Catching Up in WoW

I've recently (last weekend) hit level 85 with my rogue in World of Warcraft. There's a special place in my heart for this rogue, as she was the original use of the name "Jiyambi" and was my first "main" in WoW. But at the moment, she's terribly far behind the other characters in my guild, and the task of catching up to them in order to be able to participate in current raids is somewhat daunting. I thought I'd share my philosophy on how to catch up quickly, in case anyone else is in a similar position to me.

Know Your Class

You can't find good gear until you understand what makes gear "good" in the first place. There are a lot of awesome sources out there for determining what kind of stats to look for for your class and spec, but my personal favorite is the Elitist Jerks forum. They typically have guides for each raiding spec as well as cutting edge research into what talents, glyphs, gear, and rotation to use. The information overload can sometimes be a bit daunting, however, and they usually only care about the very top level content. This means that if you're just gearing up for heroics, their advice won't always be applicable, but it will often be close enough.

If you want a simpler approach, just punch your class and spec into the item filters in WoWhead. This will give you the Wowhead developer's opinions on what the best stat weight is for you. For rogues, stats are very simple, and I've found Wowhead's suggestions agree pretty much exactly with the "equivalence points" assigned by the Elitist Jerks folks. However,  for classes with more complex stat needs, such as healers, your mileage may vary.

Know The Gear

Not surprisingly, in order to get good gear, you need to know what's out there. It would be really unfortunate to spend thousands of gold getting a cape crafted only to discover there is an awesome cape as a quest reward (incidentally, there IS an awesome cape as a quest reward for the Firelands quests).

One resource for finding gear, which can also be found on the Elitist Jerks website, or downloaded and run locally from your computer, is Rawr. Rawr is a simulator which actually tries to simulate combat based on whatever gear you feed into it, taking into account spec, rotation, glyphs, and even what buffs you usually have on, how long the fight is, or how much you have to move or switch targets. It's somewhat clunky, however, and takes up a lot of computer resources to run, making it difficult to run alongside WoW on older computers. It also is sometimes not actively maintained, depending on your class, so use it with caution. For my rogue, as gear for rogues is relatively simple, I primarily use Rawr to determine the best trinkets. Trinkets can't easily be ranked based on equivalence points alone, and simulators are great for finding out exactly how useful one might be.

Wowhead is definitely high up in the ranking for finding gear - it is a database, after all. You can use their pre-built stat weighting to look for gear or enter your own, and add filters for your class, armor type, and how the gear is acquired. In my recent gear quest, I used this tool almost exclusively. I found it to be far more transparent and much less buggy than Rawr, but again my class is very simple. For more complex classes such as healers, Rawr is nice since it takes your current gear into account when determining upgrades.

I kept track of all of the potential gear and it's stats in an Excel sheet. This is above and beyond what most people will want to do, but I'm an engineer. I love spreadsheets and I'm not afraid to admit it. Having everything in an excel sheet let me see at a glance what the stats were on the gear, helped me automatically calculate equivalence points, and reference a sheet with my current gear to determine the amount of an upgrade. Which brings me to my next point...

Know The Upgrade

So you know what it means for gear to be good and you know what good gear is out there and where to get it. The next question is what to do first. I organized my gear list by source. I had all the gear available in heroics into groups based on which heroic you could find it in. Similarly all the gear available by reputation was separated into groups. This let me pick which rep I wanted to grind first, and which heroics I was most interested in running. I also looked at what was available in justice points - these items would be pretty easy to come by, and it would be a shame to grind reputation for an item when you could get one of comparable quality (or better!) simply through justice points. For rogues, it's really easy to rate how big an upgrade something is because we have a value known as equivalence points - essentially, how much an item will contribute to our DPS. For other classes, though, upgrades are more qualitative, so you'll have to decide for yourself how to rate these.

Keep It Simple

Of course, all this might not be necessary for your situation. I enjoy creating spreadsheets and figuring out the exact most efficient use of my gear grinding time. But you may simply pop on once a week and run whatever dungeon you get in the random finder. If that's the case, here's my suggestions for you:

• Get the addon RatingBuster and turn on stat summaries. Every piece of gear you mouseover will now be compared to what you currently have. When a piece of gear drops in a dungeon, if the green numbers are for stats you like (see Know Your Class above), and they offset any red numbers, then it's an upgrade!
• Always wear a tabard for a rep you haven't maxed out yet. Max out the rep for your arcanum faction (look it up on Wowhead if you don't know which one you need) and Therazane first, as you will always need an arcanum and inscription (head and shoulder enchants). Get all your reps to at least friendly and carry the tabards around for those you haven't maxed yet so you can switch if you max one out. Each time you reach a new level, either look it up on Wowhead or just head to the vendor and use your RatingBuster addon to check for upgrades.
• When you are about to cap out on Justice or Valor points, head to the vendor and buy something that's an upgrade. At least at first there will be a LOT of things to upgrade. Try to find something not easily replaceable via rep or quest, but if you don't want to do a bunch of research, just replace the item that has the lowest ilevel in your current gear. These days it's somewhat of a waste to buy blue gear with your Justice points, so try to stay with purples.

