Project Lore

We live in a different world than we did a year ago. We have the ability to check some boxes, press a button, and be handed a (theoretically) well-composed group and a dungeon to entertain us as much as we like. A year ago, you had to actually make friends, get to know people, and plan for this sort of thing or be satisfied with spamming trade chat for hours to build a questionably competent group. A lot of people praise the new Dungeon Finder system for being able to do such a fantastic job. I loved it so much, I used it exclusively to level my Death Knight from level 75 to 80. In that leveling process, I found groups instantly when I queued as a tank, and generally other players were gentle with helping me learn how to tank. I played with quite a few people who had no idea what they were doing, but it was magnitudes faster and more rewarding than trying to build my own group to do these non-80 instances. The story changed when I hit level 80. There are many more level 80 players than there are leveling players in any 10 level range, and there are many more level 80s using the Dungeon Finder tool than low leveled players. This is partially due to the excellent reward of 2 Emblems of Frost for the first random heroic completed each day. Players looking to earn Emblems of Triumph often complete subsequent random heroics, as they award an additional 2 Emblems of Triumph to the 3-5 Emblems of Triumph already dropping in dungeons. Having experienced the 10-20 minute queue as DPS class (Rogue) for some weeks, there was no way I would be queuing as a DPS on my Death Knight and waiting needlessly. In fact, because I had been tanking for the last few levels, I had no DPS gear. If I wanted to DPS, I would play my geared Rogue. The Dungeon Finder tool does a good job of excluding dungeons that a player does not have good enough gear to attempt. As a fresh 80, I was unable to queue for (or be placed into) the harder heroics, and in the majority of the groups, all of the other players are very well geared with tier 9 (or better) gear. A lot of the times I would receive responses like:

• "I have more health than the tank lawl"
• "omg get better gear"
• "Are you defense capped? Its a requirement to tank heroics."
• [Player leaves party]

It is no worry to me if someone leaves. The LFG system places new healers or DPS into the group instantly, and most players don't want to wait 15 minutes to attempt another dungeon. At first I pulled at a decent pace, keeping an eye on the healers mana, but as I got better gear, I pulled more and more and faster and faster. With a well geared and talented healer, its no trouble at all to tank heroics in subpar gear. The kicker for me was when players flamed me and told me I should get better gear, especially to the defense cap, before attempting to tank heroics. Do you know how much gear it takes to reach the defense cap if you can't get gear from heroics, and subsequently Emblems? It is a lot of work. My options were:

1. Tanking regular instances, dealing with undergeared players, not receiving emblems for my time invested, and replacing this gear upon tanking heroics.
2. DPSing (poorly since I lack gear) in random heroics, for which I would have to wait 20 minutes for per dungeon, and have to deal with loot drama if a tank wanted tanking gear that dropped.
3. Jumping right in to tanking heroics with overgeared players and grinding out tier 9 from Emblems of Triumph while obtaining better gear from the heroics.

To me the choice was obvious. I enchanted and gemmed my gear with care to reach the defense cap as quickly as possible, which made it possible to tank raids and gave me some leeway on my healer's gear and skill. The only downside is dealing with the M&S complaining about my completely logical decision. The claim that there are strict requirements for tanking is completely player imposed and not a game mechanic. In fact, the incentive of an instant queue driving me and other new tanks to tank is exactly what drives down the queue time for the DPS and healers. The philosophy that it is somehow impolite or inconvenient to be a new and undergeared tank using the LFG tool intrinsically limits the number of tanks beginning to tank heroics, encourages potential tanks to DPS, and worsens the queue. Would you prefer a 10 minute queue and a 20 minute dungeon run or a 30 minute queue and a 15 minute dungeon run? Not only is the former more fun, its also less time for the exact same reward. To be fair, the tanks performance is a larger proportion of the groups success than any other role, and I looked at "low-hanging fruit" to upgrade my gear, such as iLvl 213-219 from normal Trial of the Champion or Forge of Souls. Unfortunately, the queue for these instances is non-instant, even long, as a tank, as so few players do regular instances at level 80. It has less players and less geared players to choose from and creates "worse" groups. For one Trial of the Champion run, my Death Knight tank was grouped with 3 Death Knight DPS, all of whom rolled against be for tanking gear. I came out of the instance with no gear and spent a long time in there with undergeared players after waiting in a long queue. The incentive just isn't there when compared with tanking heroics. I'm not the only one who thinks this way. The official WoW Twitter account featured a thread on the WoW Europe forums called "Don't Spank the Tank" with some suggestions and commentary:

