I completed Zul'Aman last night for the first time, and did NOT have much fun - not because of game content, but because of the tank. He seemed deeply interested in commenting on my performance throughout. The group was well-geared overall, which means that trash dies quickly - before I can complete a rotation. I don't know about you and your setup, but for me, an incomplete rotation results in DPS of about 9K. Our illustrious tank did not waste any time in speaking up:
"That's some very unsexy DPS Morg."
Didn't even get my name right. It's Mort. Or Morty. Mortigan. Or unfortunately now Mortigann (as spelled on Medivh-US due to my name already being taken there.)
My response was passive. "The Trash is dying too fast. But I can leave if you'd like." I figured it would be best to leave if tankie planned to do any more typing. I just no longer have the tolerance to put up with crap from players. If he wants to complain about me, he should start a blog.
And for the record, if you don't believe that the speed of something dying affects DPS, go back to a starter zone and start killing mobs in one shot. Have a look at your DPS. If you're still doing the same DPS as you are on a Heroic Boss, I'll eat my Cowl of Pleasant Gloom. My very educated guess is that your DPS will drop to a few thousand. (Mine is generally 2K to 4K depending on how low level the mobs are.)
But I digress. As soon as we found something that could live long enough for me to set on fire, my DPS was up to a comfortable 11.5K.
"That's more like it."
Unbeknownst to him, I was doing absolutely NOTHING different. We'd just found something that could live through an entire rotation. And I neither asked for his approval, nor felt better for having it.
We made our way through Zul'Aman quickly, with very few glitches. Most wipes were on trash rather than bosses. During one boss fight, tankie died, and I tried to battle rez him with my Soul Stone. But I died too soon to accomplish the task, and we wiped. Once again, tankie had words for me.
"No SS on Healer?"
Sorry, that's so 4.0. This is 4.1, and we battle rez now. Yeah, sometimes it backfires. Like this time. I explained that my attempt to rez him failed.
"We have 2 DKs that can brez. Put SS on Healer."
Well, smarty, then why weren't they (or the healer) brezzing you? But I didn't say that. Because I'm married an no longer have any balls.
"k"
So I went back to the old school of SSing the healer. And it paid off for the rest of the run in that we could always get a rez. So maybe I'll stop battle rezzing and go back to the old way. Honestly I don't give a crap either way, so long as people don't complain. Complaining KILLS MY BUZZ.
Thoughout Zul'Aman, my DPS yo-yo'ed from 11K to 13K. Numbers I am happy with. But apparently tankie wasn't. After downing the last boss, and coming in 2nd on DPS with 14K, his final comment to me was this:
"Thanks, guys. Mort - check out Affliction."
I just did 14K, you jerk-off. But I didn't say that. He had already left the group.
And my REAL response to tankie's final comment will be rather unconventional. And it won't even be written by me. I'll simply copy paste from A Short English Essay written by Michael Kiske (former front-man of Helloween), in which he talks at length about his religious beliefs, but I'll apply a few very profound comments here:
...everything we do in our lives without freedom is not done by us, it's done with or through us by other people or forces. Freedom is the fundament* of everything that is morally true in our lives. Without freedom it's not our morals, it's the "morality" of others making us puppets of those others.
*I believe he means "foundation" - Michael is German, and so this word may have been mangled in translation.
So, Mr. Tankie, if I go affliction simply because YOU think my DPS would be better, it just makes me a puppet of what YOU want, and I'm not going to do that. I was affliction up to level 80, and had fun playing it, but at this point, I enjoy Destruction more, even if the DPS might be slightly lower (which I question anyway. I'm NOT uber-geared. My item level is only 352 at this point.)
I'm going to play the game the way I want to play it. They way I like. A way that is fun for me. If it's not fun, I'm not doing it. I'd rather go read. Or sequence music that no one but me wants to listen to. Or take pictures of my daughter. I'm simply NOT changing my ways for someone else. Period.
Goodbye, Tankie, thank you for a successful, joyless run.
Mortigan of the Disappointing DPS
What a pain. Tanks should know more about other classes and how they work. Seriously.. Affliction requires a ramp up time as well. It's not going to be any different.
ReplyDeleteSome tanks are just jerks. I had one yesterday on my newly geared rogue's journey into heroics calling 9K bad. I will always actively admit that I suck at my rogue but I made damn sure I spent extra time in normals so I would not pull less then 8K and I didn't. I think I did just fine for a heroic.
