Arena Openers, Emotion and Logic

Alrighty then, time for another awesome Orangeblog, yeah!  I have a few observations to point out on the reaction to my first entry.  Firstly, it makes me feel good to defeat dumbs in argument, so to all dumbs:  feel free to continue commenting (dumb is a noun - side effect of immigrant family).  Secondly, I've decided to add in more WoW flavor to appease the angry mob.  Now generally, I find most WoW related articles, strategy guides especially, rather boring.  But seeing as how I'm the best hunter ever, I feel as if I should share some things.  I'd gladly take requests for content in this department, so feel free to make them.  Lastly, I appreciate the couple offers I got to write on other blogrolls but for the time being, I want to continue on my own. 

Arena - The Opener

You stand next to your comrades, knees quivering in nervous anticipation.  You hear the wild cries of the riled mob echoing above your head, hungry for violence and death.  The wooden platform under your feet cranks to life, rising slowly and you feel your stomach plummet in place.  The crowd in the stadium gradually comes into view and you know you're mere seconds away from the heat of battle.   The platform comes level with the dry, dusty arena floor and it hits you.  Cheap shot, Frost Nova, Mutilate, Frostbolt, Icelance, Kidney Shot, Frostbolt, Holy Fire, SW:D!  The ****?  You die.  (3499 overkill)

One of the most important requirements for an arena team to be great is the ability to recognize why a match was lost.  I find that a significant portion of my losses come from botched openers.  I may have risked an aggressive flare and not caught the rogue I wanted, only to see my healer get sapped and my poor dwarf getting creamed in a cheapshot.  Instant loss.

Now, you shouldn't die right off the bat to PMR even if they get the jump on you as is the case in my awesome dramatization, but that's not the point.  They got the jump on you.  Even if you survive the first burst, they have the offensive momentum.  Now you have to start burning your cooldowns defensively.  Your rogue has to use a vanish to survive instead of more pressure.  Your hunter has to use silencing shot on a frostbolt instead of a heal.  Your DK has to use runic power on AMS/ICB instead of death coil.  They are running at you full force and you are backpedaling for the rest of the fight.

So, what can be done?  How do you swing the opener, and thus the whole fight, in your favor?  Well, being aware of the issue is half the battle.  Another important requirement for a great arena team is the ability to think of viable solutions to your team's problems. 

There are general things a team can improve on, such as team positioning.  Who do you suspect the other team will get on?  Is that player in a position to get hit first by opposing dps, or is he in a position to get the first shot off?  Sometimes its simply the difference between running into an enemy team as the first player in your team, or the last player. 

There are things you can do based on your opponents' composition.  If you're opposition has a warrior, you know you are going to begin the fight in a short stun.  Those two seconds, in WotLK, are enough for you to die.  We've all experienced it.  Knowing this, do you put yourself in a position to get devastated by both dps?  Or do you try to drag the charge behind a pole to make it difficult for the second dpser to reach you, or at least behind your teammates where they are automatically within range to help you? 

Map plays a role as well.  Take Ruins of Lordaeron, for example.  Do you allow the other team's dpsers to climb over the tomb and get on you, while their healer uses its line of sight for safety and yours stands bent over in the open, ready and waiting to take it in the pooper?  **** no, you climb over and fight, at the very least, on even terms. 

Aside from general things, there are individual class abilities that help with openers.  Hunters, for example, have great stealth breaking tools.  Denying a rogue an opener is monumental for your team, because some rogue teams live and die by their saps and cheapshots.  Flare is obvious, but it matters how you use it.  If you know the pattern of a certain team's rogue, you can take a risk and be aggressive with the flare.  Otherwise, team squatting on a flare to deny them a sap and a cheapshot as opposed to taking only one or the other is a good use.  Hunters with Tenacity pets (crabs, turtles, etc) can use intervene on themselves and run out with Track Hidden (+stealth detection) to catch a nearby rogue.  Every class has a wide range of abilities, use them creatively to your advantage.

Keep in mind that openers do not only apply to stealth classes.  Every class has a means of beginning a fight.  How you do that individually and as a team plays a role in your success!

Theories in Life:  Emotion and Logic

I think often.  One of my favorite things to think about is why people do things.  In my thoughts, I've come up with a theory of why people do the things they do (particularly in relationships), and I want to share it because it is of value to me.  Any feedback is welcome.  Keep in mind that these are all my opinions, from my perspective.  Here goes.

Everything we do is based in emotion or logic.  One or the other, or some mixture of both.  We think emotionally and logically.  We make decisions based on these two things.  Now, the difference between the two is that emotions don't follow reasoning or rationale.  You can like a person emotionally and logically or one without the other.  

Example of the emotional:  I feel good when I am around person X;  I want to be around this person all the time and I have no explanation why.  If you feel this way towards a person, than emotionally, it makes sense to be with him/her.  People who feel this way towards each other usually get involved with each other romantically.  (Note:  some of you may not have experienced this feeling yet.  I know people that haven't.)

Example of the logical:  I share similar values (perhaps morals, religion, race), share common interests, and offer equal amounts of commitment/sacrifice in a relationship as person X.  It makes sense logically, to be with this person.  People who feel this way about each other usually become what we call "friends."

Why do I found all of this valuable?  Well, think about marriages and relationships.  Most relationships that fail are ones that are only based in emotion, and not enough in logic.  Great example of this is those couples that end up on Jerry Springer episodes.  "He beats me but I STILL LOVE HIM!!"  It works the other way too.  People who get married based in logic and not enough in emotion end up unhappy.  It's not so common in the US because people just divorce, but I come from a culture where divorce is considered shameful.  I see tons of marriages, some within my own family, that occur due to logic but lack in emotion.  The tragic thing is that most of them remain together for the rest of their lives despite the unhappiness.   

My conclusion, as it seems to be with just about everything else, is that balance is the key.  Think of it as a spectrum, emotion on one end and logic on the other.  When you become emotional, let's say anger for example, your logical thinking suffers.  You get pissed and you just want to hit something, despite that hitting something might get you into trouble.  As your anger settles down, you start to think rationally again.  The idea is to keep balance.  If you live your life as an overly emotional person, like all women (^5 for sexism lalalaa), you will do a lot of stupid things in your life.  If live your life as an overly logical person, like Spock from Star Trek, you will have a really boring life.  Balance, balance, balance.

That wraps it up for today.  I think this will be a once a week deal, we'll see.  Oh, and I meant to continue my WoM blogger analysis thing but this turned out longer than I expected, so that will be put on hold.  Remember in my first blog when I said shut the hell up if you're upset about my inconsistency?  Ye ye ye.