2008: Year In Review

As I left this morning to go to work I said to my wife "How I feel really sums up my year: Tired, Sore, but Strong & Determined." and thinking about it now I feel that this also reflects my experiences with others playing WOW over 2008. But I'll need to add three more items: Seasoned, Wiser, & Smarter.

I started the year still N00Bish and green. Although I was in endgame instances & raids it was still a over the top experience for me because I didn't have the time to commit to raiding the tier 5 & 6 content. My gameplay mostly consited of waiting for players who were late. If there's one thing I've grown to despise is players who don't show up when they say they will.

This lead me to what was my first phase of playstyle which was I now think of as solitary confinement. I started to farm companion pets which have very very low drop rates. It was in my own way showing that I wasn't just a face in the crowd. This lead me to areas that end-gamers no longer go to such as azshara.

Around April I left my guild, Sedition & joined Utopia, which was a hardcore raiding guild. To me this choice lead to the end of an era for me. Although I was in Utopia for only two months, the experience of hardcore raiding & the drama attached to it burned me out. It also opened me up to the fact that while I had thought WOW's playerbase was a brotherhood of geeks, I was very much misstaken.
This period ended with the dissolution of Utopia during Memorial Day Weekend. I was stunned, shocked & depressed but also optimistic. Because Utopia had been one of the top raiding alliance guilds there was a scramble to grab it's members. However I learned then that all of them were NMNA: No Moonkin Need Apply. Sinking into a rut I decided to do something Radical & level a horde druid. I sent myself a trust fund via the AH and decided to seek the plains of Mulgore.
My Next Phase of play I've dubbed the Summer of Horns & Roses. I leveled a tauren druid, & leveled him Feral. I joined the only horde guild I knew off (I really didn't pay attn to their names lol) and decided that I was going to show all the jerks on the alliance side how good I really was by leveling the toon up to 70 & then joining Trample, the top guild on our server & in the top 200 guilds in the world.
But at the same time, I began to see that I was really just running away from my dissapointments and problems that I had experienced on my main character. As the launch of WOTLK began to draw I decided that there were things I wanted to do before the expansion. And although I had enjoyed playing my Tauren Druid I needed to make peace with the past & switch back to my main. So I decided to get a wintersaber mount.
This choice lead to the next phase of gameplay which I think of as my hermitage period. I was on Neren, but I didn't talk to anyone. I just spent my days grinding Wintersaber rep. If someone that I knew showed up in Winterspring, or pst'd me I would say hi etc, but otherwise I kept to myself & my goal of the mount. Once I got my mount, I then went onto grinding faction rep with old school factions, Argent Dawn, Cenarion Circle, Etc for the upcoming achievements.
Then around Mid August if memory serves me correctly I recieved a most unusal email. I was selected for the WOTLK Beta. It was a life changing event for me game-wise. I learned quickly that the beta wasn't random people were selected for their knowledge of the game and for what they had done in game. My peers may have felt that I was a waste of raid space, but blizzard did not.
So not only was my malise in game was evaporated, but at the same time I was given a new perspective about WOW. I had been to the top of the mountain, I had rode Shai-Hulud, I had seen the future of WOW & it was good. Not just for me but for everyone. The old ways were going away and the new ways were coming...
I did beta until about September, and decided to stop because it was wrapping up & I wanted to have some stuff still new when the game launched. I came back to Fenris changed, Other players were still focused on progression, I became focused on seeing things I had missed. I raided Molten Core, AQ20, AQ40 etc. with other players who realized that progression now was futile. I savored Azeroth as it once was noting it wouldn't ever be that same way again.
I also found freedom in my guildlessness. I don't know if that's the right word for it but instead of feeling like I was a leper I relished in my freedom. I found others like me who had threw off the chains of guild drama. I simply logged on, contacted some friends and went for a ride.
This continued with the spin up & launch of WOTLK. I reveled in the changes & updates. I enjoyed changing my title on the fly & showing the vast array of pets to other players. I played with both a sense of fun & seriousness. I wasn't a man obsessed with power anymore, I wanted to have a good time but I could also focus in when the situation arised.
With the onset of the holiday season I found myself in an odd situation. My mornings were free because my wife is a late sleeper =P but my afternoons & evenings were booked. Luckily I fell into a group of players who were also off during the holidays & were in the same boat. This leads me to where I am now in a guild again, with players for who the most part I do like & enjoying the time I get to Play WOW.
I know that 2009 will not be the same year for me as 2008 was. My Real-Life Schedule will radically cut my game time down and this change will begin starting next week. But I'm OK with that on a level that just a few short months ago would have caused me to become stressed. For me WOW is no different that any other matured social hobby, such as golf or tennis. Will I stop playing, Yes. Will it suck? Prolly. Will I get back into it at another date? Most Definatly.
Until Next Year!
The Musing Moonkin

ARGH

Sorry for the blog title but I am so pissed right now. I was in a well-gelled Heroic Halls Of Stone Group, & I got DC'd and now cannot get back onto WOW or even the blizzard Website.
I wouldn't even be so angry except that HHOS is in what I call the unholy trinity. These three dungeons (Old Kingdom, Occulus & Halls Of Stone) have been deemed to be to difficult by most players. I use shadow labs as my yard stick. and trust me none of them comes near the wipe fest that shadow labs could be on a good day.
Well at least I got my shoulders (a lil yay)
Until later
The musing moonkin

On Christmas you get what you deserve...A Cautionary Tale of Greed

Merry Christmas (Or Winter Veil if your still in Ironforge getting your virtual presents)
What I'm about to post just happend an hour ago, so while it's still fresh in my head I wanted to post it as a reminder that during the holiday's it's always better to give than to recieve.

This Morning I got up, made coffee, took care of the chinchilla's and logged in to get my Winter Veil presents. While I & a guild member were working on getting the winter veil achivement with our new toys, someone posted in trade that they were looking for the pet reindeer. Since I already had one from last year, I asked my guildee to give me leader, & I invited the person to our group & gave him the pet free of charge, It was a bank alt for another end gamer, he pst'd to me that he needed it for his daughter since she had gotten the Winter Helper but wanted the reindeer.

