Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Player types in World of Warcraft

Tobold has made some good points, and I wanted to address them. A lot of the disagreements on the Morons & Slackers discussion are emerging from miscommunication. So - I wanted to write a brief overview on some of the major player types in WoW.

Casual: This is the most common type of player. A casual player is one who plays for the sake of it. He expects nothing out of the game, except to have a simple good time. He plays for leisure. He may have short-term goals, like "get to this next level" or "do a dungeon tonight with friends," but nothing too in-depth. Casuals can be both good and bad players.

Slacker: The slacker is almost only different from the casual because of his motivations. A casual seeks nothing more than his own in-game efforts can provide. A slacker, on the other hands, expects more out of the game than he is willing to work for. Most slackers are not good players (though they could be).

Elitist: An elitist is one who sets high standards for himself (he also tends to expect everybody else to have the same standards, and may judge by them). Elitists are often the best players, and are the opposites of slackers. Note, however, that an elitist is actually not that different from a slacker - what separates them is that the elitist will actually work for the goals he has set.

Moron: Based on the definition provided by Tobold (mentally disabled, IQ below 70), then yes, there are most likely no morons playing WoW. In fact, "moron" does not fit with any of the other categories.

Take a look at the first 3 player types. They are based on behavior and expectations, and say nothing about one's intelligence. Calling somebody a "moron," however, is passing judgment on one's intelligence. But is it? Look at the context. When somebody repeatedly stands in fire and blames the healer for dying (or does not even realize it is the fire that is killing him), do we really think the person behind the computer has an IQ below 70? Do we really believe he is a drooling mental retard? I doubt it.

We are calling the behavior of the in-game character moronic. Standing in fire is stupid. There may be many different real-life factors to explain why that player stands in fire. Most likely, that player is a real-life slacker. But in the game (from an RP point-of-view, if you will), his character is a moron. And it doesn't take an IQ below 70 to be bad at a game.

So my main point is that Tobold is right (at least partially so): there are most likely no morons playing WoW. However, there are morons in WoW.

EDIT: There is also the issue of age. A 12-year old with an IQ of 140 will still have less maturity, knowledge, and common sense than a 30-year old player of average IQ.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

My real thoughts on Moonkin

It occurred to me that I QQ a lot about Moonkin viability. And although some measure of QQ might sometimes be warranted, I feel that maybe I've done too much. So I decided to make a simple, short post, that sums what what I truly think about the viability of Balance Druids.

Player vs. environment
In PvE, we are fine. I've been paying close attention to my guild's meters (DPS and various others) in our latest runs, and I find myself always in the top 5 DPS of the group. I do at least 9k DPS on every fight, and that's with currently-bugged Starfall and Languish damage.

Though it is true that Moonkins suffer from movement more than most, our DPS is fine, and we bring great raid buffs. In Cataclysm, we are just fine as well, if not better.

In Heroics, we are downright amazing, as our offheals and CCs come greatly into play.

Player vs. player
In PvP, we are OK. I still think that if you wanted to do 2v2 arena, you'd be better off with a Shadow Priest, Elemental Shaman, Mage, or Warlock. However, we are still capable of doing well. Although all of these classes have better survivability, control, and burst, they will never have our excellent mobility and potent heal-over-time spells (though not very mana-friendly). There are also a few things that I do not find very fair (as explained in this post), but again, we are still decent.

In Cataclysm, we are not doing so well. To sum it up in a few words, Cata's Eclipse is worse in PvP than WotLK's, our healing is gimped, and our control still pales in comparison to other classes. Also, our DoTs, which are a much bigger part of our damage than ever before, have no dispel protection, further reducing our damage (every team has a dispeler now), and cutting us off from important Shooting Stars procs. Wrath, Starfire, and Starsurge cast times are sluggish and nearly impossible to land in movement/interrupt-heavy environments, though we depend on them to reach Total Eclipse.

So let us hope for some Cata PvP buffs!

Conclusion
So overall, we are fine (in 3.3.5). We may be slightly underpowered, but it's not the end of the world. I am generally happy with my Moonkin these days. And if you ever question what I think about our feathery selves, come to this post. Ignore the QQ that may have come before.

Cheers!

Friday, February 11, 2011

"Morons & slackers"

If you've ever read any Greedy Goblin blog post, you've probably heard of the notorious M&S - morons & slackers. This is a term Gevlon enjoys using, and that - from what I've been able to tell - is sometimes imported by other WoWers in the blogosphere.

