Random Thoughts

Test

2010-03-06T05:50:00.000-08:00

Just a test.

Screenshot or it didn't happen.

2010-03-06T03:59:00.000-08:00

I love flying, not just on my flying carpet but just getting high up in the air, leaping off my flying carpet, and go gliding slowly towards the ground with feather fall. It is an awesome feeling, and makes such a splendid display. I decided to include in this mini-post some of my favorite screen shots. Most of them are showing off in certain clothes, areas, poses, slow-falling, etc.

Some of my favorite outfits. Bunny suit may be my fav...

Or the black dress. Gives a nice breeze while flying.

How many people feel about me...

How the rest feel.

This is what the GM's think.

My Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition Photo

Yours,
Tiberan
xoxoxo

P.S. I see I am still getting some minor traffic, from where's I don'ts know. I will try to keep regularly posting and hopefully it will increase. :) Thank you!

Status

2010-03-02T18:20:00.000-08:00

I've not posted anything as of late, mostly because it seems there is not much demand for it. I've been busy trying to raid with my mage, as well as level my shaman and druid to 80. I've added a character feed to the bottom right, as well added some armory portraits at the bottom of my four characters. I tried to brady bunch them. I may eventually get to that Hellgate London review, as well as my impressions on Star Trek Online, only four centuries late.

Buff Me

2010-01-13T19:10:00.000-08:00

If you like my previous blogging and want to encourage more, please buff me. Over at http://buffd.net/ you can sort of vote on blog posts, so that more people can see them.

You may need to log in, it only takes a second. I promise that if I get at least five buffs, I will start regularly blogging more often again. I just want to make sure that people have an interest in it though, so I don't feel like I am wasting my energy.

http://buffd.net/story/title/the-arcane-sanctum-the-mages-of-warhammer

Thank you.

The Mages of Warhammer

2010-01-13T17:36:00.001-08:00

Heyo.

I sort of took a leave of absence, both from WoW and my Mage. Every now and then I get bored of the norm, so take a break and try something new. It's something I recommend everyone try when they feel they are getting burned out from WoW. It brings in new experiences, and can give you some appreciation when you come back to WoW (if you do). So what have I been gaming up to?

Warhammer Online, was one of my major pit stops. I had always wanted to play it, so play it I did. They currently have a free trial that never ends, so I took that up and tested it out. First things first, I made a High Elf Archmage (of course), and found myself in for a big change of pace from normal magery. Not only could I pwn faces, I also had pretty good healing abilities.

It was odd at first, but I got into it pretty quickly. I mostly leveled up through world pvp and scenarios (battlegrounds). Some fights I would mainly dps, some fights I would heal alot. I of course typically preferred dpsing, but there was a built in game mechanic to promote switching back and forth. The more you dps, the better your heals get, and the more you heal, the better your dps gets.

This turned out to be quite nice. I would actually want to heal people, so that I could pwn more face. Did I mention that Archmages have a giant lazer beam spell, that has like a 60 yard range? Yeah, it was pretty awesome. I got him to level 10 fairly quickly, and twinked him out in the best level 10 pvp gear available. Afterwards, I decided to see how things were on the evil side.

I made a Dark Elf Sorceress (Dark Elf chicks are hot, okay?), to see how their version of the mage was. Unlike Archmages, this class was not also able to moonlight as a healer, but a pure dps class. They have a unique class mechanic like most classes in WAR do, theirs is Dark Magic. As you cast damaging spells, your dark magic builds up (like an empty rage bar), causing you to do more damage. However, there is a drawback to this.

Each damaging spell that you cast has a chance to backlash and do some damage to you. The higher amount of dark magic you have, the higher the chance. So while you are pwning people, you may just suddenly die if you are not paying attention. There is a spell that allows you to release your dark magic though (I love releasing my dark magic all over archmages). So you have some control over how much dark magic you want to build up.

Unfortunately, while the Sorceress seems really cool, she doesn't hold a candle to the Archmage. The fact is that classes with healing ability will outshine those that don't most of the time. As well, half the time you are trying to fight as a Sorceress you are helpling the enemy by lowering your hp. As well, the class doesn't seem to be doing the damage for all that backlashing to be worth it (imo).

Next blog I will be covering the other game I played, Hellgate London, as well as updates to what I have been dabbling with in WoW now that I've come back.

Insert Topic Here

2009-11-18T04:20:00.000-08:00

I've no idea what to blog about this week. I am welcome to your suggestions. I've had thoughts about delving into benefits the new mage races racials may bring, or about another game I've been playing. Honestly though, I've not the foggiest. I've become rather bored with gaming lately, which makes me a sad panda. I need to expand my horizons and pay my console (PS2) some attention perhaps.

I guess all of us need a break now and then from the norm. I've a good book I could read, perhaps I could..gasp...go outside...naaaah.

Blue Plz!

2009-11-16T03:03:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite shows on warcraft radio, Blue Plz!. Sure the TotalBiscuit sounds like an elitist jerk, but it is a very amusing show and he can make an intelligent point. Some of this conversation I felt matched some of my feeling in my previous blog.

http://wcradio.com/shows/6-Blue-Plz-/episodes/1775

Why I WoW

2009-11-15T04:43:00.000-08:00

I got to thinking, why exactly do I play WoW?

Sure, it's fun (sometimes) but it often seems like a frustrating second job. When starting a char you have to go through eighty levels, which takes far too long even with questing. I can barely stand it with RAF, having to go kill boars over and over again. Repetition is not something I am into. Then once you do reach 80, it's just another grind all over again for gear.

I guess what appeals to my nature, is being able to create characters. I have a fascination with playing a character. You can act out through this little avatar, give him a name and a history and act as if you were them. Though I mainly play one character, I have several other characters and more I want to make just because playing as them seems appealing. All these characters have their own personality, and lure to play them and be in the world with them.

