Cons:

Linecon 2011

There must be something about Anaheim that cultivates lengthy and slow moving line formations. Razer had a line formed to play a game of plinko in order to win random Razer stuff. They were having people take their picture with themselves and the Razer logo in front of a gianormous Tyrael statue. After showing this picture to a Razer offical at the end of the line, you then had to sign up for the Razer newsletter on one of their 3 computers. Then drop the plinko disc and pray you didn’t end up with another mouse pad. Other booths had similar lines for similar chances to win similar items. It’s unfortunate that there aren’t more informational areas. I think that the groups with booths would do better to give codes to people that go online and follow them on Facebook or Twitter. Maybe even give redeemable raffle-ticket style codes or even tickets to people that demo items or watch presentations. I honestly didn’t look at any of the merchandise because I was spending so much time in line between Blizzard panels.

The typical introduction to a question at a Blizzard panel

When you get in line to ask a question at a Blizzcon panel, they give you a Mad-Libs style card to fill out. You read your filled out card before you ask your question. Here is verbatim what the card says:

[Generic salutation]. I just want to say I really think you guys are [synonym for "great"]. My name is [Insert your character's name here] from [Whatever your server is called] in the guild [Your guild name goes here.]. I have been playing for [# of years you've been playing] years. [List all the things you've done in game, no matter how trivial they may seem.]. I’m just wondering, because though I’m into the game enough to pay travel and ticket price to be here but still not enough to keep up with game-related news to know if this has been asked, [your question goes here. You must have a minumum of 7 "ummm"s in the way you ask.]

Panda-moan-iu-kemon

Either you love the idea of the Pandaren at Blizzcon, or you hated it. Personally, I don’t care for the Pandaren at all. They’re just not me. It would be really cool to have some other race for the Horde, but it ultimately doesn’t matter. Undead can be monks? Done, no need for a new race. I’m also not really interested in the pet battle system. It doesn’t really matter what group started the idea of pet battles first, it’s just not interesting. I really hope they don’t make it something you feel you need to do for a raid buff or pvp gear or some BiS items. Mini-games ruined a lot of console games for me.

Pros:

Meeting up with guild members IRL

I always have a blast hanging out with my guild mates online, and when we’re together in the real world it’s the same way. I got to meet/hang out with my long time WoW buddy Aldous (aka Boozekin). When you’re with a guy this funny, only zany hilarious things can happen. I look forward to next year’s Blizzcon in the hopes that we’ll get more guildies to come down to Anaheim for Boozecon 2012.

Kick ass food

If you’re even in Anaheim/Disneyland area you absolutely have to go eat at a little known place called the ESPN Zone. This is the ultimate sports bar, and their food is amazing. By some stroke of amazeballs luck, we ended up eating there twice. Homerun.

Free stuff

If you need a mousepad, go to Blizzcon. I think between the four people in my group we left with six or seven mousepads. One of us got a Razer trucker-hat. We won an SC2 Messenger Bag. I got a Razer SC2 headset. Several shirts. Free custom green-screen pictures of us riding a chicken. A free WoW novel. Not to mention the incredible goody bag that Blizzard themselves hands out, which included a mini Tyrael, a Murkablo in-game WoW pet, and as usual an authenticator.

Conclusion

I will go to Blizzcon again next year, time permitting. It’s just a lot of fun to be around a community of players that can come together and share their love of a gaming company in a positive way. I just hope next year’s goodie bag has a mini pet that actually gets attached to my account after I submit the code and throw it away in the hotel room…

Inevitably we all witness one player give advice to another. In any situation, giving advice can be a very tricky thing. It has the ability to forge positive relationships, but also to create resentment and even outright dislike. The fact of the matter is, you can’t avoid advice in the World of Warcraft. My hope is to give you some perspective on both how to give, and how to take, unsolicited advice.

What is “Unsolicited Advice”?

Many times, advice is sought after. In Guild Chat you might ask “Where is the best place to find [Insert Relevant Fish Here]?” and then receive what is known as “solicited advice”, or advice you actually wanted to hear. Whether you like the advice, or even the adviser, is an entirely different matter.

There is also a grey area between advice that you directly ask for, and advice that it is assumed you have agreed to receive. This includes things like a Raid Leader making a strategy suggestion, a Class Leader giving you rotation advice, or a Recruitment Officer making a profession choice recommendation. Players in structured groups are given advice all the time from the leadership without asking for it. It’s a part of how the group as a whole functions. Very similar to when a teacher or a boss makes a suggestion, it’s appropriate because that’s an assumed part of their role that people understand when they apply for the job or take the class.

Then there’s the controversial “unsolicited advice”, or, advice that you didn’t ask for but was given to you anyway. Chances are that if you’re familiar with the concept, you have an opinion one way or the other as to when/if giving unsolicited advice is appropriate.

When is Unsolicited Advice appropriate?

As I’ve already talked about, sometimes the appropriateness depends on the relationship between the person giving advice and the person receiving it. People that are ranked above you in whatever hierarchy you’re functioning in will expect you to accept this advice without problem. When a player is not a part of your guild or social circle, giving you advice can make it seem as if the adviser feels they are above you in experience and skill. Obviously, when you disagree with this determination, problems can arise. It is also appropriate to give advice to players that are essentially equals. This can be friends, family members, or people you get along well with.

When should you avoid giving Unsolicited Advice?

There are definitely some key moments to avoid giving advice to others. One of the most important times to avoid giving advice to others is when you’re not in charge. If you’re not the boss, why are you bossing people around?

Another time to be wary (and here comes the first time you’ll be saying “hey wait a minute, didn’t you just say….”) is when you and the player you’re trying to advise are technically equals. Remember that even though you and another player might be equals, and giving advice to someone at your level can often be seen as helpful, giving unsolicited advice can make it seem like you believe you aren’t actually equals at all. Needless to say, this can be taken as a general insult if not done carefully (See “Ways you can give Unsolicited Advice”).

