WAR Bugs and why I love them

Well, some of them. I definitely don't like those bugs that get me killed like mobs not resetting. Then again, it may not be a bug. Mobs just don't reset for me. Ever. Unless they kill me.

(Somewhat convoluted post ahead.)

Over the time I've spent on WAR, bugs have become fewer and less aparent. Most of my bugs, graphical bugs that is, were somewhat my own fault sometimes, letting my computer running for weeks on end and then wondering why graphical performance was shoddy. And yet, I sometimes still do that but never again have I witnessed the cape-ridding-a-squig-ridding-a-wolf event.

Some bugs can even be helpful. I remember in LV's second boss, the first time I was there I think it was, there was me the Zealot and a Sorc on top of the tent. Everybody died so, dismally, we waited as the big gor-like thingy charged at us... only to get stuck on the corner of the tent. So we ended up almost 2manning that boss to oblivion. Aussum, heh? Well, I thought so.

Other bugs were real pretty too. Apart from the man-cave, I once had a keep all drapped in red velvet-like fabric, an arboreal pattern on the floor of Battle for Praag and pretty polygonal trees along a riverbed. People dressed in buildings, people dressed in wood, Merchants dressed as Orders (Merchants on Destro side).

There was also the recurring Sorc-arm bug (in its many variants). This one was recurrent for me. But I liked it. It "humanized" WAR for me. Nobody's perfect. We're all "special".

I had invisible mounts, invisible Orcs, people moving horizontally (as in, stuck in dead), people mounted without mounts, perverted Saccelum bosses fighting me in the nude, naked female toons not wearing a bra but sporting black triangular "niple flowers", teleporting mobs, mobs inside walls, inpregnable keeps with their unattackable doors, the fortress they screwed in Norn when they botched a patch, that barkeep on that PQ in Praag (or was it Reikland) that gives you a XSDJ23SDE&%2 code-like thingy when you tlak to him... All of these things made me smile (well, not so much the keep door issue, that was just silly), as if the game knew I needed to smile a bit or maybe it was customising itself especially for me (this on the graphical ones.) And general annoying/hindering bugs that have been overcome were like server-wide events that we longer-term players have overcome together and can now look back and laugh at. If... the need to do so ever arose.... which it doesn't... cuz yall r so bizzee whinin u neva lauff no moar.

Most of these bugs have gone the way of the Dodo and while I sit here, reminiscing, I can't help but miss these good old days; days when us Zealots were a cut above the rest, summoning our mounts quietly, no horn to warn anyone. We just stood there and *puff* mount got. Or how WE opened their mouths in shock when they jumped. Like they just knew you were just doing it to try and look up their skirt. And remember when killing keep bosses on balconies (before the outside staircase) wasn't considered exploit? I 3manned some keeps back in T3, back in the day. Oh oh and remember how AoE heals had that awesome radius? Those were some OP days...

So, really, "WAR is buggy, there's no excuse". You should have seen it back then. And, if you're anything like me, you'd have loved it too.

I am a master at roleplaying stupid

I started playing pen and paper roleplay games 19 years ago (AD&D 2nd Eddition) and, excluding MUDs, my MMO experience began 14 years ago with Meridian 59, and one year later it evolved to an addiction with Ultima Online.

Since then i've tried lots and lots of pen&paper stuff and an equal share of MMO's, with some of them catching my eyes more than others.

Taking this into account, i can say for sure that i am no stranger to roleplay, in more than one form.

But even after all these years there's still something that shocks me, and that is people who try to apply to MMOsthe level of roleplay that's needed on a P&P.

I mean, while it seems strange to go into the sewers of the city and start killing rats for no reason in the middle of a Mage session (i can picture the Story Teller right now "ok so.. you kill another rat... nothing happens... AGAIN..." while the other players look oddly at me because i'm stalling and losing precious time) it also seems strange that i WOULD NEED a reason to go to Bloodwrought Enclave.

This is what mainly separates the two worlds of roleplay for me. There's stuff that i wouldn't dream of doing on a P&P without first coming up with a reason for it (of course there's always the chaotic neutral character that needs little to no reason for most of his actions, but still...) but at the same time it wouldn't cross my mind to have to justify each and every action i do on an MMO (no, i didn't kill that bright wizard cuz he was a bitch to my sister last time they went out.. i killed him cuz he was right there and he didn't noticed me.)

As everything in life, this is only my oppinion and it differs from other people's, as expected.

There are people out there that think that they need to justify each and every action they do EVEN on an MMO (and while they're at it, they do it in ye olde English, because any other way would be a sin to the gods).

