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.
Showing posts with label PvP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PvP. Show all posts
Friday, April 13, 2012
Evolution, PvP Style
I have NEVER done a single Troll heroic dungeon, that is ZA/ZG for the acronym inclined. I never raided at the beginning of Cataclysm, there was no LFR at the time. But that big patch thingy came out and these new, long, difficult heroic dungeons that offered a marginal increase in gear ilvl were all the rage. Then I began to hear of all the rage because that's all there was to do and people were getting sick of it.
Well hahaha, I just never ran them, so suck on that for a while. That's right, I was simply too cool for those hunchback trolls, but I still felt like doing something...PvP came a knocking at my door.
I had leveled 5 characters to 85 and even through the initial launch of Cata had NEVER, EVER even stepped into a simple BG at any level. PvP was a distant nightmare that I had no wish to endulge. I had dueled with my priest at level 32 with a level 24 Pali and lost, I was that bad. I was convinced that PvP, in any form, was not my cup of smoking hot tea. Leave it to the kids, I said to myself, but as for me and my multi-vitamins and adult diapers, I'm sticking with the other end game activities like raiding.
Only I didn't raid anymore due to my bad back.
Oops! My bad! I couldn't do that either. So what to do, quit? What other choices did I have? I always had and continue to have plenty of alts, and I play with all of them. But I wanted something to do with my max level toons, for getting them to 85 and doing nothing else just wasn't an option.
Once again PvP came a knocking at my door, but this time it was more of a BANG and a "I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, YOU CAN'T HIDE FOREVER" type of invitation.
So, I looked at my Shaman, Priest, Hunter, Mage, Druid, DK, Warlock, and later Paladin and asked myself, of all these who would be the most "fun" to PvP with. In the end I decided that DK and Mage would have the greatest fun factor. But before I entered a max level BG, I decided I'd go back to the beginning and learn a little bit at a time.
Enter more alts.
I made more low level druids, mages, hunters, shamans, priests, Locks and even a Warrior and Rogue and began at level 10 in what has become my most hated BG, Warsong Gulch.
Tangent: I really wish there were more BG's available at lower levels and that those offered a diverse enough gameplay to make each BG fresh and challenging and entertaining. Seriously, now we have two WG's (Twin Peaks) and two Arathi Basins (Battle for Gilneas). At least in MoP it appears that they are at least trying to do something different.
Anyhoo, my beginnings were centered around mostly my Hunter, as I figured in PvP if I can hit you from far before you hit me up close I have a better chance of winning the battle. I have learned much since, but indulge me for a bit longer. Unfortunately, my early success with my Hunter, as I have come to discover, gave me a false sense of security. As many of you know, Hunters are incredibly effective at those lower levels, as many melee fighters have no way to get close to you if you can get off a concussive shot before they begin their attack. Then it's a few nukes and POW they are dead and you and your pet are eating man-flesh.
Speaking of man-flesh, I gave it up because it's just too stringy, and got stuck in between my teeth.
My adventures continued, and I have more stories to tell, but please allow me multiple posts to continue on in my evolution from scrub to where I am today. You see, it's 2am and I am finally tired, I shall continue this tomorrow. Cleverly leaving you hanging so you'll come back and buy my toaster oven I shall offer at just 7 easy payments of $16.47.
Until the next day,
Gronthe
Well hahaha, I just never ran them, so suck on that for a while. That's right, I was simply too cool for those hunchback trolls, but I still felt like doing something...PvP came a knocking at my door.
I had leveled 5 characters to 85 and even through the initial launch of Cata had NEVER, EVER even stepped into a simple BG at any level. PvP was a distant nightmare that I had no wish to endulge. I had dueled with my priest at level 32 with a level 24 Pali and lost, I was that bad. I was convinced that PvP, in any form, was not my cup of smoking hot tea. Leave it to the kids, I said to myself, but as for me and my multi-vitamins and adult diapers, I'm sticking with the other end game activities like raiding.
Only I didn't raid anymore due to my bad back.
Oops! My bad! I couldn't do that either. So what to do, quit? What other choices did I have? I always had and continue to have plenty of alts, and I play with all of them. But I wanted something to do with my max level toons, for getting them to 85 and doing nothing else just wasn't an option.
Once again PvP came a knocking at my door, but this time it was more of a BANG and a "I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, YOU CAN'T HIDE FOREVER" type of invitation.
So, I looked at my Shaman, Priest, Hunter, Mage, Druid, DK, Warlock, and later Paladin and asked myself, of all these who would be the most "fun" to PvP with. In the end I decided that DK and Mage would have the greatest fun factor. But before I entered a max level BG, I decided I'd go back to the beginning and learn a little bit at a time.
Enter more alts.
I made more low level druids, mages, hunters, shamans, priests, Locks and even a Warrior and Rogue and began at level 10 in what has become my most hated BG, Warsong Gulch.
