Paladin-Bias Live at Pax!

Paladin-Bias is live at Pax Prime in Seattle,WA!

Enjoying the sights and the swag. Pictures coming soon along with my coverage of the event!

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Paladin-Bias

The Most Annoying Abilities in WoW- March Madness Style: Part 2!

Hello there, and welcome back to bracket two of the introductory round of the battle for the title of the most annoying ability in the World of Warcraft.

The previous entry saw Bladestorm narrowly edging out Bloodthirst for the title of most annoying Warrior ability. Today we're moving to the complete opposite end of the spectrum, and taking a look at the most annoying abilities of the Priest class.

PRIEST!

A Priest has the capability of being a powerful healer and a versatile DPS, so it is quite easy to experience frustration when facing the class in pvp. Their use of damage over time, combined with their instant cast heal over time spell, renew, can prove to be too much for many opponents to handle.

For the Priest bracket, I decided to take a look at some uniquely frustrating abilities that are available exclusively to the class. Mass Dispell, Mind Control, Psychic Scream, and Mana Burn will all duke it out for the title of most annoying Priest ability and the chance to represent the class in the final bracket.

For the first round, Mass Dispell faces off against Mind Control. Playing a Paladin, my bias against Mass Dispell is palpable. I can still remember to this day the first time I experienced having my bubble stolen from me way back in The Burning Crusade, (ironically enough I was bubble hearthing). Despite my personal hatred for Mass Dispell, when it comes down to pure annoyance few things can compare to losing control of your character, only to watch it jump around like an idiot at the hands of a smug Priest. The indignity is usually short lived however, as most Priests will be kind enough to jump your character over the edge of a cliff. Hands down, Mind Control advances to the next round in a landslide.

The second bracket of the class features the AOE fear bomb Psychic Scream matching up against the bane of healers: Mana Burn. Mana Burn is a unique ability that grants Priests the ability to render nearly any mana using class impotent with a few casts. The frustration of seeing your mana bar dwindle so quickly easily proves just how annoying the skill can be. However, when compared to the instant cast AOE fear bomb, the ability just doesn't hold up on the annoyance meter. Psychic Scream is a long fear, with a fairly short cool down. I think we've all been locked in that fight with a Priest where we thought to ourselves, "What the... Psychic Scream again.. WTF.. WTB diminishing returns!?!" For the frustration factor, (and for all

the walls I've gotten stuck in) Psychic Scream advances.

The final match between MC and Psychic Scream is anything but any easy decision. Both abilities can be extremely frustrating, can throw off your momentum in a battle, and can result in a smashed keyboard. However the pure annoyance of watching control of your character slip from your fingers and into the hands of that pimply twelve year old on the other side of the screen can't be topped. Watching him gloat as he runs your character into the Twisting Nether of an EOTS match is easily one of the most annoying things in Warcraft, and the reason why Mind Control will be advancing to the finals!

So after the second preliminary round, this is how the final bracket is shaping up:

As the second class to enter the competition, Priests luck their way into the sixth position in the bracket, resulting in second and third round byes.

Check back soon for more results in the tournament of the most annoying Warcraft abilities!

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Paladin-Bias

The Most Annoying Abilities in WoW- March Madness Style!

We've all been there... grinding out your ten arena matches this week, or farming battleground rep... when it happens. It takes you by storm, lighting a fire in your soul, that erupts out of your mouth in a fury of profanity. You've just been victimized by one of the many annoying abilities in WoW.

But which ability is so nerve-wracking, so wall-punching, so dog-kicking-ly annoying, as to be called the most annoying ability in the game!

Lucky for you I have begun a quest to answer that exact question. Today I introduce the format for the WoW Annoying Ability Supremacy Battle Royale!

It goes like this, each class will be given its own preliminary round to determine which of its abilities is the absolute most annoying (completely biased and based on my own frustrating PvP experiences). Each class will be given four abilities, and after careful analysis, only one will remain, which will then be moved into the overall bracket featuring the most annoying ability from each class!

For week one of the tournament, I'll introduce one of the preliminary brackets with my analysis, before adding the winning ability to the "big board."

First, we'll take a look at the hardhat hero of the Warcraft community...

WARRIOR!

