So you know those frozen wastes, right?
They are my BITCH!
Well, they are my BITCH, I am their CHAMPION!
Yeah, baby, yeah.
Well, that was entirely unexpected. But I R Srs Raider as of October last year. Wooteth! Perpetually Late to the Party strikes again.
Champion of the Frozen Wastes is nowhere near as awesome as Champion of the Naaru but, hey, we takes what we can get.
As a general rule, I pay very little attention to achievements unless they are particularly funky. I understand why you might want to but, for me, going out and achieving them isn’t particularly interesting. I much prefer them as bonus, in-game recognition for things I was going to do anyway. Or, again, as a consolation prize for doing something stupid (Going Down, anyone?). I particularly value exploration achievements actually because, if you’re me, you only ever get them if you’re mining the face off some corner of Azeroth or you’ve got yourself lost while looking for the Dark Dank Looks Like Every Other Damn Cave Cave or else you actually really love the area and therefore go on a legitimate exploration binge because, hey, why not? And especially if I’ve spent the past hour blundering round in a widening circle grabbing thorium, an exploration achi soothes the sting a little.
They’re especially valuable at end game, I think, where one flounders ding-less in the wilderness. They’re not quite as satisfying, in terms of sheer positive feedback joy, as a good old fashioned ding but, hey, as I said above, we takes what we can get. I remember when I was attempting (and failing) to introduce a friend to WoW she said that levelling up was like some kind of in-game orgasm – apparently there you are, wandering around the world, confused and killing crocodiles, and suddenly you become suffused by a golden glow and surrender to an uncontrollable DING!
I think my response was something along the lines of: “…”
I don’t know, if my orgasms ended in a surge of golden light and came upon me when I was minding my own business killing crocodiles I’d be quite concerned.
But anyway.
What was I saying? Oh yes. At level cap achis are the new ding.
But since I don’t track them at all, I was pretty surprised to discover myself An Official Card Carrying Champion of the Frozen Wastes after we downed Malygos last night. I was fully expecting the fight to be a world of pain and to be crying at the feet of the Argent Tournament, begging to be allowed back into their Arena of Pointlessness. But, hey, you know it wasn’t as bad as all that. I think Team Casual are becoming a force to be reckoned with, y’know. We may not be uber geared or uber experienced but when it comes to working together we are the business, I tell you. We had to PUG a couple of extras – including a suicidal hunter (yes! The fourth hunter spec!) and a tank who thankfully knew the fight really well.
It took us three attempts, each time the vehicle fight being the sticking point. God, I hate vehicle fights. It doesn’t help that you’re just thrown onto dragon back, and Maly is roaring your face off, and you have about twenty three different abilities, all of them encompassing a tooltip of the approximate length of War and Peace. So while we were all going “ah, shit, fuck, wank, which one of this is the DoT and where’s my goddamn heal” Maly did his crackly attack in our faces and we died, we died in shame and lamentation. It’s then just a little bit soul-destroying to have to do Phases 1 and 2 again but, put it this way, we were getting pretty damn good at them. And each time we got thrown onto dragon back just in time to fuck it up abysmally we got incrementally better at not fucking it up abysmally – which is actually one of the most satisfying aspects of raids, if you ask me. It’s all very well to go in there and one-shot something but if you’re new to a fight the gradual group-wide development from clueless and flailing to functional but imprecise to smooth and sucessful is a fantastic thing to watch.
The first time we hit Phase 3, the entire raid wiped in seconds, the second time we didn’t stick closely enough together and only my good self, the tank and a lone DPS made it past the second crackle, whereupon we freaked out … but the third time nearly everyone got through and we were able to bring the big blue bastard down.
The weird thing about the vehicle section is that it’s one of those all-or-nothing fights. The first few times we were pretty much dead before we could say “sorry, which one of these is the ability I’m meant to be using again” but the final time I was just DoTting and AoE healing in a blur of anxiety and determination … and when he was on about 0.3% health and I felt safe enough to look at the health bars I realised everyone who had survived up to that point, yes everyone, was on 100% health. Whu?
