Twitter Dev Chat from 7/16/10 - My Thoughts On Blizzard's Thoughts

Blizzard decided that after the insanity that was RealID and with the addition of 31 point talent trees, it was time to do another Twitter development chat.  Here are some of my personal thoughts about the general and druid specific things from that chat.

1) For the Love of God, Stop Asking About Guild Housing - Blizzard has done this chat a few times now and every single time, someone thinks it would be a good question to ask about guild housing.  Blizzard has said no, it is not going to happen.  If you are that hard up for guild housing, go play Age of Conan with nobody else.

2) Glyphing Has Become Interesting - Giving the description of the new glyphs, it is starting to sound like that some passive abilities are going to become new glyphs.  This means that maybe Omen of Clarity is not dead.  My guess is passive abilities will either become Prime or Major glyphs.  Minor glyphs are going to be the fun glyphs. (Like Polymorph: Penguin)


3) Mastery Capping Will Not Happen - I'm thinking by their descriptions that only 7 pieces of gear will have mastery on it (Head, Chest, Wrist, Hands, Waist, Legs, and Feet) and there will be no mastery gemming or enchanting. Thus it will be impossible to hit a mastery cap.  I could see shared items like weapons, rings, cloaks, trinkets, and neck pieces having mastery, but I still don't think it will be cappable.  That being said, you will still want as much as mastery as possible regardless of your class.

4) Blizzard has A LOT to Do with Druids Still - Only to get me as close to a heart attack as I have ever been, I thought that Omen of Clarity, Typhoon, and Moonkin form were all being taken out when the 31 point talents came out.  Thankfully, those were more errors than anything.  Omen of Clarity may be out, but Typhoon and Moonkin form will come back.  They said they have a lot to do with all the classes, but it really seems like all the druids still need a lot of work.

5) Welcome Back, Moonfire - Moonfire is going to become the Balance druid's friend when moving.  We are going to be spamming it on the move since it will have a new nuke capability as well as its normal DoT ability.  Plus, with some of the suggested talents, it will be refreshed by just moving.  Don't even have to spam it to get more effect out of it.

6) Eclipse Will Be Awesome - From their description, an Eclipse will last until either the Balance bar either returns to center or 45 seconds.  So, it does not sound like you will be able to store up a Lunar Eclipse and then use it for a boss.  However, 45 seconds is a lot of time to move and then start casting.  What we don't know is how much solar power we get for each Starfire cast.   We know that if we critically hit with either a Starfire or Wrath, we get 12 of the appropriate power per the talents.  I'm also guessing that when moving from a Lunar Eclipse to a solar eclipse that 1 Solar Power = - 1 Lunar Power and vice versa for a Solar Eclipse.  These means we have to subtract out 100 Lunar Power to get back to center during a Lunar Eclipse.  Another thing with Eclipse is possibly finding ways to prolong the Eclipse.  If you get near center, you may cast Wrath a few times in the middle of the rotation to get a few more Lunar Eclipse procs in the 45 seconds.  And mastery will affect how much damage we put out during our Eclipses.  I think the balance druid's new goal will be to get an Eclipse, make it last 45 seconds, and then get to the opposite Eclipse.

7) Duel Speccing Will Be Earlier and Cheaper  - Thank God.  If you are going to tell people they have to put their first 31 talents in one tree, you have to provide a way to duel spec earlier.  I'm hoping either level 10 or 20.  More likely, it will be level 30.

8) Spec Specific Talent at Level 10  - Awesome.  I think it will make every spec a viable leveling spec, whether you are leveling doing quest or just LFG.  (I'm trying to level my DK while staying in the DK starting area and just DK tanking with heirloom gear.)  Balance druids will have Eclipse.  Feral druids will have Mangle.

9) Intellect Stat is About to Explode - End game raiders currently have around 3-4k spellpower unbuffed.  When asked what the conversion rate is, they basically said it is 1 intellect for 1 spellpower.   That means one of two things.  Either they want to decrease how much spellpower everybody has or they are about to have a lot of intellect on gear.  I tend to think it is the latter.

10) Hybrid Specs Are Still Not Back - I was hoping for a combination feral spec that could do good kitty DPS and tank.  Apparently, that is not happening.  They are actually making it a point that a DPS feral spec is different enough from a feral tank that it cannot be combined.  Also, goodbye Restokin for PvP.  But that is okay, because between Starfall, Moonfire Spam, and our AoE silence, moonkins will be incredible in PvP.   

