I once watched a truly forgettable movie about two brothers who were part of a mob family.  One brother chose the life of crime, and the other chose to give his life to fighting lawlessness.  Blah, blah, blah…  Save your money.  Here’s the only thing interesting in the whole movie.

In one flashback scene where the brothers were fighting, their father intervened.  He then took out a dollar bill and tore it in half.  Giving one half to each child, he said, “Remember, boys, you are stronger together than you are apart.”

What a great illustration for the importance of unity within the Body of Christ.  Working against each other, we don’t amount to much.  In fact, we pretty much cancel each other out.  But working together, we have the strength to face the Enemy and the worst he can throw at us.

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

(Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

Roisin Murphy- Scarlett ribbons  (album-Overpowered)

From the cradle to the floor
My flesh and my bones
Is that the way it’s supposed to be
How the story goes
Ribbons and bones
Like a thorn on a rose
When the one man who gave it all to you
Has to let you go

He found for me scarlet ribbons
Scarlet ribbons for my hair

What becomes of a father’s love
When another has his daughter’s love
Don’t you know they’ll never be here but
I’ll always be your little girl

It’s all borrowed time
And you always said I would regret it
If I grew up to fast
But my heart is strong and true
I’m doing fine
The things that you said
I won’t forget them
I’ll do as you ask
And always play fair for you

You found for me scarlet ribbons
Those scarlet ribbons for my hair

What becomes of a father’s love
When another has his daughter’s love
Don’t you know they’ll never be here but
I’ll always be your little girl

There’s a part of you
In every part of me (should know better)
Maybe you should know
I won’t let that go
As long as I can cry on your shoulder
Won’t be growing up
Just older
You have got to let me go

You have got to let it go, oh oh

Dette bliver mit sidste indlæg idag, men ugen er jo snart omme og så skal i da lige have en ugens guf med på vejen. Denne sang kan jeg egentligt takke Gina for at minde mig om eksisterede, for personligt havde jeg glemt alt om den i min dis af travlhed! Sangen er super cozy, og ret dejlig også, og så bliver jeg bare af en eller anden grund i godt humør af at se videoen.

Ugens Guf er i denne uge Roisin Murphy – Overpowered

Udover sangen er super god, så er hendes outfit i videoen det lækreste outfit i verdenen .. Nogle der ved hvor man kan købe jakken? I GOTTA HAVE IT!

Du kan købe Roisin Murphy – Overpowered på iTunes HER!

When I think that I’m over you I’m overpowered

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The official forums are filled with people complaining about CO being too difficult.  Yet, there are people soloing 5-man instances and killing legendary monsters.  There is no big trick or secret.  Figure out the system and build the most powerful champion.

To have the most powerful champion in Champions Online, you have to pick the best powers and be well-rounded.  There are a bunch of ridiculously powerful abilities in this game that can make PvE and PvP into a complete joke.

Note: This guide isn’t comprehensive.  I have played with and tested most of the powers in the game, but it’s impossible for me to try every single combination.  In addition, this guide is valid as of October 1st, 2009, but MMORPG’s are constantly changing.

Step #1.  Get championBuilder.

Step #2.  Be well-rounded.

You need a passive defensive power, a block enhancer, a heal, a hold or knockdown and a good AoE attack.  If you skip any of these, you are making the game unnecessarily difficult.

If you know what you are doing, you don’t need CC powers like holds or knockdowns.  Picking a passive offensive power is an option that should only be considered if you have a solid build that can make up for the loss of survivability.

A lot of people run into problems somewhere between level 8 and 20.  The difficulty ramps up after the Crisis zones and your build has to take that into account.  The primary issue that people have is due to sticking with one framework.  As a result, people end up with a bunch of offensive powers, when they really need more survivability.  Pick a defensive passive power at level 8 or 11 and save yourself a lot of problems.  Picking a block enhancer right away is often a good idea as well.

Getting a defensive passive and block enhancer so soon means that you delay reaching the Tier 3 powers.  It’s your decision.  If you are willing to deal with difficult missions early on, focus on one framework and get your Tier 3 power sooner (earliest is level 14).  Then get a defensive passive and block enhancer.

Step #3.  Be a ranged champion.

If you have to be a melee champion, pick Might or Telekinesis (Ego Blades).

Step #4.  Pick two useful superstats.