If that didn't scare you off, there is another reason or two. The second one being competition. I love player vs player, and WoW is a fully fleshed out world to pvp in. Though to me it seems that it is horribly imbalanced in many aspects *cough*DK's*cough* that I'll blog about later. It is still skill based somewhat, and I find the fast paced think or die pvp situations are fun. I mostly like battlegrounds, where its not always people looking directly at you to kill, and Wintergrasp.

The last aspect is the progression of character. You fight a boss, wipe a few times, finally kill it, and get an upgrade. I don't raid too often, but I find it fun sometimes. Progression feels good, I can confirm that as I got better at Starcraft. Though lately I have lost interest in raiding, I feel the raiding for epics so we can raid for better epics is kind of redundant.

So all of this I could still find in any other MMO. Why WoW inparticular? I don't know. Honestly I prefer D&D type worlds, but this world has it's own unique flair. I guess because it is a fairly decent game, casual friendly, and well fun (sometimes). In short, there really isn't anything better.

Once there comes D&D Forgotten Kingdoms Online, I am so leaving WoW though.

Survey Says!

2009-11-14T00:57:00.000-08:00

Apparently some Death Knight *cough*dieinafire*cough* is conducting a survey of some sorts. Since I need all the free publicity I can get, I figured I'd fill it out.

What is the name, class, and spec of your primary dps?

Tiberan, Blood Elf Mage, Arcane.

What is your primary dpsing environment? (i.e. raids, pvp, 5 mans)

40% battlegrounds, 30% raiding, 10% arena, 10% ganking lowbies. The final 10% I slack off.

What is your favorite dps spell/ability for your class and why?

The one that kills you. Oh wait, you're a Death Knight, silly me. :p I guess Arcane Barrage, it's so pretty but it's hardly ever used post nerf.

What dps spell do you use least for your class and why?

I just answered that question. Arcane Barrage, and because it was nerfed. No one uses it when standing still unless they want to lose dps.

What do you feel is the biggest strength of your dps class and why?

The biggest strength is that if someone lets me stand still for ten seconds they are dead.

What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your dps class and why?

Who the hell lets you stand still for ten seconds in pvp?

In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best dps assignment for you?

I do my best when given the ability to concentrate on one target and just pump out dps, so the boss or highest hp target?

What dps class do you enjoy dpsing with most and why?

Er, my Mage. Why else would I play one? Though shadow priests and balance druids come close.

What tanking class do you enjoy dpsing with least and why?

What tanking class do I enjoy dpsing WITH? I guess Paladin, we share a blue bar bond.

What is your worst habit as a dps?

Dying?

What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while dpsing?

Morons.

Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other dps?

I should kill DK's with naught but a glance.

What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a damage dealer?

I look at the pretty colors I am radiating for a gauge of my awesome meter.

What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your class?

That I will give them a portal. Sorry, but you need to be this intelligent to ride my ports.

What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new dpsers of your class to learn?

Running from DK's?

What dps class do you feel you understand least?

Warriors. They should all just man up and put on a sword n board.

What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in dps?

I use an arcane power/icy veins/trinket macro, also known as my PWN button. I also use a Blizzard/Flamestrike macro, Fireward/Frostward macro, conjuring/using food macro, conjuring/using mana gem macro, polymorph macro. I use no addons except DBM.

Strength over other stats or balanced stat allocation, and why?

Idk my bff jill haste?

Night Elf Mages Revisited

2009-11-09T04:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, it's been a while. I have a job, been trying to level a druid in the battlegrounds, and watching anime such as Bleach. You can see I have a busy schedule. Anyways, for today I was thinking about going more in-depth regarding post Catacylsm. My topic, at least today, is on Night Elf Mages. If you are a roleplayer as I am, as well as a pvper, it brings up several trains of thought.

Once I unwrap my shiny new expansion game box, install it, and log in, in the character creation section in the Night Elf race will be the new Mage option. The thing is this. When you make this character, pick out it's looks, name, and enter the world, what are you? Are you a fledgling mage, newly learned of the practice previously forbidden by your peers? Or a Highborne?

Technically, we would have to look at what makes a Highborne. By my knowledge, Highborn is one who practices arcane magic, that is a Night Elf. Now most Highborne had certain traits, such as lightened skin and hair, from their exposure to magic. Is that really a requirement though, to be physically altered to be considered Highborne. Certainly Illidan knew magic but has dark skin and hair.

So perhaps even if you are new to using arcane magic, you can still consider yourself Highborne. However, you could also potentially claim to be originally a Highborne, one of the ones that were not killed. Though there are few of them left, you could potentially still roleplay to be one. You'd have to be quite old though, and powerful. Or, you could just be relearning your ancient heritage.

It will be an interesting time. Let's cut to the point of being a Night Elf Mage from a PvP aspect though. Playing a Night Elf Druid right now I know how useful Shadowmeld can be, even if I can stealth in cat form. Having an instant vanish is quite nice. While Mages have invisibility, unless you spec for it, it is not instant. As well it can come in handy while leveling before you get invis.

If you have warlock/hunter pets on you, a quick Shadowmeld gets them off you. As well, it can be used to confuse dumb opponents, lose LoS, interupt casting on you, and multiple other uses. Quickness, Elusiveness, Wisp Spirit..are all alright but Shadowmeld is the real winner. There are only two downsides to Night Elf Mages. Their on the alliance side, and their males are fugly.

That's it for tonight, later on I may cover the other races further.

New Mage Race Options

2009-11-01T00:15:00.000-07:00

Once the new expansion "Catacylsm" comes out, more races will be able to become Mages. Really though, you only need one race. Blood Elves, or as I like to call them, Awesome Elves. Anyways, let us go through each new race that will be able to enjoy the experience of getting facerolled by DK's.

Orc: You're kidding, right? Who the hell would try to teach orcs the arcane arts, and how could these green creatures learn it? I know I certainly don't want them stinking up the Mage hangouts. From a lore perspective, it does not make much sense to me. Most of them are incredibly dumb, and orcs that want to use magic either have to bow down to elemental spirits, or make pacts with demons. Arcane tree should be greyed out for them.