Hopefully, they will have even more answers for us as we get closer and closer to Cataclysm.  Speaking of Cataclysm, if you think you know when the release date is going to be, enter our Christmas in July contest for some cool free stuff.

Finally, I mentioned WoWCentric not to long ago.  Well, it is up and running now and you can find a big link on the right side.  You will find druid and raiding content from me as well as great content from a bunch of other bloggers, podcasters, etc.  Bookmark it, visit it daily, and see some great content.

How to Lead a PUG Raid - A Guide

Not too long ago, I did a post about what a PUG should do if they are in a guild raid.  Today, I want to take the reverse of this.  What if it is a true PUG raid and you are the one leading it?  Here are some of my guidelines if I'm leading a PUG raid.

1)  Make Your Requirements Clear -  I am fine with the leader looking for people who have the achievement or even a certain Gear Score.  Even for stuff as dumb as VoA.  Just make it clear up front what your requirement is.

2)  Set Your Requirements at a Reasonable Level - Here are my thoughts on requirements leading a PUG raid:

Naxx, OS, VoA - Can you push buttons and move?  Do you have a heartbeat? (If you go for 3 drakes, the requirements are higher) 

Ulduar - Can you follow basic directions from a raid leader? (HMs require more of course)

Malygos - Are you proficient in following directions?

ToC - The achievement and 4k Gear Score or no achievement and 4.5k Gear Score.  Also, gear must be gemmed, enchanted, proper for your spec. (a.k.a proper gear requirement)  Must be able to follow exact directions correctly.

ICC 10/RS 10 - Minimum 5k Gear Score with proper gear requirements and must provide adequate DPS. (Tanks should not be higher than DPS on bosses)  Must also follow raid leaders instructions exactly.

RS 25/ICC 25/TotGC 10/25 - Minimum 5.5k Gear Score with proper gear requirements and at least be able to do 6k DPS.  Must also follow raid leaders instructions exactly.

HM ICC/RS - Would never, ever, ever, ever, ever PUG. (Exception is Lootship)

3) Establish a "No Fail" Policy - The best PUG raid leaders I have seen have always established a "No Fail" policy.  What does it mean by "No Fail".  If you get hit by Icehowl in the first fight of ToC during a charge, you are out if we wipe or you get no loot if we finish, regardless of what you roll.  If you do not target Bone Spikes during Marrowgar, you are out or get no loot.  As a member of my PUG raid, your job is to make my job as easy as possible.  If you don't, I can find someone else who can.  Especially considering I have a whole guild of people who would like to come in.

4) Don't Establish Your Raid Based on What You Can Get - It is really annoying to see a PUG raid leader in trade chat saying that a certain item that someone wants is on reserve because they or a friend wants it.  There are reasons to keep running a raid instance to get emblems and other gear.  The other way I see this happen is in VoA.  In a 10 man VoA, I have seen the raid built around the fact they only want one of each class in the raid so that they have a better shot at getting a drop for them.  I would much rather build a raid quickly and take 2 mages then waiting around for a rogue that isn't around to come anyway.  Also, make sure of what you need. I had one VoA PUG leader build a raid with no tanks.  That makes people leave and makes people think you are an idiot. 

5) Use Vent Where Appropriate - I would say the Vent worthy raids right now are Ulduar, ICC, and RS.  If a person does not have Vent, that is reason in my book to kick them.  Why you ask?  Because then they have an excuse if they fail at something.  I do not want them to have any excuses for failing.  I want them to hear the instructions clearly so if they fail, they do not have an excuse for it.

6) Loot Rules - In a PUG raid, I think that random rolls are always the best loot policy.  I would also specify main spec first, then off spec second.  If nobody wants either, it would go to a roll off for an abyss crystal or for AH if BoE.  If someone rolls main spec on a BoE, I would require them to equip right there.  And you can inspect to make sure it is equipped. Also, for orbs, primordial saronite, and trophies in ToC, they should be done on a /roll 25 and given to the person in that spot on your raid frames.  It is much easier than trying to go through 25 random rolls.  For tier pieces in ICC 25 man, use MS the OS rolls as well.  To make it fair, I also try to limit gear to one MS piece for everybody then you can roll on a second MS.  When it comes to OS, I don't really care.   For profession patterns, make them link their maxed out profession and then roll in case there is more than one.

