WoW in My Hour - Gravity

WoW in My Hour is a new thing for WoW in an Hour - interviewing other bloggers and WoW players to explore the different ways people spend their time in game and speculate (or relate) what/how they might prioritise the smaller time periods - particularly if that is all they are left with.

1. Can you please introduce yourself. Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do (blog about) - in terms of WoW?
   My pseudonym is Gravity (from pwnwear.com), and I play a DK tank, about which I blog fairly intensely. I'm an analytical person by nature and that extends into how I enjoy WoW; through  understanding its mechanics. I blog mostly for mature and advanced tanks, in terms of class-specifics it's about DKs, and sometimes write for newer tanks who are learning how to improve their game. I've been writing since June 2009 when I published my TankPoints user guide, which was also to help tanks with gear and stat questions.  My site gets about 10K hits a day.
   
   
2.  How would you describe yourself as a WoW player? Hardcore, casual (and what you mean by those if you choose to use them), raider, PvPer, etc
   I have a hardcore mentality, in terms of min-maxing and playing to my best, reading strategies, understanding them. I used to raid lead, and have for quite a few years. I've played a lot of classes, raiding at L60 and L70 with a few different types. The DK is my favourite class, though.
   
   I don't PvP very well, or often, but sometimes get into it to improve my reaction time or muscle-memory, gear, or to have some variety. Generally I'm not a PvPer though. I'm a PvE raider.
   
   I only get to raid once a week because of my real responsibilities outside the game. Sometime I'll play during a work conference call doing PUGs or Randoms, which is great fun.
   
   
3. What does a typical week of WoW playing look like?
   Raid 9pm til midnight on Thursday. Squeeze in an hour or two during the week, depending on my real-life commitments. Sometimes quite a few extra hours. Barely ever during the day on the weekend. Some years ago I did manage to raid 3 nights a week when my situation was different. I loved that.
   
   
4. You raid only one night a week - how does that work? How well does progression go?
   Slowly, as you'd expect. The guild I'm in is very well run, by a group of fellow ex-hardcores, so we're all well-prepared and research before a new boss. We did 22 wipes last week on Putricide and Blood Princes, because they were both completely new to us all. Wiping that much isn't great, but the attitude with which we took the wipes is key: no complaints, just release, run, rebuff, check strategy and go again, then we'd get further in, etc. We're only doing 10-mans, and have killed Rotface and Festergut.
   
   We have a small rotation system, with a small number of guild members, which provides a backup for nights when someone can't make it. I really like the guild.
   
   Formerly I was in the UK, in a similar casual guild but it was usually doing 25 mans.
   
   
5. Is there anything (in WoW) that you wished you could get into but just don't have the time (or for some other reason)?
   I'd simply like to raid two or more times a week, to progress faster. My theory understanding far exceeds my personal progress, which is really frustrating.
   
   
6. If you had only an hour to play WoW in any given session how would you fill your time?
   It varies a bit. Recently, a focus on quick daily JC and Alchemy for income, then a RFD for Frost Emblems. In the past, I'd do two Randoms, or some running around for whatever silly goal I had at the time; most recently it was to get Explorer because I had no cool title.
   
   
7. If you could only ever play for an hour at a time - would you? If yes, then how would you see your in game activities change? If no - why not?
   If only ever one hour, I couldn't raid, and I'd stop playing WoW. I love raiding and seeing new content. I'd play Allods Online or Star Trek Online or buy other games, I'd do things I'd not done before. I'd actually buy new games.
   
   
8. Would you be willing to be part of a raiding crew/guild that only raided for an hour at a time? Do you think it's feasible?
   No, don't think it is feasible in a real sense. You'd have to keep the same raid ID and extend it, doing perhaps Marrowgar in week 1, Deathwhisper next week, then boat and Saurfang. That'd probably be as far as you could progress, since the later fights take a lot of learning, so you'd start the cycle again.
   
   If your time constraints were different and you could raid for more than one day a week - but only for an hour each time - so with a guild that raided say 5 nights a week for just an hour - would this change your answer?
   Yes. If you were raiding for a one-hour slot, but had many sessions per week, you could definitely progress. It would be an interesting and unusual experiment, in fact, in raid leadership and guild style.
   
   
9. Do you have any tips/advice for making the most of your WoW play time?
   Have goals. Think about the goals in advance of logging on. Know what you're going to do, move quickly. I have specific goals in mind all the time, from little ones like Explorer to longer-term like earning the gold for the i264 crafted gear.
   
   Also, be sure you enjoy alts because that might give the variety you need.

A big thank you to Gravity for being my first victim in the interviewing process - and thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. If you have any questions for Gravity (or other questions generally that you might be interested in knowing for future interviews) then please ask them in the comments and I'm sure Gravity will take some time out to answer them.