How to Nerd Rage While Winning Friends and Influencing PvPers

Last night, I did something that I don't usually do in WoW.  I went on a major nerd rage during our rated PvP group.  I was leading the offense and was calling targets and telling people to CC stuff and things were not going down.  I saw targets that were not the kill target going down first.  I even had somebody say they were CCing the kill target literally 2 seconds after I said that person was the kill target.  In addition, someone who was not a BG leader was trying to change our strat in a Warsong Gulch, which I won't give away what our strat is.

Sometimes nerd raging is helpful.  Sometimes, it is not.  I'm sure we have all heard the audio with a raid leader just berating everybody in a level 60 Onyxia raid which has the famous phrase "More DoTs".  Just berating the whole raid usually does not get the results you are looking for.  That usually brings down the morale of the group.  A better technique would be to rage against one or two people who are not doing their jobs correctly.  That way, you may change the behavior of those one to two people instead of bringing down the entire group.

Also, the language of how you say it is important.  I'm not saying don't curse.  I said "fuck" at least once last night during my nerd rage.  However, endless cursing without content is useless.  If you are just cursing endlessly and not providing any help to people, you are just endlessly cursing for no reason and people don't know why, which tends to piss people off more than help them. 

Also, nerd raging is for during matches only.  After matches are for constructive criticism.  Don't continue raging after matches.  People accept nerd raging during a match because of the time constaint of the match.  People don't want to berated after the match.  After the matchs where I did nerd rage, I brought up issues that occurred during the match in a critical way, but not in a rageful way.  In high pressure situations, nerd raging is usually accepted.  However, nerd raging should not occur after a match.  After a match is a time to calm down and look at the situation as a whole.  Sometimes, you may even find that your nerd rage was over the line after calming down a little.

Final thing that is needed to properly nerd rage is balance.  It is okay to point out faults during nerd rages.  In real life, I work with a boss who routinely picks out faults, sometimes even faults that are not there at all.  However, something my boss doesn't do is make compliments when good stuff occurs.  If your team is doing a good job, tell them they are doing a great job.  Nobody likes constant nerd raging at them without any compliments on what they are doing right.  If you return a flag that is very difficult, compliment your part of the team.  If you have balance, your team will accept your nerd rages knowing that they will get complimented when they do stuff properly. 

How to Get a Rated BG Group from Trade Chat

Last night, I did something that I thought was a little bold on my part.  I tried building a PUG rated BG group.  I mostly did it just for fun to see how it would go.  Here is the thought process behind building a rated BG comp from PUGs that I developed during the night.

1) Lay Down the Requirements - I had a lot of people message me when I posted I was looking for more for rated BGs saying they had 1k to 2k resielience.  The fact of the matter is most people I have run into in rated BGs have at least the Bloodthirsty Gladiator set and quite a few have the full Vicious Gladiator set for their class/spec.  If you are coming in with less than 3k resilience, you are gonna get smacked around a bit.  I made it crystal clear that everybody had to have at least 3k resilience.  The other requirement I had was that everybody needed to download Mumble for communication sakes.  Believe or not, some people have problems downloading Mumble.  I had people refuse to come to a pretty good rated BG group because they didn't want to download Mumble.

2) Setting Up an Ideal Composition - Knowing that 2 of the current 3 rated BGs involved capture the flag, I built the PUG rated BG group around this.  Here is the composition I decided to go with:

One flag runner (Prot Warrior, Feral Druid with Tank Gemming/Enchanting, Blood DK, Prot Pally)

Three main heals (Any healing class would be fine, but prefer three different healing classes.)

One DPS/Heals - Somebody willing to DPS in Gilneas but heal in the other two. (Moonkin/Resto druid is excellent for this.)

Five DPS split into three categories:  Three heavy CC ranged classes (Mage, Warlock, etc.), one heavy CC melee class (Subtelty Rogue usually),  and one high DPS (any class)

3) Questions to Ask - Of course, if you meet the class and resilience requirement, it doesn't mean you would get in necessarily.   I asked each person about their rated BG experience.  First question I usually asked is what is your current rated BG rating.  Having a low rating did not necessarily exclude you from coming, but I was going to keep more of an eye on you and if you started failing, you would be replaced.  In addition, some people with really high resilience has just had problems finding rated BG groups, so I was willing to give people a chance.  I also asked about their arena rating to get an idea of how much they PvP, etc.   This is all important.

