ESA - So the big players have left…
Posted by Jay | Filed under Game Industry
The inevitable always happens. On July 30th 2006 E3 as we knew, loved, hated and drooled over was finished. This was the beginning of the end for the ESA. For the non-link followers, on this date, all major showers pulled out of the show. In a similar story, earlier this month, the ESA officially acknowledged that Activision and Vivendi cancelled their membership. Just this morning, the ESA confirmed that Lucasarts had cancelled their membership as well. This is troubling news to me.
I wonder what the international impact of losing this trade show will do to the industry? I know Activision Blizzard will be just fine, able to lean on Blizzcon and their marketing budgets. EA as a market leader already has its large audiences. Customers of Madden, Fifa and other sports titles will continue to sell well. The shift is curious. Take 2 has made enough money to continue independently with its successful release of GTA4 (hats off to you Take 2). And Nintendo, continues to sell their franchises on a globally successful scale. What about the small guys? More importantly, what about new gamers? What kind of advertising will be required to capture their attention?
These concerns are small for publishers. With marketing dollars spent more on general advertising, perhaps the trade shows aren’t needed. Perhaps new audiences find their way to video games in other ways.
In addition, perhaps the services provided by the ESA aren’t as needed anymore. Legal departments, internally developed anti priacy software are common place now. The industry is growing. We’re maturing. We’re starting to walk where before we crawled. When the big players all leave the ESA, I’m curious to see what if anything will replace it.
Common Arena Tactics
Posted by Jay | Filed under Uncategorized
I have a friend at work that plays a rogue/rogue/shadow priest arena team. Every so often, we discuss arena tactics and specific situations. Of those conversations, here is a bulleted list of my advice.
- A spriest role in your setup is CC + Dispel first, damage second, heal third.
- Your Spriest should remain mounted until he absolutely must cast a spell (druid protection and fast f bomb).
- Kill Warriors, Rogues and Hunters first. They will kill your priest. That = bad.
- One rogue should be able to tie up any 1 other class.
- If there are two combatants on your priest, one rogue peel off your target and blind an attacker. Spriest should drop f bomb too.
- Arena PVP is all about favorable odds. 2v1, 3v1, 3v2. Srsly.
- Your spriest has to be ready to mass dispel. Beating Mages + Paladins is dependent on his situational awareness.
- Opening stun + 3 second silent + stun should kill any caster, mages included.
- ! rogue should hang back in case a rogue exists to kill spriest.
We consistently discuss ways to get a 2v1 or 3v1 scenario with this team. Given your arena setup, what tactics do you use? How do you get to 2v1, 3v1?
Priest Survival Series - Paladins
Posted by Jay | Filed under Arena, Priest Survival Series, PvP, World of Warcraft
If you are wondering why I’m not healing you in a BG its probably for one reason:
1. If you are a DPS class and you have lower honor then me on the BG stats page, you’re wasting my time. I’m looking at you folks out there in FULL GREENS that can’t be bothered to buy the FREAKING ALMOST FREE blue pvp set that you earn by QUEST GRINDING to hit 70. You’ll notice I am criticizing your gear and not your skill. You can’t learn to get better if you are constantly eating dirt. O rly? Ya srly! Believe me, I want to heal you. I really really do. Its why I’m a disc priest. What I don’t want is to use half my mana keeping 6k hps from the dirt while that alliance rogue that you can’t see is stabbing out my kidneys.
Because of the above, I’ve resorted to improving my own game. The reason I BG is to compete in the arena. That’s my motivating force, my raison d’etre. As such, I’ve found I REALLY like beating paladins, especially Retadins and tankadins. By improving my 1v1 skills against priests, I’ve learned how susceptible I am to eating dirt. I’ve seen my weaknesses. Most importantly, I’ve learned from them! Without further ado!
Paladins! Whoo hoo!
Retadins:
- Stay at ranged, when they catch up to you(they have faster run speed) run through them.