After I gave it to him & wished him & his family a very merry christmas my guildmate went bonkers! He then told me that he didn't have the pet and he only needed one more pet to get the achievement. So in the holiday spirit me & some other guild members went over possible quick pets to pick up, and we determined that he had never gotten the pets from LBRS. So instead of getting the daily runs out of the way before real-life holiday merriment, we went to LBRS to fetch a worg pup!

Once we got our bearings and remembered where we had to go, we proceeded with haste to Halcyon. After she was downed, my guildee says to us "Ok where are the pups?" We then realized that he didn't capture one of her brood before killing them. Ergo no pet worg! As he mulled over this he suddenly disconnected & dropped vent.

Just goes to show you that on Christmas whether your here or on Azeroth you get what you deserve

Merry Christmas Everyone
The Musing Moonkin

Happy Winter Veil, NOW PAY ATTN

Greetings Readers.

I've been mulling over this throughout the holiday season, because it's just been bothering me so much.

With the release of Lich King my character spec has been de-nerfed. It's great, it's awesome, It sucks A$$!

The reason for such high levels of suckage is that the majority of players who are speccing balance have no clue how to play the spec. I've seen so much bad play that I've just stopped even giving advice to new moonkins.

But I decided to try at least one more time since it's the holidays.

First off the back story.

In the beginning balance was the deformed olson twin of the Druid Class. No Druid Played balance, you leveled feral & then when you reached 60 accepted your destiny & went Restoration to provide the HOT's for the raid group.

Blizzard began fixing this with patch 1.8 which introduced the Moonkin Form. This made the balance tree the PVP spec for Druids. I started playing WOW after 1.8 came out and immediatly fell in love with the concept of the Moonkin as soon as I saw on in STV.

Moonkin form now was upgraded to the Red-Headed Stepchild of the Druid class. It was still not acceptable for leveling or end-game raiding but if you were into pvp then it was ok (after you were level 50 or so.)

With the release of the Burning Crusade expansion, Balance got more love from blizzard & actual tier specific gear. This moved the balance spec to the out-of-wedlock child of the Druid class. Hardcore Raiding guilds now started having 1 or 2 balance druids to provide spell crit to the dps or healer groups. It was at this time that I learned to play my class. I learned the hard way that I would have to outplay any other dps in order to be included in a dungeon, heroic dungeon or raid. Other players could make mistakes. If I made one mistake I could and was dropped from the group.

I studied theorycraft not because I liked it but because it was the only way for me to be considered useful. I encountered resistance from old-schoolers who felt I was a waste of a raid slot and made it quite clear that other less well geared players would be a better fit because while at the moment they would underpreform me, they deserved the gear that would drop while I didn't. That was an actual statement made by a Tank who's since left Fenris.

But still I stuck to my guns. Or as my friend brian said once "Yeah I can see why you play moonkin, your Stubborn, Persistant and Damn usefull when the Sh!t hit's the fan."

Now were at Lich King. Balance is now on par with the other hybrid dps classes. I should be happy but I'm not. I've seen so much bad playstyle it's made me consider going resto. (Yes Doug I'll say it again Resto!) It's caused me agita as guilds that I would've given my remaning testicle to join earlier this year as me to apply because "I'm the only old-school boomkin remaining on the alliance side." and I have to turn them down because I don't raid hardcore anymore.

Note: There is an old-school boomkin who's on the horde side & belongs to trample We know each other in game and have done formal /kneel /salute /cheer to each other if we cross paths, we've also helped each other out when were both questing grinding & pulled more than we can take.

So my advice to New Moonkins is as follows

1.) Learn your class: I cannot stress this enough study your class & figure out what you can do & what you cannot do. what works in Questing will cause failure in Instances, What's great in PVP will wipe a group in a heroic.

Case in Point; Typhoon is a great spell that should become insta-cast like moonfire but it is a horrible spell in instances since is pushes the mobs away from the tank. This is a bad thing (Wack Wack)

2.) Learn your Role. You are now equal to an elemental shammy which means that while you are viable for instances raids etc. you are not a pure dps machine, you are a hybrid this means that while you can top the dps charts (as my buddy zorch did until he switched back to resto for raiding) you need to be prepared to drop the hots on the fly to save the healer or battle rez the tank.

This also means your not a softy clothie. Your a Moonkin, a blessed form given to the druids by Elune. Your tough, You can stand up to mobs and take some hits which means you need to be ready to pull them off your cloth wearing teammates if they pull aggro & the tank can't get to them.

Also your going to have to deal with perceptions of how the class used to be wheich means that you need to advertise your skills to the group. A good example is crowd control, as a class we now have viable crowd control that somewhere below a mage in my opinon. At the same time though I have found that there is still a learning curve with tanks regarding our cc abilities. So you need to let them know what you can do.

Entangling roots is a great cc provided that the mob is melee. Hibernate is absolutly awesome for WOTLK because so many dungeons are full of dragonkin\beasts due to the nexus war\vrykrul war storylines. To Paraphrase Azrael from Dogma, "I'm a mage I can't sheep a dragon, but guess what? Druids Can."

3.) Ask questions from other moonkins Find someone who's done it pre-lk & ask questions. Experiment with gear. My general rule is that you can have some cloth gear provided that your armor is between 50-55% (So cloth bracers\belt, everthing else leather or 1 large item cloth etc.)

Until another day

The musing moonkin

MMOG play as a barrier to getting a job: My Thoughts

Greetings Moonkin Musers:

I've been working on a thesis piece that will sum up my thoughts of leveling & end game events in WOTLK. This is why there hasn't been a blog post in a couple weeks. So I do apologize for my lack of updates during this Holiday Season. BTW I hope your Winter Veil Achievement progress is going well. I hope to have them all accomplished by next week (knock on wood!)

I saw this page via Massivly. I was writting a reply to add to the thread but I decided to post my reply on my Blog page not because it would be seen by more people; but because it would allow me to develop my thoughts more fully than what the forum posting would.

