The wailing of the damned (4.2 State of Dk tanking)

I knew, going in 4.2 I was playing the subpar class when it came to tanking. Death knights were at the bottom of the lists all during 4.1 and I saw no reason for things to change in Firelands. Even from my own experiences I knew something to be wrong. I had to put in extra effort all the time just to reach similar performances to other tanks. Even then my survivability would be shaky sometimes because of simple fight mechanics.

I don’t like quoting from guilds like Paragorn but today I will

Synti’s : “There’s some fights where a DK tank is excellent. On average they’re probably the worst tank, though. Add in the fact that our healers are not familiar with healing DK tanks and just fret about the fluctuation in health, we’re not gonna start using them even in the fights where the spec would excel.

Any kind of fight where you’d tank adds is absolutely horrible though. Only place for a DK tank is tanking some raid boss, preferably one that hits amazingly hard but with large intervals. Perhaps with some added magic damage. But single target tanking nevertheless.”

I cannot say I disagree with the above.

Let me get something straight, DKs can do the job and I proved it no later than last week by successfully tanking Beth’tilac. But, and that’s the big point, having someone from another class being as equally skilled as I am would be a better option.

So today, the raid leadership approached me to talk about my survivability in progression raids, a discussion I felt was coming for a long time and one wich I’m actually surprised didn’t come sooner. I’m taking too much damage, it’s simple as that.

It’s not because of skill, it’s not because I don’t know what I’m doing, it’s pretty much because of the class I play and the mechanics involved.

And this is what sucks so much about this, sure I could tell the healers to adapt their style to fit me and I could tell the dps to hurry up and we could adapt whole raid strategies around my being there. But it doesn’t feel right, why should an entire raid change to make up for a single class flaws… doesn’t sound right.

It can be done, it’s been done but the fact of the matter remains that of all the Ragnaros kills, DK tanks make for a very very low percentage. That when you remove individual player skill from the equation, other classes are easier to heal and keep alive. Dk is a sub par choice and I have to live with that…

… it sucks big time…

If you are wondering about the post title it’s because as I was researching this to make sure my hunches were not just hunches but also had some facts to them, this is what reading the various forums and boards felt like. Lots of Dk tanks who love to tank but who are finding out that it’s becoming and increasing problem.

Today I join my voice with them…

PS: Happy post tomorrow! I promess!

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One problem solved

These past few days I was tearing myself apart in regards to ToR coming and wich side should I play. On one hand I really want to play a Sith inquisitor and throw purple lightning everywhere and on the other hand there’s a few buddies in Eff the Ineffable who are going Republic…

Why?? Why does it have to be split?!

Then someone suggested something so simple I wanted to hit myself…

“Why don’t you do both you dumb***”

Why indeed? Where does this idea came that I can only do one or the other but not both? People play alts all the time and no one as died as a result… and I mean, at some point I do want to experience the other side and see what it’s like… So that’s what I’ll be doing! I’ll be having the best of both worlds.

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Ramblings about threat and change

This post is a follow-up to yesterday post and it’s one full of nostalgia and ranting about how back in the day we had to walk in the snow for ten miles without shoes just to get moldy bread. I hope you’ll forgive this monkey ramblings.

Patch 4.3 and the incoming changes to tank threat just don’t sit well with me to be honest. I feel like the role I love, tanking, has just been gutted of a big part of its essence. Being able to juggle threat and survivability while fighting a 10 meters high ogre despite the stupidity of my fellow pug members is something I take a lot of pride in. This is what I love about tanking, the challenge, having to do it all at once, knowing that if I mess up its the entire raid that falls and succeeding despite that.

By removing threat from the equation a big part of the challenge has just been removed. Don’t get me wrong, tanking will still be challenging but today I feel like a mage who just lost its fireball. It feels wrong to me.

I hear the counter argument, that it’s hard for new tanks to pick up tanking, to be able to hold threat in the face of crazy puggers decked out in raid gear while learning a new role, learning to deal with pug abuse toward new tanks and learning simply not to die. The transition from the moment one wants to start tanking to actually being able to tank is one of the hardest challenge you can set yourself in WoW. And to everyone who’s trying it you have my deepest respect. I know what it’s like down in the trenches and I know how hard it can be.

Then again, going through that though part and coming at the other side is what made tanks. You knew what you were doing, how to do it and you were confident in your abilities.  I fear we may have lost some that.

I also know a lot of dps are rejoicing because they won’t have to worry about stealing agro anymore, some have even given solid numbers to prove why this is a good move.  It probably is too when everything is taken into account.

