The Student Has Taught

I'm not the best at dungeons. But I have learned through doing, and had many instructors: friends, guildmates, and even outsiders. While some tutors I liked, and some I didn't, this post is not about them. This post is about how new people are given opportunities to become teachers. And why that isn't the best move.

We all have seen the check boxes for "Role Confirmation" that Blizz put in to get us into groups for the dungeon finder. Well one box, the fourth one, is Group Leader. I check it off, it gets me into dungeons faster (faster queueing = more dungeons = more emblems and more gold), and I know most of the dungeons by now. Most being the key word. Well, I was pugged into a group as a healer (I am not good at healing...but the coffin makers stay in business, right?), and as the leader...for Reg Forge of Souls. I know that my healing skills are shabby for this, but I stay (15 min debuff = less gold). I check the GearScores of the other people, and it was a mess. Mid- to low 2ks, a mid- 3k, and me at 3.9k. Halfway through I found out that two of the people (a bear tank and a dps) just dinged 80 less than an hour earlier. And I was the only one that knew the fights.

So I had to teach them, and not just the nuances of the bosses, but even the trash mobs. I had to teach kill order, and what each class does in each fight. The group came close to disbanding, but I kept giving out hope. "We can do it, let's try this." "Try positioning this way." Honestly, I didn't think we'd clear it. But by putting on a facade of confidence, the group's spirits raised, and we did it. Sure we wiped a couple times, but for low GS's that don't know the fights? We did it. Woot.

Another story. I was in AN: Old Kingdom, Heroic. Never have I done neither version. The Party Leader (now the Dungeon Guide) had to teach me and two other people the fights. I tried to learn on the fly, and I know that we were trying. But he got impatient, used some words that the Blizz filter caught, and left...mid fight. He pally-bubble-hearthed!

The points of these two contrasting stories? That some people can teach, some can learn, and some can't do anything without getting upsetting and storming off in a tizzy. The paladin way is the first two, listening to your mentor, but mentoring others in the way of the light. A lesson in the paladin book of wisdom.

Experience the paladin within.

Glitches and Cheats: If we can, should we?

A lot of people are debating the issue between Ensidia, the first people to fell the Lich King, and Blizz's removal of everything they got from their run. I won't take the time to rehash the story everyone has heard a thousand times, there are many blogs and forum posts that can do that better than I can, but I will talk about cheats and glitches in general, by time.

PAST

Way back when, I picked up my first video game, glitches and cheats (I'll refer to them as exploits unless I need to differentiate between them) were very popular. Note, this was before the widespread use of online gaming, and multiplayer gaming consisted of a couple of friends gathered at one house. Back then, people who knew exploits were considered "cool" amongst gaming circles. If you knew the Konami Code,

↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A

you were a gamer that knew what he was doing. And almost everyone looked up to you.

PRESENT

Fastforward to today. People are up in arms that Ensidia found an exploit and used it to their advantage to defeat the Lich King. Gone are the days when people revered those who knew exploits, come are the days that people hate those that fall in the standards of gaming. Glitching in mutliplayer games on consoles, like Halo, infuriate players and lead to banned accounts. Blizz actually put in their ToA and ToU that you can not use any exploits to your advantage, AKA "Play the game our way, and there won't be any problems." There are still those from the older days of gaming, that remember how they respected exploiters, and possibly were even revered themselves. They still respect those that use the errors, intentional and not, that developers and programmers put in the game. To them, it spices up the game, and adds a new dimension of challenge. To them, anyone can have a fair fight against those who play by the rules. But to tackle someone who is cheating, and try to come out on top, that is the true challenge that gamers need to face.

FUTURE

While I'm not about to predict the future, I can say this with great certainty. The days of revering exploiters are not gone forever, but hating exploiters will come back too. Could they come at the same time, and create a rift between gamers, two "classes" of gamers? Yes. It has happened before. And everytime it happened, the video game economy crashes. Everytime there is a crash, it is a struggle to come out of it. And if producers, developers, and everyone else doesn't make video games anymore, no new games. MMOs, like WoW, will fall by the way side, and eventually dissolve. Perhaps it is a fear of this future, a future with no video games, that keeps gamers going along with whatever the current trend is. Whether or not this will hold strong, is anyone's guess.

MY THOUGHTS

I think that Ensidia is in the right, and that Blizz overreacted when they took back the loot and gear and achievements from them. If Blizz doesn't catch the glitch, why do they have to yell at players for finding them? Why can't Blizz give out a nice little statement saying,

"We are sorry that we didn't find this glitch in time for the patch release. All rewards from exploit runs will be kept, but the glitch has been removed for future runs. Thank you and please have a nice day."

Ahh, but they wouldn't do that. That would be like the Umbrella Corporation giving a formal apology for the T-Virus. It will never happen. So for the meanwhile, gamers should continue to say how they feel. Forums, blogs, or even a comment on a blog is one more voice speaking against Blizz and/or Ensidia is one once of DPS that can make a change. We, the average gamers, don't have to be pushed around by developers or be pushed down by elitists.

Experience the paladin within.

Who am I?

Here I, Odiefrom of Baelgun, am. I have a lot of thoughts on World of Warcraft, specific ideas and topics within the game, and much more. This is where I can post the accomplishments of my characters, accomplishments of my friends in game, and much more.

My main character, Odiefrom, is a level 80 blood elf paladin (For the Horde!), with maxed out Herbalism and Inscription. He has max riding, and first aid, but when it comes to cooking and fishing...he asks someone else to do it. His main talent spec is Retribution, with a second spec in Holy.

My primary alt, Lonegunman, is a level 64 death knight. His professions are Enchanting and Tailoring, and they are far from being maxed out.

My final character that I actually log in to is my bank alt, Aorius. At a whooping level 4, he makes the most of my gold, which isn't much.

I fall into the low middle-class of the WoW economy, and I am comfortable there. I can make more gold when I need it, but I prefer doing other things. Like dungeons, the occasional dailies, and collecting. Titles, minipets (Blizz calls them companions :P), mounts, tabards, and the such. And while my collections are not that impressive, they do keep my interest in the game, and 64 minipets is something.

Play long, and experience the paladin within.