• CON/END – The best and most useful combo that works with practically any build and shines in PvE and PvP.
• CON/REC or CON/INT – Both reasonable choices, but only pick them if it fits your powers better.  CON/END is superior in most cases.
• CON/PRE or PRE/END or PRE/INT – The best choices for a healer/support hero.
• DEX/EGO – Overrated.  For many builds, CON/END will have a comparable DPS and much better utility.  DEX/EGO has the highest potential for burst damage and it can be fun to do a lot of critical attacks.
• END/REC or END/INT – Sacrifice survivability for loads of energy.  Provides the highest sustained DPS because energy = damage in CO.
• CON/STR – The best choice for many melee heroes, especially Might.

Step #5.  Pick the best powers.

Right now, the most powerful frameworks are Fire and Telekinesis/Telepathy.  No other framework can compare to the sheer power that these two provide.  Both frameworks provide debuffs to your target’s defenses, which dramatically increases your damage output.  For Ego damage, there are multiple sources of stackable debuffs, which is why Telekinesis/Telepathy is currently the most powerful framework.

This list is valid as of October 1st, 2009.  I’m sure Cryptic will eventually get around to balancing all the powers.  This list doesn’t have all the great powers, but it’s more than enough to provide anyone with a powerful hero.

Energy builder

• Ranged: Kinetic Darts, Sonic Blaster or Psi Lash are the best.  Pick the one that offers the best advantage for your build.
• Melee: Pick the one from your primary framework.  They all work well and many have a synergy with the framework.

Passive defensive

• Regeneration – The best all-around choice.
• Invulnerability – A great option for CON heroes, especially CON/STR.
• Aura of Radiant Protection – The best choice for support builds because it scales well with PRE.

Block enhancer

• Telekinetic Shield – The most powerful ability in the game.  It’s like you are constantly running around holding block.
• Force Shield + Force Sheath – If and when TK shield gets nerfed, Force Shield is the way to go.
• Energy Shield + Laser Knight – Only good for melee heroes.

Ranged single target attack

• Ego Blast – Amazing synergy with the Telekinesis and Telepathy frameworks.  Also holds your target and combos with Telepathic Reverberation.
• Ice Blast + Hard Frost – Great damage if you tap spam it on chilled targets.

Melee attack

• Gauntlet Chainsaw – Great damage.
• Scything Blade + Swallowtail Cut – Powerful DoT, but only works on Master Villains or weaker (works in PvP, too).
• Ego Blade Breach – Stupidly overpowered when combined with other Telekinesis and Telepathy debuffs.
• Thunderbolt Lunge – Travel power remover (essential for PvP) and for closing the distance.
• Haymaker – Good damage and Nullifying Punch ruins healing and Regeneration in PvP.
• Laser Sword – Good damage.

Holds

• Ego Hold – Strong hold that you can cast while moving.
• Electrocute – Currently the strongest hold in the game.
• Grasping Shadows – Only AoE hold in the game, but it gets interrupted if you take any damage.  Can be very useful for PvE.

Knockdowns

• Lash + Meteor Hammer – Has no knockdown resistance, so spammable.  If you pick up Supernatural Power or have good energy regeneration, you can keep your target completely disabled…forever.
• Shotgun – AoE knockdown and a guaranteed single target knockdown if advantaged.
• Shadow Embrace + Fatal Allure – Good damage, good damage mitigation and good control.
• various Force and Might powers

AoE attacks

• Ego Sprites – Cheap AoE DoT.  Great opening power, especially for melee heroes.
• Fireball + Unstable Accelerant & Conflagration – One of the best damaging combination of attacks in the game.
• Ego damage buffs and debuffs – By far the best damage in the game.  Stack powers like Psi Lash + advantage, Telekinetic Eruption, Collective Will, and Ego Blade Breach.
• Gigabolt + Death Arc – Not good in PvP, but great in PvE.
• Ego Storm – Big AoE, big damage, big hold. Makes solo PvE into a joke.
• Shadow Embrace + Fatal Allure – By far the best AoE cone attack.
• Frost Breath + Frost Bite – Tap to Chill everything.

Heals and defenses

• Resurgence, Unbreakable or Masterful Dodge – Good emergency instant protection.  Pick one or more if you want.
• Mindful Reinforcement – Utterly overpowered.  Shields you and heals you.
• Arcane Vitality and Psionic Healing – Two solid healing choices for support heroes.