Many people have been asking questions regarding the shortage in tanks. Therefore I have decided to make a short "guide" on what "prevents" people from tanking/scares tanks away, and how we ALL can work on the solution (in other words increase the number of people who are willing to tank) , or at least decrease the number of tanks that we scare away. "Low" gear and hitpoints : Nobody starts off in full epic gear, and most instances do not require it either. Still the tank gets made fun of when he/she has some blue gear. Instead of flaming the tank, help out a little if you think the tank may have some trouble staying alive. - If you are a full epic and experienced healer, you should have no trouble to keep up a lower geared tank. - Dps with some healing abilities can throw in a heal as well if needed ( don't look at your dps meters, not important). - Use abilities to lower the damage caused by the mobs. - Use crowd control. "Gogogogogogogogogogogogogo": This actually enrages basicly every tank, it's pushing and annoying, and could easily be replaced by: "I'm ready " or "Pull when you are ready". - If you want your tank to accidentaly let you die, use gogogogo. - If not, just use a more friendly way to let the tank know you want to move on. - Give the tank some time to get ready, find out what is the best way to pull the mobs, regain mana/rage etc. - Keep in mind that the Tank might be waiting for the healer to be on full mana. - Don't pull. And by that I really mean, don't pull. If you're out of luck, the tank and healer will just let you die.

The Dungeon Finder does a fantastic job of matching players who might need gear from heroics (like my Death Knight) with those with the gear, skill, and knowledge to teach and help them. I am a very knowledgeable WoW player and was quick to pick up on the intricacies of tanking. Don't make assumptions, and consider the best personal decision before leaving a group or going off on a tank. Its easy to be rude and emotional, as you will probably never see the players in your group again (and if you do probably won't remember them), but it is worth your time to be intelligent and thoughtful about your decisions.

A Tribute to Addons is a column featuring new, cool, or useful addons. Send a tweet to @Heartbourne or @Projectlore with your suggestions, or leave a comment. One of the most common questions I receive for Protip is "what inventory addon do you use?" The answer is ArkInventory. ArkInventory, conveniently abbreviated AI, is an invaluable tool for managing your inventory. It has a highly customizable "single bag" interface that displays all of your items in one frame instead of 5+ individual ones. Players can define rules to sort items by different conditions. For example, I sort all of my items by quality first, so all of my gray vendor trash is listed first and my epics listed last. I then sort by item level, and continue drilling down until I can usually scan my inventory to find items quickly.

Many settings. Handle it!

Perhaps more useful than this is the ability to add items to different columns. By default, all items are classified by Blizzard into different categories. ArkInventory can use this data to help you sort your items, as well as other conditions. Like the sorting rules, categories can be a powerful tool for organizing, especially when combined with rules. I have columns for my soulbound equipable gear, another for poisons and rogue glyphs, another for food and bandages, etc. On my characters that I do a lot of crafting on, I have settings to sort ore into a column, gems into another, etc. One nice feature is the ability to hide columns. Putting empty bag spaces into a hidden column has worked well for me. The lack of empty slots to click makes it impossible to split stacks of items (I believe), but it was rare enough that I would do that without the help of addon like auctioneer anyway. ArkInventory is loaded with features. You've probably seen me using the search bar in Protip, which greys out items that do not contain text matching the string entered. Along with the ability to scale the size of the frame, automatic resizing of columns to take up the least amount of area, independent rules for banks, guild banks, and keyrings, and the ability to browse the inventories of your other characters, AI is an addon I simply cannot play without. Grab it from Curse or WoWInterface and simplify your inventory!

Protip is short video series with various tips and guides. Leave a comment to let me know what you want to see in future segments. Follow @Heartbourne for notifications of new videos!

In my quest to be the BB King, I sneak into Ironforge and whip out my Red Rider Air Rifle, and take aim.

