Guild Grumps

Guild Grumps is a series which I've just discovered on YouTube, about 4 people who have never played World of Warcraft and their friend who thinks it will be funny to start them out at level 90. With his slight smirk trying to conceal his inner troll, Ross soon discovers his plan backfires and he's the one to lose his cool.

This YT series will have you laughing out loud and cringing at their noobyness if you're familiar with WoW. Even as someone who was a WoW player, I still get lost trying to play a boosted character I'm unfamiliar with, now imagine 4 people who've never played an mmorpg let alone World of Warcraft and you have Guild Grumps.

Why I No Longer Play World of Warcraft

When World of Warcraft first began, it was brilliant. In fact, it was brilliant for a long time and still today people say it's epic. However, I just can't get into it anymore, the game truly wowed me for a while but my WoW days are over and it's more like a disappointing sigh.

I first started playing during the vanilla days, I didn't make it to end game before Burning Crusade was released but I had a blast discovering along with my guildies. We were all so nooby and we had to do many things the hard way like:

• Make it to Wetlands, running for miles from Ironforge through tunnels without a mount because the first mount wasn't available until level 40.
• Even at level 40, most people didn't get a mount because they cost 100 gold and people didn't have that kind of money. Many people were even okay with waiting to get a mount because they'd spent 40 levels running anyway.
• If you just did quests, you'd run out and you were still too lowbie to go to the higher areas so you had to grind your way through mobs to get high enough.
• When you wanted to run a dungeon, you had to go there. I died many times trying to run to Scarlet Monastery.
• When you wanted a group, you had to ask on local or trade chat for people to go with and vanilla had 40 man raids.
• There were also no where near as many flight paths as there are now.
• There were no flying mounts.
  
  
  
  
  

There were many other things that made WoW more grindy, slower and harder back then so Blizzard listened to the community and made things easier... and easier... and easier... When I saw the flight path in Goldshire, this reminded me of how people take their car 3 houses down the road. Just walk people!

While I did appreciate the additions that made in-game life easier, I also noticed that for many plus's there are negatives. It was so much easier to get into a dungeon when you were just instanced there from wherever you were in the world when the queue “popped”. It meant you could continue questing while waiting for the queue and the queue's popped ever so quickly when we could all instance cross-realm. However, the community died. Trolls were already a problem, but within your realm, everyone knew who they were, I played in Dath'Remar and Snuggles was notorious as a troll. When we had to group up in a city then head to our allotted dungeon, we all chatted and got along, sometimes people would even leave their guild to join the people in their group because they'd become such BFF's chatting away, fighting alongside each other.

People were patient with each other, everyone worked as a team and I think a lot of this was due to the fact that if you were a pain in the ass in your group, you would most probably have to face those people again when you ran into them in a city plus you would know no one would want to group with you for future dungeon runs. You had a reputation to keep within your realm.

Now, no one gives a flying #$%@ about anyone else. You run dungeons hard and fast, if you don't keep up your vote-kicked, no one even says hello... there's me, trying to be all old school “Hello” … *crickets and a tumble weed...* It goes like this: Kill the mobs, down the bosses, pick up ya token, wham bam thank you ma'am, rinse, wash, repeat.

While they fixed it so you didn't have to grind mobs to level, you can now level doing quests, they made it so you have to grind end-game dungeons and daily quests. Oh hurrah.

During Wrath of the Lich King they took out team-work, made dungeons a joke where the group just ran in, everyone threw everything at all the mobs, no need for any CC or even a plan... and made us do them over and over again to collect tokens to get gear. So while running the same dungeon over and over again sounds fun they decided to bring back team-work and crowd control in Cataclysm.

So there we were with a whole community from WotLK; DPS running in trying to get in first hits and making sure they weren't on the tanks target because their whole role had become such a bore it became all about being on top of the DPS meter, tanks spamming AOE to easily keep threat and healers yawning through their role almost hoping something would go wrong for some excitement to: Cataclysm, where we went back to needing DPS peeps to use crowd control, needing DPS to wait for the tank to pull and gain threat and for DPS to stay on the tanks target. The tank's job was once again challenging and so was the healer's. It wasn't that it was hard there was just a simple need of team work. It wasn't about being carried by tanks and healers anymore, the DPS were actually needed again, they had a responsibility along with the rest of the group, it was up to them to not pull threat as much as it was up to tanks to hold threat and it was their job to control the mob.

It was a complete and utter mess with many many wipes because no one had any idea how to work together. It amazed me how many mages could fail at such a simple task of polymorphing. And of course when it all fell apart everyone blamed everyone else, off they went on their tangents where it was obvious they had no idea of the game's dynamics.

Although it was frustrating, I was happy for the time being that they'd brought back challenging dungeons, especially when I could run with guildies. It was quite fun. My guild and I were working our way up through dungeons, Heroics and starting to raid. We were a little slow but we were getting there, all working as a team, gearing up together etc.