Other utility powers

• Force Eruption – Can be used when held, cheap, AoE knockback.  Great for keeping melee attackers away.
• Sparkstorm + Electric Personality – Can be used when held, good damage, chance of knockback
• Sonic Device and Toxic Nanites – Great choices for additional AoE damage.  Combine with an AoE attack.
• Mind Lock – Confuse.  Provides another tool for control and has a different resistance timer from hold powers.
• Smoke Grenade – Good aggro management tool.  Draws ranged monsters into melee range.  Can be used when held.
• Electric Sheath, Shadow Shroud, Immolation or Ice Sheath – Damage buff and hold breaker.
• Circle of Ebon Wrath – Damage boost + damage mitigation.
• Circle of Primal Domination – Regeneration + damage resist + knockback resist all in one nice power.

Example Overpowered Builds

Here are a few example builds that can breeze through all the solo content and do team content with a little effort.  I only list the important powers.  These are all you need to be ’super’.  Any additional powers make you even more ridiculous.

• TK shield, Regeneration, Fireball + Unstable Accelerant, Conflagration (This is my preferred choice.)
• TK shield, Ice Form, Fireball + Unstable Accelerant, Conflagration
• Psi Lash + advantage, TK shield, Regeneration, TK Eruption, Ego Blade Breach
• Psi Lash + advantage, TK shield, Regeneration, Ego Storm
• Kinetic Darts + advantage, TK shield, Regeneration, Shadow Embrace + Fatal Allure
• Kinetic Darts + advantage, TK shield, Shadow Form, Shadow Embrace + Fatal Allure
• TK shield, Regeneration, Gigabolt + Death Arc
• TK shield, Regeneration, Chainsaw, Ego Sprites
• TK shield, Aura of Radiant Protection, Fireball + Unstable Accelerant, Conflagration, Flashfire, Thermal Reverberation (For support builds with PRE)

It should be really clear that Telekinetic Shield is the most overpowered ability in the entire game.  In these example builds, Regeneration can be swapped for Invulnerability or Radiant Protection if that fits your super stats better, but you will also need a healing power.

If and when TK shield gets nerfed into the ground, Force Shield + Force Sheath provides far weaker protection, but you will be overflowing with energy.  Bring defensive powers like Mindful Reinforcement (another horribly broken power).

Some Final Words

Many of the recommended powers in this list are clearly overpowered.  Overpowered usually means that it will get nerfed by Cryptic at some point…usually sooner, rather than later.  For some unexplainable reason, TK shield is still around a month after the game has gone live, but it shouldn’t be around forever.

If you rely on overpowered abilities to play the game, don’t be surprised when Cryptic destroys your hero in a future patch.  Lucky for us, Cryptic has also been nice enough to provide several free full retcons.  I’m sure we will get at least one more full retcon.  Eventually, there should be a way to get more (maybe via the Cryptic store).

Trying out builds and powers on the Test server is a great way to learn the game.

Read the PvP subforum if you want to keep up with any changes to the most powerful abilities in the game.  Usually the PvP’ers are the people who figure out the best powers and combinations before anyone else.

Making the most overpowered champion can be fun, but it can also make the game very boring.

Ex vocalist dei Moloko, mi stavo chiedendo proprio in questi giorni che fine avesse fatto la favolosa Roisin Murphy… Rosetta, a quando un bis dello stupendo Overpowered??

So lately I’ve become more or less disgusted with Valve and, to a more pressing extent, TF2.

Because each and every update that gets released finds some new way to kick the Heavy in his russian balls over and over again.

Let’s go over the updates, shall we?

Huntsman- Oh great, a bow and arrow with permanent mid-range meatshots that’s now spammable. So headshots are still devastating and now you can hit from close range, or just let all the arrows fly. I have been nailed in the Heavy’s arms with THREE GODDAMN ARROWS while trying to come around for a shot. Moving away is so sluggish I’m just condemning myself.

Razorback - Well, it sucks, so it isn’t like this is a heavy-specific weapon.

Dead Ringer - Spies are already a Heavy counter, so this isn’t too bad, especially considering there’s a good chance of hearing the Dear Ringer when it fires off. So be it Shotgun or punching gloves, this isn’t too bad.

