A small apology guys, this is a bit of a rehash of macros that I included in an earlier post back in January HOWEVER it was tagged on the end of a general post about doing Cataclysm Dungeons and the tools you need.  So I decided to pop it up as a separate article that can be easily updated and stuck under the resources bit.

Also, sorry my posting schedule has been slow this week but work has been manic; will endeavour to overcome this ;)

Macro Basics

Please watch this Runz approved Government information film to learn some basics about macros.  After the jump we'll look at the mage specific macros I use.

Click on the title or the Read More button to join me after the jump.

Let’s face it, LFD is having a tough time at the moment.  There are just not enough tanks to cater to the number of DPS players leading to ridiculous queue times unless you are happen to be a tank, in which case you only have to wait about 10 seconds.  It’s causing problems, so much so that Blizzard has decided to implement a reward system for tanks for the role type least represented (so errrr… tanks then, yeah?), a proposal that has been met with equal measures of rapturous applause and the wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Regardless of how you feel about it, it does at least show that Blizzard has recognized a problem within the community and is taking steps to fix it even if it’s only a short term fix.

But why have these problems arisen?  What can we do to solve them?  Why is my son stealing my mana cookies?  He’s not even a caster class and he leaves crumbs all round the house!

Click on the Title or the Read More button and I shall attempt to answer these queries

WoW isn't dead.

WoW isn't dying.

WoW hasn't been turned into a newt; even if it did I'm sure it would get better.

Yet if you were to read many forums or many comments on blog sites (not bloggers themselves) you would be forgiven for thinking that WoW is the MMORPG equivalent of that aged film star from the 1960s whose best years are behind them and all they have are the memories of that glorious period.  Once again this is the rantings of a vocal minority that spew forth their personal opinion as the gospel truth to all and sundry that care listen - or even those that just happen to stand around for too long in the vent channel.

The World of Warcraft is in fantastic shape people, it really really is.  Does that mean it's perfect?  Of course it doesn't, in my own opinion I still think their are many improvements that Blizzard can and should still make but their is a reason that Warcraft is still the industry's biggest triple A MMORPG and why the closest competitor in years is effectively a WoW clone in a new setting - in fact it even has to reference Azeroth in its own advertising campaign to make waves.  I'm not having a downer on Rift (in case you haven't guessed what I was referencing) as from what I hear it is a good game but of reasons it became popular the most striking features are a) it's like WoW so therefore instantly recognisable and intuitive b) it's WoW in a new setting with new storylines which makes things interesting for people who have been adventuring in azeroth for the past six years or so  and c) because it isn't WoW it does have a greater leeway to experiment with new mechanics in an attempt to push the boundary; WoW has over 12 million accounts so it's always a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't - Rift has a fresh slate to try out new things.  Let's also be clear, RIFT is far from perfect itself and there are plenty of complaints about how it runs and things getting repitive there very quickly after reaching a certain point.

But from my view, there is no way Rift is a WoW killer; it's too much of a clone for that I think but there's definitely a few things Blizzard could learn from Trion.  From my guildies' perspective many of them play Rift but they do it as a way of breaking up their gaming.  Most of them are hardcore MMORPG fans and it isn't unusual for some of them to play several MMOs at once (I just don't have the time for that) - WoW is their first love but on a non-raid night it's nice to travel somewhere else.  Personally I break my game time up by playing completely different genres, it's all down to personal choice really.

Oh but what about all the bloggers that have given up lately?  That aren't playing anymore?  That have closed down their sites?
(click on the title or the read more button to see the rest of this article)

So I finally did it, I finally took the plunge and tried running a heroic in something other than Frost spec.  Pick your jaws up off the floor ladies and gentlemen because I can assure you it was very short-lived.  I’m a mage for many reasons, we’re awesome, we can teleport about the place, we sheep things but most of all we cause big ‘splodey death to people and things that we don’t like.  I like seeing big numbers floating above my target of choice; it makes me a very happy little troll.  Now I’m a good Frost Mage, I was a good Arcane Mage back in Wrath but since Cataclysm I wanted to try something new.  I practice my abilities as Frost in both PvP and PvE (I still suck at Arena but I’m improving thanks to the patience of my 2v2 partner.   I’m outright vicious in battlegrounds) and because of that I have my rotation down pat and can react very quickly to cast the right thing at the right time.

But my friends, I am still far, far behind my Arcane and Fire Brethren whenever I have the opportunity to raid with them.  I don’t like that one bit, in Wrath I was always in the top 3 DPS but in Cataclysm I’m typically around the bottom third somewhere.  I am the lone bastion of Frost Mage raiding in my guild, possibly even on my server, but try as I might I just can’t keep pace with the other specs.  Gear does have something to do with it and again I still do damn well considering but there was a sharp realisation that if I wanted to be the competitive DPS mage I once was then something has to give.

So there it was, the thought I had been dreading; “I’m going to have to respect for PvE”.  Fortunately there was a guild heroic run and for a bit of practice I switched over to Fire for heroic Stonecore.  I had our guild's imba Fire Mage (Reegis) with me and I had been reading the fire guides over at Manalicious and at Murloc Parliament – both are brilliant resources.  Plus, of course, I have been tracking Fire and Arcane rotations since the launch of Cataclysm so that I maintained a sound working knowledge of both.  I understand the rotation and what I *should* be doing…

I lasted right up until the first boss before announcing loudly to my fellow mage 'Balls to your Fire sir, balls I say' and swapped back to Frost.