Vixen's posts
Posted in Is this your first Voltra event?
Posted 4 years ago
@Totalanimefan: Raiding groups tend to be pretty tight-knit, especially when the raiding community as a whole a small (e.g. LOTRO in general, and my server in particular). In other words, barrier to entry to the general raiding scene is somewhat high. Almost all of the groups that run the current raid on high tiers are done behind closed doors. No one will PUG a high tier raid from world chat...like ever. Because when you pick a random person out, majority of the time, the individual has one or more of these issues: insufficient stats, bad gearing, bad skill rotation, incorrect UI, doesn't know the run, can't learn the run efficiently on the fly, no voice chat, no comms etc. On top of that, most raids need a particular group composition, so it helps to set rosters prior and do any last minute PUG/filling in raider-specific channels.
So to set rosters, typically this is done is various Discords. These Discords usually are specific for groups, and groups have varying levels of barrier to entry. Things like, are there slots open for certain roles, does the individual meld well with the rest of the team etc. As far as I know, the group management I've encountered tends to not be particularly well-structured as other games. The ones I've encountered do not do interviews and some don't even do applications. What tends to happen is an individual fills (backup filling a role on-call; not on the roster) a raid for a particular group through a mutual friend of sorts, that individual is deemed competent and proceeds to continue fill or possibly sign up for raids with the group more frequently, and this in turn eventually earns them a spot in the core group. This has a lot to do with luck and timing for the new individual in "getting their name out there".
This is all fine and dandy, but the process that might be touchy, especially if the individual in question wanting to rush to the end of getting into the core group. The first thing about sign ups is that signs ups do not guarantee a spot on the roster. Depending on who's setting the roster, one might need to be closer friends with the raid leader etc. to get onto the roster. This is the first bit that can cause drama. An individual feels like they are always getting passed over on the roster -- that they have to be "friendly" with certain people to get onto a roster. That's what I call social politics. Usually I say this is indicative of poor management since if someone is passed over on a roster, I generally recommend not passing them over on the next sign up, but not everyone is good about doing this and technically you can run your raids however you want. I know guilds generally will prioritize guild members first, and then guild acquaintances for runs, but depending on group competency, the acquaintances may end up on the roster more often if the other newer guild members are weaker in their roles. Again, that contributes to the constant passing-over feelings for some.
That is the second bit that causes drama -- often raid leaders are setting rosters based on group competency, so someone who repeatedly fails to learn mechanics or never gets better at their role/class can get socially blacklisted as an individual that's hard to work with. So now there are prominent members within the raid community who collectively dislike certain players. I call that "inviting drama". It means certain people can't be put in the same group because it'll end up in animosity, in-fighting, blaming, toxicity etc if the run isn't a first-try clean run.
And then there's infighting on how raids "should" be run, what the loot rules are, what the strategy will be etc. These generally are all set prior to even setting up a sign up, but not everyone is clear about expectations of how participants will interact with the group, so that miscommunication also tends to blow up in people's faces.
And then there are other issues of incompetent leadership etc. But that's a whole different bucket of worms :) Thanks for coming to my TedTalk lol
So to set rosters, typically this is done is various Discords. These Discords usually are specific for groups, and groups have varying levels of barrier to entry. Things like, are there slots open for certain roles, does the individual meld well with the rest of the team etc. As far as I know, the group management I've encountered tends to not be particularly well-structured as other games. The ones I've encountered do not do interviews and some don't even do applications. What tends to happen is an individual fills (backup filling a role on-call; not on the roster) a raid for a particular group through a mutual friend of sorts, that individual is deemed competent and proceeds to continue fill or possibly sign up for raids with the group more frequently, and this in turn eventually earns them a spot in the core group. This has a lot to do with luck and timing for the new individual in "getting their name out there".
