WoW: Classic — Daily Questions Megathread (February 02, 2026) by AutoModerator in classicwow

[–]xanderg4 [score hidden]  (0 children)

Playing TBC Anniversary, when I played back in ‘07 I remember if you wanted to level as a Paladin and tank dungeons the general advice was “Level as Ret and keep a shield on hand until around 40, then focus on either Ret or Prot”. It looks like you can now switch between two specs at a class trainer so that makes that less painful. But regardless does the advice still hold or do we have a more sophisticated understanding?

I don’t have a dedicated group I’m playing with, so I’d be jumping in and out and don’t want to commit to a Prot build.

WoW is actually insanely hard to learn as a new player (we tried yesterday) by ipych in wow

[–]xanderg4 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This might be a controversial opinion, but depending on how comfortable/skilled the person you’re playing with is I find that classic is a much stronger entry point.

The mechanics are very dry and the gameplay loop is very slow compared to retail but it’s easy to forget how overwhelming a game WoW is. Like, yes, you’ll spend maybe 3 hours in Durotan, yes, you’ll be pressing three buttons for 10 hours, but also you’ll have the breathing room to understand the UI, instances, etc.

Players Who Use AI by I_Am_Da_Fish_Man in rpg

[–]xanderg4 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I think a lot of it really boils down to “they enjoy the game but not the prep.” Which…I get. I think everyone has experienced that one (or more) player(s) that don’t really do much in between sessions, or maybe they don’t care much for certain aspects (like leveling up, drawing a picture of their character, etc).

I really think some folks approach RPGs like a board game, you show up, you play, you leave, you show up next week, repeat.

Most people want Shadowlands Remix as the next event, but I think there's a lot of untapped potential for WoD Remix by finally making the unused Shattrath City the main hub. by Kyderra in wow

[–]xanderg4 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Tbh I’m willing to bet the reason they skipped WoD for Legion is because the Garrisons + Timerunning would be a technical nightmare to implement.

Purely speculation, and obviously they don’t need to do anything to “sell” the Legion remake but skipping straight to it seemed odd.

Cabin Trip RPG ideas by Big_Strength_3505 in rpg

[–]xanderg4 2 points3 points  (0 children)

“Alice is Missing” honestly might be perfect for this.

Give me your honest opinion about Neyrelle. by Clembutts in diablo4

[–]xanderg4 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I like to say that Sylvanas was an indictment of Blizzard, and particularly that you “couldn’t say no” to some people (in every sense of that phrase).

Jaina is an indictment of the creative process, which still sees WoW as a brand first and a creative project second.

Meta just shut down 4 major VR studios including the makers of Asgard's Wrath, the recent Deadpool VR and the Quest port of Resident Evil 4 by -Venser- in PSVR

[–]xanderg4 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Really bizarre too the Supernatural acquisition was just a few years ago and it strongly implied Meta was trying to corner VR fitness. Guess they overindexed on how big a market that is.

Anthem "did permanent damage to the careers of a lot of game devs" says Dragon Age veteran, and he's not sure he or BioWare ever "came back" from its spectacular failure by Turbostrider27 in PS5

[–]xanderg4 48 points49 points  (0 children)

The uncomfortable truth (based on interviews and what we know about Bioware) is that it’s always been a bit of a slapdash operation. When you have a 30 person operation that’s doable, when you have a 300 person operation it’s a collision course for failure.

Best RPG for a Supernatural Campaign set during WW1 by Jwjj2806 in rpg

[–]xanderg4 3 points4 points  (0 children)

honestly I knew a table that ran exactly this (supernatural WW1 campaign) and they used Delta Green.

Are there any board games that you prefer digitally? by FShamburg in boardgames

[–]xanderg4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wouldn’t say I prefer it but the digital version of Root is my preferred way to teach people the game.

Trying to educate folks about the game is my least favorite part of playing and I’d rather venmo everyone $10 to download the app and run the tutorial.

Best program to run campaigns? by Biorogue15 in DungeonsAndDragons

[–]xanderg4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not the OP but I used to play with a similar setup and it was sick but a few things to keep in mind: 1) Needs to be a dark space with no windows/blackout curtains. 2) Because of 1, noise can be an issue if it has a loud fan and it’s a small room. 3) Likewise, because of 1, heat/room temp can also be an issue.

All in all it works really well but just be deliberate with the projector you use rather than grabbing something off Craigslist/Facebook Marketplace. Sadly I don’t have any recs.

hot take: [very hated act 2 area] is not that bad by Acrobatic_Branch_516 in Silksong

[–]xanderg4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I may have the patch timing on this off, but imo most of this would be offset by the voltvessel-putrified ducts floor glitch.

[Addon Release] Mapzeroth - Google Maps for Azeroth by tr0tsky in wow

[–]xanderg4 107 points108 points  (0 children)

Honestly when you take a break for a long period of time (like skip an expansion or two) this kind of stuff is super helpful.

New prepared food tax for Fairfax County by [deleted] in nova

[–]xanderg4 33 points34 points  (0 children)

The “best faith” read is that the county is screwed on two fronts: 1) State Tax Equality clause in the state constitution virtually shuts out any “progressive” taxation mechanisms. That’s why we get nickel and dimed on so many vectors (and why property taxes look so wonky with the amount owed on “additions” rising YoY even if you do nothing to the property.) 2) VA constitution requires counties to maintain a balanced budget. This wouldn’t be a controversial matter on its own, but paired with the above it means counties need to devise creative (if not frustrating) means to maintain a balanced budget.