Have Fun

As always, it's important that you have fun as you work on your gear. It's a game after all! If you absolutely can't stand a dungeon, DON'T RUN IT even if it happens to have good gear. Having good gear is not worth being unhappy while you are supposed to be having fun.

Character Profile: Gavin "Red" Lockees

SP131-6847

Contact Gavin "Red" Lockees

Name:  Gavin "Red" Lockees

Vocation:  Technomat

Inquisition Ident:  AR013:123:M41:031SP-131

Homeworld:  Hive Dromis - Scintilla

Age:  24 solar standard

Gender:  Male

Background: Born to unknown parents on hive world Scintilla in the lower levels of Hive Dromis. Given name "Gavin Lockees" by schola officials, however immediately nicknamed "Red" by fellow orphans. Early years spent in care of a schola progenium orphanage, was reported missing at age 7 [ref. Arbites record P10:AFT-522]. Lived on the streets, multiple incidents of gang involvement and petty theft. Later became involved in Inquisitorial affiliated cover organization Coblast Assay as a reclaimator. Contact distinguished himself by locating thieves responsible for stealing Coblast Assay property [ref. Arbites record P12:AFT-003]. When working partner was recruited into Inquisition service under Inquisitrix Sola Prinn [ref. Inquisitorial record AR013:123:M41:031SP-022], was stationed on the interstellar freighter the Black Grox. Contact currently works on the freighter as a technomat, but has known dealings with grey market merchants on several planets. Known continued association with acolyte Ziapatra Havelock [ref. Inquisitorial ident AR013:123:M41:031SP-022].

Aptitude Profile: Known close combat and street fighting abilities. Skilled in knife use. Combat rated for basic solid projectile shoulder- and side-arms. Illiterate. Some tech-use knowledge and abilities despite lack of mechanicum training. Skilled in security circumvention, search, and inquiry. Comfortable and confident in working with underworld contacts. Strong interpersonal and leadership abilities.

Pict-Record Ref:  SP131-6847

General Appearance Profile: Lean, stringy build. Tall, lean height to weight ratio. Pale complexion. Bright red hair. Aquiline nose, angular face and cheekbones.

Preferred Equipment: Multiple mono-molecular bladed knives. Silenced Sturm & Drang Hailstorm-pattern autopistol. Multikey, combi tool, and other paraphernalia of the technomat and reclaimator trades. Seldom seen in armor aside from piecemeal street leathers, primitive protection at best.
Contact Status: Trusted contact. Can be counted on for unusual favors, as well as weapon procurement and discount.

Character Profile: Ziapatra "Zee" Havelock

SP022-5668
Acolyte Ziapatra Havelock

Name:  Ziapatra "Zee" Havelock

Vocation:  Reclaimator

Inquisition Ident:  AR013:123:M41:031SP-022

Homeworld:  Hive Dromis - Scintilla

Age:  20 solar standard

Gender:  Female

Imperial Divination:  ‘Even a woman who has nothing can still offer her life.’

Background: Born to parents Dracus and Jedia Havelock, skilled workers and supervisors at Hive Dromis' Red Lens manifactorum. The manifactorum was destroyed via heretic sabotage [ref. Inquisitorial record SNH-931-2255]. Family fell into poverty in the lower hive. Recruit forced to live on the streets when parents died due to overwork in a lower manifactorum. Despite early gang involvement, later became involved in Inquisitorial affiliated cover organization Coblast Assay as a reclaimator. Recruit distinguished herself by locating thieves responsible for stealing Coblast Assay property [ref. Arbites record P12:AFT-003].

Recruitment:  Psy-trance divination undertook by Inquisitrix Sola Prinn and her Astropath Kevil Stass revealed a connection to recruit which lead to agent traveling to Hive Dromus for recruitment.

Aptitude Profile:   Literate despite humble origins in the lower hive. Combat rated for basic solid projectile shoulder- and side-arms. Skilled with the knife and other primitive melee weapons. Some tech-use knowledge and abilities despite lack of mechanicum training. Skilled in security circumvention, search, and inquiry. Comfortable and confident in working with underworld contacts.

Pict-Record Ref:  SP022-5668

General Appearance Profile: Wiry build, short, lean height to weight ratio. Ruddy complexion, dyed hair (blue as of this writing). Gray eyes. Abstract tattoo covering left shoulder and side.

Preferred Equipment:   Modified Sturm & Drang Hailstorm-pattern autopistol, Drystan Growler-pattern shotgun, brass knuckles and mono-molecular bladed knife for close combat. Carries a multikey at all times. Prefers a flak coat for armor which provides protection but does not inhibit mobility.