While they're is some validity to the recruiters concerns about MMO players, The Scorched Earth policy that the above recruiter is following is in MMO terms an Epic Fail.

In my own office the people who I know play WOW consist of the following:

1 Unix Admin \ SAP Admin

2 Factory IT Admin's for our entire business

1 Manager of Factory Customer Service

1 Mobile Sytems Admin (my position)

1 Network Admin

But as I said previously, the recruiter does have some valid concerns about MMO Players. Two former employee's allowed their gameplay to affect their work. One was involved in early mmo's\wow beta & fit the worst stereotypes of mmo players. The 2nd was hired this year & his work performance decreased as his guild progressed furthur into raid content. So if we look at the pool of wow players 1/4 of the workforce was ineffective due to their desire to play wow.

So what does this say. Well I know the sample pool is very small but it indicates a vast chasm between WOW Usuage & Work Productivity. Either your going to be hyper-productive or your going to be slothful. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground here. You either get a employee who is an shining example, or you get one that you can't even trust with your staple.

This would explain why the headhunter has clients that say no MMO Players. If they're experiences have been negative then yeah they're going to tell their recruiters do not send MMO players to HR.

However at the same time this does also point out a cultural hypocrisy.

MMO's are still socially unacceptable distractions in the workplace. If the people that I know in upper management came out and said "Yes I play WOW" they would be ridiculed. WOW talk in the office is in a hushed tone, in secret moments and is then ended with Work talk that cover's the discussion about Naxx boss gripes.

At the same time there are other what I would call OOW (Out of Work) distractions that affect far more employee's than the small percent that play MMO's

Employees who takes a 10min smoke break & has several smoke buddies who come along with him every two hours.

Employee's who spends 10-20% of his work day on his lust for sports, or it's bastard offspring fantasy leagues.

Employees who's schedule is dicated by their obligations to church, bowling league, or family.

As you read those examples who may have encountered a pain inside your skull. That was Cognative Dissonance. The examples I presented as acceptable OOW distractions have for the most part by rationalized by our society. Johnny Go-Getter smokes every 90 min is fine etc. etc.

However when they're presented next to the non-approved OOW hobby MMO gaming it caused your brain to re-rationlize them. You maybe thinking "He has a point, but sports are different, or Yes he's right but my church choir isn't something imaginary etc." Eventually your brain will either move MMO games to the same rationalized set as the others or your mind will find something else to think about.

My hope is that MMO's will reach a critcal mass sometime in the next 5 years. This will occur with two events

1.) Mass Adoption: At some point MMO's will become very user friendly. WOW is getting there with WOTLK, ("Raiding for all" as I like to say.) when the user base of MMO's reaches a point where it's easy enough for Mom, Dad, & the grandparents to play it may become OOW acceptable in the officeplace.

2.) PPO (Popular Person Effect): Sidekicks took off due to Paris Hilton etc. It's one thing for Mr T to have a night elf mohawk, it would be enterly different if a major rock star or celebrity, or a politician played MMO's. Esp a CEO, if a non-tech CEO said at a leadership meeting. "Hi I don't play golf, I raid instead, & here's what it gives me to lead my organization etc." It would start the process.

Until another day

The Musing Moonkin

To Many Quests

I'm on vacation this week.
For years I coveted this week because at the office is a ghost town & I I was always part of the skeleton crew that kept the light on.
But at long last I've earned enough rep to have this week off.
And my wife who is an absoulute goddess let me have yesterday to just play WOW. I had done all the RL quests that she had asked of me. It was really a rare treat for me ^u^

So I played a lot. But I will say that I really don't understand people who can do that all the time.
I mean the world is so very complex & to put all your effort in somthing virtual seems well rather escapist.

For me, yesterday was a virtual to-do day. I set a goal (reach level 76, complete zones HF\BT\DB) and got nearly all of that done.

I also scored the dalaren sewer rat (FINALLY)

All I can say is that blizzard has packed the new expansion with an incredible amount of quests & they all link together. I'm really enjoying the flow through. Blizzard has outdone themselves this time.

Why Wrath Of The Lich King Kicks A$$

A Couple of days ago Game Life on Wired.com posted a review of WOTLK. One of the comments the blogger made was that he knew people were going to flame his review as being a PR piece for Activision\Blizzard.

But the blogger is right WOTLK does kick ass. Yes you can level to 80 in a couple days if you do nothing else but grind & run dungeons. At the same time though you can just smell the flowers and enjoy the sights sounds & quests of northrend.

Like I am. How else could I get a screenshot like the one above?! It was such an awesome moment!!!

Until Later

The Musing Moonkin

Thoughts on the launch

Alright now that a couple of days have passed I have my thoughts straight on the launch of Wrath of the Lich King.



First off. Congrats to Blizzard on the successful launch on Thursday. It was a bit laggy but on Fenris but still playable



Item #2: Fenris FULL?!?! yeah I got that message a couple of times. It was bizzare, but my server was full. Delay wasn't too bad but as it stands the newest zones are just overrun with 70's



Item #3: Old Friends, New Annoyances: The launch brought back many old friends + chat trolls of the nth degree. Sometimes I just want to turn off general chat but then some old comrade pops up and I'm glad I didn't



which leads me to item #4

Going home: This one is a little bit difficult to post & maybe it's the most honest I've been while blogging.

If you've seen boogie nights, there's a part @ the end where mark whalberg just show's up in front of Burt Renyolds after falling down hard. And he just starts crying and saying he's sorry and asking to come home. And I had a moment like that Sunday night. But before I go there let me explain how I got to that point.

Guildwise since the early summer I've been lost at sea.

After Utopia disbanded memorial day weekend. I fled alliance & went hoard, joined Defenders of Slyvannas. Leveled, kept to myself. Didn't talk much etc.

And it was good, for a while. It was a mental break from the stresses that people layer onto wow.

