Patch 4.1 for Warlocks: Still with no Battle Rez!

     A second class is getting a long awaited in-combat resurrection! But much to everyone's surprise, it's not warlocks. That's right ladies and gentlemen: the Death Knight's ability Raise Ally will now function similar to the Druid's Rebirth ability. But where is the Soulstone's redesign? Nowhere in the 4.1 Patch Notes, that's where.
     The Soulstone remains the most useless form of in-combat resurrection. True, shaman resurrection is limited to themselves. But the shaman Ankh functions more as a personal cooldown anyway. Druid Rebirth -- and now Death Knight Raise Ally-- are intended to allow the group to save themselves from a wipe by resurrecting a fallen comrade. Soulstone ostensibly fills the same role, but its use is checked because you must predict beforehand who is most likely to die. This is counter intuitive in almost any encounter. In any scenario, preventing the death from happening in the first place is far better management of resources (read: damage mitigation is better than healing cooldowns), which thus renders the soulstone useless.
     I can't believe I have to reach to find arguments that "Not dying is better than dying."
     My raid group seldom calls for a soulstone: if one person is stupid enough that we suspect they will die more than once to the same mechanic, we aren't wasting a battle rez on them anyway. Even in situations where a soulstone is correctly used, it is seen less as a wipe-saver, and more as a mechanic that allows a player to get away with sloppiness. When you further punish its use by precluding the possibility of resurrecting a player who didn't win the "Who is most likely to mess up?" contest, well...
     Blizzard seemed to recognize this weakness, and stated that they were exploring the possibility of redesigning the Soulstone to be used on a player after their death, and not before. 
     And yet another patch is underway, and Death Knights (what?!) are stealing our Soulstone!

     Aside from this oversight, Patch 4.1 is looking pretty good for us. Warlocks are in a pretty good place at the moment: our damage is strong, without being truly overpowered, all three of our specs are more or less viable, and we aren't playing with any more clunky mechanics like the old Improved Soulfire.
     Warlocks were missing from the first round of patch notes altogether (aside from the hug!) and the few tweaks that have been added since are universally palatable.

Warlock 4.1 Changes Affliction: Haunt damage has been increased 30% Shadow Mastery (passive) has been increased to 30%, up from 25%  Demonology: Mana Feed now returns four times more mana when the warlock is using a Felguard or a Felhunter Pet: Doomguard's Damage has been increased by 50%. The doomguard is intended to be the best guardian for single-target damage, and the infernal the best when there are multiple targets.  Shadow Bite (Felhunter) damage has been doubled.

     None of these changes significantly alter the playstyle or priority of warlocks. The majority of these changes are designed to beef up Affliction damage, which is perfectly appropriate since it is currently lagging behind. I personally could stand to let Affliction languish for another content patch, (I've had enough of shadow bolts) but it is the signature warlock spec. These are quality of life changes.
     I am excited about the changes to our pets! It will be a relief to put the Succubus away when playing Affliction: she is easily my least favorite demon companion. The Felhunter also aligns much more closely with the Affliction flavor: it was unnatural to eschew a pet that increases your shadow damage-over-time effects in favor of a...dominatrix. With any luck the Felguard will be similarly buffed to bring Demonology back in line as well. Eff Succubi.
     Mana Feed gets me much more pumped this week than it might have last week: I started playing Demonology to work on Heroic Maloriak, and Holy Mana Eater, Hellfire. Breaking the cast to refresh DoTs doesn't help, I know, but that's grapefruit. I hope to have the fight (and many others) on farm by the time of 4.1, but my healer will thank me not to Life Tap all the same.
 

     If I have any reservations about these changes, it is that they are coming far too late. We won't see these changes until new raiding content is available, when they could make a significant difference now. Particularly in regards to Felhunter viability and Demonology's mana regeneration, we could make good use of these abilities in our current raiding tier. Being able to use the Felhunter's Devour Magic without suffering a DPS loss would give us much better utility -- especially given the number of interrupts demanded by early Cataclysm raiding. I only hope the next tier gives us the same opportunity to be useful: or the change will be written off as too little, too late.
     The lack of early implementation is especially disappointing given the amount of hotfixing for similar situations. The shaman mastery was recently increased, and it drastically changed the perception of their raid healing capabilities. Why should Affliction not benefit from the same urgency? True, healing output has a greater effect on raid success than warlock pet choice or a single under-performing damage spec. Still, these changes will have such a small effect and likely require little testing -- why not include them in a hotfix? We are months away from Patch 4.1. Am I really stuck with the Succubus until then?