4) Breaking Hearts - Sometimes, you have to let people down easy.  For example, I got about 5 mages asking to come.  However, we were already full on mages.  So I would whisper them back and tell them that we are full on mages, but hang around and if something happens, I could bring them in.

5) Set Up Expectations - Once everybody gets in your communication device of choice, you should set up expectations.  I told them up front that I would explain strats as we got to the BGs.  I also told them to make sure they are communicating and calling their CC.  It is important to tell them what you are expecting from them as a rated BG team up front.  Find the problems early and correct as soon as possible. 

As one of the leaders of my guild's rated BG group, I also have additional important roles.  I need to watch these PUGs to see who I would and would not want to bring back if we needed people again.  There may even be people we want to encourage to come join our guild and our rated BG group. 

Final thing I can say is give yourself some time.  It took about an hour and a half to build a group I was comfortable with, we went into one Gilneas BG, won, and then had two people drop.  We replaced one but could never find a healer to replace the other, so after about 30 minutes of going through trade chat, we had to call it.  The lesson I learned last night is to get on early to start finding people if you think you may need to PUG some people for your normal rated BG group.

My Hopes for Rated BGs for 4.1

Earlier this week, I talked about the current PTR patch notes for patch 4.1.  While there were a few battleground changes, there was not a lot of talk about something that I have been looking for since they moved all rated BGs to 10 vs. 10.   Reworking the 15 man BGs into 10 man BGs. 

Nothing against the current 10 vs. 10 battlegrounds, but they are starting to get a little stale.  Two of them are played exactly the same while Gilneas is actually a different BG, which may be why I'm enjoying it a little more right now.  Here are some ideas I have on making the 15 man BGs into new 10 man rated BGs.

Arathi Basin - Considering defense is gonna be harder spread out over 5 nodes, they need to make flag caps shorter in Arathi Basin, maybe 30 seconds to change faction.  That way, it punishes the team that zergs and rewards the team that coordinates.  In that case, each node becomes a little 4 vs. 4 or 3 vs. 3 arena match.  Playing smart defense would also be necessary.  There would be very little incentive to push a 4th node so it would come down to straight PvP.

Strand of the Ancients - Of all the BGs, this would be the hardest to change. (And truth be told, I personally wouldn't be hurt if they didn't change it.)  However, since we are dealing with fewer people, the battlefield needs to be shorted slightly.  Maybe you only have to break the blue or green gate, then have a wide PvP area leading up to the yellow gate and the relic chamber.  In addition, I would take away the time limit for the 1st offense team or at least make it longer since you are dealing with less people.  In addition, make the explosive charges do more damage and the demolishers do less or make the demolishers squishy.  As of right now, the focus on Strand of the Ancients isn't PvP, it is kill the demolishers.  If they upped the damage of the explosive charges, it would be more incentive to PvP, especially if they made it where you drop the charges if you die.

Eye of the Storm - Of all the 15 man BGs, this is the one where they can probably get away with making no changes.  Area caps are based on number of alive people.  The flag is still in the middle.  I can't see any reliable zerg strat that would work.  It would probably go into a 2 node vs. 2 node situation with PvP right in the middle for the flag, which means flag caps would likely decide the winner.  My one big request in all of this is for Blizzard to do what they do in Tol Barad.  Put Slowfall automatically on the players at the start of the game so they don't take fall damage.  I know they did not do it at one time, but they set a precedent with Tol Barad for the defense team.

So, I'm hoping, sooner rather than later, that we get the redone 15 man BGs into 10 man rated BGs.  I would be happy with even new BGs. (An underwater Vashj'ir BG would be awesome.)   If I had to design one, it would be a one flag capture the flag.  Each team has a base with multiple entrances.  There is a flag in the middle that everyone is going for.  You get 100 points per cap, first team to 1000 wins.   It would literally be a 10 man versus 10 man arena fight for the flag every time.   

