Friday, March 27, 2009

My my, the time flies!


I am so lazy and for this I am semi-apologetic... I have had so much to blog about and so much going on that...I didn't blog? Yeah, so...how about some updates?

- So, Nomakk is now Survival and Marksman dancing. I try both depending on my mood (god will dual specs make this cheaper!!). I like Survival for arena/pvp and Marksman for raiding. Something about the involved nature of Marksman just keeps me coming back.

- I recently did Refer-a-friend with Delos and we hit 60 last night! yay! So, he then proceeded to gift me 30 levels on my alt as well. What does this all mean? It means I have a level 60 mage and a level 60 shaman! Both horde! Mwuhahah? Yes! Big thanks to The Zilla for all of her help!

- Nomakk can do 3k dps in a 25 man raid! Yay!

- I only do 2 raids. Vault and the Sanctum. It will likely stay that way. I am so over the whole 5 hour raiding nights. I like short and sweet...period.

- Thank god for arena season 6 changes! I would go deeper, but you can just visit Delos' blog (linked above) for the details! Let's just say I am finally ready to take arena seriously again!

More to come, someone cleanse my laziness!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Oh Alanis, you are NOT the malapropism queen!!

A malapropism is the substitution of an incorrect word for a word with a similar sound, usually to comic effect. Alanis has called herself the "Malapropism queen" (per wikipedia of course) because of the debate over her song "Ironic". Which, actually IS ironic. She says the song was meant to be light-hearted and not taken too serious. Which, I would say too if I made a song about sad stuff and dubbed it all ironic. I guess, that is the ironic part! She uses a definition that doesn't really define what she did, just like she made a song about something that it wasn't actually about. Isn't it Ironic? Don'cha think?

I mean, had she wrote a song actually about Irony but called it "Islamic", THEN she would be the Malapropism queen! Also, had she simply had some Irony expert come in she could have used their skills to alter some stuff. Such as "10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife", which is really annoying and sad, but not ironic. If you searched for a knife for years (thus, ruining your life and the life of those around you somehow) and then realized that the lucky spoon on your key chain (that you ALWAYS have with you) could cut anything as good as any knife...that would be ironic. Ok, it has a few holes, but it's far closer to truly ironic than simply having a crap ton of spoons when you need to cut a holiday ham.

You may be asking yourself "Holy crap Nomakk, how will you ever tie this into Warcraft!"

Easy, teh 133test of haXx! No, that doesn't mean simply building a bigger suit.

Also, no, you will never see a warrior able to carry two 2-handed weapons...trust me.

I really just wanted to talk about the Paradox we have right now. You know, the one
where all the BM hunters are now transitioning to survival! Who thought we would see the day. I admit, I really didn't (don't still) like the alteration of my beloved spec. I mean, not enough to not be survival. I talk a big game, but I never changed my specialization. I even spent 45g to re-build my survival spec (when it comes to leaving Survival, I'm all talk, so seriously Lienna, enough with the paper towels on my house, toilet paper was funny, but weighted paper towel rolls through the windows is crossing the line!)

I really do enjoy the life of a survival hunter. I also have a bond to my tree. One that has made me hybrid my build for arena, find ways to trap 2 or 3 things at a time and even write some crappy blog up!

I digress. The paradox! The paradox is this: Beast Master hunters are jumping ship to survival now. At first, I thought to myself: "Self, you are HOTT". After that I thought: "What traitors and fair weather hunters!". I suppose that second has some truth to it (the first one has enough truth to fill your soul with eternal joy, but that's for another blog entry) , but not as much as I initially thought.

To be honest, I had a few moment's where I forgot something vital to this whole Warcraft thing...it's a game. A game that should be enjoyed by any means you deem necessary! That being said, I do have to bring this Irony - paradox thing full circle, aye?

::deep breath::

Beast masters, I hope you enjoy survival, but let's all get one thing straight. You are indeed fair weather hunters. If you trade tree's to top the DPS chart, then you are saying "I am a hunter to top dps charts, that is my sole purpose." This is not necessarily a bad thing and I hope you enjoy it. The core issue is the talk of the BM community now. Saying:
"People won't let me raid as BM now!"
"Why would I be a spec that isn't the best"

So, BM hunters who played a build for it's glory and crazy raid DPS output (one I could beat in BC in most cases as full survival) are now saying they are switching to survival...to AVOID being the expected low dps hunter. Expected is the key word for one reason: Every build can be successful! If someone says otherwise, then they are a fool. Getting a 200 dps boost should not define what you do in the game (and neither should snooty a-holes for that matter).

