Most blog readers know about Big Red Kitty, the famous hunter blogger. He stopped blogging, swearing never to return and has now returned. The reason for him showing up again like the dude at the party who left drunk a few hours ago saying he had to go to work tomorrow and then is found on the couch waxing prophetic about steak recipies is due to him being asked to Alpha test Cataclysm. I suppose that he could have just done this without causing much of a hoo-haa, but us bloggers like to wax lyrical so his blog has started up again as well as him beginning to appear on podcasts.
I was never a big BRK fan mostly due to the fact that I thought he was a pompous dude who also played a hunter and I was a little bemused at the interblog hero worship that emerged dripping on each and every one of his pronouncements. So when his blog started up again I thought I’d go and give him another chance, to see if I could get into all the hero worship, cause I really need a hero. Maybe so I could hang a poster of my hero on my bedroom wall. When was the last time any of you hung a poster of your hero in your bedroom? I don’t think my wife would be impressed though.
So anyway, his blog now consists of him detailing his alpha testing in no detail. There is no detail because he is bound by the NDA. So what he’s doing is writing down a list of stuff, something like what I could do if I was learning how to swim but wasn’t allowed to give any details:
1: it’s warm, yey!
2: I have to do what?
3: Ok, that works I suppose.
4: Hawt chicks, yeah.
5: Do I have to …. oh damn
6: Gotta get some new equipments.
I think the first post was nice and original and stuff but I couldn’t get through the second one as it gets lame very quick. It’s not funny and it doesn’t include the reader. It leaves you on the outside. I mean, I could mention on this blog that I got to hang out with lots of hot chicks in my disco last night and that would be all fine. But if I kept rubbing your faces in the fact every day I think most readers would begin to get a bit jaded. So yeah, you’re in the alpha and you’re not giving us any details because you can’t and you’re going to tell us that every day. Big fucking deal. Which would be fine because I don’t have to read his blog but almost every blogger out there is going on about BRK is back, BRK is here to save the world, blah blah blah.
Well excuse me for being underwhelmed.
June 2, 2010 at 10:11 am
Ouch a bit harsh in my opinion.
Whilst I’ve not played the Hunter class until recently I have always held an interest in BRKs blog, he is after all one of the best at show and tell tutorials and he is a quality writer who uses humor well.
The Alpha posts I find amusing and are written as tongue in cheek, once NDA is lifted I am guessing he will perhaps give a bit of background or fill these in. Until then I just view them as a teasing with a smile.
So yeah your entitled to your own opinion but I think its folly to berate a guy who pretty much turned a lot of Huntards into proper hunters. When Blizzard decide you are important enough to name a weapon after you I think you are intitled to a little bit of respect.
Just my two cents
June 2, 2010 at 11:41 am
Well he never taught them how to roll on loot, did he? Lets see if he can manage that, then I might be impressed.
June 3, 2010 at 6:58 am
Actually…that’s exactly the type of thing he did, turn terrible huntards into respectable players who know the proper way to play. Chances are many of the good hunters you play with in game have read or learned from BRK at some point. Bad hunters aren’t interested in getting better so of course they’re not going to read hunter blogs.
The reason so many readers of his old blog (mostly hunters, which makes sense, it being a hunter blog) are happy about him being back isn’t because of his Alpha coverage, it’s simply because it’s like the return of an old friend. Hopefully once the disclosure lifts he keeps playing & writing so more blog readers can see his actual wit and personality.
June 2, 2010 at 12:31 pm
I hate teasers, especially elitist idiots teasers. Especially hunters elitist idiots teasers. I have huntard, my 4th alt, last night i used Underachiever to get into Totc25, did mediocre damage with crappy gear, rolled on some crap that i needed and got flamed by few raid members. Felt like a whore. Relogged to ret. You can call me faceroller, at least i won’t feel like hoe. And Elitistjerks is place to read tutorials, I’d rather value more opinions over some hunter named after berseking feral druid;)
June 2, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Agreed, though not to as harsh an extent.
June 2, 2010 at 2:02 pm
I have to fully disagree with you here; Daniel never came over as a “pompous dude”, rather much the opposite. BRK was a life-saver as I was leveling my hunter (my main and first real character in WoW), with all his tips and tricks for newer players. The forums he opened up provided us hunters a great place to chat amongst ourselves without the overbearing moderation of places like EJ, or the hopelessness that are the WoW forums. He was a ‘pretty big deal’ without making himself out to be one.
I will agree with you that I’m not enjoying the repeated “1,2,3…” style posts, but there’s not much else he can really do under the NDA. As I’ve outgrown the need for most of the tips he’ll probably have to offer, it’s moreso his writing style that keeps me amused. I followed along with his RL blog after he left WoW, and I’m quite pleased he’ll be blogging about WoW again, if only for a short time.
Your quip about hunter-loot rolling is just wrong, though. There are bad players of every class, and those who will roll on stuff they can’t use, regardless. This is not, nor has it ever been, restricted to just hunters. You’re asking him to solve for stupid, and well, that’s just not possible.
[To answer your question, though, BRK actually did comment repeatedly on what stuff to use, and what not - particularly if it involved dropping down to leather (which was a rarity in and of itself).]