Somewhere in the comment pages, Tobold apparently stated he did not believe there was such a thing as M&S, and so in his last post, Gevlon disagreed and explained what it meant to be an M&S.

As such, I wanted to post my say on the matter. Kinda funny, considering that neither of these people have a clue who I am.

To be, or not to be
First of all, it seems important to establish that M&S even exist. I would not have thought this explanation to be needed, but seeing as Tobold appears not to believe in them, there may be others out there who share his opinion.

Being an M&S is the demonstration of either a choice or unintelligence. To say there are no M&S is to say that there are no stupid people, and no lazy people, which is simply preposterous. In our modern society of today, we tend to sugarcoat everything. We don't criticize anymore. Everyone is "equal."

In reality, nobody is equal. Some people are utter failures. Some people are utter geniuses. Some people will show up the morning of an exam, not having spent even one second studying, and ace it. Others will have studied during the entire preceding week, and get something like a C or worse.

It's difficult to talk of this subject without sounding insulting to sensitive ears. For example: I remember, back in high school, how my Algebra class operated. The teacher would explain a new concept each day, and assign homework for the next. The homework consisted of doing multiple problems related around that concept we had just learned about. The homework was repetitive - its purpose was to help anchor the concept in the student's mind.

To me, it was dreadfully boring. I assimilated the concepts the moment the teacher presented them in class. Some other students, however, would listen to the teacher, take notes, do all the homework, read the book, and still seek aid from the teacher the next day, because they did not understand.

What is the logical conclusion, here? I am smart, and the other student is stupid. But saying this to almost anybody is bound to invoke some negative sentiments. The common reaction is to think "you're no better than him" or "you're arrogant." But I am not trying to bring down the other student, or to make myself seem important. I am stating a fact.

Funnily enough, most people react to "I am more intelligent" by interpreting it to mean "I am better." Just because I may be smarter than somebody does not mean I feel I am better than that person. For all I know, the other student could be an exceptional painter. People react like this because in our society, intelligence is often used to "rank" people, and because in reality, intelligence does tend to make you better off as a person.

We have become too caught up in not hurting each others' feelings that we avoid reality. Yes, that 300lb person is fat. Yes, that teenager who got drunk and drove at a really high speed into a wall with his 4-wheeler is an idiot. Yes, that student who cannot understand simple mathematical concepts, despite constant studying, is stupid. It is not bad to say these things. It is the truth.

But - back to the game.

M&S in WoW
In WoW, there are plenty of idiots, just like in real life. Statistically speaking, 50% of people are below average, and 50% are above. Based on standard deviation, 68% of all people have an IQ between 85 and 115. 16% have an IQ under 85, and 16% have an IQ over 115. I realize that some people think "IQ means nothing," but nonetheless, it is highly regarded as an accurate measure of general intelligence. IQ is like an average of your intelligence - there are different type of intelligences. The higher your IQ, the faster you will understand, retain, and adapt to information.

I think WoW is comprised more of slackers than of morons. A lot of players do not feel as though a video game deserves to be the recipient of too much thought. Many people just play to relax, and could not care less whether their gear was enchanted or gemmed. These people are not competitive. Video games are relatively young in this society, and we still live in a world in which "competition" is something we expect to happen in physical sports or other "meaningful" things - not video games, unless you are doing a LAN racing game party, or something.

A lot of players cannot associate the concept of fun with performance. For example, some players do not understand why they should use a DPS rotation. They feel that Wrath has the cooler graphic, hence they do not understand why they should sacrifice their fun of using it, over using an actual rotation that will benefit the group. Performance is not a goal to them. Because of their non-competitive nature, performance is not fun. To me, performance is extremely fun. Being the best that I can be - at anything - is exhilarating.

This, however, does not necessarily make one a moron or slacker. This is mostly casual. What makes one an M&S is refusing to become better while still expecting some sort of group reward from the game. If you are doing a random Heroic and you are only pulling 1k DPS, you cannot expect to be rewarded for it. You're a 71/0/0 Mage and all you want to do is spam Ice Lance? Fine - but don't count on getting any loot. You don't want to listen to my polite advice on a better build and rotation? You're a slacker.