WoWFlix is a column featuring videos from around the web related to World of Warcraft. If you find something you’d like to be featured, leave a comment or send a tweet to @Heartbourne. From the same people who brought you the critically acclaimed Autotune the News comes a whole new flavor of autotuning... The Gregory Brothers did a great job as always. Mr. T is great unintentional singer, and who hasn't heard of Night Elf Mohawks? This video is part of a larger video-game autotune video: I pity the fools who haven't heard of the great Night Elf Mohawks. If you haven't done so yourself, why don't you go grab some Mohawk Grenades and stir up some mischief in Azeroth?

Trinkets, legendaries, and set bonuses aside, the idea of having a proc on any individual piece of gear has rarely been seen since the days of pre-expansion World of Warcraft. It has been left to collect dust in the back of the itemization closet along with other "genius" ideas like Let's Put Spirit On Everything! and How About Negative Stats? But last night I faced a dilemma that I haven't had to in a very long time: to proc or not to proc? The problematic item in question comes in the form of the Heartpierce, one of several new weapons added to the game with Patch 3.3. I already have some of the greatest daggers in the game (both from Trial of the Crusader 25, but not the Heroic versions). Normally, any new weapon would make my eyes light up and my ticker go all pitter-patter in excitement. Deciding to upgrade is rather easy when you can eyeball the numbers and figure out which are greater on the spot, but the nebulous properties of a proc in lieu of straight stats will send you scrambling to the internet for advice for the experts. My problem was exacerbated by the fact that we have a couple new raiding Rogues in the guild. Until recently, I was the only one, and thus gear was often just handed out to me for the minimum DKP bid because nobody else desired or could possibly use it. And it's not our guild's policy to pussy-foot around waiting for people when we pass out loot, so not only was I faced with direct competition for a hot new dagger, but a very limited time in which to decide whether or not I wanted to spend the points. Seeing an EP rating (a convenient, weighted number assigned by the collective community that takes into account all of the piece's stats) higher than either of my current weapons, I took the leap and made off with Heartpierce for a mean 25 DKP. Hardly the worst deal anyone's ever got, but it still felt like a big gamble. It could mean the difference between me winning or losing something assuredly better later down the line. Either way, I like kitsch gear. I still keep things like my Carrot on a Stick around just because, even though it doesn't even affect players above Level 70. If it's something unique or interesting, useful or not, it's staying in my bank (you should see my collection of daggers). The inevitable purge I'm going to have to carry out when Cataclysm hits will be mighty painful! So I'd have likely procured a Heartpierce one way or another. But the problem is how much is it worth to me right now? Was snatching it up the right decision? Even the other Rogues were confused as to its eventual value. And, after much research, I've determined that the rest of the community is split on it, too. Well, OK, not so much split. Not in terms of pure DPS. The theorycrafting whizzes over at Elitist Jerks have parsed the numbers as well as they can, and it seems that I made a respectable choice. Heartpierce is somewhat of an upgrade to the Gouge of the Frigid Heart (the one I had), but not to the Heroic version of the same item. Still, Heartpierce has a greater Item Level than either of those weapons, meaning that, on some plane, it should be worth the upgrade no matter what. And I'm pretty sure Ghostcrawler said something about wanting to make proc weapons worth picking up when discussing ICC itemization, though I'm admittedly having trouble finding the quote at the moment. Either way, proc items remain a point of controversy. As middling as Heartpierce might ultimately be, players do seem to like the idea of it enough to beg for a bigger buff, and I have to agree. If Blizzard doesn't jazz it up a little bit, it looks like I'm going to have to save up my DKP and make a run for the Rib Spreader, a true best-in-slot that could land in my lap as early as next week's release of the Plagueworks. Has anyone else yet faced this dilemma while running through the new content? If you haven't, my advice would be to read up on the loot tables ahead of time so you're not stuck like me, making a split-second decision on a piece of gear that offers so foggy an upgrade, and a few more DKP short than you want to be.

Protip is short video series with various tips and guides. Leave a comment to let me know what you want to see in future segments. Follow @Heartbourne for notifications of new videos!

