Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Withdrawals

So, I have not played a game of D&D in almost a month or more and it SUCKS.
I should be back behind a screen or a P.C. sheet within a couple weeks, but UNTIL THEN, and even when I usually get my fix, I love to hear about other groups who have A LOT of fun.
I was debating about whether to do a Meme-Orable for this but decided to against it.

Nerd Poker
Hosted by Brian Posehn, quiet nerdy comedian.
New, fun, mature & alternative, with nothing but notable entertainment geeks. As of the 2nd or 3rd episode they start telling stories from past games, it seems many of them including other L.A. nerds like Patton Oswald & Chris Hardwick

Acquisitions Incorporated
Many adventures from these characters, not to mention no shortage of reference comics in the Penny Arcade Archives. Most Recently The Vault of Winter
Penny Arcade, PVP & Wil Wheaton
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/podcasts.aspx
Oh yeah, and this happens fairly regularly as well . . .


Table Titans!
Headed by Scott Kurtz of PVP (of the above groups), not up yet, but can't wait. apparently in association with Wizards of The Coast. Not sure in what capacity, but cool.
http://tabletitans.com/

Zak & the Porn Crew!
I have mentioned how much I love this blog, not to mention ConstantCon!
http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/
and the sadly defunct web series if you want to see what it looks like when you DO have a group full of females (oddly enough, very similar to any other game, go figure).
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/i-hit-it-with-my-axe?page=2

Give them a look over and I'm sorry if you now have some hundred hours to catch up on, it is HILARIOUS!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Memeorable: "Hit Meme!"

YouTube Poker!
That fun game you play with your friends, if you have any, when you're just hanging out and someone goes "oh yeah, have you seen that?" and someone pulls up a video.
"I will see your nyan cat vid

. . . and raise you .. a Saruman Troll!"

I think it's pretty fantastic that my friends and interests are diverse enough that I can usually pull something new out no matter what group I'm with. All without having to constantly troll Youtube. Although news blogs do help so I get fairly quick exposure to most things that circulate, but every now and then, I get to dig deep into my back catalog and go "but have you seen THIS!?!?"




Advanced players see 4chan's "You Raff You Ruse."

Friday, December 7, 2012

Know Your Role In WoW . . . But do It "Wrong."

Shammy Tank, Mage tank, Melee Lock, Regen beasts.
These are some terms that you may or may not be familiar with if you've been playing WoW for any length of time. I know a lot of people like finding ways to work outside a paradigm and succeed. sometimes that's the whole thrill is the attempt. That ability to be outside the box and try and find a unique way to use "set" rules.
Finding like minded mavericks might be fun, but they often don't have the research and knowledge to inform the strategies. This is frustrating, as well as most others who follow the "norm" roles don't have the patience or care to listen to an alternative.
Specifically, in WoW, there are one of three "roles" that a player falls into if they choose to group. Tank, which is the heavy damage taker, the guy the big baddy wails on while the rest of the group does other things. Heals, guess what he does . . . makes sure the guy Tanking stays up and also heals the other guys. DPS, literally "Damage Per Second" but has become a catchall term for any player who is not performing the first two roles.
From THIS SOURCE
As I'm sure most of you know, depending on what class you choose to play they have the ability to ONLY fill certain roles as defined by their talent specializations. Example: Paladin's can tank, heal or dps because their specializations are named "Holy" for healing, "Protection" for tanking, and "Retribution" for dps. Warriors can only Tank or dps, their Specs include "Protection," "Fury," & "Arms."
HOWEVER! There are some of us that wish to try the weird and wonderful. I'm sure many of you have heard me call my own toon "Termenus, The Incredible Tanking Mage" and my ol' buddy Necrus, who was once a Fury Spec'd-Titan's Grasp Tank, and our even OLDER comrade from the Cutthroats who was our Shammy Off-tank( the backup/secondary/tank who picks up any additional enemies). There was even this warlock who I once met that told me he was a melee lock. These are of course just actual players I have met. Many times there's a conversation about other alternatives, like Hunter Tanks (when Survival spec was heavy into the hunter's . . . survivability), Priest Tanks who stack stam, armor enhancements, mitigation specs as well as heavy heals. OR even the idea of stacking spirit on any character in such a way that your regen is ridiculous. Is it possible to give yourself such regen that your bar ticks right back every time you get hit? No idea, haven't looked it up. But the IDEA . . isn't it worth wondering? I mean, I get giddy whenever I start casting so fast the Global Cool Down stops me from casting any faster, I couldn't imagine being able to walk through combats like I was MuthaFuckin Wolverine!

Can it be done at hi end? I don't think so due to the fierce pigeon holing done by specs, gear, and the fights of instances-and-higher content. But I always have hope for leveling, especially with all the nerfs that have been done over the years, maybe even in max level instances/Heroics due to access to better gear.
One last thing though, this only applies to "at level" instanceing/partying. I consider it a "run through" or even "Cheating" if your more than 5 levels out of the encounter's suggested level or have gear that is more than like 50ish higher a gear score than the average blue/starter epic at that level range. To me, it's not only the idea of "alternative role filling" it should not be a cakewalk either.

I'm sure there are countless more "alt specs" out there. Maybe you've tried some of them? I know I would love to have enough time to not only play WoW as much as I used to but find other crazy people who play about the same time I do to try and gear up and ATTEMPT some of these crazy things. ah well. Later H47ites!