Coping with Burnout

Posted on May 26th, 2010 by Cila

So, here we are. Somewhere between the last raid instance and an expansion. Oh, and it’s summer too. Honestly, I feel sorry for any raid leaders at this point (I’m looking at you, Anjou).

I’ve been addicted to WoW for a long time now. I considered myself an advanced player, altaholic and general know-it-all on the game. I have 6 80′s, some of which I play a lot, and some of who haven’t been logged into in months.

And I have a confession. I’m burnt out. I mean, really burnt out. I’ve played so little in the last month that I’ve considered not re-upping my subscription next month. I haven’t un-subbed since 2007… if that gives you any idea.

Honestly, the only thing I miss about the game right now is hanging out with friends. Of course, my friends are burnt out too, so even that as much of a draw as it used to be. I’m actually to a point where my main concern is which 80 I’m taking to 85 first, as opposed to if I’m going to get the Kingslayer title or not.

Want to not be like me? Want to actually hold on until Catacylsm comes out? Here’s some things that you can do (and that I didn’t do) in order to hang in there until the end.

Play something else

For the love of god, there are so many games out there. Dust off that PS3 or get a Steam account. Hell, get into the Starcraft II Beta. Chances are that you have a huge pile of shame of game that should be playing instead of forcing yourself to keep playing the same one.

Don’t force yourself

Sometimes you just feel it necessary to login, like an addiction. If you find yourself logging in and standing around in a city for 20 minutes, then you have an issue. That’s 20 minutes you could be doing something else.

Same goes if you’re 20 minutes before your raid and you’re really not feeling it, then call out. Go to bed early or put on the TV. Work on that list of shows on your DVR that have been stacking up.

Start an alt

This would’ve have helped me, but it might help someone else. Start at level 1. Take the game in and go slow. Enjoy it. Your 80 will always be there if you want to raid or run a heroic. But if you need some “downtime”, then go alting. Do the quests slowly, read the text, take in the sights.

If you really want to mix it up, start a completely different role than your comfort zone. I personally have healers, tanks and DPSers. Start a healer or tank and run all the early instances — it’s nice to mix things up and it’s great training in case you ever do get to 80 on this toon.

Don’t be like me. Take steps to counter the burnout before it happens. Because once it does, it’s hard to stay in the game and be happy. I know it, sadly, from experience.

I lied

Posted on December 20th, 2009 by Cila

I’ve wanted a pally tank since Burning Crusade.  I have a 73 pally.  I’m getting my tank.

*sigh* One more time through Northrend, Jeeves.  No, don’t take the scenic route!  Let’s just get there already!

I can’t believe I’m doing this again…

Tags: enali, levelling, paladin

How I learned to lose the hate and love the PUG

Posted on October 31st, 2009 by Cila

LFG? Yes, please

Several weeks ago, if you ever wanted to hear me curse like a truck driving sailor, get me into a PUG. I would be amazed at how much people not knowing how to play with frustrate me.

Am I an elitist? Probably.

I assume that people research as much as I do. And I know fully well that it’s not the case, but I forget. The fact is that most people treat WoW like any other game and don’t give 2 thoguhts about it when they not in game.

It’s going to take time, but I’ll adjust.

The fact of the matter is that my guild is made up of friends. All long term players who have been around for years… And close friends if mine for well over a year now. I love my guild and the people in it.

But, like a lot of long term players, we go through periods where we dint play. Avid gamers have a tendency to see the newest console games and drool… Me included. And it’s THAT time if year. Ever comapny and there mother are releasing games in time for the holidays…

Thing is… I don’t have a PS3 or XBox 360. And, I don’t have the budget this year to buy games anyway.

So, I have WoW. And an empty guild.

I sense that there was some burnout as well, but it’s come to head this year, and it’s bad. People that would log on nightly are logging on every 4 or 5 days.

Guild runs are rare now and I’m kind of stuck.

So what do I do? I do the thing that I swore I’d never do again. The thing that frustrates more than anything else.

I’m PUGging. I’m finding the folks that aren’t burned out on the game or playing Brutal Legend.

It started with the daily and it just went from there. Today, I got into a group of achievement junkies and had a blast trying to get some if the harder achievements. I actually had a hard time leaving.

And they all knew how to play. And they all had friends lists of people that knew how to play. And it was fun.