Even worse than when the person is someone you know, is when the person you are talking to is someone you don’t know at all. There is almost no way to gauge how they will take your advice. If you want to keep things amicable, it’s best to just leave it alone. If you don’t know the player, chances are you won’t be interacting with them very often and your advice won’t help you in the long run anyway. Giving advice to a player you don’t know can also make them feel intimidated, and thus add stress to what might otherwise be a positive learning experience for them.

There were two situations competing for “absolute worst time to give advice” and the runner up was when you realize the recipient is just there to have fun, and they aren’t interested in improving their gameplay. Sometimes these are six year olds that get to play WoW for some reason. Other times they are people your own age that just aren’t concerned with doing amazingly. Think about all the people that say “D’s get degrees” and you’ll have an idea of who you’re dealing with.

The winner of the Most Inappropriate Time To Give Advice is definitely when the person already dislikes you. Considering that unsolicited advice can cause resentment and negative relationships, why on Azeroth would you give advice to someone that doesn’t care for you? Even if the advice is GREAT and 100% meant as a way to help them and not insult them, it’s just going to be received badly. Don’t do it. Advise someone else to do it.

Ways you can give Unsolicited Advice

Sometimes when I am running a random dungeon with a player that clearly could use some help, I can’t resist the urge to try to help them. I am a professional teacher, it’s what I’ve devoted my life to. Helping other people is what I practice and whenever I can I try to. The problem is, since none of these players signed up to be in my World of Warcraft class, they haven’t agreed to receive advice from me. So sometimes I just ask them (in /whisper and not in /party so that they aren’t put on the spot) “Are you open to some advice?” Sometimes players will just so “No” or “No, thanks”. Sometimes they respond with hostility. If they aren’t interested I simply reply with “No problem, sorry to bother you.” Does it always result in zero hostilities? Nope. But if they’re just not interested it often helps minimize any problems. If they do happen to say “yes”, then you’re in, advise away.

Another method I use, if I have the time to, is to open with a compliment and then add something that I like to do when playing and NOT something I think they SHOULD do. An example might be something like “Nice use of Hellfire. I like to use Soul Burn: Seed of Corruption to add some damage upfront.” Technically, you’re not (even though we both know you totally are) giving any advice at all. The player thinks you’re just talking about something you both enjoy doing. It’s more like showing off pictures of your Gaming Rig and just being a fan of tech stuff, rather than giving anyone direct advice.

You can also feign asking for advice when your true intention is to give advice. This one may go against some people’s personal ethics, but since you’re not their teacher you can’t ask them to demonstrate they’re in-depth understanding any other way.  The idea behind this method is to make the player you want to help (because if you’re giving advice without trying to help, what the hell are you up to?) feel one up on you. Do this by simply asking a question or making conversation. “Have you heard of this method?” “Do you think doing this is a good tactic?” “I’m working on getting better at ____.” Questions/statements like this give the player you want to help the opportunity to show you what their thought process is. It also gives them the chance to ignore you or brush you off. From this point, you can make a determination as to whether or not your advice is worth imparting.

How you can deal with receiving Unsolicited Advice

Sometimes dealing with unsolicited advice is as simple as thinking to yourself “Damn, that’s true. Glad they gave me that advice I didn’t ask for.” Unsolicited advice can be really helpful if you’re open to it. Other times, you really didn’t want the advice that someone tried to give you. There are a few “healthy” ways of dealing with this.

I like to estimate (since it’s hard to really know for sure) what the adviser’s intentions are. Maybe they’re someone friendly just trying to help. Maybe they’re angry with your performance. Are they angry and trying to help? At least they’re not resorting to direct insults. Maybe they are just jerks and using the advice as an indirect insult on purpose. Trying to know the intentions of the adviser usually helps avoid conflicts. If they’re trying to help, then be polite back and simply say “cool” and go about your business. If they are being jerks, how you handle that is really up to you, but I’d rather deal with it by avoiding further conflict, but any of my friends will tell you that I have been known to take on a player or two in the verbal arena.

Ignore the advice. Just say “thanks”. What can they really do?

Defend your practice. Yes, I did just use the word “practice” to describe your gameplay. All the best players are constantly practicing not only to maintain a level of sharpness, but to find ways to better themselves. I’m a Best Practice teacher, which means I’m always seeking more information and ways to make my teaching practice better. Would YOU want to go to a doctor (and yes, they “practice” medicine) that has been doing the exact same methods for 30 years? If you don’t need any advice, you should have an idea as to why you’re already correct and they aren’t. Defend your practice with well thought out reasons. Otherwise, maybe you do need some advice. Be open to that idea.

Anecdote time!

It’s funny to me that whenever I’m writing a post on a topic, a seriously good example of what I’m talking about always seems to happen to me. This time, I can’t avoid using it as an example of unsolicited advice. Both in dealing with receiving it, and in dishing it out. If you’re only wanting to read about direct information on the topic of Unsolicited Advice, read no further. If you want a tale of woe related to Unsolicited Advice, continue on.

Recently I PuGged into a Firelands run. This was run by a guild that I enjoy running things with. As is evident by the fact that I was running a dungeon with them, they often PuG to fill spots. The first thing you’ll want to know is that I was doing this raid on my Warlock. If there is one thing I know about in World of Warcraft, it’s how to play Warlock. I am open to advice, but it’s a rare occasion when I come across any Warlock info or strategy that I’m unaware of. You may call it arrogant, I call it “well informed.”

So I’m in this raid, on my Warlock, and we’re chipping away at Shannox, the generally accepted first boss. If you’re unfamiliar with the DPS role in this fight, Shannox has two dog adds that have different abilities. The one we were having trouble with was Rageface. Rageface will often use a move called “Facerage” to hammer a random target to death. You can divert Rageface’s attention elsewhere by hitting him with a damaging move that does a specific amount of damage or more.  Our group was having players die left and right because we weren’t landing a strong enough hit on Rageface in time. After a few failed attempts, another DPS was just moaning in vent saying things to effect of “Come on guys, nobody can get a 30,000 hit on Rageface? There’s no point in doing this fight if nobody can do it.”

