Threat (or, why WoW is pretty much D&D)

As a tank, I'm pretty much responsible for making sure the mobs don't kill anyone else. Or me, for that matter--but that isn't so much of an issue, as the best classes for tanks are generally high on armor and hit points. However, the duty I don't have to deal with (so much) is damage. Other classes do much more DPS (Damage Per Second) than I do, but it's still my responsibility to keep them safe by keeping the "aggro" on me (aggro is simply a term for the attention of the monster--if I have aggro, the baddie is attacking me)

How does this work? What algorithm does Blizzard use to decide whom the mobs attack? Turns out they use a relatively simple system of "threat," a number that is calculated based on a number of factors, but mostly on DPS. So, in order to keep the mobs from transferring aggro from me to other players (like cloth-armor wearing casters, for example), I need to use threat to my advantage; because I can't match the DPS they're putting out, using the modifiers is key.

So, in essence, to be a successful tank, one must intimately know the amount of threat (especially the percentage modifiers) generated by each attack to maximize not only DPS, but TPS: Threat Per Second. Knowledge of these calculations is helpful for other classes, but essential for a tank.

I knew a little bit about threat starting out from a quick explanation that a friend gave me, but all I understood of it was that if someone gets more threat than you, they pull the aggro (which turned out to be close, but not exactly true). So, I looked up threat guides on FreeWarcraftGuides.com and found this guide: The WoW Warrior Guide to Understanding Threat. Bingo! Although Blizzard doesn't publicize their algorithms, these players rigorously tested their hypotheses on threat and came up with a great resource. There are some sections in the bottom in which they use their analyzed data to make suggestions of which attacks are more or less effective, but the simple percentages were all I needed.

So, I made a map that I hope can intuitively explain or help calculate threat. It doesn't take into account all the Warrior threat-modifying skills individually; that would be cluttering and doesn't help intuitive understanding. This is mostly for a Warrior as it includes Stances--a Warrior must be in one of the Stances at all times.

All this number crunching is basically what the fine-tuning of the game is all about (especially in endgame, where gear, huge raid parties, and special abilities come into the mix). In fact, the stand-and-hack model is remarkably similar to D&D. Maybe Blizzard knows its audience after all.

Pretentious Frenchman

Here's my take on Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation.

Baudrillard's claim that simulacra are replacing the reality, or simply covering a reality that doesn't exist, is pretty radical, but at the same time slightly nagging. I was tempted to simply look at this essay as an anachronistic work suited for the purposes of looking at virtual worlds in an elementary sense, but Baudrillard's reference to Disneyland and Borges made me think otherwise because they resonate in todays world more than (say) Watergate.

His point with Disneyland is an example of one of his main points: that the simulation of reality has become more real than real--hyperreal--and ends up serving to cover the reality when it leaves, if it ever existed. Although I couldn't follow most of his logic, this argument simply works: people come in from all over the world to go to Disneyland as a distillation of America, or even the world. The caricature becomes more real than the real thing; what real Mayan ruins take you underground like Indiana Jones?

The logic of Borges's map remains the same. The creativity of the creators gets out of hand, and the perfectly accurate simulation becomes the replacement for the real. In this case, there is no caricature, but the real becomes engulfed by a simulation.

World of Warcraft encompasses both of these conquests of simulacra over the real. On one hand, it is a relatively accurate representation of our 'normal' social lives: we are humanoid characters, interacting in socially accepted ways that generally conform to our real-life social norms. Our work or task becomes to kill monsters and go on quests--tasks which sometimes require collaboration or competition. In this way, WoW is an accurate representation of our lives. However, it is at its heart a caricature. Our struggles are drawn out to life-and-death battles; our conflicts turn to duels; our interactions turn to formal groups and guilds. By dialing up the stakes, WoW as a simulation turns into a caricature of our lives.

Perhaps we are addicted to the grind of everyday life, but the grind of WoW is hyperreal. The stakes are higher; the set pieces are more important. We get hooked because WoW can be hyperreal.

So I thought you all might find this interesting:

http://www.3pointd.com/20060922/planning-wow-raids-in-second-life/

It's about a guy who uses Second Life to plan his guild's raids in WoW and review footage of their raids. What a way to mesh virtual worlds, eh?

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