So, let me get this straight; Survival is the build of choice for being the current flavor of the month. Therefore, the Survival population will flourish, but only because Beast Mastery isn't as good. BUT! It really is debatable (as opposed to proven fact), same as in BC. Think about how things were in BC. Survival was laughable, but if you were good at it and played it right, you could stand right next to a BM hunter in dps and probably do more for the raid overall. (i.e. BM good by default, survival good with dedication)

The flavor of the month may be sweet, but don't be fooled, it's not always the best flavor. I am fairly certain some people would say and believe that BM was HANDS DOWN BETTER for raiding in BC. As far as solo glory, maybe sometimes. As far as raid worth goes, Survival was just as good if not better.

So, the Irony is that Bm is jumping ship leaving their big red buddy behind to be survival, thus becoming who they were all along. So, as they look like they change and "sell-out" they in fact stayed the same. If they had stayed BM, they could have had the honor of really joining the Survival brotherhood. So, in jumping on the passing bandwagon, they really just stayed the same chart chasing hunter they have always been. It's not bad, it's just ironic that the flack is being passed on someone for not changing anything...by changing something to stay the same. Paradox circle completed!

/Dizzy

Ok, I think I'm going to hurt myself soon. I am just trying to say let's all enjoy our hunters for whatever reason. To be top dps by any means or because you feel a bond between you and your pet that no amount of dps can match. Me, I just like to scatter shot your face and then put you to sleep as I go back to picking flowers.

If I made grammatical errors...sue me, I'm tired!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Hunter...Gatherer?

Oh, that's right! I have had this beauty for a while now and it is fan - tastic! Not only does it catch all the delicious fish I could ever want, but it actually looks like it means business. I am pretty sure I could catch touchdowns with this thing. I have also considered trying to catch him if I can!! (Note: This is Nomakk's first picture on my blog! Finally, blogging from da casa!)

Seriously though, that fishing pole has made me the Night Elf I am today. Is it just me, or does traveling in different area's with your fishing pole, natural herb insight (:wink:) and good ole fashioned kitty cat killin' machine...well, have the feeling of "this is what it is to be a hunter". Call me crazy, but I like filling my bags with tons of fish, herbs and things the old kitty brings back to me. Just the satisfaction of doing something outside of the straight grind to the next level. I feel like I am really playing the craft when I am gathering all kinds of goodies and just kind of wandering aimlessly in the wild.

Some of my favorite places currently are Grizzly Hills and Sholazar Basin. Nothing like beautiful surroundings and countless fish filled waters. Besides, Sadie would get sick of eating the same fish endlessly...she doesn't play that.

The Mastercraft Kalu'ak fishing pole is actually an easier grind than most factions. Grant it, it will take some time, it's not a hard time. The time is actually pretty simple (albeit repetitive). As always, wowhead has all you need to get this faction mastered! There are three daily quests that I repeated to get this Pole in my possession.

- Planning for the Future - Gather 12 Pup's for this one. Yes, you can grab them while in combat and yes, the horde will try to ninja these while you are getting constantly dazed. Be a hunter! Feign Death! Yay! Be cautious, a big nasty elite roams the area! (those feeling like a challenge, try this elite out! closer you are to 70 the bigger the challenge!)

- Preparing for the worst - Gather supplies from the crates nearby. They are on a very short re-spawn and I have never had an issue getting my crates in less than 5 minutes (usually less than 2). These require a gather cast time and there are big green jerks ready to attack to use good old huntery tricks if needed!

- The way to his heart - This one is interesting. You get a net for fish catchin'. Head southeast, find a school in the watery goodness. Now, it takes 6 or 7 fish to get a bull to the other side of the pass. Trick! Simply attack a bull without killing it and drag it to the other side without losing agro. Once you get to the other side, get near a cow and toss the fish to the bull! One fish, done.

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing epic!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Comments = blog post

I was typing a response to Lienna and Kordwar and realized it was enough for a decent blog entry, so here it is!

@ Lienna - I have thought of using volley too, but when you do, your shot rotation stops and in my opinion you hurt your dps. Explosive shot allowed you to keep your shot rotation in full flow.

@ Kordwar (and Lienna really) - I agree that explosive shot breaking aoe can make it hard to use at times, but that is the beauty of being survival. If your group has to CC, then use arcane shot for that engagement.

Also, aoe tanking is stellar now compared to BC. Warriors, pallies and DK's are just amazing at aoe tanking (I don't see many bear tanks these days). I have not done a WotLK heroic yet, but I have not had to cc enough to see the splash of explosive shot being worth losing. Especially when we all know that a good smart hunter can cc away from the tank easily :)

I guess I am just disappointed to lose something I enjoyed so very much. Being THE aoe hunter build was just so appealing. For all I know, the Flame shot may hit hard enough to make it fun and still appealing. Im just still in the shock period right now. Really, it would be the same as the Retribution paladin's getting their Divine storm cut back to just hit a single target -or- a Druids Starfall being downgraded to a single target ability. Those would probably bother the moonkins and Ret pallies of the world.

I will probably get over it...I mean, what is more fun that 1500 agility, right?