Tangent: I really wish there were more BG's available at lower levels and that those offered a diverse enough gameplay to make each BG fresh and challenging and entertaining. Seriously, now we have two WG's (Twin Peaks) and two Arathi Basins (Battle for Gilneas). At least in MoP it appears that they are at least trying to do something different.
Anyhoo, my beginnings were centered around mostly my Hunter, as I figured in PvP if I can hit you from far before you hit me up close I have a better chance of winning the battle. I have learned much since, but indulge me for a bit longer. Unfortunately, my early success with my Hunter, as I have come to discover, gave me a false sense of security. As many of you know, Hunters are incredibly effective at those lower levels, as many melee fighters have no way to get close to you if you can get off a concussive shot before they begin their attack. Then it's a few nukes and POW they are dead and you and your pet are eating man-flesh.
Speaking of man-flesh, I gave it up because it's just too stringy, and got stuck in between my teeth.
My adventures continued, and I have more stories to tell, but please allow me multiple posts to continue on in my evolution from scrub to where I am today. You see, it's 2am and I am finally tired, I shall continue this tomorrow. Cleverly leaving you hanging so you'll come back and buy my toaster oven I shall offer at just 7 easy payments of $16.47.
Until the next day,
Gronthe
Monday, April 2, 2012
Spring Break
Not mine, I'm not in school of any kind, but my kids are on spring break this week (4th and 6th grade respectively). This means less time for me on the computer, which I don't know if I can handle not getting my fix of 01011101000110101.
I just wanted to say that I'd like to throw myself into the ring of Big Bear Butt's pvp idea. I heard about it via Tesh first, and I liked his idea as well. I'm simply shameless plugging myself as a wannabe contestant, if anything could ever come to fruition.
If there's anyone out there still listening to me, please drop me a line if they hear of anything getting together for a giant blogger war, I'd love to jump back into the fray.
Sincerely,
Me
P.S. I'm really, really good looking and could easily distract the opposing team with my bright, shiny smile and charming personality. That and I've got a HUGE...oh wait, someone's knocking at the door, cya'lls later.
I just wanted to say that I'd like to throw myself into the ring of Big Bear Butt's pvp idea. I heard about it via Tesh first, and I liked his idea as well. I'm simply shameless plugging myself as a wannabe contestant, if anything could ever come to fruition.
If there's anyone out there still listening to me, please drop me a line if they hear of anything getting together for a giant blogger war, I'd love to jump back into the fray.
Sincerely,
Me
P.S. I'm really, really good looking and could easily distract the opposing team with my bright, shiny smile and charming personality. That and I've got a HUGE...oh wait, someone's knocking at the door, cya'lls later.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
My Love/Hate of PvP - And Why PvP is to Blame for Everything
The 10-Day Trial. The most impactful moment of my gaming life. I gazed at the screen and thought to myself, "it sure would be cool to play games on my computer, this World of Warcraft thing, whatever it is, could be fun." That fateful day I gazed at my computer screen and only wished that I didn't have to pay in order to play.
Then I looked closer. "FREE 10-DAY TRIAL!"
Perfect.
And thus my online gaming life began. I ran through my first, then second, then third 10-day free trial, and each time I did I found a class that I loved more than the last. One day, as I strolled into Goldshire, I saw this dude (Warrior or Rogue, can't remember) holding a rather large weapon (for which I call him Big Sword Guy, or just BSG for short). I wondered where he obtained such a gift, for I didn't recall any such weapon dropping in the starting area, from a mob or from a quest. BSG invited me to a duel. I was afraid because I had seen how he had punished others with his big sword and I had no desire to be another victim to his blood lust.
Then I agreed.
I think it was the minion of mine that finally did him in, tossing one last fire ball into his face. He bowed to me and congratulated me on a victory well earned. I thanked BSG, then vowed never to PvP...EVER AGAIN!
It was stressful, I gained 17 new gray hairs after that duel in the village crossroads, and had no desire to hasten my demise by participating in a portion of the game destined to grow me into an old-folk home prematurely. No, I would swear off PvP for life, it held no attraction to me at all.
A year passed, then 18 months. I had a dozen toons of all levels, I had began and stopped raiding, I studied all the PvE tips and tricks of every class and spec. But during all that time I still refused to PvP, I had made a promise to myself, there was no way I was going to break that now.
At the time I stopped my raiding life (for a while, to rehab my RL injuries), I still enjoyed playing, but questing and dungeons alone didn't provide something that I had experienced while raiding..."challenging" (let's not debate this today, I'm not in the mood) encounters that forced me to think and react quickly to the situation. What out there could help compensate for that feeling without having to committ so much time to multiple raid nights/week.
PvP.
