Project Lore

Project Lore serves as a ground for people to learn, live and love everything Warcraft but recently myself and the guild I reside in have come to a crossroad. When is content under "farm" status and what does that mean for your guild? As of late, the guild I am in has swelled to the biggest it has been for a long time and it's given us some great opportunities. We can have more than one Naxx 25 man run, which is a great thing for us. We've seen people who we didn't know anything turn into great raiders who could be counted upon. We've been able to get people into raids they would never see otherwise. Those are all things that, as a guild, you hope for. We get to help the casual raider really get to feel like they're getting their moneys worth out of a game, and makes everyone much more of a happy group. This brings unity, but will inevitably hit a difficult wall and will be jarring for people who aren't used to the wiping that Burning Crusade used to bring. What happens on the flipside? People have become dramatic, myself included, with the future of what will happen under new content. Four rogues, under current circumstances, have no place in a raid. We'll probably be able to bring two at most because of how much other top heavy survivable DPS classes are useful to a raid. Ret paladins bring kings, shamans bring totems, warriors bring battle shout to any respectable raid. Do you, can you cut the people who are your friends to see the betterment of your guild? Will people who think they are working hard realize that they just aren't as good as some who put in less effort? Furthermore, what does Farm status mean for your guild? Does it absolve a normal loot system, does it change the award system? How does your guild clearly define what furthers your guild in the content being as easy as it is at the moment? I'm having the problem deciding when something is on farm so clearly, does it change the loot system or who attends raids? How does one draw the line? In what is classified as a casual guild, can you be the person who cuts those who can't carry their own weight but are the life of the raid? I'm hoping you fans can come through in the comments and really bring clear how some guilds do it, because honestly I've never been in a content cleared situation such as this.

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So some of you have finally earned your very first title. A large block of text above your head, that says, "Yes, I've completed enough of this game to be adorned with a wall of text." Titles have always kind of been a way to separate yourself from the masses and declare yourself better than someone else. It used to just be your PvP titles, "Of The Shattered Sun", or the occasional "Hand of A'dal" (the ever glowing pre-nerf beacon that said, "I don't enjoy sunlight"). Then all of the sudden, WotLK dropped and we got a metric crap ton of titles poured upon us. Ambassador, Chef, Salty, the Love Fool, the Seeker, and Elder are all titles that have been crammed into the new world we totally have come to love. The real question is, What are the best titles? Is Champion of the Frozen Wastes the best? Does the Seeker or Guardian of Cenarius mean that you are the baddest on your block? Maybe, However I will be giving you a 5 title primer. A primer that says, "If you have one of these titles, they garner respect, admiration... or will at least keep you from getting ganked." Lets be honest, That's all that matters right? If I have X title, it makes me E-Peen way bigger than yours. Nonetheless, on to the titles (in no particular order)!

• Arena Titles (Challenger/Duelist/Rival/Gladiator): This title is one that garners instant respect. Not one of the old world "Private" titles that could be gotten much easier. The simplest PVP title meant you had to be in the top 35% of the arenas in your team bracket to achieve it. It meant you slaved for hours in PvP, and you could pretty much gank at will. It means when you turn to tap a node, people really wouldn't want to attack you. You also only keep the title for the next season of arenas. These titles are fresh, new, changing always and mean that you recently have been polishing your armor with the blood of arena noobs. If someone even attempted to target you, you would give them a rain of pain so bad they'd need a "Rambo Shower" to cleanse themselves.

• Salty: This title is maddening, but so rare to actually see in game. This title has many components, of which I'll just list a few. You have to fish up the really rare fishes from Ironforge/Orgrimmar known as Old Ironjaw and Old Crafty. You have to go to your weekly fishing tournament, Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza and win it which is one of the hardest things to do in game to date. Completing the entire Accomplished Angler achievement will garner it for you, but as a person who's currently trying to complete Salty -- I've found little harder than fishing up all the coins, fish, and manuals needed for it. This is still one of the rarest achievements in the game. Only 52 salty titles are given a year per server, so put that in perspective.

• The Immortal: First off this achievement is like the Highlander, except not. THERE CAN ONLY BE 25! The premise is during one lockout period, you have to fight, and kill every boss in Naxxramas without anyone dying during the boss fights. Frogger doesn't count as a boss, neither do any trash pulls. So you can make people stand out of rooms, you can even sub people in and out (though only the 25 that pull Kel'Thuzad will actually obtain the title). It's quite the achievement to get people with the same latency, the same skill, and laser like focus. Our guild has personally tried to do The Undying, and we've had a few unfortunate losses of focus that prove 10 people barely communicate. So to scale up to 25 and pull it off sets you aside as one of the baddest PvE asses that are out there. If only that title came with the highlander theme song, I'd give a kidney for it.

• Loremaster: Though this basically says you don't love sunlight, it's one hell of an achievement and title.It's 2,720 on the horde side or 2,878 quests on the alliance side. This is not only a good idea because the sheer amount of gold that you'll make but you actually learn a lot of the back story of Qarcraft. It'll feed your offsets and let you practice and hone your skills with your other spec's of your class. It's also a great way to pass time between raids. It'll really say you're a completionist. Someone who has loremaster really has a dedication to the game that you can respect and admire. I've only seen 3 people with it on my server, one of them being Juggynaut. Loremaster also awards a tabard with the infamous exclamation point. So you don't have to wear a tabard that isn't that great, and you can celebrate how much you've dedicated to the game.

