Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Mon Dec 03, 2018 11:09 am**

Kasey Chang wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 3:53 am I am using a "mobile" computer desk (it has 4 wheels) with hutch, but it's a NARROW one.

"Hutch"! Damn, that was the word I couldn't remember! I have a hutch. A fracking big, heavy hutch.

"I have a separate "computer cart" (with its casters taken off, using it as a stand) to the side". We used to have a desk like that, we kept the printer on the roll-around. It was a really cheap desk and developed a slump in the middle after a few months; we had damn heavy monitors back then

. In fact I had a 25-inch CRT that was seriously heavy, it is what drove us to buying the big desk.

Oh what the heck, I'll upload a picture of the big desk.

Posted: **Mon Dec 03, 2018 11:15 am**

I'm envious of the Jane's books.

Posted: **Mon Dec 03, 2018 1:27 pm**

I figure I should add a picture too:

Posted: **Mon Dec 03, 2018 1:33 pm**

Daehawk wrote: Sun Dec 02, 2018 3:56 am
Alefroth wrote: Sun Dec 02, 2018 12:49 am
Daehawk wrote: Sat Dec 01, 2018 8:49 pm With me I use arrows and mouse. Its the way I sit. I dont have a desk. My PC sits on a cedar chest. I cant get my knees under it. I sit at an angle...sideways to my PC with my right side facing the chest and PC. I would have to really reach for the WASD keys but arrows are perfect.

I have to sit here and twist to the right to use the pc. This is how I started and learned on DOOM and DOOM II and have used arrows and mouse ever since.
That sounds like a nightmare. No wonder you get pissed at games. Doesn't seem like it would help with your pain, either.
It doesn't.I have 5 pillows under me too.

Why not simply forego the next game you plan on purchasing, and spend the money on a proper computer desk instead?

You can buy Amazon's current #1 best seller for office computer desks for only $39.00.

Posted: **Mon Dec 03, 2018 2:59 pm**

Isgrimnur wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 11:15 am I'm envious of the Jane's books.

Yeah I’ve got a couple dozen Jane’s of the various types from the seventies to the early 2000s. Also reprints from WW1 and WW2. It just takes a lot of searching through used bookstores, although nowadays the prices are too high thanks to the internet and particularly Amazon.

Posted: **Mon Dec 03, 2018 3:03 pm**

Im used to it. 24 years does that. But its fine.

Posted: **Mon Dec 03, 2018 5:48 pm**

Daehawk wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 3:03 pm Im used to it. 24 years does that. But its fine.

Perhaps I misunderstood, but I thought you were confirming Aleforth's statement that computing at a cedar chest "sounds like a nightmare" and that it "doesn't seem like it would help with your pain, either." Just because you were able to endure computing uncomfortably when you were 20+ years younger is hardly a rational justification to continue doing so as you head into your fifties. Alas, just like the rest of us, you're certainly not getting any younger.

Given how much time you obviously spend on your computer, I'd give it some serious consideration if I were you. But hey, whatever floats yer goat.

Posted: **Mon Dec 03, 2018 7:12 pm**

Kasey do they bring you food and water in your computer dungeon's torture chamber?

Posted: **Tue Dec 04, 2018 3:49 am**

Daehawk wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 7:12 pm Kasey do they bring you food and water in your computer dungeon's torture chamber?

I walk downstairs for that.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:04 am**

I've decided to try an MMO healer for the first time ever, and have jumped back into FF XIV. While I really enjoyed playing as a DPS (Bard), the queue time for end-game dungeons simply didn't work for me at all. Waiting 30 minutes to get into a 30-45 minute dungeon was just...blech. So I decided to switch over to a White Mage to give healing a try. Nice to have queues that pop instantly.

It's also kind of exciting to be approaching a game I've already spent a few thousand hours with from an entirely new perspective.

When you've never done it before, healing can be an awfully intimidating prospect. I've done pretty well with the lower level stuff, but am nervous about getting good enough to do higher level content. I tend to panic a bit if things go south in a hurry, but I'm sure that'll get better as I become more familiar with the toolset. Makes me realize how much I took good healers for granted in every MMO I've played. It's certainly a skill that takes some getting used to.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:06 pm**

A good healer is like a good tank or good system administrator.

If they are good at their jobs, you don't even notice they're there.

If the tank loses control of the mobs, he gets blamed. Everything else is the healer's fault whether true or not.

On the plus side, if you don't feel like you're being treated fairly, or the criticism is unreasonable or offensive, you can just leave. You'll be back in with a new group in seconds, your former group will probably break up and quit for the night.

The corollary of this is to not use your value to the party to be a dick. Quiting at the first sign of an error in play from anyone is a dick move. No one will get better if they don't get multiple tries. You're not responsible for other people learning the game, but as a healer you should already be of the mindset that you are there to help.