I did actually enjoy the Malygos fight, vehicle hell notwithstanding. I might be some kind of masochist but I secretly dig high mobility fights. And the running from anti-magic bubble to anti-magical bubble while the melee DPS throw themselves on Frisbees and whiz up in the air to punch a dragon in the nose is stupidly fun. Maly has his own (inferior) deep breath which has the entire raid huddling under one of the anti-magic shields while it gets smaller and smaller and smaller, and everyone is squealing a bit inside in case it disappears or they have a foot or a branch sticking out in the cold … and the healer gets to be all “Come under the golden shelter for my AoE healz” and generally feel like the saviour of everything.
It’s raining death … hallelujah … it’s raining death! Ahem! I’m gonna go out to run and let myself get. Absolutely soaking … dead?
And finally. What the hell is up with Malygos? And actually the blue dragon flight in general. They’re total liabilities. All of them. I mean take Kalecgos. Let’s put aside for the moment his frankly dodgy relationship with the Sunwell … on second thought, let’s not. There’s his frankly relationship with the Sunwell and the stupid bugger only goes and gets himself enslaved and corrupted. Sigh. And as for Malygos … “You all suck so I’m going to take your magic away.” Yeah, great plan there, mate. Very mature, very sensible. It doesn’t help that he has genuinely hilarious voice acting. He sounds like a pouty emo teenager. “I am without limits here… the rules of your cherished reality do not apply… In this realm, I am in control…” I think he’s two steps away from accusing you of not understanding his pain, man.
In short: I had a blast in the EoE but, yeah, I probably wouldn’t go again. Hmmm…this is sounding increasingly like my Good Raid Holiday Guide. A post for another time, perhaps?
Grats Tamarind! The best achievements are the ones you had no idea you were going to get IMO
I quite like the Malygos fight, I expected to hate it because Occulus was just, well, the most awful experience I’ve had so far in Wrath, but Malygos the crazy blue dragon was exciting! I think I like fights with lots of phases…. or perhaps I just like fighting evil mad things, I’m not sure!
Thank you
And, yes, I love it when an achi pops up and you had no idea it was coming – especially if it’s something that feels like a “real” rather than comedy achievement.
I think I was pretty lucky with Malygos because I went with a good group of folks, even though some of them were PUGed. The tank really knew what he was doing and everybody else – hunter aside – played well and learned quickly. I think with the wrong group it could be hell but I was really proud we did it.
Also I despise Occulus too – the only time I’ve done it has been with guildies which was the closest thing to fun you can possibly have in Occulus. Although it was still Occulus. Gah!
I think the vehicle sections in Malygos are also slightly more forgiving than the Occulus ones, or possibly we were over-geared
Grats. I love the serendipitous achievement thing and I’m definitely with you on the “I probably wouldn’t go again”. My guild mates have to drag me kicking and screaming to the hell hole which is the Eye of Eternity. My dragon riding skills leave a lot to be desired not mention every time the floor collapses I panic and want to levitate myself. I just know one of these days my dragon won’t be there and I’ll fall to my death. Sometimes I’m about as good at rational thinking as I am flying a dragon.
Oh and WTB a Good Raid Holiday Guide. Need somewhere to take the Gnomeling this spring.
Hehe, I have exactly the same impulse. The first time I was too busy “zomg!no floor” shocked to do anything but the second time I had to literally move my hands off the mouse so I didn’t hit levitate. Also the Red Dragonflight are horribly unreliable – I wouldn’t trust the to pick me up either. I mean, if they were hanging around there, the whole time, why didn’t they help earlier, eh? Enquiring minds what to know.
But, yes, as much I enjoyed the experience and novelty of EoE, I can’t see myself going back year in, year out, building up good holiday memories there. Not like Naxx
All hail Tamarind, Champion of the Frozen Wastes!
First time we went in a tried Malygos we wiped non stop for at least 3 hours. And then our raid leader politely told us to all go and do the Aces High daily to figure out (on our own time) how the heck to use the drakes.
ps. Who hates server maintenance?
Thank you! Thank you! *bows in a flurry of rose petals*
I think over-gearing Maly slightly probably helped with the vehicle section – that and sheer dumb luck
PS – everyone!
Best part about raids is the attempt before the kill. Always. It never fails (except that one time..)
When you feel your hard work, and wipes are leading somewhere. When you can feel the whole raid click. When you know, that you just need that one attempt where noone has a brainfart, and you also have that little bit of luck to get the kill.
Oh boy, that is what raiding is all about. The kill itself is more hectic and cheer. ‘Bah humbug’, I say. Give me anticipation any time!
