I took the day off from work.
My head has really been aching lately, the base of the neck spasms that tell me the stress at work is getting up there. It’s our 4th of July weekend in the States, we get Friday off from work as a paid holiday, so I decided to stretch it into a four day weekend.
Spent most of the morning rearranging and cleaning the furniture, setting up the entertainment center in the family room a different way.
I came across my Playstation that I bought just to play Final Fantasy Tactics on when the PS2 was in use.
A little lightbulb went off… I grabbed my stack of PS1 games, dusted off Spyro the Dragon, and spent the next couple hours teaching Alex how to play. He’s in there right now, happily flaming sheep. :)
So over lunch, chatting with Cassie over what to do, she’s been looking up reviews on dishwashers since our’s is dying from the pump (I think our hard water has caused long term damage), and she asks what my plans are.
I tell her that seeing Jardal working on prepping Bear gear at 80 has inspired me to write a new Bear gear post.
I outline my plans; I’ll have a simple breakdown, the best in slot for people who are leveling 70 to 80, consisting of regular instance rewards, crafted, quest rewards and such that will carry them into Heroics. A second section for those newly dinged 80 that they can seek, again best in slot from crafted, Heroic drops, Emblem rewards, Argent Tournament rewards and 10 man easy raids like Obsidian Sanctum and VoA, the items that will carry a person directly into Naxx 10 safely.
Finally, a section of best in slot, taking into account Emblem rewards, crafted, Naxx 10 and 25 drops, etc that will prepare one for walking into Ulduar.
Cassie looks at me, and says, “And the first five comments you will get will be someone that disagrees with one of your choices, someone that says you overlooked something, someone that links to someone else’s blog that they say did it better, someone that asks why they should listen to a noob that isn’t raiding Ulduar, and finally someone who will ask ‘who still raids Naxx lol’.”
I looked at her for a few moments, formulating a response.
She looked back at me.
Finally, she said “You are going to spend hours doing this, and you know I’m right.”
So I did what any red blooded American blogger would do.
I blogged about it.
Entries (RSS)
Alex just announced that he “Likes kicking frogs asses” while playing Spyro.
I laughed, Cassie smacked me and informed him we don’t say that word.
Forget Tomb Raider, forget Prince of Persia, forget Super Mario Brothers.
Spyro the Dragon (the original game) is the best platforming game of ALL TIME.
Go to Wintergrasp. My DK just dinged 80 and had two pieces waiting for him. And he is two days out from getting his AT sword.
Oh, and if you don’t raid Ulduar then yadaa… yadaa… yadaa…. :D
“And the first five comments you will get will be someone that disagrees with one of your choices, someone that says you overlooked something, someone that links to someone else’s blog that they say did it better, someone that asks why they should listen to a noob that isn’t raiding Ulduar, and finally someone who will ask ‘who still raids Naxx lol’.”
Cassie, you just won the Internet. Congratulations :P
::laughing:: Cassie NAILED that one! :) ::giggle:: And yeah, that sounds like a typical response to a kid saying a no-no word… ::chuckling:: btw, I LOVED Ratters post responding to yours mentioning cockroaches… :)
you are married to a very wise woman :)
also – spyro the dragon series is one of my all time favorite games! good on you for introducing the next generation to it :)
I’d personally love a post like that, B3. :) My boomkin/cat has slowly turned into boomkin/bear and I’m clueless about bear gear. I managed to tank Plague and Spider wing of Naxx 10, though I feel that was more due to my healers than anything else. I’m loving it so far though – mauling faces is far more fun than I thought it’d be.
Happy 4th!
Nicest thing in Northrend fer us clanky-type tanks were the easy access ta 74-78 crafted blue tanking gears from blacksmiths. Made getting started way easier than in Outland. One assumes you tank with yer face types got something similars from leatherworkers, yes?
I hope you go through with this. I just respec’d to feral tank (from balance), and I’ve been looking for exactly this. So, where should I go to get my new gear?
Thanks!
