No, this isn’t actually a blog about the blog by the name “Forever a Noob“, however the title and content of this post is definitely inspired by the aforementioned blog’s title.
Get on with it Gnome, you are rambling…. actually delirious is probably a better word.
I was just thinking, while listening to the TwistedNether podcasts, about how I always assume that everyone knows so much more about the game than I do (OK, with the exception of the 9 million people that don’t read or intend to improve upon their abilities beyond the talent selection screen.. assuming they know it is even there). Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to say I know it all… in fact, rather the opposite.
It occurs to me that the ones “holding”, or more importantly spreading the knowledge, are also the ones that are able to acknowledge that they have gaps in their knowledge, or… are Forever a noob.
From that starting point of “I have gaps in my knowledge, and I am prepared to fill them”, one moves onto “I have questions I need answers for, and I am prepared to ask them”.
The thing is, where do you ask these questions?
Blogsphere?
I am a recent convert to the WoW Blogsphere, yet I expect that the readership is minor in comparison to other resources – and from an ex-outsider’s perspective, they feel more like one-way lecture halls, than group-discussion seminars, or think tanks.
So where else would one go for assistance?
The obvious choice is the Official Forums, but it becomes readily apparent that anyone asking a noob-like question, even if a good one, just badly formed, or perish the thought, grammatically incorrect, is TROLL FODDER. Even long time and knowledgeable posters have had their spirit crushed by the weight of the official forum trolls.
So then where else?
Well, I found it suprisingly difficult to get noobish advice for my Mage. Most wiki’s seem half formed or out of date. Most forums are full of the Frost vs. Fire debate etc. But there was one gem in the rough. One forum that turned my underpowered Mage into Gnome bursting with firey goodness.
I introduce you to the UnOfficial World of Warcraft Forums, and Particularly the Mage Forums.
Want to know how bad a Mage I was, yet when I posted my noob pleading for help post, I was handled with kidgloves my the likes of Twoflower, Rgirty, and Malentra. Well check out my first post here Help with underpowered mage… Don’t reserect it.. it’s old, but you will get a feel for the nature of the folk here, and how a sensible question will be met with a sensible and knowledgble answer.
A couple of other threads I still have bookmarked, that may be of interest to Mages, though they may be getting a little long in the tooth.
Anyway, I just thought I would share an awesome resource, and my coming-of-mage forum post with you.
Gnomer and Out!
Some of the sticky posts in the official forums aren’t all that bad. When I levelled up I had great help when it came to possible talent builds for instance, I wouldn’t have had a clue without them. But I agree there takes some work to fish up the pearls.
The guild relations forum on the US side has had some really insightful posts about how to organize and keep raiding guilds happy, some of them better than anything I’ve read elsewhere.
I visit Elitistjerks regulary as well. It is a bit too much of information and the tone can be rather harsh at times, but there’s really a wealth of information. I love the arcane mage thread for instance.
But seriously, I think the Blogosphere DO interact, that we discuss things. But there are quite a few discussions going on at the same time… and sometimes we don’t link altogether so you just see a part of the discussion.
I think I’ve learned most about the game from players I’ve met. Whenever I meet people who seem to know more than me I listen to what they say and try to pick up ideas from them.
yeah I agree, some of the sticky posts are good… it’s just trawling through the others that can break one’s heart.
And I agree, the blogsphere seems to be very well connected, I just wonder how many non-bloggers are aware of the existence of such great resources and discussions.
Of course it may be a good thing that the trolls aren’t active blog readers….
PS Dear Gnomeaggedon, you’re making my life hard! I’ve been gone for a week and you’ve been sort of spitting out excellent interesting blogposts every day. How am I supposed to catch up with it, give them the comments they deserve? Didn’t think about that, did you?
If I won’t find the time to do it, I at least want to give you cred for the work you put into your blog. You’re new into blogging, but you sure know how to blog! I really love this end of the world.
funny you should say that.. I haven’t had the chance to hit your blog in a few days, apart from a quick look.. and I see that you programmed some awesome posts… I need to find the time to get back there!
And thanks for the compliment
I’ve found I’ve learned most from the kindness of strangers. I don’t mean trade chat, I mean… well… PuGs. Believe it or not you come across that one awesome guy or gal every now and again and you learn something or two from them. Sometimes you click so well they just dont go away ^.~ Thanks for the new boards to go over though. Always happy to freshen up on my reading.
Agreed.. it is worth remembering that some of the folk in pugs are just like us.. nice, caring, sharing, knowledgeable, pretty.. maybe I have gone to far there (speaking for myself that is).