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Yes, this is a Green Day reference, and it fits because I am really ready for September to be over with. By the end of September, I hope to have Halo:Reach, and NHL 11. (BTW Madden 11 on the 360 is a lot of fun, but I digress.) I hope to have my infant son, Caleb, (he is 5 weeks old) sleeping a little better during the night. By that time I also hope that I have a little more money floating around courtesy of student loans.

Most importantly to the readers of this blog, BlizzCon will be right around the corner at that time. I can’t wait to participate in the coverage! This is going to be a blast, and I hope that you come to Rawrcast for your BlizzCon needs. Read more…

Remember when the Achievements System was controversial? Remember when players were broken into camps, either for or against, screaming the implications of the incoming system throughout trade chat? It seems that the anti-Achievement voices have died with a whimper as all of the implications of said system have come to pass over the past few years and changed the face of WoW as we knew it.

I’d wager that the biggest change to the game  was a change in player motivations. Let’s use Battlegrounds for an example. Previously, players would run Battlegrounds to earn Honor Points in order to purchase more PVP gear so they could be more competitive in BGs. Player motivations were always clear; kill as many players as possible and master the objectives of the Battleground to win (there is some debate here about whether the second motivation motivated anyone at all…at least Alliance side). Read more…

Healing has been one of the biggest wake up calls in my WoW playing career. To call it an eye-opener would be an understatement of enormous proportions. Never before have I been so impressed with all of the quality healers I’ve played with in the past, so critical of my own play or so frustrated with players sleep walking through the game.

Before we get too deep into my personal healing insecurities and the failures of others, let me give a shout out to all of the wonderful healers who have time and again shown patience and restraint through countless dungeons and raids. The job of healing is both thankless and incredibly stressful. So in a word, Thanks to all of the fantastic healers I’ve played with in the past and continue to play with. Read more…

I’m not sure how many of you are following the news coming out of the Cataclysm Beta but I’ve adopted a strict head in the sand policy. Whether it’s the sheer amount of news and updates or the mercurial nature of the information (the game is in Beta and things are changing rapidly), I’ve found myself reading less and less about the Beta.

Now that’s not to say I’m uninterested in Cataclysm, far from it. Lurking at the periphery of my thoughts on the expansion is the general idea of rolling up either a Hunter or a Priest (maybe both) and I’m also excited to explore the new talent trees of the classes that I’m already playing. What I’ve read of the changes to leveling has me excited not only for the potential fun of leveling (crazy to even write that!) but also for the potential skill increase to the overall player base (the idea being players who are introduced to the strengths and weaknesses of their class in a more logical way will lead to players who know how to play their class better).

What I’m not interested in is tracing the genesis of all of these changes. With the frequent Blue Posts and articles that have been proliferating on forums and fan sites, I feel like players are now more than ever getting pulled into the rigors of the development process. While this can be interesting, I feel like I’m reading crib notes for the expansion. I want to experience as much content as possible for the first time when the expansion comes out. Maybe it’s just the fact that I grew up playing games before the spread of the Internet, where the majority of my exposure to the game before a purchase came from the opinion of the store clerk or a brief article in a games publication. I still treasure the memories of stepping through the Dark Portal in Hellfire Peninsula and unwrapping Mega Man 2 on Christmas morning with only vague ideas about what the game was all about. Anyone else trying to keep the expansion a surprise?

Catch phrases and anecdotes abound on the subject of Gear vs. Skill. You’ve probably all heard about the 10 man that was able to down the Lich King in all ilevel 200 gear or about the warrior in all blues that topped the DPS charts in Ulduar. However, my experience with the vast majority of players in WOW is that they often look to gear as the only way to improve their personal DPS.

In my experience, the biggest gains that I’ve made in my personal DPS have come from improving my skills as a player. Rather than waiting for the one thing in game that I have limited control of (random loot drops), I try to focus on the one thing in game that I have complete control of; my class. There are always a thousand little things that you can change to eek out a little more DPS from your character. What often goes unsaid is that these thousand little tweaks can lead to a MONSTER increase in your DPS.

Here are a few pointers that have helped me to increase my DPS in the past.

1. Stack your buffs. If you think a Bloodlust or a Heroism is incoming, hold off on firing your trinket and drinking a pot. Layering these three temporary buffs on top of each other can lead to a nice uptick in your personal DPS.

2. Always cast. There are very few times during a boss fight when you should not be damaging him (if you have to ask what these times are, then you should focus on the basics of raid encounters, aggro generation, and boss mechanics instead of reading this post). Cast as much as possible in the limited amount of time you have a save your instant casts for when you need to move (which segues us nicely into our third point).

3. Move as little as possible. Obviously, this is subject to the fights’ mechanics but less moving=more casting=more damage. If you don’t have to move, then DON’T MOVE.

4. Research the fight. You can’t DPS if you aren’t alive. Understand, anticipate and manipulate a fights’ mechanics to achieve your highest potential DPS.

5. Know your class. This may be the most important one on the list. Know your rotations and Oh Shit buttons cold. Use macros, obscure spells that are buried in your spell book, essentially anything that is particular to your class that can be of use to you or to the raid.