I’m a self-professed student of BRK, so take it for what it’s worth, but I think you’ve got it all wrong. This post strikes me as coming more from the “It’s cool not to like things that lots of people like” type of mentality than it does a legimate gripe.
June 2, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Yeah, I had never read any of that blogger’s posts before but the only opinion I could form was that I really didn’t care for the somewhat bothersome..
maybe I’ll share
nope not sharing
I know but you don’t
still no info
… etc
I have been playing the Alpha as well and I am pretty adamant about not baiting people about it until I can divulge some awesome and interesting things for everyone to enjoy. If I wanted people to know I was playing the alpha, I could probably just accomplish that by telling them “I am playing the Alpha”.
Oh well. I don’t know that blogger that well. Perhaps they will post some things soon that I’ll find I can relate to better.
June 2, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Yep, it really is a shame that all the old posts – as well as the forums – are no longer available; this most recent stuff is pretty dull. The old guides, videos, tips, etc. along with personal stories were much more enjoyable and helpful.
June 2, 2010 at 4:48 pm
The thing that made BRK great was his way of telling a story, making dry elitist jerk information into a usable form that everyone could understand, and make you laugh all at the same time. When he left, he created a new blog and continued to tell stories that are incredibly well written and entertaining.
I agree that right now, he’s not that great. I’m hoping that once the NDA on Alpha is lifted, he can provide more insight rather than lists.
June 2, 2010 at 4:55 pm
As a hunter, I also don’t get the fuss about BRK. From what I’ve gathered he was rather mediocre hunter player (read casual player – and not in /played way), albeit supposedly writing in entertaining way. The reason for fame is probably that he was ‘just’ a great blogger (erm, so no wonder he’s popular in blogging community ^^).
June 2, 2010 at 6:02 pm
I’d never heard of BRK before I read Adam’s blog today and before you berate me for not knowing, go into the street of your nearest big city and randomly ask people if they’ve ever heard of him, report back when you find someone… See you in a week (or two).
I have to agree that it’s pointless publishing notes on something you can’t talk about, and it’s dull, and not very interesting, and boring… I don’t get it. Maybe it’s like the Elvis come back when he was hopelessly overweight and rather sad but people remembered how great he used to be and put up with it.
It’s up to him, if people enjoy it that’s cool.
June 2, 2010 at 10:34 pm
To be perfectly honest I’ve never heard of BRK and I’m probably not going to get started reading his blog either. It doesn’t look that great tbh with the whole, im in Cata and im going to blog about it but i can’t say anything about it thing. A little weird and pointless.
June 2, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Eh… I honestly “mark as read” the current posts about the NDA-covered stuff, but I still keep the subscription, for when, you know, the NDA lifts and he can actually tell us stuff.
June 3, 2010 at 5:29 am
This is the 4th WoW blog I’ve read in the past 10 minutes. Each one is talking *specifically* about another WoW blogger.
This is getting old fast.
June 3, 2010 at 8:32 am
I never heard of this guy. Still I have only played wow since october last year and been reading blogs since febuary or so, so pretty new to the whole scene. That said I wish I had found his site, I might have learnt something, the way I have learnt shed loads by going through all adams old posts. On the subject of Hunter loot rolls I wore leather for a large part of my career including the “belt of competion” from TOC5 which was my first epic and let me into heroics. I never rolled for that against a rogue though, wheras I had to roll and lost against a warrior for Zogs longbow. If its an upgrade for me and no one else wants/will wear it why cant I take it? I blame Blizz for giving rogue gear better agilty and a higher drop rate then hunter gear
June 3, 2010 at 8:35 am
erm reading it now…
whys he refering to himself in the third person? I am starting to see the noisy rogues point.
June 3, 2010 at 8:44 am
I’ve heard him referring to himself in the 3rd person while speaking on podcasts.
June 3, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Pitrelli says know your role and shut your mouth! lol
June 7, 2010 at 1:55 pm
He is a hunter, hunters have pets, him and his big red kitty, go places together. This is also explained.
June 4, 2010 at 4:11 pm
/agree pretty much there adam
As a hunter who rolled way before he came on the scene I thought he was entertaining but I never really saw him as cutting edge. I still read him at the time because a lot of his shit was funny but was a little disappointed with his current posting. He’s a good blogger and his posts were helpful for new players but I think it’s also a little small minded to suggest they were the only “friendly” source of information out there.
Funnily enough I reckon had he been playing in WOTLK he’d probably have been more relevant to a lot more players because there was only so much you could talk about in TBC unless you were in a guild capable of BT/MH. Even then, it’s a sad fact but most of the stuff I read bar a few even mentions 25HMs.
Meh, maybe he’ll get better. My only real reason for reading most other hunter blogs is because I’m an asshole and can’t help myself correcting things. Also the main reason I don’t post about hunters on my own blog because I don’t have Frostheim’s patience to prove my conclusions and I know there are assholes like me
June 25, 2010 at 5:17 am
It is kinda hard to write a blog about which things which can’t be written, but we’re trying. Hopefully, as others have said, the NDA will be lifted soon and we can bore and anger people with real teasers and horribly thought-out insights.
/friendly wave!
BRK