Also, grats.
Yes, you’re so right – I’d never thought of it that way, actually. The pleasure of anticip …. ation is certainly potent. Also the learning process is really satisfying. I think my favourite fights ever have been Hodir and Heigan – simply because they take a bit of time to master everything (especially Hodir) and it’s really unbelievably satisfying watching the raid evolve from a bunch of frozen spanners to a team overcoming a complex challenge. EEE! Best feeling in the world
And thank you for the grats
Psssh, my [shave and a haircut] laughs at your [champion of the frozen wastes] lol
Well, Tam doesn’t have that one … he doesn’t have time for vanity, he’s a serious blood elf, and a *priest* not a cabaret dancer.
Grats Tam!
“all of them encompassing a tooltip of the approximate length of War and Peace”
This bit here had me rolling on the floor!
I suppose perhaps a day or so back when you mentioned that you were going to go to EoE that there is a daily quest out in coldara in which you ride a drake that is identical to the one in malygos, with all of the same abilities, so people can get used to them.
But…I forgot, and I still can’t do that daily quest. My job for that fight was to mash the heal button 5 times and then the group heal button. Someone in the guild came up with some fail-proof macro for those doing DPS with the drakes =)
Gah…rambles. I am glad that you had fun!
Your rambles are always very much appreciated, and thank you for the grats
I tend to avoid daily vehicle quests like a hole in the road… no matter how useful they are. Thankfully healing on dragonback is a *relatively* straightfoward keep DOTs ticking, press one button mash-fest. But I go in fear of the day someone pipes up “Hey, Tam, we need more DPS for this one” whereupon it will be revealed for everyone just how monumentally crap I am in vehicles.
Better Late than Never!
I did Maly again recently and it wasn’t much fun.
I do generally hate vehicle fights, but once in a while I’m willing to do it for a few guildies.
The Pink Pigtailers
were talking about titles recently – this is one of the ones I wore with pride for quite some time. It’s a bit long though.
Grats!
My usual title is Tamarind of Silvermoon – Tam being a patriot and all that. But it’s funky to have a proper grown-up raiding title – even if it is a year out of date. I secretly covet Starcaller. Now *that’s* a title – and likely one I will never get now. Woe is me
I think the key to vehicle fights is the people you do them with. Because they tend to be involved and becuase it’s stupidly easy to fail them over and over and over again … you have to have a good, cheerful team otherwise it’s just hell.
The only time I’ve successfully done Occulus is with guildies – and it was fun, or as close to it as you can get to it in Oculus!
Champion of the Frozen Wastes is a cool title, only one of my level 80 alts is still missing it at the moment. It’s not the toughest one to get, but I tend to see it as a sign that this person is dedicated to running group content.
I quite like Malygos too, though that might be related to him being the only decent-difficulty fight at the release of the expansion that wasn’t a rehash from Naxx or relied on hard modes to be interesting. Though yes, the voice acting with its “muahaha, I’m so evil” factor added to it as well.
It wasn’t that the voice-acting was “mwahahaha I’m so evill” so much as “Wah! I’m a teenager and I’m pissed off and you don’t understand me!” He just sounds so whingy and emo – not quite what I imagined for the top brass of the blue dragonflight.
I think I enjoyed Malygos for the novelty and for being nowhere as horrible as Occulus =P Anticipating the worst really brings out the best in something, hehe. I think each of the phases are genuinely interesting – and I LOVE Phase 2 because it’s fantastic for making healers feel important – and thankfully, I guess because we over-geared him a bit, it was challenging without being horrendously hard for us.
Gratz, Tam! Since I’m not much of an instance runner I have yet to get that one. I’m more of a “omg how many pets do I need before I can get stinker!” kind of girl. Go figure. Girls and pets, amirite? Anywho, congrats on your new title!!
Thank you kindly – I’m kind of into girls and pets myself … oh wait, you meant something slightly different
Actually I’m not very good at collecting pets as a general rule because I get sentimentally attached to them. I could never replace my wolvar orphan with a different pet – he’d get so sad!
Ooh, grats! I have a few of the bits and pieces lined up for that one, but since I am not Srs Raider, it’ll take a miracle to get the rest.
Had my first taste of Oculus yesterday… wasn’t as nasty as I expected.