Cloak and Dagger – Oh fuck you Valve.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that I have to mistrust every member of my team – which is part of the Spy mindgame, I’m okay with that – now I have to seriously consider that each corner is going to up and knife me? Honestly? This is okay for other teams that can run around punching into corners, but everything about the Heavy is “Slow” meaning you have to rely on your teammates doing it for you. The fact that the Heavy has to consider these things – but can’t do anything about them! - is just completely wrong.

Ambassador - Yay more Sniper headshot crits action from a class that isn’t the Sniper! Whee! So good to know that my giant-ass head is being put to good use.

Jarate - This is fair for all other classes, but again, it pisses me off (no pun intended, trust me) that Valve is yet again forgetting that the Heavy has to commit to standing in one place. So of all the people likely to get hit, he is easily #1, giving the sniper now three weapon slots that are hard Heavy counters (Matchete’s high crit chance and their high mobility gives them an easier time too).

Sandman - …fuck you Valve. The one thing the release-version Heavy had going for it, and you steal it from us three times? The fact that Heavs moves slower and is a big target is just a double insult. Now you might think, but a Scout is a Heavy counter!

No, he isn’t. The Scout is a DPS class, designed to be as frustrating and annoying as possible but never quite enough to warrant shooting. When you do, he flees, meaning you lost your opportunity to shoot the real target. This suddenly puts him on even footing with everyone with a one-two combo of the Scattergun and Sandman.

Even if you disregard the Scout doing anything other than Bonking the Heavy, it shuts down ubercharges. Which originally you practically had to throw a spare non-Backburner pyro into and let him die. Now the Scout can do it from a distance at no penalty (other than his double jump, big deal, see me waving a flag?). So he exchanges his ability to be annoying in favor of…rendering an enemy useless.

And you can not tell me that this wasn’t built for countering Heavs.

Bonk Energy Drink – Let’s make Natascha useless while we’re at it. Sure, why not?

Force-A-Nature – It was annoying how the Pyro could push me back into ravines and behind walls with the Compression blast, now you can do damage while you’re at it. Bonk for double-plus fun!

Honestly I played this game after the Pyro and Heavy update – it was great. But Valve took a trio of the hard- and soft-counter classes and made them even better at fucking up the Heavy.

And he’s already got an update that isn’t getting any better. Whee for less damage!

Seriously just make Natascha render you Bonk-proof. Or make the Bonk only work on Heavy if you hit him in the head. Make me want to like the Heavy again, cause I don’t have a reason to.

        Today I wanted to talk about Solo’ing. Solo’ing content is a very fun hobby of mine as a Death Knight simply because Blizzard has made it so damned easy. Obviously there is the cliche of a Death Knight solo’ing huge mobs way beyond what most other classes can solo, and for good reason.

        The reason this topic is so fresh in my mind is due to my new alt a Troll Death  knight on Rivendare (Yes I love Death Knight’s enough to make two). This little troll with no money or epic gear to his name can literately walk around with Res sickness and still AoE grind as if he were a Paladin, in fact I’ve  done it. Also just this morning I solo’d the Arena quest line in Nagrand. You know, the Arena questline something that even level 70s had trouble doing during their time.

        Its not simply limited to Death Knight grinding either, for instance my main level 80 DK is able to solo the chillmaw daily that you get from the  Argent tournament. Now I personally don’t know how difficult this feat is for other classes, because I’ve only attempted it on my DK but its a level 80 group quest meant for at LEAST 3 people. Another example is the old Karazhan instance, as a Death Knight I can get all the way to Shade of Aran by myself, or if I bring a  ret paladin we can duo the entire thing.

         So my point is, are Death Knight TOO easy? My only response would have to be yes they are way too easy to level up  and do an insane amount of DPS without the player even knowing the basic concept of Disease/Strike attack synergy. I’m greatful  that a class I love is powerful enough to achieve these feats of Strength but when Dks become the new hunters I really begin to regret it. At this time a DK’s reputation is shot, everyone seems to connect any good DK to the simple fact that its a powerful class. Even myself a serious DK who puts a lot of effort into perfecting his playstyle is often just looked at as another noob who can press his buttons in the right order.