Dwarves: They are slightly more intelligent than orcs, but not by much. Also dwarves, similar to orcs, are mostly a warrior society that fears and distrusts arcane magic. At least lorewise, they would typically not become Mages, those that did would be kicked out of Ironforge. Also they are typically too drunk to cast advanced spells, since their version of conjured water is conjure beer.

Night Elves: Well, well, well...(of eternity). Look who's coming back to arcane magic, groveling on their hands and knees? Oh no, magic is bad and we must swear it off and hug trees instead. Ha! I knew it would only be a matter of time before the race realized what it was missing. Lorewise, they did swear it off as a race, but they are the original mages, well..the highborne are. Out of all three new mage races, this one makes the most sense. I may play one as an rp character.

Then there are the two new races, Goblin and Worgen.

Goblin: Magic along with technology seems to be a natural selection for goblins. It is a source of power, something to be wielded as a gun or a tool to them. I'm not too fond of goblins, they are short and green and ugly, but I plan to make one purely as a banker alt with rocket boots!

Worgen: They don't get to be mages, and I am fine with that. Arcane power isn't something to be handed out to everyone like candy on haloween. I may level one, for the coolness factor of the worgen form, their starting city, etc. After that, I will stop as I hate the alliance so much.

Arcane Mage Vs Resto Druid

2009-10-31T00:52:00.000-07:00

A shining example of dedication, I blog while in pain of a 4 rating on the 1-10 chart. I have a terrible toothache, and am waiting for the drugs to kick in. If my blogging topic starts to go onto ponies and candy, you will know why.

I previously have shown great hostility to druids, resto druids in particular. I feel that I should be doing immense damage since I have forsaken all defenses to do so. Yet when after unloading all I've got and pressing all my cooldowns, if my target does not have a scratch, it pisses me off. So much that I have actually been suspended for harassing resto druids and making them cry. They have been the bane of my arena 2v2 enjoyment.

Yet the other day, I realized such a simple tactic that I should have thought of before. You know that Spellsteal button, the one that costs a bijillion mana to cast? If you have the mana regen, the ability to repeatedly replenish your mana, you can cast it a lot. Infact, enough to constantly keep yourself healed if an enemy resto druid is around.

Instead of trying to kill resto druids, I simply outlast them. I spellsteal all their buffs first, then when they cast hots, I steal them. Not only does it prevent them from getting healed (except for lifebloom), but it heals me. I mentioned the mana issue, well it gets even better after stealing the innervate that resto just used. :D

So far I have been able to kill three druids with this awesomely simple slapping myself on the forehead for not realizing earlier tactic. I've also recently improved my pvp gear so I have tons of resilience, and honed my arcane pvp spec. So we have...ooo pretty flowers yumm yumdccccc

Why I came back.

2009-10-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

My best friend knew my frustration and anger at the game. In a land of rogues, death knights, and resto druids, I felt like a lesser being. Then my best friend came to my aid.

He showed me the truth. All the top rated 2v2 and 3v3 teams have mages. The second best 2v2 team is a disc priest an arcane mage, just like me and my roomie. So it gives me hope, that if the mage class, specifically arcane, can reach the top, then maybe I can too despite all the setbacks.

So I'm back, with a 2v2 arena team rating of 900 and rising. Caution: Beware of Mage.

Why I quit WoW

2009-10-25T04:11:00.000-07:00

So I did it. I deleted all my characters, and quit WoW.

You want to know why?

Because a single resto druid can last 20 minutes of an arcane mage pumping out over 100 thousand damage, without a single scratch, and yet beat me with a meager moonfire and cat form attacks.

What is the purpose of a dps class, if healing classes are able to kill people in arenas while healing any damage done to them. It's just incredibly stupid how imbalanced this game is where there is no point in being a pure dps cloth wearing class. None at all.

So I'm out. I am going to find something else to do with my time, some pvp that is not rediciously one-sided.

In Addition

2009-10-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

I realized now why Blizzard has made some classes more powerful than others. It's a mental handicap. Oh, you have the mental capacities of a dog? Well here's the Rogue class. Can only think at a snails pace, here's Ret Paladins. You have the IQ of a rock? Unholy DK.

It's not that I always want to win in PvP, constantly winning is boring. The fun is in the challenge, that you had to fight for your victory/loss. Sure like most other people I prefer winning to losing, but I would prefer a lost fight that was a challenge and performed well and it was close to a won fight where it was incredibly easy.

I guess people that roll the classes mentioned above don't. That and the above reasons are the only way I can imagine people roll them. At least when I'm doing damage there is always the threat that I can in turn be killed, much quicker than how fast I can kill. Classes that are able to be killed slower than they can kill others, on top of things like being able to heal, are just...gah.

Wow PvP

2009-10-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing that can get me riled up at record speed, it's WoW PvP.

I play an Arcane Mage. I have the hitpoints of a level 70 lock at level 80, toilet paper for armor, few defensive mechanics, and no reliable way to regenerate my health back. I die in two hits if I am in melee range of a Ret Paladin, DK, Rogue, Enhancement Shaman, hell even melee hunters.

In exchange, I have ungodly amounts of sheer raw power. I can eliminate anything I see before they have time to think about how fucked they are. At least that's how I'd like to think things are. In reality, any melee class when at a distance of maximum casting range, can typically get in melee range before they are dead.

The only defense mechanism I have to rely on, is the target not focusing on me. Whatever I am unloading on will hopefully be fighting something else, completely unaware of me, or AFK. This is why I rely on invisibility so heavily, along with mirror image. Yes, I said mirror image, you would be surprised how many "I am 6 years old but have a 2.5k arena rating because Im a DK" players have attacked my mirror images instead of me.

So when I do 2v2 arena, my measure of success depends on two things.

1. If my partner can stay alive for the ten seconds or so it takes me to walk out behind the enemy while invis'd, mirror image out of invis, and start dps'ing a target.