 PS. Also included in 4.1: Non-Sucky Non-Demo AoE!

Guild of Your Dreams

     Just before the launch of Cataclysm, I was honored to become a founder of Shenanigans Inc. Like most of us, over the years I have played in several different types of guilds, all of them special to me. I have played with social guilds, with raiding guilds, with brand new guilds looking to make a name for themselves, and with guilds with a great deal of history. In each one, I have learned something new about what a "guild" means.
     Shenanigans Inc is different. It is different for me because I was one of the founders, yes, but it is a good deal more than that. Shenanigans Inc represents what I believe a guild should be, and all too often isn't. It is more than a group of friends, more than a raid team, more than a shared bank full of stuff. We share the same approach to gaming, a philosophy that guides our behavior and makes us capable of doing what we want to do. The guild is a resource, and a tool, and a mechanism for growth.


How Shenanigans Came to Be

     The end of Wrath was bittersweet for me. I was member of a floundering guild that didn't believe in me, but at the same time, I was working to become a better player than ever before, and I had met with some truly extraordinary people. I spent months in an otherwise poisonous environment. Raiding had stagnated -- the idea of progression was laughable, but what was worse was the shift in attitude. Long time guild members peeled off one by one, and the replacements -- when we could find them -- never quite fit right. Either they did not have the skill, or they did not mesh with the rest of the team. Cliques arose. Older members resented that the new recruits weren't up to scratch. New officers never found the gravitas they needed to command respect. It was a bitter atmosphere, and more and more people became angry with the situation.
     But no one ever addressed that anger. We were silent raiders. The turmoil was always there, boiling just under the surface. The tension was palpable, laughter was foreign, and there was hardly any effort at communication for fear of unintentionally piercing the bubble. It made playing well difficult, but it made improvement impossible. How could we change what we were doing if we couldn't talk about it? How could we talk about it if we feared it would make it worse?
     It was a relief to be free of it. For too long, the idea of leaving the guild was out of the question, because it meant abandoning the friends we had made there, but it also meant agreeing to quit. I do not like admitting defeat. I have always believed that good intentions can overcome the worst of situations. I still believe that. But now I know that in order to do overcome these trials, everyone has to be willing to work on the problem.

Starting Fresh


      I was lucky to find four other people who shared my beliefs. Cataclysm was an opportunity for us -- to start fresh, to ride a narrative of success.

     But creating a guild was not enough. A guild tag is not enough to create a community. I knew -- we all knew -- that to stay together we had to stand for something. We wanted to make sure that all of the past drama never affected our success. We wanted to be able to react when something did go wrong, and make sure that we never made any new guildies as unhappy as we had been.
     It started with an e-mail. A note between the five of us, and idea of the kind of guild we wanted to be a part of. Everyone had ideas. We created a shared document that we could all edit, and the idea took on a life of its own. We spent a month writing what would become our guild charter.
     We started by talking about the kind of community we wanted. We debated how we would ensure that our members adhered to our vision, how we could institutionalize community. We decided that too many problems traced back to a lack of understanding, of communication. We didn't want to wait for things to fix themselves, we wanted actively seek out answers. For us, participation would be mandatory.
     We had stars in our eyes, but we were not naive. We know that people are imperfect, and that they mess up. No guild is without its drama. But we believe that a heartfelt apology can bridge that gap, that we can choose to work together, and not allow pettiness to rule us.

     It was a remarkable document. It grew from abstract ramblings to a binding code. We worked on it in spurts, both alone and together. We made notes in the margins, and talked about why we wanted something to be the way it was. We learned how to argue with civility, how to disagree with an idea and not a person, how to demonstrate our logic and concede to a better argument. In writing our charter, we proved that the kind of guild we wanted to be a part of was possible.
       I was very proud of the final draft, which I really should call the "current" draft, as I know we could easily amend and add to it as our guild matures. You can read it here, on our website. We want our guild to be the best that it can be, and we won't allow pride to stand in the way of a better idea. 