For the Warrior's bracket I choice four unique abilities: Bladestorm, Mortal Strike, Shattering Throw, and Bloodthirst (for this bracket Bloodthirst will represent all HP regen abilities of the class.)

The bracket opens up with Bladestorm taking on Mortal Strike. Mortal Strike is the veteran of the two, with Bladestorm being a relative newcomer to the scene. Despite being a powerful and frustrating tool for opponents to manage, Mortal Strike lacks effectiveness against opponents that have no healers (double dps!) while Bladestorm is a highly effective and unstoppable aoe attack. So In a close fight, I have to give the edge to Bladestorm, because once that Orc starts spinning, don't expect him to stop until either you or his stomach contents hit the ground... whichever comes first.

The second bracket features the bane of Paladins and Priests- Shattering Throw, up against the Warrior's HP regeneration abilities, like Bloodthirst. As a Paladin, Shattering Throw seems like it would be an obvious choice... but based on my experiences many Warriors forget to use it, or are easily line of sighted while they're attempting to throw their puny weapons. So for the shear frustration factor of trying to down a Warrior that inexplicably keeps healing... this round goes to Bloodthirst.

For the conclusion of the Warrior bracket, Bloodthirst and Bladestorm advance to face each other for ultimate annoyance supremacy! Bloodthirst strikes first, with the longevity it adds to Warriors, allowing them to heal, when they have no business being a healing class. But sadly, this isn't even a fair fight... the arena ratings speak for themselves, the cleave comps are smashing their way to the top. So I'm giving the edge to Bladestorm, for being so damn effective despite being so effectively annoying.

The Warrior bracket had some shake ups, but Bladestorm comes out victorious and advances to the big board!

So after the first class completed their preliminary round, this is how the big board looks:

With the luck of the draw, Warriors ended up in the 5th slot, meaning they have a bye through the first two rounds. Lucky jerks!

Stay tuned for the rest of the tournament, coming soon!

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Paladin-Bias

Graphically-Challenged @ Paladin-Bias #2

The triumphant return of arguably the worst web comic ever made.

Enjoy!

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Paladin-Bias

Obligatory Real ID Post

"Real ID to us."

Recently Blizzard announced plans to require all users posting on their World of Warcraft and Starcraft forums to post using their real names, replacing the previous method of posting as one of the characters on the account.

This announcement was met with immediate outrage and sparked one of the biggest uprisings in the history of online gaming.

Faced with a staggering amount of backlash Blizzard rescinded their announcement and there was peace once again on the interwebs.
Or was there...

I will offer my analysis of why Real ID was met with such animosity, and why this won't be the last we hear about it.

The Trolls:

Part of Blizzard's plan with Real ID was to eradicate trolls on their forums. The flaw with this logic is that you assume a troll will only be a troll when he is anonymous (as illustrated in a recent Ctrl+Alt+Del comic, "A troll by any other name...")

Blizzard's thought process was, remove their anonymity and you remove their desire to enrage other users, for fear of reprisal. In reality, trolls don't thrive on anonymity, they thrive on enticing reactions out of people. Making users post with their real life names essentially just makes things easier for the trolls.

This was evidenced when a Blizzard employee posted his real name, practically challenging the forum community to do something with just his name. Trolls proceeded to find his Facebook, Twitter, personal information, and information about his family within minutes. Prank phone calls, pizza deliveries, and harassing messages ensued.The incident was brushed aside by the Blizzard Employee, but in reality it was a michrochasm for the flaw of Real ID... It did nothing to stop trolls, it just moved the trolling from the forums to the real world.

Everyone Else:

Blizzard must have anticipated the reaction from the forums would be mainly from the margins, but surely they could not have anticipated the level of backlash from regular players. Mothers, lawyers, gamers, and everyone who knows anything about privacy were immediately up in arms over the announcement.

Minorities with unique names were scared they would be targeted for their race. Women were fearful they would be harassed for being female. People working for reputable companies were afraid they would be outed as a gamer, which has many negative connotations attached to it in society.

And everyone else (myself included) was scared about the slippery slope we were about to start descending...

Real ID, announced by the largest MMO company in the world, would (and most likely still will) inevitably influence other forums and companies to follow suit. Stripping away anonymity from the internet piece by piece. Imagine everything you have ever done, every page you ever browsed being attached to your name... a frightening concept, but not completely out of the realm of possibility, and Real ID could have been the catalyst for it all.

