Improving Specs: Mages

I wanted to start off quickly by touching on a point I brought up in a previous post- Tier 9 armor in WoW. I still think the basic concept is a bad idea for a Tier set of armor. Now that I've seen the full set, however, I will no longer argue that the individual art is lacking. Tier 9 is some of the best texture work Blizzard has ever done, and I really understand what they meant when they said this tier took more work despite being smaller. I'm a little grumpy about the armor class business, but it's gorgeous armor. Well done, Blizz. Also? The Renaissance masquerade-looking Alliance Rogue headpiece is fantastic.

But my actual topic for today is going to be something non-nerdragey. It's the start of a new series I will do for my WoW posts periodically, when there's nothing topical that I should discuss. Note, I said "should"- I would love to rant and rave like a madman about the Warrior Q&A posted on the official forums, and how useless I found it, but I don't see how that helps anybody. Instead, I will kick off this series. The premise for this series is pretty simple- I feel that every spec in WoW should have some visual trademark that makes them immediately identifiable for what they are. The perfect example of this is the Druid forms, or the Fury Warrior talent Titan's Grip- very, very distinctive, and frankly badass. I need to pause for a moment, and thank my Steam buddy, Timmy, for his help with this- all of these were done with his help, and plenty of them were his idea to begin with. Thanks Timmy! So I'll start off by talking about my ideas for class that's very near and dear to my heart- one of the classes I could never stand to level, the Mage!

So, basically, the idea is that each of the three specs will have something visually unique to identify them. Admittedly, I picked Mage to start with because it's pretty easy- Frost's is a gimme. Frost should have, via talents, the thing that everyone has been suggesting for a while now- the ability to make their Water Elemental a permenant pet, not just summonable for short periods of time. Frankly, Frost PvE isn't doing so hot to begin with, so they could use the boost. And hey, it's not my job to balance it, anyway. I'm just the guy with kooky ideas.

Fire is also fairly simple, in that it would not require an actual new talent or spell. Basically, one would just apply the dancing flame effect used by Grand Warlock Alythess (http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=25166), one of the infamous Eredar Twins, to the mage spell Molten Armor. It's a spell Fire Mages keep on them all the time anyway, and now it would have a really awesome visual associated with it too. Alright! Fire Mages done!

Here's the fun one- Arcane. This one would require a unique talent, and honestly, I'm not certain how it would work. But here's the idea- you know Kael'thas Sunstrider (http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=24664)? The elven hero (and eventually villain) that's been with us since Warcraft 3? Well, he always has three of these awesome looking orbs orbitting him- three glowing, magical orbs. In what little research I did on them, I couldn't find any additional information, but basically, they enhance his magical power, and are one of the most badass effects in the game. So why not give them to the masters of magic, Arcane Mages? They could be a buff or equivalent for mages, adding to their crit or spellpower, but it would be neat if they were more than just that. I'm not sure what. If you have any ideas, reader, just leave a comment! I'd be more than willing to edit this post with the new idea, and give you proper credit.

So that's it for today's spec improvement post! I'll probably post later about the used game business I left unmentioned yesterday, but don't hold your breath- a post every weekday is all I promise. I'll try to squeeze in more as things come up, but I'm a busy man! No I'm not, that's a lie. But I'd like to be.

Spy, Gentlemen

I was tempted to do a rant about the new Tier 9 sets in World of Warcraft (I don't much care for them) but there's little I could say there that hasn't been said on the official forums- one of the "Tier 9 Sucks" threads there have over twenty-five hundred posts. Rather, I'll talk about Team Fortress 2.

I play the Spy. Not that I like generalizing about a person from the way they play, but I think it's pretty fair to say that it says a lot about me that I love playing as a Spy. I don't mean that it says I'm suave or clever or any of that crap, but I think it's totally fair to say that I enjoy mind games way more than I should. Cloaking, disguises, and of course the delicious butterfly knife. Oh the knife... I could write poems about that thing. In fact, if I need a quick post later, I may.

The thing about playing the spy that is so delightful to me is the mind games. When I first got the Dead Ringer, the unlockable item that lets you feign death, I let the same sniper nail me five times in a row just to eff with him. Another time, I disguised myself as a heavy from my own team, with his boxing gloves out, and ran into the enemy base screaming battle cries. When they, naturally, immediately blew my brains out, I feigned death, and while they were marvelling at how weird the experience was, I reappeared behind them, stabbed one, and then bolted.

What's my point here? Well, partially, I wanted to share fun stories, and to chide those who haven't picked up TF2 (seriously, if you don't have the game, you're nuts), but mostly I wanted to say this- first person shooters are fun, no doubt about that. Games like Call of Duty and Killzone are, to my mind, the pinnacle of the conventional multiplayer shooter. Intuitive, fast paced, rewarding, and fun. But sometimes offering the option for atypical play is the best choice that can be made.

In Team Fortress, many players who typically resort to harassing and griefing other players just play Pyro or Spy, because that's how those classes are designed to play. Left 4 Dead allows players to play the part of special zombies who are designed specifically to appeal to disruptive players.

Certain players do not like playing by the rules. They will always be part of your community, you cannot stop them. Even Team Fortress still has them. But by providing them with a way to enhance the experience of other players with the way they normally play, you bring out the best in them... and also help regular players realize the joy of playing like a jerk.

Because really, nothing satisfies quite like the perfect backstab.