Blizzard continues to interview important players / guilds within the game on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of World of Warcraft. This time Luek is interviewed.
Luek, from the United States Kingdom The Underbog, who currently holds the title of "The Kingslayer" and who earned the achievement "The Sandmaster" in October 2009, is a player who has been on a roll for the five years of existence from World of Warcraft. From defeating the Lich King in the 10-player dungeon in Icecrown Citadel, to maintaining a personal rating of 2200 in the 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5 arena branches, to earning the title of "General" in the old Battleground rank system implemented before any World of Warcraft expansion hit the streets, with Luek we had a feeling that he would be a great candidate to chat about his experiences in the Warcraft universe over the past five years.
For starters, what was the first thing that attracted you to World of Warcraft and kept you on the ball during the leveling process?
I've always loved the Warcraft universe, so as soon as World of Warcraft was announced, I wanted to play. I had spent the last few years playing EverQuest with my friends and we were all more than ready for another great MMO. That was what really convinced me to upload my wizard. The first few missions weren't as complicated as the ones we see now, but they still involved a lot of history and took me to places I recognized from previous books and games, which turned out to be an incredible experience that motivated me to keep going and discover more content.
Since you started playing and leveling up, would you highlight any particular anecdote or memory?
It would surely be the time when I met a wizard in my first guild. His name was Pharaoh and it was one of the reasons that prompted me to become a better wizard. When I met him, we were somewhere in Felwood, he had hardly spoken to other players so far, so meeting someone who knew what he was doing was incredible. The friendship sprang up instantly and we spent many hours randomly hunting Alliance people in the PvP world.
How long have you been playing raid content, and what are your best memories of the game's first encounters?
At first I was only interested in having a good time with my friends, but in the end I wanted to see the huge encounters that were to be implemented later. When I was at level 40, I came across some members of a brotherhood called Wanderers and was immediately drawn to join them because at the time they were a group of the Horde who were really determined to progress. Molten Core was the place where my experience with raid encounters began, and I was quickly drawn to the fact that you needed 40 or so skilled players to get anything done. While Molten Core and Blackwing Lair were challenging and fun, the memory of defeating C'Thun is probably the most beloved of the early encounters. The precise coordination necessary to finish the meeting made it very satisfactory once it was over.
Battlegrounds have changed a lot since the days before The Burning Crusade came out and are expected to change a lot more in Cataclysm. What was it that originally pushed you onto the battlefields and led you to rank up to General? How much time, effort, and planning did it take to earn that rank?
The battlefields took me out of the Tarren Mill into an organized PvP environment, which is very attractive after giving me the skin to climb ranks with individual kills in the general world of PvP. We find games based on objectives and balanced fields between Alliance and Horde. Warsong Gorge and Arathi Basin began to monopolize my playtime. In the end everyone recognized the best players, to avoid them at all costs or to hunt them down and try to paralyze the opposing team. Back then camaraderie was always present in PvP. I found other qualified players and started playing solo with them to ensure victory, which translated into more honor and a new rank at the end of the week. Although I only played three or four games in Warsong in addition to what was necessary to achieve my original goal, General Rank 12, I still have great memories of those moments in the game because of the epic feeling behind each game and the strong friendships I made in the game.
How did the implementation of arenas inform your vision for World of Warcraft PvP, and what led you to take such a competitive approach to each team leg?
When the arenas were first implemented I was playing in 3v3 teams mostly for fun, as PvE gave me some free time and hardly anyone in my guild was very interested in making a serious team. At some point I was leading a paladin group of Retribution / wizard / wizard, both wizards specializing in Mind Presence and Pyroblast. It was not exactly a very committed team. In Season 3, however, I found much more enthusiastic companions and started playing the 2v2 wizard / rogue combo, 3v3 paladin / wizard / rogue combo, and a 5v5 combo so ridiculously bad I don't even remember what it was like. It seemed like a very epic fight, as the melee classes improved their equipment a bit more, but I always enjoyed the competition, and having equally skilled companions greatly helped motivate me to become a better mage.
You've had a few arena teams with reasonable success in Wrath of Lich King. How much experimentation did you need, counting both on playing with different characters to find the class that best suited you, and on the composition and coordination of the team?
I have played with my wizard since the game launched, but along the way I have also played with my rogue and my warrior in some arenas. The rest of the classes I have tried to play with, whether in the normal realms or the public trial realms, have not given me a sense of dynamism like my wizard did. Damage and control abilities seem so natural starting at level 70 that it was a waste of time to play with my other characters. I got into paladin / mage / rogue training very early and didn't look back. Since then I have not let that combo play in place of the well-known "Shadowshatter" (Shadow Priest / Frost Mage / Restoration Shaman) with two of the most determined and skilled PvP players in my kingdom. Over the course of each season you can see a trend in which communication translates into victory. Now it's something I insist on as soon as I join a new team or after we have taken a break. Communicate everything effectively instead of worrying about finishing someone off in the first 15 seconds.
When it comes to working with or against other players in a PvP environment, how do you feel about the current balance of the game between classes compared to what it was before?
It seems a little more open to me than it was a season or two ago, there is no doubt. I am still playing with my wizard and today he is arguably one of the most feasible classes for the arena. Warlocks are other big players right now, especially those who specialized in Affliction and have stacked haste or have managed to get a perennial ice crystal, or both! They dispense as much control as I do and their damage is staggering. Melee is improving a lot, although Armor Penetration is a stat whose stacking means being unstoppable. I'm a bit disappointed to see the difference in stat stack between casters and melee, but I think it's something they'll fix in Cataclysm. In general, the healing does not seem very powerful, but not too weak either. I think the game is slowly leaning towards control rather than how much attacking potential you can accumulate in a team. It has a long way to go, but it looks promising.
Do you embark on PvP content with members of your guild, Peachy Keen, or do you prefer to stick to encounters to play with them?
To be honest, there aren't that many good PvP players in my realm. Some of the most skilled are in my sorority and I play with them, but the two people I play with the most are not Peachy. It's more of a PvE-oriented guild, and considering the new Icecrown items, it's not a bad idea to do encounters again. Also, killing the Lich King wasn't too bad. ; p
Do you see yourself participating in Cataclysm's rated battlefields? Have you made plans in your brotherhood to form teams? If so, does any of the information that we have revealed so far attract you?
I have hardly researched rated battlefields but I can assure you that I will take sides, of course well trained. I am convinced that I will be one of the few PvP players in my guild who will participate, and we may start with the organization, but it will be nothing to write home about. Assuming there aren't any other Blizzard games to distract me from Warcraft.
What fundamental aspects of the game, the community, and the story have kept you hooked and playing all this time?
At the beginning of the game, when the battlefields first came out, it was the feeling of triumph and competition that got me hooked. As the matchmaking game evolved, some of the tougher content pushed me to get the best of myself in the game, which has been very satisfying throughout all this time. I suppose you could say that the competition between the rest of the players and myself has been the fundamental aspect of the community and the game. As for the story, it has managed to immerse me in the game at the end of this expansion much more than in the previous content updates. It's always been nice to wander through a world created from a real-time strategy game that I played for four years. He has a different artistic style and the plot only gets better with time.
Is your guild looking for new members for arena encounters or teams? If so, where can I find information about your adventures?
We are always looking for new skilled players, especially now that Hard Modes have taken hold. Some players in our guild are desperately looking for healers for PVP, so keep that in mind when submitting your request.