2. If the enemy team doesn't realize "Holy fuck there's a mage behind us and he just pushed all his PWN buttons because he's glowing bright purple with crackling energy." and turn to kill me.

1 & 2 = Yes = Win. All I need is about ten seconds of not being attacked to kill one of the players, and have one halfway killed. Resto druids, rogues, dk's, anything, I can kill in under 10 seconds. It's not a bad strategy, with a disc priest keeping themselves alive through the whole ordeal, I've done really well. The downside though is eventually it does not work, and the Ret Paladin I am trying to kill turns around and smacks me down.

Then once in a while I come across an arena game that makes me set my pc on fire.

In my 2v2 game, it was my arcane mage vs a resto druid. My partner and his partner had died. You'd think, well all he can do is heal, he's fucked without someone to kill for him. Well, you'd think wrong. Apparently, resto druids can out dps mages. I started unloading on him, doing massive amounts of dps but all my cooldowns were down, and I did not have the element of surprise anymore.

While still doing 6k, 7k, 8k, 10k damage, the druid hits me with a moonfire for like 1k. Something you'd laugh at, right? Well as their hitpoints went back up to full, mine didn't. I had no means of reliably healing myself, so they could just literally hit for 1 damage over and over again and eventually in ten days it would kill me, meanwhile my massive amounts of damage as a pure dps class with shit for defenses was all but meaningless. I might as well just have been a level 1 Warrior, that's how much difference I made.

So lovely that as a class with no other options, no healing, no tanking, no defenses, no hitpoints, no armor, just pure dps concentrated, it can be completely negated so that I might as well just have sat down and let a resto druid melee me to death. A favorite saying comes to mind.

PANTS ON HEAD RETARDED.

This is why I have quit PvP and WoW in general before, because of retardedly stupid situations where it makes no sense. Gee golly I'm so glad that a class able to constantly renew its health and mana is able to put out dps to kill pure dps classes that have no means of stopping them.

Poll

2009-10-20T04:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure quite how to implement a poll, so feel free to add your comment with your vote.

Do you think I should just stick to gaming? Often times I have an urge to blog about things not necessarily related to gaming, but I wanted the blog to have a specific purpose to attract a target audience. If you have a gaming blog, have you been tempted to go off topic?

Melee Vs Casting

2009-10-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

It's an issue I've had with WoW and many other MMO's. It seems that in most games, melee classes end up being stronger in general due to game mechanics. Let's take a look at it from a World of Warcraft perspective.

Mobility

Melee: Melee range is five yards or so if I recall. As long as you are within melee range, you can circle strafe, position, or chase after people without losing any dps. As well, your special attacks can be used during any of that movement, costing only a global cooldown.

Casting: Casting range is typically twenty five yards or so. As long as you are within casting range, you can dps but you are typically unable to move at all while doing so. You must stand still for 2-3 seconds per cast, meaning the target can run out of casting range or to melee range. There is no auto-attack for casters, meaning every second you aren't standing still casting means you aren't doing dps.

(Yes, casters have a form of auto-attack called Shoot Wand. As I recall, it requires you to stand still. If I stand still, and as I said I was talking about losing dps while your moving.)

Resource System

Melee: Most melee classes have a small self-replenishing energy source for their attacks, as they use their moves it uses up a large portion of it, but it comes back while likely still in the same fight. There is no sitting, no drinking required. Just constant fighting.

Casting: Casters also have a self-replenishing energy source, much larger though. Unlike melee, we can use attack after attack after attack with no pause. Until the mana bar is empty. Then there is sitting, drinking, and no fighting. We do have several means to rengerate it quicker, such as evocate. This is because our mana pools are so large, and water doesn't give us back enough at a fast enough pace.

Also unlike most melee, our resource system can be attacked. We can be drained of our mana, making us completely useless. At least if a melee is out of energy, they can regeneraet it while still in the same fight, and they can do dps via auto-attack while waiting. Compare leveling a mage to a rogue. Fight, drink, fight, drink, fight, drink...or just fight, fight, bandage, fight, fight.

The exception to this is hybrid classes, such as enhancment shaman, and ret/prot paladins. I don't see too many ret paladins sitting and drinking though between owning people in seconds in the bg's.

Item Upgrades

Melee: Melee's biggest upgrade is a weapon, because the damage/speed on a weapon directly relates to their damage done.

Casting: Caster's biggest upgrade is ...well they don't have one. Unlike melee who can get a new dagger and instantly do better, we need to collect several pieces of better spellpower gear before we notice a difference.

Stats

Melee: Strength, Agility. What do they do? According to WoW Wiki...

Strength (often abbreviated STR) has the following effects:

Increases attack power with melee weapons:
- Warriors, death knights, druids in all feral forms, and paladins gain 2 melee attack power per point of strength.
- Rogues, hunters, shamans, mages, priests, warlocks and druids in druid form gain 1 melee attack power per point of strength.
Improves block value by (Strength / 2), rounding down, for all classes capable of blocking (warrior, paladin, and shaman).
Increases parry rating for death knights by 0.25 parry rating per point of strength.

Agility (often abbreviated AGI) has the following effects:

Increases attack power with ranged weapons (not including wands) or melee weapons for certain classes.
- Warriors, hunters^[1] and rogues gain 1 ranged attack power for each point of agility.
- Hunters,^[2] rogues, shamans (as of 3.0.2) and druids in Cat Form^[3] gain 1 melee attack power per point of agility.
Increases armor by 2 per point.
Increases chance to score a critical hit with a weapon.
Increases chance to dodge attacks. This is dependent on both class and level.

So classes that typically have STR and AGI on their gear, will get increased dodge, increased crit, increased armor, increased attack power, increased block value, and some other stuff I took out that was talent specific.

Casting: Alright, now it's Intellect's turn, and only int since there is no Wisdom stat. I know Int is good, I have a buff for it!