        Another thing worth mentioning is what could Blizzard possibly be thinking? I know blizzard isn’t crazy, but maybe they just have a “hard-on” for Death Knights. Maybe  Blizzard simply doesn’t think a DKs power in solo’ing PvE is worth messing with, and to that degree I can agree.  In reality being able to solo this content really isn’t that serious, aside from leveling you faster it doesn’t negatively effect other players too much. Why fix what’s not broken, you know?  I just have this sickly feeling that if they tried to fix the DKs solo abilities that it would dreadfully nerf their PvP and Raid aspects, but I hope for the best.

        Anyway let me know your opinion on the matter I’d like to hear another person’s perspective, especially from someone who’s main isn’t a Death Knight.

This beer isn’t as bitter as the label threatened but it is not for the meek. Also has high enough alcohol that you can taste it. Dogfish Head has a whole series of these overpowered IPAs that someday, given the budget, I’d like to do a comparitive tasting of. This beer was aquired at Tanaka-ya.

The glass was aquired on ebay. The other side has a cool slogan which I’ll show next time a Dogfish Head is up for blogging.

Second installment of three important things. These aren’t the ONLY three important things, just ones i chose. Feel free to make your own assumptions about my sanity.

UPGRADING

Ever since BC, where the level cap was raised to 80, players have been asking Blizzard to bring back old content in a new upgraded form. This demand only escalated once Heroic dungeons were introduced, declaring there was a way to do the same things to the old Raids and Dungeons.

While I support this idea fully, it will never happen.

There are three things about this that have made Blizzard make up their minds about it without any official statement. I will now read them to you in order… That appeared in my head.

1. Programming

When Blizzzrd Entertainment first heard this idea, I’m sure they thought it was good too. But the immediate afterthought is, and always will be, money. In order to redesign the Old World content for the players, the coding and restructuring into it would nearly double to cost of the current instance production team. No dough, no go.

2. Blizzard Wants to Move Forward

Let’s face it, you can’t bring back something old and call it new. Players wont buy that. It’s like polishing crap, it’ll be crap forever but it will look nice (I’m not saying old world was crap). World of Warcraft is an expansion based game because of the development of the story. Going back to Old World raids would make no sense at all when lore-wise they’re gone. So that’s Strike two for this.

3. Blizzard Hated the Old World Design

Don’t think they didn’t. You did too! Remember that questing, those never-ending dungeons??? This is the one statement they have released on the subject. The random packs of mobs scattered in ludicrous places and the extreme vastness of Dungeons like Blackrock Spire were horrible in design. There’s no way dungeons will be reborn in such a way with the current issues residing.

But there are other parts of upgrading that could be looked at. Weapons for instance. Blizzard has already taken models and stats, duplicating them for new levels and they haven’t hid it either. But the majority of the players want this to happen with Legendary weapons as well. While it seems like a good idea, one extreme flaw exists.

If you can do something trivial at such a higher level and get a free Legendary out of it, is it really Legendary?

Bornakk recently adressed the issue of removing the Drakes from the Glory of the Raider achievements. He proclaimed that Naxx will become trivial and such a beauty will no longer be rare, but rather a simple object among players later to be thrown away for something better. Without the change you can say, “We all have Plagued Proto Drakes, so what?”

The same applies to upgrading Legendarys. If you can go in and easily farm Molten Core and Blackwing Lair for a few weeks, Thunderfury is in your grasp no problem. It takes real hutspah to get it when it’s at your level and it’s actually difficult to get. While the fans of upgrading continue on pushing, I doubt anything will happen.

So I’ll be going now, need to stick my head in a boiling pot of water. Tommorow’s topic will be Soloing.

I’ve decided to actually use this blog more frequently in order to reach out to my fellow peers. But before I go back into my own gameplay, I will be posting about 3 incredibly important issues in the World of Warcraft.

These changes could be game-breaking if Blizz doesn’t handle and solve properly. The first one is….

MOUNT SPEED INCREASE

Back in Pre-BC, you used to go across Azeroth and quest to make the Hammer of Zul’Farrak which allowed you to summon some giant Slimy boss. But since Patch 3.0.2, that requirement was removed and the item for summoning became a weapon. Already that change was bad. There’s no need to go get the mallet… Or is there? This quest yielded at the end of it, a magnificent marvel that rivals the Instance of Zul’Farrak itself!!!

The infamous Carrot on a Stick.

