Recently I made the decision to switch from perfecting my RNG to perfecting my BLM. The problems I have had with RNG are two-fold. First, I was having problems coming to grips with the difficulty involved with getting some of the final pieces of gear that I needed to complete my RNG. The Mekki Shakki was one of these issues with it's low drop rate, it's difficulty in obtaining and being rare/ex (as opposed to something like the Organics). Also, getting a Hope Torque was pretty high on my list but because of scheduling I have been unable to attend events to get it.
Second, RNG is a hard job to control. The problem is that when it is well played you will quickly gain so much hate that it becomes very difficult to play your job properly. I suppose that is part of playing the job well, and I do try to find the break point and then hold it under that, but it is a little bit frustrating that a job that is designed to put out this much damage is more limited by itself than other factors. I had started looking into getting a variety of enmity reduction items that wouldn't effect my damage all that much but in the end, I have put that on hold because I can use those points to be more useful on BLM.
BLM is a ranged DD as much as a RNG is, but it does have an inherent limitation that RNG does not have that works to limit it's hate gain. Simply, that is MP. I can burn through everything I have then I have to rest for MP. Even if I have a ton of refresh, I will inevitably get to a point where resting to full is more efficient than just trying to wait for the next cast. Of course over time you can build enough hate to become the target of an angry dragon's rage, but it doesn't feel like it is going to inevitably happen after the next Sidewinder.
There was a simple breaking point at which I decided to go full-bore BLM and leave my RNG as it is. Not to long ago, I was able to pick up a pair of Herald's Gaiters for my BLM, and I was torn as to whether I should take them or save my points for a Faith Torque I might never see. I mulled this over until we did a Silver Sea Remnants in which I got the last piece for my Morrigan's Slops which I needed to complete my Morrigan's set. This bit of luck locked it up for me. It wasn't like I felt that it was a sign (it totally was, God told me so), but it was going to be a lot easier for me to finish my Morrigan's set (lies, all lies) than it was going to be to get what I really wanted to be able to better commit dragon-assisted-suicide.
All of this is pretext to the real cost benefit analysis for BLM. The question now that I have decided to go with gearing up my BLM is what should I do next. My Morrigan's Slops are already made, but I still need to finish my Coronal and even more expensive my Morrigan's Robe. The most efficient way for me to get my Morrigan's Robe would be to use my points to buy gil packets which are a great deal that my LS offers it's members (we used to get a normal pay out too but our bank got nuked as an RMT bot... yeah, that's a bitch-fest for another day). It will take a while to get all the gil I need, but it will definitely help out to getting this thing done in a reasonable amount of time. The problem with spending points is the opportunity cost involved. I could save the points and get a Novio Earring. Now that is the first real question about BLM I have in the short term.
Oh, and the picture at the top of the post? Yep, I got my Sorcerer's Petasos last night. Does this qualify me as a real BLM now? :)
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Black Mage.
Friday, April 23, 2010
The Rare Double-headed Internet Troll.
Everyone loves a good trolling from time to time. Trolling seems to be more of an art than a skill, something that is less trained than passed down through the generations. That perfect combination of poor English, abusive slurs and a complete lack of regard other people. The best part about a troll though is that a large part of the time they behave in a most ironic fashion, and yet can't see it for themselves.
Today, to illustrate I have discovered one of my very own trolls. Quite like a troll he was hanging out in a older post, and very much like any MMO troll, that post was about PvP. This is a very special troll though, one that is so confused and baffled that they can not even figure out which direction they are going. A two-headed troll if you will. One head spitting the abuses and slurs, exclaiming their intent to crush all those around them, and the other head issues a huge list of reasons that they would never even waste their time. The confusion is only apparent to those observing the troll, and never to the troll itself. Apparently, trolls are born with an innate immunity to logic and consistency.
I encourage you to read the comments reposted below, as they are quite enlightening to behaviors of the internet troll, and I think you will enjoy them.
Anonymous said...
