Well, it’s scheduled, we just didn’t mention it on the logon screen… just in the forums you never visit and the Twitter feed that scrolls faster than you can read.

Oh well… Irregular Scheduled post it is then…

WHY DO PEOPLE NOT ATTEMPT THE OBJECTIVE IN BATTLEGROUNDS?!?!

F$%jING NOOB F$%jING BA$TARD CRAZY PSYCO BEARDLESS GNOMES!!!

Ohh hang on…

That’s me…

A couple of posts back…

A little while back.. a couple of posts back... holy Gnome poo Wolfman, that was back in July?… I said I was going to write a couple of posts explaining why people don’t try to achieve the objectives in Battlegrounds.

I have to admit.. I’m a slack bugger and now I don’t know what the hell I was going to write about… over two posts…

I’m sure it was good… but… ummm… I’ve got no idea what would have covered two posts.

I kind of do… but I can’t believe I would have stretched it out to two posts (he says at the beginning of a post that will probably be so long you will need to read it over morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea… don’t forget to forward the link so you can finish it after work).

The answer is simple… only takes two words…

Is the post really about to be over?

Killing Blows!

There, I said it, even formatted it as a heading… job done.

You see.. it gets to a point, where the only reason to run normal BGs is for killing blows… and yeah the love of BGs, of course, the love of BGs… Naaaaah… killing blows.

There are only so many times you can carry the flag in WSG, to the win, while you pass the people having all the fun in the middle.

There are only so many AV’s, AB’s and WSG’s you can run until you can’t earn any more reputation.

I look happy about it too don't I... NOT!

Even when the only reputation to be earned slower each painful patch is Battleground reputation… (Should bloody PvE… they make that easier each patch)

There are only so many Battlemaster achievements you can score, while winning a game, before you just have to give up and fight on the roads…

One achievement to go...

… knowing that you wont give up, even if the strategy calls for you to be 500 points behind before making a remarkable recovery…

Come on... we can do this!

… even when your stinking-healing-squid-tentacle-waving-Alt gets the achievement 1st in a rated battleground…

Press Confirm to delete character...

IN A F$%jING RATED BATTLEGROUND… ON YOUR ALT…

There are only so many BattleMaster achievements you can score…

… before you you say…

F$%j IT!

…if only for a little while…

I am fighting on the roads.

I am fighting in midfield.

I am fighting off the node.

I JUST WANT TO KILL THE F$%jING HORDE!

and you know what… I played the 1st AV in ages that I enjoyed the other day…

I didn’t cap towers…

I didn’t back cap towers…

I couldn’t give a flying F$%j about the graveyards…

Drek’Who?

At some point, in some BG, you will just get to the point where you think…

I am here to kill the Horde!

I AM HERE TO KILL THE HORDE!

HORDE, HORDE, HORDE, HORDE, F$%jING HOOOORRRRRDDDDEEEEE!

There… simple isn’t it…

No I still don’t have that one stupid achievement…

Lucky really… if I did, there would be only one reason to run BGs… one reason to play WoW…

HONOR KILLS!

Gnomer and Out!

No.. you didn’t get off that easily!

DONATE TO THE ALLIANCE!

(Or I’ll rip your bloody arms off!)

PS: I’m pretty that F$%jING is FISHING and WordPress is scrambling it…

Ohh.. maybe not…

My MoGnovemberaggedon…

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2011/11/08/1015-on-a-tuesday-night/

Filed under: Movember, PvP Tagged: Movember, PvP

Aware People are Supportive People: Movember

Gnomeaggedon — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:08:53 +0000

I know I said I wouldn’t post again, but any excuse to avoid going outside on this beautiful Spring afternoon.

I realized while rereading my Movember posts from last year, plus a post from earlier this year, that my posts on depression were kind of, well, depressing.

So, where is the good news?

Here’s some around people understanding depression and more importantly with that understanding facilitating recovery.

Manager that didn’t understand

When I wrote the post about Depression in the Workplace it was with vivid memories of a manager that while professionally-supportive didn’t understand the long term nature of mental illness.

In my case, my wife suffering with mental illness and myself being dragged into depression, it was a difficult time for everyone, a situation that we were going to need a while to recover from.

