Ye want a wee rampage through them Scarlet buggers in their fancy-pants big hoose again? They never seem tae give up, do they? Ach aw right, as suppose we can go an smite evil an’ all that stuff - ust make sure ye stay at mah back, ok?

“Hey guys, someone fancy giving me a boost in SM?” It’s become pretty commonplace to see this sort of request in guild chat (well, in my guilds chat anyway) and I’ve seen some debate concerning the issue in guild chat and in general. I had a think about it and decided I’d write those thoughts down here on the blog (it’s what it’s for afterall, right?)

So, what is a boost? I’m sure most people are familiar with the term but for those who are not: It is when a high level character groups with a low level character(s) and they complete an instance or quests for the purpose of the lower one gaining xp and / or items generally more quickly than if they had done so on their own / with a group their own level.

Why Boosting is Bad

• People don’t get the chance to learn their class in a group setting
• People don’t ‘work’ themselves for themselves
• Cultivates lazyness
• Annoys people when others always ask
• Less xp

Why Boosting is Good

• Faster runs
• More xp
• A chance to get good loot without having to worry about rolls
• You’ll actually see the instance instead of just levelling past it..
• You can do a bunch of instance quests quickly

Now some of these might seem contradictory - do you get more xp or less? Well you will gain less XP by having a level 70 in your party - annoyingly I cannot find an ‘official’ link with the exact numbers - Ghosthoof has provided me with a link! But your xp per mob at, for example, level 25 will go down considerably when partied with a level 36 (more than ten levels) or higher player i.e. when the mobs become grey to that person. However! You’ll be able to complete Scarlet Monastery Cathedral in about 30 minutes or so as compared to over an hour in a level-equivalent group - so your xp / hour is a lot higher. If, in the time you would have taken to do the instance with a full group at your level, you could get three boost runs then you’ll have gotten much more xp. This is due to the fact, also, that your xp gain is reduced in a party of same levels dependant on the number of them.

The biggest outcry, though, that I’ve heard against boosting and levelling changes is that people don’t learn their class. This seems a valid point - less experience = less class knowledge. However, how many holy priests do you meet when levelling? Or prot warriors? Sure, there are some, but the majority of people would actually be learning how to tank, heal or dps in a way they will no be doing at 70. Yes, even dps-ing is different at 70 than when levelling! So, those people could be hitting 70 without having gotten used to the quirks of their ‘main spec’ anyway.

In addition to this, many of the powerful class spells or abilities are not available until level 60+ - Heroism/Bloodlust, Lifebloom, Spellsteal, Seed of Corruption and mass dispel being some of the ones I could think of which would not be in that persons arsenal even if they were specced as far as they could be into their preferred raiding / high level partying spec.

The lazyness issue is one which flip-flops in my mind - some people are lazy and do spam chat all day asking for a boost when they could be out levelling - but others ask only when they want a boost past a particularly hated area or want a specific item. Not all players who want boosts are being lazy. This also ties in with people getting annoyed about being asked for boosts - those who are lazy are usually those who won’t even bother being thankful and / or will ask over and over again until someone is sick of boosting them or hearing about them asking for a boost. This means that someone else asking for a more ‘legitimate’ reason may be shot down too, sadly. Of course, there is also the fact that people want to kick back and relax and their idea of that is not running someone through RFD three times.

Now, personally, I like giving boosts but only to specific instances. In fact I sometimes actively ask people if they want a run through SFK or SM for instance as I love those instances and can do them pretty quickly. I don’t mind doing DM once in a while but I don’t like running it repeatedly as it gets a bit boring. I love one-shotting things and seeing how much I can pull without killing myself (or my charge). I will often say no, however, to anyone asking for gnomer as I hate it. If someone bugs me for a run or whines at me then they go nowhere! hehe.