Interestingly enough, he was the most qualified DPS in the group to achieve this hit. He had a ranged attack with a cooldown (that he could save for Facerages) that had a minimum hit of 32,000 damage. How did I know this? I used a combat log parsing addon to see what people’s abilities were hitting for.

His advice to the group, which was actually focused 100% towards me, was that we should not be splitting our damage between Rageface and another target. He wanted us to use whatever attacks we had that could break Facerage and those only. It was hard for me to choose what to point out to him first. Would I let him know that a.) As an Affliction Warlock the damage against my secondary target was passive or b.) that he himself wasn’t following his own advice.

I started by telling him “As an Affliction Warlock the damage against my secondary target was passive” to which he replied “Dude, I know about Warlocks, my main is a Warlock. You can look him up, his name is [Unimportant].” I didn’t bother to look up his Warlock. His earlier statement showed me that he didn’t really take the big picture into account. His advice continued with “You should go Destruction for this fight. When I cast blah blah blah and blah it breaks like instantly.” “Neat” I said “I won’t spec Destruction, especially when you can break 100% of the Facerages by yourself by using [Ability that did a minimum of 32,000 damage].” Realizing that he didn’t really know what he was talking about he muttered something along the lines of “Well, if you want me to I can, I just don’t know who is going to deal with the other dog.”

“That’s the first 100% true thing you’ve said tonight” I told him and then added “You take care of Rageface and I will take care of the other dog, while having passive Damage on the boss and blowing up Rageface. Affliction Warlocks can do that.”

[FIN]

I hope you’ve found this post informative or at least provocative. What do you think about unsolicited advice?

What is the name, class, and spec of your primary healer?

Currently, I would have to say Omegamegaman, Shaman, Restoration.

What is your primary group healing environment? (i.e. raids, pvp, 5 mans) 

10 man raids.

What is your favorite healing spell for your class and why?

Riptide hands down. It’s got the instant blast power of Holy Shock, with the “here’s a little something extra” of Renew. Couple that with the Tidal Wave buff it grants you, it’s just got a lot going for it. If you don’t like Riptide I don’t see how you can like Restoration Shaman.

What healing spell do you use least for your class and why?

Healing Surge, because it’s really inefficient. I hardly ever has a use for it because other spells are often times just as fast for a relatively equal amount of healing but way less mana.

What do you feel is the biggest strength of your healing class and why? 

Restoration Shaman moves seamlessly between multi-target and single-target healing. Whenever I play a healing class (and these days I play all of them) I always look for a way to fill in the gaps and I love how easy it is to do on Shaman.

What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your healing class and why?

That’s a truly hard question to answer, mostly because I never find myself wanting for improvements. If I had to pick something, and it’s not really a  big weakness in my eyes, I’d have to say it’s the fact that Restoration Shaman don’t have a very exciting talent tree. It would be nice to have a bit more in the playstyle department, as in talents to accentuate your own talents.

In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best healing assignment for you?

If it’s a healing assignment that I’m being held very strictly to, I’d say raid healing the melee dps. They are always pretty close to one another which makes both Chain Lightning and Healing Rain very easy and efficient to use.

What healing class do you enjoy healing with most and why?

I don’t want to choose just one, but I’m going to have to say Shaman because it suits my playstyle the best at the moment.

What healing class do you enjoy healing with least and why?

Hands down it has to be my Druid. I’m not a huge fan of what I can “Investment Based Healing”. You put a hot, and hope it matures in the $$$ and boss kills. Obviously, there are ways to reduce the risk involved and take the guessing out of it, but they way my guild raids currently we don’t use very strict healing assignments, just general ones. This leads to many of my HoTs being negated by quick cast heals from other players.

What is your worst habit as a healer?

Forgetting to weave in my mana cooldowns early so that I can get a second use in later, instead of an initial use later.

What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while healing?

Mostly when I have to work with other healers that don’t understand the synergy between the current healing comp. I keep advising healers to at least roll a low level version of every healer up to like, level 20 at least, so that they have a concept of how other specs work on the battlefield.

Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other healers for PvE healing?

Yes, definitely. In 25 man raids I would assume you have a little bit less freedom to do this, but in 10 mans you can take any three healers, even if they are all the same healer spec, and do a decent job. That’s balance in my opinion.

What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a healer?

Things like Recount and Skada are good to an extent. I run both at the same time. I like Skada mainly for gauging healing because it takes into account Absorbs as well as heals, which means you can easily see how much Discipline Priests are contributing. I also use tools like World of Logs to check my tactics compared to other Shaman to get different ideas and see if I’m on the right track.

What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your healing class?

People view Shaman as raid healers, which I generally refer to as “multi-target” healers. They’re quite good at this, but like I talked about above, they’re also endowed with great single-target healing which is often overlooked.

What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new healers of your class to learn?

How to use Chain Heal. There is this mystery that surrounds the mechanics for new healers, and I admittedly had trouble understanding it at first as well. I initially overcame this using a Grid status mod for Chain Heal, that lights up the units that would best benefit from a Chain Heal, and then I would point and shoot. Using the addon in this way helped make it obvious what situations were best for Chain Heal, and now I hardly pay any attention to the addon when it lights up frames.

If someone were to try to evaluate your performance as a healer via recount, what sort of patterns would they see (i.e. lots of overhealing, low healing output, etc)?

They would see that the majority of my overhealing is caused by spells that I don’t directly control, such as Earthliving procs and Earthshield heals.

Haste or Crit and why?

Haste. It’s dependable, no gambling is involved.

What healing class do you feel you understand least?

These days I would say Druid. I haven’t played it as much as my other healers and there are still some kinks I’m working out. Knowing the other healing classes as I do though, patterns do emerge and it’s getting better and better.

What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in healing?

I use Grid as my raid frames. I also use an addon called Tell Me When to create icons to show me the progress of cooldowns/buffs. I’ve also started using Weak Auras for visual heads up on things, but usually as an audio remind of when things come off cooldown are fall off my target.