The mindset required to see end game content removes the fun aspect of wow. You need to be to have a focused, serious, and commited mindset. Otherwise you can wipe the raid which in wow is bad (see time = money from previous posts)

But it was also hiding. Hiding from myself, from the sorrow of seeing something I had put so much time in fall apart. Hiding from the rejection of the major raiding guilds on Fenris. Utopia for all it's faults offered me a home. I knew it's members & they knew me. I wasn't a committed raider, I don't have, nor do I want a life that lets me raid four nights a week. But when I did raid The guild leadership understood I came in with the required raid gear, required buffs, & required mindset. So it was win win, I could see end game content when I had the time, they had a guild member who could fill in at the right moment.

Eventually though you have to come home.

So I came back to the alliance side using the pretense of the wintersaber mount as my excuse.


And for a month I just stayed in Winterspring rep grinding.
Sending gear to my shamen to sell.
It was Tetris Like I followed a path, did the quest, repeat.



When that was done I was like "Well what's next" so I started rep grinding timbermaw for the title.


Then I joined a couple of guilds hopping from one after another.
Leaving when the drama got to much.



But really I still was just lost at sea.
I mean I play a MMO & I avoid people.
The whole point of a MMO is to socialize, to work with people to attain goals
but whenever the commitments got to tight I pushed away.

Which leads me to sunday.
Starting thursday I realized I needed to rejoin a guild.

I couldn't be a free agent anymore.

I wanted to join a raiding guild again, esp since LK changes raiding radically (search google about 25thNovember and their comments regarding Naxx) Raiding is no longer just for people who can sit on the PC all day.

I also was mulling forming my own guild & taking on the responsibilites of being a guild leader. I even have the email that I was going to post on the Fenris forum page ready & sitting in my gmail inbox.

By Sunday though I had joined up with some old friends who were in The Knights who say Ni. It wasn't big but it was alright I wasn't guildless anymore

Then I saw Sno, Who was old school when I was just a noob player.

Sno: who had given me the best advice I ever recieved about marriage. I got it from him the day I proposed to my wife. I remember it well.

Sno: who had lead runs into ZG after BC released so that the lowbies like me could learn raid mechanics.

Sno: my former guild's 2nd in command

& I knelt before him, he cheered, & I just wanted to go home again.

Now I'm just waiting to hear back if I'll be back in House of Paratus. I know it won't be the same but it's where I need to go.

Way to much WOTLK..seriously put down the mouse & step away from the computer

Alright, there's just something sick about reaching the level cap in under 4 days. We already have two players on fenris that I know off that have hit level 80 already. Did these people at least use the bathroom?!?! I mean come on there's more to life than WOW.

Also I have to give a shout out to my lovely wife, who I miss very very much (as do our fluffy sons) since she braved going to Best Buy & Pre-Ordering WOTLK for me. She only took a lil geek aggro but it was quickly flushed by flashing her ring of marriage and her debuff of
"It's for my husband" Alas lil best buy pally. Did you really think there were any single women who played WOW???

I'll have more concise thoughts on LK launch later this week
until then
The Musing Moonkin

Wrath of the Lich King is Out

WooHoo!!!
Upgrading...fun fun fun!

A moment of thanks & a howl of victory

Sunday night I ran AQ40 & saw how a god is killed.

But before I go into that experience I wanted to give a moment of thanks

First to my wife, who did not gripe once on Sunday Night that the raid started at 9pm & wasn't completed until 12:30am. You are far more patient than I sometimes give you credit for.

Second to my raid party, who apart from a single bad apple that we had to kick from the raid
took the goal as both fun & a serious endeavour. Many of you I knew from younger days & a few were new faces but I enjoyed all of your company.

With that said, one thing that is a constant throughout my life is that I tend to be at the right place at the right time. While this doesn't apply to me winning the lottery, no matter how much I'd like it to. When it comes to other events in my life I tend to just be there when it matters. At the office when no one makes it in due to a storm I'm there, when I did martial arts visiting instructors found me to be a great assistant.

How this applies to WOW leans towards rare events or items. Over the years I've collected a acquired many rare drops that other players farm for but somehow land in my lap. Such was the case on Sunday when I won this skittering beauty which also earns your this feat of strength.

Now onto my thoughts about AQ40

1.) I think it's important in an MMO to have Very Difficult if not impossible End Game Bosses. You need a sense of accomplishment. Even at level 70 the end bosses of AQ40 give you this.

2.) 40 man raids. I can argue for and against them. But I think that it would be good to have them in future content in a similar fashion to how blizzard is making raids in 10/25 man versions.

And finally here are some selected screenshots

1.) A full 40 man raid

Raid Wipe #1: a full group of level 70's in Tier 5\6 gear taken down in under a minute

After the 2nd wipe due to an overeager hunter. We got in a faced C'thun. This was taken after I got tagged for about 3millon in nature damage. Luckily I resisted 1.5 million but still I fell =P

And finally our raid triumphant. I guess third times a charm

Until Later
The Musing Moonkin

A Place I thought I'd Never See..Molten Core

I want to say thank you to shrapnel & the rest of the crew in classicraiders (no space because it's a channel) for inviting me to last nights raid of ... Molten Core!

The Raid took two hours due to the cooldowns on the Aqual Quintessence (we only had 4 amongst 35 people.)

Still it was awesome. It was just great to be with old friends and ally's from my younger days. People may transfer or stop playing but still some remain, & remember a different time when WOW was a different game. I'm not saying it was better game, just different. I encourage any new players who never have seen the old content to run it. Yes the gear is weak, yes you could be getting badges or arena points. But if you want to see why the raids are the way they are now, you need to see how they used to be

Here are two screenshots:

I look forward to tonight's raid of AQ40. I want to see how a god is killed...

Election Duel! Obama V. McCain - Who Get's Pwned?

Absolutly Brilliant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5Kg-K7em20

And I'm voting for Obama
I should start a guild
Druids for Obama

George Romero was right.

The Scourge is Upon us & the capital cites have become paved with skeletons of the Lich Kings victims.

My Shamen was zombified as soon as a I logged in to check on the ah (which you can still do as a flesh eating undead monstrosity) I got stomped by a city gaurd within 20 seconds.

