NPC Comic
A comic about two blue cats who play World of Warcraft, and their gamer human. Written and drawn by Mary Varn.
©2009-2013 | NPC Comic is powered by WordPress with ComicPress
| Subscribe: RSS Feed | Back to Top ↑| Privacy Policy
Wait, he was behind it? Low.
…and any respect I had for Lisa just got flushed down the toilet. I mean, seriously? Does she need the entire WoW community to tell her to get over herself or what? I don’t think even the highest-of-high-end guilds would take her ego-maniacal attitude if she doesn’t understand that Heals > DPS
Gee, I wonder what you play…
No role is more important than any other role. Period. Let’s see you down heroic Lich King with just healers.
And, frankly, most top guilds are full of ego-maniacal individuals – if they weren’t that way, they wouldn’t be a top guild. It takes a hell of a lot of ego in order to fight your way to top world rankings and remain there. It’s a brutal climb, and the weak of heart (or ego) simply don’t survive it.
On the other hand, battering your boyfriend or spouse because they’re not doing enough dps..when they’re healers..isn’t a good way to ensure domestic bliss.
Speaking as a melee DPSer who in the ancient past led the guild in DPS, if you lose the tank or the healer, its a wipe. Lose the DPS, its an inconvenience.
All members are important… just some more important than others
In a 5 man…sure, you can make it with just tank & healer. In a progression raid? Not a chance.
Sure, you can lose some of the dps (in some cases) without wiping…but you can lose some of your healers and still make it. Tanks are a little iffier, but then, there are generally a lot fewer tanks than there are dps…or healers. We can get by with two tanks most 25 mans, where we have 5 – 8 healers (depending on the fight), and the rest dps. It’s all percentages, and that’s entirely based on how many of each group you have.
The point is, no group is more important than the other. You have to have a certain percentage of each group alive in order to be successful.
Ah, well then in a raid on AOC we should have been able to take down the Kylikki.
It was a wipe because we lost almost all our DPS (thanks to a certain person using ranged on a Boss who deals huge AoE damage when hit with ranged) and all we really had left was me, another guy who we shared the main tanking and alot of healers. We couldn’t do damage as the boss was able to heal itself (We could of possibly taken it down but it would of taken hours, much easier to wipe)
Moral of the story- DPS is useful, very useful, actually a must have most of the time.
I played a Hunter, thank you very much. But all DPS is circumstantial. No Tank = No raid; if you don’t have at least one dude “sacrificing his DPS for the greater good” you can’t raid. For that matter, if you don’t have heals, and more than just one or two focused on the Tank, you won’t survive most fights.
DPS is important only because Blizzard added Enrage timers. That’s it. If there weren’t Enrage timers, I’m sure there’d be guilds in every server mastering the art of Turtling. But, since they’ll never abolish Enrage, DPS is a key factor, but getting the top – even getting it all the time – is not a sign that you’re some higher being that deserves greater praise than all others. We had three hunters in my old guild, and we were always in the top 5, sometimes the top 3. The top hunter would vary, but none of us got conceited over it. We were constantly whispering each other trying to find what the others did that made them better, or find that one flaw that caused them to slip. I think we all did that in our guild – the top DPS helped spur on the lower DPS to try to balance everything out. We were #2 on the server, only because the #1 guild had about 200% more long-term, well-trained veterans than we did.
“We were #2 on the server, only because the #1 guild had about 200% more long-term, well-trained veterans than we did.”
And they also had the most important factor – ego. They wanted to be at the top on their server, so they were at the top on their server.
Note that there is a difference between being the best at what you do and slamming your significant other because he doesn’t match that – this includes even those instances where your SO might be playing the same role as you do.
Lisa’s guild seems a bit more in the way of casual than hard-core raiding. Hard core raiding is filled with egos just like Lisa’s, and most of them would take her comments as a challenge, rather than an insult.
I’m not saying she’s right, just that she’d fit right in with most of the top progression guilds.
You seem to confuse “ego” with “experience.” My dad’s been a mechanic all his life, and at the place he works he’s the best mechanic they’ve ever had. He can afford to be c---y about his skills because he’s spent the time to hone them.
We had the ego, we had it clear through Ulduar, but when I said the #1 guild had more long-term, well-trained veterans, I meant it. Their guild was primarily carry-overs from the #1 guild in BC days before it disbanded, and most of those players had been around since Vanilla WoW. Meanwhile, our guild had maybe 4-5 such veterans, while most of the players either started during BC (myself included) and/or never got to see anything beyond T5 content, possibly even after pre-nerf patch.