Increases mana points. Each point of intellect gives player characters 15 mana points (except from the first 20 points of Intellect that provide 1 mana for each point instead).
Increases chance to score a spell critical strike. This increase varies by class and level; in general, the relationship is linear as intellect increases. The rate of increase is generally based on the amount of intellect a class is expected to have at a certain level, given by the following table.^[4]^[5]^[6]
As of 2.4, Intellect will increase the amount of MP5 generated by Spirit.

So I get more mana, mp5, and crit. Casters prime stat does not give caster's their prime need, spellpower...at least yet. Word is in the expansion, Int will give casters spellpower. Of course, if you are smart like me you already get some spellpower from int, via the arcane talent tree.

In Closing

I come from an era in MMO's where casters were a thing you feared. You would not cross that bridge where casters lie waiting, because you would not make it to the other side alive. Casters range was their threat, they could harm you before you could get in melee range. In return, if you got into melee range of a caster they would die quickly in exchange for this power.

This doesn't happen in WoW, because of the amount of stamina, resilience, counters, and anti-counters. It used to be where casters were taken seriously, where with a macro'd pyroblast a mage could kill someone instantly every three minutes. Now, pyroblast doesn't even take off one fith of their health. People laugh at it.

What do I suggest?

1. Make casting mobile. If I can do math while running I could cast a spell.

2. Make casting immobile increase damage greatly. If you are going to sacrifice mobility, increase the damage done. I let people get to me so they can kill me, in hopes I can kill them first.

3. Make wands usable wile moving, and make it equivalent to melee's auto attack damage.

4. Mana bandages. It makes no sense that all classes without mana can fight without end. Stop putting in retarded class spells to regen mana, and give us mana bandages. You don't have to name it that, just give it some stupid loreish name.

But wait, there's more!

2009-10-03T04:05:00.000-07:00

As a starting and completely unprofessional part-time blogger, I appreciate taking the time to read my blog, comment, and refer it to your friends. I may often take on the appearance of being an arrogant jackass, but that is mostly in-character (mostly).

I am hoping to keep regularly updates at least once a week. Also, I typically won't be doing news, there are tons of wow and gaming news sites where people can get their news from. Instead I will be linking to someone elses news if I am doing commenting on something.

If any of those few who are visiting my blog have any suggestions, hit me up at Vinven@msn.com.

And the Mystery Prize is a TCG loot code, nothing expensive, but I will keep you guessing.

Aion Gives You Wings (continued)

2009-10-03T03:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, so my last post regarding Aion may have been hasty. I hear that flying becomes much more cooler and important later on in levels. I just could not stand the meager leveling on my Sorcerer.

So I went to the bad guys side (Elyos or something, I don't pay attention). I made a "scout" which is just another word for rogue. Of course looking like a Dark Elf. I enjoyed the scenery a bit more this time around, everything seems darker and edgier instead of happy lala land.

The quests are pretty much the same as all other mmo quests, gather ten pork butts. Though they do try to make some effort in producing a good story text in them. There is the overall story arc that progresses to your ascenscion, and then there are side quests. There is some flavor differences between questing light side and dark side, but nothing that favors one over the other.

As for the actual combat and leveling, I loved it. The melee attacks you get as you advance get flashier and more awesome looking. Soon you will be letting out bitchin' combos of dagger slashing doom. As a scout, I also got a few rogue abilities such as stealth and surprise attack. I find myself dying a lot less than on my Mage, but it still feels like some mobs take too long to kill.

I am looking forward to getting my black wings and getting to the bad guys sanctuary, perhaps a bit more than my first time. Will I loose interest shortly afterwards? It depends. If there is any particular move, or something else that I really want to do, perhaps. Also the power curve will be a deciding factor, as right now sometimes I am getting to med-low health as mobs die.

Of course except when my surprise attack one shots them.

Aion gives you wings...

2009-09-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

..then you can't use them hardly anywhere.

I recently took a chance, and bought Aion. I logged in, selected a server, and went about creating a character. I liked the idea regarding four basic character classes that expanded out into other classes. I selected the good guys for my Mage, and the bad guys for my Rogue.

The characcter customization is pretty well done, with options for skin, hair, and eye color, scars, hair styles, different faces, body types, and even your in-game voice. I made a pale skin, blue eyed, and blue haired elf looking Mage. After going through some starting movie, I went about questing. There is an overall campaign quest line, with many side quests to do such as collect 100 pork butts.

Every creature here looks like a pokemon or digimon, I swear. As I went about questing, the carrot danging was getting that next level, getting that next spell, but most importantly, getting to level 10. At level 10, you get a quest to ascend to become a Daeva. Once you do this, you get the ability to fly that was used as a big selling point of the game. Several in-game cutscenes later, I finally ascended.

I got my wings, and entered the Sanctuary. Which of course I could not fly in. So I teleported to a city I could fly in, to find out I can only fly for one minute. If you are in the air after that, your wings disappear and you plummet to your death. No parachute, no slowfall, no nothing. Also, you can not fly over water, or over mountains. The next leveling area I walked to, you could not fly there either.

So I was walking about doing questing with my same ol spells, my same ol gear, and my same ol crappy one minute or you die wings. I could continue questing, getting more levels, getting more spells, but why? I no longer had motivation to do it, it's as if the entire goal of the game is to get to level 10, play around with wings, and get bored of it. I'm sure the spells get flashier, but all in all the carrot was gone.

So I logged out. I am considering still playing my Rogue on the bad guy side some, the quests and areas will likely differ. As well, it is a different play style, so perhaps it will give me at least another ten levels of enjoyment. I can't say though that I care enough about this genericy game to try to make it to max level. All I need is for them to introduce a flight spell to Mages in WoW.

In other news..

2009-09-24T13:38:00.001-07:00

I really don't care to much for the current look of my blog. I have a not so fancy banner, and a picture that doesn't do me justice. Why can't I have a snazzy blog, like Clearcasting? :/

Because I don't know how 2 do fancy blog coding. So if anyone wants to make me a new blog look, perhaps over on wordpress, feel free. My favorite colors are black, arcane purple-pink, and mana blue. If you do happen to make one for me that I pick, I will give you a free character faction change code...and a mystery prize!