Another pvp hating internet troll. why would you even make a topic like this. people like you will ruin ffxiv. Sadly instead of tryin to work with every to work out pvp/pve conflicts, you would rather it be banned from the game completly. your a biased failbot, with no class or sportmanship. Leme guess you dont wana get ganked or you dont want distastfull players around. well the assholes will be there, "you will be there" And people like you deserve to get ganked even tho that can be fixed easily with pvp/pve server seperation. but thats outa the question cuzz havin pvp in a fighting rpg is unheard of by trolls like yourself who who exxcuses like" i hope SE spend more time on pve content". most retarded shit i ever heard. why the fuck do we pay to play a game? so we can get what we pay for not hear excuses to why they not able to do their job.
7:34 PM
Ringthree said...
LOL, this has got to be a joke. :)
9:04 AM
Anonymous said...
this fucking asshole is reason ffxiv will die and proly part of reason ffxi died. not like any1 forcing you to pvp and if you got your ass kicked in pvp its your fault for sucking so bad.Dont get mad get even. all i see on this post is another troll that goes to every1 ffxiv sights and trolls any idea of improving ffxiv with a good pvp system. Just cause you dont want it doesnt meen ALOT of other people do. your and fucktard loser got pwned in pvp to much... I kid i kid ... not truth hurts go fuck yourself, and get ready for all the cassual asshole that will tell you the exact same fucking thing when you try to tell them how they should play the game they pay to play. the developers stated multiple time in different topics that they are taking fans input on how they gona go about makin ffxiv. and if you same fags that have no life would stop sayin the same shit like some1 is soposed to walk you threw every lil detail of how pvp can coexist in a pve game. i dont have time to fix your ignorance nor do i care. just know if you didnt like how ffxi turned out you only got yourselfs to blame. and whn ffxiv flops cuzz lack of interest to the whole mmo comunitees blame asshole like this.
12:38 PM
Ringthree said...
You are the reason that I am glad there will be no PvP in FFXIV. :)
2:28 PM
Anonymous said...
You are the reason im glad i left ffxI. Balista was in it and it will be in ffxiv so you can fuck off to asswipe. dont realy care what the fuck any you forum trolls have to fucking say if SE caters to you. the game will be small and boring. with a population no more than fxi has had for last 4 year, less that 500k. I know most of you used to wasting time and not doin shit when you play the game you pay for but when the other millions of gamers jump on bandwagon they wont be on these forums telling you what they want they will be buying Diablo 3 or catalism for wow. or tryin the next big thing.... I give it 6-12 months with no PVP in it.
5:15 PM
Ringthree said...
First of all, this isn't a forum. This is my blog. Second, you are the kind of mouth breather that makes me glad that WoW exists so you don't ruin my favorite game with your lack of intelligence and your e-thuggery.
As I said, you are the exact reason that I am glad there will be no PvP in FFXIV.
11:05 AM
Anonymous said...
Yea your whole blog is nothing but you bashing PVP like the fag that you are and i will play FFXIV so fuck you guess what maybe its not the pvp mouth breather maybe its just you running your cocksucker.
People like you are good for that then try to pass the buck like you are here. you started the shit with this whole fucking blog.
Like i sayed b4 people like you are reason im glad i quit ffxi and ill be in ffxiv just to make sure i piss all fags like you who think they can put twist on peoples opinions. Your the Ethug wana be unsavory behavor that shouldnt be in ffxiv.
8:25 AM
Anonymous said...
Im gladd assholes like you will get what you deserve in the end. Another broken game with limited options to please your gaming desires. You played ffxi to long with the very little fanbase. if ffxiv turns out like they want it to. im sure you gona realy hate the asshole thats gona tell you what you can do with your mouth breather. When you tell them they should be able to play the game how they wanted to. I bet you was 1 of them fags that wouldnt lets a drk/war group with you just because he didnt have the best subjob. Yay thats reason why millions of people quit cuzz the fanbase ass a whole was bunch losers with to much time on their hand, ruin it for any1 else trying to play the game and have fun. no room in a game for those people only the ones that play the game how you want it to be played.
