WoW in My Hour - Honorshammer

WoW in My Hour is on to its third instalment where I interview 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?
   
   Hello, I'm Honorshammer from Honors Code. My main character is a Paladin who has been a Tank since early on in The Burning Crusade. My blog is about Paladin Tanking, Raiding, and Levelling. It follows the exploits of my toon and all he does in game. There are occasional articles on Paladin tanking mechanics and gear as well as how to level up a Paladin and specifically a Paladin tank.
   
   
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 consider myself a Casual Raider, but I'll let you decide if the label fits. The label I would most like is Teammate.
   
   I raid 10mans with my guild where I'm one of our tank mains. Boston in our other tank main. He's a Blood Death Knight and the two of us make a great team. We have a low drama, high fun environment. Our guild is an O.T.A guild (over traditional age) which means we are made up of a bunch of guys in our late 20s to late 30s with kids, jobs, family and other outside of game commitments. When you AFK because the baby is screaming, everyone in the raid kind of shakes their head in a 'been there, done that' way knowing that next raid it could be you running off to the screaming baby.
   
   We raid about 6 to 9 hours a week. We have a lot of fun, and everyone knows their role well and performs it well. We are currently a top 10 guild on our server and have killed 10 of the 12 bosses in Ice Crown. A Sindragosa kill is coming very soon. That’s Top 10 among all 10 man guilds which include 10 man teams from 25 man guilds because we don’t have a 10 Strict rating. We let people PuG 25 mans and enough of us have killed Lord Marrowgar on 25s (including me) that we don't qualify as a 10 Strict guild any more.
   
   
3. What does a typical week of WoW playing look like?
   
   My Raid nights I log in and check my bank toons and re-list anything that didn't sell and make sure I've got my consumables for the night. Then I try to get in a couple of Randoms on my various 80s (Paladin Tank, Survival Hunter, Resto Druid) before getting ready for our raids to start. Then it's raiding until our normal stop time of midnight server when I log off and head for Heroic BedTime. We raid two to three nights a week. I'm also part of our Raid Team II with my Survival Hunter so my Raid nights are usually 3 to 4 nights a week. On non raid nights, if I log in at all, I'll knock out some randoms, look for a 25 man PuG of VoA, and maybe PvP a little, or work on some achievement on one of my toons.
   
   
4. You have consciously chosen to focus on 10 man raiding - can you  explain your reasoning behind this?
   
   From as early on as Karazhan I really enjoyed the 10 man raiding scene. I feel like the team size is large enough to open up some really cool strategic choices but still small enough that you can get to know every one in your raid team pretty well.
   
   Back in tBC, you hit a brick wall as a 10 man raider. It was Karazhan and not much else until the release of Zul'aman. I got into WoW because of my enjoyement of Warcraft 3. I really wanted to fight all those Heroes from WC3 like Kael'thalas, Vashj and especially Illidan. So I was very excited when the Developers announced that there would be a 10 man version of every raid in Wrath.
   
   We know each other beyond our avatars. We have a huge Dallas Cowboy fan in our group. We have a guy who runs telescope at an Observatory. We have a guy whose trying to save his dog and wrestling with a decision to put him down. We have had two of our guys become fathers during Wrath. We've had essentially the same guys in our raid team since Naxxramas (granted they keep switching mains, or races, but they are the same guys behind the keyboard).
   
   Is 13 ilevels really worth giving up all that?
   
   
5. Do you think this is the optimal raid format?
   
   You are going to find that many of the truths we hold onto in this world (of warcraft) depend greatly upon our own point of view. From a meta-gaming and design point of view, I don't think either 10s or 25s are optimal or suboptimal. Both formats give you what you are looking for in an RPG: Exploration, Combat and Progression. (Okay, ToC was a little short on Exploration.)
   
   I believe it's up to each individual to find their optimal raid format. The 10 man format is optimal for me and how I like to play the game and where I am in my 'real' life outside of game. For someone else, the 25 man format may fit their life better and be optimal for them.
   
   
   
6. Would you be happy if this was the only raid option?
   
   Not at all. I think it's a good thing that people have choices and can find the Raid format that fits their play style.
   
   I would be happier if the deck wasn't so heavily stacked in favour of the 25 man raider. I'd like to see the iLevel difference reduced to maybe 6 iLevels at most, but maybe 25 man gear could have more procs, or a different glow. I'd also like to see the raid crafting reagent drop in all formats.
   
   If those kind of things could only be accomplished by sharing raid lockouts between formats, then I would support them, but I think they should be only for the current tier. For example, let's apply this reasoning to Tier 10 raids. Running 10 man ICC could lock you out of 25 man ICC that reset, but you could still run 10 and 25 man ToC in the same week.
   
   
   
7. 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 wish I could get into WoW money making. It's not so much a time thing as it just isn't something I enjoy doing. Buying this and that to send from this alt to that alt to send back to a bank toon to sell. It starts to feel like I'm playing a spreadsheet and like I'm back at work. I play WoW to relax and get AWAY from work.When something starts to feel like work in game, I lose motivation to pursue it. So I just let Auctioneer list all the raw materials I get and buy whatever I need when I need it. I've got enough gold to cover repairs, consumables and gems/enchants. I just wish I had enough to get epic flying on my two alts and maybe get a motorcycle.
   
   
   
8. If you had only an hour to play WoW in any given session how would you fill your time?
   
   In an hour, I could probably knock out one random on each of my toons if I got an all guild group each time, but it would be tight.
   
   
   
9. 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?
   
   I don't think I would. The part of the game I enjoy most is raiding. Our goal is to clear all of ICC in 6 hours (2 nights @ 3 hours per night). I would be frustrated by the pace of just going an hour an night. Plus, it would be difficult to get momentum going on that schedule. You'd lose some of what you learned the previous night. I would probably get more into PvP and Arenas which seem to be friendlier to shorter play sessions.
   
   
   
10. 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?
    
    I personally wouldn't want to be part of an 1 hour raid group. I would be frustrated by that pace. However, I think it's completely feasible. If a team raided 6 nights a week for 1 hour at a time, they'd raid just as many as we do. Plus, with the ability to extend raid lockout, you can take as long as you need to clear the dungeon. Maybe this week you clear the Lower Spire and next week the Plagueworks. The real problem you'd run into is trash re-clears. If it takes you 30 minutes to clear trash, that doesn't give you much time to work on learning a new Boss.
    
    
    
11. Do you have any tips/advice for making the most of your WoW play time?
    
    Have an idea of what you want to accomplish, and only do stuff you have fun doing.
    
    

Thanks so much Honors - a great insight into how you approach WoW and raiding. If you have any questions for Honors I've always found him more than willing to answer them - and it won't be different here! Also if you have other questions generally that you might be interested in knowing for future interviews then ask them!

I've been really enjoying doing this series of interviews (not only because I largely just have to do some editing) - all the interviewees have come back with some fantastic responses that are well thought out and entertaining. Thank you again - and I hope you are all enjoying it as much as I have been.