WoW – Silk's Blog

Big news – if you follow progression raiding, Ensidia got hit with a banhammer for exploiting on their world first LK kill.

I’ve read I think 5 blogs from Ensidia members about this, Kungen, Jinxarn, Muqq, Ekyu and Poptisse (all in favour of Ensidia), the MMO-Champion excerpt (also mildly in favour of Ensidia) and the WoW.com version (in favour of Blizzard).  Blizzard are unlikely to comment beyond their hotfix.

I was not there – and so this is all really conjecture at this point, but my pieced together interpretation is as follows:

1. Ensidia did the encounter with one group on 10 man and the platform didn’t respawn
2. Ensidia then skipped immediately to 25 man and cleared to the boss. 
3. On most occassions the platform did respawn during the boss encounter, but not always over the course of about 5 attempts
4. At this point they are aware of the respawning platform bug – they have to be
5. At that point – this is key – I do NOT believe they had any idea what caused it.  In all honesty it would be exceptionally difficult to know what was doing this after a mere 5 or 6 attempts – some bugs are clearly obvious but I believe that they were not intentionally trying to respawn the platform.  It seems like, from the logs, that the rogue in question routinely uses the bombs in his rotation and the bug is actually counter intuitive (seige damage respawning platforms?)
6. Aware of the bug they adjusted their strat and more or less immediately killed the boss
7. Blizzard is watching this fight – GMs observing – and see these actions in real time (including the bug)
8. Subsequently Blizzard bans every member of the raid for 3 days – the 2nd most serious punishment that can be delivered

Do I think they were exploiting?  Probably not but to be honest Nihilium in particular has long been known as a guild that would do what it takes to get the boss down first.  The oozeling, the candlestick, flower power – the truth is these guys have indulged in somewhat shady dealing in the past.

However in this case, I tend to be on their side.  Provided that they weren’t causing the bug its a bit inconsistent to ban them for not stoping the fight and throwing an attempt to get it hotfixed.  Especially since they know that there are GMs watching the fight.  They must have seen the bug also.

It inconsistent because SO many people do this as a matter of course.  How many people have been in a Azjol run where someone has tried to bug out the adds on the second boss (I always jump down and judge the first mob I see so this can’t happen)?  The first strat to get the timed achievement on the last boss in OK was to have a paladin DI someone and SS up just after the first adds.  Poptisse lists a heap more of them – not all of which I consider exploits (letting a bitten person die on BQL for example is not exploiting in my view).  The truth is that taking advantages of bugs is not uncomming.  Deliberate exploitation – by which I mean creating a bug – is different to taking advantage of a bug that occurs during a fight.  Exodus deliberately set out with a strategy (on Yogg 0) that was designed to glitch out the mobs and make the fight easy – what Ensidia did is not even close to being in that league.

Why is this?  Its because bugs so often work both ways and you get nothing back if you get jammed by a bug.  I have long since lost count of the attempts where our post death analysis is “X bugged out so we wiped”.  Fuck it happened at least three times a raid, every raid when Ulduar was new, ToC was one of the most glitched, buggy instances I have seen in a LONG time.  On that basis, especially on limited attempt bosses, it is simply unrealistic to assume people will deliberately wipe a fight just because a bug occurs.  You don’t get attempts back when you get wiped by a bug, why would you give them up voluntarily if you gain from a bug instead of losing (which is what usually happens when something bugs).

I say this KNOWING that I have done the same thing.  Back in the days when we were first pushing ToGC on 10s I think our 3rd Anub kill was the result of a bug.  We’d been having a long, shit night.  A full 25 man raid for 4 hours before hand with an absolute slew of rubbish wipes.  We hit 10 man after that hoping to push mad skill at least and ran into a wall of bad luck, poor timing and basically shit play.  We had some poor raiders in the 10 (relatively) and it seemed like they were always the ones that got targeted.

We got to Anub and wiped out to about 30 attempts left.  By this stage I was tired and generally sick of it for the day.  We got the boss to about 400k in phase 3 and wiped, another shit wipe and we got the boss to about 250 / 300k when the main tank died – and Anub bugged.  He aggroed onto a warlock but got stuck out of melee range (we hadn’t moved and didn’t even realise at first) – he just got stuck on the floor in the middle of the room.  The remaining dps burned him down in about 15 sec.