Arcane Changes

2009-09-24T12:21:00.000-07:00

Likely, many other Mage bloggers have already covered the details regarding this latest patch changes (3.2.2 or something like that, I don't bother to count). If you want to read them all, go check the patch notes you lazy bastard. Since I am a kind and benevelent soul, I will link you to one of my favored bloggers, Critical QQ.

Myself being a fully devoted Arcane Mage, and owning a blog, it comes to my responsibility to enlighten all on my views. All in all, I think we went two steps forward and one step back. One great leap forward for standing still (How is that possible? Magic, bitches.), in that you get to stand still even longer (Yay!) and do supposedly more dps and save more mana (Again, magic.).

It is however quite a standstill (Yes, I went there.) for those in need to move, such as when a Death Knight is on your rear (quite literally). As well, there are many PvE encounters that need either minor movement (void zones), or to move most of the fight. Since you now have so little cushion time, expect to have your dps gashed. But wait, there's Arcane Barrage!

Now don't expect me to do any math, because I'm not one of those types. I just mash my big ol PWN buttons (I macrod all my buttons) and see the fireworks as a Warlock dies. However, Arcane Barrage has went from being THE rotation, to being something you only cast if you want to lose DPS. It still is the most amazing instant cast spell there is (It sure is purty too!), but it has no place in rotations anymore.

So after going and making a hodgepodge attempt at covering what is important about these changes, my opinion on them, I have some suggestions. One, is that Arcane Barrage when cast increases the duration of the Arcane Blast debuff. This way you can cast your AB and if you have to move suddenly, cast Abarr and then get back into your AB stack. This would have to be on a time limit, otherwise you could keep the debuff on a target all day.

Either that, or make a mini rotation. Give Arcane Barrage increased damage or some other benefit, when you have one stack of the Arcane Blast debuff. This is not so great as the idea I just had above which I just thought of on the spot (Go me), but could possibly work. You know what else would work? Having Arcane Barrage with one stack of AB refresh Slow on the target.

Enough, I have to stop now or I will continue to babble out ingenious ideas for free. I should be charging you all for this! Consider it your birthday and xmas gifts.
-Vinven

WoW 50+ PvP is dead to me.

2009-09-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

Why level 50+ pvp? Because that is when Death Knights are introduced. 1-49 I was blissfully leveling up in battlegrounds, but now come the 59 battlegrounds where Death Knights dwell, there is hardly any point at all in playing if you are not a Death Knight, Rogue, or Ret Paladin. Some may say that it is only due to Death Knights starting off at 55. Surely, once you get to 80 things change.

Truth is they don't. There are tons of DK's, most people playing Unholy spec Death Knights so they can be ridiculous in PvP. So why don't I make one? Because I don't like playing easy mode roll your face on the keyboard classes. They provide no challenge, no difficult decision making. Should I silence this healer after I pull them halfway across the field with death grip, or should I snare them first? Oh, it doesn't matter they are already dead.

The basis of the class being introduced is because apparently there was a shortage of tanks. Well guess what, there still is because 99 out of 100 DK's refuse to swap out their Unholy PvP/Unholy PvE dual specs to actually contribute. So I suggest trying to tank as Unholy. What? You mean you never collected any tanking gear? What kind of idiot that has a tanking tree doesn't even collect a few pieces of tank gear with their offspec rolls?

This is one of the reasons I rerolled from my Shaman to my Mage. All the time people wanted me to heal on my Shaman, but I disliked healing and preferred to dps. Of course people would continue to ask me and expect it out of me, because I was a class capable of healing. So what do you do if you really really don't ever want to tank or heal?

YOU ROLL A REAL DPS CLASS THAT DOES NOT HAVE A HEALING OR TANKING TREE. I am tired of all the DPS spots getting clogged up by unholy/blood dks, etc. Do you see me tanking or healing on my Mage, can I do that to get into groups? No, I only offer one thing, dps. Yes, I have a Druid that is spec'd Balance, and guess what, I am open to healing because it greatly increases my chances to get into a group. I even spec'd my Shaman to resto, because I matured and realized that there are other things that I can do besides just ZOMG dps.

So in short, either man up and be willing to put on a shield now and then, or roll a real dps class.

Class Difference.

2009-09-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

Currently, I play an Arcane Mage. It is quite fun as I get to shoot purple arcaney fireworks at people. My rotation is fairly simple but can be based off several variables. Now I originally started with an Elemental Troll Shaman, and still have the char. Problem is when I started shooting bolts of lightning, I realized I was just playing a not as awesome version of my Mage.

Besides different spell icons and graphics, it's mostly the same feel to me. I figure if I am going to be shooting anything from my hands, it might as well be arcane goodness. This is why I respec'd my Shaman enhancement. Not every caster class is the same I understand, but it seems that the game is trying to move forward to everyone being the same.

I'm currently leveling a Troll Priest (female, shadow), and this class has some uniqueness to it. It has dots, some dd, some channeled spells, it seems pretty diverse for a 'hybrid' class. Of course it is not quite as unique as it used to be. No one really needs a shadow priest for anything but their dps, in a world (of warcraft) filled with everyone being dps.

How do you give a class unique-ness then, without making it so that they are near mandatory? Perhaps some unique mechanics? One example, is Warlocks. They use an additional resource system (soul shards), are a pet class (one out of two in the game), and add something to the raid that can assist in making them wanted (healthstones, soulstones, summoning).

I realize now that I went from how nuking feels the same on most classes, to how each class should have something that makes them wanted in raids. My next post will be concentrated, I swear!

Class is in session!

2009-09-15T11:53:00.001-07:00

There is this new video out (correction, it is a year old), done by a fellow mage that does me proud. It has a cute art style, very humorous, and teaches a valuable lesson. I am hoping the creator continues the series, so I can educate people with them that break sheep in group.