I came face to face with a group of these people a couple of months ago.

I came back from work a little later than i'd like to, and so, when i logged on, the rest of the guild was doing an LV run without me. So, to keep myself entertained while they were in LV, i decided to find a PUG to go to BE to try and get some Sentinel gear.

To my surprise, as soon as i announced "Choppa lfg for BE" in the IC, i instantly got a /tell of someone saying something like "we are riding our steeds there as we speak, care to join us, oh strong creature?" ... WTF????

Ok, so, i caught up with the guys at the BE entrance. As soon as i got there, the Zealot said to the Chosen(the guy who sent me the /tell) "what a fine creature you brought us. Is he tame?" and for some reason i felt like smashing her face right there.

Anyway, we got in. they all just stood there for a while, so i asked "you gonna pull?" and to my surprise, the chosen says " OC - wait up i'm looking for my notes" (later i found out that he actually meant "Out of Character" with that OC...). Eventually he pulls, but then the marauder started messing up and for some odd reason we died on the first group of mobs (yes.. i died at the entrance to BE... ridiculous to say the least... but true) I asked if the healer had self rez or if i should release and THEN it all made sense.

The chosen sent me a /tell saying that if i was going to ask stuff like that i should indicate that i was speaking Out of Character, cuz they were a roleplay group and that i should try to fit in if i wanted to stay there with them, so, it was either roleplay or back to finding a group.. i decided to mess with them.

Eventually the healer self rezzed, rezzed us all up, and then they started with something about how we had to go and smite the Evil Godslayer because he stole a precious item from the Guild's leader and they had to get it back (what a crummy excuse to go and kill the guy for some Sent gear).

As son as the chosen pulled the first group again, i yelled /WAAAGH at them and started choppin my way through them. when they were dead i simply yelled "ENRAGE!!!!!" and ran towards the other group, spamming lotsa choppin' and /waaagh ing yet more. went right past that group of mobs and ran into the next one. Then i decided to come back yelling "NOOE THEY BE HITTING ME!"

We died. the healer released and came back to rez us.

the zealot said something to the chosen about keeping his beast (me) on a short leash. when everyone was ready again I decided to yell "LEASH BROKE!!! WAT I DO????" /waaagh and ran through two or three groups, stopped.. said "OH NOES!!! THEY BE HURTIN' ME AGAIN" and ran to hide behind the healers.

We died AGAIN. i laughed my ass out. it was soooo worth it :D

the zealot simply said "ahhh fuck this. all release" so we did, and everyone started yelling at me "WTF WAS THAT FOR???" and "DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO PLAY???" so, my obvious question was "dude, you wanted me to roleplay an orc... i roleplayed an orc. i'm a dumb creature.. you gotta tell me what to do."

They kicked me out of the party :) i still laugh about it today.

Bottom line is, i hate roleplayers in MMO's, but i also know that they have as much right to play the game as i do, but PLEASE don't expect that some random guy you pick up (e.g. ME) will want to play the game the same way you do.

cheers.

Kardinal healing makes me sad.

Bags make Mike sad, apparently.

Thunderstorms make me sad. Not being a published author makes me sad. Moths make me sad. Hysterical at first, but then sad when they don't leave.

But this is a WAR blog, innit? So, what makes me sad in WAR? Well, inadequacy, mostly. Mostly mine. But not always.

I'm a good healer. It is especially noticeable when I hop on a lower tier alt. T1, of course, is no competition. Most people are still wondering what this or that button does. In T2 you start getting better players all around. No more trials and lots of seasoned players on their alts. You also start getting some bigger guilds there. Still, I can pwn lots in T2 SCs.

T3. Man, if only something happened in T3. They call LotD the T3 killer. Most of the time this is true and you still can't find anything to do, RvR-wise, after midnight (GMT+0). However, for whatever reason, things have been picking up as of late. I actually like T3 quite a lot. You have your real keeps with 2 doors, you have a decent array of abilities, you can separate the wheat from the chaff as far as player quality but you have none of the stress and/or waiting of T4. And when you get to level 31 you're completely unstoppable whether you're healing, killing, whatever. So it is in T3, the tier I love the most, that I get the most sad. Why? Inadequacy. Of others, that is. Tanks not guarding the mdps, mdps hitting on tanks and, of course, the aloof healers.

