I love my game of choice. I think everyone knows that by now. There are moments though when it becomes overwhelming.
I have been working on re-outfitting a couple of my girls. They needed to have some gear changed out and stat items and weapons checked. It’s sort of a once a Mod check up for them.
I have been running the Shroud raid a lot and one of my guild mates keeps asking if my rogue has a vorpal. My answer is always no. She does not have a vorpal. Being that she is pure rogue, I quickly learned she is simple weapons only and the only real choice I had for a vorpal was a sickle. So the hunt began.
I got brave enough yesterday to post on the trade forums. I think that may have been a first for me. I learned there are three vorpal sickles out there. Getting the items needed to trade for them is proving elusive. One person e-mailed me but then has not responded to my follow up e-mail. Two others have vorpal sickles. I am trying to get with everyone to see if I can trade.
But I digress. This whole debate about gear got me all kinds of confused and upset last night. Which is truly just silly. I finally dissolved into a pool of tears after my guild spent an hour debating what weapon I should use and why something would hit and confirm and so on and so forth. I learned during the discussion my rogue was not optimally built.
Alright, theres the part that had me in knots. I thought I had built her well. Apparently I have too much intelligence on her and not enough dexterity. I have weapon finesse, but my to hit is too low. *Blows out a breath*
What really got to me was how little I understood about all of this. I thought I understood how things interacted in DDO, but the discussion over my build, my weapon choices and my gear seems to show I really don’t. What I have is a cursory knowledge of the game.
My boyfriend spent last night explaining some of this to me. He helped me redo my enhancements, redo my feats and we went over her gear and weapons. Turns out she really is very balanced. I am not a huge min/maxer. So I was pleased with some of the changes.
Still, it kinda left me feeling confused and frustrated. I think what it boils down to is I am an over achiever. I like to be really good at what I do. Last night I felt dumb when the guys were bandying numbers and gear and builds about. I really just felt like a dim bulb.
What I need is a list of stuff. I need to organize some of this information I need to learn. So if I need to use a banisher why? I have flaming burst and I use it when? Wounding and puncturing doesn’t work on what?
It’s all too much. I also need a lesson on to hit. My rogues is low. Why is that?
I am still feeling weighed down. I am hoping some of you out there can help point me to some good information. I am hoping to start a new spreadsheet with some weapon types and what to use when. I have to have it written down. It’s how I learn and retain information.
So I am off to DDO school.
On a good news front, THE GUILD has a new video up. The last couple simply haven’t been as funny to me. This one is funny, but a few parts of it seemed forced funny. Am I making sense?
Watch and enjoy episode 9.
I am off to get some work done. I have some meetings today. What is it with Thursdays and meetings? At least it is almost Friday?
You know I just watched all the guild videos (funny stuff) and I’m left wondering – what happened to Claire’s third child?
I think there’s a lot of stuff in the game that people like me that just play the video games don’t get that people who come from the PnP do.
I know helmutt will ask me what I rolled when I fail something like a lock pick and I’m like “I don’t know” – For me it’s just enough to know that sometimes I hit and sometimes I miss. Probably makes me an idiot – but I’m getting better.
I know I need to do some studying so that I know the reasonings behind taking this feat or that enhancement and how the effect each other.
Don’t feel bad Rowan. Nick has been helpful enough to show me that most of my girls were built wrong…lol.
At first I was upset too. I thought I had done a good job. But the knowledge I brought into this game was from single RPGs that were much more closely aligned with PnP. I didn’t even know what min/maxing was until I got here.
I’ve since stopped getting upset over it and just let Nick guide me. He has a much better understanding of the game and can quickly tell me what I need to do without having to do a bunch of reading and paperwork. I could definitely learn it and understand it the way he does with time, but I’d rather just let him help me and spend more time having fun playing the characters I build.
Mad props for you going to DDO school. You’ve got much more initiative than me!
Oh and, lest ye forget, the most perfect of builds is useless in the hands of an incompetent player. On the flip side, a less-than-perfectly built character can still be awesome in the hands of a skilled player.
Hey Erin,
You can look in your combat log and see what your dice rolled. It helps. And Hellmy is a sweetie. Although, he has not been dying enough lately. I think we will run undead stuff next Tuesday. He just LOVES the undead 
Wait, I thought Blaze was in a wheelchair. *confused*
Carrie,
*sigh* I know its not supposed to upset me. Darn it. It’s aggravating that I have played this long and the boys still know more than I do. It’s because the boys in PnP always made me play a cleric. I never actually learned the game. LOL
Anyways, Mike was a sweetie about it. And he is always willing to answer my questions in DETAIL. *groans*
Ladies, face it. We are girl gamers and we rule.
Even if we don’t know everything
That’s the beauty of it, my dear. We don’t know everything and we still rule!
Hey – us guys can be totally out of the loop as well!
I learn the game in bits and pieces, usually when necessity requires it. I can tell you that my ranger loves his Silver Longbow! (1d10+2 damage, pure good for 2d6, crit on a 19 or 20 for X3=crit damage including extras for 50+points of damage with backstabbing, etc)
Jerry