I know what it’s like to level alts, I have sympathy for people who just want a little xp boost now and then or wish to complete quests and get specific items but I will not tolerate lazy arses who just want their work done for them. Luckily I have not encountered many of these people. In fact, when I boost people it’s usually those I enjoy to hang out with anyway and is as much fun as running with them to any instance on their mains.

Old Skool

A quick look at the other side of things shows why boosting is so valuable to those lowbies and also why, on the other hand, it might be fun to go back and kick butt old style! Old skool style, in this context, I am using to refer to doing an instance at its preferred level with a group of people who’re also at that level.

Why Doin’ it Old Skool Style is Bad

• Hard to find people
• Even harder to find competent people
• Takes a long time to do some pre-tbc instances
• Loot doesn’t seem ‘worth it’
• No tanks / healers

Why Doin’ it Old Skool Style is Good

• Learning your new class’ early ‘oh shit’ buttons
• Can be more fun
• A challenge for you and your guildies
• A break from grinding / questing

Getting a group can be hard these days - sure everyone and their aunt has an alt but they’reall spread across the board levels wise and, unless you want to go to one of the ‘favoured’ instances then you’re not likely to get a group. However! Going back to an old instance and doing it with a bunch of people can be awesome fun.

I recently have been doing this with a friend in the guild whose priest is about the same level as my druid. We’ve been to Scarlet Monastery - Armory a couple of times and are planning on a possible trip to Razorfen Downs. At level 30-31 I was tanking it with him healing. He’s shadow but has some very nice healing gear and experience as a healer pre-tbc. We’ve five-manned the place with three pug members and four-manned it with a level 37 prot pala (a little easymode ahem) and a mage guildie. It’s possible to two man it, even, at this level, but it does end up going a little slower. There really is much more of a sense of achievement doing this but it does suck up a lot more time - I could level faster with quests but they’re not always as much fun.

Balance

Really, what it takes is balance - especially when it comes to having fun when levelling. If it’s your second, third, fourth or even fifth plus character you don’t want to put up with pugs and waiting and idiocy etc and may want to level as fast as possible boosts allow you to get a whole bunch of xp and equipment fast. However, that can become pretty soulless and, if you want to learn your new class a little better, or at least train your reflexes to it’s earlier panic buttons (OMG BEARFORM *Poof*) then it might be worth hitting up an old instance with some guildies of your level.

There’s also the fact that it feels very different to go back to an instance you can easily smash our way through and have a hard time, have to think about the pulls and generally take in the atmosphere more.

Happy low-level instancing however you, personally, decide to experience it!

Just a quick, small update.

For a while after I started blogging I used the sidebar as a means of checking all of those cool sites I had found and wanted to read. Quickly, though, it became apparent that this was a rather inefficient method of checking up on them so I got myself a feed reader and started reading via that. So, of course, when I found a new blog I wanted to read I added it there and…. completely forgot to add it to the site.

So, late being better than never, I’ve finally updated the damn thing. I’ve had real troubles sleeping in the past few days though and updated it under the influence of this lack-of-sleep so give me a poke if I’ve misspelled or mislinked something!

I might go through at some point and put them on a page - with randomised links left at the side - as suddenly that blogroll is looking huuuuge but we’ll see if my lazyness can be overcome! *Grin*

/Zzzzz

Ah’ll show ye no prepared ye big ugly git ye! Whit dae ye mean marked by death!? Aw bugger…

I don’t often mention raiding on here, except in passing, but I have to express my joy in finally making Teron choke on his own damn words. “YOU will show the proper respect!” HAH. We’ve had a little trouble with him due to some shifting around of the raid group (new people) and having a few too many people who fall under the category of ‘That Guy’.