8:39 AM
Monday, April 12, 2010
Getting to know my BLM: Nuking Gear.
Ever since we joined up with BBQ, I have been on BLM more and more. It's not my favorite job but it's not my least favorite either. BBQ likes to use BLM for a lot of mobs, and I am fine with that. It has just meant that I have had to move BLM merits up in my priorities, and that I might have to change what I want to get from my points in the LS but that is a discussion for another day.
BLM more than almost any other jobs need more "sets" of gear. Elemental, enfeebling, enhancing, standing, etc. Elemental and nuking sets are by far the most common set of gear and probably get the most focus from most BLM to start with. Mine is mediocre, and could still use a lot of improvement. A nuking set can vary based on the mob that you are fighting at the time but for the most part it tries to get a good combination of Elemental Skill, INT and Magic Attack bonus to ensure the highest damage without getting resisted.
Check below the cut to see how I set up my nuking set for my BLM.
I will not be coy here. I am not the best BLM in the world. I am getting better though, and I am always looking for more information to try to be the best player I can be. While this post doesn't fall into the "On the Cheap" series, I am in general very cheap when it comes to my BLM so you might be able to use it in the same way.
Head: Wizard's Petasos
A good middle of the road and easy item to get. You are going to have it from leveling anyway, may as well use it until you get something substantially better. The Wizard's Petasos +1 is a good standard upgrade if you do Limbus, and the Sorcerer's Petasos is great if Dynamis doesn't hate you.
Neck: Right now I am using my Elemental Torque to good effect. In the last update the Aesir Torque and Lemegeton Medallion were added and are definitely worth looking into in the near future. The Uggalepih Pendant is still your best choice for nuking under 50% MP.
Earrings: I don't find picking Earrings to be too hard or the Earrings themselves to be too helpful. I am sure I will get a lot of suggestions here but I currently use the standard issue Moldavite Earring and then a Cunning Earring because it is cheap. There are a ton of alternatives, some of which can get pretty expensive for a very small upgrade. I also have a Diamond Earring with a +2 Magic Attack Bonus on it from doing one of the mini-expansions. It's filling the hole for now, but once I get the points I am investing them into a Novio Earring.
Body: Igqira Weskit is the trade mark nuking body for BLM. There are lots of other options with small upgrades, and the Morrigan's Robe is probably the best upgrade that you can get even though the cost is still amazingly high.
Hands: I am luckily enough (or have been doing Salvage long enough) to have a set of Morrigan's Cuffs for my BLM. I think this is pretty much the best option available but the Zenith Mitts and the Vicious Mufflers are suitable replacements.
Rings: My rings are pretty gimp. I am using a Diamond Ring and an Omega Ring, neither of which I am too proud of. I really should get Snow Rings but man, at a cool half mil I can't really afford them right now. The Omega Ring definitely has more Magic Accuracy than my Diamond Ring, but it will be relegated if I get Snow Rings or eventually get a Galdr Ring.
Back: Generally considered to be an Elemental Skill slot because of the Merciful Cape I am using it as an INT slot because I don't have that cape yet. The Gleeman's Cape from Einherjar points is my favorite right now. I do think I will prefer the Merciful Cape though because that is a 45 MP turn around from the Gleeman's Cape and my BLM MP is a joke.
Waist: One of my rare high dollar BLM purchases is the Penitent's Rope, hey it was more expensive a while ago! The Witch Sash is definitely better, in fact it is best in slot, but the difference in price just don't meet the different in stats. I have bigger fish to fry.
Legs: In short order I will be getting my Morrigan's Slops completed, which are going to replace my Mahatma Slops. The price trade off for that exchange is going to be quite favorable.
Feet: Ugh, not a lot of good choices for BLM to begin with, but I don't even really have one of the good choices. I am rocking Rostrum Pumps right now, but I still dream of finally getting Yigit Crackows. They are good nuking feet, but with my lower INT (no jokes) and lack of merits right now, I am still hoping to pick up Shrewd Pumps but it may take a while.