It's a balance.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:38 pm**

I've been giving my parties a heads-up before each run that I'm very new at this, and apologizing in advance for any derp. Most of them have been very cool about it and many have given me some good advice.

Then, of course, there's always that one group with the (usually undergeared) tank who decides he's going to go ahead and speed run anyways...then proceeds to yell at me for not keeping him healed when he predictably dies in 30 seconds.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:47 pm**

In WoW, gilraen has had a lot of those tanks. Especially infuriating are the ones that don't wait for the healer to get mana back...

I tell her that she should just finish getting her mana back. If the tank dies, then so be it. And if she gets flack, then bail. As GG said, you don't want to be a dick, but you don't have to put up with a dick either.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:57 pm**

Communication as a Healer is essential, letting your team know when you need a break.

I've only done it a couple times and it's a very different way to play most games. Rewarding in its own way when everyone survives and you know it was your work that did it. It requires a different kind of awareness, and you almost need to be able to predict what your team will do in the near future so you can plan for it. Then it all goes pear shaped and you're the last one standing, running for your life.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 4:04 pm**

I realized that I did leave that out of my post. She does tell the group to hold up, that she needs mana. They just ignore her and pull anyway. Then she feels stressed because she has to try and catch up and heal, usually with significantly less resources than she should have.

For me that would add way too much stress to something that I'm doing for fun. I wouldn't put up with it. She is far more tolerant than I am (as if that wasn't already abundantly clear by the fact that she puts up with me).

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 4:15 pm**

Paingod wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:57 pm It requires a different kind of awareness, and you almost need to be able to predict what your team will do in the near future so you can plan for it.

That's been the biggest challenge so far. Seems like everyone expects you to know what they're going to be doing and account for it.

When you haven't played those classes (I've never played as a tank, for example), I don't have any idea what their damage mitigation skills, cooldowns, aggro reducing, or crowd control abilities are. I'm just watching health and status bars and trying to react accordingly. I'm sure lots of that will come with experience and practice, but it can certainly be a daunting climb.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 4:17 pm**

I'll just point out that 90% of an MMO are non-healers, 9.95% of an MMO are healers, and 0.05% are tanks. 0.01% of an MMO are good tanks. Tanking is much, much more difficult than any other role in the game, assuming the game mechanics aren't facerollingly easy.

A good tank can name his own price.

The flip side of that is that most of an MMO's content does not require a good tank. Being an adequate tank is still beyond most peoples' abilities though.

Hell, a good tank can drag a group of incompetents through the basic 5 man dungeon content by himself, assuming decent gear. A healer isn't going to be able to do that, because the moment incompetent tank loses a mob, that mob will eat the healer.

I should note that most of my experience is with WoW. Other games I've played have been of a similar nature, but I'm sure there are games out there where some of this might not be true.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 4:19 pm**

Skinypupy wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 4:15 pm
Paingod wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:57 pm It requires a different kind of awareness, and you almost need to be able to predict what your team will do in the near future so you can plan for it.
That's been the biggest challenge so far. Seems like everyone expects you to know what they're going to be doing and account for it.

When you haven't played those classes (I've never played as a tank, for example), I don't have any idea what their damage mitigation skills, cooldowns, aggro reducing, or crowd control abilities are. I'm just watching health and status bars and trying to react accordingly. I'm sure lots of that will come with experience and practice, but it can certainly be a daunting climb.

Paingod's observation is a great one. Predicting what everyone else is going to do, doing, and the consequences of what they are doing requires pretty intimate knowledge of the game, mobs, classes, and even players themselves. But that's at a pretty high level of play. Basic dungeons shouldn't require too much work once you get the hang of your skills, and everyone is reasonably geared.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 9:29 pm**

I loved tanking in WoW's Burning Crusade. I actually got very good at it. But I took a break for a while and never seemed to be able to get my skills back. Or maybe the players changed too much and I didn't adapt. I was still a decent tank when I quit, but I did struggle more. Of course, Burning Crusade was when the DPS players still understood that they had to watch their threat. And not pull. I hated DPS that pulled. I'd be sizing up a group, planning my approach to make sure every mob was locked down, and the hunter/warlock/mage would blast away. Suddenly I'm playing catch-up. That's never fun. I would have loved to let the DPS die (the old adage: you pull it, you tank it), except the healer would usually feel obligated to heal the DPS, and then I'd have to make sure the healer didn't get attacked. My primary goal was to protect the healer... since that's the person keeping me alive. The DPS.... they were another story.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 10:30 pm**

GreenGoo wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:06 pm If the tank loses control of the mobs, he gets blamed. Everything else is the healer's fault whether true or not.

If the tank dies - it's the healer's fault.

If the healer dies - it's the tank's fault.