Anyways, pretty kill-shot (click for a very slightly bigger version):

I really, really love being there on progression nights and seeing new bosses go down.  Any time I’m not there for a first kill I feel a bit disappointed, I have to admit.  Teron was a real git to me too on these attempts… First try, I got shadow’d fourth. Three warlocks, no druid. Bah. Second try? I got doomed first. No soulstones up. BAH. Third try fourth… fourth try first… Well, lets just say it took us twelve tries and there was never a soulstone for me. Still, I didn’t mind going first as it meant being way ahead on constructs (I’m pretty fast with mine after lots of practice on the simulator and in game). However! on our last attempt I wasn’t shadowed and only died when we got to 1% with not many healers alive.

Oh well - Gurtogg next, hopefully!

I was the proud recipient, also, of the “I has been to BT lols” cloak, as modelled by myself and our Paladin tank (who was healing for the boss fight)

The boss also gave me the last token I needed for my [Tunic of the Dark Hour] so my gear has just taken a considerable upward turn - I finally feel like I’m ‘catching up’ with the others and it’ll hopefully help push up the dps for the following bosses!

Been really slow about updating and I still have a pile of stuff I want to post about but I don’t want to spam too much in one post so I’ll leave the rest for another day (or hour, at least!).

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Breana of Gun Lovin’ Dwarf Chick and Fimlys of Asleep at the WoW have joined up to produce the Twisted Nether Blogcast! Their first ‘cast went up today and features news about all sorts of current shenanigans in the WoW blogosphere and other WoW news!. Go listen now!

So much random fun stuff happened tonight but I’m utterly shattered so it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

There’s acquaintances and pals and then there’s good friends - you know they’ve got yer back and you’ve got theirs and when the shite hits the fan you’ll be able to pull through or at least laugh at yer mishap.

A lot of really cool people have been writing about healer and tank synergy this week - the first two I read being that by Phae at Resto4Life and the person who had inspired her - SaladFork at Omen of Clarity. I know I’m a little late to the party (story of my blog-life) but I figured I’d go and stick up my own little view from the ‘third’ point of view - dps - specifically melee dps.

Melee dps get the least love when it comes to healing. A lot of healers tend to look down upon the poor ill-fated rogue, warrior, crittycat, shaman or retridin who has commited the heinous crime of taking damage. In 5 mans you know, as a rogue especially, that if you take aggro (it can happen for reasons other than stupidity, trust me) you’re not going to get a heal unless the healer is content that the tank is ok. You sort of accept it with a small sigh, accept your res and move on.

It’s not always the case, however. I, personally, always try my best to make myself aquainted with a healer if I’m running a pug. Water / mana pots drop? Pass ‘em to the healer. “Thanks for the heals” also goes a long way. I find if I do this, and make friends with ‘em, I get more heals. Making your healer feel loved means more heals all around. That might seem a bit feindish to most of you but I see it as win-win. The healer knows I appreciate them and I appreciate them all the more as a few more heals come my way. This works on me too - I am more inclined to heal those who take time to appreciate my efforts when on my Shammy.

However! The topic was special bonds. I think the reason, perhaps, any dps are less likely to feel a special bond with their healer is that they don’t really get assigned a healer to themselves. Noone ever says “Ok, Priest-1, you’re healing Aurik”. Unless they’re a ‘lock, mage or hunter tank most dps will never have a special healer to themselves. Melee dps, however, have their resto shammies. Resto shamans are awesome melee healers and in Burning Crusade the melee often takes a lot more damage than ranged (not always true, I know, but in general). This means having a healer assigned especially to us! As a group we love our resto shaman and she keeps us alive - we know half the time we owe our ‘lives’ and our dps (from not being dead) to her timely heals.

I have learned around how much her chain heals hit for and when they will heal me and when I should maybe step out and bandage / pot on raid-damage heavy bosses. I also keep an eye and ear out to make sure nothing’s decided she’s a tasty meal-inna-crunchy-shell. In Hyjal, with so many mobs, sometimes I’ll find a caster targeting her or a skeletal mage who’s slipped through and will do my best to stun/maim or otherwise incapacitate them - or failing that aggroing and pulling ‘em to the Pally-tonk. For us ‘our’ Shammy part of the melee team. Doubly so as sometimes she fights alongside us enhancement spec!