Bounder Studios is on the Nets

Hey all! I've been pretty quiet lately. But there's been reason - I've been working day and night on development for Pollinator, and on organizing and establishing Bounder Studios on the internet!

That's right, my game development team now has a website, http://www.bounderstudios.com! We're also on twitter @BounderStudios, and on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bounder-Studios/281096775253183. Our website is currently a placeholder, but I'm hoping to get something more substantial up there this weekend. Eventually we'll have a development blog, screenshots, videos, downloads, an about page, and more. I'll continue to post my progress here so you can check it out when I add new features!

On the game front, I've been coding up a storm on Pollinator. Progress has been slowed somewhat because I've switched to Allegro 5, from Allegro 4 which I was using before. Allegro is a game development library that helps make graphics, sound, and input easy. Allegro 5 is a HUGE improvement over Allegro 4, but it's taking some getting used to. I'm literally re-writing the entire game from the ground up, which allows me to keep things in mind for future ports to Android and other platforms.

In other exciting news, I've met with my sound and graphic designers. My sound designer has already produced a set of sound effects and is working on more, as well as music. My graphics designer is getting some mock-ups to me this week so we can decide on a style and begin sprite work. It's been an amazing experience explaining the game to people who actually have to create things based on what I'm telling them. It definitely forces you to see the things you haven't quit figured out yet!

Nerd Crafts: How to Make a Creeper Shirt

As you may have guessed, I'm not the "girliest" girl out there. I don't typically do arts and crafts projects. However, I needed something appropriately nerdy to wear to PAX. Rather than purchase an expensive shirt from Jinx or some other nerd-ware site, I decided to follow this simple video I found to create my very own creeper shirt!

Note: this video was NOT made by me, it is the property of Evange. Check out more of her awesome crafts and recipes!

The method is really quite easy. I'll lay out the steps in text form, since I think it's nice to have that to accompany the video.


STEP 1: Gather your materials.

You will need:

• A green shirt with room for the creeper's face on the front.
  
• Black paint. Fabric paint is best, but even black acrylic paint would work.
  
• Pencil. Make sure it's not very sharp - softer pencils are best.
  
• Ruler.
  
• Masking tape.
  

STEP 2: Draw the grid.

Spread out the shirt on a flat surface. Using the dull pencil, draw a 6x6 grid of boxes. My boxes were about 1.5 inches to a side, and that worked well for my shirt, but use your best judgment.

The diagram shows suggested placement on a shirt, but you might want to try the shirt on and think about placement of the design on your body.

STEP 3: Tape off the eyes and part of the mouth.

Tape off the area around the creeper's eyes and part of it's mouth, as shown in the diagram.

STEP 4: Paint the eyes and part of the mouth.

Paint in the creeper's eyes and part of it's mouth, as shown in the diagram. Use a stippling motion rather than brush strokes, being careful to cover everything evenly, but not push paint under the tape.

STEP 5: Wait for paint to dry, then remove tape.

Wait until the paint is dry to the touch. This depends on the type of paint used. Carefully remove the tape.

STEP 6: Tape off the rest of the mouth.

Tape off the area around the rest of the mouth, as shown in the diagram. If you are sure your paint is fully dry, you can place tape directly on the previously painted sections. If you are unsure, cut your tape carefully and only tape right up to the edge of your previous section.

STEP 7: Paint the rest of the mouth.

Use a stippling motion, as before. Where the new mouth sections meet the old, you may want to paint over the edge a bit to make the transition look smooth. This really depends on the type of pain you have, so just do what seems to look good - you can always touch it up afterward, too!

STEP 8: Wait for paint to dry, then remove tape, and wash.

Again, wait until the paint is dry to the touch, then remove the tape. If you have fabric paint, it should tell you on the bottle how long to wait until washing. If you aren't sure, wait three days. After washing, the pencil marks should come off and you'll be left with an awesome creeper shirt!

While you can certainly make one of these on your own, I decided to throw a small party with some of my other nerdy friends, and we made them together. It was a great excuse to get together and do something creative, and away from a computer screen for a while!

I got lots of compliments on this shirt at PAX, and people even asked where I bought it - when I told them I made it, they were disappointed that they couldn't get their own at the con, but I directed them to Evange's video so they could make their own! So you can really make something that looks professionally-made for a very cheap price, and have lots of fun in the process. Enjoy!

Geek Girl Con in October

I am a geek, and also a girl. So it's little wonder that I'm interested in the upcoming Geek Girl Con in Seattle this October. The con celebrates all things nerdy with a focus on gender-female geeks, but welcomes geeks of all types.