If the DPS die - it's their own damn fault

I play tanks AND healers in WoW, mainly because I feel guilty taking up a DPS spot in the dungeon queue if the character has a tank or heal spec. But I'm so sick of all group content, I play 95% of the game as if it were a single-player game, only running an instance if absolutely necessary to complete a quest.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:02 pm**

Good luck getting DPS to accept responsibility for their own deaths.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:05 pm**

Rogue - Vanish.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:18 pm**

gilraen wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 10:30 pm If the tank dies - it's the healer's fault.

If the healer dies - it's the tank's fault.

If the DPS die - it's their own damn fault

So much this.

I loved played all of these roles. (talking CoH now) Perhaps healer best - as it felt the most loved, and I happened to make and play a really good one, that just never seemed to fail. Oh man, some of those fights were so close, and a good tank with a good healer were just so much fun.

I remember coming online and getting sent tells from a number of tanks I knew, anxious to start another epic night, and I'd choose from a few of the best. Man, I think I loved that game partly because I had such great success. Truly felt heroic.

Damn it.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:24 pm**

Sorry, reading the thread in reverse. I can see you all appreciate a good healer.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:41 pm**

Healers in mmos are loved and hated 50/50. You wanted one with you and in most cases had to have one in the old days. But one mistake and someone was fussing at them or about them. So much so at times the healer would leave or be kicked and you'd wait on a new one. Other times someone would be a jerk and then the healer would simply not heal them. That was always a laugh. I skipped healers and tanks because of the shit that was riding on you and the players who were assholes. I loved DPS though...archer and mage and rogue. Its what I always played. Like said if I died it was my fault. You had to help and be important but not too much of either

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:51 pm**

Unagi wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:18 pm
gilraen wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 10:30 pm If the tank dies - it's the healer's fault.

If the healer dies - it's the tank's fault.

If the DPS die - it's their own damn fault
So much this.

Only if they're all doing their job. It isn't the DPS's fault if the tank is running around with his taunt off, or if the healer neglects mechanics that deal group-wide damage.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:55 pm**

DPS should stop dps'ing until the situation is under control.

Assuming it's not a DPS race or something.

Literally doing nothing is the right thing to do some times.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:06 am**

Blackhawk wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:51 pm
Unagi wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:18 pm
gilraen wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 10:30 pm If the tank dies - it's the healer's fault.

If the healer dies - it's the tank's fault.

If the DPS die - it's their own damn fault
So much this.
Only if they're all doing their job. It isn't the DPS's fault if the tank is running around with his taunt off, or if the healer neglects mechanics that deal group-wide damage.

Absolutely. A group starts with a great Tank that knows and trusts a great Healer that can keep him alive... everyone else are XP sponges. (tongue in cheek)
Also, a good healer knows how to keep the DPS alive for those moments that agro is lost, the group splits in two, or some other hiccup

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:08 am**

Absolutely. I've also seen tanks go in with their aggro-building abilities turned off, the DPS wait the appropriate time, hit once and get a lucky crit, and pull multiple mobs off of the idiot tank. Or tanks dump aggro without warning with the same result. And I've played all three roles.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:15 am**

(I love all three roles)

The scramble where the DPS takes agro, and the healer frantically keeps him alive while the Tank fights to get agro back, and the healer needs to make sure he knows when that happens.

I had a wonderful scimitar scrapper with regen (Maid of Honor) that frustrated Tanks with always taking Agro and not needing help.... one of those scrappers that ran ahead and could just solo boss.... but didn't.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2018 1:33 am**

Isgrimnur wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:05 pm Rogue - Vanish.

This made me laugh. Either you are one of the very, VERY, few great rogues, or you haven't played in a while. Vanish... Feign Death... Invisibility... All great abilities. But they pretty much ceased to exist post-Burning Crusade. Once they turned virtually every fight into a tank-n-spank. And every DPS wanted to top the damage meters. Stopping to drop threat meant less DPS. Ditto on moving out of any crap on the ground.

Granted I stopped playing in Pandaria, but I haven't seen anything on gilraen's runs to make me think things have changed.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2018 2:54 am**

Anonymous Bosch wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 5:48 pm Given how much time you obviously spend on your computer, I'd give it some serious consideration if I were you. But hey, whatever floats yer goat.

Yeah, if you're getting back pain due to strain, I'd think about changing your setup, Dae. Doesn't sound like it's helping you out any. I tend to get back strain from time to time just by having my chair get out its adjustments. It's subtle enough of a change but once I realize what's happening, and set it back again it makes a difference.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2018 10:14 am**

The Smithsonian organized an event to honor the developers of 1962's Spacewar. Here's a write-up by the moderator.

After the question and answer session was over, I wandered over to the display where the game could actually be played. I hadn’t been born when it was released, and hadn’t played it at all.

