Originally posted by DigiWhat a nerd.
Hahahah, I just knew it would take a good old-fashioned ragequit style rant to curb the bashing.And it looks like it worked.
😊
Except for Blax, he's still on the list.
crackers
It really is beyond stupid that I have to hide it though. It's like, all the above-and-beyond the call of geekdom, nerdy sh*t I do and that's what I take heat for.
My best friend plays WoW, of course I was not srs. estahuh
Originally posted by Digi
The WoW hatred always confused me. It's just another damn game. We're here sinking hundreds of hours into game after game, laughing about arrows to the knee and finding ways to kill Lydia, but no, this one particular subset is the ****ing scum of the earth.So you lost a significant other to it, it wasn't going to last anyway. So you spent too much of your life on it, add it to the list along with KMC. So you dislike the game as a whole and don't think it deserves its acclaim, get in line behind all the successes in books, games, movies that turn out **** and get paid like Trump.
I mean, what the hell. I can't tell people I play WoW. Really, I can't, it's retarded. I can tell them I own 90 other games and talk to them about the varying merits of Zelda timeline theories, but if I mention WoW I'm a leper. Stupidest shit ever.
I've had more fun with WoW, made more friends, had more awesome experiences, than any 5 other games I've ever played. Deal with it.
My biggest problem with WoW is that it single-handedly ruined the MMO genre for the past half-decade.
Yes, it's boring, yes, it's the very definition of casual, but it also caused the genre to stagnate completely and nearly every MMO since has been a WoW clone - and has also failed.
(also, the ridiculous thing? WoW itself is nothing near being an original game and was just a rip-off of EverQuest. WoW and Blizzard also tend to shamelessly ripoff anything that looks like it could be competition.)
Well yeah, you kinda hit the nail there Peach. Blame Evercrack; it was the stigmatized game before WoW. WoW just copied it.
"Definition of casual" is something I'd contest though. A lot of WoW players are casual, yes. But I know the amount of work and effort I had to put into it to be competitive in raiding and/or PvP, and it was insane. WoW singlehandedly improved my gaming skills more than any other game ever has, by a huge margin. I became proficient and adept with complex macros, having to learn dozens of keybindings to the point where it was second nature to use them, I have a heightened video game awareness where I can track 3-4 constantly changing things simultaneously instead of getting tunnel-vision, and mastered a bunch of uses for the mouse that allowed me to turn or target more proficiently. And the sad part was that I was in maybe the 20th best guild on my server, out of thousands of servers. I was admittedly usually my guild's top 1-2 dps'er, so I could have fit in with higher ranked guilds. But the point was, hundreds of hours of math, practicing, and in-game experience, and I was in an endless sea of people just as good as me or better.
Casual is a perspective. It can be as hardcore as anything. I don't play anymore (despite still having an open account) but I miss it at times.
WoW was a very significant upgrade from the other MMO games when it was released. The quest system was very original for its time, no other MMO had such an extensive quest system and made such a conscious attempt to avoid 'the grind' as WoW did when it came out.
Also, like any good multiplayer/competitive game, WoW is very casual friendly, but as Digi said, high level play (particularly Arena) is some of the most skillfully demanding gameplay out there. A friend of mine got Gladiator in arena several times and I'd watch him play in person various times at LAN parties and what not, and watching him gave off the same impression as watching a high level Counter Strike or Starcraft II player. It was extremely impressive.
My skill set was more for raiding, though I dabbled in PvP. Two different worlds though.
The killer for me was leading 25M's in Wrath. I expected my dps to be high, expected to lead or compete with anyone, and also do all the boss mechanics right. But then add explaining ALL mechanics to everyone in attendance, managing loot and griping (and DC's, and time management, and all the interpersonal bullcrap), and watching the entire fight to announce changes while also doing everything I had to personally...it was a rush. Being aware of 3-4 things at all times for you vs. 3-4 things at all times for 25 people, and being able to adapt quickly and give clear, concise instructions so that everyone would adapt the same way. Once I got good at it, it was unbelievably cool. You can tell the former raid leaders in a group, because they're the ones telling the tank on the other side of the room that he's about to hit a trap, calling out transitions, watching boss health down to tenths of percentages, all while doing whatever they're supposed to be doing normally. This has obvious applications in other games, and even RL.
It also changed how I look at talent points in games, theorycrafting in general (I now make a "rotation" in games whenever possible to avoid downtime in my attacks), and how I optimize my characters in games. Comparatively, Skyrim really is more casual (though still very fun).
