« Things that make you go: Hmmmm. | Main | Summer Nervous Breakdown... er...Hiatus »

July 26, 2006

It's Tough Being a Tiger

Here's something entertaining, and perhaps even a little thought-provoking.

For anyone reading this who isn't into MMORPGs in general, or World of Warcraft in particular, you can consider this the end of the post. (Just be sure to think something deep about the way(s) YouTube and GoogleVideo are changing modern communication and cultural literacy on your way out.)

For the rest of you poor blighted souls, this clip has special poignancy for me, because it reminds me a sad, sad dynamic in World of Warcraft (WoW). In WoW, my character is a Night Elf druid. Druids are fascinating blends of warrior, healer, magic-user, and assassin. We can shapeshift into bear form and take lots and lots of damage (without dying, that is). We can shapeshift into cat form and deal out some serious pain. We can shapeshift into cheetah form and run very, very quickly either toward or away from danger (depending on one's play style, I suppose). And we can blast enemies with magic or heal ourselves and others around us in elf form. I've really enjoyed the flexibility that this hybrid class presents.

However, to keep the classes balanced with each other, the makers of WoW have made sure that druids can do all of these skills from other classes, but not quite as well as the other classes. (This avoids the famous "Bullrog Conundrum" from South Park -- Cartman's ninja alter-ego announces that his special power is having all of the other super powers.) Playing druid well takes time, patience, and real strategy to learn how to synergize the various class abilities while minimizing their weaknesses. I'm still learning.

So, a while back I was playing WoW, and while my party was waiting for another player to arrive at the dungeon we were going to invade, another party member challenged me to a duel. (Duels are harmless fun in WoW.) This player was a rogue. Rogues are WoW's assassin class. They're sneaky and fast and do lots and lots and lots of damage. And this rogue was at least 4 levels below my character.

Sigh. The results were much like those in the video. Only it didn't take 3 minutes and 25 seconds for the sneaky, irritating ape-rogue to hand me my noble, majestic tiger-druid butt. Sad sad sad sad sad.

(Via Bitch, Ph.D., who linked to the GoogleVideo version of this. I used the YouTube copy because YouTube allows one to imbed the video in blog posts. GoogleVideo should work on adding this feature. Soon.)

Posted by reparent at July 26, 2006 6:16 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://reparent.blog.uvm.edu/mt/mt-tb.cgi/91

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference It's Tough Being a Tiger:

» Online pharmacy trazodone. from Online pharmacy trazodone.
Trazodone online. Online pharmacy trazodone. Trazodone online pharmacy. [Read More]

Tracked on July 28, 2007 7:02 AM

» Order tramadol online. from Order tramadol online.
Order tramadol online. [Read More]

Tracked on July 29, 2007 6:41 AM

» Lexapro. from Gain lexapro medication.
Lexapro weight. Lexapro side effects. Lexapro. [Read More]

Tracked on August 22, 2007 3:26 AM

» Paxil side effects. from Paxil.
Paxil. Paxil paxil cr. [Read More]

Tracked on August 29, 2007 9:35 PM

» Garnishment. from Writ of garnishment pleading.
Garnishment default. Failure to answer garnishment. Garnishment on vietnam veteran federal laws. [Read More]

Tracked on February 6, 2008 3:13 PM

» Wedding DJ Boston from Wedding DJ Boston
I got a lot out of your site. Thanks for putting so much into it. [Read More]

Tracked on March 17, 2008 3:48 PM