I recently appeared in the Coke ad that premiered during the superbowl.
I am the Orc in the cafe.
(I didnt really really, I am pretier than that and i just wanted an excuse to use the title for the blog)
Friday, February 6, 2009
Warhammmer TV advertisement.
War needs a TV segment. Lets get some advertising out there.
Start with Random Celeb. Lets say Kate Wynslet.
Voice over.... "Whats your game?"
Kate wrinkles that oh so cute nose.
Looks at the camera and says " This isnt a game, This is WAR"
Cut to cinematic of Blorc called Kate kicking a Witch Hunter in the Jibbles.
Cut to Kate, evil grin.
Start with Random Celeb. Lets say Kate Wynslet.
Voice over.... "Whats your game?"
Kate wrinkles that oh so cute nose.
Looks at the camera and says " This isnt a game, This is WAR"
Cut to cinematic of Blorc called Kate kicking a Witch Hunter in the Jibbles.
Cut to Kate, evil grin.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Alliance Talent Showcase - The singing Zealot
Guilds and alliances are very useful for drawing on, for all sorts of information, skills and experiences. Some members are even talented.
I discovered that one of our allied guilds officer's plays bass and sings.
I present the singing Zealot.
He is now in charge of our Alliance Anthem.
I discovered that one of our allied guilds officer's plays bass and sings.
I present the singing Zealot.
He is now in charge of our Alliance Anthem.
Ghetto gear can make a difference for your Black Orc
After the levelling grind a lot of us get caught up in the gear grind. On Karak Hirn a significant number of players are grinding dark promise gear. So what do you do if you just dinged 40 to compete with the adversary that is decked in top end gear?
As a Black Orc there are a few options such as the Enervating GutStrap. Easy to find in the Auction House, I bought mine for less than a gold. It has some very decent stats. +2 to block is hard to come by and very useful for a tank, the resists are helpful and 22 wound is a passable stat. Check out the equivalents for other classes.
Another source of easy yet useful gear is on your renown merchant.
In terms of bang for your buck don’t underestimate these as placeholders until you upgrade.
Vanguard Warp Ring
Vanguard Chaos Ring
Vanguard Dark Band
Vanguard Cloak
You could also look at the lower set such as Martial if you wished to stack a stat or if your renown isn’t high enough yet. The Martial Darkband will gain you another 37 wounds.
Just taking these very accessible items you can get (I need to check the maths):
102 Wounds
91 Initiative
42 Toughness
282 Spiritual Resist
409 Elemental Resist
338 Corporeal Resist
+ 2 Block
For about 2-3 gold you have some tasty stats.
As a Black Orc there are a few options such as the Enervating GutStrap. Easy to find in the Auction House, I bought mine for less than a gold. It has some very decent stats. +2 to block is hard to come by and very useful for a tank, the resists are helpful and 22 wound is a passable stat. Check out the equivalents for other classes.
Another source of easy yet useful gear is on your renown merchant.
In terms of bang for your buck don’t underestimate these as placeholders until you upgrade.
Vanguard Warp Ring
Vanguard Chaos Ring
Vanguard Dark Band
Vanguard Cloak
You could also look at the lower set such as Martial if you wished to stack a stat or if your renown isn’t high enough yet. The Martial Darkband will gain you another 37 wounds.
Just taking these very accessible items you can get (I need to check the maths):
102 Wounds
91 Initiative
42 Toughness
282 Spiritual Resist
409 Elemental Resist
338 Corporeal Resist
+ 2 Block
For about 2-3 gold you have some tasty stats.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Stayin Alive – Tank specing your guildies
We have had a few new members of the guild and some older ones who were complaining about how squishy they were.
While I am happy to admit not being very knowledgeable about any class other than any own, I would like to think I have gained some insight into how to stay alive. So I decided to see if we could “tank them up”
The 2 guys in question were a BlackGuard and a Disciple of Khaine.