This included frustration at me missing a couple of hours each week or fortnight to visit a shrink, let alone me coming in occasionally late or rushing out early.

Likewise although my manager was aware of my situation, he never shared my situation with my coworkers or other managers, leaving them to form their own ideas about my erratic behavior.

In the end I was a bee’s dick from termination (maybe closer… I called for a last minute stay of termination) and my team mates were very disillusioned and felt I was letting them down at every test.

New Managers

For over a year now I have had not one but two new managers. The senior manager has been around for a long time and I know he was aware of my bad performance, but not my situation prior to becoming my manager.

The 1st getting to know you meeting I had with each of the managers, I explained my battles with mental illness, my ex-wife’s battles and my determination to stay well and perform at a high level.

I really had no idea how good these managers were until my ex-wife’s attempted suicide that I mentioned briefly in Better Off without me.

Support

The Monday morning after my wife’s attempt, I sent a text message to my boss informing him of the lost weekend of work (which was an issue as we were on a tight time frame and this put us back a week), as well as the events with my ex-wife.

Moments after I arrived in the office my manager took me into a meeting room and told me to go home and sort things out – taking as long as I needed. Once I explained that my ex had been hospitalized and I preferred to continue working until the moment I needed to leave without notice, he accepted this.

He did one more thing, which was to gauge how I felt about letting the whole team aware of the basic situation. Of course I was happy for him to share as much a he needed.

About an hour later I was summoned to another meeting room, this time by the more senior manager. He also told me to go home, and not come back until I was ready. Likewise once I explained my intentions, he gave me leave to come and go as I needed.

As for the lost week of work – it was irrelevant. Any time… any time I had to choose between work and family, I was to choose family with their direct approval.

Each day I was asked how I was, how Odin was, how my ex was, even how my ex’s partner was coping (a lot of my energy early on went to supporting my ex’s partner as the experience left him reeling and depressed).

About a week after the suicide attempt, my senior manager called to me to his desk to review a list of symptoms on his PC. After reading the symptoms and confirming my ex experienced all but one, he told me to grab a meeting room and call my ex’s psychiatrist.

You see my ex-wife had been misdiagnosed with depression years ago and thus ha been receiving the wrong treatment. With my boss’ assistance, I was able to assist her doctor in finding the correct treatment.

Coworker support

As I mentioned earlier, nothing was hidden from my coworkers and they were aware that I had the full support of two levels (actually it was 3 levels as the department head was also aware and supportive) of the organization.

I could talk freely with them, they could talk freely with me. We discussed progress, they never once said a thing, nor even a raised eyebrow, if I arrived late, or left early.

Clock watcher

Have you ever hand a clock watching manager?

My last couple have been clock watchers. My current one is a horror, as he is normally at work about 7.30am, so he knows.

I officially start at 8:30am, but apart from 3, maybe 4 days this year I haven’t been in before 9, with 9:30 probably being the average.

I’ve only seen him tap his watch 3, maybe 4 times this year – those were the days I was on time, quickly followed by a cheeky smirk.

Flexibility

Of course I gave something in exchange. What I gave was the offer to work outside of office hours, whenever required. By this I mean at 6pm if someone called. At 3am if someone called from London.

My workplace gave me, continues to give me, nearly 12 months down the track, the flexibility I require to maintain my and my family’s mental health. In return I give them the flexibility to operate on two hemispheres.

Win/Win

Performance

So my performance review results are in.

Two years ago I was bottom of the rung, being prepped for termination. Within the afore mentioned bee’s dick of losing my job, and to be honest, that would have been the last straw for me.

This year I received the highest performance result possible. Something neither of my bosses have seen before. My senior manager stroked my performance outcome while they gave me the news.

This was a great result for me.
This was a great result for them.
This was a great result for our team.

It was a result achieved by me while dealing with all the dramas that surround mental illness.

This is evidence that being open and accepting about mental illness in a workplace can have excellent results.

The difference.

There are a few key differences this time around.

For one thing I have been a lot more vocal in the last couple of years about mental illness. I haven’t hid anything. So rather than leaving my coworkers wondering why I am erratic, I have worked with them so that we can perform better as a team.

Then there are my managers. My previous manager is an excellent person, but one that lacked the understanding of my current managers.