7) Troubleshooting - If I'm leading a PUG raid and they leave after one wipe, welcome to my ignore list.  If I replace you for doing inadequate work whether healing, tanking, or DPS and you whine and complain about it or go to trade chat to complain, welcome to my ignore list.  If we make it through the raid and you are not up to standards I expect for a player at that level, I will not put you on the ignore list, but I will remember  you the next time I build a PUG raid.

8) Achievements Outside of Clearing a Raid are the Discretion of the Raid Leader - Full House on Lady Deathwhisper is fun, but don't expect my PUG raid to go for it though.  In a PUG raid, I want to get through as quickly as possible, not go for extra achievements, etc.  Now if we get an achievement during a PUG raid, like I've Gone and Made a Mess during Saurfang, great.  But I'm not aiming for achievements.  If you have a problem with, you can find a PUG raid that will do the achievements. (Good luck with that.)   

9) Be Stern, but Not An Ass - This is tough.  You are building a 10 man ICC PUG.  You start off by saying they have to have this achievement and this amount of Gear Score.  You get the raid built.  You get to Marrowgar and down him.  However, you noticed a healer who was under performing in that fight.  There is a way to tell him to improve or he will be replaced without coming across as an elitist asshole.  Tell him that he is not eligible for loot from this boss due to under performance.  Give him until the next boss to improve.  If he doesn't, he is replaced.  You have to hold to the guide, but you can hold to it with tact.

10) If You Call the Raid, Don't Insult People, Thank Them - At that point when a raid is called, insulting the stupid hunter who kept pulling aggro and not using feign death does nothing.  Thank him for coming then put him on the ignore list and don't bring him to your next PUG raid.

Hopefully, following these simple guidelines, you will have a good PUG.  If you start off by building a strong PUG, the better your chance of success are.

Remember, you still have time to sign up for the Christmas In July Contest.  Contest ends on 7/31/10. 
 

Getting the Non-Heroic Achievements for Glory of the Icecrown Raider (10 Man)

Last night in my 10 man raid, we decided to try to get all the achievements for Glory of the Icecrown Raider and get some sweet 310% mounts.  Eight of the ten of us had already gotten all the heroic wings achievements when they went 10/12 HMs in one night and got heroic Sindy on 10 man the next week so all they needed were the achievements.  I was on vacation the night they went 10/12 HMs so I still need 10 man HM Festergut, Professor Putricide, Blood Council, Blood Queen, and Dreamwalker to get my mount.

If you are interested in getting your sweet mount from 10 man ICC (You can see the mount's on my guilds website on the right side bar.  We are currently recruiting a mage.), let me walk you through each of the achievements and how to get them.  As mentioned above, you also have to beat all the bosses except LK on HM to get this achievement and get the mount.  However, these achievements can be done in normal mode.  Also, if you notice a link in the achievement name, I have tried to link the cultural reference with the achievement. 

Boned - You may have gotten this one already in your dealings with Lord Marrowgar.  It is pretty simple with good DPS and on non-heroic mode.  Just kill all the bone spikes under 8 seconds.

Full House - Just like in poker, you will need 3 of a kind and a 2 of a kind for this Lady Deathwhisper achievement.  For the 3 of a kind, you will need all 3 different types of fanatics (cult, deformed, reanimated).  For the 2 of a kind, you will need both types of adherents (cult, reanimated).  You will also need to keep them up for the entire Lady Deathwhisper fight.  This is probably the second hardest achievement to get.  You will need a hunter to kite the deformed fanatic.  One of your tanks can handle the other 4 adds.  What this means is that you will have only one tank tanking Lady Deathwhisper the entire fight.  You will need misdirects from hunters (if they are not using it themselves on the deformed fanatics) and tricks of the trade from the rogues so the tank can keep aggro due to the stacking debuff.

I'm On a Boat - On lootship, you just have to make sure that no person goes to the opposite faction's airship more than twice.  This really should be done on normal mode to just kill the ship as quickly as possible.  You are going to have to split your tanks and DPS into two groups.  Each group will stay over for two ice mages.  By the time, the opposite ship should be going down in flames.  Also, if you're in the last group that goes over, you can stay on the other ship because it will teleport you up to Saurfang once it goes down.

I've Gone and Made a Mess -  Probably the easiest achievement of the bunch.  If your DPS is sufficient and good at minimizing Saurfang's gaining of Blood Power, you will easily kill him before 5 Marks go out.

