Let's Build Something Awesome

So it's probably fairly obvious where I've been spending a lot of my time lately...


I drew this with my new tablet this morning. I'm learning and experimenting with stuff. I'm also pretty excited and want to work with my new stuff, but don't know what to do with myself when I have time off from work. Woe is me!

It's human nature to create.

To grow or nurture something and give it a sense of life. It can be very fulfilling and since I quit World of Warcraft last January I have really learned to appreciate some of the finer things in life. I'm rediscovering small projects and planning to take on bigger ones later (this summer I plan on restoring an old cabinet my great grandfather owned). I honestly don't know a whole lot, but that's why I'm taking these projects head on—so I can learn and become better at whatever I choose to do. In this case, I'm going to have a lot of learning to do on building practices and proper craftsmanship. I admit, I don't quite have the easiest time drawing straight lines, but that's why I'm buying a large metal square, hehe.

I already feel the pain budget wise...too many tools *eyes bug out and a big grin forms* not enough funds. Small steps, I suppose, :-P Next on my list--finding out where the old router in the barn "disappeared" to...

Spring in the Air

It is now officially spring and despite the torrential downpour and sporadic, unpredictable weather we're having on the eastern seaboard I have begun working on some new projects. One of which involves my new Wacom tablet (thanks Sarah) which I got brand new for half-price on eBay and the other involves half-inch drills and circular saws. Roh-oh-oh! *grunting* Oh, yeah!

So I need to build a couple sawhorses and get some lumber to build some crates which I am hoping to build for use at work (for dispatchers to place their feet on). This idea comes after they started using our First-Aid toolbox as a footrest on their new tall office chairs. Yeeeah. . . :-P

The plan is for a very simple box, but I am not sure how to join the sides yet. In essence, the box will have five sides--the sixth face will not exist, an open bottom since it sits on the floor. The front, back, and top can be joined with the left & right sides by miter, but that would require bracing inside the box. Not a problem, but I need it to last. I don't want the edges to crack or split since they'll be pushed on and kicked around by feet for a very long time and on a daily basis. The simplest solution is to have the top overlap the front and back boards so it can be nailed directly together. That would also cut back on a lot of work, but would it look as nice as edge-less corners?

I drew this with my new tablet, :-0

Titan's Grip Penalty: +10% Whining

Blizzard is most likely adding a 10% damage reduction to Titan's Grip since the hit penalty they removed was too powerful. This is actually a good idea since it won't adversely affect the gearing and itemization of warriors the way the decreased hit chance did.

Surprising to some, hunters have an ability which let them DPS longer and harder over the course of a fight. It returns mana to them, but reduces 50% of their damage. Wow! Even still, they are able to dole out great amounts of DPS since they have less downtime. This is pretty neat.

I'm not sure how things are going to pan out right now and I don't have the PTR to experiment on things, but I threw together a small chart that should exemplify the DPS skimming thanks to this new penalty, if and when it goes into effect. It's basically a short ten off the top and the yellow line shows that consistency. As one dishes out more damage, the penalty scales to skim more off the top. Of course, one can view this as a bad thing (and most are), but it's actually good since that means lower DPS players (those without the gear or skill to throw out big numbers) won't be hurt quite as much. It will even out, hopefully, some of the previous imbalance with geared characters.

Here's the chart, pretty simple:

Revisiting the Three Core Principles

In September 2008 I wrote a short outline on three constants which would carry over into the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. View its entirety here. It's time to revisit that entry and see if it has really held up over time.

Three Core Principles of Tanking

1. Gearing is important.
   We're as gear-dependent as ever. Lots of choices for the non-raid, non-heroic players and it really helps.
2. Tanking is tanking.
   Yep, we're still tankin' bosses and holding trash. In fact, we now excel at tanking multiple creatures.
3. Damage is threat. Threat isn't always damage.
   This is and always will remain true. However, significant portions of our threat come directly from damage (even though it is not a 1:1 ratio anymore).

In the Line of Sight

I was recently reading a blog entry by my friend Veneretio in which he explained how to cluster multiple creatures into a group when tanking. In his entry, found here, he covers a scenario in which a creature is a caster or ranged shooter. This type of creature will not normally run to the tank and in most cases needs to be silenced. He went on to explain line of sight (LOS). When I read the following excerpt I felt that LOS deserved a bit more detail.

LOS pulling is shooting a mob and then running around a corner forcing them to follow you around that corner to get into range. This has the benefit of not forcing you to waste a lot of time back tracking and in most cases, it’ll cancel any spell being cast on you.

Johnny is in room A, which is connected via a hallway to room B. Room A is empty and room B has a creature in it. Line of sight pulling would mean using a ranged attack and luring the creature into the empty room for a cup of tea. The following illustration shows the layout of the immediate area.

As we can see above, Mr. Blue sees Mr. Monster. Mr. Blue throws a ninja star at Mr. Monster, making him very upset. Mr. Monster begins to cast a very powerful Fireball, but Mr. Blue runs back around the corner, breaking Mr. Monsters line of sight. Mr. Monster stops casting a Fireball since he can't find his target and runs around the corner, right into a big, fat Shield Slam.

A Real Understanding

All creatures have a center point. When you target a creature a small circle or reticule is created under their feet to show they are targeted. This is a good reference as to the creatures center point (large creatures typically have larger center points, i.e. devilsaur or adult dragonkin). Imagine a direct line from this center point to the center point of your character in-game. This is considered "line of sight." In most cases a creature cannot see behind itself, but they will turn around and chase their target when aggroed. The logic is that players and creatures must make and maintain eye contact with its target in most cases and with most spells or it interferes with their ability to target. Guess there's a little bit of sense thrown into the mix as well. Who knew?!

Conclusion

So line of sight works just like many other aspects of the game, in particular tanking. Creatures are aggravated, threaten to kill adventurers, and even require actually seeing their enemy before taking action. When I first started playing the game in 2004 I was shocked at how realistic those aspects of the game were. Pretty intuitive system.

An Entire Race of E.D.

So my official Wowhead Blog entry on worgen has been released and it can be found here. In this entry I discuss the little information we know about worgen and the lore surrounding them and their existence on Azeroth. It touches briefly on Velinde Starsong and the Scythe of Elune as well as Archmage Arugal with a glimpse into the depths of Shadowfang Keep.

Of course, I could only cram so much information into one entry without leaving readers feeling like they just read a novel. The truth is, the entire worgen storyline could very well be the basis of a movie. I certainly wouldn't mind a movie on worgen all by themselves, tied into the lore of course, along the lines of how Underworld was executed.

In my next entry I elaborate on the (mis)happenings of the Scythe of Elune, who all is after it, and a little glimpse into a most beloved questing area for the Alliance—Redridge Mountains (more specifically, the shadowhide area including the mysterious mage tower tucked behind the hills).

My thoughts on the entries I write have a somewhat logical progression. Furbolg really gave way to this whole idea, but worgen will be the first in the unofficial series. After worgen, an expansion on the lore around them. After that, a look at the antagonists from the lore surrounding worgen (mostly evil humanoids, hehe). Those humanoids will tie into an elaborate article detailing yet another major dungeon, this time for the Alliance. After that, who knows? One thing is for sure, though—murloc will be making an appearance in the weeks to come!