One of them has a sibling with disabilities. The sibling has had the disabilities all their life, thus my manager is accustomed to the idea that some illnesses are long term. Adjustments need to be made, but life can still continue with appropriate support.

The other, the senior manager, just happens to be married to a psychiatrist. Fortunately for my ex, my boss’s wife specializes in the illness my ex suffers from. This is why this manager knew what to show me on the web. This is why he understands that this won’t be fixed overnight.

They understand.

They aren’t afraid to talk about it.

They are prepared to support.

It’s not taboo… It’s just another facet of the human condition we call life.

It’s not over, it’s the beginning, a supported beginning.

So I am well, mentally, physically and I am maintaining my employment.

Odin is well and can discuss the illness that mummy has in her head, that mummy sees doctors for to help her become well. He plays games where he puts the pieces of a patients mind back together in the right places, just as the doctors are with his mummy.

His mummy is well. Occasionally she hits a wall, but she’s also prepared to call for help, whether it’s me or Lifeline.

She knows now that she has lost years of her life, her marriage and several jobs due to mental illness.

What is important is she knows she didn’t lose this things because of who she is, but rather from a condition that went untreated.

Now she is receiving treatment, as hard as it is at times, she now has a future and a million reasons to live.

Her friends are supportive.

Her family is supportive

Her workplace is supportive.

There is no need for shame and secrets as mental illness is as normal as a broken arm.

Please support Movember in donation, word or deed.

It is a worthy cause, we are all worthy causes.

Mo’mer and Out!

If you are in the U.K. and want to support a local, how about Now Gamer Dave from Now Gamer?

Now we just have to talk Fuubaar and Fulguralis into the hairy upper lip!

Not that I would ever dissuade you from supporting me!

My MoGnovemberaggedon…

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2011/11/03/one-mo-time/

Filed under: Movember Tagged: Movember

One Mo’ Time…

Gnomeaggedon — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 08:15:26 +0000

Miss me?

I’ve missed you!

Unfortunately time is still not on my side, so no super dooper posts from me.

Still, I am squeezing out a little time to remind you of something.

I’M ALIVE!

And that, as I described to you in gory detail this time last year, is due in a large part to friends and medical practitioners with a good awareness of depression, the effects on an individual, and the wide ranging effects on the individual’s family and broader community.

I’m excited to be alive and once again participating in Movember, and invite you to share in the excitement of knowing you are making a difference by raising awareness of depression and prostate cancer.

I know I wont have time to do this justice this year, so I wont be posting about it again, but please read through last years posts.

Shave and a Haircut: Movember

Just in case you thought I wasn’t serious

Depression in the family: Movember

Youth gone wild: Movember

Married with child and depressed: Movember

Depression in the workplace: Movember

Talking about it saves lives: Movember

Better Off without me

Aware People are Supportive People: Movember

I will briefly mention my ex-wife, who has been through a very difficult year this year dealing with mental illness. Intially battling to stay alive, then months of therapy and courses to help her develop coping mechanisms and redirect the behaviors that have prevented her from living what many people would consider a normal life, one where the thought of suicide never enters their thoughts. It has been a tough year for all around her, but we are hanging in, as is she.

One of the greatest challenges has been educating her mother about what mental illness is, why it isn’t cured overnight, why it isn’t her fault, why the abuse directed at her is a cry for help rather than true abuse. Of course, I am fortunate that I live in a society that can, more and more, talk openly about mental illness, that can make adjustments to enable people to heal and become fully functioning, whereas my mother-in-law comes from a culture where mental illness “doesn’t exist” and certainly never happens to a loved one.

Bringing the conversation about mental illness into public arena is one of the greatest strengths of Movember. Just as a pink ribbon, or pink bottle top is a great way of raising awareness of breast cancer, growing a Mo is a great way of raising awareness and letting all around you know that you are aware and care about issues affecting men’s health – and you don’t even need to say a word.

Everyone can contribute in some way.

Donate
Grow a Mo
Grow a Mo and join the Movember celebration
Get your workplace, club, class, whatever, to join in and grow Mo’s
Encourage your partner to grow a Mo
Discourage your partner from waxing their Mo
Compliment someone on a Mo today
Come join my MovemberTeam!