Emergency Kindergarten - Lesson 1, Shapes and Colors

Why skill should be more important than gear.

2009-09-14T13:37:00.001-07:00

Just a fair bit of warning, you may find some 'QQ'.

This is what I dislike about WoW.

Order of importance in PvP.

1. Class
2. Gear
3. Skill

What I loved about Planetside, is that it eliminated 2 completely, and 1 for the most part. If you wanted to kill someone, you would have to actually aim your gun and know how to fight. Which brings me to my main idea.

I am going to make an FPS RPG. A game where you must aim, dodge, block, etc all manually via your controls. In this game, everyone is able to access the same gear as everyone else, such as via an equipment console in Planetside. From there though, they can do quests, turn in pvp points, use professions, etc to customize it here and there. That way those that just want to jump in and pvp can, but those that want to spend time to put effort in, can turn out an advantage.

Of course there is always the issue of class balance. In an FPS, everyone is pretty much the same except what gun they are holding. I guess for an example, I would have to look to Team Fortress 2. Sure there can be some percieved imbalances (Demoman, I am looking at you), but all in all the game is enjoyable via all of the classes.

So the game would be an FPS RPG with classes similar to TF2, gear system like Planetside, and combat similar to DDO/FPS's. All with asian MMO (lineage 2, aion) graphics. Yes, that is my game. In it, Mages can fly. Deal with it.

Warning: Long Personal History Post

2009-09-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

I've been a gamer, pretty much since around Warcraft 2. I never actually played the game, I just learned the story and made tower defense maps. I moved onto RPG's after Diablo, trying FPS's now and then but not doing well until Team Fortress 2. Due to my bad gun aim, I only really do well with classes such as engineer, pyro, and spy.

As far as RPG's go, I typically like two classes. The dark elf rogue/assassin, and the high elf mage. I love being stealthy, tracking my target like a predator, making the strike, and they are dead. I also enjoy just having tons of sheer raw power, using to throw giant balls of fire and just tearing stuff up. As well, I like the different lore/roleplaying styles each one has.

As far as MMO's, I started off hearing about EverQuest from a girl I used to roleplay with back in battlenet. She got me into the game, and then I was hooked. I mainly played a Dark Elf Rogue, and I didn't hardly level at all. Instead, I spent much of my time exploring the secret locations of the dark elf city Neriak. I would also stalk and spy on Neriak's denizens from atop the rooftops, and sell any information I learned. I did all sorts of (roleplayingly) sneaky rogueish stuff.

I also played an Iksar Monk, which I loved dearly. He had some long open sleeved monk robes on, and a this bull looking skull over his head as a helmet. He just looked silly and awesome at the same time, and he kicked a lot of arse. Finally, I had a High Elf Wizard, and a Froglok Shaman because lol frogs.

I moved on to DAOC, where I played a kobold shadowblade, which is basically a small dark elf rogue. This time I rp'd less and did more pvp. I became a twink in the 20ish bracket, and I would just demolish things. Sure, it would often take me 5 minutes or so to set up a non-stealther kill, but that is what made it feel like actual rogue stalking. I also played a Troll Thane, trolls were like these beings of stone. It was basically a melee guy with lightning spells being servants of Thor.

On the Alb side (A different faction in daoc), I played a friar. They were sort of like a monk based class using a staff. They had awesome staff attacks, as well as heals and buffs. I kicked a lot of ass with that guy, especially rogues who mistook me for a caster. As well I played a fire wizard with some degree of pwnage, big balls of fire everyone likes that.

Oh, and finally on the alb side I had my sorcerer. It was one of the new races with tendrils hanging off their face, and the sorcerer class was a class that did crowd control like mesmerizing and confusing. So of course tendrils and mind cc, I named it Mindflayer. He had this one aoe cc spell, that could make an entire charging army stop and sleep for 30 seconds.

Of course when this happened, the entire team behind me pwned them all and I was the hero of the day. Fights like that were just awesome. Of course the drawback was that I could be one-shotted by any rogue class, and I indeed was many times.

Afterwards, I tried many other games. City of Heroes was fun, for about two weeks. Planetside, that was an awesome game. Large battles with hundreds of people on each side fighting over bases in all sorts of worlds, completely skill based. I mostly played a Vanu Infiltrator, hacking into bases and blowing things up.

The Matrix Online was pretty awesome at first. I played a hacker, and used these pretty cool looking 'hacking' spell graphics. The fighting looked awesome, similar to the movies. It ended up being boring because all the quests were the same though.

Then one day I got into playing WoW with my best friend. I made a human warlock, and he made a female dwarf hunter. I got bored of being a warlock (not sure why, they seem a cool class to me now), and made a dwarf hunter. Then he quit the game, leaving me at level 22 with my defias armor in Loch Modan with no idea what I was doing. I tried just killing stuff around me for a while, but I had no idea where to go or what to do, so I quit the game.

Then I came back, after likely playing many games I previously played and realized why I quit them. I really got into troll shamans for some reason, I liked the witchdoctor voodoo type thing. So I made a troll shaman, named Jinzulu. Now when I first started playing WoW, I wanted to roll alliance. This is because every horde race looked ugly and I didn't like them at all.

Now, I love trolls and think all the other horde races look alright. Perhaps it was because I was older, more mature that the horde race started looking more appealing. Anyways, I made my troll shaman Jinzulu (Zul'jin anyone), and over like a year I got him to 70. I kept pausing now and then to make another class to be my main, then realizing I hate leveling and should just stick to one character.

As the new expansion Wrath of the Lich King came out, I realized my love for Blood Elf Mages. There must have been something that kicked it in, but all of a sudden I was really hooked about it. I made a Blood Elf Mage named Tiberan, and started leveling it up. Despite the fact that I hated leveling, I got him to 70 a few months after WOTLK came out. Ever since then, I have been mostly dedicated and in love with my mage.

