As anyone who has run a few random heroics recently knows, the new Dungeon Finder tool is a fantastic thing, but one issue that seems to have that comes up repeatedly is people who want to run the instance as fast as possible, to the point where the DPS (and occasionally the healers) pull enemies before the tank is ready to do so, just because they think the tank is going too slowly. When this happens to me, I usually let the DPS tank the mobs for a while, but I digress. Such occurrences are symptomatic of a larger problem I see appearing in the 5-man scene: the idea that 5-mans are only meant to be run for emblems. Forget the lore, forget the encounters, forget the money, the enchanting materials, the satisfaction of taking down an enemy you could not take on your own, the social element of the experience; it's all about getting through there as quickly as possible so that you can get your emblems and leave. I see this as a problem.
Let me begin by explaining how I view fun. My definition of fun is when you enjoy something for the process, not just the results. Let's look at something simple, like biking. Biking is exercise, so it's easy to enjoy biking for the benefits it gives you in that respect. However, if you don't enjoying riding a bike, you probably won't enjoy biking, in spite of the benefits it brings you. Biking is the process; the benefits are the results. In other words, biking is a means to an end, whereas the benefits are the end itself. Thus, in order to enjoy something, you need to enjoy the means to the end, not just the end itself. Otherwise, your fun activity becomes a chore--something you don't enjoy doing, but derive satisfaction from finishing.
I'd like to state one more assumption that I don't think anyone will disagree with: the purpose of emblems is getting gear. As I have said before in this blog, the only practical purpose of gear is allowing you to complete more difficult content, so it follows that that is the purpose of emblems as well: allowing you to see more content. Thus emblem are themselves a means to an end, so it is feasible that someone could enjoy their collection. However, it isn't that simple. Emblems are themselves an end as well, and random heroics are the means to that end. As such, in a transitive sort of way, random heroics are a means to the end of seeing more content. In other words, you are running content so that you can see more content.
What does this all mean? It means that I think that anyone who has ever uttered "I am only here for the emblems" in a random heroic needs to reexamine their priorities. Emblems are just an end that comes from the heroic run, and thus, if you only run heroics to gain emblems, then heroics are just a chore, not something that is actually fun. Now, I'm not saying that you need to find heroics fun. If you have run each of Wrath's heroics ad nauseam, no one can blame you for not enjoying them. All I am saying is, why are you doing something that you see as a chore, rather than something you see as fun? Sure, some of you may say that you need the gear so that you can go into raids, but what are raids other than suped-up 5-mans that require more people, time, and skill to take down? If you can't enjoy heroics, how much can you really enjoy raids?
Maybe I'm just prejudiced because I don't raid, but I say that if you don't enjoy heroics but feel the need to run them anyways, it's your responsibility to make them interesting. Just because you view them as a chore doesn't give you the right to force that view upon others, some of whom may actually enjoy heroics. Now, when I say "make it interesting," I don't mean pulling for the tank or trying to go so fast that your tank's health bar frequently dips bellow 10% on trash. That's just dumb. Instead, go for some achievements or help other people with theirs. Strike up a conversation during your run. Go overkill and pretend the run is more difficult than it actually is. Healers, you could overheal. Tanks, you could use your defensive cooldowns when you go from taking negligible damage to noticeable damage and pretend they are necessary. DPS, you could (gasp!) follow the strategies you used to use for the boss before you outgeared the dungeon. I assure you that all of these things will make a heroic run more interesting, for I have done them all myself.
Finally, to my readers: merry Christmas, happy belated Hanukkah, joyous early Kwanzaa, and happy belated Festivus.
Friday, December 25, 2009
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To continue your cycling analogy...
ReplyDeleteI hate cleaning my bike after each ride. It's a chore. But if I don't do it, my bike won't be in top shape for the next ride and I just love riding. I like riding enough that I clean my bike afterwards every time, but I hate cleaning my bike.
I hate heroics. Running them is a chore. But if I don't do it my gear won't be in top shape for the next raid and I just love raiding. I like raiding enough that I run heroics daily, but I hate running heroics.
You said "If you can't enjoy heroics, how much can you really enjoy raids?"
This completely ignores the notion of appropriate challenge. I like to feel a sense of accomplishment. I'm looking forward to my next attempt at Festergut, because my raid is finding it hard. Proper hard, with a few weeks of wipes now. I love overcoming a challenge. I have very little interest in revisiting content once it provides no challenge anymore.
But we want to down Arthas. Kind of driven to do it, and think it's going to be great fun. The biggest downside is that to get the gear that will let us do so, we need to faff about in trivial content every day.
Sure, we could decide not to bother, but we're not raiding because we enjoy the endless wipes. If we've got to do chores to better our chances, we'll do chores. Doesn't make us enjoy them though.
To be honest its even worse than that. The best legs I can get are the crafted ones - that's 230 emblems needed. I'll get them quicker the more alts I run through the daily, as the 23 emblems buy Primordial Saronite which can be mailed to my main, who needs his own emblems for BoP gear. I get that you feel I should be making each of these multiple runs more interesting, and for many I do try (it helps that a couple of alts are more appropriately geared for heroics, so its not completely trivial content) but it's not going to happen every time. Most of the time it's all done pretty mindlessly to be honest. It's just time spent in guild chat or whispering mates, interrupted by occasional Holy Nova spam.
I wish I could get the emblems from something appropriate to my capabilities. Not a choice I can make though. Ulduar hardmodes and TotGC would both be challenging, but they only drop the same emblems as the first normal-mode run of the day drops for a level seventysomething alt!