A mix of Annihilator and Sentinel pieces was available for both guys as well as some offset pieces. Both were cookie cutter builds so we didn’t change their mastery trees’
How did we pimp them?
First of all we took at a look at which pieces they had and tired to get the best combination of Annihilator and Sentinel looking particularly at the bonus on the sets. Pick the best combination of pieces gave some useful resists stats and the individual pieces have some reduction to crit. In the end they were both on 3 Sentinel, 3 Annihilator spread across the various slots or 4 Annihilator and 2 Sentinel depending on their preference.
We also reslotted some of their gear where needed, with the gems we had to hand, resists and wounds.
Both of them had very few decent accessories (In terms of survivability) so we started them on the quest for the Winds Impervious set. They are both also looking into getting Stryfe and Torment. The parry on the set is very useful. In the mean time they were able to pick up a few cheap wounds, toughness and initiative rings from the renown Vendor
We then had a look at their renown. It was respeced to provide a bit more focus taking an emphasis on toughness. Toughness comes into its own in pvp where you are being hit by a number of attackers. Taking wounds from your renown tree is not good value so we got our wounds up elsewhere.
By moving some gear around, farming some items and respeccing renown we were able to increase their survivability to a noticeable degree. As they gear up or become more comfortable they can reduce their emphasis on “Tanking” gear and spec and gear more liberally. But for now they don’t feel as if they are a free kill.
While I am happy to admit not being very knowledgeable about any class other than any own, I would like to think I have gained some insight into how to stay alive. So I decided to see if we could “tank them up”
The 2 guys in question were a BlackGuard and a Disciple of Khaine.
A mix of Annihilator and Sentinel pieces was available for both guys as well as some offset pieces. Both were cookie cutter builds so we didn’t change their mastery trees’
How did we pimp them?
First of all we took at a look at which pieces they had and tired to get the best combination of Annihilator and Sentinel looking particularly at the bonus on the sets. Pick the best combination of pieces gave some useful resists stats and the individual pieces have some reduction to crit. In the end they were both on 3 Sentinel, 3 Annihilator spread across the various slots or 4 Annihilator and 2 Sentinel depending on their preference.
We also reslotted some of their gear where needed, with the gems we had to hand, resists and wounds.
Both of them had very few decent accessories (In terms of survivability) so we started them on the quest for the Winds Impervious set. They are both also looking into getting Stryfe and Torment. The parry on the set is very useful. In the mean time they were able to pick up a few cheap wounds, toughness and initiative rings from the renown Vendor
We then had a look at their renown. It was respeced to provide a bit more focus taking an emphasis on toughness. Toughness comes into its own in pvp where you are being hit by a number of attackers. Taking wounds from your renown tree is not good value so we got our wounds up elsewhere.
By moving some gear around, farming some items and respeccing renown we were able to increase their survivability to a noticeable degree. As they gear up or become more comfortable they can reduce their emphasis on “Tanking” gear and spec and gear more liberally. But for now they don’t feel as if they are a free kill.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
MMOs as Religion
MMO, Politics and Human Relations
While they may not to be peculiar to MMOs politics and human relation issues do seem more prevalent than in other gaming genres. Managing people from different cultures, different outlooks and of different ages can be a delicate affair. As most communication is in the written word, tone, intention and emphasis can be lost. Indeed when communicate orally we adjust out approach to individuals as we perceive their mood, bearing etc. This week I had a fine example of that.
Chat in our alliance channel took a very negative turn last week. You have seen it yourselves in your own alliance or in general chat, I am sure. A mood can suddenly be set that is unhelpful and doesn’t actually reflect the reality. What people were perceiving as a lack of desire to cooperate and an inability to play well together was in fact about low morale within the member guilds about the state of the game. We had had a large alliance event a week before where cooperation was superb and we all played well but the event failed due to short comings in the game.
To overcome this mood we decided to a meeting of representatives of all our guilds on vent. This was a task as we have 8 guilds but eventually on Sunday at 11am we got together. This worked very very well.
