Firefly's Gaming

So... Much... Stupid... o.0

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:18:54 -0700

Saw this comment posted in response to WoW’s Mist of Pandaria ad:

Shadowthetwisted here seems to think that Pandas are new to the Warcraft universe and that its a really stupid thing to do. Except Pandarens were first introduced in Warcraft III, LONG before WoW was ever a thing. WoW players have been complaining since the very beginning that Pandarens were not in the game, and Blizzard made a smart move to add Pandarens as a playable race.

This would be the same thing as if Blizzard released the Naga as a playable race and he complained that Blizzard added SNAKES! Or if they added Furbolgs and he complained about them adding BEARS. It just shows that he has no idea that these creatures have always been part of this universe. I am not personally a huge fan of WoW, but my love for Warcraft III makes his ignorance in this instance offensive to me.

Borderlands 2

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 10:49:22 -0700

Borderlands 2 comes out very soon, and Gearbox recently released the character skill builder which makes me very happy. I spent a while playing with the skill builder, and I think I have finally decided what I want to do.

First thing, I will be running two characters. The first being a solo character, and the second being a multiplayer character. The reason for this is that the friend I will be playing with has a significantly different work schedule than me and as such, we won’t be able to play together as often as I would like. This will give me the opportunity to play Borderlands 2 with or without him and not have our character levels fall out of sync.

For my solo character, I have decided on Salvador, the Gunzerker. He just fits the tanky bruiser play style I have come to love thanks to League of Legends. I have opted for a little bit more of a glass cannon fill for him in the skill tree, hoping that he has enough built in survivability to make up for it. If not, obviously I have some great skill choices to beef him up in the skill tree. Here is the outline of how I am thinking I will build him:

And has for my multiplayer character, I am going with Zer0. Mordecai from Borderlands 1 was my favorite PC, and I just loved my focus on sniper rifles. As Zer0 is the new Hunter Class, I felt it was only appropriate. The more I learn about Zer0, the more sure I become that I want him as my main. I had originally planned on going full Sniper mode again, but as I plan on playing him multiplayer, I decided I would take advantage of the distraction another player would provide and go full melee. Here is my build plan for Zer0:

Obviously, everything is subject to change, but I like what I have outlined here, and I am going to stick with it if I can. I am also super looking forward to Gaige, The Mechromancer. I hope they release the skill builder ahead of her release as well.

All and all, I am super excited for Borderlands 2, and I am going to be pretty twitchy over the next couple of days until it comes out. Only 8 more days!

Guild Wars 2

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 09:25:42 -0700

Alright, so after a long time of not writing anything, its time for me to write something.

I have been playing as much Guild Wars 2 as I possibly can (not much sadly…) and so far I am really enjoying the game. Guild Wars 2 was the first MMORPG that I had any interest in since my short stint playing WoW a year a go. The biggest selling factor for me on this game is no subscription cost. The game play and quests are solid, character progression is interesting, and I like the look and feel of the game quite a bit. I love the fact that you can switch between weapon sets, and not feel like I am getting punished for wanting to do something different. I don’t need to relearn my non-weapon related skills for them to be useful if I do change weapons. The armor dyes were a very nice touch. Underwater combat is… unique. I was hearing a lot of negative things about underwater combat from the beta players, but once I got into it, it turned out to be decent. And it is nice to have something a little different in your game.

As for flaws in the game, there is nothing I would call game breaking. As I haven’t had much time to play, I am not too far into the game so I cannot speak yet about the end game content. But as for the starter stuff there are a few minor grievances that I have:

The way you “learn” weapon skills seems kind of force fed. It takes no time at all, and is without customization. Yes, you get do get unique skills for each kind of weapon or shield you are wielding, but beyond that there is nothing. 15 minutes into using a sword and shield, you will not become any better at using a sword and shield. It would be really great to have some form of customization here, like choosing between a lunge skill and a parry skill. It would also be interesting to have some mechanic where you could get better at a skill the more you use it. For example, as you use a slashing skill more maybe it could add additional chance to bleed.