Neren fared better but not by much. I ported from shat to sw. I got transformed within a couple seconds. Then went on a zombie killing spree turning most of the mage quarter into the hungry dead.

After I got downed by a hunter I rezzed and stayed non-dead. I went to EP picked up the event quests & headed back to SW. This wasn't a big mistake but it was I think intended by blizzard to happen. The information given to you makes it sound that the Scourge is attacking the capital cities. But they're actually setting up shop in out of the way zones (WS, BL, EP, etc.) But you need to see an Argent Dawn Quartermaster to find this out.

Still though onto my post's title. Stormwind was a zombie nightmare. Between the players, the NPC's & the Plauge Zombie's coming out of the stockades it was very Dawn of the Dead. A raid was formed to clear out SW. Starting with the Castle & moving down through each section. & like in DOTD we failed because it became every man for himself.

Freaky Friday

This friday was just an Odd day for me. I mean just really weird.
First off Patch 3.02 came out & they nerfed the rep
So I got my Diplomat title in approx a day & half of grinding
The screen shot is from completing the quest chain.
It ranks there on my top 5 experiences in WOW since I began playing it back in 2006.
Then Friday Night I was grinding rep for the Gaurdian of Cenarius Title
And I check my friends list, and see my old buddy zorch outside AQ20
I pst him to say Hi & next thing I know I'm in a AQ20 Raid with him & his guild.
This lead to us going to AQ40
and yes I saw C'thun. But we didn't down him
For whatever reason when we took on the twin emperors they got bugged as the raid healers began rezzing people.
But still...WOW
That's All I have to say

Missing my wife..and WOW isn't my security blanket anymore.

Some months ago, I wrote in a post that while my wife traveled for her career I would play WOW non-stop. This last week she was in England (In fact this was her longest trip since we met), & I didn't use WOW as a security blanket to keep my mind off the fact that my love was far away. And I used to do it. I will say it again. I used wow as a security blanket.

This time though I didn't. And frankly I can't see my self ever using it again as one.

Somethings changed within me. A metamorphisis so to speak. I'm still trying to figure out what's changed.

Onto other notes.

I. I'm having my doubts about The Diplomat Title. I wanted it because I felt it fit me and who I try to be in life. But with my current work commitments I don't think I'll be able to do it. With the way the rep is setup, It'll take a very large amount of winterfall beads\feather etc to accomplish the rep. If anything I'll focus on dailies for the next couple of weeks. I suggest everyone also do the same. Cold Weather flying will cost money now.

II Lich King: I fished up one of the new pets in Dalaren. Very Cool. Also for anyone who's not in Beta. You'll be able to get a penguin too. You'll just need be exalted with one faction.

III. A Shout out to my friend Matt. For inviting me to my last ZA run before the Echoes of DOOM patch goes live. Although it didn't get off the ground due to people who signed up not being around It was very nice of him to invite me, since I haven't raided since at least May.

Until Later
The Musing Moonkin.

One Down, One to Go

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-reputation.xml?r=Fenris&n=Neren
As you can see at the very bottom of my rep page, I am now Exalted with Wintersaber Trainers. I got the mount last night around 11:02 pm EST.
I then did a victory lap around Shat, IF, & SW.
There were two funny moments.
1.) In IF I had about eight players surround me. I regret not taking a screen shot of that
2.) In SW a NE Holy Priest had recieved the transporter malfunction buff and came out as a Tauren Holy Priest. He then took a winterviel firewater effectivly making himself and his war talbuk 30% bigger.
We just stared at each other cheering and laughing away.
Now I'm onto the timbermaw hold. I'm at honored I figure it'll take all of oct to reach exalted.
Until another day
The Musing Moonkin

Odd Moment..a quest completed..but feeling unfufilled

In life (both real & virtual) you set goals for yourself. Some are long term, some are professional, some are personal etc. Thursday night I completed a personal goal for me in WOW, I acquired the reciepe for Elixir of Dream Vision http://thottbot.com/i9297 someone was selling it on the alliance ah for 800g/900g buyout. I bid 800g and won the auction.

As you can see by the drop rates on thot, the only chance you really have to get this is by killing a dragon of nightmare. This puts the drop in my view at the same level as a tiny emerald whelpling. But unlike the whelpling, where your investing your own time to get the drop, with the 4 dragons your talking about an entire raid to get this recipe, and then it's only a 10% chance.

Here's the irony, for a long time I considered this to be the holy grail of my personal quests for wow. No matter what if I scored this reciepe I would be on par with those players of old. Of course players of old means from 2004-2006 so is that really old. In an MMO it is but in real life not really. it's just a short couple of years.

But I didn't get it through downing a world boss, I bought it on the AH, and maybe that's the problem. If it had dropped from one of the mobs I had farmed for it, or out of a chest in it's level zone then maybe I'd be jumping for joy. But I bought it with gold from ah sales and from farming rep. So it made it feel like I was cheating. Like I really didn't earn it I suppose.

Drunken Rage, Nerfy Goodness & Chicken Cordon Meth

Importante: This post was originall supposed to go up a couple days ago...but life got in the way

As I've posted before I haven't had much time to play WOW 2.x or 3.x as of late since SAT season is in full swing. I have to prioritze after all and as it stands with the launch on 11/13 and only so many free hours actually avalible to play WOW, I'm putting my focus on getting my wintersaber mount. If my calculations are correct. I have to run the 3 quests 24 more times to get the mount. I think even with my limited time I should have this done before launch. After this is complete I'm going to farm rep with the Timbermaw Hold to get the Diplomat title for WOTLK.

I did though take some time to do the brewfest events for this year, and I like many other people are infuriated by blizzards change with the Brewfest mounts. Last year I didn't have enough tickets to purchase one so I consolled myself with the fact that I'd have enough for 2008. Of course I didn't think they make the ram a drop from Colin Direbrew in BRD. I did the BRD slog twice and said fuck it, it's not worth my time for the mount. Kodo or no Kodo.

on a second note. I'd like to make a comment about the nerfing that's going on in WOTLK. From what I can tell blizzard is taking the next logical step with bringing MMO's to the masses with their release of WOTLK. For those of you who don't already know a lot of the mechanics of the game have been modified to make them more casual freindly. For example, Elixirs and Flasks are now 2hrs and 4hrs respectivly. Aura's and Buffs are now Raid wide etc. While I like it on principal at the same time I think it loses some of the mentality of setting up a raid and balancing the groups.