- Shield + Renew at all times
- Drain Drain Drain. When you’re done draining, them apply SW:P
- Dispel all the time
Look out! These bundles of shiny gold joy will surprise you! Getting into melee with a retadin is BAD business. Their burst damage is incredible! Stay at ranged. The question to dispel or drain first is up in the air. I’m unsure of their mechanics, so here’s some ignorance-crafting: The paladins burst is in the form of extra hits. The base extra hit % is fairly low. Dispelling their buffs slows there DPS. On the other hand, they have quite a few stuns and other mana based abilities that will stop you dead in your tracks(<- humor). Draining their mana will reduce that effectiveness and stop their heals.
In either case be ready for a long fight. Trust me, you can do it!
Tankadins:
An object in motion remains in motion. Think inertia! Always be moving around. Drain, dot. Be ready for the long fight. Tankadins are a joke in pvp. Great tanks! Horrible player killers. Follow the above rules.
Healadins:
Longest… fight… ever… Not really. These fights are much quicker than retadins. The main difference? As you drain the ~din there are two reactions; they will try to melee/stun you, they will heal. Heal-bots usually prefer to heal themselves while you drain them. The solution is then simple. You drain, they heal. End result = paladin without mana. Paladin without mana = +20 honor.
General thoughts:
- As with priests, there is a general trend against paladins. You will need to drain their mana in order to succeed. Its your job!
- Conserve your mana in PVP. When you are low against a healadin, use your fiend. They eat gold for breakfast!
- I notice a large majority of paladins are keyboard turners. The reason for this is reaction time when casting a heal is super important. Paladins are generally spam healers, they use flash of light. Remember this. There’s a subtle difference between someone that moves with the mouse + keyboard, and someone that uses one or the other.
Disc Priest Survival Series - Priests
Posted by Jay | Filed under Priest Survival Series, PvP, World of Warcraft
If you are wondering why I’m not healing you in a BG its probably for one reason:
If you are a DPS class and you have lower honor then me on the BG stats page, you’re wasting my time. I’m looking at you folks out there in FULL GREENS that can’t be bothered to buy the FREAKING ALMOST FREE blue pvp set that you earn by QUEST GRINDING to hit 70. You’ll notice I am criticizing your gear and not your skill. You can’t learn to get better if you are constantly eating dirt. O rly? Ya srly! Believe me, I want to heal you. I really really do. Its why I’m a disc priest. What I don’t want is to use half my mana keeping 6k hps from the dirt while that alliance rogue that you can’t see it stabbing out my kidneys.
Because of the above, I’ve resorted to improving my own game. The reason I BG is to compete in the arena. That’s my motivating force, my raison d’etre. As such, there are very few actions in game that garner such excitement as beating another priest. By improving my 1v1 skills against priests, I’ve learned how susceptible I am to eating dirt. I’ve seen my weaknesses. Most importantly, I’ve learned from them! Without further ado!
Priests! I love ya! I am one! You guys rule! Here’s how I pound you into the ground.
Disc Priests:
- Mana Drain
- *Motions with both hands towards the power point presentation.”
- Profits!
Srsly though. SW:P, PW:S and Renew at all times. Dispel when appropriate. You want to clear fear ward and PW:S. When the pet comes out, shield yourself and run away. Throw in the occasional mind blast and smite (no player can resist holy). The main way is to keep pressure on your target. Get them to half health then stay close and drop the f bomb. Finish with mind blast + SW:Death for some “OMG Where’s Your face!” humour. Enjoy you’re honor.
Shadow Priest:
I’ve found that shadow priests start to freak out when you dispel them. Its like you’ve lifted their panties and they can’t contain themselves. Dispel and follow the regular pattern of SW:P, SW:S and renew. F Bomb is your best weapon against a SPriest. #1 They mana drain harder. #2 They mana drain harder. You’ll also need to be aware of LoS issues. Rinse, repeat until they be ded.
General Comments:
- I didn’t bother adding a holy priest section because in PVP they are chumps. You’ll never have to worry about holy priests. I am like 100-0 against them 1v1. I know, it defies logic!
- You’ll notice a trend above. You can beat any priest as long as you have more mana then them. Easy concept considering we are a casting class. I wonder if Blizzard will ever add a melee based healer. That would be a cool thought!
- Conserve your mana in PVP. Over healing when your heal target is at 75% is generally considered a waste.