And there you have a list of what I have and want. Yeah, it's not comprehensive but I think it's a good starting point. If you have suggestions, I would love to hear them as I am still learning the job and I want to learn as much as I can!
Thursday, April 08, 2010
FFXIV: New Famitsu article translated by Elmer.
Elmer is pretty much my hero. Japanese translator extraordinaire, Elmer provides the low down on all the sweet information that SE gives to the Japanese gaming media but doesn't provide to the American gaming media or at least the American gaming media doesn't have a Japanese correspondent. Now that I think about it, wouldn't it be a good idea for someone like Elmer to work for an American gaming magazine as a Japanese correspondent? I mean half or more of the world's video game are made and consumed in Japan. Elmer I have found your new calling in life!
You can check out Elmer's new translation on Zam's FFXIV page or check it out after the break.
Oh and all of the pictures and information blatant stolen from Elmer, Zam and Famitsu. :)
Character Creation
Famitsu boasts that the character creation system is so deep, you'll be nitpicking your avatar setting all day long trying to get it just right. Even the alpha, while not complete, has a considerable amount of variations available such as face type, skin color, hair style and body size. There are even smaller details, like putting highlights or streaks in your hair, that are customizable. There will be brand new aspects of your character to select as well -- there will even be a number of different voice types.
The character creation process begins with selecting one's race and customizing the avatar. Once your character is complete, you begin the game and set up your Class, birthday and Guardian Diety. What effects one's Guardian Diety will have in game are unknown at this time. Once all those steps are complete, you choose your name, which as we know consists of both a first and last name.
Seamless Fields and Instanced Areas
Leaving a town brings you into the Field Area where you have your adventures. FFXIV will have a seamless transition between areas that requires no loading time. From their experience with the game, Famitsu says this really gives Eorzea the feeling of a wide, expansive world. In addition, the background music transitions naturally between the areas you traverse.
A new addition, familiar to many MMO players, is the Instanced Area. This is where a private copy of an area is created, into which only you and your party can enter. These will be used in FFXIV for special events, an example being when cut scenes take place in order to eliminate outside effects and noise, allowing the player to enjoy their cut scene in peace.
The Menu System
Status & Equip: Opens up the Status & Equip screen (pictured below)
Action: Unknown... may contain commands like Trade, Craft etc?
Physical Bonus: Unknown... a place to allocate points to stats?
Item: Displays your inventory
Journal: Opens up your Guildleve menus
Party: Opens up party-related lists/functions
Map: Displays the full area map
Teleport: Instantly move to any Aetheryte you have visited at least once
Warp: Instantly return to the last Aetheryte you visited
Logout: Leave Eorzea and return to the harsh banality of Earth
Guildleve and the Battle System
Guildleves are like "quests" that you can undertake by visiting an adventurer's guild in a city. The contents of a Guildleve can vary player to player, and you can attempt them alone or with a group. To begin your selected Guildleve, first you must seek out Aetheryte in a Field Area. Players can move instantly to Aetheryte they have visited once before by selecting the "Teleport" command.
The difficulty of a Guildleve changes based on your selected party size. However, the party sizes are not selected directly, but rather through 5 different categories.
Now, as a big kanji nut, something that I found interesting that I'm going to bore you with here is: Judging from what is revealed in Famitsu, the party sizes are described through 四字熟語 (yo-ji-juku-go) or four-character idioms. These are terms constructed of four kanji that together hold a profound meaning. Many of these terms cannot be translated directly, or take entire sentences just to explain -- they are tough for even native Japanese to remember! Often times, you will see them translated as clever puns or a play on words that keeps it snappy while attempting to capture the original meaning.
Here are the party sizes and difficulty levels from ☆(easy) to ☆☆☆☆☆(hard) Party sizes are approximated based on what we know, i.e. recommended parties are 6-8 members, and the max is 15 members.
