Tuesday 15 February 2011

One question...how bad is it for melee?

So after a few months of Cataclysm, 3 different mains all geared for raiding and a tonne of Uni work, I've -finally- signed up for a raid. Infact, I've signed up for anything I can get my grubby little mits on for the next week and a bit.

I've really missed it, actually. I sometimes log onto Mumble and catch some of the guild raiding and it really makes me miss everything about it, they always seem to be having a right good time.

However, I'm a little aprehensive...just how bad are some encounters for melee? I've heard many a thing from "loleasy" to "omfgvietnamflashbacks." So yeah...just how bad is it?

Monday 14 February 2011

20 days of... Day 4: Best WoW memory

I have two 'bestest' memories in WoW. The first was reaching the level cap on my first ever character and the second was an extra special Karazhan run.

My first memory, as said, is reaching the level cap. Now, I did get Vanilla™ but my memories of the "good old days" dont stem past level 24, seeing as TBC came out about 2 weeks after I got the game, so level 60 technically wasn't my level cap. If you get what I mean.

So I spent months and months slaving away, questing - as a protection warrior /facepalm. Tanking - as a protection warrior /cheer and just generally having a great time with my guild.

Now, going to Outland at 58 was HUGE for me. I'd had enough of Azeroth but that was due to me picking the single worse specc to level as a warrior and since then, I've always looked forward to Outland, infact, I still really really like it.

I spent around a month getting to 70 but my memory stems from the last half of 69 to 70. The officer core in Absolution back then was pretty small, as the guild wasn't too big, but the (at the time) GM, and 3 other officers decided they'd take me to some of the level 70 normal dungeons to give me a kickstart on loot and stuff.

Now back then, Abso had started to raid Kara and these guys were pretty well geared compared to me, in my quest greens/blues so I was just along for the ride but I'll remember the moment one of them went over Teamspeak, "fancy tanking for a bit?" Now, at the time, I shit myself. I was scared, this mobs hurt on the well geared people and I wasn't anywhere near their gear level but I said yes anyways and tanked the last trash and boss in Steamvaults. The support I got from the guys was amazing and it was then I knew I'd found a WoW home. (Yeah, I know - pass that sick bucket).

My second memory is from Karazhan. Infact, it was from one of the first times I led a raid. I was pretty well geared at this point and I actually knew the entire run off by heart as I'd done everything in there at least once. I'd volunteered to lead what was fondly known as "nug night" in which people that didn't usually get the chance to raid went into Kara to get a few bosses down and generally have a laugh. We'd been a bit late due to waiting for one of our healers to get their kid sorted and I had to pull in a more experienced raider but everything was going smoothly until we zoned in and found that none of the bosses were there...none but the last boss - the Prince! *legasp*

Now, only two of our raid had ever done the last boss in Kara before and I'd openly said "We'll give it a few goes but I dont think we'll get him tonight." Oh how they made me eat my words.

In a fantastic encounter, we killed him first time, with only 1 member dying, with /g cheering us on and people joining TS in excitement.

Now, looking back at this makes me a bit sad, seeing as only 2 out of 10 people in that raid are still in Absolution but only 3/10 still play but remembering TS erupt and me sitting there in stunned silence and then giving loot to guys that had only seen the first 4 bosses in there from the last boss was one of the best feelings I've had. Maybe better than getting the guild first LK kill last year, I dunno. It was different, because we were the definition of casual raiders back then. Plus, I didn't have to eat my words afterwards...

Thursday 10 February 2011

20 days of... Day 3: First time playing WoW

Been a little bit busy the past week, deadlines to meet, groups to work with, things to get stressed over so I thought, after handing everything in on time (just...) and having the day off tomorrow due to cancelled lectures I'll do a bit more of this crackin' meme!

The title says it all and I remember my first playthrough as if it were yesterday, but first, some backstory! Because everyone loves a bit of backstory!

I'd played Guild Wars for years before I got Warcraft. I was a young 'un back then and my parents didn't really like it, so it being free to play made it easier - as they didn't have to fork up any cash.

I was 16 when I got Warcraft, my girlfriend at the time bought it me one christmas because she thought it was something to do with Guild Wars. All I'll say is, that Warcraft was the best thing to come outta that relationship.

I remember installing it eagerly and then doing all the stuff that comes with starting a new game. My mum was happy because I was sat gleefully, chatting to her while she was cooking Christmas dinner and I was literally excited about it and was chatting about what some of the guys I knew via Guild Wars had said about it. My dad on the other hand, didn't quite understand how excited one could get over a game.

The login page was amazing. I remember shouting to my mum to come and look, to which she just smiled and nodded in agreement to everything I said - poor soul didn't have a clue what the Guild Wars login page looked like and how it looked so much better than that but bless her, she humoured me.

I was logged in and creating a character within seconds, I had a look through all the races and was intrigued by the Horde - they looked like the bad guys and the description on the creation page painted them out to be brutal and merciless. I was a bit put off by that, I've always been a fan of the good guy but after playing the same looking character for so long in Guild Wars and always wondering why you couldn't be the angrylioncatpeople (called Charr in game...) I decided I was going to see what all the fuss was about and rolled an Orc warrior.

I tried to get the name Jorg. I had a thing back then where all my character names had to start with a J and that was when Jakkru was created. However, Jorg was taken and I didn't want a different name. Luckily, I had some algerba homework next to me and decided that Jorgx was decent enough - I'm not even kidding.