Dances with Oozes - It is amazing how fast you can kill Rotface on normal when you don't have DPS going around and trying to combine slimes.  The goal of this achievement is to make sure that you don't get an ooze explosion or in other words, combine 5 slimes.  The easiest way to do this is just burn the boss, move out of slime spray, but don't kite.  If by chance, two of the slimes do get together, have the OT pick up those two slimes and kite away from the other slimes.  I don't even think we got 5 mutated injections.  This is really a test of your healers being able to keep up people with slimes hitting them.

Flu Shot Shortage - Very easy achievement to get here, but can be tough if you get to the Pungent Blight.  The first set of people who get spores moves away from everybody.  So does the second set of people.  For the third set of spores, everybody stacks up so that everybody in the raid has 1 to 2 stacks of the inoculation.  If the RNG is cruel and somebody gets picked for spores twice in a row, they will not be able to get the third stack and must move out of the raid.   If it does get to Pungent Blight (it did not happen for us), then people will need to use cooldowns to keep themselves alive. 

Nausea, Heartburn, Indigestion - This is where having very high DPS will help you out immensely.  The main key to this achievement is that the OT in the abomination will not slow down Professor Putricide's unstable experiment slimes at all.  The way we handled this achievement was to set up on the right side of the room.  When the green slime comes out, we blow it up immediately.  When the orange slime comes out, we have range get on it early and kill it.  The quicker you can get through phase 1 and phase 2, the easier this achievement is.

The Orb Whisperer - If everybody is doing what they should do in the Blood Council fight, you probably already have this achievement.  The key is nobody can take more than 23,000 spell damage from a single hit in 10 man mode.  This means three things.  One, nobody near each up during empowered shockwave.  Two, the person targeted with empowered flame has to run and kite through as many people as possible.  Three, kinetic bombs must be kept up.  These are all things you should be doing anyway during the fight.

Once Bitten, Twice Shy - This is the achievement that will require you to do Blood Queen twice, but it is pretty simple.  One week, you have to beat her while a vampire.  The other week, you have to beat her while you are not.  If you run with a regular 10 man, you will likely find that the healers and tanks need to be bitten and the DPS does not for your entire raid to get the achievement.

Portal Jockey - This achievement wins the award for the most confusing description for an achievement.  Reading it at first glance, it appears that everybody has to enter both portals.  That is not the case.  The key to this achievement is that the healers must enter all available portals.  For 10 man, there will be two portals.  Just make sure your healers are communicating which portals they are going into so they hit all of them.

All You Can Eat - Far and away, this is the hardest non-heroic achievement in this meta.  During the Sindragosa fight, nobody can get more than 5 stacks of the mystic buffet debuff.  The key here is the tanks have to clear their stack on every other iceblock.  The easiest way to do this is to have the tanks on opposite sides of Sindragosa.  Yes, you do run the risk of a tank being tail swiped, but that should not happen to often. During Phase 3, you will drop the very first ice block on the side with the tank who is tanking her at the start.  DO NOT DPS the iceblock.  When the OT clears his initial stack, he will run to the other side and taunt.  At this time, two things should be happening.  One, the second iceblock should be moving to the OT side.  Two, the first tank should be clearing his stacks behind the first iceblock.  After he clears his stack, you can DPS the block down.  From there, you just alternate sides with the tanks letting them clear their stacks every time before DPSing the iceblock down.  The tanks will likely get about 3-4 stacks each time, but they will be able to clear in time.  It may take a few times to get this right, but once you do, it will be achievement unlocked.

Been Waiting a Long Time for This - And,  yes,  you will have to wait a long time for killing the LK to get this achievement.  You have to get a stack of necrotic plague during phase 1 of the LK fight to 30.  Note that once you do get the stack of 30, you can clear it then and still get the achievement.  Rule 1:  No AoE.  The OT will need all the ghouls he can get his hands on to pass along the necrotic plague.  This also means no Starfall during Phase 1. :(  Rule 2:  Only the first person who gets necrotic plague will run to the OT's mobs.  Everybody else will run the opposite direction to have it cleared.  The reason for this is having two necrotic plagues on mobs kill them so quickly that you aren't able to stack the first necrotic plague.  Rule 3:  Burn the LK down to about 75% and then stop DPS.  You will be waiting for the stacks of necrotic plague to build up.  Once the OT mobs hit 30 stacks, burn LK down to 70% to initiate the transition to phase 2.  From there, you have to kill LK.  This is a really tough achievement if you have not gotten to the point where you can one shot LK on normal because you will have to do this all again if you wipe, which means more waiting.       

