Friday evening. It’s time to snuggle up in an armchair in front if the fireplace, sipping a steaming, spicy and slightly intoxicating brew, time to stare into the flames, pondering upon the week that was. Time to relax. Time to think about the game we’re playing.
Thinking about the recent adventures of Larísa actually makes me smile. We oneshotted Festergut and Rotface last night and had a few promising attempts at Putricide. ICC rocks. It’s got that perfect balance of sweet and salt – challenging and yet doable, as long as we’re on our toes, bringing our very best gameplay. It’s so fun and exciting to once again work against a goal, gearing her up by every mean I can, aiming for perfection. Sure, I too have sensed the trembling from the earthquakes, I too know that we’ve got an expansion reset right around the corner. So what? When WotLK ends I want to have brought my mage as far as I’m capable of.
My rogue sucks
But then my thoughts wander a bit further, touching on a not-so-pleasing topic: my second-in-rank character – Arisal, the rogue. And suddenly there’s an entirely, uncomfortable feeling in my stomach. I feel awkward, even a bit ashamed and I realize that I’d rather not talk about it. Which is a good sign that this is exactly what I should do.
To put it blunt: my rogue sucks. Or rather: I suck so bad at playing her that I can’t even make myself throw a glance at Recount. Watching the scrolling combat text is enough to know that I’m way down on the list – probably below the tank – possibly even below the healer. It wouldn’t surprise me to be honest. This doesn’t mean that I don’t like her. She’s the cutest little badass looking gnome rogue girl you’ve ever seen (apart from the horrible Kirin Tor tabard that makes her look like a clown, but it's only temporary). But playing a melee class requires all those things that I lack most of all: swiftness, environmental awareness, quick reactions and some pretty advanced decisionmaking in what order to push the buttons.
I fail constantly at the most basic things, such as being close enough to the mob and to always remain behind them (whoaaa, they’re moving, how dare they!) Mind you, I don't go afk, I don't watch tv, go to msn or stuff like that. It's just that I'm not good at doing what I'm supposed to do.
My lack of deeper understanding of the rogue class wouldn’t be a problem if I stayed to questing. No one but me would be affected, no one but me would have to suffer from slow progression or even corpse runs. But the thing is that Arisal doesn’t quest. Arisal does random dungeons. You see: Arisal is a Saronite Slave, who wouldn’t be played at all if it wasn’t for her duty to farm frost emblems to get my main the saronite she needs for crafted gear.
Every time I use the Dungeon tool I cringe a little. And then I keep my thumbs crossed that the destination will be one of the easier, such UK, VH or Oculus (yes, Oculus!), where my lack of rogue expertise won’t be as crucial to the outcome. Sometimes I’m lucky. Sometimes I’m not.
Forge of Souls
A few days ago the spinning wheel stopped at Forge of Souls, which almost made me leave the group. I hadn’t done it as a melee, and I felt less than confident in my gear (yeah, I know it’s doable in blues, but that’s for people who know how to play their class. I don’t.)
I gave a quick glance at my party members. They were far better geared and there was no doubt about it. If I was to finish this run, they would be the ones carrying me. I knew it. They knew it. So I decided to be honest about it. I spoke up and told them apologizing that this was my crap alt, and that I would completely understand if they decided to kick me if it turned out that we just couldn’t finish the instance with me to drag along.
“Np. I know what you mean. My rogue alt is EXACTLY the same, said one of my comrades”. And off we went, and we finished the instance without any problem. I suppose we would have saved a minute or two if I had played my main instead. But we got down the bosses and I even won a shiny new dagger.
I thanked them all for carrying me, explaining that I was doing this for the saronite needs of my main. “Oh yeah, aren’t we all?” they said and gave me a nod before we split up and went home to our respectively home server. No hard words were thrown at me. I guess my humble attitude helped a little.
