style="">Raiders Don’t Know
Jack

This
article is in response to what href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/72813">Messiah
penned
not too
long ago about 95% of the people who play style="">World
of Warcraft being pretty bad
players. First off let's be honest,
I'm confident that 95% of the players pull stats out of their backsides
and only 5% give a hoot. I’m using nicer language
but
essentially the story and following postings went along the lines of
“if you
aren’t raiding in Tier 9+ gear and know every facet of
end-game
encounters,
then you don’t know how to play.” I take issue with
plenty
of items that href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=45460">were
posted in response to the article
and since I have the soapbox,
I’m going to
use it.

class="MsoNormal">You must be this uber
cool to hang with me.

class="MsoNormal"> style="width: 284px; height: 281px;" alt="Uber_Ring"
src="/image/view/74468">

Before
we get into the meat of the article,
I’d like to
relay two thoughts. My first thought revolves around happiness or the
lack
thereof. Some of the most miserable people I know in the real world are
also
the wealthiest. I don’t mean they don’t worry about
bills,
I mean they don’t
have to work. They can travel, they can buy just about anything they
want, and
they are hopelessly miserable. They don’t seem to notice, but
they have no
tolerance for the clerks checking them into the hotels, or the server
that just
tried to be friendly. All of these lesser dressed people are morons in
the eyes
of the elite. Just keep that thought in your back pocket as you watch
the chat
scroll by in Dalaran with people demanding gear and achievement checks
before
they let you into a run of Heroic Violet Hold for some lousy badges. I
feel
pity not jealousy for these poor gear-blinded people.

My
second thought centers
on the fact that there is no debate between hardcore and casual. The
debate is
only among the hardcore individuals because casual players
don’t
care. For
there to be a rivalry both sides must acknowledge the other.
It’s
similar to
the Dallas versus Houston rivalry in Texas. Dallas has great disdain
for
Houston, but Houston doesn’t even know it. It’s
really
quite sad; the only
thing worse than being looked down upon is being irrelevant.

style="">Puzzlecraft, or It’s
not about Class.

style="width: 276px; height: 269px;" alt="Puzzlecraft"
src="/image/view/74469">

It’s
fairly evident that a raider is going
to know more
about maxing out DPS, and how to itemize their gear with one specific
talent
spec for a specific end-game boss fight than someone who has never been
to the
instance. I’ve met quite a few “raiders”
who could
find the “best in slot”
gear, and then stand where they were supposed to and hit the three
buttons they
needed to hit to survive a boss encounter. I wouldn’t call
that
“knowing your
class.” Blizzard has veered away from class mechanic
requirements
and made the
encounters puzzles. If you know the pattern, then you can beat the
encounter,
period. I would contend that people who know the encounter can beat the
encounter on any class in almost any gear.

class="MsoNormal"> 

style="">THAT’S A 50 DKP MINUS

style="width: 250px; height: 181px;" alt="50DKP"
src="/image/view/74465">

Ultimately,
who has more fun? I have never heard
so many
people get pissed off than I have during raids. Whether there is loot
drama or
the fact that one (or more) persons is a moron, people get really and
truly
angry. I’m not sure who has fun in that situation, but it is
sure
as heck isn’t
me. If I want loot drama I’ll talk to my wife about shopping
and
see how she
just ninja’d new patio furniture and I had to pass on my new
big
screen TV. I
guess I need more DKP (Diaper Kleaning Points) for the TV.

class="MsoNormal">

style="">Knowing instances is
not the same as knowing the game.

Issue
number 16 (who’s counting?) I’m
not sure how knowing
less than 1% of the overall game experience translates into knowing the
game,
but it appears that raiding is the only way to have street cred in WoW.
I’d put
my friend Loremaster Cheekymonkey up against almost anyone in a head to
head
game of Jeopardy on WoW knowledge. An avid adversary of raiding, he has
forgotten more about WoW than most people will ever know. You would be
hard
pressed to say he’s a noob.

The
sad reality for raiders wanting street cred
really comes
with the nerfing of the game. With the ease in which guilds are blowing
through
the content, can people still feel a sense of pride for beating the
game? Not
in its current state, maybe when Icecrown Citadel launches. Heck,
I’m more
impressed when my merry band of jackhole guildmates can jump on alts
and clear
instances while chatting on vent about how my wife ninja’d my
TV
(I’m not
bitter). You guys can still stand in Dalaran and act all puffy if you
want to
though, I’m sure someone will be impressed (is that you
Peacock?).

class="MsoNormal">Raiding Dalaran, the
Toughest Raid of All
style="width: 350px; height: 319px;" alt="Raiding Dalaran"
src="/image/view/74467">
"Can
I join your raid? I'm nice and
people like me."

"Piss off, did you see my Amani Bear?"

style="">End-game

At the
end of the day, it’s all about what
you enjoy. Some
people enjoy the nano-micrometer approach of squeezing all they can out
of a
character class and working as an integral group to beat new
encounters. Other
people enjoy doing “whatever sounds fun tonight.”
Both
parties are right, and
neither is going to change the other’s mind, but that
doesn’t stop us from
trying. Play the way you want to play and with the people that help you
reach
your goals. If your goal is to have a level 80 of every class, then go
for it.
If you are languishing in the 70s and have been since February
(I’m looking at
you Cody), then you can do that too. Enjoy the game, and more
importantly, let
others enjoy it the way they want to, not the way you think everyone
should
play.


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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