When expansions are released, I'm always a little disappointed to say goodbye to the epics I'd worked towards for 2 years, it's so disheartening when green mob drops outdo your epic raid gear from the last expansion but it's a whole new journey once again. However, when they did it with a patch; Firelands, (okay, maybe not as big as an expansion) I rage-quit so hard I made hurricane Katrina look like a willy-willy. I was so despondent as I'd worked my butt off, grinding for months and it felt like all my gear was null and void. SighFye who just reached max level out geared me with a couple of Heroic Dungeon tokens. 

 

I quit the game for about a year or so but then those cute little Panda's had me curious again. I bought Mists of Pandaria but it just didn't have any appeal anymore. It just felt like the same thing again and with the sense of community gone it wasn't fun just bracing yourself for 12 year old trolls. I tried again with Warlords of Draenor but that attempt was even shorter than MoP. Trying to play again bored me to death.

There were a couple of things which I think added to the boredom. I'd gotten into Call of Duty and other FPS's which are really fast paced all the time, plus we had a clan to play with so I always had people to chat and play with. There's no grindy questing or professions. You just play, and when you've had enough you jump off. Easy.

I'd also played WoW and a few other MMORPG's (and in my opinion they pretty much all felt the same) for about 7-8 years on and off. Perhaps I'd exhausted the genre.

I still have a small part of me that misses the good old days of friendly community and discovery of new content, where we worked towards gear that dropped from bosses, instead of repeating the same dungeon for tokens; where we worked together, everyone had a significant role and we encouraged and helped each other.

That part of WoW is just a faint memory and what now stands is a troll-fest of egocentric teeny boppers who think they're pro because they can collect tokens and spam AOE's quicker than the next guy to be on top of the DPS meter. Let's all give them a slow clap as they bask in their own glory none the wiser that they're the reason for 99% of the wipes.



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Have fun gettin' your geek on!

Bellistik

Hot Weather = Game Day

So it's still only Sunday morning and we've had quite the gaming weekend already! Yesterday was 37 degrees Celsius so we spent the day indoors playin' games. It was Toasty!

While the kiddies played on their DS', we played a little of everything. We got out the old school Super Nintendo and relaxed in the aircon! We played:

Mortal Kombat 3

SighFye Kicked my butt!

Super Mario World

I <3 Yoshi! =^_^=

 

Super Mario Kart

I kept running off the road like a noob! lol!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

When games weren't skill based, but spam based. :P

I also played my Draenei Hunter in World of Warcraft on Friday night and picked up a helm in one of the Pandarian dungeons as I'm still leveling her.

Check me out and my bad self lol

I did the boring task of sorting out my bags a little, blergh! I also figured I'd take a screeny of my HUD

Click to open the image

That damn wolf took me 2 weeks of flying around the area it spawns.

Skoll is an exotic rare, he has 3 potential spawn points in Storm Peaks:

And he spawns every 16 hours...

So basically I spent every night just sat flying around the area on my mount... or was it running? I don't know, I just remember it was crap, I was obviously committed! 

One night, I was sat waiting for it just chatting in Guild, I got tired so headed to bed early but then couldn't sleep. So I got back up and decided to jump back on WoW. Another Hunter in the Guild asked me where I'd gone so I explained, she said she saw Skoll, the wolf I had been wanting, searching for hooooouuurs.... for daaaays! I asked her where it was and whether it was still there... Her reply: "I killed it" :|

This captures my reaction perfectly

I understand that people who are not hunters in WoW kill exotic rares, but seriously, omg when you are a hunter you understand the pain of finding these rares.

Even though I wasn't online she should have called out in General chat for any hunters or at least left it alone. Bah!

We also managed to get in a few games of Black Ops, although I raged at some points due to internet lag. I was on the phone to m y net provider the other day and the internet was behaving so I just looked like an idiot, I need to actually call when I'm getting 500 ping! :( We are looking to move to an area that should have NBN available in about 6 months or so... excitement!

Anywho... What are you playing this weekend?
Let us know in the comments below and don't forget to follow me on Twitter ;)

Stay Geeky!

~Bellistik

To Return, or Not Return. That is the question.

My name is SighFye and I am a geek.

 My fiance Bel, started this blog and at first, I decided to completely copy her idea and make a blog about being a geek. Within a few days, we both decided that it was better if we joined forces and conquered the world. That however is a different story. We also decided to join blogs.

Recently Bel returned to World of Warcraft after receiving a Christmas present from my sister Jemima (Handle: Kitfire). The condition was she played on the same realm (a PvP realm) and as a horde. This of course was a difficult thing as first for Bel to do as she has ALWAYS played Alliance and she is not fond of getting ganked at low levels. However after some thought Bel decided to embrace the horde and try it out. So far she seems to be enjoying it. She even asked me if I would return.

Now Bel has been playing WoW since vanilla. I came in at Cata. The guild she was in, and that I joined, were mainly 85's or people getting a new character to 85. So me with my first level 1 didn't have many members to play with. They did however help out a lot, gave me gold, took me on dungeon runs, but most of the time I was alone.