Is that an exploit offence for which I could be banned?  Maybe.  I certainly don’t believe that we exploited anything.  Nor would I have expected ANYONE to wipe out in that situation.  Its simply not something that I think warrants a ban.  The guys who got banned for 2 manning Flame Leviathan, also not ban worthy.  Martin Fury – absolutely bannable (but only in the context of one shotting a bunch of hard mode raid bosses).  I appreciate that Blizzard can (and do) ban whenever they want.  It just seems inconsistent at times.

However, the point of this banning I think extends beyond the actual events.  I think its a message to the ultra hard core raiders.  The message is that basically that style of play is no longer supported by Blizzard.

You see when I first saw the gating of ICC I thought that it was to protect a weak instance.  Patently, that is not true.  Several of those fights are HARD.  Pugs are not killing BQL any time soon.  My guild is a top 500 guild – we are a clear 3rd on our realm (as far in front of 4th as we are behind 2nd) – and we haven’t cleared BQL or any of the new bosses yet.  This content will hold up till mid year easily for most guilds.  Heroics longer still.

The reason for the gating then is a mystery.  One interpretation that occurs to me is that they did NOT want the ultra hardcore guilds to blow through the content the way they did in 3.0.  Ensidia (and by this I really mean Nihilium to an extent) have long profiligated the view that they hold an esteemed, elite place in this game.  That they are somehow above the average guild and player – not merely skillwise (and I say this without any rancour) – but as quasi-authoritative “special” people.  Pretty conclusively, those days are over.  

I’m not sure what precedent this creates – I do believe though if it wasn’t the end boss, if it wasn’t the first kill then it wouldn’t have been a bannable offense.  In fact they may not even have had the kill stripped from them.  And that is the thing about this whole saga that I think is wrong.

So there was a massive implosion at the best alliance guild on server, which may or may not mean we become number 1.

Not that I think we really deserve it at the moment.  In fact scratch that.  I am not sure that “deserve” is the right terminology.  Server rank is largely unimportant, though its always nice to be near the top.

Fact is I am largely bored of raiding old content and the limited attempts on the new content is seriously limiting the interesting raid time we have.  I sat the Yogg 1 kill last week quite happily, and was glad not to have to go in and kill H Anub (main tank was hacked several times in one day).  We killed Algalol again, with some horrendous mistakes, but was unenthused.

I don’t know – I got the Ulduar 10 drake, which I really wanted but not the way I got it.  I am almost indifferent to Ulduar 25 and ToGC.  I want to hit H ICC hard but I am so sick of limited attempts.  For fuck sake let me at it!

So thanks to a last minute invite to a VIP function at this conference deelee I am at (cause you know you’re a VIP if you’re invited 1 hr before start time).  I am riding the bench for the second evening in a row.

I hate it – though we are in Ulduar finishing drakes (that I wouldn’t get anyway and don’t give a tinker’s curse about) so its not all bad.  I have had enough old content for a while.

That said we have 9 consistent, regular healers.  This means I am sitting out much much more often than I would like.  I am not really sure how to take it.  To be honest I am not concerned that its a performance issue.  My performance is more than high enough.  I am also, thanks to obscene luck, the most geared pally in my guild. 

Anyway, I don’t want to say too much on this but I am unlikely to continue sitting on the sidelines so much.  Its not good for a guild to always be sitting 3 or 4 heals.  I don’t want to point fingers but I am getting a little tired of Blizzard designing content where 1 fight needs 7 heals and the next fight cannot be done with more than 4.

I had a big rant to post today about the secret evils of the LFG tool (here is a hint there is a gear equivalisation process in there somewhere and it seems clearly biased towards some instances over others).

However, I can’t be negative on my country’s birthday.  Get drunk, get laid – do all the things that make Australia great my brothers and sisters.

I love my country.

So right now I am in a 10 Ulduar run desperately trying to finally get my drake. 

Its not going well.

I really don’t want to be here.  I am _tired_ of wiping on this stuff.  I am sure that I will get my enthusiasm back, right now though I am a bit pissed at the fail. 

Its weird I finally gemmed and enchanted a ret set and I can’t dps cause I want to fucking strangle the healers for every mistake.  Of which there are a lot.  I’ve had to heal these fights (3 heal in 264 gear) cause they can’t get it done.

Both are disc priests – I am going to put up a post why disc is done as a raiding spec.  Soon…

Edit – drake in possession

So I am in this alt 10 man ICC run – well it was mostly mains but it was billed as the alt run.  I am not sure that I really SHOULD be in this run.  I am behind on badges and I really don’t like wiping on easy content.  Anyway we wtf pwn the first 6 bosses in very quick order.