An in game relationship of any sort - one on one or amongst a small group - makes working with others so much easier and better. It’s all about trust and doesn’t matter, in my opinion, if you’re a tank, healer or dps. People who trust each other and know each others limits will not only do better but enjoy their time more - going a step further than they might have otherwise.

Well, ye see, sometimes when yer in yer cups somebody starts singin’ an auld favourite and ye join in and it’s fine, cos everyone’s pissed…

But, y’see, when someone has a mic… *ahem*. Ok, so when Anna mentioned she was going to write lyrics to ‘I’m Too Sexy‘ but re-done WoW style I was a bit hyper, it was late and I said “Ahahaha I’ll sing it!”. I’m a dwarf of my word, even if it took two hours and a lot of falling over laughing at microphones.

Go read Anna’s lyrics here!

Y’can download the mp3 of me singing it from here if you dare. To put in in the kindest possible way let’s simply say I didn’t offer to sing because I was any bloody good at singing. You’ve been warned ;P Still, was bloody fun to record and I got to let my inner exhibitionist out *cackle*.

/shy

/vanish

Ironforge - proud, beautiful, strong! There’s somethin’ aboot the place which justs makes the whole place feel cosy an’ safe.

So, I’d taken a picture of Jhai as she was running around Ironforge - backlighted by the forge, metal glistening - it wasn’t until I was sorting through some old screenshots (in search for images for another post) that I noticed I’d taken a similar picture of Dryn when he was about the same level! Guess the place, theme and atmosphere really appeal to me.

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Now… ah huv a question. See, them Tauren don’t like Dwarfs ‘cus we apparently harm nature and them and the gangly, glowy eyed Elfs complain aboot Orcs tearin’ doon their forests… Their druids are tree huggin’ hippies as are most o’ the rest o’ them so why is it that in the druids homeland, the night elf perfect home in Nighthaven - right where the dae all thon runnin’ aboot in their bare arses and lovin’ trees… do they all use axes?

Seriously? Axes? Why!? I just noticed last time I walked around Nighthaven (in Moonglade) that almost every ‘guard’ npc wields an axe. Considering it’s like the heart of druidic friendliness and night elfy culturaliness what was Blizz thinking giving them all a weapon which is kinda symbolic of, or at least associated with, cutting down trees? In game druids can’t even learn to use axes!

/boggle

<Added Later>

Ah jist found out that they buggers in the Cenarion Expedition are apparently at it too!

/further boggling

Sometimes…. sometimes ye come across somethin’ which makes ye’ tear up. Ah’m a Dwarf who cannae understand random acts o’ nastyness - ah just don’t know why anyone would do it. What’s even more surprisin’, these days, is when someone goes oot o’ their way to be nice to ye.

“Log your Druid Aurik!”
“Hmm? K” *log* “Whut now?”
“…”
*checks mail randomly whilst hanging around*

As the title of the mail said - he’d sent me [The Master's Treads] as well as a few of the agi elixirs I’d given him which he’d not used. All I’d done was loan him some spare elixirs in a raid which went on a little late - which I had offered since my alchemist had procced nicely when creating them and I had plenty spare for the giving.

I’d also happened to mention lack of leveling enthusiasm earlier in the day. I would love to have a tank again at 70 - so often even things like key-frag runs aren’t possible as we have so few tanks available - even as alts. This mail really has given me a wish to get on with leveling - not just to wear the boots but because I got the warm fuzzy feelin’ of being cared for! (Which is why I was promptly verbally abused by Softi when she came online and found she was now 3 levels behind *ahem*).

This guy is pretty awesome - he’s the guy I go to for shamany questions - “Er, crap, any hints on healing Vexxalus?” type of stuff. He always takes time when I ask things and when I need to rant. He sticks up for people when the RL gets a bit shouty and isn’t afraid to speak his mind when he feels something has been said unfairly - he’s also damn good to his friends.