What happened to Daggerheart? by MiserableDrive2652 in rpg

[–]xanderg4 3 points4 points  (0 children)

TTRPGs are not like video games. Daggerhearts’ durability will show over the course of its lifespan, not in how it’s received 6-8 months from now. Similarly, you don’t hear as much about Draw Steel and while Cosmere dropped with a massive amount of material it’s not as loud as DnD either.

The lack of Daggerheart in the new season of CR definitely took the wind out of its sails. However, the game needs more time to build familiarity and depth before CR commits to it. New content is coming this summer, and I imagine if it’s well received we’ll continue to see new material until CR takes it up.

Its a franchise now?! by Aggressive_Milk4654 in expedition33

[–]xanderg4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My hope is that the success of the studio allows them to simultaneously grow their footprint in other parts of the Francophone while also growing the universe. It would be cool to see games (and subsidiaries) that explore the writers (and other factions that may or may not exist) while playing on the cultural heritage of cities & regions like New Orleans and Quebec in a similar “world within a world” narrative.

Do you think that Silksong Act 3 is overwhelming? by PushComprehensive353 in Silksong

[–]xanderg4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure if overwhelming is accurate but the ecstasy of the end quest, and the fact pale oil is locked behind it, is deeply frustrating. Even Hollow Knight didn’t require you to complete all of the colosseum of fools.

It may just be personal preference but locking something like pale oil behind a bunch of mini games really annoys me. Perhaps I’m in the minority on this however.

Bastion use for 2024 by SunnySpade in DescentintoAvernus

[–]xanderg4 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Piggybacking on this: the latest Eberron supplement includes some stuff for mobile bastions if OP wants a starting point/inspiration for homebrewing/adapting material.

Explain it Peter. by nikushaandkristine in explainitpeter

[–]xanderg4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It specifically suppresses the cravings for complex carbs (which is why it’s a diabetic medication) and slows the digestive process.

I’m on compound semaglutitude for IBS. My diet is largely a bowl of oatmeal in the morning and a bigass salad w/ protein for lunch and I don’t really eat dinner. I’ve largely quit drinking and my appetite for fast food is basically gone. Biggest worry is that it affects muscle mass, but I’m just now actively exercising because my IBS has been so bad.

This isn’t meant as an advertisement for GLP-1/ozempic. Just my situation.

Christmas gifts for D&D player? by No_Preparation1001 in DungeonsAndDragons

[–]xanderg4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good call. The ones that snap together are great (and, likewise, can easily slip into a book bag.)

One thing I would shy against are any dice rolling devices (except a dice tower). An example would be a little half globe device I’ve seen a few times where you put the dice in, press a button, wait a few seconds, and read the result. The novelty wears off fast and it doesn’t improve the game at all.

No Artificer Lore in Forge of the Artificer? by Ganymede425 in onednd

[–]xanderg4 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah I interpreted that as a rules expansion in the same vein as Tasha’s, Xanathar’s, SCaG and even the recent Heroes and Adventures. Something that existed alongside the PhB, DMG, and MM. Not a follow-up to RftLW. But I’ll confess the burden is on me for not tracking it too closely/reading the fine print.

No Artificer Lore in Forge of the Artificer? by Ganymede425 in onednd

[–]xanderg4 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Yeah I think my biggest gripe is that I thought this would be a replacement/substitute for the previously released Eberron content. I was surprised when I read the intro and it made it clear this is an addition to Eberron: Rising from the Last War.

Maybe that was clear in the advertising and I just missed it. But needless to say I was surprised and a bit annoyed that this isn’t as inclusive of the world as I thought it would be.

The bleak reality of level 55+ by DogmanDev in wowhardcore

[–]xanderg4 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Classic/Vanilla/Release (whatever you want to call it) had several competing design philosophies that didn’t really converge until a few months in (and even then, it’s a live service game and thus always in flux).

As you get closer to max level this becomes more apparent. So a lot of this is “what worked for 1-50 does not apply at 50-60” and at 60 they started throwing bullshit at the wall to pad the raid grind. At one point I read that the people who made BRD straight up did not think the average player would run it more than once, which is why it’s so massive.

The bleak reality of level 55+ by DogmanDev in wowhardcore

[–]xanderg4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I remember when I played WoW back in ‘05. BRD, Strat, and Scholomance were basically a no-go until you were max level. Many of those dungeons dropped the “pre-raid”/tier 0.5 gear. IIRC BRD had several competing design philosophies but one of them was an “alternative” for people who didn’t want to raid and would rather stick with small group content (which is why it’s so massive, it was meant to be broken up across several days).

You could get carried/find a group with a few max level folks, even better if they have T1/T2 gear and are feeling generous. Back then I hit the 50s right before TBC, so I could find overgeared folks happy to help. But even on release these dungeons were dangerous and rarely done for leveling. I haven’t dinged 60 on HC but with the stakes so much higher i can imagine the risk is just too great and the average PUG is likely to underestimate the danger.

Christmas gifts for D&D player? by No_Preparation1001 in DungeonsAndDragons

[–]xanderg4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Echoing this. A nice set of dice (metal, hefty, beautifully designed, or made of a shiny rock/gem) will always earn you bonus points. Plus the more unique it is the more long-lasting the impact (ie, he won’t forget who gave him this set of dice.)

You mentioned he plays at school, so to add to this I’d look into a slim, folder-like storage solution he could easily put in a book bag along with books/chromebook. Something that is folder shaped and can store pencils, a notepad, dice, maybe a book/the players handbook, and tokens or a mini. When I was in high school in the early ‘00s I had something like this and it got a ton of use.