And I am drinking…

And had been all afternoon…

So we wipe twice on Putricide – understandably cause most of us hadn’t killed it yet and some hadnt really done it.  One of the alts talks about how they had 3 sub 10% wipes in the Wednesday group (which was our first guild clear).  I am like fuck that shit; we get to phase 3 and the son bitch dies.

Anyway we have two 60% or so wipes and there is a long strategy discussion (or so I assume – they were talking strats when I got up to get more booze and still chatting about it when I came back).

So I decide that I will do what I used to do – and I call out all the things people need to watch (and make the disc priest go holy – disc offers little).

We kill it EASY – I let out a stream of obsensities at the end (something like “that’s how you fucking do it, none of this fucking around bullshit – pull your fingers out and fuck that shit up”).  Yeah I am awesome fun when I am a little cut.

Reckon I might have to have half a skinful Monday to ensure a kill.  I know PP agrees with me here.

PS I think Zah may get a bit miffed at me if I keep calling her PeePee – I may or may not be doing it for that reason…

I don’t hate this.

Stop with all that fake fucking surprise, its not fooling anyone.

I tried to put together a list of pros and the only thing I could immediately think of was the cues are instant.  Since I don’t have to run with my guild I also don’t really have to put any effort in stuff like getting on with your group members or social niceties.  I just say hi, heal shit and leave.  Its great.  I guess that is two things.

I do tend to get matched with reasonable tanks too – for example today I ran with another astral walker.  I get shitty dps of course but I only need a good tank for it not to the worst thing in the world.

I have also not been shafted with Oculus up the ass day after day.

Which is good cause you need hundreds and hundreds frost badges.  I’ve missed the last few raids cause of the whole holidays and family thing, so I am behind on gear slightly.  Doubt that matters at all.  Healing is the least gear related thing there is.  Its all judgement and multi-tasking, probably why so many girls are good healers I guess.

Anyway happy new years all.  Lets kill that lazy so and Arthas – oh and spoiler alert (I become the next Lich King!)

I know – how cliched to do a “year in review” thing.  Screw it – I am going on holidays tomorrow (distinct in my mind from being unemployed – which I have been for 3 months, though I have a job now lol) and I feel like summing up.

Did this blog achieve what I set out to achieve?

Yes and no.  I don’t get many hits, or links.  Neither of these things worry me at all (ok only the slightest bit).  I have realised that I am a MUCH less good writer (that awful grammar was deliberate) than I thought I was.  I am ok with that.  I didn’t set out to be the best blogger – only to try and capture my thoughts on electronic paper AND to prove to myself that I could stick with this. 

So I regard my hundred hits a week as mostly a success.  I had some things to say – I still have some more – and I still want to blog.  I have not really become involved in anyway with the blogging community – which is somewhat surprising to me – and I am not sure if I want to?

On the downside, I prefer to be a smartass and this has mostly been a serious blog.  A serious blog about a game is something that I can’t admit to (oh and no-one I know in real life, and almost no-one I know in game, knows I write this – that awful grammar was not deliberate).

I also haven’t posted as often as I thought I would – I’ve kept to just under 2 posts a week when I thought I would do 3.  By and large they have ALL been rants too, something that surprised me.

Most popular post (lol)

By far my most viewed post is the one about healbot.  I have been meaning to do one for vuh’do as well (cause I am a total hit whore) – but vuh’do does a lot of things out of the box I had to trick healbot into doing.

My favourite post

So I skipped this question when first writing this… I don’t know – I don’t really have many “favourites”.  I like the enchanting post cause I have had that rant saved up since BC.  I think that paladins ARE the most disliked class in the game.  This post on the state of raiding and the vast chasm between normal and hard modes is almost insightful.  Almost lol

My best post

Hmm I think in terms of time and effort put into it this post on my spec is worth feeling proud of.  I also think that this piece on hybrids is well argued – not that I suspect people will support my position.

My worst post

Yeah there are a couple that I would not have written given a second chance - the one on my bad raid week was just straight out whining with a nice emo finish.  Despite setting my on the path that led to me joining a progression guild, this post on drama was also far too self indulgent.

Things I’ve learnt

Most bloggers are NOT that far along the progression line – they are thinkers about the game, not doers.  That almost all female bloggers are hot in my imagination (and in real life as I understand it) – apparently I like intellectuals.  That not every idea is a post (and apparently not every post has an idea).  That I post more often when I am pissed about something.  That I like toast….