☆ - 孤軍奮闘 (ko-gun-fun-tou) - A Lone Fighting Force , (solo)
☆☆ - 少数精鋭 (shou-suu-sei-ei) - An Elite Few , (below 6 members)
☆☆☆ - 推奨人数 (sui-shou-nin-zuu) - Recommened Party Size, (6-8 party)
☆☆☆☆ - 千軍万馬 (sen-gun-ban-ba) - A Great Army *lit. 1,000 Units & 10,000 Horses* , (9+ members)
☆☆☆☆☆ - 人海戦術 (jin-kai-sen-jutsu) - A Vertiable Ocean of People *similar in meaning to swarm/zerg* , (~ 15 members)
Many Guildleves involved combat, and the Famitsu team was kind enough to explain the flow of combat below:
1) Target your enemy - Find the enemy you wish to attack and select it. Once selected, the L3 button will initiate Target Lock, keeping you facing the enemy's direction.
2) Ready your weapon - Move your cursor over your weapon of choice and press Circle. Once selected, R1 will take out your weapon and ready your stance. Now you are in "Active Mode" and able to engage the enemy.
3) Select your commands - A list of your commands is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Underneath each icon is a gauge showing how much time remains until they are ready for use.
4) Store up your Action Gauge - Once your Action Gauge is full, you can activate commands. To boost their effect, store up the Effect Gauge.
5) Using the Effect Gauge - You can activate commands immediately, or you can enhance their effects by storing up your Effect Gauge. This gauge is constantly building, so timing is important. Below you can see there are three levels to the Effect Gauge.
Convenience and Travel Time
Aetheryte provides the foundation for adventure for all players. It exists out in Field Areas as well as inside cities. Aetheryte serves as a the launching point for a Guildleve and the destination for Teleport. All players are able to use Teleport right from the start. In addition, once a quest is complete, an Aethereal Node will appear, allowing players to easily warp back to the original Aetheryte they came from. Everything is designed to allow players to move around and enjoy the game with ease.
Freedom of Growth
In FFXIV, what most MMO players know as "levels" will be the character's "Physical Level." Points you accumulate in battle can be freely spent on HP/MP, physical strength, intelligence or a variety of other parameters. In other words, you can focus on one aspect of your character, or aim for balance between all stats. The ultimate decision regarding the direction of the character is completely up to the player.
Alpha Test Hands-On Report
The team from Famitsu were able to create characters and try out the Alpha Version of FFXIV. They put their experiences into two write-ups -- one for Disciples of War and one for Disciples of Magic. Here are the key points of what they had to say.
Kikuo Saji: Roegadyn, Disciple of War, Pugilist
- The Character Creation system is so deep, you'll spend all day tweaking your avatar
- Don't fret too much over Class, you can change at anytime by changing your weapon
- The size difference between Roegadyn and Lalafell is quite massive
- You'll love the variety of new emotes -- Lalefell are especially adorable
- Aetheryte warps you right to where you need to go for Guildleves
- Guildleve difficulty is split into 5 levels, 1 star (easy) 5 stars (hard)
- The locations of target monsters for Guildleve are clearly displayed on your map
- There is a "weakened state" after dying -- HP/MP are lowered and it lasts for 5 minutes
- The game feels incredibly expansive, and it feels like you could walk on forever
- Crabs are back! Apparently Kikuo Saji found a giant one outside town that killed him in one strike!
Opone Kikuchi: Lalafell, Disciple of Magic, Thaumaturge
- There is so much more to do in the alpha compared with the Gamescom version 7 months ago
- Again, feels character creation is like a day's work in and of itself
- Once your MP is spent, you cannot recover it through resting
- Disciples of Magic have a basic magical ranged attack that does not consume MP
- It is possible to move while casting magic, but still important to be aware of the area of effect your spell will cover when cast
- Sheathing your weapon puts you into Passive Mode, which begins to recover HP, making it possible for even magic users to solo effectively
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Of everything I have lost, I miss my mind the most.