Do you strive primarily for balance between your healing stats, or do you stack some much higher than others, and why?

I don’t worry about balance. One of the nice things, which will only get nicer as Cataclysm gets older, is Reforging. You can really customize your gear to fit your needs and that’s a beautiful thing. You need more throughput, reforge. You need more mana? Reforge. You need faster casting? Reforge. It’s just great.

If you had the opportunity to give a presentation to Blizzard Devs to propose the next Hero Class, what would your presentation say? If you blog, make a post about it and link it in the comments. The following is my process for coming up with my idea for the next Hero Class: The Dream Sage.

In order for a new class to still be considered a Hero Class, we need to follow the precedents already put in place by the Death Knight class. The first thing I needed to figure out was “where does this class fit in lore-wise?” For Death Knights, it was as simple as “This expansion is about the king of all Death Knights, we can have Death Knights.”

A new Hero Class would also likely be applicable to all races, so I knew I would need to find something that has a connection to both factions.

Death Knights also, initially, had the ability to be either a Tank or a DPS within each of their three talent trees. In Cataclysm, this was changed to make one tree designated specifically for tanking, and the other two for unique styles of DPS. I had to assume that Blizzard would want to apply the current Death Knight talent model to any new Hero Class, as opposed to their original concept. Because Death Knights had already given us a Tank hero, and a melee DPS hero, I was also working under the assumption that a new Hero Class would give us a Healer/Ranged hero. The question remained “Since healers are casters, would the ranged DPS necessarily have to be a caster as well?’

For the first Hero Class, players had to have a character that was level 55 in order to create a Death Knight. This Death Knight would start out as level 55. Presumably, Blizzard would want to enforce a similar requirement for creating any subsequent Hero Class character. I couldn’t find any information on exactly how Blizzard came to the number “55″.The only thing I could think of was that if you start at level 55, you’d be high enough level to start questing in Outlands. Perhaps a new Hero Class would start at 65, and allow players to start out in Northrend? Lore-wise this doesn’t make a great deal of sense to me, but then again neither does Death Knights running off to Outland For sure, just like with Death Knights, players should be restricted to one per realm.

There definitely has been a great deal of speculation about the next World of Warcraft  expansion, and I’m going to just work from the assumption that it will be based around the Emerald Dream. If this is the case, there are some definite things that will be included without fail. The biggest one I can think of is the Green Dragonflight. The GDF is quite possibly the faction most closely associated with the Emerald Dream, just as the Scourge was associated with the Lich King. As such, the Hero Class would likely be involved in the fight against the Emerald Nightmare.

As the Nightmare affects people in the waking world of Azeroth, the starting zone for new Dream Sages could be within the Nightmare itself. Players could go through a set of quests, like Death Knights do, that provide the back story while teaching them the basics of the Class playstyle. Perhaps Lucan Foxblood, assisted by the teachings of Hamuul Runetotem or possibly directly assisted by Hamuul Runetotem, could be a key player in giving the Dream Sages the ability to venture back and forth between the Waking and Unwaking. I think it would be quite appropriate for Dream Sages to have an ability that takes them into the Emerald Dream to train new spells, similar to Death Knights and Ebon Hold. It might even involve, instead of a Death Gate, just casting a spell and leaving their body behind as if they are Unwaking and not actually moving their corporeal body to the Dream.

As for unique mounts, considering that there are currently no Green Drake mounts in the game, this could be their unique mount. If nothing else, it could be their unique flying mount. As for a unique ground mount, maybe an Emerald Tiger of sorts, possibly something like a shadow-form-looking tiger, that is green in coloring.

Since there are three basic states that are involved in the Emerald Dream concept, these align perfectly with the three trees model for World of Warcraft talents. The Dream tree could be devoted to healing purposes. This goes right along with the culture and ethics of the Green Dragonflight. Dream spec healers could have spells that center around preventing damage, similar in a way to Discipline Priests.  Nightmare could be the caster DPS tree. Nightmare spec could be designed around doing damage via mental or psychological distress. Considering that in real life, there have been cases of psychosomatic illness and even death, why not in World of Warcraft? The most difficult tree, for me at least, to conceptualize is the Waking tree. The best thing that I could come up with, since I knew from the outset that I wanted two unique ranged DPS trees, was a tree that did physical damage via things that were “dreamed up” so to speak. Sadly, this would bear a striking resemblance to the way Green Lantern fights. What isn’t sad, is how cool it would be when it’s not based on having a super powered ring sent by some aliens. A Dream Sage specced into the Waking tree could conjure up an arsenal of things to use as projectile weapons.

As for a unique resource system, this was the most difficult part. How does one make a resource system that feels different from every other class?

An idea that I tossed around with a guildy of mine (aka Rades of www.orcisharmyknife.com) was to have a triangular meter that moves towards the direction of whatever tree you are favoring. Once you get to the point end of a specific tree, you gain the ability to enter an enhanced state based on the tree. This enhanced state would allow you access to improved existing abilities, or perhaps make combinations of abilities possible. For example, maybe the Nightmare tree has an ability called “Draw Spirit” that is an AoE stun that heals the caster based on the damage it does. A Dream spec player could move their resources to the Dream corner of the triangle, and then when they use “Draw Spirit” it instead is a heal to all friendly player it hits and gives them a HoT or a speed buff. There’s definitely a lot of potential there.

My other idea was to have a meter that is linear and is either depleted or filled based on what spells you use. This would be a tricky one to configure, as it has the potential to resemble the Holy Power resource for Paladins, Soul Shard resource for Warlocks, or even the Eclipse meter for Balance Druids. The concept would be that once you’ve got your resources ready, you can activate abilities that are specific to your talent tree. This would be like the system that the Conclave of Wind uses in Throne of the Four Winds where once their resource is full they use a special ability that is much stronger than their normal abilities.