And this is all the non-heroic achievements that you need to get Glory of the Icecrown Raider.  After this, you have to beat all the bosses except LK in heroic mode to get your nice shiny mount.

Speaking of shiny stuff, make sure to enter the Christmas in July contest for your chance to win a free FigurePrint or a World of Warcraft mouse or a PrintWarcraft poster.

Goodbye Omen of Clarity And My Likely Balance Raiding Spec at 85

Yesterday, they finally decided to release the new 31 point talent trees.  Before I go into what I feel the raiding spec will be for balance druids, I feel like I need to do a eulogy for the druid's friend, the one thing all druid specs had in common, Omen of Clarity.

Omen of Clarity, you were a good talent.  We enjoyed the free actions that you allowed us to have.  Whether it was a free Shred in kitty form, a free Mangle in bear, a free Starfire during a Lunar Eclipse, or a free Rejuvenation, you were the druid's best friend.  Now Blizzard has decided it is time for you to go out to pasture.  And while I'm sure we will see your ghost in Tier set bonuses again, it will not be the same without you.  Thank you for two expansions of love to us druids.  You will be missed.

Ok, sadness about Omen of Clarity over.  Here is what I feel the level 85 balance spec will look.  Again, this is based on just what we know now and nothing else.  Also recognize that you must spend at least 31 points in a tree before taking talents from other trees.  This definitely changes how leveling will work, but will do nothing for our end game raiding spec.  Just remember to put your first talent point in the balance tree or you will be paying a respeccing fee. 

Tier 1 Balance Talents:  Nature's Grace, Starlight Wrath, and Genesis are all worth taking in terms of raid utility.  Nature's Grace will increase haste.  Starlight Wrath will decrease cast times.  Genesis will increase DoT damage.  I would max out everything in the first row.

Tier 2 Balance Talents:  I HATE our Tier 2 Balance talents with a passion. On one hand, we have Moonglow which reduces the mana cost of our spells.  On the other hand, we have Lunar Justice, which only affects targets that give experience and honor.  If I had to guess, Lunar Justice will be used for leveling and Moonglow will be for raiding.   I also think you will have to max out Moonglow because the Tier 2 Restoration talents are not things we need or want as balance.

Tier 3 Balance Talents:  Honestly, from this point, you are going to take and max every balance talent left.  Blizzard did a really great job at taking out the unnecessary talents from the balance tree.  Improved Eclipse is an easy choice.  It gives us more lunar or solar power with critical strikes and gives up more if we are hit by something.  Starsurge is one of our new spells that when combined with Lunar Guidance in Tier 4 will give us an interrupt and give us lunar or solar power.  Balance of Power is also in this tier, which gives us 4% hit plus changes 100% of our spirit to hit.  With no more improved faerie fire, this will become much more important although every piece of caster leather gear is going to have spirit on it.

Tier 4 Balance Talents:   I already discusses why you are going to want to take Lunar Guidance in the Tier 3 explanation, but the biggest reason is more solar or lunar power when you need it.  At first, I thought that Solar Beam was going to be more of a PvP talent due to its silence.  However, after doing Ruby Sanctum, I'm almost certain we are going to be using this a lot in Cataclysm.  Gale Winds will be good for trash mobs that don't require CC and will help Typhoon as a knockback.  Also, it increases our Cyclone range, which we will be using more for CC as well. 

Tier 5 Balance Talents:  Tier 5 starts with Euphoria, a.k.a the reason I hate our Tier 2 talents even more.  Besides getting more lunar and solar energy, we get 12% of our mana when we hit an Eclipse.  Considering how often we hit Eclipses now, we are not gonna run out of mana unless we are AoEing.  And if Hurricane counts as a nature spell, we seriously are never gonna run out of mana.  From there, it is our treants, which we would pick up anyway and Owlkin Frenzy which increases our spell damage.

Tier 6 Balance Talents:  Overall, moonkins are getting alot in Cataclysm.  In just the Balance tree, we get an interrupt, a silence, and now a slow with Fungal Growth.  Wrath of Cenarius is interesting in that it likely means we will be casting Moonfire alot more and moving since we will get this buff refreshed when we are moviing.

Tier 7 Balance Talents:  Starfall.  Get it.  Love it.