And thus it was that I broke my promise to myself, I started to PvP on a regular basis. I had always told everyone that I didn't want to PvP because I sucked at it (which is actually true), but had withheld the true reasons for avoiding battlegrounds, etc. But I was called by the mystical forces of the Universe, did I really have a choice?
One by one I played my various toons of different classes to see which ones I enjoyed to PvP with the most. Basically it came down to who was the most intuitive and powerful classes that my fingers could wield. It may seem strange, but whenever I play with my rogue, I can't seem to win a fight. It's not that I don't know my spells or anything, it just doesn't feel right under my fingertips. On the other hand, the class I vowed I would never play (Paladin) was one where I excelled at PvP.
Love / Hate
I now have an odd love/hate relationship with PvP. I love it because it's not scripted, I can't look up strats for fights, when to move out of the fire and when to stand in the good stuff. No, every fight was 100% unique from all others, it keeps me thinking and planning constantly, never allowing me to breathe or take any mental break. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in PvP that I don't read what people write in BG chat (not that some of it is useful). But I love it because it gives me a chance to use my toons in ways that I would have never dreamed of in any dungeon or raid boss fight.
I hate it because of the unpredictability, yes, the same reason I love it now is the same why I hate it. The most unpredictable thing, however, are the people you are fighting with. In any battleground you have a chance to be grouped with others who understand that particular BG strats or with people who just run around looking for a fight, whether it's one on one or one on eight. It's those times when you find yourself looking up at the Arathi Basin score board and the Horde is at 1440 resources and you and your pathetic Alliance friends are at 300. Ugh.
It's in those bad groups that you often find yourself launching into battle with 4-5 other friends, only to find out that 3-4 of them, upon seeing a fair fight ahead of them, turn tail and run like little chickens crying for their mama. Now you're left with a 5 on 1 situation and you're dead...again!
And it's then that I start to scream and yell and my kids run out of my room because their dad is about to explode.
Life Goes On
So I continue to PvP, and probably will, for those reasons why I enjoy it so. I'll live with the bad, those things I hate, because there is always bad that comes with good, that's life. I am pretty good with some classes/specs, and still suck at most, but I keep trying, and maybe one day I'll get good. At least I know BG strats, so that I don't do stupid stuff and get yelled at. If I lose it's because I wasn't as good/skilled, period. No excuses and I'm fine with that.
PvP Causes Rebellion
Many out there, including myself, often find cause to complain about the bad behavior of others. We question whether or not anyone has heard of oddities such as manners, thougtfulness, and common sense. There are many theories, but I think the root of all evil is PvP.
I hope in reading this section you don't actually believe a word I say, it's all for fun. And so I continue.
PvP is leaderless, anarchy incarnate. It promotes rude, offensive behavior, for all out war, no rules is the only way you can defeat your opponent. In days of Knights and Kings and Surfs, if a warrior dropped his sword in a duel, his opponent allowed him to pick it up, for to slay a defenseless man was honorless. In PvP, it's encouraged. In fact, some classes are even given spells that disarm their opponent so that you can kill them. Nice!
WoW is filled with a bunch of "heroes" roaming the wild without a moral compass. The only compass in PvP is pointed at your enemy, and you hope that the arrow pointing you in said direction can also be used to gut 'em. PvP won't allow leadership, it would burst the dam of honor in order to gain a different sort of honor. PvP is the evil that corrupts all players to behave badly, because in PvP there is no such thing as bad behavior, just kill or be killed.
So PvPers take those attitudes to the streets of SW and Org, and with it find new and unusual ways to troll the rest of the community. Eventually, that reckless hate spread to PvE realms and players, until it became acceptable; or at the very least prevalent, if not acceptable.
So, what do we do? We must destroy PvP once and for all. Then we must turn and destroy all PvE elements, leaving us with only professions and fishing. People will role play fights, BG's, raids, and everyone will be a Kingslayer. The world will be perfect because all the kids will get a trophy. Yes, PvP is the genesis of all bad behavior, and we must destroy it before it infects you and me.
Die PvP! DIE!!!
Then I looked closer. "FREE 10-DAY TRIAL!"
Perfect.
And thus my online gaming life began. I ran through my first, then second, then third 10-day free trial, and each time I did I found a class that I loved more than the last. One day, as I strolled into Goldshire, I saw this dude (Warrior or Rogue, can't remember) holding a rather large weapon (for which I call him Big Sword Guy, or just BSG for short). I wondered where he obtained such a gift, for I didn't recall any such weapon dropping in the starting area, from a mob or from a quest. BSG invited me to a duel. I was afraid because I had seen how he had punished others with his big sword and I had no desire to be another victim to his blood lust.
Then I agreed.
I think it was the minion of mine that finally did him in, tossing one last fire ball into his face. He bowed to me and congratulated me on a victory well earned. I thanked BSG, then vowed never to PvP...EVER AGAIN!
