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Random Acts of Uberness: A toast to LFR raid leaders who explain fights
"Thank you for doing your job" is my husband's favorite deadpan witticism when someone at his office puffs up in expectation of praise for something that's actually a basic job duty. It's true that anyone who signs up for a group activity such as an LFR raid should be prepared to meet certain bottom-line expectations for raiding -- but you know, there's a first time for everyone. A good raid leader knows how to make those times successful for the whole raid group. "Last night in SoO LFR, the tank actually took time to describe the 'need to know' stuff for each of the fights and even answered questions," wrote ErikSetzer in last week's comments. "That's uber for a huge reason: We one-shot our way through those four bosses. But then when I did Pinnacle of Storms LFR, the tanks didn't even ask, and it got especially ugly on Lei Shen, with two or three wipes before someone finally asked, 'Okay, who doesn't know the fights?' One or two people admitted they hadn't been in there before. At least four people had the achievement ding when Lei Shen dropped. So yeah, it would have saved a lot of time and gold to just say what was needed. Sadly, they didn't try that in ToT. But the tank in SoO? Saved us all a lot of trouble. Kudos to that dude." "My LFR last night went well because we had a leader who gave clear, simple directions instead of complaining that we didn't automatically know everything," agreed Pulcherrimus. "We one-shot everything except Sha of Pride, which we two-shot. That was pretty uber." "@Pulcherrimus The same thing happened in my lfr last night," added sfreemanoh. "(I wonder if we were in the same one?) Every single boss went down smoothly except for Pride which took 2 shots, people explained the fights, everyone was courteous in instance chat...it was like a whole different game!" Wonderful LFR raid leaders of Azeroth, the experienced and inexperienced alike salute you. Keep on 'splainin' like you do. Keep reading for more of this week's Random Acts of Uberness.
Random Acts of Uberness: The voice of reason
"Reading this column always makes me want to go out and be randomly awesome for someone," mused JenniferKinnison in the comments of last week's Random Acts of Uberness. "Which, of course, is part of the point. Plus, it's just the right thing to do to help another person out. It's so unexpected these days that it's to be treasured all the more when it happens." Caught being uber: Avelianah, Draenor (US-Alliance) I and a friend were in one of those LFR groups that give people chills (not the good kind), full of newer folks trying to gear and perhaps not knowing the fights as well as they could have. There were a couple of uber nasty trolls doing their best to rip apart anyone they thought "deserved" it, and trying to kick multiple people. I would like to send out a hug of appreciation to the repeated voice of kindness and sanity that was Avelianah from Draenor. From giving out pointers, explanations, kind words and discouraging the L33T kicks to the 'thanks for the group' at the end of the instance, she was real class. -- Anonymous
Random Acts of Uberness: The lovely pandaren lady with the fabulous robes
It's the times another player lights up your night with precise play, a wicked sense of humor, or unexpected generosity that your login on World of Warcraft becomes something to remember. That's why we're bringing back the feature that lets you send a shout-out or kudos to a fellow player who's made your day in WoW: Random Acts of Uberness. Caught being uber: Hiyorin of Argent Dawn (EU-Alliance) So there I was! Fighting a rare by the western edge of The Valley of Four Winds on my level 87(?) rogue. And I am losing of course, nearly dead. But suddenly out of the blue comes a friendly pandaren in a set of fabulous robes! Within seconds, she has frozen the rare and started sending of all sorts of shiny magics after him! I keep my distance as the enemy is slowed, frozen and whittled down to nothing! Saving my life and getting me loot, for no reason, other than being kind! (Or so I like to believe.) Thank you, Hiyorin, Argent Dawn EU, the lovely Pandaren lady with the fabulous robes. -- Anonymous
Breakfast Topic: What's the nicest thing a stranger has done for you in game?
You told us you loved it, and Random Acts of Uberness is back to brighten your day with a little ray of sunshine from deep within Azeroth. In Random Acts, readers get the chance to share kudos and shout-outs about players who've made their day in game extra special. While it's basically impossible not to bear a mushy smile while compiling your emails, I'm always most struck by tales of kindness from a passing stranger –- the dude who slipped you 5,000 gold along with the bags you'd been hunting for at a discount, or the paladin who saved your squishy behind when you attracted too many adds during what you thought was a trivial daily. (How embarrassing -– and what a relief.) Let's consider this Breakfast Topic a special all-time edition of Random Acts of Uberness. No need to remember the name of the player who helped you or even when and where your story took place -- go ahead and flip on the Way, Way Back Machine. Dig through your mental stacks for your best tale of kindness from a passing stranger. Let's do limit the discussion to tales of random encounters; no kudos for players you already knew. What's the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you in game? Tell us about your all-time most memorable Random Act of Uberness.