Most random thing I’ve posted

Putting up this thing on people you meet on the forums was actually one of the reasons I started posting believe it or not – back when I believed I was going to be mostly funny and sarcastic.  It is of course now completely out of tune with the rest of the blog.  You know something *I* still think its reasonably funny.

In game in review

I have changed guilds 3 times.  I’ve been a recruit twice and an officer 3 times.  I’ve killed all hard modes currently open bar 3.  Mostly I’ve been happy to play along.  I have killed a lot more bosses than last year but none of them really stand out in my mind.  I think our Freya 3, 10 man kill was one of the best things I’ve ever seen in game.  I think killing Yogg Saron on 10 man was one of the most satisfying things (very closely followed by Mimiron pre nerf).  Fighting and killing Algalon was the most epic.

Goals

Find a way to use this blog to either (1) get rich or (2) get laid.  Post more quality more often.  Be more positive.  Maintain a shred of dignity instead of selling out at the drop of a hat (ie reject the first offer dammit!).

In game, I’ll regard this expansion as a success if I kill hard mode Arthas before he is nerfed out of sight.  I’d also like to be enthusiastic about Cataclysm (or unethusiastic enough I quit).

Final thought for the year

For the first time I met people in RL that I had first met in game, and I met some people in RL that played WoW and were interested in it.  A lot has changed for me in game and out in the last 12 months and I am grateful to have had at least one outlet here to vent stress about some of the unimportant stuff.

Lets talk today children about what to do with the new divine guardian – primarily in my view this is a holy paladin ability (though any ret pally should have it macroed into their bubble – you know should they ever use that).  It is the basis of the 51/17+3 holy, prot spec.

The way it used to be “supposed” to work

Damage taken by the raid was redirected to the paladin – supposedly capped at more than enough to kill you.  It would last 10 secs (in theory) but even in a 5 man the damage taken by a party would reach the cap before 10 secs.  It was suicide to use it without an immunity effect, resulting in the immediate splatter of any holy foolish enough to use it with first (and I mean first – you can’t do it the other way) using bubble. 

The way it used to actually work

If you were smart enough to bubble before you hit DS you were immune to the damage taken – meaning that you never reached the cap.  This meant a 40% raid wide damage reduction for 10 secs.  Quite literally hundreds of thousands of damage negated at times.  This was clearly unintended, probably broken and certainly not likely to stay as it was for the whole expansion…

The way it works now

The damage diversion is limited to your party (and in theory stops at 20% of your health) but you get a 6 sec 20% raid wide damage reduction by activating it.  Now its clear in my view this is a nerf from what the talent used to do (but not from what it used to be designed to do – if that makes sense).

So how do you use it now?

What is not yet clear is the best way to use this talent.  One early ptr iteration had the raid wide damage reduction and the party wide damage redistribution linked, which lead people to theorycraft that paladins would be best served in groups of their own chaining DS as best they could (keeping the 20% reduction up as often as possible).

Fortunately smarter heads prevailed and the two were decoupled.

In my view there are a few ways you could use DS now

Option 1 – put your holy paladins and your tanks in the same group.  This would be most likely to give you the full benefit of the sacrifice part.  On the downside tanks smell bad and you’ll lose the benefits of the healer group (shammies mostly).  In this case I’d still be using bubble with your sac – tanks get hit hard enough you could go from 100% to 20% (or below) right the fuck quick.  At 20% health your a very good chance of getting killed by environmental damage

Option 2 – leave your pallies in your healer group.  A good raid will have 2 holy pallies (disc is a dead spec at the moment – deal with it).  Keeping them in the healer group does give you 2 bubble sac’s for your healers.  Healers don’t generally take a lot of environmental damage (interesting side bar – healers take much less environmental damage than either tanks or dps, discuss) so you can sac without your bubble if you like to live dangerously.  This has the advantage of having the highest uptime of the 20% reduced raid damage buff (you actually won’t notice this at all really but its there).

Option 3 – scatter paladins through the raid like the winds.  Have your pallies in different groups to each other, get them to pop their sacs at different times (the raid reduction doesn’t stack I believe).  If (like H Twins) you have a group of people who will take extra damage (or you put your mouth breathers in one spot so you know who to let die) give them a pally to play with.

My personal view is that the most valuable part of DS is the raid damage reduction.  I’d have your paladins grouped in such a way as to have maximum uptime of that buff (options 2 or 3) unless there is a very specific reason not to do this.  Oh and pallies – save your bubble for times when you sac up and take damage yourself.  That way you can get 3 uses out of it for a 6 min fight rather than just 1.