This amazing trinket granted 3% extra mounted speed. For the first time, you could win a race against someone with the same level mount and at least not fall too far behind pallys! Blizz though, saw this as rivaling their vision of making Paladins overpowered in every way. Following up on the Mallet of Zul’farrak removal, they also made the Carrot on a Stick unusable past level 70. Not only that, but ANY speed increase such as Mithril Spurs and Riding Crops no longer worked as well. BLASPHEMYS!

The logic Blizzard put behind this was that they didn’t want to create trinkets that “everyone needed”. In all seriousness it was a valuable and fun commodity, that’s all. It also seems that Blizzard doesn’t want us to return to Old Content. If they did, Molten Core would drop level 80 EPICS!!!! BWAHAHAHAHA. But that’s tommorows topic.

The problem behind the removal of the trinkets is a matter of time playing the game (unless you’re an OP Pally). If you’re moving 3, 10, or 15% slower than normal you will be spending that much more time playing. THIS CANNOT STAND. I implore Blizzard to bring back this immediatly! We spend enough time playing as it is and your FMs are telling us to play other games. So now you’re given a choice, true to your word or lessen the games performance.

(This was not a rant agaiinst the OP Pallys. I have an OP Pally and he is OP fine. OP.)

 

Foto fra min Flickr konto: _DSC0050

Så kom vinden, med 8-11 m/s fra NV og lidt sol nu og her, og det blev en fed dag på vandet i Assens.
Det rev godt i fingrene, og vandet virkede væsentligt koldere end det var i onsdags, men det kan nu nok mest tilskrives de noget barskere forhold i dag.
Selvom der var masser af vind, valgte jeg mit Madd 135 og et 5,5 sejl – Jeg ville hellere være sikker på at kunne snorstarte, end at ligge i 5 graders vand og kæmpe med et lille board – til tider var jeg betydeligt overpowered – superfedt med lidt spænding

Se flere billeder fra i dag på Horne’s blog

Baird is one of the most prolific and consistantly good micro-brewers in Japan. Founded and run by foreign barbarian Brian Baird and his wife Sayuri they are based in Numazu in Shizuoka.  Visiting their taproom is the only reason I can conceive for a non-suicidal person to visit Numazu. Anyways, enough PR, they aren’t even paying me. This beer is a fine overpowered IPA with a lovely golden colour and more character than one usually finds in the IPA on steroids category. This is a limited brew so if you haven’t had it already chaces are you never will…. unless they decide to make it again. This beer was aquired at Tanakaya but Baird Beers can also be purchased online from the goodbeer webpage.

The glass is a Baird Beer pint glass (new version (watch for the classic version on future Baird Beer posts)) aquired at Tanakaya in Tokyo.

Amanhã (05/03) começa a batalha dos ipods no Jivago. Festa promovida pela Plastique e acreditem, eu vou participar!

Minha equipe já está montada… Xuly, Sidnei e Bê! E o Isaac do Superpose já nos batizou… “Bonde da Catarinaaaa” hahahahah sorte dele que não ficou sabendo a minha sugestão porque era mais bizarra ainda- hahahaha. Lá na Catarina estamos conversando muito sobre música e tô em fase de pesquisa… Nossa participação na verdade vai ser na quinta que vem, e vou postar uma que faz parte do meu aquecimento:

Roisin Murphy: “Overpowered”

Viu… bom né???

Bora torcer pra gente?? te espero…

We-e-e-ell, there it goes, server shutdown to apply Patch 3.0.8. In the morning, Anj will emerge from the inn, start the day off with a hot morning ale and a little target practice only to find, when she pulls back her bow-string for the first of many times that day, a sharp pain in her right shoulder. “Ow!”. Better rub some liniment on that.

I’m pleased because Elixir of Water Walking is going to become discoverable through the Northrend Alchemy Research which is going to save a lot of time returning to Terokkar Forest for the fishing dailies to keep supplies stocked up. Yays!

Glyph of Serpent Sting is listed in the undocumented changes as having it’s effect increased from three to six seconds, looking like some heady competition for GoArcane Shot there given that my experience with the regular-length Serpent Sting seems to fall short of lasting the full duration of a heroic mob’s rapidly diminishing life. Rather than reapply it for what might only amount to one tick, a simple Kill Shot before moving on to prep the next mob with a Hunter’s Mark, pet attack and fresh Sting gets around that problem well enough. An Arcane glyph awaits in the bank ready for testing.