Sure every now and then I log in Jinzulu for a filling of troll awesomeness. Of course I make alts now and then and consider for a moment leveling them to 80. This is how I have twinks. I make a character thinking to level it to 80, realize I hate leveling, and just make it into a twink. So why have I been so dedicated to my mage, instead of changing my mind like I did earlier?

Because no other class really deserves it. The only classes I feel are worth playing is my mage, and perhaps my shaman. Now, if you recall earlier, I also said that I liked rogues. So why don't I have a rogue?

Because there is no real rogue class in WoW. All you have in their place is an easy mode press my face on the keyboard to win class called the rouge. No assassination either, no they have to make you wait helpless while they kill you, stunning you to 0%. There is no stalking, no clever thinking, no nothing. At least that is my opinion on it, I have tried playing rogues before. I had one at 39, but I deleted it out of sheer disgust.

Anyways, there you have most of my gaming history. Farewell.

Can you ever go back?

2009-09-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Nostalgia is a cruel mistress, some have said.

Every now and then you look back to games you played in the past, recalling the memories of all the great times you had. You think of perhaps going back, to see if you can recreate that magic.

Don't.

Take my example. I was on Youtube the other day, when I came upon a goodbye to EverQuest video. Of course immediately nostalgia came pouring out in droves, and I went back in my mind to a time when I was a young Dark Elf Rogue, in a little city called Neriak. The experiences I had, the incredibly close friends I made, and me just a budding gamer learning about the world (..of warcraft, not).

Of course I immediately went to the EQ website, and downloaded the free trial. Eventually I got in, and hearing that music while the game loaded was like I was high. I created a Dark Elf Rogue, putting in my stats, customizing my face, and selecting my name. Then I entered the game, and I almost immediately regretted it.

The game looked old, I mean really old. There was a rat with the name "A rat" in big clunky glowing letters, and I just was amazed at how spoiled I've become with the current MMO's. The same thing happened when I tried to play my Kobold Shadowblade in DAOC again. I used to love that guy, killing casters and other rogues by the bucketload. When I logged in, I realized that movement was incredibly slow and choppy, and couldn't circle strafe at all.

I had a few nice little seconds playing EQ again. I looked in my bags and smiled to see my rations, water, and bandages right there like they always were in-game. I realized sadly though, that there was no going back to the good ol times. Even if I was to continue playing, I would not be recreating the magic. It would be a different experience all together, this time with no fresh into the world wonderment.

So please, take my advice. Cherish the wonderful memories of when you lost your MMO virginity, but don't go back. You may enjoy the game for a minute, a day, or even a week, but you will likely never recapture the magic of your first time. It's alright though, there are plenty of new games to experience now and in the future.

Cataclysmic goodness.

2009-09-10T12:51:00.001-07:00

Let's see what is going on in WoW, shall we?

With the new World of Warcraft expansion 'The Cataclysm' coming out, (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/cataclysm/) the entire face of Azeroth will be changing. Deathwing comes out (not from the closet) from an elemental plane called Deepholm. Personally, I don't think elemental planes need names besides 'The elemental plane of earth' or whatnot. Apparently, his coming out is quite messy (stop with the jokes), and he causes quite a stir.

Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms are getting a cataclysmic revamp, mostly for two reasons. The first being is for a new leveling experience. Many people will likely roll new alts with the two new races and new race/class combinations. Old-world zones will be redone, which means that they will very likely be introducing new quests and changing old ones. The second reason is that now people will be able to use their flying mounts in Azeroth, thus requiring them to change the tooltips on all flying mounts.

While this seems like some great changes, there is one drawback. There is no going back to the old world, it will be gone forever. Even those without the expansion will be seeing the changed Azeroth. So say goodbye to your favorite spots in the game, as they may be different in the future. It appears many zones will have large gaps in them with lava, for example I hear the barrens is being split in two. Other zones will merely be different, such as a desert area becoming lush with growth (last time I swear).

Myself, I don't really care too much as long as any change to Quel'thalas is for the better. The entire area is pretty much already 'catacylsmed' all over, so some improvement would be nice. I am not too thrilled about any particular part of the expansion. Flying in azeroth will be cool, I will probably make a Worgen and Goblin to play around with. I may even try the barrens again. Besides that, I will just want to level to 85 and resume casual raiding and owning peoples faces.

-Vinven

Internets

2009-09-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

I now have a blog, myspace, facebook, twitter, and youtube account. You can read all about me and the stuff I like and get your fill of me (sounds kinky). Yay!

Email: Vinven@msn.com.

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/vinven

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Dvinven

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Dvinven

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000291935626&ref=profile

Steam: My steam name is Vinven. You may sometimes catch me on it, typically playing TF2!

Xfire: My xfire name is Vinven. Noticing a trend here? I'm not talking about my overuse of excalamationitory points either! You can find me on it sometimes, playing whatever the h e double hockey sticks I feel like playing at the time. Usually though, playing World of Warcraft.

MSN: Vinven@msn.com is my MSN name, same as my email address.

AIM/ICQ/ETC: I hate AOL it can die in a fire. I have already given you tons of ways to find me and information about me, what more could you possibly want?!!11 I used to have an ICQ at one time, till I realized it was outdated and my name was a string of numbers. I'm sure there are a million other instant messengers, social networking sites, etc, but I'm going mainstream. Don't judge me!

Of course you know where my blog is, because you are here!

Start it up.

2008-07-14T01:21:00.000-07:00

Heyo.

I start off most of my typing with a 'Heyo'. I originally got the idea for it while watching Tank Girl. Though at times I think I'd rather do something else, as I'm not too fond of the word in text format. It reminds me of the word yo, which I generally don't care for. However when I say heyo, it sounds much cooler (Like a 'eyo', with the h more silent). Now that I've spent a generous amount of text explaining just my greeting, I think I'll come to a close. Which is generally later, or late irl but that doesn't sound as cool either in text format. I'll improvise.

Farewell? Sincerely? Gah...I'll just leave my name.

-Vinven