Living the Dream


     Idealism is too exhausting to maintain every day. Nothing is ever perfect and shiny forever. But as I reflect on the past two months, I am incredibly proud to report that the system works.

     We raid three nights a week, and I am always excited to sign on and raid. We write strategies on our forums before we tackle a boss, and the next day we debate how we should change the strategy that didn't work. I write about how terrible I am at keeping up Improved Soul Fire, and coordinate when I need to change specs to cover different raid buffs. I read funny comics and beg people to help me with fishing achievements.
     Best of all, our evaluations were not a pipe dream. All ten raiders have their own threads, and there is not a single person who has failed to be honest about their own shortcomings. I have seen support and improvement come from these threads. I have been criticized and praised, and I have tried to do the same for other raiders, trying to make sure people know they are appreciated, and figure out what I can do to help someone become a better player, just like I am trying to be.
     Every morning, one of our raiders posts the logs from the previous night. It is a jumping off point for the discussion. It is exhilarating to see when our members rank top paress on World of Logs, and puts a microscope over every mistake and gap. We talk about our ideas while they are still fresh in our mind, and research what else we can do. It saves time when we next show up to raid. We never fail to discuss something we did wrong. We always do it better the next time.
     There are many days when I am unhappy with my raid or with parts of my guild. I spend hours thinking about what things make me mad, that I would change if I could -- with our raid strategy, with the way I interact with another person. But what makes this situation different is that this reflection is never self serving. I am expected to talk about my concerns -- not for some arbitrary purpose of the naive, but so that we can fix the problem. 

Why It Works

     A few days ago, I had a bad raid night. Someone said something that I thought was offensive, and I got so angry that I signed off. My raid team was incredibly upset with me, and I was upset with them. It was a bad night for everyone involved.
     It made me re-examine why I wanted to be a member of Shenanigans Inc. I want to be a member of a guild where I am happy. Where I have fun. Where we kill bosses. It sounds so easy, but we all know that it absolutely is not. The perfect guild does not exist. If I joined another guild, sooner or later they would disappoint me too.
     But if I stayed with Shenanigans, I could talk about what made me unhappy. My guildmates could try to make me feel better. We could change....together. I got angry because I thought they weren't practicing the kind of atmosphere we wanted to play in. But by signing off, I had violated the far more serious tenet that the only way to make a situation better was to talk about the solution.
     I was overcome with shame at the way I had behaved, and later with guilt for ruining an opportunity for progression. I took the time and apologized to each member of the team individually. My friends accepted me back with open arms. It was much, much more than I deserved for behaving so badly, and I commend their compassion. In doing so, they proved that they were more committed to the ideals of our guild than I had been. I am humbled that this episode has not shaken their faith in our capacity to stay true.
     Our next raid night, we killed Nefarian for the first time. It was incredibly satisfying to reap the reward after all of the work that went into it. All twelve kills were accomplished with the same ten people. No one person had given less than any other. Everyone had contributed something. It was a victory that was shared in a very profound way -- personal, and poignant.

     I don't think that this will be the end of all guild drama. I don't think that the ten of us will raid together forever, or that we will be empowered by this to blaze through heroic modes, or even that this next raid week will be very different. I am going to have to work hard to regain that lost trust. But I believe more strongly than ever that everyone is capable of working together. That you can choose to make it right, to have fun.
     There are a lot of reasons you love your guild. You love it for those indescribable moments of joy when someone makes a really great joke in vent. You love it for the pride you have when you kill a dragon. Invisible links binding you to people you haven't really met, but nonetheless have your back. I think that everyone secretly believes that their guild is the best, and they want everyone to know how special they are. They just can't find the words.
     I don't have the words either, but this much I know is true: Shenanigans Inc is the best guild for me.

Cataclysm Heroics

     Like most people, I am bloated with Cataclysm frenzy. I do dailies, I do heroics, I farm, and I even queue for Tol Barad. Which I never win, but it's the thought that counts.

    I've been enjoying the first tastes of the new raid instances. I've found them to be refreshingly intricate, they involve a lot more effort that "get out of the fire." Understanding of boss mechanics has become much more crucial. It's not enough to know the "what" to do, you have to understand why as well, or you run the risk of unintentionally sabotaging your group. You have to show up prepared.