There are a lot of things to do in FFXI, and there are a lot of things you can do on the internet when you alt+tab out of the game. I am quite often occupied for almost every moment that I am in the game, so if I don't focus on getting something done, it gets left behind. Most of the stuff that gets left behind is for a reason. The relative level of importance is low, my time is consumed by something else, the time-reward ratio is poor or I am just lazy. Any of those reasons can quickly lead to forgetting about some important pieces of gear, either situational or even a slight upgrade.
It's not like I don't have better things to do. I need about a million merits on several different jobs. Still, there are still many different upgrades for a bunch of jobs I could just get off of the AH. The problem is getting these items to come to mind when I have an opportunity to get them. There is a certain opportunity cost involved with doing things I have missed in the past because I could be working on a new Magian weapon or I could be working on the Wings missions and quests. There are always good excuses. And sometimes the gear that I have skipped over comes from something that is annoying or tedious and I am just putting it off instead of just sucking it up and getting it done.
Check below the break for the top 3 items I have passed over, and should be mocked for not having yet.
Item(s) #3 - AF +1
I am missing so much AF +1 that it is just a joke at this point. Most of the time, this is because I haven't been able to win a lot on something important or for BLM it just doesn't drop that much. I am in need of parts for RNG AF+1 hands and for BLM AF+1 hands and head. As with most things on this list, these aren't game breaking pieces for sure, but they are also good to have and they are things that I should have by now. Maybe if the Limbus gods smile upon me, I might be able to get some of this done soon.
Item #2 - BLM AF2
I do have my BLM AF2 coat, and it serves me well. I use it in my standing gear and I don't have to use a Black Cloak or something more expensive. I still need pretty much the rest of the BLM AF2 gear. Hat, hands and legs I believe are all good for BLM for some reason or other. I would like the hat the most because even with my half done BLM merits, I am still weak on Elemental Skill for a lot of mobs.
Item #1 - You guessed it, Temple Crown
Yeah, there are a lot of MNKs out there that might think I am gimp for not having this yet. It's just an AF quest, and I am not even talking about the AF+1 version (even though I have both of the pieces to get the +1 version made ._.). I have decided that I am going to get it soon. At least when I remember to get it. :)
Monday, April 05, 2010
You got your Rage in my TP! You got your TP in my Rage!
While I might reference other games like WoW in columns it is not that often that I dedicate a whole column to the issue. But today Blizzard made an announcement that I think is interesting enough to include here.
The best thing about this is that I KNEW it was coming. I almost wrote a column about it before, but decided you might not care.
A bit of background: In WoW, Warriors uses a mechanic called Rage to use abilities. Rage is usually gained through one of two ways, either doing damage or taking damage. This is one of those things that sounds good on paper, but in practice you have to wonder how Blizzard let this mechanic exist through the base game and two expansions. The problem? Well, Warriors can either be melee DD (DPS) or tanks. For melee DD, if you are undergeared, then you are going to be doing less damage, and if you do less damage you get less rage, and if you get less rage you can do less abilities and thus do less damage to get less rage, and on and on. But there is a point at which you get enough gear to do enough damage to always have rage to always do more damage to get more rage, etc. It isn't well balanced at all. Tanks have the opposite problem. They get rage based on the damage they take. When you are fighting something really hard, you take a lot of damage, so you have a lot of rage. But as your gear improves, you take less damage and gain less rage, so you aren't able to hold hate as well because you can't use your abilities. So when you aren't doing high level events, you actually have more trouble holding hate than you would against something that is pounding your face in.
Now, this might seem slightly familiar. FFXI has a mechanic that is similar but applies across all melee DDs. Well it just got a whole lot more similarer.
Check below to see how Blizzard is now changing Rage into TP.
Essentially, Blizzard's new plan for Warrior (and Druid) Rage system is the same as SE's system in FFXI for TP. After their new expansion Warriors will gain rage based on their base swing speed, and that gain will be adjusted for all weapon speeds. Does this remind you of something? That is exactly how TP is determined in FFXI. Blizzard did add a little flair to the system by making Crits gain double the normal Rage and off-hand swings only getting 50% that weapon's normal Rage. Then again FFXI has Store TP to increase your TP per swing. Also, Blizzard is changing the way that tanks will get rage from being hit, so that they will get rage more equally from lower damage mobs. In FFXI, players still get TP from getting hit, but it is not fundamental to their jobs. PLD does get a large benefit from their increased TP gain from being hit, but it is not critical to doing their job.
