The AFK Five Man Trend

The new looking for group tool is very useful in many ways. It has also created some major issues. It may be shocking to discover, but people from other realms really don't care about others when there is no one from their own realm in a PuG. The first trend I noticed was that people would queue specifically for the new five mans and drop when they didn't get the loot they wanted. I mean seriously? That jerk of a tank got me into this and now I am saved, with no way to finish. I personally have NEVER done this because it is so wrong imo. When I bring a toon in I stick around for the whole thing, regardless of what boss I want loot from.

The newer, just as annoying trend, is for the dps to queue up and go afk. Ok so this isn't so bad, because the queue will find a new dps within seconds. But what is going on with dps who port into the instance and then go afk. What!? O and when they are gone for five minutes you still can't vote to kick them out. Ya, guess what, the genius lazy dpsers in the game have figured out just the amount of time they have to afk until the option to vote to kick is available. It is really frustrating to run with someone who purposely was gone for as long as they possibly could be gone. Really smart dps, go into the instance and put someone on follow. Of course it is much harder to notice you are afk when you are following someone around and not doing any damage.

So I implore all of the dpsers who queue into a random. Don't be a jerk, do your job, and actually, like hit something or eventually, the group will click the vote to kick button enough until it actually works.

OP Mages: Really?

Ok, so I love how people like to throw around the fact that other classes are so overpowered. I mean what does that even really mean? Does it mean awesome players excel at this class more so than normal powered classes, or does it mean that even a moron can excel at this class? I am not really sure which one is the correct definition but I would like to go through both scenarios.

So, when someone who is an A mazing player plays multiple classes and one class does 10k dps, and the other does 7k. Does that mean that this class is overpowered? It likely does, I mean I have a kitty druid, ele shammy, and arcane mage, and all are around the same gear level. Who wins in a boss fight? Arcane mage, cmon obviously. Right now my arcane mage beats out. I now how to play all three toons. But my arcane mage just has awesome dps right now. I think when looking at overpowered classes in this sense, we have to realize that this type of overpowered is just a phase, it changes all the time. In Ulduar my druid kicked my mages ass. This type of OP, when individuals are balanced in skill level, and gear, changes frequently, no one stays overpowered for too long, (except ret pallys of course but they don't count). People like to complain about OP classes, but the argument is useless, because class make up changes all the time. Don't be one of those people who plays the class who is OP at the moment. Play what you enjoy, and realize you can't always be on top.

If people think of overpowered in the terms, that this class can be played by a monkey, then people are definitely wrong about arcane mages. If mages are so easy to play, what is with all the low dps and deaths? Being a mage isn't complicated rotation wise, but staying alive is the biggest challenge for a mage. They are the biggest wimps of any class. Think about it! The locks with all of their hp, and the SP with their ability to heal. Don't tell me that isn't a way to keep yourself alive, I heal myself as an ele all the time when healers seem stressed. Using the things in a mages arsenal to keep themselves alive requires thought and skill. Ice block timing, using frost ward, and fire ward, thinking about helping the raid with amp magic (what people use that?), blink!!! Again it isn't that difficult if you are a skilled player. But being quick about moving out of crap, and picking up dps again is essential as being a mage. I have seen many mages just be fail. If OP is this, then mages are not OP. I don't play a ret pally, but everyone I know who does, tells me that they literally hit whatever button is shiny. So ya, mages are doing awesome dps right now, but it still takes skill to play one so don't get caught up in what is "OP" right now. Every class has times when they are excelling over others. I have experienced it myself within my own toons. But play what you enjoy, and don't worry about what other classes are doing. You know you didn't mind when you were OP =P

Most Important Role in ICC: DPS

I have been working on ICC now on two of my toons. Running on my mage and shaman, sometimes druid. One group I run with is quite awesome with no problems clearing up to Saurafang and beyond. The other group I run with is a group of awesome people, but is having issues with Saurafang. The more I run ICC, I realize that this place is all about the DPS. Every fight seems to be a dps race of some sort, and if the dps is low then you struggle through the fight. Many fights can be run with two healers, and the tanks don't have too complicated of a job. I am allowed to say this because I have healed these fights as well. Healing in ICC is a bore compare to Ulduar. I mean don't get me wrong, it isn't completely easy, but in Ulduar every fight seemed like a healers fight. In ICC it is time for the dps to shine.

Now when you have a bad tank, maybe a good healer can compensate, when you have a bad healer, the other healers work harder and can compensate. When there is dps who isn't up to par, unless one dps is incredibly awesome, it is sort of hard to compensate on a dps race. Point being: DPS, pick it up, study your class, this is really the first place I have been in, where the fights are so DPS dependent. This is especially true in ten mans, because in 25 mans there is always more room for compensation.

When putting together an ICC ten man raid, consider the dps, the most important role. Pick people you know are skilled players. Require a certain gear level, and try your best to balance the raid. Any dps increase is desired. Shaman totems, arcane mages, druid's crits (which don't stack with the shaman crit no?), unholy dks for those casters, and so many classes provide a buff to the dps. Use these classes wisely. Balance the melee and ranged, because many fights require some melee (Lady Death&Decay), but in some fights (Saurafang) a melee heavy group can be a downfall. So choose wisely, raid make up and dps skill can really play a huge role in ICC success.