Blather and Fire Alarms
Time for NON SERIOUS POST.
So I'm gonna talk about Warhammer Online.
I've really taken a shine to it: much more than I expected. I didn't get a chance to play much in open beta, and gave it a chance mostly because it was new and I was slipping into a "bored" phase with WoW again.
I'm playing Order at the moment, and have dabbled around with a few classes.
Engineer: Currently my highest level class at 15, and I've been through lots of Scenarios for Renown. Rather fun, but as I level up it's becoming a touch frustrating. It suffers greatly from the same issues I had when playing a Boomkin pre-WotLK in Battlegrounds. If I can stay hidden back and help pick people off, I'm golden. If folks get in close range, I'm boned. Squishy DPS, but DPS that's designed to be mid-range, not long-range. I die often, and I don't seem to truly be faring as well as I'd like. It's not a complete wash, though; soloing is very easy as long as I have control of the pulls I make. Adds are a problem if I don't have a turret down.
Verdict: Like it a lot, but not in love.
Warrior Priest: This class excited me a lot when I first heard about it, because I really liked the idea of running right into a battle and smacking folks while healing others around me. I've seen Warrior Priests churn out serious healing on end of Scenario figures, so I know they've got power, but... I can't figure out how to play them. I am so used to hiding in the shadows and healing folks while attempting to pick off others that smacking someone's face in order to heal a secondary target nearby is rough. It's essentially multitasking, and in a heated RvR situation, I don't do very well with it.
Verdict: Obviously has power, but not my style of play. Might take special effort to learn.
Archmage: I only tried this class out tonight per Stuart's recommendation (he's shelved his Knight of the Blazing Sun to try this), and although I'm only 5 levels in, I LOVE the mechanic of it. You get a boost to a damage spell when you heal a great deal, and you get a boost to a healing spell when you cause consistent damage. It's marvelous! It's very long range, so my healing does work in the way that I'm used to, and when I heal enough to gain enough of a bonus to a damage spell, I really can cause a small significant damage burst. I'm not relegated to being merely a healer on the battle ground. Granted, it's what folks consider my main role to be, but if we're tucked back safe and sound in a Defensive position, I can fire off spells and make a difference.
My main gripe is that I'm even squishier than an Engineer, and targeted even faster because I'm a healer. I died constantly, which is a little disheartening in a fast-paced game like WAR, but I was slightly more survivable than my Engineer, because I could at least keep spamming dots to build up enough energy for a big instant healing spell, or powerful hot.
Verdict: Really like it, but need more time with it.
In beta, I was really turned on to the imagery of a Witch Hunter, but after talking to a couple higher-level witch hunters and hearing some of their gripes with the class end-game (especially in instances), I decided to pass. Plus, Witch Hunters really are a dime a dozen on Order.
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In other news, the Arts Tower's fire alarm went off not long before my 10am Classical Japanese was due to start. It's a huge building, and when the fire alarm goes off it takes a LONG time for the fire department to get in, figure out where the alarm was triggered, and then reset it. At minimum, per my instructor, it takes a 1/2 hour, so he just decided to cancel class (to my relief and frustration; it was my only class today). Turns out that the fire alarm problem ended up being tied to some water main leak that triggered it, and the Arts Tower ended up being shut down for most of the DAY, not just 1 hour or so.
So, I had a coffee with a classmate, came home, worked on kanji, philosophized, had some good conversations, figured some stuff out, ended up feeling a lot better, played WAR, and then wrote this.
I feel a lot better about things. And, I think my mom is right about me on one thing: I really over analyze situations sometimes, to the frustration of many.
So I'm gonna talk about Warhammer Online.
I've really taken a shine to it: much more than I expected. I didn't get a chance to play much in open beta, and gave it a chance mostly because it was new and I was slipping into a "bored" phase with WoW again.
I'm playing Order at the moment, and have dabbled around with a few classes.
Engineer: Currently my highest level class at 15, and I've been through lots of Scenarios for Renown. Rather fun, but as I level up it's becoming a touch frustrating. It suffers greatly from the same issues I had when playing a Boomkin pre-WotLK in Battlegrounds. If I can stay hidden back and help pick people off, I'm golden. If folks get in close range, I'm boned. Squishy DPS, but DPS that's designed to be mid-range, not long-range. I die often, and I don't seem to truly be faring as well as I'd like. It's not a complete wash, though; soloing is very easy as long as I have control of the pulls I make. Adds are a problem if I don't have a turret down.
Verdict: Like it a lot, but not in love.
Warrior Priest: This class excited me a lot when I first heard about it, because I really liked the idea of running right into a battle and smacking folks while healing others around me. I've seen Warrior Priests churn out serious healing on end of Scenario figures, so I know they've got power, but... I can't figure out how to play them. I am so used to hiding in the shadows and healing folks while attempting to pick off others that smacking someone's face in order to heal a secondary target nearby is rough. It's essentially multitasking, and in a heated RvR situation, I don't do very well with it.
Verdict: Obviously has power, but not my style of play. Might take special effort to learn.
Archmage: I only tried this class out tonight per Stuart's recommendation (he's shelved his Knight of the Blazing Sun to try this), and although I'm only 5 levels in, I LOVE the mechanic of it. You get a boost to a damage spell when you heal a great deal, and you get a boost to a healing spell when you cause consistent damage. It's marvelous! It's very long range, so my healing does work in the way that I'm used to, and when I heal enough to gain enough of a bonus to a damage spell, I really can cause a small significant damage burst. I'm not relegated to being merely a healer on the battle ground. Granted, it's what folks consider my main role to be, but if we're tucked back safe and sound in a Defensive position, I can fire off spells and make a difference.
My main gripe is that I'm even squishier than an Engineer, and targeted even faster because I'm a healer. I died constantly, which is a little disheartening in a fast-paced game like WAR, but I was slightly more survivable than my Engineer, because I could at least keep spamming dots to build up enough energy for a big instant healing spell, or powerful hot.
Verdict: Really like it, but need more time with it.
In beta, I was really turned on to the imagery of a Witch Hunter, but after talking to a couple higher-level witch hunters and hearing some of their gripes with the class end-game (especially in instances), I decided to pass. Plus, Witch Hunters really are a dime a dozen on Order.
---
In other news, the Arts Tower's fire alarm went off not long before my 10am Classical Japanese was due to start. It's a huge building, and when the fire alarm goes off it takes a LONG time for the fire department to get in, figure out where the alarm was triggered, and then reset it. At minimum, per my instructor, it takes a 1/2 hour, so he just decided to cancel class (to my relief and frustration; it was my only class today). Turns out that the fire alarm problem ended up being tied to some water main leak that triggered it, and the Arts Tower ended up being shut down for most of the DAY, not just 1 hour or so.
So, I had a coffee with a classmate, came home, worked on kanji, philosophized, had some good conversations, figured some stuff out, ended up feeling a lot better, played WAR, and then wrote this.
I feel a lot better about things. And, I think my mom is right about me on one thing: I really over analyze situations sometimes, to the frustration of many.