In general I’m picturing a class that is built around the concept of pacifism, similar to the Green Dragonflight. Even when they do have to fight, it leaves the victims or survivors wondering if it was all just a dream or if it really happened. Translucent spears that pierce a chest but leave no wounds on the fallen opponent. Corruptions of natural forces fly in a volley leaving only dead Earth in their path. A maze of hedges grow around an attacker leaving them lost in their own despair. The damage has been done, or has it?

Only after creating the full-fleshed out concept for the Hero Class did I begin thinking of names. Dragon Knights? No, we have enough knights. Dream Guides? Like… with maps and binoculars? Dream Scholars? Isn’t playing WoW nerdy enough? Dream Sages? Yeah, “masters of the Unwaking world with the ability to manipulate the Dreams and the Nightmares of their foes” sounds pretty WoW-ish to me.

What do you think? What would you like to see in a new Hero Class?

Thanks for reading!  

Special thanks goes out to Rades of www.orcisharmyknife.com for helping me make reasonable lore connections and brainstorming this mammoth concept of an idea.

Harsh.

I really can’t believe the questions that were asked. I also really really can’t believe the questions that were chosen. If that wasn’t bad enough, the answers given were so nondescript that I’m not sure they’re appeasing anyone.

In response to this, I have chosen to answer the questions myself, and I highly encourage you to do the same. Considering that most of the questions weren’t development questions, but instead “Why isn’t this working for me?” questions, I think the community at large are best equipped to answer. 

Q: I spend a lot of my time in raids keeping Water Shield up, which I rely on to maintain enough mana. There have been times I’ve neglected to heal someone because I had to refresh Water Shield. Why are shaman healers less effective compared to other healing classes?

Water Shield is a great mana resource. If you think about it, most healers have to sacrifice a lot more healing time or healing effectiveness than shaman to replenish their mana. If any class should be complaining about replenished mechanics it’s paladins. If you don’t know other healers mana cooldowns and mechanics, it would serve you well to get familiar with them.

As for refreshing Water Shield when someone needs a heal, you have to prioritize healing over mana cooldowns.

Also, if you’re using Water Shield mechanics as a reason that shaman are less effective you’re focusing on the wrong area. All healing specs have their strength and maybe the playstyle of shaman isn’t for you. Shaman is an excellent “hybrid” healing spec in the way that you can provide significant tank healing, and also significant raid healing. Going between these two strengths can be quite fluid with practice.

Q: Is it intended for “smart” heals and target capped aoe spells to heal companions/pets like bloodworms instead of players? Can you redesign Shaman’s Chain Heal, so that it can jump over full HP players to a target without full HP? Do you have any plans to make chain heal stronger/more appealing for 5man/10man content?

If Chain Heal is hitting things like bloodworms or full health targets, I would argue that you didn’t actually need to use Chain Heal. The heal can hit 4 total targets, and to use it on less than 3 injured target is a waste. I would even say it’s a waste on less than 4 targets unless they are taking sustained AoE damage. In general, a Riptide and then two quick Healing Waves (from Tidal Waves proc) is a more efficient and precise way to heal than a Chain Heal.

If you’re asking for Chain heal to be able to jump indefinite range that would be far too powerful of a heal spell.

I would encourage you to get used to using Riptide, Healing Wave x2, and then Chain Heal on the target with Riptide, Healing Wave x2, etc.

I personally use Chain Heal quite effectively in 10 man content. It was a bit hard to make good decisions with it at first, but you soon learn to see the lay of the land, and understand logically when the spell will be worthwhile. If you really are having issues using it efficiently, I highly recommend GridStatusChainHeal in conjunction with the addon Grid. The basic rule I follow with Chain Heal is this: Use Chain heal if a visible group of players will be taking sustained damage or if a visible group of players will need several heals to get to full health. Even when I do use chain heal, it’s almost never twice in a row unless it’s incredible sustained damage, otherwise I’ll weave in Healing or Greater Healing Waves.

Q: At the start of Cataclysm, the the idea was given that developers wanted to step away from niche healing and let all healers be capable tank or raid healers. Has this goal since changed? Is there any plan to change the dogma “Holy Paladin = Tank healer”? As I remember, devs said that they wanted to change this formula in a past interview but Holy Paladins are still considered as a tank healer, indispensable for raid. Even thought other healers can heal tankers, there are people who say that this job is hard for other healers.

As I mentioned in a previous answer, every healing class has strengths and weaknesses. Also, every player has strengths and weaknesses. Add this to the stereotypes we developed during Wrath of the Lich King  and you’ve got a formula for class/spec specific healer roles.

It would be a serious mistake to make all healers equally good at all aspects of healing. If that were the case, you would instead be complaining about “why don’t all healers have identical cooldowns, buffs, and utility based abilities.

I hate to repeat myself even more, but “If you don’t know other healers mana cooldowns and mechanics, it would serve you well to get familiar with them.” I have raided on every healing class and spec since Cataclysm started. I would go so far as to say that I’m fairly competent with all of my healers.

That being said, while Paladins do have a great single-target arsenal, they are also capable of doing excellent raid healing. Just because a healing class doesn’t have several multi-target spells doesn’t mean they can’t raid heal. Paladins for instance can beacon a target, while using Holy Shock, Holy Light, and Word of Glory on multiple targets in quick succession. Combine this, with their Protector of the Innocent talent which heals yourself and you’ve got quite a bit of quick healing going out.

Shaman, as I’ve talked about already, have the ability to heal many targets quickly, as well as focus fire those heals all into one target to tank heal. Add Earth Shield to the mix, and they can cover any role.

Priests have great tools in both specs. Power Word: Shield for Discipline Priests is a great way to buy healers some time to get to a player in need of some help. Prayer of Mending is excellent and efficient healing for both specs. Circle of Healing does wonders if you know where to aim it. Both specs have great single-target throughput.

Druids are also quite versatile. Usually falling under the opposite extreme of the stereotype, Druids have great raid healing options. Wild Growth is an Smart HoT with a huge range. Lifebloom can be kept up on a tank, along with Rejuvenation and Nourish spamming will do wonders on a tank. Procs of Omen of Clarity allow for free casts of Healing Touch or Regrowth giving you even more great single-target throughput.