Remember, this isn’t just an Australian event, it is worldwide… Even ForThePie is joining in this year in Movember U.S.A.! Of course there is Movember U.K as well.. go look… get the look… the Movember look!

Mo’mer and Out!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2011/11/03/one-mo-time/

Filed under: Movember Tagged: Movember

Drek’Thar to be executed for win trading

Gnomeaggedon — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:52:13 +0000

In the latest scandal to rock the Horde since Garrosh Hellscream’s rise to power, Drek’Thar has been implicated in a win trading scandal and sentenced to execution.

Sources close to the investigation inform us that questions were raised about the unusual number of wins by the Alliance in the Alterac Valley.

While Drek’Thar denies all wrong doing several irregularities point to a conspiracy to deprive the Horde of vital war resources.

The design of fortifications in Alterac Valley have for a long time been considered imbalanced giving a clear advantage to the Alliance. Yet Drek’Thar refuses to make modifications.
Even when towers and graveyards, clearly in sight of the Horde General are attacked, Drek’Thar refuses to leave the safety of his stronghold or send his Warmasters to recap these critical strategic nodes.
When taunted from his stronghold, Drek’Thar rarely attacks beyond his doorstep, not even to eliminate the threat forming on “Noob Hill”
Drek’Thar and Vanndar Stormpike have exchanged RealIDs and frequently discuss the progress of their forces.
The Warmasters have been placing wagers on the outcome of the battles to acute the future of their loved ones.

Garrosh Hellscream is quoted as saying:

Yet another example of soft Alliance-loving leaders put in their positions by that traitor Thrall. If he wasn’t off saving the world, I would have his head on a pike as well… KILL THEM ALL!

Investigations into the other battlegrounds have stalled with the realization that with the exception of Isle of Cobquest, no leaders have been placed to coordinate the battles.

Drek’Thar has refused to stand down from his position, or relieve his Warmasters of their roles in the battle for Alterac Valley.

When pressed he responded:

Garrosh who?

Let him come and throw his body on our pikes. We won’t be so easy on the pretender to the Horde leadership as we are to Vanndar’s forces.

In the Alliance stronghold of Stormwind, King Varian has given his full support to his leader Vanndar and Drek’Thar.

This is war, any weapon whether made of steel or deceit that wins the field for the Alliance is supported by me. Anyway, I am funding the Alliance war effort on my Alerac Valley winnings.

Vanndar Stormpike had only one short statement regarding the issue…

lol L2P noobs…

Gnomer and Out!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2011/07/18/drekthar-to-be-executed-for-win-trading/

Filed under: Misc WoW Tagged: Misc WoW

I don’t care about the color of your clothes

Gnomeaggedon — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:25:33 +0000

nor about the titles you show
nor for that matter if you have a 3200 arena rating.
I only care that you play to win, and do that well.

So we have a new guildy, a pvp loving guildy. I’ve been in WSG with him all weekend… school holidays.

A demotivational player

Yeah, he’s a young guy. His parents are younger than me.

I don’t care about that either. He plays his rogue well. Peeling is his favorite word. He’s a team player, setting up opportunities for the win. I like that, it’s the way I, and my mates play. Personal glory 2nd, win for the team 1st.

He has one annoying habit, one I haven’t had much personal experience with in a while and when I did it was related to PvE and Gearscore.

No good reason to have these screen shots

He idolizes gear, titles and arena ratings.

When we enter a BG, he is immediately inspecting the team.

Wow, she’s got a 2800 arena rating from last season.

That guy is a Battlemaster!

That warrior is sooo geared.

Look at that noob in greens/heirlooms/last season’s/PvE gear.

To me all of that is irrelevant. Sure it indicates that a player has won some battles, but ratings can be forged, titles can indicate a selfish player, gear indicates nothing more than a grind.

except I wonder why the need to demotivate prior to game start

What matters is the player’s motivation to be in the BG and usually that motivation isn’t obvious until the game is underway.

Why are the 2800 rating, the Battlemaster, the well geared players in WSG?

Probably not to capture the flag.

They are most likely there to get HKs. I have no problem with this. If they get the right HK it is assisting me in my goals. If they are taking random kills and ignoring the enemy flag carrier (efc), we are at crossed purposes.

