Coming Prepared To Raids

If you are a new or old raider you may or may not know what the norm is for showing up to raids with. You have probably asked yourself the question,

What items should I bring to a raid?

Raids in WoW are something most of the WoW community looks forward to when hitting max level, it is the content meant for either 10 or 25 players to venture into and battle different bosses with different fight mechanics. A lot of preparation can go into putting a raid together whether it be a PuG or guild run it isn't something that's easy to start. Because of this it makes it so much easier for the person or people that put it together if you come prepared. Some things you should do when called for to join a raid is to know the fights, meaning know what you should do or not do and when to do or not do it. The most popular way to accomplish this is through strategy videos commonly found on YouTube. Along with these videos however I find it very helpful that after I watch the video to search the boss on the Internet and look at each specific ability, because sometimes in these videos they only show you their strategy and don't go in depth on what the abilities actually do. Knowing the fight ahead of time is also beneficial and will make you an important asset of any raid group regardless of your role because if others haven't watched the video you can give them a quick run down of the fight. The next thing to do is come prepared, not only in game but outside of the game. There isn't anything more annoying than a raider that comes in to a raid, gets in the group, and right before the boss pull they need a BIO to either go to the bathroom, get water, food, etc. Coming prepared in game also means that you have proper food, flasks, water, etc. Depending on who your raiding with you may or may not be allowed to show immaturity to a certain degree. Be sure you know how your group likes to do things before cracking jokes during a boss fight, if their friends then its probably OK. If its a PuG or a hardcore group of guys I would refrain from doing so unless others have already gotten away with doing so. If it is the GM I wouldn't join him, some GMs assert themselves as the only joke-makers in the group, and doing anything but laughing whether it be funny or not could be HAZARDOUS :). And above all have a good time, remember why your raiding and don't let anyone take the fun away from you. That's gonna be it for this post, leave comments on anything you would like me to talk about next and feedback about how I am doing.

Finding A Guild In WoW

If you are new to the game, the server, or just got the boot from you old guild you might ask yourself this question,

How do I find a guild in World of Warcraft?

In WoW I think the biggest contributing factor as to why the game is so appealing to others as well as myself is the community of players that the game has within it. For instance, when you are logging on to raid, yes you probably want to go down content but your also coming because you know that the group needs you. You want your friends to see you as dependable. So obviously if you haven't found a guild or individual players that you enjoy playing the game with your experience in World of Warcraft is not going to be as enjoyable as it could be. For many players in WoW they have been in their guild or group of friends for years, even if they have never met them in real life. They enjoy playing with them even if they aren't the best. So the first step to finding your group of people that is going to be the players you end up playing with during your time in WoW is to find out what you want to do in the game. If you aren't maxed level yet, don't worry, that just means your probably going to fit in best in a leveling guild. These make up most of the guilds in WoW where people both max level and still in the process of leveling hang out in a friendly, usually family oriented community and is probably the most welcoming of all of the guilds. The next type of guild is a casual pve guild, this is the guild that likes to run dungeons with each other and like to down raid bosses when it suits them but aren't too serious about the game. This is the type of guild most people go to after reaching max level in a leveling guild. The next type of guild is a hardcore or semi-hardcore pve guild, this is where you want to go when your max level and no sooner. I say this because unless your super close to max level its going to take some time to level up in order to be able to get into raids and they aren't going to hold a spot for you. These guilds are friendly to the players that have been in them for a long time and is going to take some work to get into the in-crowd within the guild. The last type of guild is a pvp guild where now that rated battlegrounds are in the game, are more popular than the use to be. I haven't had any experience being in a pvp guild but they can be lots of fun if you enjoy player versus player solely. No matter what type of guild you join just make a good first impression. Be playful and talk to people that respond to your playfulness because those are the type of guys that your going to connect with best. Another way to do this is constantly offer up your time to run dungeons, battlegrounds,arena, or old raid content with guild members as it will give you time to introduce yourself and will be appreciated by other guild member, in other words it will get you good guild reputation within the guild (not literally like the guild xp you get). Well that's it for this post thanks for reading. Feel free to leave comments and let me know what you guys would like me to write about next. I am very open to any topics.

Being A Good Raider In WoW

Being a good raider in World of Warcraft is something that many PvE players should strive for.

What makes a good raider in World of Warcraft?

Or

What is the definition of a good raider in World of Warcraft?

