1. #1

    In-raid attention load

    I posted this on my blog, but I'm going to post it here too because its an interesting topic and I think its worth discussing. Its another way you can indirectly increase your DPS and overall effectiveness.

    Quote Originally Posted by xenok
    I would argue that anyone who has raided knows they have 'only so much attention' to give to the numerous things that are going on in raid between moving, switching targets, your rotation, voices in vent/mumble, etc.

    This is where good addons can help tremendously. If you can make it easier on yourself to know when to move, do your rotation, etc, you will find that you have more attention to give to other things like staying alive, increasing dps, etc.

    You ought to consider that you have 2 ways to pay attention to things in-game -- visual attention and auditory attention (thanks Oatz for the concept). With a couple simple addons, you could easily shift some of your visual attention load to your auditory attention which I suspect is under-utilized for most people. Are you using your ears right now to help with your rotation and stay alive? GTFO for example is a great tool that will make it VERY clear if you are in something bad. There are times when you may be standing on the edge of something bad and you aren't sure if you are in it or not. GTFO will alert you faster than any other means possible and help train you along the way by making it clear what to look out for.

    Another thing to consider is audio ques for your rotation. I know a lot of people hate this idea, but I really like it. I have a soft 'ping' that alerts me every time a Mindblast is available since its a spell you really don't want to ever delay and it can randomly proc with DI. I also have an audio alert setup if I reach a 2cap on my surge of darkness procs, since I can't store more than 2 procs at a time.

    Another obvious thing is DBM, which I think most people who raid already have. BUT -- have you actually gone into the options and enlarged the bars and positioned them on your screen so that they aren't in the way but impossible to miss? Do it now if you haven't already!


    With a few properly setup addons you can really help increase your overall awareness and effectiveness in raid.
    Last edited by Burchoid; 2012-10-17 at 03:29 PM.

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  2. #2
    Stood in the Fire h3lladvocate's Avatar
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    There are advantages and disadvantages to both. I don't like to use audio for almost anything because it obstructs Vent and stuff. Either A. I can't hear vent cause something else is yelling at me (GTFO) or B. I have to turn up vent to obnoxiousness levels to override this. Also, sometimes/pulls I like to really get in the zone and play music, which I couldn't do if I was audio cues to listen for.

    There are also little things you cannot do with Audio that you can with visual. Take Mind Blast example. With Audio cues, you are playing reactively, needing to hear the sound before you can cast it. With visual set up correctly, ala timer bar or something, you can plan ahead for that Mind Blast. Now, not saying Audio is completely bad, I still use some Audio cues and they are great for certain things, but I think there are more considerations besides the obvious. I'd love an Audio cues for DBM when someone moves within w/e my /range is set to.

    My 2c. Everyone has different opinions, just my take, don't hate me T_T

  3. #3
    I use visual ques for Mindblast too.

    Also, if using DI, the only option you have is to play reactively. It procs; you use it. I want to be sure to use that proc asap.

    The audio ques for MB without DI are way less important, but I don't turn them off.

    I'm not sure if you have this option in vent, but with mumble I can set it to attenuate all other sounds when someone else is speaking in mumble. In other words, it reduces the volume of my game, pandora, etc down by 50% when someone que's to talk.

    2-night progression raiding: http://www.fullspectrumguild.com
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  4. #4
    Deleted
    I would agree with the audio part. Helps so much. Great example, if you ever have pvp'ed much, is GladiatorLoSA. Auditory announcement addon for every cooldown or trinket an enemy player uses. It will tell you if a nearby rogue uses vanish, for example, or even when things expire like a paladin's Hand of Protection. So very useful.