I've said this a lot already but I say again. For the love of whatever deity you wish to believe in, if you're a healer, don't just walk over another healer's body. Or any body, for that matter. If you see a body and you click it and it doesn't say "Friendly" or if you get a chat bubble cursor on your mouse, then that person is just eagerly awaiting that love spell. The saddest I can ever be is when I go out of my way to res a healer from another party, manage to get both our parties in decent enough shape and then get focus-fired on by a BW/SW/Bomb'syouruncle and die and all the other healers just run right over me while my party slowly but surely dies away.

This doesn't happen in T4. For one, T3 has showed them how annoying it is to have this happen to you. So they rez others hoping that the afore mentioned won't happen to them. Counter-rezing is also common practice. You know what I'm talking about. A healer dies, you rez them and then you die and they rez you and then they die again, rewind, repeat and so on and so forth and such like. I find it amusing and frequently yell "f u, we will not die!"

One thing did make me feel quite sad in T4 yesterday. My own inadequacy. There I was, in my meager Sentinel gear, scraping by on the top of SC lists at around 300k, hoping for a few wins so I could get a focus that isn't LotD talisman dependant. But along comes Kardinal, my new hero WP, healing around 750k per SC. That Kardinal person is probably one of the most proficient healers I've ever seen. We, on the other hand, have these Zealots in full Tyrant and Warlord doing less for the colective than me. I don't get it, it's like they're not even trying. If Kardinal can do it, why can't we?

Which is not to say I don't have my bad days. Especially if I'm alone in the party or in a party full of mdps (they die too fast for me to be able to heal). Or if I happen to die lots in between respawn waves. Shit happens, true. I'm living proof. But shit doesn't happen consistently. I see the same names and they heal consistently the same. I for example, am in the 300k ballpark. Kardinal is up on the 700k stadium. So why do we get awesomely geared healers with apparently enough experience to know better, doing exactly the same I'm doing?

This too, is very disheartening.

Shop of Horrors

Just a quickie one today, before i forget.

I had a dream about Tchar'zanek. Weird right? Weirder still: he was a merchant. He had like these pocket items and trophies on sale because I'd done like special assingments like Special Forces or something.

But Tchar was a mean merchant and he'd give u like two minutes to do your shopping. After that he opened the trapdoor and we'd all fall to a pit full of harpies and daemonettes and hounds and corpses of previous shoppers while he point&laughed.

Now, I'm a healer at heart so I know my way out of a sticky situation. So I healed myself into a courner and managed to reset the bastards. Yes, it's the only time when I can actually reset something. In my dreams.

I found out my corner was actually the inside of a lift and, very slowly and carefuly, I managed to get the doors closed, leaving the harpies behind. After it went backn up and me having to do some Prince of Persia (the new 360 version) around the palace, I went back to the good ol' boy and resumed my shopping. Repeat the whole trapdoor process. By now I was a pro. I don't know for how long this dream went on but let me tell you. I just now remembered it and it is weird. I mean, have I been playing too long that I now have dreams about loot that isn't there and sadistic NPCs? Sure, he's the NPC to end all NPCs but still...

It was really weird.

How good is your eyesight? Should you be dead?

I finally got the Sentinel boots. I almost wept when I saw them. Now I don't want them anymore. I want more Darkpromise.

Moving right along.

I read recently how some quite interesting storylines and events go unnoticed because most of us just read the quest objective, press accept and get on with the killing. I have come across some interesting stuff in my "voyages", like the half-dead dude in Talabecland (i think it is) that has fungi growing under his armpits or whatever and it speaks to him. That cracked me up.

And who doesn't love clicking Chaos NPCs repeatedly just to hear some of their finest lines. My personal favourites are "Hear the lamentation of their women", "Kittens are tasty", "Feathers make me itchy" and the one that always makes me "sing-along" with a snobby smirk on my face "The fools of the Empire call us Blasphemers. To them I say: Who's winning?"

Recently, when we were messing around as Orders on Azgal, big bossman Nirv pulled my attention to yet another quirky little known fact. Well, little for me because I didn't know it.

There's a few sheets of paper slapped on the banners crowding Altdorf. I find the text on them hillarious. I mean, I imagine this poor dude that was given the task of just writing something, anything, to fill in the space. Looks to me like he was just drunk. Click the image for a better view.

"I know I mispelled mispelled". Best.

Sometimes I wonder what other cool things I missed by just breezing through the few quests I had to do. I admit, at times, I followed the storyline of some epic quests and they were actually fun. More fun to read than to actually do them. Like this one quest in Eataine or Dragonwake or what was it where the Dark Elves were tying to tame dragons and sent me back and forth collecting this and that and killing each other because... that's what Dark Elves do.