There were a number of reasons for this success. Voice coms are a far more efficient way of getting people to resolve issues. Guilds can build up reputations that are not wholly deserved and these can extend into rivalries with other guilds. Clearing the air between such groups is essential before you can tackle any practical or logistical issues. Secondly we had someone chair the meeting so we did not speak over each other, we also had a person record the minutes so our members can see what we discussed. Imposing a little structure on the gathering seemed to help us all. In the end we came up the following very simple conclusions. The may be of use to some of you in similar situations
Our Goals and Ambitions:
Having Fun
ORvR rather than ORvE
Locking zones and seeing end game content
Building on the strengths of the Alliance
We do not exploit
Communications:
Try and be positive in Alliance Chat
Use the Alliance Chat with care, if we are doing Alliance RvR we should not use it as a general chat. This doesn't mean you can’t type into it or chat , just don't spam it with chitchat when we do events or massive RvR, use common sense when you use and you should do fine
Each guild will police their members in alliance chat
Support those leading Warbands and Raids
Channel criticisms and ideas through appropriate channels
A forum for alliance is available
Events:
We will try and have an Alliance event once a week even if its only jumping of a Bridge
We will also have Ad Hoc events
During the week if people ask for help in defence or attack in ORvR try and assist them where possible Help the Alliance: If someone requests help to lock a zone everyone that is up for RvR should go and help with locking that zone.
Fighting vs Farming: We should try to fight order instead of farming loot from empty keeps.
I am optimistic that will improve from now and am hopefully that our next event will be a success.
Chat in our alliance channel took a very negative turn last week. You have seen it yourselves in your own alliance or in general chat, I am sure. A mood can suddenly be set that is unhelpful and doesn’t actually reflect the reality. What people were perceiving as a lack of desire to cooperate and an inability to play well together was in fact about low morale within the member guilds about the state of the game. We had had a large alliance event a week before where cooperation was superb and we all played well but the event failed due to short comings in the game.
To overcome this mood we decided to a meeting of representatives of all our guilds on vent. This was a task as we have 8 guilds but eventually on Sunday at 11am we got together. This worked very very well.
There were a number of reasons for this success. Voice coms are a far more efficient way of getting people to resolve issues. Guilds can build up reputations that are not wholly deserved and these can extend into rivalries with other guilds. Clearing the air between such groups is essential before you can tackle any practical or logistical issues. Secondly we had someone chair the meeting so we did not speak over each other, we also had a person record the minutes so our members can see what we discussed. Imposing a little structure on the gathering seemed to help us all. In the end we came up the following very simple conclusions. The may be of use to some of you in similar situations
Our Goals and Ambitions:
Having Fun
ORvR rather than ORvE
Locking zones and seeing end game content
Building on the strengths of the Alliance
We do not exploit
Communications:
Try and be positive in Alliance Chat
Use the Alliance Chat with care, if we are doing Alliance RvR we should not use it as a general chat. This doesn't mean you can’t type into it or chat , just don't spam it with chitchat when we do events or massive RvR, use common sense when you use and you should do fine
Each guild will police their members in alliance chat
Support those leading Warbands and Raids
Channel criticisms and ideas through appropriate channels
A forum for alliance is available
Events:
We will try and have an Alliance event once a week even if its only jumping of a Bridge
We will also have Ad Hoc events
During the week if people ask for help in defence or attack in ORvR try and assist them where possible Help the Alliance: If someone requests help to lock a zone everyone that is up for RvR should go and help with locking that zone.
Fighting vs Farming: We should try to fight order instead of farming loot from empty keeps.
I am optimistic that will improve from now and am hopefully that our next event will be a success.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Warhammer Word Puzzle update
Seems one of the letters is a H
It seems a H has been found. Where is Richard Whitley when you need him?
As it stands these are the letters are
_ T _ I H T N _ V _ R A _
If we take the letters and accept one of the words is valentine we are left with an R and a T and 2 unknown’s
V A L E N T I N E
H _ R T
Could it be:
H U R T?