And to furthur complicate matters, Blizzard is trending towards shorter instances. Again I see this as an attempt to reach out to a wider audience that frankly doesn't have the time to spend hours in instances. But this also may be an attempt to keep existing players happy. Since the release of burning crusade a signifigant number of players have developed one of more end game alts that are played as much if not more than their main character. By shortening the time to complete an instance the player base can have all his characters on par.

To Sum up here is the time de sink

WOW Classic: 2-3 hours to complete an instance

The Burning Crusade: 45-90 minutes

Wrath of the Lich King: 30-45 minutes

I wouldn't mind this downward spiral except now the dungeons seem so Small...I mean you can make a dungeon seem big and impressive, and don't get me wrong blizzard has succedded in that but 4 rooms is still 4 rooms. & it kinda made me feel shortchanged with the experience.

And lastly...now there is no reason to ever ever logout of wow

http://www6.popcap.com/promos/wow/

I have to concur with the gents over @ penny arcade. This is chicken cordon meth. Still I did load the addon to my interface and played it last night (and a lil bit this morning). I would say the most intresting moment was last night on my shaman\bank alt. I sat glazing over the many jewels...my wife sitting next to me on her laptop..looks over...sees me bejewelling away..and replies

"You're such an amatuer...you don't even see that combo over there"

It's good to have a n00B moment every so ofter...

The Rumors of my dissapearance...

Are completly false.
Right now the real world has to take priority.
So my WOW time has been drastically reduced.
If I have time to play I'm on the Northrend test server as Fingolfin.
Give me a shout if you stop in.
See you on the virtual side
Neren\Greathoof

Labor Day Beta Blues...

I got into the Lich King Beta about a week & a half ago. On one end it's kinda of an honor to be selected for beta testing by blizzard. I know that they say it's a random selection, but the quality of the players doesn't lead me to believe it. There are too many armani war bears & too many twin blades of azzinoth for me to believe it's a random selection of users who opt'd in. I've also seen both mount drops from ZG too.
On the flip side. The beta can really suck. For anyone not in the beta, the joy of being allowed into northrend before your friends is tempered by Quests that are partially implemented (btw anyone have a hair trigger =P) Talent builds that are in place but don't appear to be working. And having to deal with your tradeskill leveling past 375. And of course new builds that take several hours to download and then patch into your system.
Oh and the most annoying thing. is that since there's only two servers (pve & pvp) your name may have already been taken. Hence I'm Fingolfin on Northrend. Two points for anyone who can figure out that refrence wout looking it up on wikipedia!

@!&!@&@!!!

Sorry for the expletives, but that's how I'm feeling right now towards Blizzard! Over the last week I've been cutting back on playing WOW in order to spend time every night grading essays for my part time job. It's a real life daily quest, complete with rewards & theorycraft behind it. Plus there's a huge glut of essays that piled in the queue & I want them all. In fact I'm annoyed at the moment because I wanted to grade some essays before my full time job but I can't since the site is down atm.
So I've kept my WOW playing to leveling rep with the Wintersaber trainers. Which means..Yup I'm back on Neren & I'm sending the greens & firewater to Peda to sell on the AH. I usually put in an hour to two hours on the rep grinding, it's not a lot esp for the wintersaber rep grind but I felt that when WOTLK came out, it would be L77T to have that cat as my mount through 70-77.
Then yesterday I got my draft notice from Blizzard in my email. "You've Been Selected for the Wrath of the Lich King Beta" Of all the times to get it, when I am trying to cut back on WOW to go clean, they send me a Beta invite. I installed it of course, I tried to be strong and resist but it's so "wrathful". Luckily for me I forgot that Blizzard never has the latest client available for download, so I was able to grade essays last night at a good clip as I downloaded & patched & re patched the Beta Client. Maybe sometime tonight I'll be able to login to Northrend but I'm having my doubts. I think this client will still be patching when I get home.

The Long Grind

Although my summer goal was to level a tauren druid. I've been hitting a mental barrier. Now that my character is almost level 68 I don't have the same drive to play him like I did a few months ago. Most of this is real life. I'm beginning to see there's a whole lot more to the universe than WOW & frankly the time requirements of the game are a bit of a nuisance.

With that said my wife reminded me that "Everyone needs a hobby" so I haven't hung up my Shadowstaff just yet. I decided to set a goal & that would still be epic but wouldn't require group time, so I can be more flexible with my schedule.

Therefore I'm going for the long grind, & earning myself a Wintersaber Mount. Although it's a long grind it's a goal that fits where my life is right now.

Update: I just realized I never posted this entry. Right now my rep is at 4k in Honored with the wintersaber trainers

A bit of RL musings..Why my wife is uber L77T

I try to keep this blog on topic, focusing my insights about human nature to what I experience playing wow & not what I go through in my real life. But this little instance run that I had last night was just such a funny rl moment that I had to post it.
My wife & I are busy professionals & our work week schedules are not always in sync. I tend to have steady hours (albeit long) & predictable patterns, while she has travel, friends that need to be visited & family to have coffee with. We do try to spend more time on weekends together, but this is usually 1 part chores & then 1 part exhaustion. Date nights have in earnest become few & far between. I'm to blame for this as much as my wife. As I try to tell my SAT students, your parents appear dull & boring to you not because they are inherently that way, but because the obligations of adulthood made them that way.
But I want to say though that my wife is l77t and it's because she has an ability that is a prized in raiding. She can call the raid. Last night was her night out & we went to see Mamma Mia comp'd. She was excited to see it regardless of the reviews (or strategy guides) if you will. But when we sat down & the movie started she realized that the film stunk. Like a good raid leader she did try to make the best of it. & like a good raid leader when we reached a point where we had hit the brick wall of wipes (or in the case of this movie Mr. Pierce Bronsan signing "S.O.S") and she called the event. We then left & she apologized for making me going to see that stinker of a movie.
This is big, I mean there are a lot of reasons I love my wife, but this ability to concede that what she wanted to see was a bad movie & that she was sorry for making me sit through that schlock fest. Many women lack this ability, but she has it
Just wanted the world to know

Hot Summer Day & No Lich King Invite!