Feral Talents:  Yeah, sorry feral talents.  There is literally nothing I could want from your tree for my moonkin although I will point out two things.  One, mangle is becoming a standard attack across all druids because it is not in the tree at all.  Second, props to Blizzard for naming a talent "Nom Nom Nom".  Please keep it that way Blizzard.

Restoration Talents:  With 5 points left out of the 41 points, I would pick up Blessing of the Grove for the Moonfire damage increase in combination with Wrath of Cenarius.  I would also pick up Furor to increase our intellect which will in turn give us more spellpower.  You could argue to take Perseverance instead of Moonglow to decrease damage taken by 6%, but it is still not a great talent.  Plus, you still have to put at least 1 point in Tier 2 of balance to get to Tier 3.

Some time later, I will come back and look at the feral tank and the mage.  Mage is going to be tough though because we don't know which will be the highest DPS yet.

Also, remember our Christmas in July contest.  We are getting some entries now, but you still have a good chance to win a FigurePrint of your character.

Naxxramas - How the Mighty Has Fallen

 In the original World of Warcraft, Naxxramas was considered the most difficult raid instance ever.  Requiring 40 players and insane amounts of strategy and coordination, only the top guilds in the world could go in there and be successful.  Even at the end of Burning Crusade, you still needed quite a few people to go in there because of the mechanics.  I, unfortunately, never did Naxx in its prime.  I didn't even start playing until Burning Crusade.  However, you talk to anybody who has played World of Warcraft since the beginning and they will tell  you how difficult it was.   I was excited that they were bringing back Naxx in Wrath of the Lich King.  Of course, any original raider said it was not going to be anything like it once was.  And for the most part, they were right.

I am not usually one to be nostalgic so  you are probably wondering why I'm being so today.  Last night during our raid, one of our warriors is building a block tank set so that we can go for heroic Anub in 25 man TotGC.  He had a laundry list of gear that he needed to get.  Since we cleared 25 man Ruby Sanctum and 10/25 man ICC, we decided to have a retro raid night and go help him get the block gear from Naxx. It was when we got to the first boss that I realized how much this raid had fallen.  We defeated Anub'Rekhan before the first insect swarm.  And this was just the start.  Just to highlight a few other things that occurred in our 25 man Naxx raid.

Defeated Heigen without having to do the dance once.

Defeated Gluth without a decimate. (Precious and Stinky, which are trash mobs, are tougher than Gluth now)

Defeated Grand Widow Faerlina without an enrage.

Defeated Noth without a teleport.  (We had done this when he was the weekly.)

As far as I know, no fight lasted longer than 3 minutes in the entire Naxx raid.  We thought we had a good shot at the Immortal achievement until Instructor Razuvious where we lost one of our tanks and our chance at the Immortal achievement.

While losing the Immortal achievement on the last wing before the Frost wing was tough, what was even tougher was seeing what Naxx had been reduced to.  Once the greatest raid instance in the entire game now reduced to nothing but World of Logs fodder.  (By the way, pretty much every single one of our DPS ranked on every single fight in Naxx.)  Even Ulduar has some challenge still left in it with hard modes.  But Naxx literally has nothing left.  When you have people who can go in solo into 25 man and defeat two of the bosses in the plague quarter, you know that raid has become nothing.  Stuff like this did happen in Burning Crusade when the game wide nerf hit before Wrath in Karazhan and Zul'Aman.  Now, this has happened before Wrath is even done.

So to Blizzard, please do not rehash anymore raid content.  What you even described at one time as the best raid dungeon ever has been reduced to nothing now.  I do not want to see Sunwell as a level 85 raid that will be beaten repeatedly and then just embarrassed after the new highest tier of raiding comes out.  Take some pride in your raids.

Please remember the Christmas in July contest and enter for some cool stuff.

WoW Economy - a.k.a Was I An Asshole?

Not a whole lot gets on my nerves in game, but one of things that will get me slightly upset is if I get a whisper from a level 10 whatever wanting a port to Dalaran.  Maging ain't easy though.  I usually do it for about 10 gold, but of course lower levels won't have that much, so if the player is less than 80, I take much less.  I will explain my reasoning behind this later.

I had a level 80 while in Ironforge ask me for a port to Dalaran.  I told him my fee was 10 gold and he said no thank you.  Actually, if he would have said no thank you, that would have been nice.  Instead, he called me out for charging 10 gold for a port to Dalaran.