 

I continue on my quest to be the BB King by sneaking into the Deeprun Tram and sniping High Tinker Mekkatorque.

[caption id="attachment_9427" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Nothing says forget about the past like terrible webart."][/caption] As we look forward towards the new year, we must also look back. The firey, frothy rage of Deathwing seems almost inviting after spending a year in the chilly wastes of Northrend. No longer will we be relegated to a single climate in 2010 (well, except for the anomaly that is Sholazar Basin, I supposed), but that doesn't mean the experience was totally worthless. In fact, it's arguably one of the best we've ever had in the game's five-year history! That makes it no less a bumpy road for some players out there, though, myself included. Indulge me as I describe my journey through 2009 in the World of Warcraft, and then tell us about your own in the comments section (and don't forget to check out iTZKooPA's 2009 Project Lore retrospective, either)! I actually want to start by dipping back into 2008 for a little bit, around about the time that Patch 3.0 hit (and the subsequent release of Wrath of the Lich King several weeks later). The big split. As usual, caused by some thoroughly unnecessary guild drama. Our de facto guild leader (in everything but title, which the absentee patriarch still maintained for some reason I can only attribute to vanity or neglect) was besieged by guilt from certain members who claimed that nobody was helping them procure a piece of loot (the Shard of Contempt, if you're curious). This, of course, after numerous attempts to help them in many other ways, organizing raids and other event notwithstanding. It was the last straw laid upon an already mountainous pile of hay, and like the hair trigger of a mouse trap, our guild leader snapped. A fair few of house had had enough of the abuse, as well, and were no longer interested in being held back by the stragglers. Exiled Epics (now defunct) was dead, and from its ashes Severance Pay was born. Partially due to finally "getting it together" and partially due to the class buffs provided by 3.0, we went on to several quick victories in late Burning Crusade content. It was clear that SevPay (as we affectionately call it) was working like a well oiled machine. When Wrath landed, our core group blew through the 5-man dungeons like the wind through a Scotsman's kilt. And when enough of us were at 80, Naxxramas proved little problem, either. We didn't get any server firsts, but we performed well, and made progress nearly as quick as the server's top guilds. There was no way to go but up. Well, that's until we polished off good old Naxx (in 2009 at this point). People grew complacent, bored. They disappeared from the server, not logging on for days or weeks. Then, a portion of our core, who all knew each other in real life, decided they were going to transfer servers, citing that our raid time, despite sticking to it for so long, had left them fatigued. A valid complaint, but no less shocking when the revelation comes too soon for anybody to properly react. Before we knew it, they were gone, and not long after, we lost a few more people to the darkest regions of their textbooks. Midterms and finals really can be a bitch. Where did this leave SevPay? With less than twenty regular members logging on. People were still burned out on Naxx and Ulduar was, apparently, not enough to bring them back. So for months, aside from the (very odd) occurrence, we only fielded 10-man dungeons. It stayed this way for nearly the entire summer. The guild very nearly died, with the officer core and morale dwindling. And then, once the vacation season started to wind down, a few people came back. Trial of the Crusader was about halfway unlocked, and we started to claw our way back to 25-mans. But I had two very big personal problems to deal with. One, I was making a huge move across the country, from (not-as-sunny-as-you'd-think) Florida all the way to the Emerald City in Oregon. This meant that I had to take several weeks leave from the game. Likewise, my once mighty laptop was starting to succumb to the woes of  intensifying content. Both in terms of the game's increasing visual complexity and the number of players we had in the raids. 10-mans were serviceable, but 25-mans caused my frames to tank, sometimes well below ten. After the move I made a tough, but ultimately wise, decision to purchase a new rig and soon, I was back in the game. And so was Severance Pay. Since around September, we've slowly built up our membership, grabbing the odd straggler or skilled friend here and there. The wholesale transfer of the top Horde guild off our server didn't hurt, either, as some of the leftovers now sought a new place to call home. We're still not where we want to be, but we're strong and consistent. Losing out on so many achievements in Ulduar during our bad months has hurt our rankings a lot, and it may stay that way with Icecrown Citadel now taking up most of attention. I have a feeling that we will make strides as we march towards the Lich King and that even if 2009 was bumpy, we'll be rightly prepared and ready for all that Deathwing has to throw at us in 2010. To cite one of the worst ad campaigns in history, Severance Pay is about to make Cataclysm our bitch! May that not be a portent for an Ion Storm level of epic failure.

