zeroinitiate

As I mentioned in my previous post, I respecced my rogue from combat to assassination. This is because of several blogs, posts and other information on the Web that say that the tree is not only a viable option for raiding, it’s also a lot more fun. I would’ve switched to it earlier had it not been for the fact that I didn’t have any purple daggers. I finally gave in to my curiosity and respecced, buying the SSO daggers as temporary weapons. I then proceeded to do the dailies to check my performance with the build.

Here’s the verdict: I’m not going back.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that assassination is better than combat. Based on what I read, both are good specs for raiding. It’s simply a matter of preference and I have to say that I really like assassination at this point. Note that this is coming from someone who prefers swords over daggers, so I didn’t go into this with high expectations. I just wanted to see what the fuss was about.

So, comparisons. I think I’m going to have to write about the details in a separate post. The short version is that DPS in assassination is a bit harder because I have to maintain Hunger For Blood. By maintain, I mean I have to make sure it’s always stacked at the maximum (3) and then I have to remember to keep it up. The second thing that makes it tougher is the skill rotation. Mutilate is expensive at 60 energy. I have to keep Slice and Dice up while using Mutilate to acquire combo points. I already mentioned that I have to maintain Hunger For Blood too, right? I see this as a temporary problem that I have to overcome. Right now, I think I just need to find the right groove.

For the past two weeks now our guild has been raiding the 10-man dungeons during weekends. I see this as a significant step for us because we’ve never organized ourselves like this before. We actually have a raiding schedule now and I’m glad to see it. One of the things I learned during the time that I was a member of a hardcore raiding guild is that schedules have to be made and kept. Seeing it happen with ours is very encouraging.

I’ve been having a hard time classifying what kind of guild we are. At this point, I think it’s safe to say that we’re a casual raiding one. Our approach to the game is still not as serious as other guilds are, but at least now we actually take the time off to raid. I’m just hoping that we can continue the push till Wrath hits.

On a personal note, I respecced to Assassination to give it a taste. I’ll write about that later.

Our guild finally cleared Karazhan last weekend. I know that it’s probably laughable at this point considering how long WoW has been around, but you have to understand that we’re a small guild composed of real-life friends, so getting people to raid 10-man dungeons is a challenge in itself. Getting all ten to be geared enough to handle Kara is a different task altogether, but you can probably visualize the difficulties from there.

Anyway, thanks to the nerfs by patch 3.0.2, we finally cleared it. I’m actually looking forward to progression at this point. The expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, is less than a month away. It would be nice if we could somehow clear Zul’Aman before that.

Which brings me to the next issue: loot distribution. We saw two examples of how loot can become an issue during our Kara run, so I need to find a way to prevent it from escalating. Right now, I’m looking at various DKP systems, so I hope I’ll be able to find one that suits all of us. Again, we’re all friends, so it shouldn’t be too hard to convince everyone to use shift loot distribution, but maybe I’m being naive.

I am also the guild master of a group of friends in World of Warcraft, a position that I love and have grown to occasionally dislike at the same time. How I became the GM is sort of a coincidence. Back when we were new to the game, I was the only one who studied the guild creation process. When we executed it, I became the guild master. Since then, no one has protested.

It’s a position that I have carried for two years. I’m only writing about it now because it never bothered me before until recently. It was only during the last couple of months when I felt the responsibility, pressure and burden of—well, leadership. I know it’s only a game, but when you’ve got ten or so people relying on you for progression, activities and events, it’s not as easy to dismiss. Thankfully, WoW has more than enough content for everyone and the Kara raid, something we’ve been organizing for the past two weeks, has given me a personal boost. I’m glad we cleared it. It’s certainly an uplifting way to end an otherwise stressful week.

So there you have it. My first WoW-related post. Hopefully the loot system will push through this week. I just hope my guildmates respond well.

Fallout is the kind of franchise that would scare most developers. On one side you’ve got one of the best-loved RPGs this gaming world has ever known and on the other you’ve got the hardcore fans who love it so much they would eat you alive if you did something wrong with it. And by wrong, I mean turn it into a first-person shooter and make it look like it’ll be another Oblivion, only with guns and power armor. Since that’s exactly what Fallout 3 developer Bethesda is doing, the fans have been having a field day enumerating all things wrong with the game. For those hardcore fans, lead designer Emil Pagliarulo had this to say:

“That’s always the toughest question. You listen to the fans and respect their ideas, but once you start designing a game that they want to make specifically, then you can get yourself into trouble … You have to make the game that you’re making and know that it’s a good one and continue with that.”

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