Comments on: Learning from Watching Others

By: /AFK – July 12 « Bio Break

/AFK – July 12 « Bio Break — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:46:48 +0000

[...] by being led or learn by watching? Two equally fascinating glimpses into figuring out how to take on difficult boss [...]

By: Kristine

Kristine — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:00:59 +0000

I guess we all have had our shares of “Um, I’m a bit shit, aren’t I?”- moments. Think we too often forget how much we learn from each other in game. Your comments of good raidleading in PuGs strikes a chord with me. I think that often PuGs fail not cause people can’t play, but simply that they have learned from different people.
What one player considers rude, might be normal to another. F.ex do you reenter instance or do you wait for a res? Do you buff before trash or only on bosses? It can also be about strategy. Heal through dmg or move out of fire? Tanking in north or south corner?

When these things clash it causes QQ, and often wipes. However, just cause someone has learned it a different way then you, doesn’t make them bad or stupid players.

By: Simon Jones who is blogless

Simon Jones who is blogless — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:49:39 +0000

Something interesting I’ve been trying lately is to turn off DBM and recount and all those other various crutches you raid with. And it’s something I’ve found has turned me into a better raider. It’s forcing me to pay attention to what the boss is actually doing as opposed to when the little bar counts down. And I’ve found I stand in the proverbial fire less, I do more deeps and I’m better at reacting if everything goes south. And what it’s done above all else is make the fights actually interesting.

By: Beruthiel

Beruthiel — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:49:41 +0000

Oddly enough…I wrote about failures off-handedly today too, before I read Larisa’s article or Gevlon’s =)

I frequently learn from other people that don’t even know that I’m learning from them! I often review our raid parses, and then “compare” my performance to other druids by pulling up their parses and studying what they are doing, that perhaps I am not.

I am also secrectly stalking Gurgthock’s armory page (shhhhhhhhh!) trying to learn all the tricks of being a decent resto shaman for my newest alt project, Mynn. I learn all kinds of things from just observing, such as specing, glyphing, enchanting and gemming.

I believe that there is no shame in being humble and acknowleding that there will always be someone that is better than you (or at least equally skilled), that you can learn from. And I try to expand my knowledge every day.

By: Pete S

Pete S — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:38:13 +0000

“Why?” is good advice (assuming there’s time). If you know *why* you’re doing something, you’re apt to be better at doing it (or maybe even figure a better way to reach the same goal). Knowledge is power and all that.

As cliche as it sounds, the most important thing I learned is to relax. It’s so frustrating to have a wipe after a near-win and have people log out in irritation, or just start swapping in other characters with better gear, or whatever. I’d much rather try again, play better based on what was learned from the loss, and have the satisfaction of beating the encounter. When people learn to relax and not get all frantic because of a wipe, that can be accomplished.

By: Ysharros

Ysharros — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:28:26 +0000

Heeheeeheee! “Um, I’m a bit shit, aren’t I?” — I have had so many of those moments! The ones where, once you work it out (or see someone else doing it right), you wonder how you could ever have failed to get it right from the start.

Some things about MMOs aren’t really all that intuitive, but you still feel like a right prat after you learn them.

By: Rurjaos

Rurjaos — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:10:50 +0000

One thing I learned over time from various pugs, because nobody had an answer, is to ask WHY, when someone tries to explain HOW!
Example:
Run down stairs on [Dispersion]! Why? It hurts! Huh!?!?
Ok, nobody knows why, all know how. Disappointing. Figured out myself: Spot the spark following you and just outrun it. This way you can run near the boss spot and be there again faster, if he resembles himself.
So sometimes watching someone fail, still can teach you something useful.

By: We Fly Spitfires

We Fly Spitfires — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:21:54 +0000

Nice article. It struck a cord with me. I remember playing EQ years and years ago and being amazed at some of the players I saw, particuarly enchanters and bards and, above all else, tanks. I can’t recall anyone’s name but I have vivid memories of some Ogre tanks who really left an impression on me. Not only did they teach me how to be a good tank, they left me with a bizzare Ogre fetish.

By: Longasc

Longasc — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:58:07 +0000

Hm, and I also learned much from some warriors in GW. The so-called “corner-blocking”. Or how to play Necromancer – it is one of the best PvE classes, but it really required someone showing me how cool the “curses” line is. Then I started my own Necro in “Factions” and she became my main char.

By: Longasc

Longasc — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:55:02 +0000

My first char was a Northman Thane… but I so wanted to play in Albion/Camelot! So I became a Highlander Paladin.

I did not play much online, so I had to figure out things on my own in Mount & Blade. I learned to throw daggers just below shields and hit the big toe of the right foot during city infiltrations, no kidding.

I learned some mass dotting and aggroing tricks way before TBC thanks to a very cool Warlock who pulled half the map and then made them all die roughly at the same spot while never getting hit – that was just awesome.