And he was thoughtful enough to send me some stuff to motivate my druid levelling. So I just wanted to make a post to say how awesome he is. Even if he’ll never know as he doesn’t read the blog.

Thank you, A.

Thon over-tall elfy git told me he wis gettin’ tae the peak o’ his game. I told him he still was a long way off of that, no matter whether he had finished his trainin’ or not!

“Bah…. no motivation to level my hunter… he’s 10% into 69 and it’s taken months to get here from 60…”

“I’ll give you ten gold if you beat me to 70!”

“How far into 69 are you?”

“60%”

“… … …”

*LEVELS*

It honestly was so much fun! I never did beat him (there wasn’t much chance) but I did only have three bubbles left to go by the time he got to 70! A few hours later and my little baby hunter became a little grown-up hunter. Yipes.

Good Intentions

Dryn has had a bit of an odd ‘life’. I started him with the sole intention of being a gatherbot for me - I needed a herber and figured I’d take skinning too, to make some gold. His journey to 70, though, taught me a few things about what I like and dislike in WoW - specifically regarding levelling.

1-58 I levelled Dryn as I had levelled most other characters - running quickly through quests with a vague eye on Jaime’s levelling guide (I prefer to deviate as my play sessions are often shorter or I don’t like a quest hub etc. etc.) However, I knew once I got to 58 I could, theoretically, be a reasonable gatherbot already!

Grinding vs. Questing

I had decided to only level through quests in Hellfire and then level via grinding to maximise gold from quests, later, and to maximise the time spent herbing / etc. on the character. I spent a long time grinding bog lords - reading whilst auto-shotting, herbing, retarget, send pet, auto-shot etc. and got utterly, utterly bored. I cracked and blasted a level or two via quests. I think Iwas about 65 - I decided to go to Nagrand and grind there for shadow motes. Same thing. Bored.

Now, I can happily grind when I know the outcome will benefit me mats wise etc. but it seemed that adding the element of levelling made it seem more painful - I figure, possibly, this had something to do with the fact that XP gain through levelling is so damn slow at that level.

Anyways, I had been doing this on and off, long phases of grinding interspersed with small bunches of quests until the above conversation. I had not enjoyed my hunter in a long time but, in those few hours, I really did.

I prefer questing. I prefer blasting through goals in smaller chunks which make me move around a bit and keep me from being bored whilst watching the XP creep up. Stacking quests - doing a number which coincide goals-wise with each other - and then handing them in all at once is a real pleasure and works well with WoW’s usual habit of rewards for time spent.

Gathering vs. Crafting

The one thing I had done different to usual as I levelled to 58 was take dual gathering. Never again. Half of what I love in WoW is the crafting side of it! I dropped skinning before I hit Outlands and power-levelled Engineering. Again. Ugh. But! It brought about the benefits of healing + mana potion injectors (I’m woefully low on bagspace) and got me Goggles + Zapthrottle Mote Extractor. i.e. > Another farming tool with a crafting profession. Win-win, in my opinion.

I know a lot of people prefer to grind or instance than to quest but personally I love it when I’m in the groove and blasting through quests - only stopping to get some recipe or craft some upgrade or maybe to grind enough rep for a non-combat pet!

In General

Blizzard seem to be trying to make some more quests which are deviations on the norm - unusual mechanics or npc interactions have been sprinkled quite frequently through new quest areas (including those added to Dustwallow). I’m thinking I might do a few posts looking at interesting / unusual quests and quest lines.

Still, some quests just seem a waste of time, boring or badly designed (I have to be hit by mobs to gain electrical charges for this quest? As a BM hunter!? Wut?). Even so, I find them more interesting, on the whole, than grinding. Going to stop rambling now at it’s 7am and I’ve not slept yet!

p.s Shortly before hitting 70 Dryn ’switched sides’ in more ways than one due to his first transporter malfunction! <3 Engineering!

/sandwich