What, free 80s? INSANE.

Gray Matter: I'm Annoyed: An SoR Rant:

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a grumpy old man rant about how hard I had it back and my day. I think the Scroll of Resurrection is a good idea and that the rewards provided were intelligently chosen. When evaluated entirely on its own, I can't find fault with the SoR.

I'm annoyed because it's hard not to look at these rewards and ask "what about me?"

I started playing this game in December 2006 and I have maintained my subscription without a break for over 5 years. I've paid for the original game along with all three expansions. I've also paid for 14 server transfers, two faction transfers, and a name change. And this doesn't even include the things not tied to my account like the books and WoW branded peripherals I've purchased.

Wait, what's going on?  That's right, as Graylo says, if you Recruit-a-Friend, that friend can have 

One character immediately bossed to level 80.  Wow.

Okay, let's get this out of the way.  Contra Graylo, I am a grumpy old man here.

If you've done RaF before, and your friend is, say, at level 20, now you can restart and boost them to 80 without any of the learning in between?  As if people didn't know how to play now...  That's insane.  I mean, they've already made it insanely easy to level, and now they're giving out 80s?  If you want to add an 80 to an account than already has an 80+, fine, but this is crazy.  Wow.  Just wow.  Even if it is, apparently, a "limited time offer".

And now that I think about it, even letting those with 80s have another is wacky.  Me as a prot warrior at 80?  Hahahahahaha.  Hilarious.  You should at least be forced to take a driver's test first.

I could understand allowing a toon account to, say, start a DK without having leveled another level 55 character, perhaps, but this cheapens the game experience something wacky.

And yes, there should be some nice bonus for keeping your account active.

Panzerkin finally D-E-D

I found out reading Restokin:

Moonkin Form now grants 15% damage reduction instead of increased armor.

See, what the armor bonus did was allow you to put together mitigation gear, just like any other tank or off-tank. Now, the benefit is flat. I'll have to double check the mathes, since I really am mostly a non-mathes player, but I don't think 15% is going to be as good as max leather armor with the proper enchantments, etc.

This is really another watering down of the game, "Dungeons are hard" aside. Not only does the quest reward gear look exactly the same with small changes during upgrades, saying that you're essentially marching your way through a pre-defined route of gearing when questing, now, just as with the switch from +healing gear to just generic spellpower and the elimination of spell type specific bonuses, every Boomkin is marching along, playing just like every other.

The character of the game is taking a hit. Playstyles are becoming more standardized by the standardization of gear and gear bonuses.

Update and panzerkin staff

The great DPS staff I grabbed was the Staff of the Sorrowful Chieftan. Insanely good DPS for me, but it really brings to light how bad damage mit is for 'kin since the LK nerf. I really miss Braxxis armor x 360%. The staff was a cinch to get with three in the group, and takes about a minute after landing at Zul'Drak. Get it.

In other news, I'm behind on posts, have dinged 76 which I'll backfill, and have been running the Nessingwary questline now that I'm 76. Also bagged my first rep reward, dropping back in with the walruses to grab the Whale-Skin Vest. I think I might also grab the Whale-Skin Breastplate (not on Laser Chicken's list; this is panzerkin only, folks) next time I log in, as that'd be a good upgrade for when I'm panzering solo with the Staff.

(Update: Argh, now that I do some wowheading, it looks like going after the Dark Iceborne Chestguard gives me both a better piece plus gives me the iceborne set bonus back, which I recently lost putting in a few new pieces. Argh. See what I mean about theorycrafting ruining your playtime?)

And Nessingwary's is danged busy. I didn't realize how many achievements were available in that zone -- mostly hunting -- until an 80 was nice enough to link a few for me.

Finally, let me reiterate how important it is to ignore theorycrafting pre-80. Not spending much of any time figuring out exactly what to wear or what rep to grab, etc, has paid off in much faster leveling. About all I did was leave Zul'Drak for the Dragonblight storyline, as those rep rewards will eventually be better. For now, the Kalu'ak rewards (76 & 78 level usables) are doing just fine. There'll be time enough to count points when the dealin's done.

PS -- Paid for my dual spec. Now I just need to find the time to pick a set of resto talents.

Panzerkins NERFED! It was nice while it lasted

It was nice while it lasted. No, this isn't the standard, "I just got married/a job/a new baby and can't play WoW anymore. Sorry things got so slow, but I have to move on."

No, this is WORSE. The panzerkin experience, as of 3.0.2, seems to be over. Imagine my surprise reading the patch notes when I see this...

Moonkin Form (Balance) no longer increases your attack power or causes you to regenerate mana off melee attacks, but now has a chance to cause you to instantly regenerate 2% of your total mana every time you critically hit with a spell.

No more attack power or mana regen? Wtf? FTW!!!! TWF!!!!!!. (That's right. I said it. THE WHAT FREAK!!!!)

Panzerkin, I hardly knew ye. Sheesh. Wonder what caused them to smash that old playstyle. Seriously, why not just keep both? What would it hurt to have panzer and oomkin out there? If anything, wading in with a staff to regen mana was a boost to role-playing. It made moonkin more memorable, and also gave me an excuse to prove I was worth something during melee time. How the freak am I supposed to mana up if I'M OUT OF MANA AND MY ONLY MANA REGEN IS BY CRITING WITH A FREAKIN SPELL?!!

This sucks. Please kill my desire to solo MORE. SUX0RZ!!!1!

I'm upset. This is what I get for thinking I should come back for a while. Which I will. Soon, now that I'm over the superfun "World of Warcraft could not be found. Please make sure the game is properly installed" jive. My free ten days should start up tonight, followed by a period of work, followed by my 60 day game card. I need a vacation, and don't have a solid week to travel, and that means Northrend, here I [finally] come.

(Note the extreme disconnect between, "They've ruined the game!" and "I'm going to start playing again tonight." I don't get it either. Maybe I'll play a lot of death knight stuff. Take THAT, Blizzard.)

Finally, some dual-speccing

In general I don't like making the game easier just to increase play, but at endgame/max level, there really is a need to be able to go with more than one spec. Panzerkin is a great solo spec, but not as conventionally useful in instances. There, I'd rather be feral. OKAY, I SAID IT. It's so much easier to find a group if you're a bear, or at least it was the last time I played, or even, dare I say it, spec'd resto. And let's face it, filling the heal slot as a panzer in healing gear is no fun whatsoever. (If you can find a group that lets you tank as 'kin, however, it's nothing but fun...)

So this, from Inside Mac Games, makes me once again want to start back up my char...

Nethaera: Why are we allowing players to dual spec after all this time?
Ghostcrawler: We really felt like this was a great way to increase the flexibility available to players and encourage them to take part in more aspects of the game. To use just one example, some players like to participate in both raids and Arenas, which is awesome behavior that we want to promote. But, there are some talents which are more useful in one part of the game than another.

That and some texts from an old guildie, that is. Man, I wish real life wasn't so time consuming. *sigh*

Roots indoors?

Well, this sorta changes everything, doesn't it?

There were some details of class changes (sorry its incomplete, as I mentioned I missed the start of the presentation) but from what I recall:
...
Druids:
Entangling roots will work indoors!
"Flourish" was mentioned but I didn't catch what that did ...

(emph mine)