Speaking of, sorry to highjack the thread. I'm not the only culprit, and didn't start it, but certainly added to it.
Fus-Ro-Dah!
Originally posted by dadudemon
That's why I hate MMOs.I don't remember spending hours with game math on any game, ever. Or "grinding" for dozens of hours.
Well, part of the hundreds was because there's ever-expanding content. Those hours are stretched throughout years of playing.
However, part of the fun for me was actually testing rotations and skills, either in practice or in raids, and being able to break down the data to improve my performance. Few games give you the intense data that allows you to do this, but WoW always has. I like being able to outperform someone not because I can twitch my finger faster (though button mashing to account for latency is a valid tactic to improve performance) but because I had out-prepared him on an intellectual level. I could look at a hunter's data after a raid and instantly tell him the 1-2 things he could do that would increase his dps the most. It was cool.
Because really, the "grinding" happens while leveling, which was maybe 5% of my total WoW experience. There's a small bit of it at the beginning of each expansion to level professions and such, then the rest is spent however you want (questing, PvP, raiding, etc.). I was playing 2 or 3 nights a week for a few hours, no more than many games, and consistently cleared endgame content before new content came out.
Originally posted by Digi
My skill set was more for raiding, though I dabbled in PvP. Two different worlds though.The killer for me was leading 25M's in Wrath. I expected my dps to be high, expected to lead or compete with anyone, and also do all the boss mechanics right. But then add explaining ALL mechanics to everyone in attendance, managing loot and griping (and DC's, and time management, and all the interpersonal bullcrap), and watching the entire fight to announce changes while also doing everything I had to personally...it was a rush. Being aware of 3-4 things at all times for you vs. 3-4 things at all times for 25 people, and being able to adapt quickly and give clear, concise instructions so that everyone would adapt the same way. Once I got good at it, it was unbelievably cool. You can tell the former raid leaders in a group, because they're the ones telling the tank on the other side of the room that he's about to hit a trap, calling out transitions, watching boss health down to tenths of percentages, all while doing whatever they're supposed to be doing normally. This has obvious applications in other games, and even RL.
It also changed how I look at talent points in games, theorycrafting in general (I now make a "rotation" in games whenever possible to avoid downtime in my attacks), and how I optimize my characters in games. Comparatively, Skyrim really is more casual (though still very fun).
Speaking of, sorry to highjack the thread. I'm not the only culprit, and didn't start it, but certainly added to it.
Fus-Ro-Dah!
Oh man, I seriously never envied the raid leader and I respect you all the more for it. The highest rank I've ever held was the second-in-command of the Paladins. Considering that the actual Paladin leader wouldn't be there to lead half the time, I, too, felt the burden of leadership. And this was back in the old 40-man raid days with lovely 5-minute Blessings to manage.
Heh. 40M's. Not sure I could've stomached 40M's, those things were more trouble than they were worth. I ran a tight ship though, I was proud. My raid leading came out of necessity, our raid leader for a long time quit playing at one point and there was no #2. But I ran the guild's raids for about a year, both 10 and 25's, before someone else stepped up. It was odd because I HATED leading 25's at first. It's definitely something you grow into though.
I almost got our 25M to down Lich King before it was no longer endgame. Almost. Our 10M generally had an easier time and had downed him months earlier, but it made a fun goal. Stopped leading shortly into Cata. Relearning the classes to the extent that I wanted to was too hard...I've only really ever played 2 classes. So my lack of time caught up with me and I didn't feel prepared enough to lead. Fortunately others stepped up.
Originally posted by Digi
Heh. 40M's. Not sure I could've stomached 40M's, those things were more trouble than they were worth. I ran a tight ship though, I was proud. My raid leading came out of necessity, our raid leader for a long time quit playing at one point and there was no #2. But I ran the guild's raids for about a year, both 10 and 25's, before someone else stepped up. It was odd because I HATED leading 25's at first. It's definitely something you grow into though.I almost got our 25M to down Lich King before it was no longer endgame. Almost. Our 10M generally had an easier time and had downed him months earlier, but it made a fun goal.
I don't think I could lead even a 10man. Anyway, my primary duties were to make sure every Pally knew which Blessing(s) he's doing, remind the ones who forgot to rebuff(as well as reminding them that casting BoP on the MT is not a good idea ), and to keep them properly motivated.*
*Means not saying sacrilegious things like "but I wanna be a DPS Pally! 🙁 🙁"