     Which brings me to the most popular topic of discussion since Cataclysm went live: heroics are too hard.

     On one of my forum trolling visits, I read this article, in which the poster laments that a member of their group left in shame when their DPS was not up to par to kill a boss. Their compassion for the leaver is touching, however, the idea that a groups inability to carry a bad player -- in this case essentially four man current content -- indicates bad game design is ludicrous. This is, quite frankly, the entire point of the game. You would not take a player of level 80 into a level 85 instance. A player displaying the same damage output is no different. Players do not have the right to complete an instance. Games are, at their most basic level, creative mechanisms of effort and reward. You do not put in any effort, you do not reap the rewards. Showing up is not enough.

     This is not to say that games should be punishingly difficult. They are after all still tools of leisure. But their niche in that category shouldn't limit them to the single purpose of sunshine and rainbows.

     So yes, heroics are hard. But to say they are "too hard" undervalues the joy of conquering them. Without different strategies, mechanics, and fun fire to stand in, instances in WoW would be indistinguishable from each other -- just DPS with a different backdrop. As it is, every instance is a unique challenge and makes for different playstyles, pacing, and approaches. They are interesting. They are absolutely fun.

     I was disappointed that this particular thread was locked without a blue reply. I imagine the GMs are sick of the "QQ" and are ready for people to outgear the heroics so that we can hear the end of the complaints. But this thread touched me more than most, because the complaint wasn't quite that Blizzard should just give the players whatever they want, but rather it was full of pity for players who simply can't participate in the new game. They aren't bad people, these aren't the "l2p" trolls that make me die a little inside, they are simply...not interested. Part of me feels like people who can't be bothered to figure out how to put out more than 3k DPS at 85 just shouldn't play the game. They obviously aren't all that interested in playing, so why try? But abandonment of a game that you put, at the very least, leveling time into rings just as wrong in my heart. This begs the question, what are these players doing so wrong? Are they not pressing buttons fast enough? Are they spamming shadow bolt? How did we as community -- the introductory tool tips, their class trainer, Trade Chat, and everyone who grouped with this player along the way -- fail to teach them how to play?

    In the end, I am disappointed that this sympathetic forum poster didn't say anything to the under-performing DPS. They spoke as if there were only two options -- say nothing, or be an elitist prick. But there are ways to question other players about what they are doing that don't necessitate being mean. Sure, this player might be a little hurt if you suggest they are doing something wrong. That is natural. But I guarantee they will learn something from it, even if they don't immediately seem grateful or improve. There should be no disgrace in speaking up. As long as your intentions are good and you remain civil, this kind of interaction can be only positive. This is what the "M" in "MMO" stands for -- multi-player. We aren't playing with computers. We are playing with people who are capable of growth and improvement.

     This is what Blizzard is trying to teach us in Cataclysm. They are not trying to turn us all into high end raiders. They are simply raising the bar, a little bit at a time, to maintain the joy of a challenge. It's a moving finish line, you aren't supposed to "win." You are supposed to keep playing.

A Letter to Blizzard About Trees

Dear Blizzard,

      I would like to discuss tree of life form for resto druids with you. And before I start crying and whining (which is bound to happen) lets talk about some stuff. Lets talk about druids.
     Raise your hand if you think shape shifting is one of the cooler aspects of being a druid.

(hundreds of thousands of people raise their hands)