So while they had a time-tested group of people who knew one another’s quirks and could work together, leading their remaining forces by example, we had a much more ragtag group that basically formed from an amalgamation of guild pieces and parts, never full guilds, near the end of BC. Even though we sort of got to know each other in BC, we lost most of our members from that group thanks to our Guild Leader’s insane hiring policies; by the time I left, there were only about 4-6 people remaining from the BC raid groups, myself included, and the rest were all random people we collected during WotLK.
You’re confusing “experience” with “ability”. One usually has little to do with the other.
One of our best raiders is a ret pally (I know, how hard is it to faceroll
) who only started playing last November. He simply has the ability to be a good raider. Not everyone does.
Some people can make up for not having ability by having a lot of experience. But the two are totally separate entities. My sister, who has played WoW since Vanilla, is a horrible raider (by her own admission) even though she’s had a ton of experience at the game and at raids. She learns to raid in a sort of “paint by numbers” way – through experience she knows where to stand, where to move, what to hit, etc. She is the type of raider the lower level raids love – she’s not good at progression, however, as you have to have ability in order to get through new encounters.
With ability comes ego. Seriously, read the forums of the top world guilds. You’ll find ego and to spare in those places.
As I’ve mentioned here before, I was a raid leader back in BC, for a casual guild that happened to raid… I’ve hit Karazhan (a 10-man for those who’ve never been) with just about every kind of overbalanced raid group you could name. Over-tanked, over-healed, over-dps’ed. We took whatever we could get, since we were a casual guild.
A healer can dps, as can a tank. A good DPS group can even throw down enough CC to at least fake having a spare tank, as well as ‘patch heal’ if they happen to have a class that can. The important thing is, you have to make sure they know that their usual primary role is less needed that night, and they have to buckle down and do what is needed for the raid to be successful. It’s not a perfect solution, but being anal about ‘perfect group build’ really kills the fun of any game for the whole raid.
“And, frankly, most top guilds are full of ego-maniacal individuals”
Which is why I wouldn’t be in one. If I want to hang out with egomaniacs, I can go to the TV and turn on Jersey Shore or some other equally-mindless drivel.
I play WoW for fun, not to use it as a substitute for male sex organs. The 8-year-old mentalities that do that make me despair of humanity.
I can has teddy?
This reminds me of the group asking for healers in Trade chat to continue their run. It seems the leader kicked all the low DPS people after the first boss, and then realized he had kicked all the healers.
LOL
That would be one interesting raid leader to raid with O.o
Now there’s a raid leader who doesn’t deserve the title…
But still LOL’ed.
I would love to see this happen just once in game, for I’ve seen the opposite happen far too often.
What’s the opposite, you ask? Awful, awful players kept in just because they’re dating a big raid member. Especially that warlock we played with that would’ve been better if only she didn’t keep bringing in her brother to play her unannounced.
Said brother otherwise had never played WoW… *headdesk*
For the record I’m a healer and I’m never on the bottom of the DPS charts!
Which is because I’ve been known to get bored during trash and dps while I force the other healers to do the raid healing… Okay I’m bad, but I beat all those healers on dps meters ;P
Always remember to thank your healers in the most sincere and honest way possible known to sentiant species. They keep your -ss live, and will let you die for the slightest reason.
Exactly……everyone lets their team die once in a while ….to keep them on their toes…..right?
This is why my DK tank has a blood spec. Yes, I’ve beaten bosses as a tank being top in dps and heals before. The fight just took a very, very long time. :[
oh dear…..she really DOES have issues…..
This reminds me of one time when I was healing on my Tauren Tree.
The dps was a rogue, a hunter, and a warlock. Oddly enough, the rogue was specced for Subtlety. I got bored partially through that dungeon (dire maul, I wuz lvling the tree at the time), so I started pwning with starfire. I noticed that the tank wuz getting low in health, so I put a swiftmend on him. I was out of man, used my innervate, and we got through like 12 mobs with me doing dps and healing.
Then the tank saw that the rouge wuz just stealthing around in a circle almost the while time. He showed the dps rating, and get this:
I had been doing 40% of the dps.