Another gripe I have is the way the level system works. How they kind of ‘normalize’ your level based on the area you are in. Its a neat a idea on paper. Seems like a pretty easy way to make it so no matter where you go, or what mission you are doing, there is at least a little challenge to it. However, in practice it feels like a complete failure. I feel like I am being punished for getting stronger. Plus, the way it normalizes doesn’t always make sense. It keeps you within 2 levels of the area you are in, but some times it forces you to the level of the things you are fighting or even below. Its really frustrating looking at my true level of 22 being reduced to 14, and up against a level 15 NPC. If they just gave me the proper level, I would be easily destroying this whole crowd of NPCs. Instead, I am stuck spending several minutes picking them off one by one. Its a total waste of my cooldowns as I am currently running a dual ax Charr Warrior where most of my abilities are AOE.

As these are my biggest complaints about the game so far, I think I can live with them. And who knows, maybe these systems will be improved in the future. I only played WoW for a very short time, but they changed the skill system something like 5 times since it was released. Nothing is stopping ArenaNet from doing the same thing. All in all, I think this is a really great game and I hope I can waste many hours on it in the future.

PS: Just as a little side note, one of the biggest difference I have found between WoW and Guild Wars 2 that makes me love GW2 so much is the way gathering works. Having 3 specific slots for gathering tools makes me very happy, and the fact that the gather nodes are instanced to you is a thing of beauty. I cannot count the number of times ores were sniped from me in Wow, and now that isn’t an issue. Plus, since there will be more mats available in the sytem as gathering is not a ‘profession’ and just something everyone can do, it will keep the price of mats down.

Sign of a Bad Support Player:

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:06:22 -0700

Brags about a high KDR. 14/3/2 is NOT a good score on a support.

League Break

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:03:01 -0700

There are a lot of games coming out very soon that have a much higher priority for me, so League will be taking a back seat for a bit. I will still be playing occasionally, and I will still be watching a lot of League streaming (nothing better to do at work…) so I will still be talking about league. There will just be more talk about other games.

Games I WILL be playing:

Guild Wars 2 (8/25/12)
Borderlands 2 (9/18/12)

Both of these games are very high priorities for me. I am pretty excited to play them.

Games I am considering:

Dishonored (10/9/12)
Sleeping Dogs (Already out)
WoW: Mists of Pandaria (9/25/12)

Mists of Pandaria is unlikely but possible.

I also have a few games I am already playing/will be playing soon that I have yet to talk about.

Sanctum
Prototype 2
The Darkness 2

There are a few others I cannot think of right now. I may just end up going through my whole gaming collection and release reviews for the newer stuff… (No reason to talk about Masters of Orion 2… Either you played it to death or never had any love for it at this point)

Hey Junglers

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 16:08:17 -0700

superglucose:

When your laner says “He’s been camping my lane go take his red” that’s not secret top speak for “dick around in your top jungle while this cow sits in my bush making me think he’s not there.” It’s secret top speak for “This guy is being an idiot go punish him for it why the fuck are you still here you dolt.”

Jungle Garen

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:46:43 -0700

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSIl2V-Hw-o

(Stonewall008 video)

Not recommended, but it is really funny.

Question for the Junglers

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:34:37 -0700

So, one thing I have done a few times when pulling blue is walk back and forth instead of just going straight to lane so blue does not retarget. If its done well, the blue will not reset, and will not hit the jungler, saving him pots. I have seen several people say it messes up their jungle, and others say its just about the most helpful thing you can do when you pull. My question is this: Do you prefer your puller to do this or not and why do you feel that way?

Bad Rumble Players

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:59:12 -0700

It makes me so sad to see people buy Doran’s Shield on Rumble… Is Doran’s Shield a bad item? Not… really. Is it bad on Rumble? No. But is it a good idea? Almost never. You are just gimping yourself and wasting gold by getting this item. Almost anything is more useful than Doran’s Shield. The only thing worse than starting with Doran’s Shield, is picking it up second. Please stop doing it.

Garen Changes

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 08:54:58 -0700

Looks like some new updates hit the Beta Client. And they include Garen changes!

Garen

Perseverance now regenerates after 10 seconds, up from 7 seconds - If Garen has not taken damage from monsters, towers, or champions in the last 10 seconds, Garen regenerates 0.5% of his maximum Health each second.