The Beta started Friday morning. Like many addicts I awaited my fix that let me into Northerend, and as for Sunday afternoon it hasn't shown up. I know I'm one of many but I want my key now!!!

A Memo To Blizzard

As I write this my Tauren Druid sits a mere 60K from level 58 & the glory that is the outlands. While on one hand I feel a certain joy of reaching my accomplishment that I set out to do back in the beginning of June I also feel a certain malaise about returning back to the expansion zones that I fled @ the end of May. This feeling came over me around level 55 as I reached the dead zones.
What I mean by dead zones is the end game zones that are no longer populated by any players. Whether it's the Eastern Plaugelands, Western Plaugelands, Winterspring, Burning Steppes, or Silithus. Players go here just long enough to do their quest level their toon & jump through the Dark Portal. This also extends to the various old world end game dungeons that are never run anymore. And I put this blame squarely on Blizzard.
When the Burning Crusade was launched back in January 2007, Penny Arcade made a joke (and a funny t-shirt) that said "Green is the new purple." This gear reset was a flood that evened out the playing field and allowed WOW to continue to grow, gain market share, & keep it's player base. While some old school players bemoaned that their hard won gear from MC\ZG\AQ20\40 & Naxx was devalued, for many players who couldn't invest the time into the old world raids this was a boon of titanic proportions. I was amongst that crowd that felt the same. I came to Outland on Neren. Creamed my pants over the gear & never paid attn the the complaints of the old schoolers.
But now I can see their issues were valid. I've compared gear from level 56 old world drops & level 58 outland drops and they are more powerful by a factor of 3. Which if I was an old schooler who had put in hours & hours only to be swept aside by outland gear I'd be pissed to.
Therefore I have the following suggestions
1.) Create a gradual gear curve from 45-58 that doesn't cause the gear angst issue.
2.) Create new dungeon quests that link outland to the old dungeons (consortium rep, orcs looking for gear in UBRS etc.)
3.) Make going to outland an attunement. (we need brave souls to go forward) nothing impossible, but something that feels earned.
If you implement this as future expansions are released you will not have players leave due to gear resets
Regards
Neren\Greathoof

On Leveling...Part 2

My first post covered some of my thoughts on leveling Greathoof. (Yes I'm outing my horde toon) I know I have alliance friends who read this so if you see me wave & say Hi! There were some other items that I didn't cover that still needed to be put to the digital page.

Item #1

New Players: Believe it or not new players are still out there. I've encountered some on my leveling journey. I thought them to be myth, but several indicators alerted me to their newbie status.

1.) No Omen. By far the biggest indicator of a new player is whether omen is loaded or not. All the end gamers w alt's have it loaded. The 2nd indicator is if they don't know what Omen is.

2.) Where to quest: Again a reliable indicator of level is do they know where to quest & where not to go. Granted I had to shake off my cobwebs but I remembered that feralas is for level 30-40, shimmering flats for 35-40, Stranglehorn vale covers 30-45 etc. etc.

3.) Threat: again something I discovered as I learned feral tanking. Players with alt's know about threat, new players however don't understand the math behind it.

4.) Gear: This one screams new player vs. alt\new server transfer. New players have gear that's a mis-mosh. End gamers\New on Server have gear that's built with bc in mind. That is to say. I will level up but as I do I will get the best possible gear that is available.

Item #2

Patch 2.4.3: In Patch 2.3 Blizzard upped the xp from quests by 30%. This was designed to allow end game players to level characters quicker than before. The feedback was this was not a great a boost as intended because of travel time from quest to quest. With Patch 2.4.3 the level that you acquire your mount will be lowered to 30 & the cost of the training will be lowered to 35 gold (without faction discounts.)

Now at first I viewed this as blasphemy, as sacrilege. But I came to my senses & understood that things change & this is a good thing. This will allow players to get through those large zones that usually are reserved for the level 30-40 players.

That concluded on Leveling...Part 2

On Leveling Pt 1.

As I've posted previously after the dissolution of Utopia on Fenris, I became depressed and disillusioned with my NE Druid Neren. I was stuck in a rut due my spec & my lack of options that it left me with raid progression. I also had reached a point where guild drama had made coming home & playing wow not fun, but as much of a chore as work. Luckilly I had rolled a tauren druid & transferred a trust fund of gold over to the horde side of the fence.
That was around Memorial Day, it's now almost 4th of july. I think since then I've logged onto the alliance side maybe three times since those events occured.
Over the last couple days I've been mulling over some thoughts I've had while Leveling. Since I didn't have an end game toon on the horde side, The experience has been close to what it was like when I leveled Neren. which is to say I don't have the feeling of juggling my time between my main character & my alt. Regardless though I've done it before so I have the blessing of experience.
Here are my thoughts.
1.) Smell the flowers: Blizzard has stated that WOW is about the journey. You start out a level 1 noob & end up a level 70 L337 toon w phat lewtz. The point is that while your on this journey smell the flowers, explore the world, see what's out there.
2.) Blues vs. Greens: This was something I forgot, and I think a lot of end gamers lose when they're spending all their time in raid dungeons. Old world gear is on a different scale than outland gear. Blues last a long time compared to their outland counterparts. If any Blizzard Developers read this blog, I would recommend that the gear be tuned so that moving to outland is a smoother process.
3.) Quest rewards: Again another item I noticed that may be in the works with the developers. The old world quest reward system is built for a game universe where the players don't have access to large sums of gold. The rewards for completing kill x trolls etc. were designed so that a player who's broke could get by on quest rewards.
Now we have a game universe where players have access to large sums of gold, and the majority of low level character are in fact end game players who are leveling an alt, so this enviroment renders the system broken. I find that overwhelmingly the gear I get is sold within a couple of minutes.
From where I see it there are two options.
1.) create a system where players are 'taxed' for transferring gold to lower level characters.
2.) update the reward system so that players have more than one choice with gear rewards.
This concludes part 1 of 'On Leveling'