This is all fine and dandy, but the process that might be touchy, especially if the individual in question wanting to rush to the end of getting into the core group. The first thing about sign ups is that signs ups do not guarantee a spot on the roster. Depending on who's setting the roster, one might need to be closer friends with the raid leader etc. to get onto the roster. This is the first bit that can cause drama. An individual feels like they are always getting passed over on the roster -- that they have to be "friendly" with certain people to get onto a roster. That's what I call social politics. Usually I say this is indicative of poor management since if someone is passed over on a roster, I generally recommend not passing them over on the next sign up, but not everyone is good about doing this and technically you can run your raids however you want. I know guilds generally will prioritize guild members first, and then guild acquaintances for runs, but depending on group competency, the acquaintances may end up on the roster more often if the other newer guild members are weaker in their roles. Again, that contributes to the constant passing-over feelings for some.
That is the second bit that causes drama -- often raid leaders are setting rosters based on group competency, so someone who repeatedly fails to learn mechanics or never gets better at their role/class can get socially blacklisted as an individual that's hard to work with. So now there are prominent members within the raid community who collectively dislike certain players. I call that "inviting drama". It means certain people can't be put in the same group because it'll end up in animosity, in-fighting, blaming, toxicity etc if the run isn't a first-try clean run.
And then there's infighting on how raids "should" be run, what the loot rules are, what the strategy will be etc. These generally are all set prior to even setting up a sign up, but not everyone is clear about expectations of how participants will interact with the group, so that miscommunication also tends to blow up in people's faces.
And then there are other issues of incompetent leadership etc. But that's a whole different bucket of worms :) Thanks for coming to my TedTalk lol
Posted in Is this your first Voltra event?
Posted 4 years ago
@Totalanimefan: Always more hardcore player is definitely true. Too much social politics in raiding community though imo. I tried to read the books and I got through the first third and the Hobbit, but it was really dry. I'm pretty sure I've learned more about Tolkien's world from reading Wikipedia than actually reading his works lol. I do really adore the LOTR movies (save for a couple of plot changes) and the Hobbit movies were ok I guess, but it couldn't compare to the LOTR ones for me. Hobbit movies tried to tell too many stories at once and strayed a little too far away from the source than I would have liked. How about you?
@xvz: Yep that's why Amazon Prime gives you one free sub.
@xvz: Yep that's why Amazon Prime gives you one free sub.
Posted in Is this your first Voltra event?
Posted 4 years ago
@Totalanimefan: Haven't the slightest clue. I'm not sure if it's new or something they acquired. I assume it's because they had acquired Twitch and it doesn't make sense to not start looking into game development. Tbh, big companies often have their internal versions of everything if they're exploring new market spaces anyway. They can end up poaching good talent... so you don't really know til the demos come out.
I do both. At the core, I enjoy exploring the Tolkien world visually. I do a niche thing in the game called "outfitting" which is basically dressing up your character, but one of the things that enable me to dress up in creative ways is owning lots of gear pieces... but to have lots of armour pieces, you have to very thoroughly explore the game, from quests to crafting to deeding to raiding. Raid-exclusive drops usually have some really nice appearances I like collecting. As time went on, I enjoy raiding for it's own sake (group content, tactics + strategizing etc), rather than a means to an end (loot). My server is basically a party server anyway, so comparatively I'm more-than-casual to them, but compared to hardcore raiders, I'm just a filthy casual lol
I do both. At the core, I enjoy exploring the Tolkien world visually. I do a niche thing in the game called "outfitting" which is basically dressing up your character, but one of the things that enable me to dress up in creative ways is owning lots of gear pieces... but to have lots of armour pieces, you have to very thoroughly explore the game, from quests to crafting to deeding to raiding. Raid-exclusive drops usually have some really nice appearances I like collecting. As time went on, I enjoy raiding for it's own sake (group content, tactics + strategizing etc), rather than a means to an end (loot). My server is basically a party server anyway, so comparatively I'm more-than-casual to them, but compared to hardcore raiders, I'm just a filthy casual lol
Posted in Is this your first Voltra event?
Posted 4 years ago
@Totalanimefan: Haven't the slightest clue. I heard the rights were bought by Amazon's gaming studio, and at best, they would be in early development stages.