Random Acts of Uberness: The Sha of Uberness
In the age of LFR, it's the times another player lights up your night with precise play, a wicked sense of humor, or unexpected generosity that your login on World of Warcraft becomes something to remember. That's why we're bringing back the feature that lets you send a shout-out or kudos to a fellow player who's made your day in WoW: Random Acts of Uberness. This week on Rare Sightings of Azeroth: the Sha of Uberness. It might not seem like much, but I just dinged 90 for the fourth time, this time a discipline/shadow priest. Being barely geared for heroics (and having a difficult time healing some of those), I sort of shrugged when I saw somebody advertising for people for a Sha of Anger group. I decided "What the heck" and whispered the person. He surprised me by not only telling me he didn't care about my gear but offering to let me heal if I wanted! Sha of Anger is something I've wanted to kill since the first time our eyes met. This was a shining moment for me, not only to say "I killed Sha!" but to say "I healed Sha!" to my friends, who thought I hated all things having to do with raids. I just want to say thank you to that random hunter whose name I cannot remember. I hope you read this and know that you made a healer's entire week with that run. Thank you! -- Vilandros, Muradins Resurrection, Muradin (US-Alliance)
Whoa -- did you just experience a Random Act of Uberness?
In the age of LFR, it's those times another player lights up your night with precise play, a wicked sense of humor, or unexpected generosity that your login on World of Warcraft becomes something to remember. That's why we're relaunching the feature that lets you send a shout-out or kudos to a fellow player who's made your day in WoW: Random Acts of Uberness. We know you can't always remember player names or realms, and that's OK. Tell us what you do remember: what day of the week it was, what time of day, your own home realm, any details you recall about the other player, where you were and what you were doing in game. If the players involved read WoW Insider, we're betting they'll recognize your story! Send in your shout-outs and kudos now to lisa@wowinsider.com. Need an example of what we're looking for? It's short and simple. Take a look at this story of appreciation from way back in 2010: "I'm not to proud to admit it: when we're short on tanks, my husband and I will let our kid tank for us -- our just shy of seven-year-old, who diligently (and with trade chat disabled and parental controls on, his toon parked in our friends-and-fam guild instead of the casual raiding guild our mains are in) ground his teeny gnome warrior up to 80," writes Haelmari of US Eonar-A. "Tonight, we and some guildies needed a random. He wanted to play. Win/win, right? "We lacked a healer, so we sucked it up and joined LFG ..." The uber resolution of Haelmari's situation, after the break.
Random Acts of Uberness: That wicked-cool guy
Remember Random Acts of Uberness, your opportunity at WoW Insider to offer a shout-out or kudos to a fellow player who'd made your day in WoW? "It's when another player lights up your night with precise play, a wicked sense of humor, or unexpected generosity that your login becomes something to remember." 'Tis the season, folks. Ready to play? Let's start the snowball rolling with this email from a player on Stormrage (US): Dear Lisa, MERRY CHRISTMAS! In searching for some last minute gifts in WoW for my wife (I always think I don't get her enough), I thought about getting her Lumpy the rare winter's veil Battle pet. However I'd waited until Christmas eve, and they were going for 30K in the auction house. YIKES! So I put in trade chat once that I'd like to get lumpy for my wife for Christmas, hoping that somebody would sell theirs cheaper then 30K which I didn't have. A rogue named Eroldel on the stormrage server offered to GIVE me his Lumpy for free, with only a "Merry Christmas" as payment. It was such a great moment in game I felt he deserved some recognition. Sincerely, Rhokk from Stormrage I'd say Eroldel deserves a smooch under the mistletoe, wouldn't you? Who's been making your day in game this holiday season (whether you remember their name or just "the orc shaman in Stormstout Brewery late last night in the group with the newbie tank")? Let's give them a shout-out right here in the comments. 'Tis the season to share those random acts of uberness!
