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!

10 comments:

Carrie said...

I would just like to pop in and say something here. Not all of us are in this switch to SV to "chase the charts", as you put it. My guild is just starting out in 25-man Naxx, and as such, it is my responsibility as a member of the raiding team to put out as much DPS as I can to be as much of an asset to the team as I can. Staying BM (as I've been since I started playing, back in '05) does not accomplish this purpose. I love BM. I love my big red Chompy dinosaur, my 747 chimera that took four days to track down, and the hope of someday running with a Spirit Beast. But if this is what I need to do to help my guild, then this is what I will do.
I may end up liking it better, I may not. But I tell you what, dual specs can't get here fast enough. I can't wait to have my max-dps spec for raiding, and my "fun" spec for soloing, and be able to switch them whenever I want!

Maebius said...

You bring up the main point I see not debated on the forums and such, and applaud it.
With no insult or condescending to anyone, changing spec to be the best, is perfectly OK, since that is how you play the game. Likewise, sticking to any spec for fun-factor is OK, and how that person plays the game.
In the end, we are all Hunters. Remember it.

Amy said...

Yeah we are all hunters, its those darn warlocks you have to watch out for! Evil conniving so-and-so's with their "minions"

I'm onto you you cloth wearing miscreants!

Oh and I assure you its not me throwing the paper towels, I would never throw away such double-quilted works of art, why they pick up spilt strange-blue gloop with ease, and then you can just wring them out over the sink and use them again!

Toilet paper and bullets are my projectiles of choice and I'll have you remember that!

Anonymous said...

It may help that Ghostcrawler came out and say "Whoops!" today. Stating that "we may have over-nerfed BM..." etc and so on.

I suspect this will make those happy that didn't change to SV and those that wish to respec back (after changing to SV) can do so with a smile on their faces.

Whatever the reasoning being for people playing the spec-flavor-of-the-month, it doesn't matter. The real issue is always balance.

You want to progress, help your guild, max this or that...it helps if you are working to the max of your class potential - which may mean respec'ing due to Blizzard being fussy.

Now "sometime pre-Uldaur" is when BM shall get re-buffed and SV is being "looked at".

/eye roll

lol Blizzard will never learn

Nomakk said...

@ One among many - Yeah, its funny how that came out as the BM community escalated. regardless, survival was ignored for a long...LONG time in BC and we still found ways to succeed. It;s all about passion and creativity :)

@ Asara - While you put it more eliquently, you are indeed doing just as my entry has pointed out. it's not bad, it just says your priority is dps not loyalty to a tree. (not bad, but it is what it is)

@ maebius - Agreed, being a hunter has enough bad reputations to over-come without hunters picking each other apart :D

@ Lienna - Then how do you epxlain the paper towel roll I got yesterday through my window: "Lienna is the greatest in the world...at EVERYTHING." Who else would have thrown that!?

Amy said...

Nomakk, honestly I'd have thought you'd have realized that I never talk about myself like I'm great, I'm one of those people who constantly spots her own mistakes, ignores her own advice, and genuinely considers herself to be a lot worse than the rest of the world thinks I am.

Although from my e-mail box recently that could have come from any number of people, its getting embarrassing, BRK really set me up!

Nomakk said...

A likely story...

Dave said...

For what it's worth: Ghostcrawler's comments (via Mania)

I can see both sides of the coin: some people want to be able to put out max dps with minimal effor (switchers), and some people want to stay true to a spec and still top charts (you!). I agree that SV didn't get enough love in BC, mostly from raid leaders at lower levels. I think at a higher level SV did, but the problem was you only needed one, whereas multiple BM hunters stacked to infinity was still good.

Good post, even if it did start with AM :P

Nomakk said...

Good call D and thanks for the feedback! Lucky for you, you met my "he better comment or I will delete his keyboard...IRL" threshold.

Anonymous said...

Ok enough with Alanis already, new content!!!!

*peer pressure*

Post, post, post!