Now, to understand my reasoning behind this takes a little bit of understanding of my job.  I hate it when I tell people I am a pharmacist and they immediately label me as a pill counter.  No, I'm not a pill counter.  I actually work in a hospital as a clinical pharmacist as well as working with the pharmacy informatics.  I actually very rarely count any pills.  The robot we have is a pill counter, not me.  I am a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist.  The reason I bring this up is if I was just a "pill counter", you could pay me less.  However, the other skills I bring to the table make it where you have to pay me more for my services.

Now getting back to the mage, here are the reasons I charge 10 gold.  First off, for a level 80, you should crap 10 gold for breakfast.  You can turn in one Argent Tourney quest and get 23 gold.  The second reason is that, as the goblins say, "Time is money".  I am saving you time so you can get back to Dalaran and do whatever you need to.  That is paying for my service plus the cost of the reagent.  Also, it is supply versus demand.  I'm the only level 80 mage here, so you want it, I have it, and I can set the price.  Third, and the final reason that made him finally shut up about it, is I am willing to barter.  If the guy I was dealing with was not an asshole about it, I would have let him pay me 5 gold or even less.  This is a service that in no way benefits me, but benefits the person who is receiving it.

However, I can also see where my line of logic could get into trouble as well.  I am sure we have all ran across the asshole elitist tank who says that he will tank this instance for 100 gold from each person to cover possible repair cost.  Yes, tanks do have more repair cost than most other classes.  However, the difference between this and what I do is the tank still gets a benefit from running this 5 man.  He still gets Frost emblems and Triumph emblems, which even if he doesn't need gear, he could use for rep, gems, or heirlooms.  Plus, I would say that 75% of the WoW players still need some ICC gear likely from the vendor.  I'm still trying to get the tank neck with Frost badges.  After that, I will probably be buying some primordial saronite to sell and make some money.  There is probably no one in this game right now who cannot benefit from 5 mans.    

So, what should be services to charge for and what should not.  Here is my list of things to charge for and things to not charge for:

Charge People (At Least Tips) For

Cutting Gems

Enchanting

Armor/Weapon Making

Smelting

Portals (If not in a raid instance)

Transmutes

Elixirs/Potion Making

Do Not Charge People For

Tanking/Healing

Summons into Raid

Joining a guild (Although the GM paying for signatures is okay)

Gear Drops (I am okay in guild runs to charge for mounts though, like Sarth+3)

 Really, what it comes down to is the benefit of yourself and the uniqueness of your service versus the expectations of a group.  A group expects you to tank or heal.  A group expects you to summon into a raid.  However, if you are a tailor and somebody wants you to make something and has the mats, they should be willing to pay a small gold fee for you to make it.  It would be the equivalent of  you taking hamburger meat to a local fast food place and asking for free hamburgers.  It is not gonna happen.  They have to pay for their equipment, employees, etc.

I would love to hear your opinion about this.  Do you just charge tips or do you charge a flat fee for your profession services?  Also,  have you seen people charge for raiding/5 man services like tanking or healing?

Also, broken record time, remember the Christmas in July contest.  We have two entries which means you have a great chance of getting some free stuff.

RealID Part 3 - Victory for Privacy and the Community

I usually don't do two blog post in a single day, but the announcement just came from MMO Champion, WoW.com, and Blizzard that the forums will not require RealID.  I feel this is a victory for the players of the game.  Hopefully, Blizzard saw that putting peoples real names on the forums will not cut down on trolling.  For an example of this, just look at Penny Arcade from today.

 
I would be curious to see the statistics on the number of canceled subscriptions that lead to this change of heart.  It had to be an extremely high number for Blizzard to change their mind.  If only a few people said they would do it, I don't think it would have changed their minds.  The only other thing I could have thought of is that the litigation must have been lining up to take shots at the RealID on the forums and they backed off.  That is the only two ways I could see Blizzard changing their mind on this.

However, the biggest victory here is the community.  From Twitter to blog post to official forum posts (which I hope someone from Guinness World Records was watching because I'm sure the speed of posts was a record.), the WoW community united against this in a fashion unlike anything I have ever seen in gaming before.  The companies do not have to dictate the players.  The players can and should dictate the companies.  If they are not happy with something, be vocal about it.  And while some people got into the realm of QQing, I think a lot of people presented reasonable arguments against it.

So go into this weekend WoW community and celebrate this victory for your privacy.  But always be ready.  The next attack is always around the corner.  May not be Blizzard, but someone else will be suggesting this for something else soon.