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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
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!
A veritable Zarhym of WoW references in Diablo 3
While many of us on this site are avid players of both WoW and Diablo III, we should strive to remember that they're not the same game. They're just made by the same company. Without resorting to cries of "You got your WoW in my Diablo," though, it's pretty easy to spot some similarities -- as well as some pretty darn obvious direct references. The Murlocket is probably my favorite reference, because rggglrlllrrlrlrlrl. Of course, other community personalities show up in Diablo III. Expect your world-saving adventurer to encounter Zarhym, and you'll take some spoiling vengeance out on those pesky Dataminers. We also find out what happened to the Lich King's helm after all that fuss in Northrend. It's sitting in a cave in Act III. No wonder it was such a mystery.