I logged into Durotar and my god...it was orange. Amazingly beautiful but wildly orange. I decide to take a look at all the stuff I could do in the manual but got bored after about 20 seconds and just went about my ways. I got to level 5 soonish - I wasn't an "MMO noob" but I wasn't prepared for WoW, the starter area, I could handle but I thought that was it, I thought that I'd be zoned somewhere else. It was only when I was asked to go to Razor Hill I realised that the starter area was only, well...for starters.

I was amazed by the size of the world, the colours...everything. I was amazed by the amount of people playing and I tried to get into a guild, seeing as that's what I knew from Guild Wars - guilds mean help, help means levels and levels means more stuff to see and do.

I asked in trade and this is where I made friends with my oldest online buddy, I have him on Real ID now and I chat to him nearly everyday still. He answered my noobish question, told me to hit R to reply to a whisper and then boosted me through Ragefire Chasm - which then and there got me hooked. I remained guildless until level 25, where I found Absolution. My home.

My first playthrough was amazing and it got me hooked. I loved the differences from guild wars. I especially liked the difficulty and I'm quite annoyed they made everything a cake-walk now because the first 10 levels really did seperate those that continue to play and enjoy the game for those that will just give up.

Looking back on it and it's been 4, nearly 5 years since I started playing and, even though some aspects of the game bore me, some still make me feel like a 16 year old, who wants his mum to take a look at how awesome this green guy looks. Oh and I still love shoulder items more than anything in the game.

Sunday 6 February 2011

20 days of... Day 2: Why I started blogging

So it's the second day of the new 20 days meme. Upon further inspection it would appear this person came up with the topics - for which, I thank you!

I actually started blogging because my good friend Erc (R.I.P pal) started his own little blog and he asked me to take a look at it, see if the English was good and if it wasn't boring. I took a look and while reading his first post I was thinking about what he said and decided to write a reply.

This continued for a few weeks until one day Erc logged in and heard me complaining about something and just went "blog about it!" So I did. Because I was bored.

I did a few posts and then I stopped completely, I can't remember why but I just didn't blog anymore. I didn't do a post for months, actually and then Erc asked if I was gonna write again and I blamed lack of inspiration to which he told me to take a look at his blogroll and read a few of the blogs on there.

After a few days of looking through peoples blogs, I decided I was going to start again and made Slash-Two and I haven't really looked back since.

Looking back, it's amazing what a little advice and pushing in the right direction can lead you to - blogging, a community and friendships.

I started blogging because I was bored and I'm so very glad I did!

Saturday 5 February 2011

20 days of... Day 1: Introductions

So there's a new 20 days thing floating around. I started the last one but didn't finish it due to Cata being released and all that jazz.

I know these people are in on it so far and as I'm struggling for blogging topics - I'm gonna get stuck in and without further a-do, I give you the first days topic!

Introductions

I'm Jakk, Jakkru, J or to a few members of SAN, hellfire boi. I've got no problems getting personal and chatting about myself or things I like which is probably why these meme really does appeal to me!

In the online world, I'm known as Jakkru, Kinkz, Plugz or whatever alt I'm on. I've a love for melee and setting things on fire as a mage or warlock. I hate tanking due to getting some serious burnout in TBC and I dabble in healing when needed/bored. My current main is an enhancement shaman.

I'm an avid raider, although my playtime at Uni is limited (see below)

When afk, I'm a 20 year old Newcastle University student. I study geography and I'm interested in international development, political boundaries and borders and cultures.

I play rugby and have done for the past 12 years - with a break last year to recover from a knee and then (through a drunken first year accident) an ankle injury. I'm also a pretty regular visitor at the local gym, even more so as I've been trying to get back into shape for the rugby - and the ladies ;)

Since moving to Uni, I've spent less time on WoW and have cut down on the time I've spent raiding. So far this expansion, I've not set foot in a raid and that's mainly due to spending time with my mates, drinking too much or generally watching really, really bad TV - Take me Out, My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and (against my will) the X-Factor.

What else...

Oh yeah, I adore music. I've played the drums for 4 years, although it's been months since I've picked up some drumsticks. No room in the house for my drumkit and I dont think my housemates would approve.

I'll listen to pretty much anything, from screamo to 90's pop music. It all depends on what mood I'm in.

And here's some random quickfacts

- I'm terrible at Fifa.
- I can strawpedo a bottle of VK in less than 2 seconds.
- My favourite colour is blue
- My favourite movie is Die Hard
- My favourite tv show is Firefly and I would give a non-vital organ to see it brought back.
- I like chick-flicks and really terrible American Drama series.
- I have a man-crush on Leonardo Di Caprio.
- My handwriting is apparently "girly"
- I miss my dogs when at Uni but hate them when at home.
- I know the entire script to Anchorman
- I like Ice cream

And that's that.

Friday 4 February 2011

r?

I've been struggling to find topics to blog on recently. What with changing my raiding main (again!) to an enhancement shaman - I'm going back to my melee routes, show those young whippersnappers how it's done!

But, from running heroics with mainly pugged groups due to people not having any real reason to do more than 1 heroic a day, I've found that if a tank does this:

r?

And anyone responds he will pull. With (usually) disasterous results.

I've had tanks pulling when the healer's gone afk, even putting in chat that they're "brb, 2 min" but with a tank just going "r?" and have a dps answer with, for some reason one letter, "y" or "r."

But then again, I did do a pug with a full group from AD and we managed to clear Stonecore with only 2 wipes on Ozruk because the tank had never got that far before. 'Spose I should just take the good with the bad, get my JP and stfu really...