6. Treat every encounter as a potential kill. If you find yourself alt–tabbed and AFK for Ready Checks, there is a good chance you’ll be missing cool downs on your rotations and dying to easily avoidable fight mechanics. FOCUS!

Obviously this list is geared to my particular class and some things may not hold true for your class. If that’s the case, let me know! Tell me all of the tips and tricks (general and class specific) that you’ve picked up raiding so we can all benefit!

Many of you may have noticed my absence a few times over the last few months. It appears that I have found an outside hobby, outside of WoW. My friend Crystal is what is known by the crowd as a “Vanner”. She was conceived in a van, raised by vanners, grew up riding the roads of the US in a van, and so on…. I grew up in the suburbs. My parents had a van, but not for the same reasons that most people it now appears. And, honestly, we flew… we didn’t drive. So I have few memories of driving across the landscapes of the US.

“If Bikers are the Modern day Cowboys, then I guess Vanners would be the Modern day Gypsies. Actually Vanners and Bikers do about the same stuff, but nobody ever died of carpet rash (vs. road) falling down in their van.”

Big Steve

Here are a few snapshots I took at the last few events. If you get all the way to the end you will see my fascination with the Flint Hills. While driving to Kansas City, MO, we drove through the Flint Hills and it is honestly one of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen. And, I never would have seen the last expanse of tallgrass prairie in the nation if it weren’t for going AFK to experience the vannin subculture.

[cincopa 10671494]

If you happen to be one of these renegade left overs from the 70′s and 80′s, check vannin.com for vannins happening every weekend across the US. And, if you happen to be in Texas, visit Texas Van Federation. My friend Crystal is the Webmistriss, and I am doing everything I can to support TVF and bring some exposure to this growing group of wonderful people!

How do you spend your time AFK? Are you taking a summer vacation from WoW?

There you are thinking, “Man, I hope Plec doesn’t start running his mouth about his Paladin” and then BAM, you get another post about my Paladin. It’s a little move I like to call the Ulduar Uppercut (that read like a joke my dad would make if he played WoW…moving on).

Much like any soon to be level 80, I have begun to map out all of the instances and raids I’m going to run in order to get my character ready for ICC. One thought kept popping up after each piece of gear I crafted or purchased off of the AH; was gearing this toon going to be enough to prepare me for ICC? The short answer I came to find, was no.

You see, I look at raiding like I look at mathematics; both are systems that build on lessons that you’ve learned earlier in that same subject. Think about it, many raid encounters are actually described by referring to older raid encounters. How many times have you heard your raid leader say, “This fight is like Onxyia meets…”. Read more…

The WoW doldrums are upon us as the last raid content for Wrath of the Lich King has been released. One of the many things that I’ve been doing to pass the time until Cataclysm is to level up my Paladin alt. Plec is hanging around 73 and as I’ve invested the money to buy him another spec, he is currently a Ret/Holy Pally. Most of my time is spent questing but I’ve been healing more and more instances lately (any Paladin resources that you all refer to for info on the class are welcome!).

During one of my breaks from leveling this weekend, I picked up the re-launch issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (great to see you guys back) and came upon and interesting article that talked about the psychological factors that motivate gamers. They tapped a psychologist, Dr. Benjamin Donner, for his expert opinion on the matter. One pearl of wisdom stood out among others in the article. Donner stated, “In gaming, the skills acquired in earlier levels are honed and utilized in increasing combination’s as one progresses, and that in of itself is rewarding and growth promoting.” It was at this point that old man Plectical leaned back in his chair and scratched his head. Read more…

With all of this week’s talk about the Cataclysm Closed Beta, anticipation about the pending release is making our mouths water. This lax time as we are waiting for the release of Cataclysm is the perfect era to go back and snag up some of those memoriable retro items! Nothing says, “I’ve been playing WoW long enough to know which cool blogs know which items make a fashion statement,” like these retro drops! So grab your high-level main and spend some quality time in the old world.

Retro Raids

Warrior and Rogues should step back into Black Temple and snag up the Twin Blades of Azzinoth and the Curse Vision of Sargeras. Nothing screams Burning Crusade like these two distinguishable items that drop off Illidan Stormrage himself. On a personal note, I still remember how proud Hafrot (Loredrin back then) was when he finally finished Read more…

The last few articles I wrote were all about trying to maintain your mood, finding a balance in your WoW time and really how to keep an even keel. That was how I was spending my WoW-time for the last few months. I would fill-in raids, I would do a lot of dailies, I would beat the hell out of the LFD tool. But then I got the raiding bug again.

I was keeping up with the guild’s progress through ICC and watching the live streams and videos that they put out. I would listen to them discuss boss strats in vent and on our forums. I saw the pretty shiny purples (not that I’m all that gear-driven). But most of all, I saw that the raid team was really pulling together into a cohesive unit and that they were having a lot of fun.

I knew my chances of raiding consistently on my current level 80s weren’t that great since we have a 100 hunters and paladins and I still couldn’t stand to log into my boomkin. But, they were looking for a demo lock and I had just happened to transfer a level 71 lock to Staghelm because I wanted her professions in my personal economy.

Read more…