There are a lot of interesting panels lined up, though they don't seem to have a schedule listed yet. Here are some of the ones I'm most interested in:

• Killing Cattiness, Creating Community - "This panel discusses how Geek Girls can put aside being negatively competitive, divisive, and catty to our sister Geek Girls. Panelists will give examples of both positive and negative experiences and answer questions from the audience."
  
  As a child, I was often teased by other girls. Even now I often see other girls as threats or as people likely to be rude to me or put me down, but seldom (at least initially) as allies. I'm curious if that's a mentality common to geek girls, and how we can overcome it.
• Girls Make Games Too - "How do you start out in the gaming industry? This panel of women have various roles with in the games industry at Microsoft Game Studios and will speak about their careers and their experiences. Useful information like the skills required for their jobs, what it is like being women working in the games industry, and how they got their feet in the door. The panel will address how the industry has changed, outlining where we were, where we are, and how we move forward in the gaming profession."
  
  Obviously of direct interest to me, I'm hoping to get some advice in this panel on how best to get into the gaming industry.
  
  
• Rocking the geek niche: Nerdiness is your superpower - "The Offbeat Empire is an enormously popular web publishing network owned and staffed exclusively by geeky women who’ve learned how to use their nerdiest qualities to their best business and personal advantages. This panel will address not only how the Offbeat Empire is built on celebrating geek culture, but also how each panelist has applied her individual techy/nerdy qualities in her career development."
  
  I've always felt my nerdiness gave me an edge over other people in some ways. I was used to standing apart, to being put down, and to being quirky. I'm interested in seeing how others have turned this to their advantage.
  

I'm really excited for it and can't wait to see how this brand new con turns out! I'm hoping to attend at least one full day, possibly both days. I'll definitely report back in with my reactions, and hopefully it will be an awesome event that continues in the future!

PAX Reactions

PAX is already a week behind us. This year it was bigger than ever. Sadly I was only able to attend Sunday, and spent most of my time running around the convention center craning my neck to look at all the awesome stuff, and generally soaking up the atmosphere. Most of the goodies were already given out, though I did score some League of Legends skins.

I didn't attend any of the major events or panels, but I did stop by one of the tabletop RPG workshops. It was a very small affair, only about 8 people in attendance. The subject was dungeon design, and I really enjoyed a chance to talk with professional dungeon designers and bounce ideas around to use in my own tabletop RPG campaigns. My friend stayed for a workshop about integrating the horror genre into games (with one of the writers for Call of Cthulhu), but I decided to go exploring on my own after that.

I waited in line for half an hour to try out Wakfu, a new MMO on the way from Square Enix. I didn't get to play long, but it seemed charming enough and I should be receiving a beta invite for it shortly, so I'll comment when I get the chance.

Last but not least, I got to talk to a wonderful gal named Epona from the Academy of Interactive Entertainment. The AIE is a workforce training school that's very big in Australia but has only recently landed in the US. As I mentioned in my previous post, I managed to score a $15,000 scholarship to the first year of their two-year program, but unfortunately had to decline. However, it's still something I'm really interested in. Seattle is an awesome place to live, I've got good friends there, and it's definitely a gaming hub.

I left PAX with a T-Shirt, a small amount of free swag, and some good memories with friends. I was also randomly given a "team notch" button by someone on the elevator who liked my creeper shirt. Overall it was a successful venture, but I definitely want to get a three day pass next year so I won't feel so rushed.

Hard Decisions Suck

Just had to turn down a full ride ($15,000) scholarship to the Academy of Interactive Entertainment in Seattle. I would have had to start school next week, move again, find a place to live and a job to support myself while in school (scholarship only covers tuition), and leave my roomates in Portland in a lurch. Still the hardest decision I've ever made. Hopefully something that awesome will come along again!

Moving, moving, and more moving

Well, everything's finally been moved into my new place. However, it's all still in boxes all over my floor. I will probably be spending the next few days unpacking everything and getting myself settled. That said, I'm going to try to resume blogging as soon as possible, with updates from PAX, progress in Bounder Studios' development of Pollinator, and some other article ideas I have been kicking around.

I am getting excited for the new school year, which starts at the end of September. Sadly, I was unable to register for my math class, which leaves me with a light course load this term (only 9 credits). However, I've decided to use this extra time to work on my game design stuff. Due to my ride situation, I'll be at the school early each day, and this will be an ideal time to meet with team members. I'm hoping to have a finished version of Pollinator for at least one platform at the end of this year. I have ideas for two games after that - one a Pollinator spin off tower defense game, the other a Dungeon Overload meets Recettear meets Monster Rancher.

I'm also hoping to get a website going soon for my game company, Bounder Studios, as well as a personal website that will act as a portfolio. I've been working hard on career development things lately, and am actually considering going to a specialized game design trade school instead of finishing up my traditional CS degree - or maybe I'll do both! Either way, I'm very excited for the future and hope I can find a wonderful place to work when I'm done with school.