All of that being said, it’s about your playstyle. Once I realized that each healer has to view the battlefield and treatment of situations very differently, I realized that it wasn’t the class that was the issue in a situation, it was my lack of knowledge in how to best deal with it given my toolkit. Are certain roles easier on certain specs? That really just depends on you. Blizzard has done a great job of helping to eliminate the role gaps.

Q: Are you still considering creating a new heroic class of healer? Are there any plans for adding any new class with a healing talent tree in future expansions?

While I can’t give an “answer” response to this, I’d like to weight-in and say that I don’t think Blizzard should make a “healer” hero class. They should make a hero “caster” class. Since our one and only current precedent for defining what a hero class is would be Death Knights, I would make the claim that they’re not a “DPS” or “Tank” hero class, so why should we have a hero “Healer” class? Death Knights are a hero “Melee” class, with a tanking option. I would personally love a hero caster class. One tree can definitely be for healing, but the other two should be for DPS and, Devs willing, the first caster Tank?

Wishful thinking.

Q: What are the developers’ thoughts on perhaps giving Discipline priests three strengths/types of shields/absorbs, in a similar manner as all other healers have three main heals? Discipline priests (especially those purely going for absorb) always were unique through this absorb, I mean: Shields. Why does this become shorter and shorter, always saying we should go for direct healing instead? In that case you could play another healing class that has better direct heals.

Discipline Priest has Heal, Flash Heal, and Greater Heal. I count 3. Add to this Penance. Add to that Power Word: Shield. I count 5 spells that help undo or prevent damage. It’s all about knowing when to use what. Discipline Priest also has the option to spec into Smite providing a Smart heal which is situationally optimal.

As for having different strengths and types of absorbs, they actually already do. Don’t forget about Divine Aegis and Power Word: Barrier. With Power Word: Shield, that’s 3.

I’m not exactly sure what the question is asking when they say “those purely going for absorb”. Discipline Priest have never been about absorbs only and no direct healing. If that’s what you’re hoping for, it simply doesn’t exist. They changed the way Power Word: Shield worked because it was approaching a severely reduced need for direct healing model. By the end of Wrath of the Lich King Discipline Priests were able to contribute a huge amount of damage mitigation via shields alone. The Cataclysm change led to a definite playstyle difference, but an overall more versatile one.

Q: When healing, it is hard to see the overall screen because healers must keep an eye on the Raid frame. And due to PVP balance issues, dispels are only allowed for healer’s. This situation makes it too harsh for the healers and gives to much responsibility and also a burden because healers have to heal and move at the same time during raids. Isn’t this a little too harsh?

I’m not sure I would use the word “harsh”. Maybe “hard” instead? But even then I wouldn’t use it because it’s equally difficult for all other roles during raids.

It sounds to me like the problem is being able to see both the field of battle and the Raid Frames at the same time. If that’s your issue, getting a Unit Frames addon for healing (Grid, Heablbot, Vuhdo, etc.) might be your solution. You can resize any of these addons and also place them wherever is most convenient for you. I have my Raid Frames just off to the left from where my character is centered on my screen.

I’m assuming the player that asked this question doesn’t drive, or at least, I hope they don’t. Let’s rephrase this question from the viewpoint of a driver:

When driving, it is hard to see the overall surroundings because drivers must keep an eye on the road. And due to safety issues, licences are only allowed for certain ages. This situation makes it too harsh for the drivers  and gives too much responsibility and also a burden because drivers  have to watch their speed and navigate turns at the same time while driving. Isn’t this a little too harsh?

Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Well for many drivers, at first, it can be a lot to keep track of. With experience, the bulk of it becomes second nature, and all you do have to worry about are the variables such as when to stop or turn etc. It’s the same with raiding and PVP. I’ve got a feeling that with more experience the person that asked this question will come back to it and have a good laugh.

Q: Healers are usually responsible for the loss of the teammate, but not all the mistakes are made by healers, such as over taunt or damage zone avoidance. This also happens in the 5 man dungeons frequently. Is there any chance to add a design to punish damage classes with inappropriate behavior? Is there ever going to be a clear indicator that the indivdual died from “unhealable damage” in combat logs/on screen warning?

There already are clear indicators. They just fly by on your combat log way too fast. It would definitely be nice for Blizzard to add some kind of option for the chat that announces what killed someone.

Even this though, can be misleading. Say for instance someone was low on health from damage that could have been healed through, but then was killed by something else that should not have killed them. This data can be read in the wrong way.

There are addons, such as Recount, that not only keep track of who has died, but also will show you a short timeline of what damage and healing the player took leading up to their death. This sheds huge light on what was really responsible for the player’s death. If Blizzard has a system that said “Nofuneral was killed by Engulfing Magic” for instance. On the face of it it would look like the player with Engulfing Magic, which explodes damage all around the player with the debuff, didn’t move fast enough. After close examination of an addon like Recount, you might discover that Nofuneral actually didn’t receive any healing for 20 seconds prior to his death, and that Engulfing Magic should not have been able to kill him.

Most groups I have ever been a part of either understand how to determine the cause of a death, or they do not. Groups that have to guess, are usually incorrect. Then someone whips out the Blame-thrower and tempers flare, people leave, etc.

As for 5-mans, I assume the player asking the question has had negative experiences using the Looking For Group tool. I think it’s very very bad idea to punish players that are still learning and making mistakes. You already the ability to kick players that are doing things that are beyond tolerable.

Q: How do you plan on addressing our inflating spirit and mana pools later in the expansion to keep mana a resource, rather than a solid blue bar? Do you plan to preserve a principle of rational use of mana, which makes it interesting to play a healer? In the beginning of Cataclysm we had to use almost every spell to succeed, while now everything is about pushing a couple of your best healing spells. With the release of a new patch the level of equipment will raise significantly, and we won’t have to think about mana regeneration any more. Do you plan to somehow adjust encounters or healing mechanics perhaps?