Being lazy
Of course the right thing would be to make a real effort about my rogue. I could run Rawr and see how I could do the best out of the gear I have. I could visit EJ to get a decent, up-to-date spec and a basic understanding for the rotations that come with it.
But I just can’t make myself do it. I don’t have the same urge to try to be my best as I have on my main. I find it hard to motivate myself to spend time out of game doing research for a character whose only purpose is to pug frost emblems and occasionally do disenchants. I guess you could call me a little bit lazy. The price I pay for it is the bad conscience. Leeching normally isn't my style. And the risk to be mocked, named and shamed by some EU based blogger as the worst rogue they ever saw, the M&S of the week. You never know who you’re playing with in those pugs, do you?
Looking for comfort
I’m fumbling for some way to excuse my crappiness and laziness when I’m alting. I found a one-line comment that Brian Inman wrote to a post at Blessing of Kings, which actually made me feel a little better:
Brian wrote: “Pugs are like Marriages: you have to give, and take.”
I think that’s quite true. Mostly we’re doing one thing or the other. When I’m playing my mage, I’m normally a giver. I help to speed up the runs and make a decent job, and I tend to be – how shall I put it – stabilizing factor in the group, who helps it to complete an instance and keep up the moral and spirit, even if someone for instance bails out.
On the other hand, when I’m rogueing, I’m definitely a taker. And I suppose that this evens out things in the long run.
Who knows, maybe some of the people that I help to carry when I’m on my main, in fact are the crappy Saronite Slaves belonging to the same players who carried my rogue in Forge of Souls with their mains? At least I hope so. Even though I must say that I’d rather be the giver than the taker. Every time.
For a little while more Arisal will be pestering the LFG system of the EU servers. Once she’s completed her job I assure I’ll let her return to the shadows where she used to dwell. The Saronite Slave will vanish and order will be restored.
The thought of this brings me a bit of comfort. The drink and the fire will definitely do the rest. Relax, Larisa. It’s just a game. (Omg, I never thought I would utter that sentence!) People don’t hate you half as much as you think. As a matter of fact they probably hardly notice how badly that rogue sucks.
And now the weekend is here with all it brings to us. Enjoy. Cheers all!
Thinking about the recent adventures of Larísa actually makes me smile. We oneshotted Festergut and Rotface last night and had a few promising attempts at Putricide. ICC rocks. It’s got that perfect balance of sweet and salt – challenging and yet doable, as long as we’re on our toes, bringing our very best gameplay. It’s so fun and exciting to once again work against a goal, gearing her up by every mean I can, aiming for perfection. Sure, I too have sensed the trembling from the earthquakes, I too know that we’ve got an expansion reset right around the corner. So what? When WotLK ends I want to have brought my mage as far as I’m capable of.
My rogue sucks
But then my thoughts wander a bit further, touching on a not-so-pleasing topic: my second-in-rank character – Arisal, the rogue. And suddenly there’s an entirely, uncomfortable feeling in my stomach. I feel awkward, even a bit ashamed and I realize that I’d rather not talk about it. Which is a good sign that this is exactly what I should do.
To put it blunt: my rogue sucks. Or rather: I suck so bad at playing her that I can’t even make myself throw a glance at Recount. Watching the scrolling combat text is enough to know that I’m way down on the list – probably below the tank – possibly even below the healer. It wouldn’t surprise me to be honest. This doesn’t mean that I don’t like her. She’s the cutest little badass looking gnome rogue girl you’ve ever seen (apart from the horrible Kirin Tor tabard that makes her look like a clown, but it's only temporary). But playing a melee class requires all those things that I lack most of all: swiftness, environmental awareness, quick reactions and some pretty advanced decisionmaking in what order to push the buttons.
I fail constantly at the most basic things, such as being close enough to the mob and to always remain behind them (whoaaa, they’re moving, how dare they!) Mind you, I don't go afk, I don't watch tv, go to msn or stuff like that. It's just that I'm not good at doing what I'm supposed to do.