The Classifieds: Why I wanna kill Arthas, in 500 words or less
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including the famous Random Acts of Uberness shout-outs to players who make WoW memorable. "The Llane forum has a great contest going from a guild named <Monolith>," writes WoW.com reader and enthusiastic tipster Gimmlette of <Spectacular Death>. "They have been around since the server went live, and with some of the top raiding guilds on Llane folding their tents and going home, that alone says a lot. The contest is ingenious and falls in the 'I wish SD had Arthas on farm so we could do this.'" What is this ingenious contest, you ask? <Monolith> is taking up to two players a week to ICC-25 to slay the Lich King -- and it's not gold they're asking for. What is this mysterious payment they're asking of applicants? "Well ... you will have to tell us why you want to kill the Lich King," writes <Monolith>'s Beruthiel. "You can do this in any number of ways: a short essay, a piece of fan fiction, a short comic or a roleplay story are all acceptable submissions! Regardless of your method, what you need to convey to us is what makes killing the Lich King important for you. We don't care about your gear, your GearScore or how amazing a player you are. What we do care about is why it is important for you to kill the Lich King. Creativity is encouraged!" If you're a Hordie on Llane who'd like to give this a whirl, visit the forum thread linked above for all the details. This sounds like a creative contest from a classy guild -- best of luck to all involved! Let's crack open The Classifieds ...
The Classifieds: The Open Ticket
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including our famous Random Acts of Uberness. When I receive an especially tasty tidbit or tip to tuck into The Classifieds, I usually nudge it quietly into my 15 Minutes of Fame or World of WarCrafts folder so that I can give it a little more breathing room and chat with the creative force behind whatever's going on. I could do that for the lead of this week's The Classifieds, too -- but I'm not going to. The folks behind TheOpenTicket.net have cast a mind-bogglingly huge net of humor and parody over an entire web site, twisting current world and WoW news into wry stories, cartoons and videos. Want more? Just explore the site -- it's all there. "TheOpenTicket.net ... (no ads, just fun) that has been writing fake news stories about Azeroth since WoW open beta," writes co-creator Caldwel. "The site is written, designed, and illustrated by myself and one other from the Shadowsong (US) guild <Redridge County College>. Up until this past January, our stories were just published solely on our guild site, but after prodding to write more stories, we decided to move it off to its own site. We do one story a week and try to tie in some timely world events. ... Our current story which mimics the iPhone4 fiasco and has the head of Gnomish Engineering handing out free rubber bumpers for the malfunctioning devices." Ready for something a little more (ahem) actual, factual about the WoW community? Let's crack open The Classifieds ...
The Classifieds: Puzzling over the world of Azeroth
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including our famous Random Acts of Uberness. While we at WoW.com are hard at work puzzling out the latest round of changes from the Cataclysm beta, we've got something for you to puzzle over as well: a "Where in the World of Warcraft?" crossword puzzle from The Puzzle Hub. This one's themed around places throughout Azeroth, Outland and Northrend. If that mind-bender strikes your fancy, there's a "Who in the World of Warcraft?" version, too. Thanks for the tip, Benji -- these look they'll most assuredly help keep our minds off the agony of watching beta test class changes scritching and scratching back and forth. Let's crack open The Classifieds ...
The Classifieds: Back for more
The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including your shout-outs to perpetrators of Random Acts of Uberness. They came, they went ... And now <There and Back Again> is -- well, back again. This Thorium Brotherhood (US-A) guild, formed specifically to quest its way through a farewell tour of vanilla WoW Alliance content from start to finish, has hit the level cap, marked its territory and is preparing to launch a similar effort Horde-side. "After starting with over 100 members who joined us (in most part due to your article!), we ended up with around 35 who stuck through to the very end," reports GM Mistigris. "Lots of adventures along the way! Foot races through Stranglethorn, marches through Dalaran, cooking contests, random dungeon madness, tons of visits to the NPC that turns off XP ... We did ZG and Karazhan at very close to level cap, and there is a robust kernel of folks who are gearing up for 80th heroics and raiding." Time now for the flip side of the coin. "We're going to nest within <Imminent Rueage> on Thorium Brotherhood (US-H)," Mistigris continues. "Our starting date is Saturday the 24th of July -- starting zones and guild invites galore! Level cap for the day is 12th; we'll be gathering the following week at Crossroads for our first 'official' event." If you've been looking for just the right way to wrap up the pre-Cataclysm era, look up <Imminent Ruage> and give all things Horde-side one more for the road. We've got plenty of other news from around the WoW community this week, as well ... So let's crack open The Classifieds.