Of course, there’s a downside. I may never see these folks again. They probably won’t remember me. I didn’t get to bitch about life on vent with them, which I enjoy, but I did get through a few podcasts.

I know that not ever PUG will be great. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. But in the meantime, I can out my alt levelling down and just concentrate on having some fun.

At least until my guild gets back.

Tags: groups, instances, pug

Random Achievements

Posted on October 22nd, 2009 by Cila

Stop Taunting Me!

Every time Blizzard makes achievements based on the random number generator, a puppy dies.

Cila, my achievement toon is now on year #2 of trying to the Hallowed title and achievement. My problem… the Sinister Squashling. This thing is giving me more problems than is possible to imagine. What’s frustrating is that I have every other thing done. I got all my toothpicks. I did the battleground achievement. Everything… But that Squashling would not drop for me no matter how much I ran the Horseman.

This year, it’s even more frustrating. I logged my druid in yesterday and did one Trick or Treat with her. Bam! Squashing. This would be wonderful if that was my achievement toon, but it’s not. And I’m not about to start doing the rest of the stuff required just because she got the pet to drop the very first time.

Instead, like a moron, I’m logging my warlock in once an hour when possible and getting penny bags and turned into a ghost and whatever else. I’m running the Horseman every night and not seeing it drop for anyone (except once the first night — I lost the roll).

Sorry, I’m really not much to QQ about these kinds of things, but I think any achievement based on the RNG is just ridiculous. Achievements should be about skill and dedication to doing things outside the bounds of the normal game. Logging in every hour and praying to Elune that you get what you need is just tedious. It’s not dedication… it’s asking too much.

I’m lucky that I’m in a situation where I work from home in front of a computer, so logging in every hour isn’t too much of an issue. But for people with a real job and lives, it’s just not possible.

Seriously, if the Squashling keeps me from getting the title for the 2nd year in a row, I might have to just give up on the Strange Trip. *sigh*

Tags: achievements, cila, hallowed, qq, warlock

Son of a…

Posted on October 12th, 2009 by Cila

Yeah, I really haven’t been paying attention much as of late. Between life, work, a new baby and all of the other things that go on, the little thigns start to lose my attention.

I generally consider myself a min/maxer of sorts. It’s not that I’m a hardcore raider… hell, I haven’t raided even VoA since I got on to the Alliance side. But I, like the Dyson commercial says, like “to do things properly”.

When I decided to jump into a Destruction spec (0/13/58), I didn’t even think twice about the fact that Suppresion was no longer in my talents. Basically, 3 points here equals a free 3% on my hit rating.

As it stands for raiding at level 80, you need 17% hit in order to never miss a boss. With each percentage equalling 26.23 hit rating, I’d effectively need a 446 hit rating to never miss. That’s a hell of a lot, especially since you really don’t see a ton of +hit on 200 gear… it only really starts to show up when you get to 213 and higher stuff. The way around it is with gems, enchants, and sometimes trading a high +hit piece of green gear for a shiny purple.

Now, I generally raid with more than one Draenei, so that’s a free 1% +hit buff with Heroic Presence. That means that I need 16% (420)… still way too much.

Suppression, then, is pretty much required for anyone that isn’t sitting with a ton of incidental +hit on their gear. This is usually someone who’s decked out in Tier 8 or higher and has all the bells and whistles. However, since I’m still working on getting 200′s in every slot, I need every piece of +hit I can get.

Suppression gives me a whopping 3% of +hit on every spell (even though it’s in the Affliction tree). This means that I need a +hit of 13% (assuming Heroic Presence), which equates to 341. This is a LOT more manageable.

Some people might not agree with the fact that I feel +hit is #1 or #2 in the “most important stats” category, but it is for any DPS worth their salt. If you’re not hitting the boss, you’re going to do 0 damage. Whereas, if you’re missing 20 spellpower instead, it’s going to mean a lot less. Spreadsheets might prove me wrong on this, of course, but it just sounds correct to me.

Luckily, I can do some testing of this theory the next time I run. I have a general idea of what my DPS is with my current gear and spec. Before I run anything, I’m going to respec into a 3/13/55 spec to get my much needed Suppression and see how I fare. I’m betting that my DPS increases, even if that means I have to give up giving everyone Replenishment.

It’s totally a fair trade.

Tags: +hit, cila, suppression, Theory, warlock