Elementalist O. M. G.

I have several different professions. Yeah, I actually started on elementalist, but then I got drawn in by warrior and thief. But recently I've been thinking maybe I'm just not playing the elementalist the best way I can. I've been using a staff because it offers the most DPS, but it's kinda slow to roll out. I imagine it's great in a group where you have some time and there's probably a heavy armor warrior up front. But hey, this video really opened my eyes. Check this out!

Where HAVE I Been? In Guild Wars, yo!

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So I finally left WoW when I realized two things. First, I was really bored with it. You know you're bored with it when you just can't face leveling another toon. Second, I got into the beta for Guild Wars 2 and I really liked the new mechanics.

That was late November. I haven't looked back. At first it was PC only and I still played 'cause it's that good. Now the Mac version is running and though marked beta it's almost bug free.  Only bug I've hit is rare and intermittent mouse control thing, probably because I don't play full screen.

So here's why I love Guild Wars. Yeah, that's right, no subscription fee. Instead there is a RMT optional Auction House, but... get this, the stuff you can buy (with your gold or RMT) is not going to make a significant difference in the power or playability of your toon. That's right; it's SKILL baby, not who has the most coin or the most time to grind for coin. It's mostly cool shit (like dye for your gear) or P2P mats for professions. Second, great lore. It actually has story arcs and holds to them. Third, no grind. Fourth, no locked in roles. Every toon can heal, kite, tank. Fourth, public zergs (à la Rift). Fifth, dynamic questing; quests pop up as you wander in range of the activity. Sixth, oh hell, just watch the video.

I might add, crafting doesn't suck. In fact, there's recipe creation. Very cool recipe creation.

The game up and down levels you as you move through regions. So, if you want to play with a lower level toon in a level 30 zone, the game downscales your DPS to match the region so you play as an equal (and get credit for XP etc.)

I now have a thief, ranger, elementalist, mesmer, engineer, warrior, necromancer... so far.
(By the way, the dungeons are hard and hella fun.)

PS In the video the guy is talking about beta. There is no queue for World vs World. That's fine now. Yes, you have to mail stuff to another player; no trade window, but... you don't have to visit a mailbox to get your mail. It opens anywhere, and it's instant, so no big.

Here's my current toons. Every one is fun to play.

Yeah I Rolled One of Those

Well, why not. I rolled a Pandaran, but the females looked so stupid (the way female Tauren look stupid), that I had to go with a male. Of course I spec'd him as a monk. What's the point of rolling a new race if you don't also roll the new class especially suited to the new race. And, given my predilection for healers, of course I'm going with the heal spec. I have to say, so far, at low levels, it's a boring heal. But maybe that will change.

The new start zone is very well done. Nice art and a good story line, but alas, within an hour or two you're back into the same old same old. Yeah, young monk, go travel to Orgrimmar. =sigh=

But then, as soon as I hit lvl 15, I jumped into dungeons as a healer and was surprised to see that at least some of the dungeons had been reworked. New bosses, new story arcs. Nice. Except that at low levels everyone is powering through the  content to get the xp or the boss drop or the dungeon quest reward. As a healer I found myself in the usual position of being unable to even loot because the tank ran ahead and I had to follow. =grrr= At least I'm not having to struggle with mana. In fact, neither this toon nor my healing shaman have any issues with mana. =weird=

Yeah, I wanted to just name him Weiwei, but it was taken. Drat. LIke my Fu Manchu 'stache? Interestingly, as my daughter pointed out, lots of Ameri-centric players are using Japanese names, often from animé, on their Chinese Panda character. C'mon people, we're not that stupid are we? Do all "those Asians" just seem the same to you? Really? Gah. I wonder how this, and by that I mean the Chinese flavored Mists of Panderia expansion, is playing in China. Are they happy to represent or pissed at the stereotyping? Ah well. I think I'll jump into GW2 this weekend. It's been a while and I'm almost getting to lvl 30 where I can run dungeons.