It seems a H has been found. Where is Richard Whitley when you need him?
As it stands these are the letters are
_ T _ I H T N _ V _ R A _
If we take the letters and accept one of the words is valentine we are left with an R and a T and 2 unknown’s
V A L E N T I N E
H _ R T
Could it be:
H U R T?
The Squig Herder is a person in your neighbourhood.
I asked a Guildy for some information on the Squigherder class as he plays it well and is involved in a few discussion threads on the class. Thanks to Nublet for the following.
Why did you write about the squig herder?
The Squig Herder section on the Warhammer alliance forums felt a bit like a synopsis of the class with a lot of players asking questions relating to endgame, game play mechanics, specs, leveling ideas, tactics vs order classes, shot rotation, mastery points, renown points you name it. Seeing countless different topics relating to this class I decided it was time to share my knowledge and experience of the class with my fellow Herders. This link will take you direct to my post titled "Squig Herder - My experience"
As I have played the game through its closed beta, open beta stages I have learned alot about the game mechanics thus far and how these relate to the Squig Herder. Many players who have posted on the Squig Herder forums of Warhammer alliance have explained that they are having difficulties in tier 2/3 and asked what endgame was like. I felt that as this class in my opinion is underplayed I would post some information for discussion from an informative view to give hope to those who were finding it hard. I have had a lot of positive feedback on the thread started by myself with several very good Squig Herder players sharing their knowledge.
What is attractive about the class?
The best thing about this class is its a gobbo! Sneaky little gobbo to be precise, we have an awesome selection of abilities which really make for some sneaky attacks on unsuspecting order players. The ranged classes of this game really do have the upper hand... that is until we are engaged in melee.. wait what was that... sneaky Witch Hunter on my ass?! Squig armour time - we get gobbled up by our trusty squig to return the favour of the melee damage!
What are the top 5 most enjoyable things about the class?
1. Annimations - specifically - Dont Hit Me, goblin soils himself in a cowering gesture - makes me chuckle every time.
2. Squigs - although slightly gimped once these receive the fix they deserve expect alot more squigs on the battlefield. The different buffs each squig provide make each battle interesting.
3. Squig Armour - As mentioned above, this is awesome fun and yes it does need a fix!
4. Small Character - feel for the little guy eh!
5. The Damage Per Second (DPS) - they can spec to have extremelly potent single target dps, or an increadible Area of Effect (AoE) which you can cast while running!
What needs to be fixed?
1. Squig Armour - Instant cast, 10sec cooldown. This is really our only choice when melee closes the ground between us and them, with it currently being on a cast time with a reuse time of 60seconds it makes us a sitting squig for melee.
2. Squigs - Instant cast no cooldown, at the moment these squigs are on a 2second cast time with a 30second cooldown- this turns most level 40 squig herders into Goblin Archers and only because in Open RVR you dont have enough time to wait and summon your squig... the enemy wont let you!
3. Squigs out whilst mounted - If they added this alot more players would be happy, it was in Beta at one stage, why the took it out i dont know, it would be even better if we could mount our squig and dismount when in combat it attacked.
4. Current build of the game theres an annoying graphical bug with Lots'a'arrers where the cast annimation keeps going even after the ability has ended. Its about time this was fixed.
How should you spec for Leveling?
Firstly at Rank 17 you should take this spec, http://www.wardb.com/career.aspx?id=8#3:8:0:0:0:0:25 - this gives you a tactic called Aimin Quickly which makes your main attack, Plink, a 1second cast instead of 2seconds, which means you just increased your dps by 100%
Keep pumping points into Big Shootin Tree until you can take this spec at Rank 28: - This tactic reduces the cost of your Big Shootin Abilities which means if they cost less you can fire em more often, in turn increasing your dps again!