Sometimes I feel for the people who invested their time in all the PvE content. Sure, WAR is not a PvE oriented game. That doesn't mean that a significant amount of effort wasn't put into it. Maybe just the fact that it's there and it was a job well done is satisfaction enough. I sometimes feel bad about not reading the intricate story of everything. But if I did I'd never get anything done.

And every unlock has a story to tell. Epikk sometimes misses his scenario pops just 'cause he gets immersed reading random unlocks. Like the one you get in IC with the Gors that depicts the story of every NPC. It wakes up, it knows nothing except its own name, it fights, it dies, it wakes up again.

After this gooshy-wooing of PvE it's time to go and shred LV to pieces. My belt is lonely.

Chaos in the Old World

I try to get away from WAR, now and then. Mostly to go sleep or to indulge in some much needed bodily functions. But we've made a habit of taking weekend nights to visit our neighbours' house and having a game night. We can either rock out on our fake guitars with Rock Band, play Munchkin, build roads in Catan and we even gave Risk a go. I ended up starting with Mother Russia, lost it but, by golly, I won it back! And that single russian fended off wave after wave of invasions.

We have other 2 games we play regularly: Warhammer Invasion and Chaos in the Old World. You play as one of the four Chaos God and kill the other's minions and ruin places. Godly enough, in my opinion. I usually end up playing Tzeentch (not by choice, mind you, but the laws of the universe have decided that if I went Zealot and Magus, I must be Tzeentchian), but this time I gave Slaanesh a go.

Good times were had by all, as good times usually are, when there's alcohol involved.

Later we came back and back to WAR it was. I've been pretty lucky with our Mount Gunbad runs and I've gotten 2 Redeye setpieces so far. I decided to go full DPS on scenarios with Donkeywrath (with the odd healing now and then) and I decided not to specc out of the AoE tree. Turned out quite well. Chaotic Agitation is now among my favourite abilities in the game. It can crit up to 500 on mobs and 300ish on players. And it ticks lots. On lots of people.

Although in some scenarios I proved to be less effective, Talabec Dam turned out to be real sweet. Especially if we had other good healers in there and I could feel free to just kill and rez up. (Sorry for the uncropped pic, I cba to go to the laptop and crop it.)

All in all, I'm fairly pleased with my DPS and this might encourage even more people to stop picking at us. We can be helpful if you work with us, not against. And I still pick up a new set of tactics if we're short on healers. So, less bitching and more healer rolling, there's still not enough of us out there so that I can DPS moar!

On a side note, it seems our PvE runs are getting indefinitely postponed as the bossman is always sleeping now that he found a job. That Darkpromise set seems almost impossible to get by now. And don't get me started on my Sentinel boots...

Nirvaesh as a working man

So - I finally got a job and am now a working man. On this fab time of economic depression I managed to get a job - who would've guessed. Not me fo' sure. In anycase it happened - it has its pro's and con's.

MONEY! .. oh yes the sweet sweet money that I never have - but the major con is that its physichal labour and when I got home today.. I was totally incapable to play and my 1 hour nap stretched to 3 hours cause I just couldn't wake up. SUCKS. 'Cause we were supposed to bonk ToVL again. Oh, well. So now that I got up 2 hours ago I had a few good sc's - few laughs with Doomish and then.. order attacked IC. After valiantly fighting for 45 mins.. they locked. Bloody bastards of VIII and Red Guard bombing - what a fun ruiner.

It's tempting.. those bomb groups.. to make one. But - I can't help but to think that those people on order who we would bomb would feel the same as I do now. Meaning I would ruin their fun - and that sucks. Sure its fun to bomb away lulz and get free arpeez.. but when I think of it deeper then the renown - it's dull, unimaginative - tho at first a great invention - but its like.. not Warhammer Online - it's more like a Bombhammer Hotline - when I go to a scenario all I see is bombing bw's and slayers going "Yaya I can spam AoE woot I r skillzed at this game." No I don't mean that every order bomber etc. is a retard - most likely the opposite. It's just the pressure of peers. Use what works. I don't blame you - I don't care whos responsible for ruining the prime-time of the game with bombers. But - I just wish it would stop. That's all.

In other notes back to my achievement of finding a job - this means I get money - this means that I hopefully will have this job for a long time and they'll premit me a few weeks off in the summer - cause I would love to visit Mike and Sara in Portugal.. and maybe another friend of mine in Holland on the way back/there. Who knows. Well I guess I'll find out in a months or twos time.

Back to the scenario then - I hope I can find one that isn't being dominated by bombers.