, my heirlooms and hunter pet would let me get through the first few bosses while I waited to find members of a group. Much to my surprise, there was a level 90 Worgen Hunter, Kallirawr from US-Cairne just chilling at the Amphitheater waiting for lowbies to show up needing a group. With his help, I was in and out in less than 5 minutes with a big chunk of XP and a decent amount of gold. Without thinking, I opened a trade window to give him some of the gold I had earned and before I could get the warning that cross realm trades are not permitted, he was closing the trade window telling me that he didn't want or need anything for his help. It was a real pleasure to encounter a player who was willing to spend some of his gaming time helping others knowing that he wouldn't be able to get any rewards other than the satisfaction of helping a fellow gamer!! Thanks & Cheers! -- Trin/@Mageycake
Random Acts of Uberness: Because Monday doesn't have to stink
Urgh, the Monday after a holiday. We've got a few weeks to plow through before winter breaks save us from the daily drill. Looking for something to keep your spirits up until then? It's looking like Azeroth's a pretty good place to find positive people and an uplifting experience. Caught being uber: Delvthar, Khadgar (US-Alliance) Just a shoutout to a Dwarf Hunter from Khadgar named Delvthar! My home realm is also Khadgar and I was leveling my DK Gerrico with a friend and her Warlock in Dread Wastes last week, grinding to get to lvl 90! My friend and I saw a rare elite spawn and moved over near it and started buffing up and eating some stat food to take it out. Before we could start, Delvthar swooped down on his flying mount landing just a short distance from the rare. I thought "here we go again, as has happened so many times, a lvl 90 swoops in and grabs the rare". I was more than pleasantly surprised when he not only didn't grab it, but he stood there and waited for us to tag it and then helped us kill it after which he humbly bowed, hopped on his mount and flew away! So thanks Delvthar for helping restore some faith, and for bein uber :) -- Gerrico, Khadgar (US-Alliance)
Random Acts of Uberness: The Sha of Happiness edition
So what uber thing does it take to make the Sha of Happiness happy? This week, we have a special Random Acts of -- well, maybe not Uberness but more like Happiness from the Sha of Happiness herself (shown above with her snarling buddy Angryorc). Caught being uber: Elderly couple met at BlizzCon Unfortunately, I don't have the name of the couple, but they were elderly. The lady started playing Warcraft due to her daughter asking her time and time again to play, then the daughter bought and set her up with an account. She met this man in game, and they quickly fell in love. BlizzCon was their honeymoon and for them to recognize me as someone that's a "pillar of the community" was humbling. We compared LFR battle stories and it was so interesting hearing their take on things. It is humbling and honouring that they asked lil' ol' me for a hug. -- Sha of Happiness Among our other Random Acts this week is a little doggy who's so cute he got his human a resolved game time issue plus an extra snippet of game time. Tail-waggin' good times!
Random Acts of Uberness: We love the Random Uberness
Somewhat fittingly, Random Acts of Uberness is a random act of publishing. Since the content isn't time-sensitive, the editors tuck it into any open niche that happens along in the front part of the week. What's not so random, however, is that I always compile this feature on Mondays, because even the most mournfully Monday-ish Mondays brighten up when I'm editing this treasure trove of positivity. Keep 'em coming, guys -- we love publishing Random Acts of Uberness as much as you love reading (and experiencing) them! Caught being uber: Xferhorde, Steamwheedle Cartel (EU-Horde) I was redoing a lot of Azshara last week for fun, I've always loved the zones new quests. As I was questing I saw the new mail icon pop up and just left it for a while. i assumed it was one of the automated mails from npcs thanking you for your help. Imagine how surprised I was to find 1500g sent from a character called Xferhorde. I was trying to raise money for heirlooms at the same time, I was thrilled! I tried to respond with thanks but his character wasn't found. All the letter said was 'enjoy'. So I just want to thank him for his awesomeness. -- Hundraxx, Steamwheedle Cartel (EU-Horde)
Random Acts of Uberness: Our favorite feature on WoW Insider
We may not get as many comments as The Queue, but I'd venture to say that people who read Random Acts of Uberness are as fond of this column as Queue readers are of their daily Q&A. Just take a peek at the comments we do get! I'm wondering if now wouldn't perhaps be a good time to start counting up all the comments Random Acts gets that say "This is my favorite feature on WoW Insider." You'd all be down with posting that to make our comments the most uber comments on WoW Insider, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you? And on to today's business: WoW players were cool to one another at BlizzCon this year -- but hey hey hey, so were the ones who weren't there, too! Caught being uber: Dotup, Cenarius (US-Alliance) After a relatively clean run through wing three of SoO on LFR (it was my first time tanking in there), Dotup sent me a whisper giving me some advice for the next time we fought, saying what would make life a lot easier on the whole group. I just wanted to give a shout-out and say thanks for taking the time to help me do my job right! :D -- Anonymous LFR Tank
Random Acts of Uberness: Save the zombies!