The choice splits into 2 here, you can either continue with Big Shootin or for a little fun you can take this spec at Rank 30: - This will change your game play as you will now be AoE melee specced, Use your gas squig and Big Bouncin to AoE down mobs, see how many you can pull at a time for maximum xp/hour.
Alternatlively those of you who want to go Quick Shootin Spec follow this;
- You can now AoE with Run'N'Shoot.
Rank 26 - Rotten Arrer, awesome addition to our DPS - also this reduces the targets incoming heals by 50% !
Rank 29 - Shootin wif da Wind - Range on Quickshootin abilities increased by 50%!!
Please do remember that there is no set path and that the above is for a guidline only - use what you prefer and remember respecs are cheap, so play about and find out what works for you.
How should you spec for Open RVR?
This is heavily debated on the original link at the top of this interview. A build that is becoming more mainstream for level 40 players Renown Rank 40 is this
This is a Hybrid spec, takes the best abilties from both Big Shootin an Quick Shootin. You have maximum versatality with this spec and the tactics you choose determine your play style. The ones in this link are the ones I currently use in Open RVR.
How should you spec for PvE?
With regards to PvE endgame its all about dps on the boss before the enrange timer hits, as range generally isnt a thing to worry about here I would suggest this spec
This allows for the proven shot rotation for maximum dps which is: Yer Bleedin > What Blocka? > Rotten Arrer > Plink, Plink, Plink > Yer Bleedin > What Blocka? etc etc..
How should you gear?
Currently with a ward requirement for PvE when doing any of the Ward Requirement dungeons in the game, you should always put on your maximum amount of wards regardless of any stat. However that aside it would be advisiable for both open RvR and PvE to stack as much wounds as you can (surivability) Alot of the squig herder gear lacks any real big wounds stat and comes with plenty of our main stat - Balistics. At about 1000 of any stat the soft cap kicks in and you will notice diminishing returns on any more points applied over 1000. At this point it might be beneficial to you to stack either +Crit on Ranged, -Chance to be Crit or +ranged power stats.
Survivability is your priority, a dead squig herder cant do any dps.
Thanks for Interviewing me and my preferred class - Squig Herder, hope you have enjoyed reading and learned a thing or two!
Regards,
Nublet - Squig Herder @ The Unnamed: Karuk-Hirn EU.
Character & Gear: http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/1386/nubletjan09qk9.jpg
Why did you write about the squig herder?
The Squig Herder section on the Warhammer alliance forums felt a bit like a synopsis of the class with a lot of players asking questions relating to endgame, game play mechanics, specs, leveling ideas, tactics vs order classes, shot rotation, mastery points, renown points you name it. Seeing countless different topics relating to this class I decided it was time to share my knowledge and experience of the class with my fellow Herders. This link will take you direct to my post titled "Squig Herder - My experience"
As I have played the game through its closed beta, open beta stages I have learned alot about the game mechanics thus far and how these relate to the Squig Herder. Many players who have posted on the Squig Herder forums of Warhammer alliance have explained that they are having difficulties in tier 2/3 and asked what endgame was like. I felt that as this class in my opinion is underplayed I would post some information for discussion from an informative view to give hope to those who were finding it hard. I have had a lot of positive feedback on the thread started by myself with several very good Squig Herder players sharing their knowledge.
What is attractive about the class?
The best thing about this class is its a gobbo! Sneaky little gobbo to be precise, we have an awesome selection of abilities which really make for some sneaky attacks on unsuspecting order players. The ranged classes of this game really do have the upper hand... that is until we are engaged in melee.. wait what was that... sneaky Witch Hunter on my ass?! Squig armour time - we get gobbled up by our trusty squig to return the favour of the melee damage!
What are the top 5 most enjoyable things about the class?
1. Annimations - specifically - Dont Hit Me, goblin soils himself in a cowering gesture - makes me chuckle every time.
2. Squigs - although slightly gimped once these receive the fix they deserve expect alot more squigs on the battlefield. The different buffs each squig provide make each battle interesting.