So in this post I will be talking about being a good raider in World of Warcraft and how to avoid being a bad raider. The first step to being a good raider is to know your class. If you have played with others in a group setting you have probably heard this phrase before. Knowing your class does not simply refer to knowing what spells do damage, heal, or cause threat. It refers to your classes' optimal rotation that will allow you to achieve the highest number possible with your gear. Knowing your class can be attained through either reading each individual tooltip and devising a rotation on your own which is not advised, some more favorable methods are going online and doing a search on your class rotation or talking to other players that have the same class or spec as you in game. But make sure whoever you talk to in game knows what they are talking about and not just speculating. Most players just do a search on their class and research it, yes, they actually do work to attain high numbers. Some would argue that doing work is not what is intended in the game because playing a game is having fun and research is obviously not fun. Well I will answer this with a short tirade, there are two types of people in WoW, "casual" and "hardcore" or "semi-hardcore". Casual players will say that they don't care whether they are doing it right or wrong but the important thing is that they are having fun playing the game. Hardcore or Semi-Hardcore players will say that they don't mind research, some even say the research itself is fun. But their mindset is that it will all pay off in the end when they down those bosses and feel good that they finally attained their goal through all of that work. The second step to being a good player is to be aware of your surroundings and react accordingly during a boss fight while still adhering to step one. This is really what most top end guilds look in a raider and what maybe not so hardcore guilds tend to not look at so much as the numbers. This step, however, is something that will set you apart from the rest if you are consistent in adjusting with boss mechanics. Some common sense boss mechanics are in most situations fire is bad, move, and if your radiating with an effect its probably not good to stand next to others (the Ascendant Council in BoT contradicts both of the above statements but that's about it). Watching videos ahead of time or just reading the bosses abilities are also a good thing to do if its a raid boss that your going against and not just some dungeon boss (although props to you if you look up dungeon bosses for when they are just released). In most guilds for achieving both steps 1 and 2 you will be rewarded with loot which leads me to the last step, step 3, don't be a loot whore. You may or may not know this but some people actually think they deserve everything that is an upgrade for them that drops. Other than your guilds loot system or random rolls nobody likes someone who thinks they deserve any upgrade that drops. That being said not getting as much loot as another, lets say mage in the raid, doesn't mean that he is going to do more dps. The game is heavily skill dependant and lets say the other mage is doing 80% of his potential dps and your doing 90%, if he has one or two items that are better than yours he isn't going to beat you. And if your both playing your mage's right there isn't going to be that much of a difference between your numbers. The way I see it as long as it is going to a competent individual whose dps, healing, tanking etc. is going to help the raid progress then its loot well distributed. Well thanks for reading my post here on blog spot, feel free to leave a comment about one or two of my posts or suggestions.

World of Warcraft, A Hobby?

Is World of Warcraft a Hobby?

And

What defines something as a Hobby? 

Hey guys, I am writing this post as my first real entry because I would really like to share with anyone who doesn't play World of Warcraft why we as casual and semi hardcore gamers enjoy the game. Many are considering WoW a hobby now and it is definantly a very unique experience if you have not played it before. Typically when someone thinks of a WoW player at least in my experiences they either think of a pansy kid who likes to skip around in fairy land all day or someone who can't get away from the computer, someone who whenever they are not playing are thinking of playing and get all emotional over the game. I am not saying those are true or false for a very few select people who play the game, but for the majority of us it is a way to turn off from our lives and relax in a world where you can engage in various activities with random people you enjoy playing the game with. If you have not played the game before, when you first enter the game it seems very overwhelming and you really do not know what to do except talk to various NPCs. Once you figure things out you start to talk to real people, asking questions, going out and questing or running dungeons with them. Those are the people, those first people who you meet in the game that you are probably going to be the ones you play with for the next few years or however long you decide to play the game. And the moment you reach max level you want to take your friend(s) and get a few more people together to start raiding. If you have played WoW and have not even been in a raid hardcore or not you are missing out on quite a bit. It is a very fun experience if you go in there with the people you enjoy playing with.
The first time I raided they threw at me this very foreign term "ventrilo" and I had no idea what they were talking about. They explained to me that it was a voice communication program and that during a boss fight we wont be able to type because so much will be going on. I said to myself ok that seems reasonable, and I plugged in my mic and logged into ventrilo and heard their voices. The people I had been playing with for years actually hearing their voices was very weird to me but nonetheless we walked into my first raid. The moment I stepped in there I was amazed at the structuring that went into building raids and we pulled the first boss. Now I have to say my first raid seemed to me like dungeons on steroids, I think to me more than any other role it felt hectic because I was healing and I just saw so many health bars start spiking, nothing any dungeon had prepared me for. But at the end of the night after coordinating we got a few bosses down and I was immediately sold that raiding was something that should be experienced by everyone at least once in their lifetime.
Now even my words can not describe the experience of WoW and raiding alike which is why I am very excited for a documentary I have been tracking that goes into the lives of WoW raiders and asks them what makes the game such a unique experience. The documentary is called "The Raid" and has not released yet but is in the works. You can check for more info at jointheraid.com, that will be it for this post, I hope you enjoyed reading.

Intro

Hello to anyone reading this, this is my first post in what I hope will be many blogs of me talking about the things I like. Since I spend more than my fair share of time online, gaming, watching television and other related activities I started wondering if I could feel that same enjoyment but also be doing something that (hopefully) will benefit others (you guys). Some specific video games that I enjoy playing are the popular mmo World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and NBA Live. I play other games here and there but that list would be far too long for me and would require a lot of memory which isn't something I exactly retain while partaking in these activities. Some television shows that I would also be talking about if I have anything to say about them are Warehouse 13, Psych, Rookie Blue, The Big Bang Theory, Human Target, Flashforward (if they ever decide to bring it back), Community, and V.
I am really new to blogging, and not the best at writing so excuse me if I ramble on with big blocks of text or use some bad grammar. I am going to aim to blog at least every other day but I just hope that I have enough to talk about and that I don't get caught up in anything else because I can get really distracted really fast. Well that is it for the first post, ill make them longer next time but really wanted this to get a post to summarize and start things off about my blog and about me.