If I remember correctly, and I do, they are reducing the number of items in tier 12 that have spirit. So, while I can’t speak directly for the Devs, I’d say yes, they do have a plan.

Q: Are there any plans to give Holy Priests access to a viable 3-minute raid cooldown? There are concerns that without a cooldown along the lines of Power Word: Barrier, Spirit Link Totem, or Tranquility, we may need to play disc a lot in firelands. Maybe simply an improved Divine Hymn?

Firstly, I find it interesting that this is a Holy Priest specific question. No mention of giving Paladins a raid cooldown…

Holy Priests have some of the most amazing raid heals. Prayer of Mending is great. Prayer of Healing is amazing AND has no cooldown. Holy Word: Sanctuary has some definitely great uses. I’m not really sure where the need for a healing cooldown comes into play. That said, it sure would be nice for Divine Hymn to have a shorter cooldown…

Q: Looking at the healer changes with patch 4.2, there are changes being made to paladins and druids, but there doesn’t appear to be any for either the priest or shaman. Do you feel comfortable with where these two classes are? Where do you feel the other healers are at currently?

Paladins and Druids were in serious need of a change. Paladins had a virtually inexhaustible mana supply, and that needed to be accounted for. By increasing the cost of most of the Paladin’s direct healing arsenal, Paladins are forced to be more mindful of efficiency

Druids on the other hand needed an increase to their direct healing to really be competitive (not viable) as single-target healers. The change to their mastery helps this quite a bit, and I’m speaking from direct and recent experience.

Priests and Shaman were fairly balanced with regard to mana use and healing in single and multi-target situations. I know that I feel comfortable with where these two classes are.

As for the other healers, I personally didn’t gel well with Druid healing until they made this change, and it couldn’t come at a better time as I’m having to heal on and off on my Feral Druid in order to keep my Druid in the raid. Paladins don’t feel any different to me because I always try to heal as efficiently as possible, even when I really don’t need to. It’s just more fun to me that way. I have heard many Paladins elaborate on new efficiency tactics that you might want to look in to if you’re having issues with the changes.

Q: What is the reasoning behind certain classes that lack a healing spec (such as a rogue) being able to self-heal better than a dps spec of a healing class (such as a balance druid)?

More guesswork for me. I’ll say this- each DPS class that lacks a healing spec has a means with which to heal themselves. They may not all be ideal for every scenario, but they have their ways. This was not always the case.

It’s also quite difficult to balance this within the PVP environment. Classes that don’t have endless control abilities, or that have to do their damage from close range generally will need more healing abilities than ones that can do everything from range and have lots of spacing and control abilities. It’s quite a leap to make the claim that Rogues have better self healing than Balance Druids, but even if they mathematically do, it goes back to the statement that ranged/control classes don’t need the healing as much.

Q: With the changes being made to critical heals, do you feel that crit will become a more prominent stat for healers, up there with haste and mastery? Or is it a less important change aimed at balancing between the pve and pvp aspects of the game?

Let me answer your question with another question:

Q: Would you rather gamble to ensure your needs are met, or get a dependable paycheck?

My answer to my question that answers your question is this- I’d rather get a dependable paycheck, especially since I’m doing some gambling on the side no matter what.

Things like Haste and Mastery in general are better stats for healers, with exception being Shaman because it’s generally best to reforge for whatever best fits the situation. They are better because they are consistent. Adding Haste will ensure that spells are consistently faster, which yields a consistent increase. Crits, even at higher Crit rates, are a gamble. The spell might  Crit. It might ever be extremely likely  to Crit. But that’s still a scenario you can’t count on due to inconsistency.

As for the changed being aimed at balancing between PVE and PVP, how much a heal that might Crit heals for isn’t a good way to balance, and PVP players won’t be able to get enough Crit to really make it an impressive change.

Q: Do you feel that the three-heal model you implemented at the start of Cataclysm is a success? Have you changed your expectations or goals in regards to the three-heal model after watching a tier of raiding? How do you feel about how the various specs are using or avoiding these three core heals?

I’m not sure how you would gauge that the system is a success unless you first state what you’re trying to accomplish. Let’s look at some of the interpretations and their “success”:

If the three-heal model was trying to…

…force healers to be more efficient then it has  worked to a certain extent. No healing class can continuously cast their fast-inefficient heal or their slow-large-amount heal without running out of mana. Each healing class has options in their toolkit outside of their base three heals that make them unique and diverse.

…homogenize the basics of the healing classes then it definitely was successful. That was the very first thing I noticed when the changes were implemented prior to Cataclysm. It’s not making any of the specs any less unique, but what it does do is give them all equal ground to start from. Tanking specs and DPS specs have worked from the same kind of basic framework forever. It’s nice that healers have a primer now as well.

…fix World of Warcraft for everyone and also save Giftsmas then it was a terrible failure and everyone hates you for reminding us of how bad things really are.

What’s truly nice about the three core heals is that they weave in and out of each classes unique abilities to help accommodate a wide range of playstyles, and that’s really the best case scenario in a game with millions of different users.

And now, since I answered questions, I have one of my own…

Q: Why can’t Druid Tree Form just be something that you can’t be locked out of so that way we can have it back as a permanent form like every other Druid still has?

Because I am not a Dev.

If you want to steal my idea, please do so. If you think I’m wrong, let’s get a discussion going.

Also, please please please check out http://nofuneral.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/developing-wow-podcast-seeks-input/

He's got the face for radio.

Ever since I first saw the Figureprints.com character statues I was interested in having one. The issue for me is getting one, and then some greater looking gear comes out. I would want a different immortalization of my character, but I’d be stuck paying more. This is especially a bad scenario for me because the pricing is somewhat high for me. They must be pretty nice quality though at $69.95 USD for a bust and $129.95 USD for the statue.

My solution, because I’m going to get one eventually, is to wait until I’m done with WoW altogether.