[caption id="attachment_9423" align="alignnone" width="535" caption="Err, there's your problem. - Pic courtesy of New York Times, 1978"][/caption] Everyone else is doing it, so why shouldn't I?  Here's your obligatory year in review for all things Project Lore and World of Warcraft.  Below I've highlighted what I believe are the biggest topics and trends for the year. Top 10 Topics: 10. Project Lore brings the news - Project Lore was founded on the idea of showing a group of skilled players dominating content, while having tons of fun.  It was never meant to compete with the WoW news sites like WoW.com and MMO-Champion.com, and that still isn't the goal.  However, in an effort to better serve the community PL has been bringing the news in 2009.  We've even occasionally beat the more go to sites on occasion. 9. Project Lore adds more lore - Okay, we know you all want more videos, and things are happening behind the scenes, but Heartbourne has taken it upon himself to not only do mini-videos but flesh out Project Lore's lore department.  Many other bloggers have dabbled in explaining the intricacies of Warcraft, but he dedicated a whole column to it. 8. Wishful Thinking - The little column on game design and design aspects of WoW has perked quite an interest among the readers and bloggers alike.  Amatera's request for random dungeons is the epitome of the column, breaking down multiple games and picking the key pieces that make or break those titles.  All in an effort of making World of Warcraft a better place to play.  The anemic amount of comments on the post (less than 20) does not do the insight justice. 7. WoW in China - Wrath of the Lich King has had a bumpy road to launch in China.  First it was a switch in providers, then content issues, followed by lawsuits and ultimately political party power struggles.  These political and corporate shenanigans are what puts WoW's oriental troubles on the list.  Not any monetary concerns or the reduction in gold farmers.  In fact, neither are impacted by the big trouble in little China.  China provides <10% of WoW's revenue and gold farmers play on North American or European servers, not China's realms. 6. Re-running the old world - All of the bloggers at Project Lore, and numerous friends of mine, have rolled new toons, sometimes on new servers, in an attempt to experience everything the Old World has to offer.  From long-forgotten dungeons to taking in the sights, going old school is a task that everyone should attempt before Deathwing changes the world forever. 5. Pixiestixy hits level 80 - Hitting level 80 on your first toon is a big deal for anybody.  But when you've been harassed about your sluggishness for months there's probably even more joy in the accomplishment.  Good for her, but bad for me.  I have no one to tease anymore. :( 4. BlizzCon 2009 - Guild achievements, no more "mathy" stats, hunters drop mana, a new secondary profession, Cataclysm, StarCraft II campaign editor...need I continue?  If so, hit the link to check out our extensive coverage. 3. Martin Fury - Remember Martin Fury, the piece of loot that allowed a nobody, Karatechop, to dominate Ulduar in record time?  That little item caused quite a stir when news of its use broke in late April/early May.  It instantly became the most recognized WoW scandal in the game's five year history.  The argument still rages over whether the player deserved a permanent ban seeing as the item was given to him by a GM.  Karatechop certainly believes it was heavy handed. 2. The Lich King's/Arthas' fate - Arthas and the Lich King have been the defining figure of WoW ever since Wrath launched so many months ago.  We've partook in his past, rekindled our relationships with his numerous enemies and even taken potshots at him.  Blizzard's intention to put him in our face from the get go has even extended beyond the digital universe into the extended one.  Yet, the most talked about topic on Project Lore was the death of the prince, and if his soul could be saved.  We'll see in the coming weeks. 1. Tokyopop's manga and the extended universe - Officially licensed Blizzard products and random knock-offs have flooded the market.  With over 11 million players, it's hard for any company to pass up on the built in audience.  However, no company, licensed or not, has used the game quite like Tokyopop.  Comics, novels (The Novel Post), card games and miniatures are all well and good, but Tokyopop's manga have captured my attention like a cheap Primordial Saronite in the AH.  The excellent art and stories captivated me in each installment of Warcraft: Legends like no other mechanism outside of the game has.  It's not because the material is better written, drawn or executed, but because Tokyopop has created, expanded and retold lore from the nobody perspective in Azeroth to the first free death knight.  The extension of the WoW brand has floored me as a whole, but the scope of what Tokyopop has delivered, and promises to, is untouched. Happy New Year! /me blows annoying noise maker.