The Classifieds: Beat the heat with the Ironman Instancing Challenge
The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on news from around the WoW community. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? Send it to TheClassifieds@wow.com. Looking for a refreshing, silly and utterly engaging way to slip through a sweltering summer of pre-expansion doldrums? We have just the thing: the Ironman Instancing Challenge. Ever heard of naked Deadmines races? It's like that -- on steroids. Here's the best version of this event we've yet seen, from <The Risen> (Thorium Brotherhood [US-H]): Start with your character completely naked in Ragefire Chasm. Using only the gear you pick up during these runs, clear your way through every 5-man instance in WoW. You can Ironman alone or with a group. Eventually, groups become necessary. Any class abilities (like pets) are available at all times. Any mats needed to use class abilities/buffs are also fine. Screenshot every final boss you kill; it's on the honor system. All kills should be accomplished according to the gear rules of Ironman Instancing. You are welcome to farm instances for gear -- but again, you can only use gear picked up during Ironman Instance runs. You cannot instance with anyone not participating in the Ironman contest. The winners are the first five people to successfully clear every instance. <The Risen>'s prizes include a special guild ranking for the winners -- a guild tradition and year-round reminder of the fun. Send us your best screenshots from your own Ironman Instancing Challenges and we'll share them here in The Classifieds. And speaking of, let's crack open The Classifieds ...
The Classifieds: More raiders than ever pushing through end-game content
The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on news from around the WoW community. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? Email TheClassifieds@wow.com. Has the stacking buff in Icecrown Citadel done its job opening up end-game raiding to more players than ever? Signs point to yes. An analysis posted at LoreHound shows that the progressive ICC buff (Hellscream's Warsong and Strength of Wrynn), which is currently pumping 20% more power into raiders' total health, healing done, damage absorption and damage dealt, is also puffing up the number of guilds chugging through what's currently the toughest raid instance in the game. The report is chock full of progression statistics, shining a light on content accessibility. Its conclusion: Raiding in Wrath, including features such as progressively stacking buffs and encounters with interchangeable difficulties, has ripened to a mature model that is friendly to both hardcore and casual raiders. Read the details at LoreHound (thanks for the tip, Rhabella!). Let's crack open The Classifieds ...
The Classifieds: Retro and classic raid listings
The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on news from around the WoW community. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? Email TheClassifieds@wow.com. Last week, we sent out a call for raid listings of groups that do retro raiding (with raiders of instance-appropriate level and above) or classic raiding (adhering to strict level and gear caps appropriate to the instance content). While we only received a few listings, these represent groups that are actively welcoming new retro and classic raiders. Retro/classic groups, we know you're out there -- send us your details so we can list you! In this pre-expansion lull, there's never been a better time to catch up with all the old raid content you've never before seen, from Molten Core to Sunwell Plateau. Check out our classic/retro listings after the break, plus this week's shout-outs for Random Acts of Uberness, guild recruiting and more. Let's crack open The Classifieds ...
The Classifieds: Lord Valthalak lives again
The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on news from around the WoW community. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? Email TheClassifieds@wow.com. We meet again: The Spirit of Lord Valthalak, a nasty-tough boss summoned in Upper Blackrock Spire as the last step of vanilla WoW's Dungeon Set 2 quest line, has been popping up in the most unlikely of locations on multiple realms over the past few days. He doesn't seem to be around on any of the realms I play on. Reader Garrett sent in this screenshot as his contribution to the puzzle. A realm-specific bug, a new bug with the amulet that the few players who have one are discovering -- or something more cataclysmic? Stealth amulet-poppers, reveal yourselves ... Let's crack open The Classifieds.