Blizzard's system is also different in how Rage functions and is used, like Rage caps at 100 and abilities only cost a set amount but those amounts vary depending on the ability. So how a WoW Warrior spends their TP is more like how a Dancer uses their TP, instead of how a normal WS works. WoW Warriors spend little chunks of their Rage at a time, while a melee DD in FFXI spends all of their TP at once.
I have to say right now, that I was thinking this was Blizzard's only real solution to the problems they were having with Rage, and it was my idea and they totally ripped me off! :) The reason that it works in FFXI and the reason that Blizzard needed to use it for WoW is that it is based on something that is external to the gearing of a player. All of the other jobs in WoW just get their "resource", or their "stuff" to use their abilities, for free. Warriors had to take damage or do damage to get their "resource". This wasn't very stable at all to determine if you could use an ability or not. The only stable factor that exists across all jobs (even across both games) is swing speed. The faster weapons get less Rage/TP and the slower weapons get more Rage/TP. It all equals out in the end. SE figured this out pretty early on, and hasn't had to change the system all that much (there was one tweak when they removed the TP floor for low delay weapons).
Blizzard doesn't have a decrease weapon delay function outside of haste, and haste is going to function the same way that it does in FFXI for Rage gain purposes (i.e. it isn't going to effect it at all). They also don't have a "Store TP" function either, but they do have a much larger spread of swing speeds, so I think that even if they don't have a system that allows for an "X-hit build", they might want to consider how much rage they get from a weapon swing. If they can get to a round number faster with a higher delay weapon that might just be beneficial. For example, if one weapon gives 24 Rage per swing, and another weapon give 25 Rage per swing, and one of their abilities takes 25 Rage then it may be better to go with the slower weapon because you will be able to use your 25 Rage ability first. I would not be surprise for Warriors to quickly discover this "trick" in much the same way that melee DD in FFXI try to get to "X-hit builds".
There really aren't that many more differences between how the two systems functions. I think it was a good decision for WoW because it means that how a players chooses to use their abilities and when they use them will be more reflective of their potential damage output than just getting the best gear and having infinite rage. If you know about how things were before the "TP nerf" was implemented in FFXI, then you can imagine it in slightly the same way. The problem is that SE fixed the TP issue (getting full TP from multi-hit weapons) really early in the game, but it took Blizzard two expansions to figure it out.
Of course you are going to have some WoW people complain about it because they had the best gear and could do anything they wanted because they never had to worry about getting Rage because they already had it. But those people are dumb, and don't understand why fixing broken things is good for the game overall.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Well, I finally got hacked.
I don't know how they managed to do it. It looks like some kind of remote desktop control or something, but it looks like I have been hacked. I left the game on last night, and went to bed. When I woke up this morning I found that my computer had been restarted. I didn't think much of it, I just figured that it was an automatic update or something. I went to log myself back in, and none of my passwords worked. I was a little more concerned but I needed to head to work. I got to work and called SE as soon as I could, and they demanded the normal impossible to keep track of information like original CC number, original address and the registration keys. After a long discussion with the customer service rep that involved a lot of tension on my part, I was finally handed off to a manager. The manager offered to initiate an investigation after I gave them every single bit of information about my account and my personal life. They said that after the investigation I would get my account back, and then I would have to initiate a rollback. So it looks like I am going to be out of the game for a month or more.
The thing that I don't get is how they did this. How did I get a remote desktop virus on my computer? I use ad block, ad aware, no script, Firefox, everything. It looks like the SE token isn't hack-proof, if a hacker has full access to your computer. I am going to have to do a full hard drive wipe and reinstall everything because I am freaking even more paranoid than normal about security now.
This fucking sucks. :(
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