Real ID- The Redux:

Another major factor in Blizzard's announcement for Real ID was their recent partnership with Facebook. They have made it no secret they plan to make their games into a social network experience. There is BIG money to be made in the social network market, and a vast potential for new customers. This is exactly why Blizzard won't let their plans for Real ID die.

At the moment the company has balked under staggering pressure from the community, but it is only a matter of time before Blizzard pushes forward with its plans to merge Facebook and its games. Picture a random heroic where you can right click on that horrible tank and see his facebook link under his name. That future is speculation on my part, but it is one of the many directions possible for Real ID.

So, in the end, it comes down to money. There is simply too much money on the table for Real ID to disappear. So don't be surprised when that guy you ganked, or that pug hunter friend requests you on facebook...

"Real ID to Blizzard."

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Paladin-Bias

Graphically-Challenged @ Paladin-Bias

Greetings friend!

Today is a special day at Paladin-Bias, I am pleased to introduce the very first installment of Graphically-Challenged.

Graphically-Challenged is a web comic that looks like it was drawn by a four year old, with no real plot, androgynous characters, and essentially pure randomness.

So, rather than overhype this incredibly momentous and ground breaking occasion, I'll let the comic speak for itself, enjoy!

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Paladin-Bias

Pre-Cataclysm To Do List!

With the Cataclysm beta and Blizzcon fast approaching, the release of the Cataclysm expansion looms on the horizon. The expansion brings with it an entirely new version of classic Azeroth, an increased level cap (85), a multitude of new dungeons and raids and several thousands additional new quests.

With the abundance of content promised with Cata, players will find themselves with more than enough to keep them occupied. So for masochistic completionists like myself hoping to accomplish various feats and complete our collections, now is the eleventh hour.

So, please enjoy my own personal list of things I want to accomplish before the Cataclysm!

• Finish the Insane achievement!
• Finish my "Salty" title.
• Get exalted with Hydraxian Waterlords.
• Get exalted with Silverwing Sentinals.
• Get Exalted with The League of Arathor.
• Get the Battlemaster achievement.
• Get Shadow's Edge (and Ideally Shadowmourne).
• Get the achievement for 100k honorable kills (55k 48k to go).
• Kill King Krush to finish Frostbitten grr.
• Get all of the argent tournament tabards.
• Complete the Hero of Shattrah feat of strength achievement.
• Finish my AQ quest chain.
• Get all the blacksmithing recipes I still need.
• Compete my old class sets: D1, D2, T1, T2, and AQ set.
• Farm the following mounts:

[Deathcharger's Reins] from Stratholme.
[Reins of the Blue Proto-Drake] from Heroic Utgarde Pinnacle.
[Reins of the Azure Drake] from Eye of Eternity.
[Reins of the Dark War Talbuk] from Nagrand.
[Reins of the Green Proto-Drake] from the mysterious egg.
[Reins of the Onyxian Drake] from Onyxia's lair.
[Reins of the Raven Lord] from Anzu in Sethekk Halls.

[Sea Turtle] from fishing.
[Reins of the White Polar Bear] from Brunhildar dailies.
[Reins of the Twilight Drake] from Obsidian Sanctum 3 drakes, 25 man.
[Reins of the Traveler's Tundra Mammoth] sold in Dalaran.
[Reins of the Time-Lost Proto-Drake] rare spawn.
[Swift Alliance Steed] from ToC tribute chest.
[Mimiron's Head] from Yogg Saron.
[Reins of the Ironbound Proto-Drake] from the Ulduar 25 meta achievement.
[Invincible's Reins] from Lich King hard mode...
[Argent Hippogryph] from the argent tournament.
[Ashes of A'lar] from Kael.
[Crusader's White Warhorse] from ToC tribute chest.

• Farm the following pets:

[Giant Sewer Rat] from fishing in Dalaran.
[Ice Chip] from the Midsummer event.
[Parrot Cage (Hyacinth Macaw)] rare drop in STV.

So clearly I have a lot to do before Cataclysm. I plan on crossing things off from this list as I go, so check it periodically to see how well/poorly I'm doing!

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Paladin-Bias