• Of the Nightfall: This is the Twilight Zone achievement. This is the 10 man 3 drake up Sartharion achievement. Now dont get me wrong, the title sounds extremely weak. Ghostbeezy of the Nightfall? That is worse than being in the front row of a madonna concert and your picture being put in the newspaper. It's embarrasing like the time you were chapperoned by your parents on a date, and your father has to sing "Hooked on a Feeling" while you get driven to a bowling alley. However, the title MEANS a great deal more. It's a healing/tanking/dps check the whole way around. You really have to be on your A-game, and not a bunch of people on servers world wide have this achievement. So when you see that title pass by, you understand that person is one of 10 elite players of the guild that they represent. That title is one to be proud of.

I know, I know there are some of you saying, "What about Magic Seeker, or Conquerer of Naxxramas?" I don't count either of those as titles that even should be acknowledged. I personally enjoy having an adult life and from time to time even basking in sunlight. If you were one of these people to have those titles, while I respect your dedication... I can't include you in this list. You may or may not have a social life, in a may not sort of way. Plus so few people have the title, and even less actually wear it. It's a scarlet letter of anti-social behavior. What is your vote? Which titles do you think make you a warcraft ninja? Which titles do you strive to achieve?

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Sorry healers, but I'm going to have to do this. I always hate being the one to blow the spot of some people in raids, but it's time to do it. As a healer I can stand up and proudly say: Healing numbers are a joke. -deep breath- Now I feel better saying that, I'll totally explain why. Healing numbers have been broken for a while, and people don't realize it. They've always went back and looked at overall healing and boss healing and decided who to continue to take on a raid. Healing numbers are funneled in through many programs, most popular being Recount. It is a glorified spreadsheet program tracking all stats of a fight, from DPS to Healing. The problem that stands is no program is as smart as the healers who are tracked by it. You can twist or sway numbers to really show how great or lazy you really are. The general consensus is that, you get a base idea of who is doing what in a raid, and that is a really helpful tool. I, myself, am a Holy Paladin. I'm useless to multiple targets (for the most part), and I really am there for one purpose - Tank Survivability. However, most healers numbers are so skewed, it's hilarious. Next time you’re in a raid and between pulls, watch who’s healing while everyone is eating for the next pull. Don't think we're not totally sandbagging our numbers so we continue to be brought. Healers are the biggest whores of all. Warlocks? Feel free to Lifetap away, you're giving me a raid spot - do it mid-fight even. I’ll heal you through any damage you want to take. Just remember to whisper me first, so I can get the first heal off. Retribution paladins? I adore Seal of Blood/Martyr you're going to give me a shot at t7.5 next week. Don’t tell the guy forming the raid though, he'll never understand. Yes, I Beacon of Light and Holy Shock during the vortex phase of Malygos. During that phase, you can only use an instant heal. I'll Beacon of Light myself and heal the tank because two heals show better than one. Yes I stand in black circles from time to time, to take damage to heal myself (purely for mana reasons...of course). Sometimes, I'm just mashing the heal buttons and not even sure if I’m hitting anything. The whole time most of your healers are playing a cat and mouse game with how much damage we can let in, while still making our numbers look like I am the Lightbringer. There is even fight mechanics that make me a total cheater. Sometimes I just look forward to Patchwerk. That fight mechanic is money for a Holy Paladin. The fight takes 3 tanks in a 25 man raid, and spike damages them over and over again with a "Hateful Swing". This hateful swing is an 80k damage swipe before an kind of mitigation. I really get to just spam Holy light, and watch my number get higher than Michael Phelps. Seriously it's Beacon of Light one hateful tank + Holy light spam = Win. Nothing like flaunting the numbers to Patchwerk to make my cyber-ego grow larger than the monster from “Cloverfield.” All in all, I’m amazed we’re even tabbed in for fights we aren’t cheating on. Most healers are such Twitch playing, Monster drink addicted, DDR playing, Chemical Brothers listening, Strobe light rave dancing, Nancy boys, that you should probably put a leash on us to make sure we don’t wander off to our own death (only cause we're following you because of the text we just got). Seriously, We do text/twitter/call people while we're healing especially if the current fight doesn't lend it's self to our style/spec. The flat out basics are, Numbers don't take in the mechanics and team play of the healers.  I'm designed to be a wrecking ball with my healing in terms of just giving enormous burst heals. On high damage fights I'm so high on healing numbers that it will take 4 bosses to get other healers within range of me. Healing numbers don't take into account I'm healing special items, or that some heals are smart heals and some brute force designed with the intent of pouring on as much healing as it can. Some fights you pile the raid into a small spot, and can heal the group easier in a pile. It totally eliminates the need one big heal and a ton of small heals are better, depending on what fights you pick in some raids -- Your best healers may show up as your worst on those given nights. So next time you’re sitting there worried about getting heals, don't worry. Unless you pull threat off of a tank and wipe an undying attempt over a misdirect – you'll get healed from the healers. If your raid stays alive, healers are doing their jobs. Know that, it’s a healer party composition that will together be better than the sum of its numbers. Know that your healers are sandbaggers too, and I just exposed our dirty secret of the “Health Limbo.” How low can you go, before we let you fall? Am I right healers? Can I get an Amen?

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