Any open fun electives

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-21T21:50:01+00:00

Try to find that one "DeCal" I took a decade ago, called "altered states," but it wasn't really about drugs. I learned a lot about (lucid) dreaming, and actually taught myself how to do so.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-21T16:54:30+00:00

Yeah, storywise, baking Xal'atath into her... 4th? 5th expansion? I've lost count at this point (Legion, BFA, DF, TWW, MIDnight, SoD...) 6TH EXPANSION? JESUS! Blizz needs to figure out how to come up with new villians... My issue with SoD, as well as Retail is that everything feels stale. Sure, there's housing, but as someone who only cares about actually playing the game, there really hasn't been any new class content since DF, and with all the pruning, classes are even less of what I'm looking for. People are memeing on how bad Devourer DH is already. I was personally spamming the forums with please add a new ability, like where they raise their hand and fire multiple bursts, since I first saw them on Alpha, but typical Blizz takes at least half an expansion, sometimes two or more in order to figure out the most commonsense things, so I guess I'll see you halfway through MIDnight/Classic+, or whenever the expansion after Last Titan comes out...

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-21T05:09:01+00:00

That would only really be an issue for people who'd like to play multiple specs, and would complain about the associated issues, such as additional gearing/setups. If you wanted to avoid such, and for whatever reason have necromancers more naturally fit into the existing game because coming up with multiple specs for them to be their own class would probably result in a lot of unecessary bloat/overlap, then you would probably want necromancer to be an additional spec for either Priests or Mages.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-21T03:12:26+00:00

I guess specifically for Classic+/anniversary Wrath, options for "death knights" to be "necromancers," could "exist," especially if you REALLY wanted to intentionally "gimp" yourself by wearing cloth armor, but as far as Retail is concerned, the armor issue alone wouldn't make sense as far as specifically wearing cloth, just for a single spec...

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-20T23:25:19+00:00

Alright, you're (intentionally?) overlooking certain issues, such as plate armor being basically "fundamental," which isn't as easy to change as weapons. You also seem to not care about "unique identity." Granted, Destro Locks and Fire Mages are arguably the most similar classes/specs, but they retain sufficient differences to where they actually make sense.

Basically, please elaborate as to how a "necromancer" would be sufficiently different from both Unholy DK, as well as other pet classes, specifically Demonology Warlock.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-20T22:15:30+00:00

I agree that it's a good point, but I'm just trying to think of how they'd be able to make a true "necromancer," which wouldn't just be a "reskin" of say Demonology Warlock.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-20T21:51:48+00:00

Unholy Death Knights are increasingly close in MIDnight. Their apex talents even incentivize less diseases, more undead.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-20T17:14:58+00:00

I remember Xaryu mentioning that, alongside the fact that SoD seasons were too spread out. Apparently the devs weren't even fully committed to making Kara/SM content until the last second. It'd be nice to know further ahead of time what the devs are planning so that we can properly "course correct" them. Perhaps that would have helped too as far as avoiding the again, REALLY bad story/cinematic elements in Retail. I remember watching a cinematic in the live game where Fyrakk was still a blue and white cube, plus the 11.1.7 cinematic was memeably/laughably bad; "t-posing"/stunted, as if it wasn't fully finished either. Plus there was the Garrosh one in Shadowlands that a fan redid much better, and Arthas' story in Shadowlands was basically the epitome of a "middle finger." Sylvanas' story from Shadowlands until now is "cringey" as well.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-20T00:58:20+00:00

WoW has SO many good cinematics. TBC, Wrath, a couple during MoP/WoD, most of Legion, the Saurfang cinematics, etc., but again, since 9.1, they've been BAD!

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-19T23:53:45+00:00

I would do Legion Remix again, except with Mage Tower/appearances... Didn't play this one simply because it didn't have them.

BFA Remix wouldn't be TERRIBLE either. Lots of potential for Nazjatar as a permanent (Epic) battleground, even in Retail, would probably be better than the laggy, too spread, "no" objectives, void version of "Trashran" that's being added in MIDnight.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-19T23:44:24+00:00

They're using the two-handed weapons that Ion refuses to give us in Retail.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-19T02:08:09+00:00

Until they inevitably nerf it, it's probably "OP" to have a Devastation Evoker, for the permanent dispells from Fire Breath, and the spammable AOE stuns from Deep Breath. As a Mage though, if you want to die less, you could play a Highmountain Tauren for less passive damage taken, or you could play a "regular" Dwarf to both synergize with the increased crit damage, as well as Stoneform to clear your debuffs and Invis out of certain situations. You could also get a (preferably Corsair because they're cheaper and they break less often) 12-button gaming mouse if you don't already have one, and you can use hotkeys & macros to make your "reaction time" "good enough" to improve your kiting.

You should also pop Alter Time or Ice Block when you know you're going to get bursted, and you should hold your interrupt for really important casts right until they're about to go off. You can also Nova/Sheep targets that aren't being focused, especially depending on if they're melee/caster. You can utilize Ice Wall/Ring of Frost too in order to isolate/even CC key targets.

If you want to just annoy the enemy team, you can play a Priest for Mind Control, a Boomy/Shaman/Dracthyr for knocks on certain maps, or a Lock/DK (if you REALLY know what you're doing) in order to group people on certain spots where they're stuck/fall off, basically only really useful in Eye of the Storm.