Thank you kindly. I am not a srs raider at all – I have no idea how I managed to get this. Lucky and being in the right place at the right time, I think.
Gz!
I like EoE (and veichle fights too I have to admit) even though it can be frustrating if Malygos gets bugged in phase 3. Phase 2 is my favourite with the shields (what is there not to like with pink shields?) and everyone cuddled up together under them.
I have the Explorer title. I found it almost meditative going off exploring for a while every now and then. The one place that irritated the hell out of me was Aszhara because it’s so hilly it’s almost impossible to get from one end to the other.
Thank you kindly – as I say, I enjoyed EoE but I’m not sure I can see myself running back to it, begging for more. I love Phase 2 – it’s definitely got to be one of my favourite moments ever. I think it’s just because it makes me feel important as a healer in a “come here and be within the range of my PoH” kind of way, but also it’s really cosy with the raid all snuggled up together.
I haven’t got Explorer – it’s something I’m very slowly working on, when I’m in the mood to take a break from jousting and killing zomfies in Icecrown. But it’ll probably take me months to get it, if at all.
Also how can you say that about Azshara! It’s beautiful! I love that autumnal, melancholy atmosphere!
Whoo! Well done! Snottydin would be so proud… *sniff sniff*
Thank you
And Snotty knows I will never be half the raider she is!
Guess who’s back
Back again
Ercles’ back
Tell a friend
Uhm yeah… Your blog posts have kept me sane over the last two weeks, don’t slack on me!
Erc! Erc! Erc!
*happy*
Also I very much doubt the efficacy of my blog in keeping people sane
you pretty much nailed the reason why vehicle fights are such a pain. You’ve got mere seconds to get acclimated to using a whole other skill set not to mention in some cases a whole other control scheme.
It’s that whole, jump into an airplane and expected to know how to fly it after pushing a few knobs thing.
Sure there’s the daily out in Coldara which can get you used to the drake controls but it’s one thing to know what the abilities can do, it’s a whole other to know when to use them. 1 2, 1 1 2, 1 1 1 5, 1 1 1 2, 1 1 1 1 2, 1 1 5 isn’t something that you can just practice on the mobs they give you to play with. Maybe there should be a malygos training dummy out there.
After you get used to the controls it’s just wow as usual and I don’t really dislike them either at that point. I find Flame Leviathan to be a nice relaxing break before getting down to srz bzns.
I tend to run a mile from ‘optional’ vehicle quests if I possibly can so I’d had no Colderra practice at all when I suddenly found myself behind the steering wheel of a dragon. Wah! I think I got it nailed in the end (stack up DoTs, BIG HEAL!) but it was still hairy for a while. I don’t even think it would have made a difference if we’d been allowed to trigger the third phase since learning how to do a vehicle fight is something you can only learn … ho hum … in the damn vehicle fight.
A Malygos training dummy would be … disturbing, especially if it whined at you in his voice.
I’m starting to get the hang of the golf caddy fight these days. I particularly appreciate whizzing around in the chopper. Now that’s fun.
Ah… This title…
I got it too a few weeks ago, but malygos wasn’t the last boss I needed…
I only missed the Occulus last boss for that. And I just didn’t want to go back there after wiping on that stupid boss for hours…
One evening a few guildies grabbed me, they wanted I don’t know what achievement from the dungeon. And I got my title. It was a pain…
And forgive Malygos for been what he is. I mean, he saw his entire flight being destroyed by Deathwing and got a little crazy in his head as you can imagine… You should read the “War of the Ancient”, I quite loved it (haven’t finished yet though).
Sorry for being late commenting…
And gratz for the title
Many thanks for the grats – and don’t worry about the late(ish) comment, I’m sorry for being late replying
And grats to you also for your funky raiding title 
I did Occulus for the first (and hopefully last!) time a few weeks ago with guildies. Good company was the only thing that made it even remotely bearable. Occulus is so bad it makes Malygos seems positively pleasant! Interesting strategy there Blizzard….
Yeah, I like the Malygos backplot, I just don’t like the voice acting. He sounds so emo! If you imagine his lines as, say, voiced by, well, anybody else they’re actually quite effective.
I had such a bad reaction to Rise of the Lich King, I haven’t dared pick up another Warcraft novel…
[...] of Righteous Orbs talks about the comparisons between levelling up and gaining achievements, as well as the Malygos [...]