[caption id="attachment_9412" align="alignright" width="300" caption="With teasing, ridicule and sarcasm."][/caption] Earlier this week, we reported that numerous players have experienced seemingly random screen shakes during their daily tasks around Azeroth.  After some investigation it was determined that these earthquakes were likely caused by now-invisible mobs known as Shakers.  Seeing as these mobs were added to the game during patch 3.3's beta testing, many believe that they having something to do with Deathwing and his upcoming cataclysmic event. I am no geoastrologicalterrestrial physicist, but I do believe that tearing through the very crust of the world can be somewhat destructive to surrounding tectonic plates...Wryxian, the snowman that works through the holidays, took the time to respond to a "the end is near" forum post.  Unfortunately, the answer he laid on us is ripe with the same sarcasm that fills the rest of the Internet. Wryxian responded to the topic with eloquent deflections such as, "It was just you. Seriously, earthquakes leading up to some kind of cataclysm? I lol'd." Later in the post he declares that his holiday avatar is actually stationary...and that he has a cold. "You see how my temporary snowman avatar appears to bob from side to side? Well, the thing is, I'm standing perfectly still. The earth is moving, I tell you! *cough*" Ancilorn, another chilly blue, even responds to Wryxian's initial deflection with his own quip.  "I blame it on those Spicy Hot Talbuk steaks. Never again I tell you! * mops brow*" And finally someone asks the logical question; Why would Dalaran, a city detached from the continent be hit by earthquakes?  Wryxian covers that too.  "The Kirin Tor want to ensure that even though their city is no longer actually in the ground anymore, it still receives the same treatment as the rest of Azeroth... or something. ;-)" Or as one blue put it in the past, "Magic." Sure, Wryxian is bored at work this week and just screwing with us, but there's no outright denial.  And to me, his sarcasm plainly states that there is some connection between the shakers and the Cataclysm event.

The time for my first purchase with Emblems of Frost is coming near, and I find myself wondering -- what is everyone else choosing for their first shiny new piece of gear? I might be a bit behind the times. Sure, I've been collecting my weekly 5 Frost badges from the weekly raid and I completed the frost emblem-yielding quests for the new dungeons, but I've been slightly slacking otherwise with the winter holidays upon us and all. I've probably only done the daily random heroic (for 2 emblems of frost per day) about half of the days that I could have since Patch 3.3 came out. And my raid group, also as a result of the holidays, has only ventured into Icecrown Citadel once -- and only gotten past Lord Marrowgar at that. But somehow I've managed to round up a grand total of 45 badges since the release of Patch 3.3, and I've started looking longingly at that new gear in ICC. If you've been clearing ICC each week in both 10- and 25-man versions and also doing everything else, you should have probably about triple that amount. With new gear pieces ranging in cost from 30 to 95 frost emblems, players already are starting to get in on the new tier pieces and other armor. Here's the mind-twisting question: to save up for a really great piece of gear to start off the collection right, or to spend as soon as I possibly can. Usually I'm pretty good at holding off for what I need most. But in this case, it looks like the piece that will give me the single greatest upgrade in one quick purchase is a belt -- the haste-happy Vengeful Noose, which for a costly 60 badges would replace my well-worn Belt of the Twilight Assassin that I bought with a mere 28 Conquest badges long ago. If I work hard, perhaps I can get it by the end of this week. The next purchase may be a more difficult decision, but I'll probably go with the same logic: figure out which piece will give me the greatest stat boost per slot. Another deciding factor for me, which is unfortunate for rogue tier 10 gear (in my opinion, anyways) is aesthetics. If I want to keep my DPS on top, I'll have to forgo looking pretty. Which I'm not happy about, but hopefully my raid mates will be! How did you, or will you choose your first Frost emblem purchase? What else do you take into consideration before handing over those hard-fought-for badges?