As I waited in line, a mother and daughter played against each other. No one else could pry them away from the console. I had been watching this pair for a while—they’d sat near me during the panel, and I’d wanted to ask them what they thought about it. The daughter had pulled up her feet to sit cross legged while she listened, looking bored with her head resting on her palm. Asking random people things is now an instinct I have after years of doing it for a living, and I’ve long grown past being nervous or embarrassed by it. Watching that mother and daughter, on that night, I decided not to interrupt them.

I’d wait my turn, if they let me have one, and let them touch history in peace. The little girl was playing a game, of course. But just playing around, the night had proven, could someday lead to making something that should be in a museum.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2018 10:20 am**

AWS260 wrote: Thu Dec 06, 2018 10:14 am The Smithsonian organized an event to honor the developers of 1962's Spacewar. Here's a write-up by the moderator.
After the question and answer session was over, I wandered over to the display where the game could actually be played. I hadn’t been born when it was released, and hadn’t played it at all.

As I waited in line, a mother and daughter played against each other. No one else could pry them away from the console. I had been watching this pair for a while—they’d sat near me during the panel, and I’d wanted to ask them what they thought about it. The daughter had pulled up her feet to sit cross legged while she listened, looking bored with her head resting on her palm. Asking random people things is now an instinct I have after years of doing it for a living, and I’ve long grown past being nervous or embarrassed by it. Watching that mother and daughter, on that night, I decided not to interrupt them.

I’d wait my turn, if they let me have one, and let them touch history in peace. The little girl was playing a game, of course. But just playing around, the night had proven, could someday lead to making something that should be in a museum.

I remember first learning about Spacewar in an article in Analog magazine back in the late sixties. I think I even have a photocopy around here.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2018 10:38 am**

TheMix wrote: Thu Dec 06, 2018 1:33 am
Isgrimnur wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:05 pm Rogue - Vanish.

This made me laugh. Either you are one of the very, VERY, few great rogues, or you haven't played in a while. Vanish... Feign Death... Invisibility... All great abilities. But they pretty much ceased to exist post-Burning Crusade.

I maxed at 70 and was not enticed back when Lich King dropped.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:47 am**

Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Dec 06, 2018 10:38 am
TheMix wrote: Thu Dec 06, 2018 1:33 am
Isgrimnur wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:05 pm Rogue - Vanish.

This made me laugh. Either you are one of the very, VERY, few great rogues, or you haven't played in a while. Vanish... Feign Death... Invisibility... All great abilities. But they pretty much ceased to exist post-Burning Crusade.
I maxed at 70 and was not enticed back when Lich King dropped.

Ah. Yeah. Back in BC. When crowd control was still very much a thing. And DPS knew how to monitor threat (and cared). I loved having the Hunters pull using Redirect. That was such a great time.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:10 pm**

TheMix wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:47 pm In WoW, gilraen has had a lot of those tanks. Especially infuriating are the ones that don't wait for the healer to get mana back...

I tell her that she should just finish getting her mana back. If the tank dies, then so be it. And if she gets flack, then bail. As GG said, you don't want to be a dick, but you don't have to put up with a dick either.

This is why I miss corpse runs and death penalties in MMO's. No better tool for teaching bad play

. Many a jackass tank found themselves deleveling or chasing down a corpse naked in my time as a healer in EQ and DAOC.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:17 pm**

Paingod wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:57 pm Communication as a Healer is essential, letting your team know when you need a break.

I've only done it a couple times and it's a very different way to play most games. Rewarding in its own way when everyone survives and you know it was your work that did it. It requires a different kind of awareness, and you almost need to be able to predict what your team will do in the near future so you can plan for it. Then it all goes pear shaped and you're the last one standing, running for your life.

Yes, total different mindset. In DAOC, where I did it the most I hardly pay attention to he "action". I was monitoring health bars. However, to take it to the next level you need to predict aggro shifts and guess when the Mage is going to let fly the Nukes. In a really good group the Mage would wait until I threw on HOt (heal over time), then they would let loose. Through all this I am not even looking at mobs but watching bars and teammates. When the Mage start getting frigidity, shits about to hit the fan

. Good stuff, I miss that awesome synergy.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2018 6:38 pm**

TheMix wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:47 pm In WoW, gilraen has had a lot of those tanks. Especially infuriating are the ones that don't wait for the healer to get mana back...

I tell her that she should just finish getting her mana back. If the tank dies, then so be it. And if she gets flack, then bail. As GG said, you don't want to be a dick, but you don't have to put up with a dick either.

As a night elf healer that can shadowmeld, that's exactly what I do. If you die because you can't let me replenish, literally no skin off my back.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:49 pm**

Can't remember where I saw this today, but it went something like this:

If the Tank dies, it's the healer's fault.
If the Healer dies, it's the Tank's fault.
If DPS dies, it's their own damn fault.

Octopus Overlords

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