Friday, April 13, 2012

Evolution, PvP Style - Cont...

So there I was, about to crown myself king of PvP because my little level 14 hunter was seriously unstoppable. I thought, heck, if a hunter can be so good, I'm sure a Warrior could be even better.

So I began to level a warrior, got into some intro BG's, and realized that I never had enough rage when I needed it and that I could never seem to get close enough to those stupid hunters. I was enraged and wanted to quit, considering PvP to be the bane I always believed it to be. Sure, I hadn't really given it a fair try, using only low level BG experiences to define and shape my opinion, but like you and everyone else I wasn't rational.

I randomly rolled this alt and that, trying to find something that felt comfortable and natural. It wasn't for a few months that I finally had the courage to try some max level PvP. At first I thought I should play with a class I felt most comfortable with, so the next thing I knew I was a PvPing Shadow Priest.

Ah, pvp as Shadow at max level, one word...a bad idea. Ok, that was 3 words, but I got a C+ in my first college algebra class, so sue me. Yeah, I later went on to become an economics, finance, and accounting superstar, but that was when I finally figured things out. Same thing happened in PvP, I realized that in a PvE setting I was most comfortable with my Enhancement Shaman and Shadow Priest, but this wasn't PvE, I needed to find my comfort zone. Enter Frost Mage.

I quickly began to appreciate the tools at my disposal, and although at first I felt underpowered, I knew that with my frost mage I had the ability to survive longer to try and figure out what I was doing so that I could improve upon things. Funny thing, I was still having trouble with Hunters, which made little sense. Then my 9 year old (8 at the time) taught me how a frost mage can do pvp battle and win every time against those stupid hunters, and the next thing I knew I was powering my way up the learning curve.

Now my story does not end with me rising the ranks of arena charts, becoming this all powerful mage. I will not say that PvP is easysawce and make fun of all the people who, like me still, struggle with the finer points of PvP battle and the required quick thinking that goes into any battle. No, even today I don't consider myself great, just good enough to enjoy myself most of the time.

One thing I didn't expect in my evolution was my inner desire to scream at people. I can proudly say that I am NOT "that guy" who starts spamming BG chat telling everyone that they suck and how I can't believe that I'm stuck with a bunch of morons who must all have on PvE gear or they wouldn't suck so bad. I don't type it, but regretably I sometimes scream it to my monitor. I slowly began doing it so much that my family actually asked me to stop PvPing. Which at the end of patch 4.2 and the beginning of 4.3 and LFR I did stop max level PvP.

For all the tricks I learned on my ranged DPSers and my slow improvement with melee PvP toons, I had anger issues that I have needed to deal with. Lately I have slowly eased back into all PvP at ll levels, but at max level I only run BG's with two toons, and with those I heal...no more blood and guts. Now my Pali is new to 85 and I purchased some gear off the AH so I wouldn't get kicked out of every BG I entered, and I've even been accused of being a BOT as a result (why I don't know), but the experience is much different now. Now I mend people and feel like I actually make a difference in a BG. Before I had an inflated ego and believed that my ability to smash people's face in meant that I was contributing more than those noobs who didn't know or didn't follow commonly accepted BG strategies. In truth, people who just run around for kills are probably just as bad as the people I was yelling at, making me "that guy" who just fights on roads and yells at everyone for sucking.

I was wrong. Now, I don't know, I'm less wrong I suppose. I heal, I help, I support, and yelling? Well I don't really do that anymore, I'm too focused on keeping people alive.

I don't know what I'm talking about. I know I enjoy PvP in a different way now more than I did 6 months ago. I know that I can as easily be on a winning team as on a losing one. I know I am better at playing with my still leveling up Warrior and Rogue, but try not to let things go to my head. I admit that I can easily fall back into old habits, but for my sake that that of my family's hearing, I hope I don't.

Oh well, have fun, and maybe I'll see you on the battlefield somewhere.

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