Not to get too sentimental about a group of people you likely don’t know, but the idea of WoW being over is kind of sad for me. Not because it will mean my gaming hobby is over. (There will always be more games to play, hell, Blizzard might even make a good enough successor to WoW.) I get sentimental because of the great group of people that I have met and played with over the years. The idea of moving on from WoW isn’t difficult, and some days it’s downright exciting, but moving on from my WoW friends will be tough if it comes down to that. I’m really not sure what other games they like to play. Some of them I do *coughMinecraftcough* but most of them I have no idea what online game(s) we could play together. There may be a few people that move on from online gaming to have families or more time consuming careers. I suppose only time will tell.

But when the end of days comes to the World of Warcraft, I will put together all my favorite gear items on my Warlock (and maybe another character) and log out. I will point my browser (unless we develop something better by then) to www.Figureprints.com, and I will create my order and get a nice piece of memorabilia.

Someday, my kids will ask me “Dad, seriously, WHAT is that?” while pointing at the Figureprints Darthlacinis. To which I will reply “Sit down, child, and I will spin you a tale about adventure, and boredom. About successes and epic failures. Life and death. Dragons and prairie dogs. Friends and trolls. A story of how a group of people that were originally a ska band came together to defeat the world (of wacraft’s) greatest evils…

…this is the tale of Darthlacinis.”

All too often guilds think that if they’re all friends, all great players, or even without any restrictions that things will work out naturally. It doesn’t matter if your guild considers itself to be “casual”, you need to have a certain level of organization. Even if your guild is hardcore, your members need a reason to stick around beyond just progression and loots. A few of my friends and I are working on creating a podcast geared towards finding that balance between what some people consider to be “casual” and others would call “hardcore”.

Defining “Casual” and “Hardcore”

Trying to state what makes a guild either “casual” or “hardcore” is a source of much debate in the WoW community. My favorite WoW Insider columnist, Scott Andrews, makes a great point by saying:

It is impossible to define [casual and hardcore] in terms of playtime. Someone who plays a game 20 hours per week might be considered hardcore when compared to someone who only plays for 5 hours per week, while someone who plays for 80 hours might consider the 20-hour player to be casual.

If your game is words-have-a-definite-answer-so-stop-playing-around, I can play that game too. Let’s see how it goes when we enter the words “casual” and “hardcore” into the word-o-matic 2000.

The word “casual” is defined in a number of ways. Some definitions describe the word as meaning “by chance” or “by accident”. So, would a casual guild be a guild that does things by chance or accident, like monkeys are at the keyboard? Other definitions use words like “unconcerned” or “apathetic”. So, are some guilds made up of robots? The definitions that probably come closest to the way we often use the word casual to describe guilds are “occurring without regularity”, “informal”, and “not premeditated”. You could understand “without regularity” as meaning not often. What it actually means is not happening on a regular basis. “Informal”, assuming we’re not talking about guild attire, means without requirements, customs, or conventions. It’s impossible to play WoW without adhering to some requirements etc., it’s just a part of doing anything as a group. The one that strikes me a hilarious is “not premeditated”. So… could we call some guild activities “2nd degree raiding”? I could just see a group saying “Oh, my god, what have I done!? We killed this boss! I didn’t mean to! You gotta believe me!” I would say that using the word “casual” to describe anything that a guild does together in WoW is something of a misnomer.

Hardcore is a really tricky word to get congruent definitions for. It’s definitely an idiomatic term in the way that neither “hard” nor “core” seem to have any bearing on how we tend to use the word. One of the most common definitions of hardcore is “resistant to change” or “unable to escape a negative condition”. It’s unlikely that any successful guild that calls themselves “hardcore” would be resistant to change. A guild has to adapt to achieve goals and stay interesting for its members. The other most common definition can be condensed down to “unswervingly committed”. This is a definition that would allow us to apply the term to individuals, but whether we could apply it to all guilds that call themselves hardcore is questionable.

The Continuum

Do the terms “casual” and “hardcore” need to be antonyms? Can they operate within a continuum? Why not? The words are relative. This means that they are subject to your point of view. Here’s an example:

FitnessGuy1 works out all the time. Compared to me, this guy is a hardcore fitness junky. Compared to him, I’m casual at best.

FitnessGuy2 works out all the time and eats raw egg yolks. FitnessGuy1 thinkgs eating egg yolks is hardcore.

FitnessGuy3 is a bodybuilder who is more ripped than the Incredible Hulk’s purple pants. He thinks that we’re all a bunch of casual dorks.

Essentially, you can’t refer to anything as being casual or hardcore without first comparing it to something else. It’s the same as short and tall. Fast and slow. Closer or farther. Casual or hardcore.

Even if we agree on what these terms mean, they can still exist in a continuum instead of a linear system. If you are “casual” and then you step up your “coreness” towards being more “hardcore”, you are approaching “Max Potential Hardcore”. This isn’t your personal potential, but instead the potential that exists for all players to an amount that is the absolute most. Conversely, you would approach “Most Chillax Casual”. What’s beyond either of these two extremes? A “Non-Existent Level of Gameplay”. You can’t be more hardcore than the most hardcore. You can’t be more casual than the most casual. This state of gameplay just doesn’t exist, and thus is essentially equal no matter what direction you approach it from.

You are HERE

We need to tread carefully when applying labels to things. This goes far beyond the confines ow WoW. We use labels to simplify the difficulty in understanding the world around us. This habit of course follows us into WoW. We also use labels to promote psychological welfare (or to do damage) or to differentiate ourselves from what we prefer not to be. Something that has stayed with me ever since the first time I saw the movie “Wayne’s World” is the quote, originally by Søren Kierkegaard, “Once you label me you negate me.” If you want to prove this, organize a guild and label it “casual” or “hardcore” . Right away you’re setting not only and expectation, but a limitation.

So my real question for you is not what your idea of what casual and hardcore are, but what issues come up that have to do with balancing these two extremes? One of the things I feel my guilds does very well is to maintain this kind of balance. We manage to meet the needs of our serious raiders and of our just-for-fun players. Often times we do this simultaneously. Any input to help this podcast get up and running would be most welcome.

Thanks for reading!