It looks like Patch 4.1 is well on it's way for release, and possibly as soon as Tuesday. Personally, I look forward to many of the changes and tweaks to certain classes/specs as well as the "new" (rehashed) content. The introduction of the two new versions of Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman allows a greater accessibility for gearing up your toons for raiding, as well as the opportunity to actually reasonably posses maelstrom crystals. In all honesty, I'm most excited for getting solid gear for my warlock, since I rarely get a chance to run a raid with her.
I know the blogosphere has discussed the new Call to Arms feature in great length and there are many opinions on the matter, but I figured I'd also give my 2c. To be honest, this whole Call to Arms thing doesn't really affect my main in the least. I don't run random pugs, plain and simple. Players that are in solid raiding guilds tend to not need to run those dungeons at this point in the game. Furthermore, when I did run those dungeons I went in a guild group (and I typically tanked). This change has no appreciable effect on me.
Now a good question perhaps is whether or not I'd do a random for fun rather than the rewards? Yes and no. Yes--but only if it's a guild group. No--because the pugging environment makes what little reward I would receive not worth it. I stopped tanking randoms because of really bad groups and the hostile environment in which they create. I will only heal a random if and only if the tank is a guildie. As a dps, I absolutely will not wait up to an hour for a group that is downright miserable. I finally drew the line the other night on my lock. Yes, I really could use the valor points on that toon, but it's not worth it. Arrogant tanks that are very piss-poor at tanking as well as bad dps (and by bad I mean, "stands in fire" bad or "let's pull the whole room when the healer has no mana" bad) that make every pull excruciating made pugging simply not worth the time or the effort.
Now what concerns me is that there are competent players who absolutely will not pug., and those really interested in the CtA rewards might not be those best suited for the job. There is not a shortage of tanks/healers. There is, however, a shortage of tanks/healers that are willing to pug. Or more specifically--competent tanks/healers. Unfortunately, the Call to Arms feature will only reward a tank/healer (let's face it, dps is never going to be scare) if and only if they pugged completely by themselves and finish the instance by killing the final boss. Fortunately, the items are BoA and you could potentially get a rare mount out of it. Although it may be tempting for me to step into hostile territory and pug tank again, but I'm sorry Blizz, I'm going to have to pass. What you are offering as rewards aren't nearly enough for me to even want to consider pugging as a tank or healer. Getting a new shiny mount for my alts might be nice motivation, but tbh, I'd rather just grind/farm. It's less frustrating.
I know the blogosphere has discussed the new Call to Arms feature in great length and there are many opinions on the matter, but I figured I'd also give my 2c. To be honest, this whole Call to Arms thing doesn't really affect my main in the least. I don't run random pugs, plain and simple. Players that are in solid raiding guilds tend to not need to run those dungeons at this point in the game. Furthermore, when I did run those dungeons I went in a guild group (and I typically tanked). This change has no appreciable effect on me.
Now a good question perhaps is whether or not I'd do a random for fun rather than the rewards? Yes and no. Yes--but only if it's a guild group. No--because the pugging environment makes what little reward I would receive not worth it. I stopped tanking randoms because of really bad groups and the hostile environment in which they create. I will only heal a random if and only if the tank is a guildie. As a dps, I absolutely will not wait up to an hour for a group that is downright miserable. I finally drew the line the other night on my lock. Yes, I really could use the valor points on that toon, but it's not worth it. Arrogant tanks that are very piss-poor at tanking as well as bad dps (and by bad I mean, "stands in fire" bad or "let's pull the whole room when the healer has no mana" bad) that make every pull excruciating made pugging simply not worth the time or the effort.
Now what concerns me is that there are competent players who absolutely will not pug., and those really interested in the CtA rewards might not be those best suited for the job. There is not a shortage of tanks/healers. There is, however, a shortage of tanks/healers that are willing to pug. Or more specifically--competent tanks/healers. Unfortunately, the Call to Arms feature will only reward a tank/healer (let's face it, dps is never going to be scare) if and only if they pugged completely by themselves and finish the instance by killing the final boss. Fortunately, the items are BoA and you could potentially get a rare mount out of it. Although it may be tempting for me to step into hostile territory and pug tank again, but I'm sorry Blizz, I'm going to have to pass. What you are offering as rewards aren't nearly enough for me to even want to consider pugging as a tank or healer. Getting a new shiny mount for my alts might be nice motivation, but tbh, I'd rather just grind/farm. It's less frustrating.
