Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Like a knife through butter..

That’s what last nights raid force was like. You know when you play any game, any sport, carry out any activity really and sometimes you get in the ‘zone’? Well last night there must have been 24 people in the ‘zone’ [Of course there were 24 people in the zone..muppet! – Ed] because we seemed to plough through the raid instances with ease. Not one mob failed to drop on first pull. We got the creepy Crab down in Labs which was pretty sweet and over all Voltaan seemed to clear up on accessories that dropped and then to top it all off he grabbed his tier 2 forearms.

Voltaan got to do a little bit of tanking also, although I am still learning the raid force from a tanks point of view. When you are a raid tank it seems takes a bit of time to learn the raid from a tanks perspective. If you can learn how your raidforce responds to certain fights, or how they monitor their aggro, how they administer their buffs so you can use yours to the best of benefit also, then you’re off to a good start. There were a fair few rippers last night when I was tanking but mostly I managed to grab aggro back within a few seconds, although sometimes when all my ‘snap’ tools were down it was painfully longer than that.

After about thirty minutes of tanking I was swapped out of the role for melee dps. I’m more than aware there are battles that require several tanky types or more than one tank but as a tank it’s always a bit disconcerting when you are swapped out of your role. You can’t help but think, ‘what did I do wrong?’. I’m more than aware I am still learning the zones from a tank point of view, which is a whole lot different from the just stand there and hit it philosophy, from positioning to mem wipes. But still it’s a bit of a pin in your ego. Hey, I’m not perfect! I know there are very valid reasons but I still can’t help wondering if I did anything wrong or what issues I have. For two reasons really. Firstly so I can improve. If I know what I am doing that is adversely affecting the other raid members and their ability to play their toons to their full ability then I can help to improve the raid performance by being better myself. If you have a tank that does their job properly it makes all the difference in allowing you to do yours as a, well, as whatever role you play. Secondly I HATE to let people down. If I am given a job to do, I will hammer that job out time and time again until I have it perfect. That takes a little bit of time though I guess.

Luckily a couple in my group were helpful and gave me some tips, such as on Haarkat I was pulling to two different pillars and was informed that maybe one pillar may make it easier for the healers. Of course that is totally correct and I’m glad peeps feel they can speak up to offer advice. It’s a good way to learn. I am more than aware that issue was actually a lack of common sense on my behalf, of course it would make it easier for the healers. That’s the other thing about tanking, like healing you have to think about what everyone else is doing and how you doing your job affects that. Anyhow, I hope I did an OK job and that I wasn’t switched out for bringing ‘teh suck’.

Although raiding was pretty amazing last night in the speed and efficiency with which we worked, it actually wasn’t the best bit of the night for me. As we were setting up for the raid, one of our Troubadours, Mynna sent me a /tell. It seems she had started to read my blog (that’s why I pop the link on my forum signature..it’s a lure..beware!) and was a little shocked when she saw the linked blog of my Bro’s and some of the discussion within the two blogs and the name of ‘Merecraft’. It seems Mynna’s first EQ2 guild was a certain guild on Runnyeye server called ‘The Watchers’. Yup, you guessed it Mynna, six years later we have been raiding alongside each other for months and we didn’t know we knew each other, let alone that she was a member of mine and me Bros guild way back when!!. Although to be fair I think she knew my Bro better (as Merecraft) as she moved to AB when he did from Runnyeye and joined the newly formed guild he and his compadres started. Small world indeed huh! So to one of the original Watchers, Mynna ‘Hi’ and thanks for stopping by for a read.

I have work to do, so I’ll wrap things up, but I can’t go without mentioning the Japanese MotoGP at Motegi. I’m not going to bore you with the specifics, but if you get the chance and can find somewhere to watch it (motogp.com charges for viewing :( ) then it’s a must. The rivalry and battle between Jorge and Rossi was quite simply stunning. The last lap was breathtaking. There were bashing of fairing, elbows, neck and neck, nail biting stuff. It was very interesting to see the comments after the race. Rossi got a telling off by Yamaha (his team) for racing so aggressively against his team mate and Jorge stated he thought it was too far past ‘the line’. Wherever that is. Now I have very much respect for Lorenzo, he’s a biking God and a great personality but of course my soft spot is for Rossi. With all the negative comments flying around about Rossi and the way he rode (which I think was awesome by the way) Rossis comments after the race were golden and got across the message the fans wanted to hear I think;

"What a great race!” said Rossi......... I wanted the podium so much. Jorge came back at me and we had a great battle, proper racing - I think everyone watching enjoyed it.”

Two very different opinions huh? Very different. I get the feeling Lorenzo was livid. Anyhow as I see it, Rossi is right. It was damn exciting to watch. Like I said, a breathtaking display of unparalleled talent, from both riders. Congratulations to both Vale and Lorenzo for such an amazing show.

Be well.

4 comments:

  1. It's a great feeling when raids go so smoothly. You're always wondering when things are about to go wrong!

    And a big HI to Mynna too! Don't be a stranger, we had some great times in EQ2 *wipes away a nostalgic tear*

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  2. Haha! there is no wondering about it mate. Things start to go wrong usually about the same sort of time our raid leader says "Volt you're tanking this one" ;)

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  3. *waves*
    I'm a littre slow on saying hello perhaps, but better late than never :)

    *hands Merecraft a tissue* Ah, the good old days! I still miss them.

    And how weird and funny it was to find out about Adurj. It was literally a jaw dropping moment.

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  4. Hey Mynna :) Thanks for the comment. I'll see you on tonights raid...Oh and a certain someone maybe returning to EQ2..dum dum duuuum!

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