  5. #5
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    The Only tiny issue i have with using visuals and/or audio is that it gets me playing reactively insteed of preactively, if we use the mindblast example reacting to something saying/showing :Mindblast Ready Now! the delay is still latency+ reaction time, insteed what i have done it just make a action bar with things i wanna cast on CD and put it right next to my char, (without blocking my view ofc) so when i see MB have 1 sec left (insert reaction time here) i start spamming my MB key, im not saying warnings are bad but they should be the "in case shit" insteed of the "because shit" Only my opinion ofc

  6. #6
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Vacaliga View Post
    The Only tiny issue i have with using visuals and/or audio is that it gets me playing reactively insteed of preactively, if we use the mindblast example reacting to something saying/showing :Mindblast Ready Now! the delay is still latency+ reaction time, insteed what i have done it just make a action bar with things i wanna cast on CD and put it right next to my char, (without blocking my view ofc) so when i see MB have 1 sec left (insert reaction time here) i start spamming my MB key, im not saying warnings are bad but they should be the "in case shit" insteed of the "because shit" Only my opinion ofc
    I use an addon similiar to SexyCoolDown bar for that. You can see when something is about to come off cooldown and make sure a GCD is free the moment it is available (plus much spamming of keybind :P )

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Vacaliga View Post
    The Only tiny issue i have with using visuals and/or audio is that it gets me playing reactively insteed of preactively, if we use the mindblast example reacting to something saying/showing :Mindblast Ready Now! the delay is still latency+ reaction time, insteed what i have done it just make a action bar with things i wanna cast on CD and put it right next to my char, (without blocking my view ofc) so when i see MB have 1 sec left (insert reaction time here) i start spamming my MB key, im not saying warnings are bad but they should be the "in case shit" insteed of the "because shit" Only my opinion ofc
    I totally agree. Without DI, the audio ques for MB are simply a training tool and you want to be anticipating the cooldown and casting your MB the moment its available to use. It's also a stark reminder of the times in-raid where you may accidentally delay a MB cooldown, helping you more quickly identify and fix whatever caused the delay.

    Back when I had an audio que on my warrior I set my MS que to go off exactly 1 second before the ability was available to use to make sure I didn't accidentally delay it with a GCD. Worked out nicely.

    Its kinda like that car commercial where the car beeps when the tires are full of air.

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  8. #8
    I tried to be somewhat open minded and not just dismiss this right away but after thinking for a couple minuets about it I can honestly say I wouldn't want a single spell to be on an audio warning for any one of my toons. I don't like game sounds or even DBM warning sounds. I guess I'm just weird.

    http://i.imgur.com/32nFs.jpg

    this is my UI if any cares to look at it. (took out oozing to show debuffs!) also I'm still new to SPRIEST and I'm testing out the GCD bar in the middle of my screen, I turned it on like 10 mins before I got to this thread so that might be temporary.
    Last edited by Volitar; 2012-10-23 at 04:02 PM.
    Hi Sephurik

  9. #9
    Great thread. Any suggestions for how to setup audioqueues on abilities? Is there an addon or is it achieved otherwise?

  10. #10
    If you want to experiment with sounds Weak Auras can do it. I used to use Power Auras until the addon was redesigned. I don't like the new one.

    2-night progression raiding: http://www.fullspectrumguild.com
    Shadow-Raid Blog: http://shadow-raid.blogspot.com/

  11. #11
    The Unstoppable Force Granyala's Avatar
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    As a shadow I put important procs on audio. I use "sonar" for ToF / DI procs or "Hyena-laugh" for Trinkets. (Always makes me chuckle)

    I only create audio input for trinkets that are short. A 20s trinket doesn't need one b/c you refresh your DoTs anyway.

    Generally speaking: Filtering information is paramount. Only convey what you really need, mute/hide anything else.

    But audio für spell rotations? Never going to happen. Audio channel is reserved for important stuff. Delaying a Mindblast once in a while is no problem for me because proper encounter execution >>>> DPS.

    @Vacaliga: I agree. Essentially a "ping" when MB is through would be too late b/c I'm casting something else and thus delay every MB at least one GCD.
    Last edited by Granyala; 2012-10-23 at 06:31 PM.

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