I eventually got a level 85. He was a draenei pallie that I used as a healer. I named him Marss. My choices for this character were simple. Bel has a draenei pallie as a tank named Venuss. So once I was 85, Venuss and Marss ran together, tank and healer, the perfect team.

I knew my character well and could heal well too. But I soon got frustrated at WoW. At 85 there is no point questing, so the other things are high level dungeons and raids. The guild constantly went into dungeons so I went with them.

This was my experience of high level dungeons...

1. Party up and get excited.
2. Fight our way through trash mob
3. Die on trash mobs. Ok that's cool, it happens.
4. Respawn, meet back up and...
5. Die on the same trash mob. Now that's not cool but still it happens...
6. Respawn, meet back up
7. Kill trash mob and get to boss

Now if you know programming I am going to explain this next bit with a bit of code.

sane = true;
sanityBarrier = math.random(1000)
times = 0;
do
{
    spend_20_Minutes_Trying_To_Kill_Boss();
    die_from_the_boss();
    add_damage_to_gear();
    respawn_and_meet_back_up();
    times += 1;
    if(times > sanityBarrier)
    {
          sane = false;
    }

}while(sane)
rage_quit();
never_play_wow_again();

For those that do not understand let me explain. Try to kill the boss as many times as your sanity barrier can handle. Dying a million times and damaging  your gear. Repeat this so many fucking times until you can no longer stand the sight of wow anymore... Then PAY FOR YOUR FUCKING REPAIRS!!!!!!

Rant Over...

So back to the question to return, or not return?

While I was playing WoW I always wanted to try a PvP server, but I liked playing with Bel and she wasn't too keen. I also wanted to try horde. Now both of these are open to play. And even if Bel doesn't continue to play there, I always have Kitfire and I can switch between the two realms.

So, IF, I decide to return to WoW, I will need to buy MoP and WoD. Which just a small rant, I basically need to buy all WoW again because they have added MoP into a single buy with all other expansions except WoD.

There is then of course the subscription, which is a little annoying. I always wanted to try the game Eve Online but never went there because of the subscription. Maybe I should try that game instead.

There is also the issue with my shitty lappy that struggles to play vanilla minecraft on lowest settings D:

So I am left without an answer to my question...

To Return, or Not Return... That truely is the question.

Until next time, Happy Gaming.

SighFye

Complications of a Protection Paladin

Rotation

Since not playing World of Warcraft for 3 years, I'd forgotten how complicated things can be to set up when you're at higher levels. I've always appreciated that WoW is a game anyone can start playing easily, the beginning is easy-peasy-Japanesey and you're introduced to the details one or two at a time such as spells and talents. As you play, things become more complicated and you find yourself researching and asking the community what's what! Such as which stats to focus on, where to put talent points, how to gem and enchant and even which add-ons to grab.

So I'd left my Prot Pally epically geared in Cataclysm, came back two days ago and my HUD was a mess! Buttons everywhere, bags full, I was lost because in the past I'd had the add-on, Bartender, along with many others so last night I had to remember my rotation to even play! I downloaded Bartender4 for my action bars and ArkInventory for my bags then headed to a Tankadin guide to figure out my rotation. Head here for the rotation I use.

Rotation

I set up my buttons according to rotation and grouping such as putting all my hands together, all my emergency buttons together and my disrupt buttons together. I wrote out the rotation and practiced on a dummy, once practicing it all came back to me, phew! It's easier than I realised but I still need to look at my talents, glyphs and remember all the add-ons I used to have! I also emptied my bags a little and am looking forward to heading out!

Here's my HUD so far:

When I'm out and about I'll be testing my set-up! I do believe it's more organised so far than my usual :P. I'm sure once playing I'll make some changes.

I still need to:

1. Remember which add-on it was that moved my Character head and my target so I can put them down closer to my buttons to better see what's happening with mine and my enemy's health.
2. Find an add on so I'm be able to see my party/raid easily in case people need http://www.wowhead.com/spell=4987 or  my healer needs an emergency heal such as http://www.wowhead.com/spell=633 etc. 
3. Put in my unused talent points.
4. Check my glyphs and see if I need to put some in.
5. Download a threat meter.
6. Sort out my bags and bank and get rid of epics which are now useless. I hate sorting my bags, I'm such a girl, and a messy one at that, everything is everywhere and I hoard things because I think maybe one day I'll use it for Transmogrification. I really should be a Tauren on Horde because I hoard and I'm a Taurus which is one of the reasons I hoard! Taurus' love pretty things! However, that's also why I'm not a Tauren, they're not pretty! Haha! I've also realised this is why I like my Paladin, her spells are shiny and pretty but she's also a toughy! :D

If you know of any add-ons you think I should have or have any tips for my HUD, let me know!

~Bellistik
 aka Venuss on Dath'Remar