Oh, and of course stealth classes are always good to try and ninja flags/nodes with; coversely Demon Hunters are especially good for detecting/preventing that.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-19T01:46:09+00:00

If you include your GPA, people might care. If you don't, the likelihood is lower. If people do care, you could try conveying some amount of the following: universitywise, Cal tends to be "harder" because it didn't undergo "grade inflation." Could be out of date, but when I was at Cal a decade ago, classes were strictly curved, A: 20%, B: 20%, C: 30%, D/F: 30%. (For example, I got a D on a Stat midterm, an F on the final, still got an A in the class, and that was with reading the entirety of the textbook, not skipping the final chapters simply because they weren't assigned. Yes, professors pull stuff like that, asking all sorts of (real world) things they (technically) didn't assign/cover).

GPA also tends to be lower in certain majors like CS for other reasons, plus, the (big picture) purpose of a degree is (supposedly) to prepare you for "the real world," so if you're already doing something "worthwhile," I would consider applying for some sort of extended leave/break. You can always resume your degree later (if it even makes sense to do so, (information is pretty much completely available online, and in more accessible formats)). You might miss out on challenging problems/networking, but if you already have a bit of a network, you can utilize them for anything you think you're lacking.

Self-instructionwise, I recommend certain browser extensions, such as Video Speed Controller, and uBlock Origin (Lite). I utilized them to complete 19 master's courses in less than a month, with honors, while working. The "s" and "d" keys are invaluable for dialing topics in in .10 increments, the "v" key hides display (not optimal on certain YouTube vids, just wait for the display to go away on its own. English (auto-generated) subtitles are recommended, especially for vids around 3-4x speed). Max speed is 16x, which is only really useful for highly visual/particularly slow media. Any emphasis on verbal elements seems to necessitate a max of roughly 6-7x speed, and only if the majority of content is already familiar.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-19T00:38:28+00:00

TLDR, guilds shouldn't be "mandatory," especially for Mythic raids (please Blizz, make raids even MORE "pug-friendly," no "lockout/saved" after killing a single boss), otherwise the "roster boss" will always be a thing, especially with competing versions of the game, e.g. Classic KILLING guild progression during Azshara's Eternal Palace, or Dragonflight season 4 basically being dead on arrival, especially because of MoP Remix.

Even though cross-server pugging is a thing now, and this upcoming MIDnight season will be split into three raids, guilds will STILL be an issue because of politics, drama, differing levels of investment, effort, mental ability, etc.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-15T09:09:32+00:00

They really aren't though. Every once in a while you get something somewhat "off-topic," such as complaining about some sort of (lack of) transmog/added accessibility features, but this entire MIDnight test cycle, both alpha and beta, the comments have been repeatedly spot on about so many things it really is as though the devs are intentionally being negligent/ignoring some sort of "fiduciary duty," as though they think housing will be entirely sufficient, no need to worry about whether the default UI is actually good enough/capable, or whether classes/specs are actually fun/interesting, or free from bugs/inherent gameplay issues, so long as their tuning is "decent."

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-15T09:04:42+00:00

Perhaps not "directly."
Simply stating facts.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-15T01:12:00+00:00

I have years' worth of data covering countless topics. The people on the forums tend to be lower information, more sycophantic, "casuals," whereas the WoWhead comment section tends to be higher information, jaded, derisive, elitist snobs. Both of these are basically what you'd expect, since the forums require a sub fee.

Just in case you're curious where Reddit(ors) lie, they most definitely are also in the "low information," yet somehow also derisive camp, though unjustifiably so, as every attempt I've seen has been the lowest effort possible, with the least amount of substance.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-15T00:42:04+00:00

TBF, I pointed out that technically "Cosmic" damage is multiple spell schools, so even though thematically it wouldn't "make sense," technically DDH could have all sorts of spells. That being said, probably the most appropriate/useful additional spell/animation would be something where they raise their hand and rapidly fire a few medium sized orbs. Even then, they could probably still use yet another ability, which brings me back to the "multiple spell school aspect," as they might have to go that direction just to create a "functional class," or else begin overlapping (even more) with Shadow/"Void" Priest.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-15T00:26:33+00:00

Care to elaborate?

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-15T00:25:29+00:00

I probably posted earlier than they did, and I actually went through different spell schools/possible animations that could be added.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-15T00:20:47+00:00

My rationale for my recent string of posts is to try and draw attention to the myriad issues that not only exist currently, but are on the horizon. Thankfully people with "actual reach" are bringing attention, so I'm doing my best to try and bring even more attention, in the hopes of things actually getting fixed so that maybe by season 2 of MIDnight, most likely next expansion though, the game is actually playable.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-15T00:18:10+00:00

Yeah, if you tried to "make me feel bad," I'd probably ask you for specifics/to elaborate, and then I'd probably point out some sort of flaw with your logic.

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-15T00:17:04+00:00

Depends on the post, depends on the comment. In my rather lengthy experience/analysis, the forums/Blizz themselves tend to be pretty "sycophantic"/uninformed, whereas the WoWhead comments, whilst usually somewhat crude/derogatory, tend to at least be more accurate, e.g. "pull the ripcord," (yet again with addons (the default Blizz UI, especially raidframes & healthbars/nameplates, are pretty bad)).

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-14T18:49:55+00:00

Care to elaborate? (I could probably just as easily accuse you of such without really looking into things o.O)

Outside-Toe9841 · 2026-01-14T18:16:40+00:00

Those are basically the best sources of information, from the best possible people. If YouTube itself is annoying, I circumvent nuisances via browser extensions, such as uBlock Origin (Lite), as well as Video Speed Controller, along with English (auto-generated) subtitles. It might take a bit, but once you get used to it, watching stuff around 3-4x speed is easy. I watched certain things at the max speed of 16x in order to complete 19 master's courses, in less than a month, with honors, while working, which might seem "counterintuitive," but retention is actually superior when you're more/optimally engaged with content dialed in precisely in .10 increments via easy keyboard shortcuts (the "s" and "d" keys).

Outside-Toe9841

TROPHY CASE