Decisive Strike now also breaks all slows affecting Garen. 35% Speed bonus now lasts 1.5/1.75/2/2.25/2.5 seconds instead of 3 seconds. Damage increased to 30/55/80/105/130 (up from 30/45/60/75/90) and Silence effect duration changed to 1.5/1.8/2/2.3/2.5 seconds instead of a flat 2.5 seconds at all ranks.

Courage now passively increases Armor and Magic Resist by 20% instead of increasing it by 0.5 every time he kills an enemy unit.

Courage defensive shield now lasts 2/3/4/5/6 seconds instead of 3 seconds. Now reduces incoming damage by 30% at all ranks instead of 20/24/28/32/36%. Now also grants 30% CrowdControl Reduction. Cooldown changed to 24 seconds instead of 30/27/24/21/18 Seconds.

Judgment no longer breaks slow effects or reduces the duration of slow effects. Now deals20/45/70/95/120 plus 70/80/90/100/110 % of his attack (+0.9) physical damage instead of50/90/130/170/210 physical damage. Judgment can critically strike dealing bonus damage.Judgment deals 25% less damage to minions and monsters.

Demacian Justice now has a 160/120/80 seconds cooldown, changed from 140/120/100 seconds.

Now for my assessment of the changes:

Perseverance: Minor nerf. Removes a little bit of his sustainability, but I think its fair especially with the change to Courage.
Decisive Strike: Nerf. While the damage has gone up and that is fun, the speed boost is almost non-existent now. This removes a huge chunk of what little initiation potential he already had. The change to his silence is fair though.
Courage: This is a HUGE buff. The damage mitigation on the old Courage was decent, but this is a pretty significant increase. Plus in a game where CC is KING, adding the 30% Tenacity is amazing. The change on the cooldown wont effect anything too much late game, but will make early game easier.
Judgment: Small damage buff. Makes me sad the slow removal is no longer on this ability, but oh well.
Demacian Justice: Small nerf. Can’t say this was unnecessary.

Overall this is a nerf, but with the sustain changes, and damage changes he MAY be viable again. Looking forward to trying Garen out again after these changes take effect.

*NOTE: These changes are from the PBE (Beta Client) and nothing here is final.*

Absolutely Terrible: Solo Top

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:16:12 -0700

Absolutely Terrible: Solo Top:

superglucose:

So personally I started as an AP mid. Pretty much all my time playing League of Legends I was a squishy little mage who could burst things down pretty easily and wasn’t afraid of anything… as long as I punched first, I would win.

In fact, I never really thought much about playing champions that…

The sad but true facts of Top Lane Champions…

Wow...

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 19:56:23 -0700

I just really do not understand what it is about this community that makes others feel like they can be complete dicks to those around them. I just played an ARAM game where the enemy Tristana spent the whole game bitching about how her Zyra had no idea how to play her champion. Hey guess what? ITS RANDOM! You can get stuck with champions that you aren’t so good at. That doesn’t make them bad, that only makes you unlucky. Honestly, the Zyra did not do too bad and was trying her best. Really, that is all you can ask.

Rumble

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:37:42 -0700

So got to play Rumble for the first time last night since his nerf. Wow he is terrible… And by terrible I obviously me terribly overpowered still. It was my first real game in a while, so I was not playing at the top of my ability, and I still did fairly well. 1 Flame Spitter was still more than enough to chunk someone significantly. I never really wanted to admit how over powered Rumble is as he is my current main, but its becoming more and more undeniable.

That moment when...

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 11:06:57 -0700

Someone complains that they lost X ELO in one day and blames it on every other person he/she played with.

Hey, buddy. Lets just say you played 10 games. Lets assume for the sake of making things easier that you always ended up with all new people in every new game. That means you played with 90 different people. 90 people, in 10 games. There was 1 person repeated in every single one of those games. You. What are the chances that all 90 of those people are the reason you lost? Very, very low…

Yes, there will always be poor people in your game. Yes, feeders are fairly common. Yes, some days you will not be able to win. But it is never not at least partially your fault. There will always be better choices you could have made that could very well have cost your team the game without you even realizing it. Suck it up, accept that no one is perfect, and move on. Losing ELO sucks, but it isn’t the end of the world. Everything can be a learning experience, if you make it one. Instead of saying “All you people suck at this game, why can’t I win?” think “How could I have done better to make SURE we win?”