     I think even your developers would tend to agree with that statement.
     Now another amazing quality of druids is their diversity. They can literally fill every role in the game. And to accompany these specs are unique shapeshift forms for said roles. The increase in stats you get from each form is nice, I will admit, but not necessary. You have already proven that healing as a tauren is just as effective as healing as a tree. But my objection is so much more then just stats. Stats can be compensated for. This too can be fixed, easily I might add, but we'll get to that later. How would a feral druid feel if he ran into battle as a tauren and started beating things with his staff? In what world would shred or mangle be a staff attack? In what world would you feel any satisfaction out of a swipe bear claw going through the air coming from a cuddly cow?
     "But people want to see their armor!" is what I keep hearing. Bears don't get to see their armor. Cats don't. Boomchickens don't! And who cares about boomchickens anyway? Why not just take that away too, so they can see the shiny new armor? Because you know better. You know everything I just said and then some. About why you cant take away bear or cat form. And to be honest, I'm not even entirely sure why you left moonkin form alone. It actually wouldn't be as impractical for a cow to rain laser beams down on an enemy.
     So let me see if I got it right so far....resto druids can see their armor, but they're the only spec that can do so while in combat without losing, well...their class in the process. They can still become a tree but its a cooldown....and it looks like a tree, mixed with a person, with down syndrome, but you can glyph out of the ugly tree form, cause well, it's ugly. Is that about right? Never mind the other three specs who maybe want to see their armor. Never mind the people who, like me, felt that being a tree was half the fun of being a druid healer! I know its not just me. There are whole forums dedicated to protesting the loss of it as well, so I know its not just an isolated incident among my friends. Never mind the ridiculous amount of outcry. just stick with it Blizz...
     And now after all of the bitching and moaning, if you're still reading, it is time for me to offer a solution to this apparently insurmountable challenge. I cannot take credit for this one though. It was actually something so simple that only the writers of The Simpsons could've thought of it.

Blizzard: Tree form for all!
Masses: BOOOOO!!!!
Blizzard: OK then, Tree form for no one!
Masses: BOOOOO!!!!!
Blizzard: Hmmm. Tree form for some, miniature American flags for all!
And there was much rejoicing
Masses: Yaaaayyyyyyy!

     And that is the answer, in a nutshell. Such a small thing a glyph is. It gives the player choice. To tree form, or not to tree form? That is the question. At least that's what some poncy dude in a wig said. Don't ask us this question though...let us ask it for ourselves. Let us decide if we'd rather look like a tree running around, or our new Tier 11

P.S. Maybe offer this choice to boomkin. Maybe.
Sincerely,

In Which Blizzard Didn't Kill My Dog....

...but they are going to.

…the ritual came to a close and a demon of untold power (but limited stature) was pulled through the void, kicking and biting and gnashing its teeth, forcibly bound to the mortal world. The warlock, a quizzical expression on his face, regarded his familiar, who was in fact now quite unfamiliar, and inquired, “Who in the hell are you?”  [Bornakk]

You may have heard that somewhere in the massive amounts of changes to warlocks in 4.0, something went awry that resulted in new demonic companions for those of us who follow the path of shadow and flame. Cynwise even wrote a charming, misty eyed memorial on the loss of beloved pets and friends. Lo and behold, Blizzard has figured out what went wrong and plans to restore our former companions to us in the next update, presumably this coming Tuesday. At which point, I will join the masses and start to wail, "Blizzard killed my dog!"

You see, I really love demons. A lot. A warlock's relationship with its demon is a very complicated mixture of revulsion and fascination. We are their masters, yes, but the whole reason you go through the process of drawing a rune circle and sacrificing the innocent souls of dead babies and virgins and unicorn tails is to annex those diabolical powers. Your demon characterizes you far more than you affect them. But most importantly, when you summon a demon, you stop being alone. You are incomplete without your demon. Every victory is shared, and sweetened, for the company, and your first action upon resurrection from death is always to summon a new demon. You can't help but feel a bond with your partner, but that bond is kept artificially restrained because its a demon. And demons are evil. 

So there's that. Then, there's the fact that the epic questlines you go through don't "give" you demons. You call the demon forth from the Nether, and subject it to your will by right of conquest. A blood-debt. Their submission to you is a matter of honor, perverse as it might seem. So yes, there is an aspect of individuality to each demon that makes it difficult to justify that the new demons we got last Tuesday are as good as the ones we had on Monday night. 

But...I hesitate to confess this. Sometimes demons just don't fit. I'm looking for that feeling of impossible romance with my demonic companion, and sometimes I got it right and sometimes I didn't. And let me tell you, if I ended up with a demon friend that I couldn't feel that bond with, I would send it back. Let me emphasize again that demons are evil. And yet we come to trust and love them anyway for reasons that cannot have any grounding in logic. That leap of faith is what makes the warlock and demon partnership so special. And it's why I will be more saddened to lose my new demons than I am to have lost my old ones.