My lack of deeper understanding of the rogue class wouldn’t be a problem if I stayed to questing. No one but me would be affected, no one but me would have to suffer from slow progression or even corpse runs. But the thing is that Arisal doesn’t quest. Arisal does random dungeons. You see: Arisal is a Saronite Slave, who wouldn’t be played at all if it wasn’t for her duty to farm frost emblems to get my main the saronite she needs for crafted gear.
Every time I use the Dungeon tool I cringe a little. And then I keep my thumbs crossed that the destination will be one of the easier, such UK, VH or Oculus (yes, Oculus!), where my lack of rogue expertise won’t be as crucial to the outcome. Sometimes I’m lucky. Sometimes I’m not.
Forge of Souls
A few days ago the spinning wheel stopped at Forge of Souls, which almost made me leave the group. I hadn’t done it as a melee, and I felt less than confident in my gear (yeah, I know it’s doable in blues, but that’s for people who know how to play their class. I don’t.)
I gave a quick glance at my party members. They were far better geared and there was no doubt about it. If I was to finish this run, they would be the ones carrying me. I knew it. They knew it. So I decided to be honest about it. I spoke up and told them apologizing that this was my crap alt, and that I would completely understand if they decided to kick me if it turned out that we just couldn’t finish the instance with me to drag along.
“Np. I know what you mean. My rogue alt is EXACTLY the same, said one of my comrades”. And off we went, and we finished the instance without any problem. I suppose we would have saved a minute or two if I had played my main instead. But we got down the bosses and I even won a shiny new dagger.
I thanked them all for carrying me, explaining that I was doing this for the saronite needs of my main. “Oh yeah, aren’t we all?” they said and gave me a nod before we split up and went home to our respectively home server. No hard words were thrown at me. I guess my humble attitude helped a little.
Being lazy
Of course the right thing would be to make a real effort about my rogue. I could run Rawr and see how I could do the best out of the gear I have. I could visit EJ to get a decent, up-to-date spec and a basic understanding for the rotations that come with it.
But I just can’t make myself do it. I don’t have the same urge to try to be my best as I have on my main. I find it hard to motivate myself to spend time out of game doing research for a character whose only purpose is to pug frost emblems and occasionally do disenchants. I guess you could call me a little bit lazy. The price I pay for it is the bad conscience. Leeching normally isn't my style. And the risk to be mocked, named and shamed by some EU based blogger as the worst rogue they ever saw, the M&S of the week. You never know who you’re playing with in those pugs, do you?
Looking for comfort
I’m fumbling for some way to excuse my crappiness and laziness when I’m alting. I found a one-line comment that Brian Inman wrote to a post at Blessing of Kings, which actually made me feel a little better:
Brian wrote: “Pugs are like Marriages: you have to give, and take.”
I think that’s quite true. Mostly we’re doing one thing or the other. When I’m playing my mage, I’m normally a giver. I help to speed up the runs and make a decent job, and I tend to be – how shall I put it – stabilizing factor in the group, who helps it to complete an instance and keep up the moral and spirit, even if someone for instance bails out.
On the other hand, when I’m rogueing, I’m definitely a taker. And I suppose that this evens out things in the long run.
Who knows, maybe some of the people that I help to carry when I’m on my main, in fact are the crappy Saronite Slaves belonging to the same players who carried my rogue in Forge of Souls with their mains? At least I hope so. Even though I must say that I’d rather be the giver than the taker. Every time.
For a little while more Arisal will be pestering the LFG system of the EU servers. Once she’s completed her job I assure I’ll let her return to the shadows where she used to dwell. The Saronite Slave will vanish and order will be restored.
The thought of this brings me a bit of comfort. The drink and the fire will definitely do the rest. Relax, Larisa. It’s just a game. (Omg, I never thought I would utter that sentence!) People don’t hate you half as much as you think. As a matter of fact they probably hardly notice how badly that rogue sucks.
And now the weekend is here with all it brings to us. Enjoy. Cheers all!