So. A very happy Nerfday to all hunters, and a heartfelt apology to all other classes* sniggering behind your hands like you think we can’t see you, you’re still not as good. I know. I know. Sorry. You can still loudly accuse any that you meet as being overpowered and no-one can ever take that away from you, just try to misspell every single word while you’re doing it to really lend weight to your argument. /pat.

*edit, 23/01/09: With respect to Winters, this excludes druids. They still rock. All of them.

Rets are so OP that they killed Christ, and when he comes back they’ll just kill him again!

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=14287008773&sid=1

If a rogue complains about a DK being OP- does anyone listen?

-Yoyao, E-mail, 12/09/2008

As we enter Arena Season 5, I suspected I might get a PvP question. Yoyao has delivered. I sometimes ponder what would happen if I could somehow convince people that it is Robot Season Omega Z. Would I get robot questions? How awesome would that be?

Anyway, the short answer is yes. Some people listen when rogues complain about Death Knights. But… why?

Scoundrel Stereotypes

In order to answer this, let’s start our journey by taking a look at the different varieties of rogues. There are two types. Talent specialization is irrelevant.

1. Pirate rogues
Pirates grab any two sharp objects, and start hacking/slashing at the nearest scurvy dog. These rogues find ‘stealth’ slow and cumbersome. They love dangerous adventures, swashbuckling and screaming “YEARGH!” They take frequent breaks for massive gulps of rum. Pirates are the prime financial supporters of orc wenches in Dalaran. They’re fun and lovable for the most part, but they do have enemies. Pirates are constantly having run ins with the Booty Bay housing board. They’re also a target group for ACOSTeD (Azeroth Center Of Sexually TransmittEd Diseases). To complete most critter achievements, they merely have to get naked, and use the crabs… too far? OK.

2. Ninja rogues
Ninja rogues are like a painful zit under the elastic part of your Gnomish Utility Belt. They are a chronic, unavoidable, annoying pain. They haxx. They steal loot. They support gold farmers. They have no soul. They secretly serve the Burning Legion… and the Lich King…and server lag. Ninja rogues are sociopathic, racist, vindictive, whiny, cruel, unfair, and, most importantly, overpowered. No, this isn’t an unfair generalization. All of them.

Everyone hates ninjas.

The sound of a ninja’s stealth, heard just before the opening salvo, is the most ominous and foreboding sound in the universe. In the next few moments, you will be an incapacitated mannequin. Each rogue ability makes a piercing noise that compresses hours of ‘noob crying’ into a audible flash of screeching hate.

Ninjas hack at the will to live itself. They offer an elaborate, soul-crushing death. In fact, the demise at the hands of a ninja is really only quick when compared to the inevitably tedious corpse run. Feeble escape attempts are like the flails of a crawdad as it hovers over boiling water.

What’s not to love?… You know… assuming you also like swimming in a lake of feces and rusty razorblades…

And in this corner…

World of Warcraft, of course,  doesn’t just have one villain.

While many people hate (ninja) rogues, people ALSO hate Death Knights.  Let me lay out a few common scenarios for you.

You’re in Alterac Valley. You start off a comfortable distance away from the front lines. A swarm of angry horde inches forward, and a Death Knight gets in range. Suddenly, you’re mid-air… flying towards a throng of bloodthirsty ninjas.  Not even CTRL+ALT+DELETE can’t save you now.

Scenario #2. You concocted some elaborate way to kill the Death Knight. It involved explosives and gnomish technology. Your underdog win was a one- in-a-million victory. Hooray! The Death Knight is down. You make a horrible cheesy joke, and suavely turn to kiss the beautiful robotic heroine… then, the music changes. Panic sets in. Suddenly, you’re rushed by a tattered, ruthless zombie.

OMFG. DIE ALREADY.

'Cause this Is Thriller, Thriller Night and No-ones Gonna Save You from the Beast about Strike.

United by H8

By the time Wrath came out, some of us had finally come to terms with the constant agony of dealing with rogues. As we began the expansion, we were comfortable with the fear and dread of ninjas. Then, Death Knights were introduced. Now, there is a new, bigger zit on the other side of the utility belt. They are the new kids on the block. They Got It (The Right Stuff).