The demon I could never bring myself to love was my succubus, Catxxia. She and I just couldn't make it work. I'm a temperamental blood elf with rice paper thin skin concealing my bleeding heart, and Catxxia is one of those succubi that is all about the botox injections. If we'd gone to high school together she would have scratched her name, in calligraphy, on the side of my dad's car, using nothing but her blood red fingernails on the way to have sex with a gang of uh, mechano-hoggers. This isn't one of those relationships that would eventually give way to compassion and understanding. It just got awkward.

So I was thrilled to find that 4.0 brought me to meet with Jhorwyn. Ah, Jhorwyn, how I adore thee. The rounded syllables of your name recall me to the creamy sweetness of cool w-hip. A succubus, you might have been as fiery as any of your kind, but, like me, you had a grounding of level-headedness to restrain your lust. Tomorrow's patch will bring an early end to what could have been an affectionate and respectful partnership. I hope we can reunite in the future. Curse thee, Catxxia, that you must assert your irrational jealous anger!

However, I haven't spent all that much time with Jhorwyn this week as I was enthralled with Destruction, and so Abatip was actually my most frequent visitor. Abatip's predecessor, Lazpit, convinced me to play a warlock. He got the last hit on a mob that would otherwise have killed me. I was sold. But after picking up my slack for so long, I imagine he was a little burnt out (lord was I sick of him) and so I'm sure he was happy to hand the reins over to his young cousin Abatip. Ohp no! Your vacation is over before your plane hits the ground, my dear. I feel a little sorry for Abatip. He did a good job, and he is going to be unemployed soon, thanks to the weird situation imposed upon the three of us by Blizzard. It's going to be a little awkward to have Lazpit back when he knows how much I liked his replacement. 

Sloonhym, my Felpuppy, was replaced by Phuumon. Enough said.

The demon I know the least well, and could at best characterize as a good "working relationship" was Haaroon, who accompanied me through Icecrown Citadel and hour upon hour of wipes to Halion adds. Haaroon was an ideal employee. He did his job well, never left me to fend for myself, and we had enough fuzzy moments to get us through the rest of the week. Still, there was always a distance between, probably based in the fact that his name sounded like a banshee screech. So I was happy to meet his far more personable brother Erakferil. Erakferil was more eager to please, with an open countenance and a faster blade. 4.0 Demonology was going to be more lighthearted than the self-sacrificing "Moar Spellpower!" Demonology. Ah, well. Maybe Erakferil can give me a massage at a spa in Sweden, which is clearly where he is from.

And last, but never, ever least, my dear Chargrave. Who was Chargrave replaced by? Well, no one. Chargrave is my most useful and best loved demon. We leveled through Noobland together, and he isn't letting me face the Cataclysm. alone. That's the whole point.

<3

Roflcopter Achievements

So yesterday Scofield and I were in vent lollygagging as per usual. I was running H-PoS for the ten millionth time and Scofield was...well, what were you doing Scofield? Anyway. Scofield and I play on different realms (its a sad story) and we were trying to decide what to name his new vent channel and my newly-transferred Paladin. We couldn't name the channel Shenanigans, because Scofield's whole life is pretty much all shenanigans. He has long held a guild rank all his own titled "Shenaniganner." Hence this blog. This had to be a special channel name for super awesome shenanigans. It was eventually designated "Nerd Rage" and if you have ever done PvP with us, you would understand.

The paladin eventually became "Succidin" because all the good names were taken. I then proceeded to take her into a Monday "Lawl-alt" ICC10, that somehow included a DK with Shadowmourne and a Priest who recently replaced Val'anyr. So there were those guys, and then there was...me. I am a Failadin.

If you were to go solely by RSS feeds, this has been a pretty redonkulous week for Succiu. I rather embarrassingly got  [Glory of the Icecrown Raider] and [The Spellweaver's Downfall] within hours of each other. [Loremaster of Eastern Kingdoms] has also been checked off the list.


My bucket list for Cataclysm includes Loremaster and as close to The Exalted as I can get. I am panting after a Heroic Lich King kill because it would be a nice thing to round off with before Cataclysm, but since that is so dependent on guild ambition (currently just starting attempts) I am not putting it on the list. I'm a Wrath of the Lich King baby, so going from zero to The End Game in one expansion would be, if nothing else, a good story. Too, there is the argument that *not* killing it will leave me feeling a little....unfulfilled, to say the least.