A moron is someone who does not understand something even after repeated explanations. When my guild was still recruiting, we tried out an Elemental Shaman. On her first raid with us, we called out for Heroism, and she did nothing. After the fight, we pulled her to the side, and she told us that she did not have Heroism. I calmly explained to her what Heroism was, and where it could be found in her spellbook. Eventually, it seemed as though she had found it.

On the 2nd attempt, we called for it again. Still no Heroism. It was announced in /raid, /rw, and /guild, to no avail. Her excuse that time: she was too busy focusing on stepping out of Coldflame. What? Heroism is instant-cast, and it should require no focus at all to press the button. You can cast Lava Burst and Lightning Bolt, can't you? Nothing stops you from casting Heroism! We gave her one last shot on Lady Deathwhisper, and once again, she never cast Heroism. I'm not sure she paid any shred of attention to anything going on while DPSing. That person is a moron, and we kicked her from the guild.

Conclusion
There are plenty of morons and slackers in life and in WoW. The people who ride around on their mounts in the middle of all the PvP in WSG are morons. The level 80s running a dungeon who pull - on purpose (or out of repeated inattention) - packs of mobs while the group is already busy with another, is a moron. You've had plenty of time to understand that it is a stupid move. If you don't understand it, you are stupid. The players who refuse to go through the effort of improving their rotation, or to gem/enchant their gear, despite knowing that it will make them better players, are slackers. Especially if they still expect the same treatment as those who are actually making the effort to be good. The guildmates who constantly ask what raid to expect that day, and at what time, even though all of that information can be found in the Guild Information (and has been repeated several times), are both morons and slackers and should be kicked.
"Moron describes the guy who doesn't move from the fire because he doesn't understand that it is causing his drop in health. Stupid describes the guy who doesn't move from the fire because "it's the healer's job to keep me alive." He knows that he can improve his (and his group/raid's) performance by moving, but he refuses." -Tonus
Quoted from a commenter on Gevlon's comment page. I'm quoting it, because I feel he hit the nail right on the head.

These people exist. Both the moron and the stupid are terrible players, and it is because they are M&S in real life. To say there is no such thing as M&S is to be delusional.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

The Alliance in battlegrounds, pt. 3

A few weeks ago, I posted my Random Battleground statistics, and offered common speculations as to why the Alliance performed so poorly. Later, in a second post, I explained my own theories on the issue.

Now, here is a third post, with more numbers, and confirmed theories.

New statistics
Here are my win ratios since the 1st post. I am only including matches in which I played after my original post.

Alterac Valley:
18 out of 58 (31%) games won.

Arathi Basin:
32 out of 46 (70%) games won.

Eye of the Storm:
38 out of 58 (66%) games won.

Strand of the Ancients:
21 out of 42 (50%) games won.

Warsong Gulch:
66 out of 87 (76%) games won.

Total:
124 out of 291 (60%) games won.

The numbers look a lot better than in my original post. In fact, now I am winning more battlegrounds than I am losing.

External changes
The theory in my 2nd post proposed that the issue behind the Alliance's poor performance was population. The general lower population of Alliance players on the realm meant that most battlegrounds started with an imbalance of players (particularly Alterac Valley). Furthermore, the bigger the battleground, the more difficult it is for one player to make a true difference.

What has changed?

Recently, the developers at Molten-WoW have written new scripts for the battleground system, providing much improved balance. Now, all random battlegrounds begin with a near-equal amount of players. This has greatly helped the Alliance, which suddenly doesn't find itself feeling like the 300 Spartans trying to fight off an army of Persians.

The developers also rewrote some of the script in order to lessen the frequency of Alterac Valley popups. Many players complained that they were invited to Alterac Valley matches twice more often than to any other battleground. This isn't the case anymore.

Personal changes
Additionally, my gear has much improved since then. I am now equipped with full Wrathful offset gear, a Wrathful weapon and offhand, Wrathful leggings, and 4 Relentless set items. I've almost 31k HP unbuffed, and have slightly over 1.3k resilience.

Now, I can defend Arathi Basin and Eye of the Storm bases much more effectively. I have personally carried the WSG flag 115 times, at the time of writing this. These things make a difference, particularly in the small battlegrounds. Furthermore, I avoid Alterac Valley and Strand of the Ancients, my two least favorite battlegrounds. Alterac Valley used to be, by far, my most-played battleground, and also the one with the worst win/lose ratio. Playing it less and winning it more has also helped the statistics.

Conclusion
The Alliance isn't that bad. In fact, it looks as though we may be even with the Horde. Great!