And the reason this is relevant is that rogues can commiserate with us about our new enemies. Rogues are no longer the top of the overpowered-psychopathic-serial-killer ‘food chain.’ We are united in our common despair over Death Knights. In fact, rogues probably hate them more than us, since Death Knights threaten rogue dominance of the “Domain of Douchebaggery.” If Rogues are Woody, Death Knights are the Buzz Lightyear of Wrath of the Lich King.

In the upcoming Robot Season Omega Z awards, Death Knights got nominated for “Most Evil Pwner.” Yes, that’s right. Robot Season Omega Z is this week. No, really *cough* Put it on your calendars. I know it’s the same week as Christmas. It’s freaking robots! Who cares about Santa?

Unfortunately, while some rogues (the pirates) choose to join us in victimized sorrow, others (ninjas) are out there overcompensating.

Uhhhh, in fact, I would argue that ninja rogues are still the masters (asshats) of terror. I say this, of course, because if I ever dare take their throne awa, I’m not sure if one is going to shadow step behind me …

Summary

Why we care…

• Pirate rogues are generally nice guys.
• We all share the common enemy: Death Knights, and can bitch about them in unison.
• This week is Robot Season Omega Z.

Ninja Myths (Bonus Feature)

• Ninjas are NOT mammals
• Ninjas do not fight ALL the time. They spend most of their time waiting for cool downs to come up.
• The purpose of the ninja is IN FACT to flip out and kill people

Picking up where I left off in Part 1 of Perspective.  Immediately after Moses death the people mourn for 30 days and then Joshua, their new go-to man sends them into Canaan, the promised land to take what is rightfully theirs.  (FINALLY!!!)  The land is divided amongst the tribes of Israel.  There is peace and victory.  Joshua dies and others take over after him.  Israel is faithful to God up until the last person from the Exodus dies.  Then all hell breaks lose.  Rampant sinning and idolatry.  Israel has quickly forgotten God.  He is not pleased and begins to hand His people over to other powers.  Kings come and conquer Israel and the people cower.  Then they call out to God and He sends judges to lead them out of their opression and to keep them in order.  Several come and go…

In Judges 6 we find that Israel has been once again doing evil in the sight of God.  They are put under the opression and domination of Midian.  For 7 years Israel is overpowered and hiding out in caves, forts and mountains.  Anywhere out of the sight of Midian.  Whenever the people of Israel would plant their crops to live off of the Midianites would invade them, camp in their fields and destroy their crops.  They had nothing.  No animals, no crops and no hope.  They were, I would imagine,a pitiful sight.  

But once again we find the people of Israel call out to God for help.  God sends a prophet to remind them of all His mighty miracles in getting them to where they are now.  But God commanded that they fear no other god but their God.  Of course we can assume based on their current circumstances that they did not heed the advice of God.  Here is where Gideon comes into play…

One day the angel of God pops a squat under an oak tree on the land of Joash.  Gideon is bunkered down in a rock formation that is used for pressing grapes into liquid wine.  

that hole in the floor of the rock would be the type of winepress Gideon was threshing wheat in

He is in there threshing wheat out of the line of sight of the Midianites for fear they will take what little wheat he has.  He is acting like a 5 year old who is afraid of the big bad 5th grader on the playground.  To man’s eyes and even to Gideon himself we would say he was a coward.  Our limited perspective tells us all this within 1 verse of scripture.  

When the angel of God appears to him he says “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”  WHAT?!?!  Are you kidding me???  Other translations of the bible word it as hero or warrior.  There is no mistake made here.  God is calling out Gideon’s potential.  He doesn’t see Gideon with human perspective but with eternal perspective.   

What does the world call you?  Your friends?  Your family?  Your significant other?  Your co-workers?  Your boss?  I could pile a mountain of negativity on you right now but I won’t.  Sometimes the “world” tells us a lot of negative things about ourselves.  Failure, loser, stupid, poor, weak and really I could go on and on.  We hear it so much we actually begin to believe that crap.  What I really want to challenge you to do today is forget about what the “world” says and what you think.  Listen and hear today what God is calling you?  Chosen, beautiful, cherished, loved, accepted, powerful, warrior…  Remember there is no perspective that matters but God’s and he always looks for the best in people.  More tomorrow on Perspective.  Gideon will remain with us through part 3.