Ranked Team

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 12:06:15 -0700

Man… It is really hard to get a team together… At least for me. I have been in a couple ranked 5 teams, but they always fall apart due to not being able to find the time to actually play as 5. I have only a short time near the end of the day that I can dedicate to playing games, and all the friends I played with had ever shifting schedules. They couldn’t dedicate specific time to playing, and I HAD to.

For me, League has always been about enjoying the time with friends, and being able to rank up in a latter with people I enjoy playing with would be amazing. I don’t care if you are not that good. I am not that good, and 2 of the people I have the most fun playing with are below my skill level. I just want a group of people to play with that make playing fun, and occasionally get together and play “serious” for a bit. Improve, grow as a team, and rank. Here is what I see is required for a Ranked Team player.

MUST

Be level 30
Have a good mechanical understanding of the game
Be willing to learn and accept constructive criticism
Be willing to help others grow, and provide constructive criticism where necessary
Own more than a small handful of champions and at the very least understand the mechanics behind playing most champions in the game
Be willing to move out of your comfort lane (one I am currently working on)
Have a good attitude about both winning AND losing
Be willing set a schedule to play together as a team
Be willing to have fun, joke around, and troll a Co-Op game but take things seriously when it is necessary
Understand the role that a Jungler plays in the game, what he can do to make a huge difference in your lane and that he is not required to do so

That’s not asking too much is it?

Summoner Spells: Garrison

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:57:11 -0700

Garrison

Description: Strengthens allied capture points or weakens enemy capture points. (Allied Turret: Grants massive regeneration and attack speed for 8 seconds. Enemy Turret: Reduces damage by 80% for 8 seconds). Dominion Mode Only. 210 second cooldown.

Strengths:

Can be used to break an enemy capture attempt
Both offensive and defensive

Weaknesses:

For Dominion, it has a VERY long cooldown
Easily rendered useless by a capture attempt (a targeted point cannot attack)

My Opinion: I have very limited play time in Dominion mode, but from my experience and from what I know of the Dominion game mechanics, this is not the most useful spell. Having one on the team can be helpful though. Consider very thoroughly first before taking this spell.

Things to Remember: It has a very long cooldown.

@forwarddigresses

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 13:05:18 -0700

In reply to my post “Summoner Spells: Clairvoyance“ forwarddigresses wrote:

No, keep going, oh you are done? Allow me to retort then. As jungling being my main role, I have noticed that the biggest revealing information is the knowledge of when the jungler has taken red, or taken blue. Since red and blue don’t spawn in 5 minutes after being taken the CV, Clairvoyance, is best used between red and wraiths and blue and wolves. This catches the neutral minion camps that only spawn in one minute. Ergo, if a support knows how to use the they will be able to catch the jungler at one of the camps, or know that the jungler is not in that side of the jungle, whether it be the North or East (South or West).

First off, may I just say congratulations on being a dick! Yay! Good job! Your shitty response, while not wrong, was extremely uncalled for. Now that that is out of the way, lets break down what you said.

No, keep going, oh you are done? Allow me to retort then.

Looking at this phrase, the main word that stands out here is “retort”. Dictionary.com offers the following definitions to this word:

1. To reply to, usually in a sharp or retaliatory way; reply in kind to.

2. To return (an accusation, epithet, etc.) upon the person uttering it.

3. To answer (an argument or the like) by another to the contrary.

I have already said all I am going to on how your poor wording choices made you sound like a dick, so to make things easier I am going to assume that you did not mean the 1st one. The 2nd one does not fit this situation, so you must have meant the 3rd definition. Your response was aimed at contradicting what I said. And your evidence is as follows:

I have noticed that the biggest revealing information is the knowledge of when the jungler has taken red, or taken blue. Since red and blue don’t spawn in 5 minutes after being taken the CV, Clairvoyance, is best used between red and wraiths and blue and wolves.