It was stressful, I gained 17 new gray hairs after that duel in the village crossroads, and had no desire to hasten my demise by participating in a portion of the game destined to grow me into an old-folk home prematurely. No, I would swear off PvP for life, it held no attraction to me at all.
A year passed, then 18 months. I had a dozen toons of all levels, I had began and stopped raiding, I studied all the PvE tips and tricks of every class and spec. But during all that time I still refused to PvP, I had made a promise to myself, there was no way I was going to break that now.
At the time I stopped my raiding life (for a while, to rehab my RL injuries), I still enjoyed playing, but questing and dungeons alone didn't provide something that I had experienced while raiding..."challenging" (let's not debate this today, I'm not in the mood) encounters that forced me to think and react quickly to the situation. What out there could help compensate for that feeling without having to committ so much time to multiple raid nights/week.
PvP.
And thus it was that I broke my promise to myself, I started to PvP on a regular basis. I had always told everyone that I didn't want to PvP because I sucked at it (which is actually true), but had withheld the true reasons for avoiding battlegrounds, etc. But I was called by the mystical forces of the Universe, did I really have a choice?
One by one I played my various toons of different classes to see which ones I enjoyed to PvP with the most. Basically it came down to who was the most intuitive and powerful classes that my fingers could wield. It may seem strange, but whenever I play with my rogue, I can't seem to win a fight. It's not that I don't know my spells or anything, it just doesn't feel right under my fingertips. On the other hand, the class I vowed I would never play (Paladin) was one where I excelled at PvP.
Love / Hate
I now have an odd love/hate relationship with PvP. I love it because it's not scripted, I can't look up strats for fights, when to move out of the fire and when to stand in the good stuff. No, every fight was 100% unique from all others, it keeps me thinking and planning constantly, never allowing me to breathe or take any mental break. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in PvP that I don't read what people write in BG chat (not that some of it is useful). But I love it because it gives me a chance to use my toons in ways that I would have never dreamed of in any dungeon or raid boss fight.
I hate it because of the unpredictability, yes, the same reason I love it now is the same why I hate it. The most unpredictable thing, however, are the people you are fighting with. In any battleground you have a chance to be grouped with others who understand that particular BG strats or with people who just run around looking for a fight, whether it's one on one or one on eight. It's those times when you find yourself looking up at the Arathi Basin score board and the Horde is at 1440 resources and you and your pathetic Alliance friends are at 300. Ugh.
It's in those bad groups that you often find yourself launching into battle with 4-5 other friends, only to find out that 3-4 of them, upon seeing a fair fight ahead of them, turn tail and run like little chickens crying for their mama. Now you're left with a 5 on 1 situation and you're dead...again!
And it's then that I start to scream and yell and my kids run out of my room because their dad is about to explode.
Life Goes On
So I continue to PvP, and probably will, for those reasons why I enjoy it so. I'll live with the bad, those things I hate, because there is always bad that comes with good, that's life. I am pretty good with some classes/specs, and still suck at most, but I keep trying, and maybe one day I'll get good. At least I know BG strats, so that I don't do stupid stuff and get yelled at. If I lose it's because I wasn't as good/skilled, period. No excuses and I'm fine with that.
PvP Causes Rebellion
Many out there, including myself, often find cause to complain about the bad behavior of others. We question whether or not anyone has heard of oddities such as manners, thougtfulness, and common sense. There are many theories, but I think the root of all evil is PvP.
I hope in reading this section you don't actually believe a word I say, it's all for fun. And so I continue.
PvP is leaderless, anarchy incarnate. It promotes rude, offensive behavior, for all out war, no rules is the only way you can defeat your opponent. In days of Knights and Kings and Surfs, if a warrior dropped his sword in a duel, his opponent allowed him to pick it up, for to slay a defenseless man was honorless. In PvP, it's encouraged. In fact, some classes are even given spells that disarm their opponent so that you can kill them. Nice!
WoW is filled with a bunch of "heroes" roaming the wild without a moral compass. The only compass in PvP is pointed at your enemy, and you hope that the arrow pointing you in said direction can also be used to gut 'em. PvP won't allow leadership, it would burst the dam of honor in order to gain a different sort of honor. PvP is the evil that corrupts all players to behave badly, because in PvP there is no such thing as bad behavior, just kill or be killed.
So PvPers take those attitudes to the streets of SW and Org, and with it find new and unusual ways to troll the rest of the community. Eventually, that reckless hate spread to PvE realms and players, until it became acceptable; or at the very least prevalent, if not acceptable.
So, what do we do? We must destroy PvP once and for all. Then we must turn and destroy all PvE elements, leaving us with only professions and fishing. People will role play fights, BG's, raids, and everyone will be a Kingslayer. The world will be perfect because all the kids will get a trophy. Yes, PvP is the genesis of all bad behavior, and we must destroy it before it infects you and me.
Die PvP! DIE!!!
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