My goal at the moment is two fold.

Honor
Flags cap for the win

It was 3 fold, but I now have Master of Warsong Gulch, so my primary goal in WSG now is just to reach Exalted with Silverwing Sentinals. To do that I need the flag to be capped as many times as possible in the BG.

I’m also, for just a little bit longer, after honor, so the win is important to me.

Soon I will be maxed out on honor gear, so the wins will be less relevant, but the flag caps still important for another 13000 reputation.

Then… whatever… for the joy of playing, for the honor kills, just to piss the Horde off.

I expect my motivations will be guided by that of my team mates then.

Why bitch and moan when the game is going so good

The Plate assumption

Whenever I enter a WSG with my mate Plaguezilla, the geared and competent DK, people automatically nominate him as our flag carrier (fc).

He just points at me.

He doesn’t want to carry flags, he wants to kill the Horde. He knows I want more flags for our team than less, so he will facilitate that, but given the choice, he would rather stop the efc than be the fc.

Our goals are different, but luckily complimentary.

Luckily for me at least.

Most WSG you will find 8/10 people brawling in mid-field. It would be a mistake to call them noobs. They probably know exactly what they are doing, it just doesn’t reflect your desires.

and people are having so much fun

Coming back to our green/heirloom/last season/PvE geared team mates.

Whatever…

Seriously, it comes down to their skill, attitude and desires.

Can you carry a flag in greens?

Yes!

Can you carry a flag in PvE gear?

Yes!

Can you PvP in PvE gear?

Yes!

It might not be easy. You may be putting more pressure on the rest of the team, but you can do it.

There were two examples of this over the weekend. Both 3 capped. The only issue of note was their attitudes.

There was the tank warrior in PvE gear. Admittedly he was provoked by my new guildy, but he made the silly statement that

Plate is for flag carrying

To which I call bullshit.

The 2nd was in greens. My new guildy also provoked him (I’m working on the kid ok…).

Gear might not matter... just don't take the credit

His only mistake was declaring that he won the BG for us.

I also call bullshit.

My 5 year old son could have 3 capped that game. We were a good team against a bad one. He had myself and a Mage mate peeling anything and everything off him before he even knew it was there.

The gear didn’t matter, the motivations of his team mates did. We covered his arse and returned our flag.

Just a shame he thought he was an individual hero in a team game. If my motivations were different, if flag caps didn’t matter, I would have let the Horde fill him full of holes.

Luckily for him, out paths coincided that game.

Don’t call people out for bad gear, there could be an awesome player behind that avatar.

Don’t idolize titles/rankings/gear, they promise nothing but the the fact the player has done whatever they needed to do to get them.

They may mislead you to believe you can rely on them for something they aren’t prepared to give.

Aweful gear FTW!

Play your game, play to win.

Judge people on their actions not their looks

and everyone should come out on top.

Note: The only text in those screenshots involving the guildy in question, is the text showing him helping us to a quick win.

Gnomer and Out!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2011/07/12/i-dont-care-about-the-color-of-you-clothes/

Filed under: Misc WoW, PvP Tagged: Misc WoW, PvP

OMFG, No Healers, we’re screwed!

Gnomeaggedon — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 21:00:57 +0000

To which I respond…

No we’re not.

Kill them before they hurt you.

Focus their healers, send them to the graveyard 1st, make them wish they hadn’t joined the BG too.

A long time ago Gnomeaggedon joined the circle of healers meme. People thought it was novel, a joke, but I was DEADLY serious.

You don’t need healers to win a BG, you just need to make sure the enemy has none.

This was highlighted on the weekend and began with comments just like the title of this post.

...with 18 minutes still on the clock!

A short time later, I had capped for the 3rd time and the enemy team never got out of the graveyard I was slowfalling over each time with the flag.

Healers are overrated.

Sure they help, but if you aren’t playing PvP as if healers didn’t exist, you probably deserve to die.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my BG healers.

As I said on twitter:..

3 things I have learned in WSG:

Healers love Mage food
Healers love Flag Carriers
Healers love Mage food providing Flag Carriers.

But I don’t rely on their existence. I play knowing the only thing between me and death is me… then grin an evil grin when I discover I am getting heals.