Well, it depends on what you consider "good" in a MMO. Like if you want to do end game high tier raiding, yeah, it's a huge time sink in basically every MMO, especially if you level a character from scratch in a game that has more than a decade's worth of content. Some games have level boosts, but unless you're really good about your homework, chances are you don't know the ins and outs of the class to be even remotely useful in a group setting. But competitive raiding is such a niche thing. (And specifically for LOTRO, that game has a huge focus on explorational PvE, and decidedly less focus on mechanics of complex raiding or PvP that WoW and FF14 have). Plenty of people play casually for the story (and in LOTRO's case, exploring Tolkien's world that was only touched on in appendices/movies etc). I wouldn't take a random person on a raid of any sort though because if one person is enough to wipe, that's at least 11-23 other people's time wasted.
Well, it depends on what you consider "good" in a MMO. Like if you want to do end game high tier raiding, yeah, it's a huge time sink in basically every MMO, especially if you level a character from scratch in a game that has more than a decade's worth of content. Some games have level boosts, but unless you're really good about your homework, chances are you don't know the ins and outs of the class to be even remotely useful in a group setting. But competitive raiding is such a niche thing. (And specifically for LOTRO, that game has a huge focus on explorational PvE, and decidedly less focus on mechanics of complex raiding or PvP that WoW and FF14 have). Plenty of people play casually for the story (and in LOTRO's case, exploring Tolkien's world that was only touched on in appendices/movies etc). I wouldn't take a random person on a raid of any sort though because if one person is enough to wipe, that's at least 11-23 other people's time wasted.
Posted in Is this your first Voltra event?
Posted 4 years ago
@Totalanimefan: There is an old one that can only make content on the Lord of the Rings books, but nothing that was exclusively mentioned outside of it. It's my first "real" video game and I still play it now all those years later lol. There's apparently a new LOTR MMO in the works though by another studio. MMOs had a lot of things similar to real life that I couldn't really do in real life, so it was an interesting substitute for me. But they're huge time sinks if you play them in their full capacity... which is why I play it fully immersed for several months and then disappear for years LOL
Posted in Is this your first Voltra event?
Posted 4 years ago
@Totalanimefan: Ah I think my favorite was the haunted doll area (level 3 I think?? honestly don't remember). I play Lord of the Rings Online now for MMORPG and Overwatch for competitive. Some Diablo as well.
Posted in Is this your first Voltra event?
Posted 4 years ago
@Totalanimefan: Yep everyone's talking about it and that's why I don't want to lol I'm sure to have some opinions though as results come in.
Yes I played zOmg back in the day! I never beat the sea boss though :( I had met a rando who tried to kill it with me and we were so close but no win
Yes I played zOmg back in the day! I never beat the sea boss though :( I had met a rando who tried to kill it with me and we were so close but no win
Posted in Is this your first Voltra event?
Posted 4 years ago
@Totalanimefan: yesh I will do that. Or well, talk about video games or whatever. We don't talk about the electoral college. That is what I call "inviting trouble".
Posted in Is this your first Voltra event?
Posted 4 years ago
Good day all :D
I feel like I'm running out of stuff to talk about on the forums lol Never was particularly talkative.
I feel like I'm running out of stuff to talk about on the forums lol Never was particularly talkative.
Posted in Is this your first Voltra event?
Posted 4 years ago
@Totalanimefan: it was a good nap! like around 90 minutes for a full sleep cycle.
Posted in Is this your first Voltra event?
Posted 4 years ago
@Totalanimefan: Some Overwatch and some Diablo. I ended up taking a nap lol
Posted in Is this your first Voltra event?
Posted 4 years ago
@Totalanimefan: Oh I took the day off, so I took care of some personal stuff and played some games. Deciding what to do next.
Posted in Is this your first Voltra event?
Posted 4 years ago
@Totalanimefan: eh sort of. If I felt like crunching out several pieces in a day, I could, but that's not fun.
Posted in Is this your first Voltra event?
Posted 4 years ago
@Totalanimefan: yeah but it's really more for my own benefit of having sufficient time to draw things within the time of the event, you know?