The tank was doing like 25%, the warlock was doing 15% and the hunter was doing 20%.
and the rogue had done nothing.
actually he had, but only like 162 dmg, so it didnt count for a full percent. he was obviously kicked.
sry bout the long spammage mary, lol
True party rule
1-If the tank dies, its the healers fault
2-if the healer dies, its the tanks fault
3-If the DPS dies, its their own fault
As a healer with 4 80′s (2 priests, druid, shammie) and an upcoming pally, I’d party with you in a heartbeat!
And I’d still point out that sometimes, rule 1 should be “If the tank dies, he did something stupid…” or “Sometimes you just can’t heal a massive crit”
Because DPS can avoid massive AOE damage from bosses like we see in ICC, is that it?
I know, next time I get hit with Harvest Soul by the LK, I’ll just tell him I’m a DPS and he’ll leave me alone? I’m sure Sindragosa would be THRILLED to stop throwing out her frost aura once I tell her that DPS shouldn’t be taking any damage at all. And, of course, Saurfang NEVER targets DPS with boiling blood or any of those other things, right?
Calling it a “true party rule” indicates you feel that’s accurate 100% of the time. It is not. There are situations in which it is unavoidable damage for DPS. There are situations when the healers *must* take their eyes off the tanks and heal the DPS…and if the DPS die there, it’s absolutely not their fault.
It is only the DPS’s fault when they do something stupid, like stand in the void zones, or take threat from the tank.
I admit, my info is probably outdated, but all the raid encounters I have seen, tanked and healed for, avoiding damage is a matter of location. If you’re standing in the wrong spot, you die. Massive AOE? Don’t stand in it. And a good raid leader will tell you where to stand to avoid it, leaving it as the DPS’ job to go and avoid the damage.
Does this mean that healers should heal DPS when they are injured? If the tank can survive the couple seconds it takes to do so, then yes, heal away. But if it’s a case of DPS not standing in the right spot, then the healer’s attention should be elsewhere. After a few deaths, the average DPSer learns that they really shouldn’t stand in the AOEs.
Look up Deathbringer Saurfang and his blood boil ability. Look up Sindragosa and check out her frost aura ability. Look up the Lich King and check out his harvest soul ability.
I could go on and on – it’s patently clear you don’t raid ICC. There is a TON of damage that CANNOT be avoided. The damage is taken no matter what spot you’re standing at.
LK raid ‘content’? Nope, don’t play it. Got up to 80, did one or two bottom-level raids, was utterly bored, and canceled my subscrip. And you pretty much hit on why I was massively bored. It’s an AOE-fest. Specifically, the damage you describe would be AOE heal duty, a good shaman or two would fix that. And boom, no real strategy needed, bored now.
And by the way, damage auras and random targeted spells are not new to WoW. Hit those aplenty in Kara. They were never really an issue (meaning they hardly ever killed anyone) unless your healers stunk.
@Zorland: I suspect you will want to look into the Cataclysm changes. Blizzard realized that AoE-fest was what Wrath had turned into (shy of raid bosses). They’re working to return crowd control to the game.
I understand but the reason i state this is mainly for 5 group instances
because im a hunter on Kirin Tor, i am not picked much for raids (cries alittle) so i play my shammy alot.
Most of the time the tank dies because the healer “isnt paying attention” and the other way around
I also discovered some tanks get kind of big headed like he goes off and aggros half the map and blames the healer, or he LOS on the other side of the map and when the healer had no LOS the tank again blames the healer (being my shammy)
So this rule is pretty much both true and false
Haha , its nice seeing the slightly evil side of lisa!
waaait, Did he really get her kicked? Sounded more like he knew people were talking bout kicking her and just let it played out. >.>
She’s just blaming anyone but herself. The way of the troll… Lisa be on that train. -.-;;
yay Now that my monitor is now working i can view this comic
That Jennifer cat sure is a bit conceited. Dps are a dime a dozen always always always have been, always will be. A good tank squad and healing squad make or break more raids then dps EVER WILL. I am MS dps have been for as long as I’ve played the game, probably always will too. But d-mn girl you are putting way to much emphasis on the dps and most likely yourself.
If a dps goes down the rest pick up the slack and keep going if a healer or tank goes down that could VERY easily result in a wipe right then and there. Raids have been carrying bad dps since they were first able to group more than 5 players at once but a bad healer or tank stops a raid in its tracks.
And in response to her talk of aoes, the only ICC aoes even on heroic that will end your life are ones you can avoid by not being stupid. Saurfangs BB can be completely absorbed by a disc priests shield (note healer) and a decent hot from a druid (note also healer) negates the aura from Sindy. Maybe it is you who doesn’t know ICC content