Protect ‘em if you got ‘em!

Ohhh and speaking of healers.

Healers Have to Die!

I’ve mentioned this add-on before and Cynwise has an excellent post on the ethics of it.

Keep this one alive and they made do the same for you!

What you need to know is, not only will it show you enemy healers, but it will also show you friendly healers as well.

There are two things you need to do:

Turn the options on.

Turn on enemy AND friendly name plates

Gnomer and Out!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2011/07/12/omfg-no-healers-were-screwed/

Filed under: Misc WoW, PvP Tagged: Misc WoW, PvP

Sketch-a-Gnome

Gnomeaggedon — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:05:14 +0000

Vasburg the Internet Hooligan has invited me to participate in a live sketch session by providing a screenshot to be sketched live on livestream.

Of course due to the insanity of world time, I probably wont be there to watch live, but you can be.

Why don’t you drop by and see how it turns out?

Gnomer and Out!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2011/07/08/sketch-a-gnome/

Filed under: Misc WoW Tagged: Misc WoW

If Women Ruled WoW

Gnomeaggedon — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 09:58:23 +0000

A new twist on an old issue…

If Women Ruled WoW (Machinima ft. The Women of WoW, Jesse Cox, and WoWCrendor)

Gnomer and Out!

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2011/06/28/8582/

Filed under: Machinima Tagged: Machinima

Gripping and Leaping to a BG win

Gnomeaggedon — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 00:00:21 +0000

I recently wrote, as an aside, of the power of a team of Priests in WSG Life Gripping (yeah OK, Leap of Faith) a flag carrier across midfield in a long chain.

My last post was about peeling FTW, and many of the contents of this post are peels of one sort of another.

I was inspired by another use of Leap of Faith over the weekend which got me considering all those utility tools we have and their use in the WSG and Twin Peaks Battlegrounds

Catching the Carrier: Gripping FTW!

Lot’s of classes have snares, stuns and CCs (which I will get to), but just like snakes and ladders you want the Enemy Flag Carrier (efc) closer to your base – further from theirs.

Whether you pull back or blow back, they are precious yards that the efc has to regain. At times this is will just slow their forward momentum, at others snatch victory from a certain flag cap defeat.

The one thing to consider (as I was made acutely aware in TP the other day… In ALL CAPS), is you need to pick your time. Death Gripping or blowing an efc from your death dealing team mates may give the efc the break they need (Like cycloning an enemy on 10% health when everyone’s cooldowns are blown and the kill window is lost – not cool!).

Death Gripping FTW!

One step forward, two steps back. A Death Grip can do this to an efc, especially if properly timed with a follow up Chains of Ice or other snares, stuns and CC. The efc will blow his trinket early and be left at the mercy of your flag chasers.

You could also pull the efc sideways across the field into the waiting arms of your flag running group – away from the support of his group. Of course if his support group has a priest it could become a game of flag-carrier-tennis.

Gripping the last chance

You can smell the sense of frustration in a flag carrier as they reach the podium for a cap, only to be yanked back to the doorway.

That last second tackle is worth 1000 midfield.

Blowback FTW!

A Druid’s Typhoon or an Elemental Shaman’s Thunderstorm are the reverse of Death Grip. Instead of pulling the opponent to you for the kill, they push back.

Midfield you can use this to push them back down the field, or back to your teammates that the efc is in the process of escaping from.

Blowing off a capping attempt

For the ultimate in flag carrier shock, inducing a near heart attack, have your Druid or shaman waiting on the flag capping spot to blow the efc away from a certain flag cap, buying previous moments, especially if waiting for a recently dropped enemy flag.

Blowing is good, stopping is better!

Remember Grip & Lock, Blow and Lock.

Once you have moved that efc into a more advantageous position, you don’t want them racing off.

That’s where more standard CC comes in to play. Stuns, sheep, frogs, ice traps, freezing traps, chains of ice, roots.

You got ‘em, Use ‘em!

I’m not where you think I am!

I’ve shown you how to hinder, so now here’s a bit about helping, yourself (if you are a Mage or Warrior flag carrier) or others (if you are a Priest).

Don’t blink or you’ll miss me.

Blink is a bread and butter Mage ability. Telling a Mage to blink while carrying the flag is tantamount to telling them how to suck eggs.