Lol, that’ll show her! When I added the bear to my dual spec I found a great best-in-slot pre-naxx guide. I’ll try and dig it up again and email it to you. BTW, your post about why we continue to the play the game and whether with the passing of time we’re more or less engaged by it inspired me to transfer my main to another server so that I can play with my brother-in-law. Good times :-)
I don’t know if I should answer as a blogger or as a player… lol PWNED!
Okay, I’ll still do it, it needs to be done properly with what i know about gear now, just had to think about it for a minute.
Smart woman, that Cassie.
And I’m looking forward to your thoughts on gear. The fact that you take the time to structure the “why” and don’t just announce “this is the final word, take it and be grateful” makes sorting out changes to the gear easier.
You never know when you’ll get lucky with a world drop.
The gear post would be awesome! I found one on Honor’s Code for my pally and it helped me a ton! Considering I’m planning on starting a Drood of my own soon, this would be a lifesaver, as I’m totally clueless about such things.
You’ve probably seen this list at EJ:
http://elitistjerks.com/f73/t62193-feral_tank_pre_raid_gear/
May be a good starting point, although it maybe goes a bit too deep into PVP for your purposes. Looking forward to your list, especially with the emblem changes in 3.2.
Well, since your blog is basically the one-stop-shop that taught me everything I know about the Bear-tanking I love more than anything else in-game (that along with my winning personality has shot me to the heady heights of favourite guild tank, even if most of the time I spend raids rounding up adds rather than tanking the bosses) I shall certainly read and heed whatever wise words you have to share with me over what gear to shoot for now I have exhausted the realms of advice available in your Last gear post. (Perhaps you’d consider touching on the t8/Emblems of Conquest gear as well due to the forthcoming increase in availability even to non-Ulduar raiders with the emblem changes forecast, or is that material for Another post?)
Cassie is absolutely right. However, just because they don’t comment doesn’t mean people don’t find it useful! The Internet is full of asshats looking to belittle the contributions of others while offering nothing themselves. I’m sure there are lots of up-and-coming bears out there who could greatly benefit from such a guide(a lot has changed recently, making older ones somewhat obsolete). Do it for all those baby bears! :)
Seeing as my Shadow Priest is nearing 80 and I’m highly contemplating bringing up a druid… and would like at least one spec to be a bear… your future post would be much appreciated
Hey BBB you got people here wanting a gear list, i say go for it! the only thing i want to say is if you enter a raid as a druid tank, and someone brings up that god awful gear score addon, slap them upside the head! i have been raiding ulduar and im still wearing a ring from a heroic because i haven’t found one better with the dodge i love so much.
Your blog is one of the best known WoW Feral druid blogs in the world. You really have to get some self confidence in what you do here and ignore the troll/flamers. <3
Gear guide would be a great idea from my perspective Bear, just got to lvl 32 with my first drood (always played shammy or pally before, it’s a hybrid thing) and I reckon 70 in the next month or so and 80 a few weeks after that so I’ll start aquiring items on my main ready for Ceno to grab as he passes the level requirement.
:) Thx Cassie for making me laugh.
Forget Spyro… Final Fantasy Tactics is still one of the best games for any system. Excellent tastes (at least back in the day)
Ahaha, she’s right, but … I’d still like your take on feral gear, especially if you’re going to explain the “why” with words that we math-challenged folks can understand – and there are still a lot of us that are still in Naxx, or are just starting Naxx, or or or.
BBB,
I think there is a lack of info for new bears and even old boomkins and resto druids who are taking up feral as their dual spec. Most of the remaining feral druid bloggers are end game raiders crying about Ulduar nerfs. I think you could perform a valuable service ;)
Lol… Cataclysmic, that one struck a nerve.
I am totally confident in what I do. What I debate with myself is time versus rewards.
The rewards are helping people that can use a little advice.
When I started realizing, a long time ago, that 99% of the comments I was getting were from people who knew all this stuff already, then I had a reality check about spending 5 hours researching a post just to find out that it was helpful for noone.