Arenas and Rated BG Experience - A Healthy Relationship

This is what Mr. Bigglesworth Got for Doing Arenas

In our rated BGs, we have started requiring an arena requirement in 3 vs. 3 or 5 vs. 5 of 1100 for all our rated BG members.  (Yes, we are recruiting for the rest of this season and next season.  See sidebar for more.)  The reason we are requiring this rating is because all of the BG leaders, myself included, see the value of having arena experience in rated BGs.  However, I also see the value of having rated BG experience in arenas.  Here are the links that I personally see between arena and rated BGs.

Arena Experience in Rated BGs

1) CC - Playing in arena gets you used to your different forms of CC.  For druids, we only have 2 plus one ability we can combine with roots.  However, it gives the experience of when to use the CC and when not to. Having experience with this in arenas will directly translate to being able to do it in a rated BG setting.

2) Focus Firing - A major part of arena is learning to focus fire.  Not only focus firing, but also being able to CC while focus firing.  This takes a lot of using focus frames, finding targets quickly, and changing targets quickly.  All of this experience in arena will help in rated BGs where you have to do many of the same things.

3) LOS - While learning how to use line of sight is vital in arenas, there are not a lot of times you can use it in rated BGs.  When you can though, it helps out.  Let me give an example from our rated BGs.  We were in a Twin Peaks.  We had the enemy flag and they had ours.  Our flag carrier had 3 healers with him.  In each of the bases of Twin Peaks, there are several places you can use line of site.  You can go upstairs, around the walls, around the outside, etc.  This was vital in keeping our flag carrier up.  Being able to line of sight in arenas is critical and comes in handy occassionally during rated BGs. 

4) Cooldown Management - The difference between a win and a loss in a closely contested arena match could be when a trinket is ready to proc and how it is utilized.  If you are busy applying CC, you may want to wait a few seconds before popping your trinket while you control the enemy.  However, there are more than trinket cooldowns.  You also have to think about healer cooldowns.  For example, if you are a resto druid, if you see another healer go down in a rated BG, that may be the time to pop Tree of Life to keep your flag carrier up until the other healer can come back in.  When to use cooldowns is something you learn initially in the small scale arenas and then apply it to the large scale rated BGs.

5) Calling Targets - If you see a priest, a mage, and a rogue, do you know who you should kill first?  Well, if you do arenas, you should.  First, you look at their HP.  Is anybody a little less than the others?  If they are, that may indicate some PvE gear on that person which means their resilience is less.  Are they controllable?  A priest would probably be the easiest to CC since mages can blink out of snares and rogues can get out of combat and go invisible.  What do you have available to you?  If you have lots of CC, you may want to CC the mage and rogue while you burn the priest.  If you don't, you may want to CC the priest and kill the mage.  While this is a typical arena setting, there are many times where you run into identical situtions in rated BGs.  Doing arena helps with target calling.

Rated BG Experience In Arenas

1) Saving Fights - In arenas, you usually have a designated healer.  In BGs, there may be times that you don't have a healer in your group.  If that is the case, you better know what abilities can save yourself.  Do you have a melee on you, pop Thorns and pop Nature's Grasp and root him while you heal yourself.  Are you running with a group and you are all in trouble?  Pop Tranquility and heal them.  While you see more of this in rated BGs, this knowledge can come in handy in arenas.

2) Different Comps - While in arena, you see some popular comps like mage, rogue, priest.  In rated BGs, you see comps that you wouldn't normally see anywhere in arena.  However, this is when you can practice against those odd comps.  For example, you never usually see a 4 healer, 1 DPS comp in arenas.  However, if you are trying to get the flag back in Warsong or Twin Peaks, you may run into that exact comp.  This will give you a broader experience on what different classes can bring to the table, classes that you may only see once in a while in arenas.  This experience can help you in arenas when you face similar compositions.

3)  Field Awareness - Arenas are smaller scale.  Usually, you can see what is going on pretty easily.  However, in rated BGs, you may need to know what is going on at the other side of the field.  For example, if you are in the middle trying to control the enemy from getting to your flag and you see people break off towards your flag carrier, you may need to go assist your flag carrier.  You are not doing anybody any good if you are in the middle and just keep killing things while your flag carrier is going down.  This translates to arena since you may need to get people off of your healer or give yourself some extra time or heal somebody while a healer is CCed.

So as you can see, doing arenas in addition with rated BGs can give you a lot of benefits for both.  I would encourage you to do both to become a well rounded PvPer.