This is in fact very correct. I will give you total credit on that one. A+! But the biggest problem I am having with your response is that you some how feel this refutes what I have said. Which is does not. The nerf that was applied to CV HAS greatly decreased is usefulness in watching the jungler. There will be plenty of times when a well placed CV will give you SO much information. Your own statement here proves exactly what I am talking about:

Ergo, if a support knows how to use the [ability?] they will be able to catch the jungler at one of the camps…

The skill cap and knowledge required to be GOOD with CV and to not waste your cooldown have been greatly increased along with the cooldown increase. This IS in fact a weakness, albeit a small one.

I would also like to state, ignoring the dickish first 2 sentences, you do seem to have a great understanding of the game and I can really appreciate that. I love feedback and I am always up for a friendly debate. I have been wrong in the past, and I will be wrong again. If ever you see something you don’t agree with, let me know. But maybe try not being a dick in the future. Thanks.

Summoner Spells: Clairvoyance

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 10:00:18 -0700

Clairvoyance

Description: Reveals an area of the map for 4 seconds. 70 second cooldown.

Strengths:

Tied with Smite for shortest cooldown of a Summoner Spell
Can be used to prevent ganks or check for a Jungler’s progress
Reveals enemies in bushes near the cast site
Clears mini map icons for empty creep camps
Safely check Dragon/Baron for the enemy team
Cannot be destroyed like Wards

Weaknesses:

With the increase in cooldown, has become much less useful at watching the Jungler.
Only reveals a target location for 4 seconds, unlike a ward’s 3 minutes.

My Opinion: The old Clairvoyance which could be cast once a minute was insanely powerful and preventing successful ganks. Increasing the cooldown from 55 seconds to 70 has ALMOST made it obsolete. While not completely worthless (I would never berate a support for taking it), there are just a lot better options for that Summoner Spell slot.

Things to Remember: Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the jungler you are up against will greatly aid in your ability to effectively use Clairvoyance.

Summoner Spells: Teleport

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 09:53:43 -0700

Teleport

Description: After 4 seconds, teleports your champion to target friendly minion or turret. 180 second cooldown if cancelled. 300 second cooldown.

Strengths:

Getting in and out of lane quickly
Provides a great way to gank with well placed wards
Increases Dragon control
Can assist in split pushing

Weaknesses:

Very long cooldown
4 second Channel, and can be stopped with hard CC
While it can be used as an escape, the channel makes it unreliable.
The teleport particles are very obvious and visible in fog of war, which could give away an otherwise successful gank.

My Opinion: As I main top lane, Teleport/Flash is my main package. But I will TRY to be objective here. The benefits in map control are extremely high by having at least 1 person with teleport. It can be used to split push THEN 5v5 teamfight, or to prevent split pushing. Top can teleport down when its time to take dragon, or teleport back to top after taking dragon. Significantly increases the safety of your towers and can deter tower diving.

Things to Remember: Due to its very long cooldown, its suggested that you only use Teleport when it would be useful. You can teleport to almost any non-champion friendly target including wards, pets, and some traps. Targeting a minion it will make it invulnerable, so if you are Teleporting in to assist in taking a tower, target the minion the tower is targeting.

Summoner Spells: Flash

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 09:59:52 -0700

Flash

Description: Teleports your Champion to target nearby location under your mouse cursor. 265 second cooldown.

Strengths:

Extremely effective as both an offensive and defensive spell
Can be used to escape/chase over walls or dodge projectiles
Can provide an escape for champions that lack one (Malzahar, Anivia, Xin Zhao)

Weaknesses:

Very consistently nerfed by Riot until it now has only 400 range and 265 second cooldown
Fail Flashing over a wall is extremely common.

My Opinion: As this is my Tumblr, and I have stated this is my opinion (I will repeat it here just in case you were not paying attention), IN MY OPINION Flash is the most useful Summoner Spell in the game. The offensive and defensive capabilities are endless if you have enough skill with it. If you watched my Garen Kill Compilation video on YouTube, you will notice an Ashe player I was up against. Every time my Flash was up, I would Flash into range and destroy her. For a long time, the only way to play Jungle Alistar required you to Flash into range for Headbutt/Pulverize. While fleeing the best thing you can do is to put a wall between you and the enemy, which Flash provides. Ashe’s Crystal Arrow can be dodged with a flash as well.

Things to Remember: The position of your cursor is where you will Flash to. Due to the long cooldown, be very careful about wasting your Flash. Flash is useful no matter what your roll is.