I don’t feel like I have to try and stake a claim as the smartest or best theorycrafting bear out there. I don’t have that particular ego problem. I jut wanted to have fun and help folks out with what I knew. If others already know it, why should I become the blah blah pontificating bear that just reheats tired old spam?
So I’ve gone to writing things and talking about things that are fun or that are on my mind. In the process, if anything, I write things that are more controversial and are more worthy of being flamebait, simply because it’s my opinion, not fact based on math. I don’t think that indicates a lack of confidence in myself.
As others have pointed out, and are totally accurate, the WoW player of today is a lean, mean, knowledgeable machine, that knows darn well what’s happening. And that is due to the masters of Elitist Jerks more than eanything else, they keep pushing the boundaries, and God bless them for it.
Cassie was just pointing out to me why I stopped 5 hour research posts in the first place… nobody cared.
Since it seems some people really could still use a gear post, other than Jardal, I’ll get one done properly… and I’ll look forward to some folks getting some use out of it, I hope.
Hi BBB,
Even for geared up bears, this would be helpful post 3.2 with the emblem changes.
For past gear information there’s a forum sticky for 80 quest rewards, rep rewards, PVP, and heroic drops:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=12891291063&sid=1
And there’s the invaluable Druid wiki. Scrolling down on the bear list by slot gives you early Northrend quest reward items.
Actually I found a lot of the easiest/biggest upgrades if you do not raid a lot is still PVP gear and crafted gear.
If I recall correctly, you did a gear guide for level 70 feral druids – one of those that us casuals find useful – the gear that can be easily gained as quest rewards, or for a small amount of time in instances – I referred to that one a lot (printed it out as well *grins*) – something similar for level 80 would be absolutely fantastic – and if as you suggested you do one at three different phases, that would be even better – sometimes I think I’m just floundering around on the off-chance I get something cool!
BBB another vote from those that appreciate your efforts. Your Blog, with its research and witticisms made me switch from Boomkin to Feral in BC and have been a face tanker ever since. You definately have a following that appreciates you thoughts and input on everything Feral. Plus I enjoy when you have a cranky bear moment and call out the numerous asshats that we share this game with.
Ditto 3B.. I know you will do a fantastic job of it.
Hey Bear!!
I always read this blog with interest and enjoy your writings and your rants, and VERY much appreciate your guidance on feral druids! Your advice has helped my understanding of the class, its skills and mechanics quite a lot. With a lvl80 bear tank druid that I’m going to be spending a lot more time playing when next patch hits simply because of how AMAZING bears will look (wheeee!), I will definitely be one of the readers that will appreciate any further guidance on bears that you can share with us!
It IS true what Cassie said – many more annoying people will leave nasty comments than the nice ones, and the people who do appreciate it may not be nearly as vocal. But that’s the curse of anything with a “comments” section, be it a blog, a restaurant guestbook, a movie review site, or an airline. :)
But BBB, you DO have readers out there who truly appreciate your insight and efforts.
I meant a confidence in what you do here, as oppose to self confidence.
I guess what I really meant is confidence in how much your posts help alot of druids.
Least it gave you something to write about lol, that’s more than half the battle.
Writing about it probably helps you organize your own thoughts and gives you a reference as well, so even if it doesn’t help one other person, which it should, it is still useful to write about.
BBB! Of course Cassie is right, but since when has BBB let what others might say determine his course of action? ;)
I came here looking for a gear guide. The biggest take away I got from my brief time blogging was this… the majority of players are NOT that lean, mean knowledgeable machine you speak of. It only seems that way because they are the most vocal, on blogs, forums, and appropriately named sites such as Elitist Jerks. I will not look to these voices for gear guides because they do not apply to me. Your gear guides are the most helpful because, as someone mentioned above, you provide explanations. You account for different play styles and YMMV factors, allowing your faithful feral readers to come up with our own custom gear choice lists based on the information you provide vs. just because it’s best in slot.
Mama Druid, still not 80 and in need of a leveling gear guide. If there’s one of me, there’s bound to be more!