3. Squig Armour - As mentioned above, this is awesome fun and yes it does need a fix!
4. Small Character - feel for the little guy eh!
5. The Damage Per Second (DPS) - they can spec to have extremelly potent single target dps, or an increadible Area of Effect (AoE) which you can cast while running!
What needs to be fixed?
1. Squig Armour - Instant cast, 10sec cooldown. This is really our only choice when melee closes the ground between us and them, with it currently being on a cast time with a reuse time of 60seconds it makes us a sitting squig for melee.
2. Squigs - Instant cast no cooldown, at the moment these squigs are on a 2second cast time with a 30second cooldown- this turns most level 40 squig herders into Goblin Archers and only because in Open RVR you dont have enough time to wait and summon your squig... the enemy wont let you!
3. Squigs out whilst mounted - If they added this alot more players would be happy, it was in Beta at one stage, why the took it out i dont know, it would be even better if we could mount our squig and dismount when in combat it attacked.
4. Current build of the game theres an annoying graphical bug with Lots'a'arrers where the cast annimation keeps going even after the ability has ended. Its about time this was fixed.
How should you spec for Leveling?
Firstly at Rank 17 you should take this spec, http://www.wardb.com/career.aspx?id=8#3:8:0:0:0:0:25 - this gives you a tactic called Aimin Quickly which makes your main attack, Plink, a 1second cast instead of 2seconds, which means you just increased your dps by 100%
Keep pumping points into Big Shootin Tree until you can take this spec at Rank 28: - This tactic reduces the cost of your Big Shootin Abilities which means if they cost less you can fire em more often, in turn increasing your dps again!
The choice splits into 2 here, you can either continue with Big Shootin or for a little fun you can take this spec at Rank 30: - This will change your game play as you will now be AoE melee specced, Use your gas squig and Big Bouncin to AoE down mobs, see how many you can pull at a time for maximum xp/hour.
Alternatlively those of you who want to go Quick Shootin Spec follow this;
- You can now AoE with Run'N'Shoot.
Rank 26 - Rotten Arrer, awesome addition to our DPS - also this reduces the targets incoming heals by 50% !
Rank 29 - Shootin wif da Wind - Range on Quickshootin abilities increased by 50%!!
Please do remember that there is no set path and that the above is for a guidline only - use what you prefer and remember respecs are cheap, so play about and find out what works for you.
How should you spec for Open RVR?
This is heavily debated on the original link at the top of this interview. A build that is becoming more mainstream for level 40 players Renown Rank 40 is this
This is a Hybrid spec, takes the best abilties from both Big Shootin an Quick Shootin. You have maximum versatality with this spec and the tactics you choose determine your play style. The ones in this link are the ones I currently use in Open RVR.
How should you spec for PvE?
With regards to PvE endgame its all about dps on the boss before the enrange timer hits, as range generally isnt a thing to worry about here I would suggest this spec
This allows for the proven shot rotation for maximum dps which is: Yer Bleedin > What Blocka? > Rotten Arrer > Plink, Plink, Plink > Yer Bleedin > What Blocka? etc etc..
How should you gear?
Currently with a ward requirement for PvE when doing any of the Ward Requirement dungeons in the game, you should always put on your maximum amount of wards regardless of any stat. However that aside it would be advisiable for both open RvR and PvE to stack as much wounds as you can (surivability) Alot of the squig herder gear lacks any real big wounds stat and comes with plenty of our main stat - Balistics. At about 1000 of any stat the soft cap kicks in and you will notice diminishing returns on any more points applied over 1000. At this point it might be beneficial to you to stack either +Crit on Ranged, -Chance to be Crit or +ranged power stats.
Survivability is your priority, a dead squig herder cant do any dps.
Thanks for Interviewing me and my preferred class - Squig Herder, hope you have enjoyed reading and learned a thing or two!
Regards,
Nublet - Squig Herder @ The Unnamed: Karuk-Hirn EU.
Character & Gear: http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/1386/nubletjan09qk9.jpg
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)