Still, lest it be forgotten, Blink will get you across the BG and sometimes the best direction is not forward.

No I’m not suggesting you blink backwards, that’s a recipe for a home goal. However the advantage of blink is that you disappear and reappear. The average flag carrier is expected to go in one direction – to the home base.

So sometimes, it’s worth going sideways. You will get “behind” a chasing midfield pack, confusing those focused chasers who will either carry on, or turn in the expected direction initially.

Likewise if you are blinking sideways into the loving, supportive group of your midfield pack, you become harder to target, closer to potential heals and worst case, closer to someone else that can pick up the flag if you fall.

You may even find yourself shooting out the other end of your team’s pack, leaving them to crash headlong into the chasing pack, allowing them to utilize the full force of their stuns, CC and snares to give you a precious lead on the opposition.

Leaping to Victory!

Warriors have two awesome tools at their disposal: Intervene and Heroic Leap.

Intervene is a reverse Leap of Faith. Rather than being pulled to a Priest, you launch yourself at a team mate. It’s a great way to leap frog the midfield and all it takes is for a team mate to be offside, between you and the capping point.

Heroic Leap will launch you across the battleground

Leap of Faith does a similar thing to intervene, of course you do need a priest in the correct position.

Some of the best play I have seen by priests is with them staying ahead of the play, ahead of the friendly flag carrier.

This has a couple of advantages.

most likely the chasing pack is behind the FC, so if the priest is in front they aren’t within reach of the smart healer-targeting players and they are always in range of the racing FC, that may break away from the enemy pack.
if the FC is struggling to break away from the hungry wolf pack snapping on their heels, the Priest can Leap of Faith them clear of the ravenous pack.

Fast Forward FTW!

Those final agonizing seconds, as the FC enters their flag room, probably with wolves still on their heels, possibly with a potential efc moments away from frustrating a cap by holding your flag.

Best case, a fight will ensue that will extend that flag cap by seconds, worst case the efc will get away and you are an entire health bar (more if he is receiving heals) from the next cap opportunity, while both the clock and possibly your FC’s health bar tick down lost opportunities.

So what if you could fast forward those last excruciating seconds, reducing the likelihood of FC death or Flag theft. Would you take it?

Yeah of course you would.

Once again, Mages, Warriors and Priests are in the best position to facilitate this.

Just Blink and they will miss it!

Uneven ground is the bane of any blinking Mage, thankfully flagrooms have nice flat paving stones.

Blink when you see the color of your flag and you are heading for a quick cap. Blinking then will cause LoS issue for your chasers and blink can be a wonderful thing for dragging snares. Sure you have chains of ice around your ankles, but your ankles are no longer at the flag room door, they are at the flag podium!

(Strange aside. Gnomeadeaden, the DK, has been getting some mixed results with Death Grip. Sometimes when I DG a Blinking Mage, they successfully Blink, but they drag me with them. They are still distant and I find myself standing in the place they just left. Same thing happened with a Boomkin. Sure I ended up nose to beak, but I was pulled to them…)

Warriors, intervene to a team mate on the winners podium, or Heroic Leap themselves to victory.

Priests, be the one on the victory podium! That way flag runner class is irrelevant. If they have the flag, Leap of Faith them to the win.

This is what a Priest did to me the other day. There was a moment of panic I had just rounded the corner of our flag room in Twin Peaks. I saw someone standing one our podium. My heart sank, then burst through my throat as I was gripped towards this podium sitter.

As my flag carrying life flashed before my eyes, I recounted the previous moments.

There was a friendly Priest.
He went ahead of me to scout out the flag room.
The guy on the podium had a green target bar.
There were no red bars in the room.
CAPPING!

I was still momentarily dazed (IRL) after the cap. It was completely unexpected, yet incredibly good use of Leap of Faith… thus I write about it now.

Intervenes, Heroic Leaps and Leap of Faith all have enough range to ensure a quick cap the second the podium comes in sight.

If seconds are precious, then these are the jewels of the utility spells in WSG and Twin Peaks.

Gnomer and Out!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2011/06/28/gripping-and-leaping-to-a-bg-win/

Filed under: Misc WoW, PvP Tagged: Misc WoW, PvP