The Classifieds: The superheroes of ICC
The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on news from around the WoW community. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? Email TheClassifieds@wow.com. Sure, tough guy ... You're progressing just fine through Icecrown Citadel -- but do you look like a superhero in the process? The forum design for <Skeleton Crew> (US Uldum-H) makes reading about kills almost as fun as being there. Tipster Bella gives credit for the concept to <Agony> on US Ysera from the Sunwell era. Color us impressed! (Oh, and it appears that <Skeleton Crew> is recruiting right now, too. If you're looking for a mature group with a sense of style that's pushing well into heroic ICC, follow the link above and check them out.) This week's uber collection of Random Acts of Uberness, plus guilds looking for members and members looking for guilds, and more from the WoW community, after the break.
The Classifieds: Of pugilists, gaming research and LFG
The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on guild happenings, raid progression rankings, player milestones and more. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? E-mail TheClassifieds@wow.com. We've got a little bit of everything in this week's The Classifieds: a player who leveled to 80 as a pugilist (unarmed/fists only), a research study seeking your input on gaming's effects on existing relationships, and the debut of our LFG feature for players still searching for the right guild fit. We'll get to those and more -- but first, what's rapidly becoming your favorite feature around these parts, the Random Acts of Uberness ... Sampaguita, <Ordo de Lupo>, US Nesingwary-A "Three of my guildies and I were running random heroics the other day, and we zoned into Forge of Souls with Sampaguita as our fifth player. This particular group, still in the process of gearing up, was having a little trouble handling the larger trash groups. We wiped once on the way up to Bron. Sam was incredibly encouraging and patient, helped us with strategy, and kept up a steady stream of humor in chat to help us not lose our nerve. Bron dropped Nighttime, and everyone rolled Greed, and it went to one of my guildies. Sam mentioned that it might be fun to have to play around with, and my guildie handed it to Sam in trade. Sam offered to pay some gold for it, but my guildie said no big deal. ..."
The Classifieds: The most uber players of the week
The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on guild happenings, raid progression rankings, player milestones and more. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? E-mail TheClassifieds@wow.com. Welcome to the Uber Player Edition of The Classifieds. As you know, we've been building Random Acts of Uberness, a section of the column devoted to shout-outs to the folks who've made your PUG experiences shine. With more and more submissions every week, we're inevitably approaching that time when we'll have to start editing notes for length. But not this week. This week, your stories were so inspirational, your experiences were so uberific, that we simply decided to turn over the bulk of The Classifieds to the Random Acts section and let the uberness run wild and free. "I'm not to proud to admit it: when we're short on tanks, my husband and I will let our kid tank for us -- our just shy of seven-year-old, who diligently (and with trade chat disabled and parental controls on, his toon parked in our friends-and-fam guild instead of the casual raiding guild our mains are in) ground his teeny gnome warrior up to 80," writes Haelmari of US Eonar-A. "Tonight, we and some guildies needed a random. He wanted to play. Win/win, right? "We lacked a healer. ..." The uber resolution of Haelmari's situation, after the break.
The Classifieds: Buttering up the Panera Bread WoW Man
The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on guild recruiting, rankings, splits and merges, progression and more. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? E-mail TheClassifieds@wow.com. Remember back during the holidays, when we had a nice cozy Breakfast Topic chat about the fellow who's been spotted schlepping his entire iMac to the local Panera Bread to play WoW? Sharp-eyed reader Paul discovered a followup article at Gizmodo, featuring five questions with the Panera Bread WoW Man. It's no headline news, but it's an interesting peek into how a fellow WoW player gets his fix. Let's open up The Classifieds ...
The Classifieds: WoW player/MMA fighter on the mend
The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on guild recruiting, rankings, splits and merges, progression and more. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? E-mail The Classifieds. In news from the WoW community, guildmates of MMA grappler Haydn Clasby, aka Croc of <Defiant Hearts>, US Bloodscalp-H, are rallying in support after he suffered a broken neck in what was called a freak accident during a match in New Zealand last month. Friends and fans are publicizing a Recovery Fund to help Croc out with the medical costs of the devastating accident. Our friend Jens "Little Evil" Pulver, also an MMA fighter and inveterate WoW player (and seen in yesterday's 15 Minutes of Fame), offered these words of support for Croc: "My heart and thoughts go out to you, brother. Make sure you keep your spirits up and tackle this with the same grit and guts you used to get in there in the first place. Take the time to heal and get well soon. Chin down, hands up and always come out fighting; don't let this stop you. I wish you all the best." Best wishes, Croc, for your continued recovery! Let's open up The Classifieds ...