Still, and this is selfish me talking, I’m sad. For me this changes profoundly what tanking is all about and I loved the old way even if it was flawed. So WoW is changing… again… and up until now I never truly understood the players who bemoaned the loss of signatures class abilities like hunters who lost arrows, paladins who keep being reinvented or shaman frost shock who changed so many times it’s not even recognizable from what it used to be. From the outsider point of view you wonder why they can’t see the obvious improvement…

Now I know, it’s not about whether it’s better or not. The threat change is probably an improvement. It’s about changing something that you love just the way it is now… and that is never an easy change to accept…

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4.3 disappointment

I tried making a funny rant, then an angry rant but the reality is I’m just deeply disappointed. Go look at this post to see the latest changes they plan on making to tanking in WoW.

Remove threat?? Why remove a mechanic that gives some depth to a game that needs it just so it’s more fun for random heroics? I know, more fun for DPS who don’t have to throttle back but… I dunno it feels so bland to me.

Give every class a tanking mechanic like the DK? Come on Blizz, the blood shield mechanic is barely working and DK tanks are in an abyss when compared to the other tanking classes. Don’t drag everyone down here with us.

I’m not going to turn this into a WoW bashing post because we have enough of those but please… Blizz…  I really want to keep liking you but you’re making this hard here.

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Ocarina of Time 3ds review

This review will be a bit different from others I’ve done here because we’ll be talking about Ocarine of Time. In case you have been living under a rock, in outer space, or you’re part of the really younger generation, just know that this game is considered by the Guinness book of world records as the highest rated game, ever. And to top it off, the gaming industry agrees. This is the one game that I cannot say bad things about because if I do, God himself will smite me.

Okay, I’m exaggerating, he will send someone else to do it. In all seriousness though, I will be mainly talking about the differences between the original N64 game and the port to the 3DS. Also, 2011 marks the 25th anniversary of the Zelda series and I will be doing a post on the series as a whole soon, for now, this post will be solely on the 3DS version of Ocarina of Time.

What’s in the box?

So what are you getting exactly, what’s different from the original version? For starters you are getting the entire original game as unmodified as it could be. The port was made with authenticity in mind with Grezzo, the company doing the port, leaving the original bugs in the game when they were not game breaking.  This is not a remake or reimagining of Ocarina of Time, it is Ocarina of Time.

The one major area of improvement where in the graphics wich I felt gave new life to the classic game. The orignal OoT was great but it suffered from its time and graphics where often bare, blocky or pixellated. The new crisp and refined graphic really do wonders for this game and for that reason alone I would recommend buying the game if you want to replay the original game.

But there’s more! The game includes the Master quest version of the game that was created for the N64, in mirror mode! Tougher dungeons, new puzzles, double damage and the whole of it reversed in case you did the N64 master quest back in the day. I can’t comment on it much because I haven’t reached it yet but the feedbacks so far are great.

3D, 3DS and playing with both

So we got the same great classic game but the question on everyone mind is how does it interact with the 3DS and what does it look like in 3D?

It’s freaking beautiful. If there was ever a way to showcase how great a game can look by making it 3D this is it.  The 3D effects are very well done and on the whole the experience feels enriched by it. But again, that’s not really the question is it?

The question is: Is it fun to play with the 3D effect because I’ve heard it can cause “insert name of headache and/or problem”.

To be perfectly honest this is one thing where everyone experience will be a bit different. It’s not like 3D cinema for those wondering. I cannot stand 3D movies in theaters since I get headaches and I get none of that on the 3DS. The 3D effect is not tiring and you can adjust it with a slider so everyone can set it so they can see the effect clearly.

That said, to see the 3D effect well you need to hold the 3DS steady and at a particular distance/angle and this is the tricky part. Eventually, I found my sweet spot both in holding the console and seeing the 3D effect but it took some trial and error. Now I can play pretty much as long as I want but there’s a period of adjustment and some people have reported to be unable to play for very long periods (3 hours +).

My advice is to take some time here if you are unsure about getting a 3DS just for this game. Borrow one or try one at a store and spend some time with it, tinker with it, think about it. You will have to give it sometime to get used to the particularities of the 3DS but at the same time, you should be able to tell quickly by holding one if you want to buy it.

All of this to say that the game is great with the 3D effect on. Whether you’re fine with the 3DS is another topic altogether and you should spend some time trying it out first. If all fails and you still want to play OoT, then you can always disable the 3D effect and still have a great game.

Sum up and the list

The Zelda game series is one of the greatest series of video games. And of all the Zelda games Ocarina of Time and A link to the Past are the two that stands out the most. So if you’re a MMO player reading this and wondering about buying this game, try something else, why not start with one of the best?

The monkey loved:
-It’s Ocarina of Time! Just like I remember it!
-The new graphics makes everything look even more awesome!

The monkey didn’t like:
-Little glitches with the 3D effect at some weird places (twin hearts container???)
-Tweaking with the 3DS effects. I got it eventually but it took some time finding the sweet spot.

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