It was rough going for the spirited clutch of level 1 undead (significantly smaller than the sea of zombies shown above) attempting to push its way from Grom'gol Base Camp to Stormwind on Magtheridon EU for Hallow's End, when some friendly Alliance faces appeared on the scene. Caught being uber: Sellsword and Kendrasil (Magtheridon EU-Alliance) These two players spotted our little ragtag group of level 1 undeads attempting to run from Grom'Gol Base Camp in STV to Stormwind -- a Zombiewalk to celebrate the last night of Hallow's End. As soon as they realised we were aggro'ing pretty much the whole zone, they began killing mobs as they came at us. They were patient enough to wait with us each time we stopped to regroup for those who did die en route. And they patiently looked on as we took on Hogger. (We got him!) They accompanied our little group all the way to the gates of Stormwind, where we eventually fell at the hands of those overzealous guards. Thank you both! -- Anonymous level 1 undead Hogger-slayer
Random Acts of Uberness: Welcoming a bouncing baby Hordie
I once joined a guild in which one of my first experiences was a chat box full of conversation with a player whose spouse had just passed away. When I say "just," I mean it had been less than an hour since her death. Her passing followed a protracted illness and had long been expected. After taking care of the immediate arrangements, my guildmate simply needed a friendly place to keep himself occupied and maintain a sense of normalcy. We were glad to provide that refuge for our friend. Sometimes our fellow WoW players are the only ones around with whom we can share our real-world joys and sorrows. This week's Random Acts of Uberness begins with the story of another, albeit much happier, life event that occurred in the wee hours of the morning: the birth of a baby Hordie. New dad: Akeylese, Ravenholdt (US-Horde) Not really so much of an act of uberness but a good story anyway: I have recently started to become interested in PvPing and during a match of Deepwind gorge, I was defending the goblin mine with Akeylese, a tauren warrior. He was quiet at first and wasn't so active. He then apologized and said he had just had his baby at 3:46 a.m. and that he was talking with his guild members about the birth of his daughter. I congratulated him and we began to talk about the good ol' days of WoW -- what our favorite race was, our favorite expansion, how long we had been playing, etc. We easily won the BG and didn't have to do much, so we got to chat for a while. After the BG, we exited and I was able to whisper him and thank him and congratulate him again. So I want to congratulate him once more on his baby and wish him and his family the best! -- Ashtaron, Elune (US- Horde)
Random Acts of Uberness: Happily wiping "as long as people are learning"
Another week, another full report for Random Acts of Uberness. You guys just can't seem to stop being nice to one another. Who knew? Caught being uber: Zerep, Area 52 (US-Horde) I'd like to extend a thank you to Zerep, <Scorn> of Area 52 (H). He queued for heroic dungeons as a tank, but I zoned in to find a ret paladin in Righteous Fury mode, swinging Hellscream's Decapitator and completely mopping the floor with dungeon after dungeon. Myself and the other DPS knew what a gravy train we were on and "rode his coattails to VP captown," as it was put. He was happy for the company, and we had a great time, periodically cycling through healers. One of us would scarcely type a warning into party chat that yes, he's in ret, yes, he's tanking, trust us and buckle up -- and Zerep would be off and running, usually doing more DPS than the rest of us combined by a healthy margin. It was a blast, and even with the occasional wipe when we'd bite off more than we could chew, it was still the fastest I've ever capped valor in a week. Zerep was fun, friendly, uber, and a @#$%ing nightmare to see in action. Thanks again for an awesome series of dungeons! P.S. Thank you for these periodic bursts of positivity in what can be a hostile and cynical community. -- Beeph, <Reprisal> of Steamwheedle Cartel (US-Horde)
