-> cmd> netstat -a -n -o | find “port_number”

The last column of the result will point to the process Id (PID) of this port. To find the actuall process running, do the following:

-> cmd> tasklist /svc /FI “PID eq process_ID”

This can prove fairly useful if you are unsuccessful starting applications/processes because of ‘port already in use’ issues.

I finally broke down and decided to get Mass Effect 1 from Gamestop Download (I refuse to use Steam). I have to say that so far I have been pretty impressed by the game. Its got an involving story line and the sheer enormity of the game is amazing. I mean I have spent 8 hours so far and have mainly been doing one section of the 3 quests that were given to me in the first hour of playing. And for a person who has borderline ADD its even surprising that I am still interested in playing it.

More to come in the near future ..

Going on the idea from Winmore’s blog brought my yesterday’s Random Gun’Drak to my attention .. and not in a good way.

I was healing the Random with my Druid and was about 20 minutes in when I realized how much I hated this group.

• The Tank and one of the other DPS was from the same guild on a different server.
• The other two DPS from the same guild on a different server from myself and the tank.

After the 2nd boss the group split up. The tanks group wanted to go to the last boss. The DPS group wanted to do the ‘optional’ boss. I wanted to skip the optional and go to the last boss. But I did not voice my opinion and simply followed the tank. The DPS group starts whining.

In the meantime the Tank group does not even notice what is going on because they are in the own world. The two are talking to each other in party chat and here is the gist of the conversation between the two (totally made up but captures the general essence):

• Tank: You are very pretty
• DPS: Thank you sir.
• DPS: Sir you do a very good job with tanking.
• Tank: Yah, I need to tank ICC in an hour
• DPS: That is awesome sir.
• Tank: You are going to get it if you call me sir again.
• DPS: /blush No you will not sir.
• Tank: You are very pretty for a canadian

I wont even get into a tank with 33K Health saying that he tanks ICC. Outside of the scope of this topic but a worthy mention.

I mean seriously, WTF, this inane conversation went on from the start but didn’t bother me in the beginning because we were still killing mobs. While I was trying to message party chat and get everyone to the ‘optional’ boss I noticed that the DPS group was already pulling trash. As a rogue and a Boomkin you arent exactly the tanking type. I ran towards them and was able to prevent them from dying.

So .. did they stop pulling trash? Heck no .. they have a healer now. So while I am trying to figure out where the two idiot sweet talking members of the tank group are I have to heal the idiots in the dps group while they fight trash. Finally, the Tank group caught upto us after we had pretty much cleared all the trash to the ‘optional’ boss.

Nothing strange happened from this point on but it is just annoying when people DO NOT pay attention. Sure this game has become insanely easy within the last few patches/expansions but it doesn’t mean you need to start using gatorade to water your crops (Idiocracy reference).

Back to the topic name of this post. ‘PUG-O-RAMA’ would actually have been more than appropriate because with 3 80′s I try to run atleast 2 randoms a day. Sometimes a 3rd. That may or may not give me enough material for a blog post but it sure does give me a good story to talk about with my other WoW playing buddies when we are hanging out and having a beer.

Seriously .. its ok that you dont want to go over the speed limit. But if people are using the middle lane to pass you or even going to the express lane to go around you maybe you need a lesson in driving etiquette .. move the f*ck over.

I think I am getting to understand this issue a little better as I am leveling alts. The problem for me mainly is my main (Tank) is so well geared that all I want to do is get the random done. Hell .. we run ICC the same way so why should 5 mans be any different. Most 5 mans I run with the guild takes me no more than 20 minutes.

But .. when we sign up for the Random Dungeon(s) the group dynamic is .. well dynamic. There are too many variables to the equation. People here have never played with each other. If the healer is very well geared he does not have the patience for the tank to wait after every pull to make sure people are ready for the next pull and do a ready check for this. Same goes for a well geared tank .. the healer should not need to drink after every trash or it gets annoying for them.

Have a very interesting story on this from earlier this week. I was in a Random with my Warlock in Heroic-AN. The DK Tank was a fairly new tank with mainly blues. At the last boss (Anu’barak) we wiped twice. Two of the people in the group quit and I figured I’d give my 2 cents to the tank (given my main is a DK tank). I told him use DnD and HB as soon as the adds come so that he can get good snap aggro. I wasnt rude or obnoxius about this at all (in my opinion). This is how the conversation went:

Me: Hey, just a tip. Use HB and DnD as soon as the adds come so that you can get good snap aggro.
Him: F*ck you. Aggro is not a problem.
Me: Sorry I just offered advice because my main is a DK Tank.
Him: Good for you. F*ck you you a***ole. Your GS is almost 1500 higher than me.

It gets interesting from here. By this time we get two more people to replace the ones we lost(using the random tool). The guy calls for a ‘vote kick’ on me and I get kicked from the group. However, the guy is on my server. So I did send him a PM. My first PM was laced with sarcasm:

Me: Thanks dude. I actually stuck around when people were leaving and offered you some advice. You swore at me and you kick me. Lol!
Him: F*ck you.
Me: Ok.
User is ignoring you.

At this time I didnt know whether to laugh or get mad. I just mentioned this in my guilds chat and they had a good laugh. The tanks offered to tank one for me, the healers said they would heal if required just so I could get my random done. I thanked them for the offer but decided to go to the Random tool again. I got lucky this time and had a very good run.

This case was more of an exception than the rule for me. I have generally had fairly decent luck with the Randoms. And as a side note, 1500 higher GS or not the tank plain sucked. I know he was in that AN for atleast 25 more minutes after I got kicked. ON THE LAST BOSS! Considering my new Random finished while we has still in AN .. that does seem like I came out the winner after all.

In retrospect I do think the Random Dungeon tool has a lot more positives than the negatives. Statistically I probably run into 3 good groups before I run into a super crappy one. It’s not the dying or wiping that frustrates me. Believe me when I say that I generally spend over 100G in repairs when trying new bosses in ICC. It is the inability of us as humans to correct what we are doing wrong on the fly. The tank does not need to get upset when told by the healer that we are not waiting on their mana. Neither does the dps need to get upset when the tank tells them that they are not waiting long enough till he/she establishes aggro.

We need to be able to adapt to these situations as quickly as possible so that we can successfully finish the dungeon and go our separate ways. Just because are most likely never going to group again, does not mean that we cannot be smart and civil about the time we are.

You can reset TCP/IP stack to the installation defaults by:

netsh int ip reset reset.log

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults, type:

netsh winsock reset catalog

Reboot the machine.

The above can possibly help with issues of running into the 169.xx.xx.xx IP address showing up when run ‘ipconfig/all’.