ReplyDeleteAs long as you are doing 8K in a heroic and 10K in a Zul don't listen to what anyone says, you are carrying your weight. (assuming you are also doing the mechanics correctly of course)
Most tanks just want everyone to do huge DPS to get it over with in no time. Anyone under 15K in a normal or under 18K in a zul is a noob as far as they are concerned.
Next time someone gets on you like that, think about it this way...
You know how you can spot a bad player?
They are usually the one insulting you because you are "just" a good player.
Congrats on your first Zul and thanks for the laugh about the wife having your balls. That was a winner.
When I am tanking I don't really look at the DPS meters unless I have a reason to. However I know that on my hunter I need a longer fight for the dps to ramp up. Seems like that tank was an idiot
ReplyDeleteHm... obviously this tank has no clue that locks need what I call ramp=up time for their dps to be truly good...
ReplyDeleteAh well, you did your job, you got the instance done, so screw the stupid tank... :)
My 'lock has always been destruction, and I LIKE it that way... =)
Never understood why people need to complain when things are going just fine? I know people who whine about healing, when no one has even been close to dying. I sometimes see people who do the wrong thing, or could do stuff better - but as long as we're doing well I either keep my mouth shut, or at least cover my advice in something nice. Unfortunately, pugging means meeting people like that occasionally. All you can do is try to shrug it off, but that's a lot easier said than done...
ReplyDeleteYou really need to name and shame such charming individuals :) Just because you have a blog. And because you can :)
ReplyDeleteAll you can do is mildly point out the error underlying unfair criticism and then move on with your life. Going any further risks turning a game into the dreaded "srs bzness" and takes away the point of it.
ReplyDeleteOne sidenote: "fundament" is actually a word (though not much used) which can also mean foundation or underlying principle/concept. Or it can mean "butt." We'll assume he meant the first!
@dentedarmor & @Kayeri - He was a good tank - but just expected me to put out 11K or so on trash. It would take some serious gear for me to do that, given how fast the trash was dying in that group.
ReplyDelete@Saunder - I WOULD name and shame, but I can never remember their names the next day. Perhaps I was dropped too much as a baby, or too much second-hand funny smoke during my college rock-band years. I guess I should keep a note-pad handy when I play, but that's WAY too organized for me. I never know what I'm going to write about until I start writing.
@Minstrel I didn't necessarily think Tankie's criticism was unfair - I just didn't like it very much, and fortunately for me, I have a platform where I can moan and complain at length for the entertainment of others. Win-win.
I feel your pain as a shadow priest. There is a certain unnamed dragon boss in a regular heroic that I have trouble showing good numbers on due to his shadow resist (yet no one thinks of that when they try to call me out). There is a certain regualr heroic boss who reflects spells (stonecore I think?), and I SUCK at dps on him because I can't time things absolutely perfect, and people call me out on him... I usually resort to some immature name calling and I will start the boot if necessary. I'm sick of people who don't understand others' playstyles and can't look at more than one encounter for dps.
ReplyDeleteI never understand the general complaining that goes on in Heroics. As long as people don't stand in bad, don't pull aggro (unless they're the tank) and CC what they're asked too.. I really don't care about their dps. It'll come with gear - and I kind of expect at least the majority of people in Heroics to be in there to *get* gear, and not be fully raid geared.
ReplyDeleteAs a Warlock, I doubt it would matter if you were affliction. I'd be tempted to say that with things dying quickly affliction would do even worse than destro, since surely the ramp-up time is longer with the additional dots.
But then, a tank probably wouldn't know that. Nor to not compare Heroic dps with raid dps. My raid dps is usually a lot different to my dps in Heroics - mainly, I suspect, because things really just do die too fast.
So, in conclusion - as long as the run is smooth (I might be concerned if someone in full epics was doing 4k dps) and things are dying - I don't think people should waste their time (and others) whining about people's dps or gear or colour of their nail polish.. Too much complaining gets tedious.
Saga's right. As an affliction warlock, that tank's comment to go Aff to increase your heroic DPS made me laugh hysterically. Your trash DPS would drop, probably.
ReplyDeleteIn my raid gear (4pc lawl) in a Zulroic, my trash DPS is rather embarrassing (6-10k), especially if the other two blokes are smoking the meters. My DPS returns a bit to normal (on par with or better than the other guys) on bosses, so it's not my skill (nor, I suspect, yours) that's the problem.
Damage Over Time. Two parts. No time? Ain't gonna be no damage.