Also, for winners of the Header contest.  I have not forgotten you.  I have  had a lot of stuff going on lately, but I should be sending them out by the end of this week.          

7 Habits of Highly Effective PvPers

In the very early days of this blog, I had a post called "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Raiders".  Well since that original post, I have moved from a raider to a PvP BG leader.  Given this change, I decided it was time to rework those habits into being effective PvPers.  And not suprisingly, the main title of each of the seven habits are going to be identical.  The only difference is what you do with each of the habits.

1) Prepare - In rated BGs, this is probably the most different than PvE.  You can't use flask.  You can't use the Goblin Barbeque or the Seafood Magnifique.  But you still have to prepare yourself.  Be in full PvP gear.  Be gemmed, enchanted, etc. with the best possible enchants for PvP.  Some enchants are different.  Some enchants are the same.  Make sure you are in a proper spec for PvP.  All these things are things that should be done before stepping into PvP.

2) Readiness - Make sure you are on time and are prepared to come in.  With the elimination of 15 vs. 15 rated BGs, there may be a chance you will have to sit.  If you do, be on standby.  Be in Vent or Mumble if your leaders need someone.

3) Optimize - While it is still important to make sure your computer is in top shape and won't disconnect during fights, the strain is a little less in BGs compared to 25 man rating because the BGs are spread out.  If you had 20 people in an arena BG, I'm sure that it would lag like anything.  Also, as I mentioned earlier, you should optimize your gear.  Buy the blue honor gear to get started and go from there by using Conquest points to buy the epic PvP gear.

4) Research - While PvP is alot more fluid than a PvE setting where bosses have certain mechanics, you can still research.  First, and the most important, is to know your class inside and out.  You should know what CCs you have, who they are the most effective against, what things can maximize your DPS output in BGs.  Also, know the BGs inside and out.  Know where the power ups, like Beserker and Heals, are since they can turn the tide of battle.

5) Learn - As I mentioned in the original post, learning comes from education and experience.  If you find a PvPer of the same class who is doing better than you, ask them to help you out and figure out what you are doing wrong.  However, experience is the biggest teacher in BGs.  You will find out which targets are the healers or are the most dangerous.  You will figure out kill orders.  You will figure out what strategies work and which ones don't.  Best way to get experience is to run random BGs and arenas.  BGs will help you understand your DPS rotation.  Arenas will help you learn coordination and CCing.

In addition, there is two type of experienced learning in BGs.  Short term experienced learning is something you need to learn in this BG for this BG only.  For example, if you have Mage X who is CCing your healers and killing your DPS, you know that he is a high priority target so you will need to CC healers to kill the mage first.  The other type of experienced learning is long term experienced learning.  This would be overarching principles such as kill or CC healers first, how not to allow ninja caps, how to tell if someone is squishy by looking at HP, etc.  The only way you get that type of experience is doing BGs and arena.

6)  Observe - I thought that PvE raid awareness was something you had to get used to and it took a while.  Awareness in BGs takes it to a whole other level.  Let me give an example.  We typically have 3 healers on the flag carriers in Warsong Gulch or Twin Peaks.  If all 4 healers are around our flag carrier, I can back off and use CC to get melee off of our flag carrier.  There are many instances where this can occur.  If you see a healer healing your target, kill them or CC them to kill your target.  Sometimes, you really almost need eyes in the back of your head to have PvP awareness.

7) Communicate - If I was going to reorder my list from the original list, I would have put this as number 1 easily.  Communication is the single biggest key in PvP.  The team that does not communicate loses.  What should you communicate?  Let me count the ways:  kill targets, CCed targets, nodes being attacked, flag carriers being attacked, healers protecting flag carriers die, flag carrier dies, enemy flag carrier dies, enemy flag carrier's location, our flag carrier's location, strategy, and reporting what is occuring at nodes.  And this is just with the 3 BGs currently available for 10 vs. 10 rated BGs.  The place this is best learned at is in arenas.  Learning this type of communication is vital in arenas and it translates very well over to rated BGs.  The more comfortable you can get with communicating, the better your team will be.  This also means that if you are on a rated BG team, you have to get comfortable with Ventrilo or Mumble and speaking because you talk a whole lot more in BGs than you do in raids.