WOTLK Lust

As I've posted before my summer project is to level a tauren druid. But I know in my heart that my main toon is calling to me every day a little bit more & more. So it's a lil struggle, keeping my sights on my goal & resisting the urge to login as Neren.
On the flipside. WOTLK is coming out shortly, & I'm lusting for the changes to the moonkin spec. Yet I also am resenting it. What made me level moonkin was two things
1.) Seeing a moonkin druid for the first time
2.) Not doing any theorycraft research & realizing I could've leveled as feral & switched.
Now with the talent changes in WOTLK Balance will be a viable spec to level which makes me actually annoyed. Ok I'll confess resent the changes. Which now makes me face something I don't like elitism in Wow (or in the real world.) because now I can see the argument.

Thoughts on Leveling

My tauren druid is almost level 24, total time played is less than 1 game day. This is still stunning to me, because I remember leveling balance pre-bc & I can't remember how many times I died. Not to say I haven't died leveling Greathoof, but not like I did leveling Neren.
I understand that Blizzard makes a leveling spec for each class, and that at level 40 you can move into your desired spec to learn how to play it. But it just annoys me a little bit. Esp after leveling Peda to 50 as an Ele Shaman. It wasn't hard & it was a lot more fun than Enhancement.
Feral though is interesting, The problem I see is that you have to gear properly. There's a sudden switch @ 20 to Cat Form, which means you need Agility gear & Tanking Gear.
Personally I like bear form better but still leveling is leveling...

Taking a break from your worries...

As of right now. Neren is sitting in hibernation. Sleeping in the emerald dream, while my shammy sit's in IF gaining rest state. I haven't logged onto Neren since Monday & I don't think I'll touch him for a while. I need a vacation from WOW, or more specifically the end game obligations that I had.

But then again that all went up in smoke over memorial day weekend when my guild disbanded.

(Anyone who wants to read greymantle's dry statement can go on the Fenris Forum)

I wish I could lie but this left me devastated, and depressed. I was left in a very tough place because there was no where for me to go..so to speak. We were at #3/#4 in guild progression on the server. The top raiding guild was horde. The Top Alliance Guild has a no moonkin need apply policy. The other alliance guild @ our progression was selecting which ex-guildies they wanted. I joined up w my friend Brian's guild, but they were so low on the progression that I wasn't an asset but a liabilty, since my dps over shot the tank's threat, even when I used a SF only rotation.

Yet in darkness there's is light. And from my experience in both the real & the virtual worlds, it's always in the oddest places. The Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend. I had decided that I wanted to roll a horde toon for shit's and giggles. So I rolled a orc hunter, (with a sweet handle) transferred myself about 425 gold through the ah & a friend helping me, and went over to the other side. I didn't like the hunter (I will admit hunters are so boring.) But it sparked an idea, the kind that bugged me until I had to do it.

I rolled a tauren druid.

And the Universe smiled on me, and Lo I got a good handle. I struck platnium with my toon's name. I mean a really good toonname. One that has sparked envy in other players. One that actually urges me on to level the character. It's one thing to be Neren, Champion of the Naaru. It'll be another to be Greathoof, champion of the Naaru

I told you it was good.

But the best thing about leveling this toon, is there is no stress on me from guild obligations, It's just fun & fairly new. I had tried leveling a horde toon before, but I never got past level 12 since I didn't have the alt gold. to make the process easy.

Now it's easy and relaxing.

On the flip side. I sometimes feel like I'm a crippled toon. since I've been up to Sunwell trash, having the lowbie abilities is rather odd. Also no one knows me. so I can say what my toon is etc. But it could be just BS. And lord knows WOW has a lot of that. And lastly, there are still new players in WOW, so you can mark like you would in a heroic & you may have never seen those marks before.

Still though It is a breath of fresh air. But I know I can't hide from neren forever

Maybe another week.

A nice two week vacation

Where has the Moonkin Gone??

I started this blog back in the winter & I wrote dilligently.
As the real world crept in I stopped writing daily.
Now I look & see that I haven't posted since April
This Will Not do!
I will start posting again!
Sorry
Neren

Guild Drama: Stopping it before it happens

This will be a frank post, that is to say I will speak my mind, share what happened, & expect the nuclear strike from readers who will be enraged by my observations. Others may agree with me but will lack the courage to speak their minds. I'm talking about the silent killer in WOW: Guild Drama.
Originally this post was going to be about my success in stopping it from occurring in my current guild, I began to think about Guild Drama with a clearer mind. Specifically how does it relate to real world interpersonal conflicts? Can you identify the types of Guild Drama & the Real World counter part. Because after all WOW is an MMO & what makes it special isn't the story as much as the players & how they interact w the virtual environment. Also I've noticed that WOW seems to have built in filters to resolve guild drama. The further you progress in end-game content, the less guild drama can exist since the instances require 100% co-operation. A guild that is cliquey & full of catty members cannot progress to the Eye, they will not have the cohesion and teamwork to handle the boss fights.
So Far I've identified the following types of guild drama:

1.) Nepotism\Cronyism: This type of guild drama occurs when guild members give preferential treatment to their real world family or real world friends. They get first pick @ gear & loot. The downside of this Guild Drama is that it's prevalent with the 5 man instances & 10 man raids (I recall on guild on Fenris 'since-disbanded' that was leading the progression through Kara. It's leaders were all brothers & their friends, so they got their tier tokens before anyone else. This however cannot progress past the 5 man \ 10 man instances since the requirements of the 25 man raids demand some system be put in place to distribute loot fairly.

2.) Cliquishness\Exclusion: This guild drama occurs when specific members of the guild become a clique & determine who can come to guild runs & who can't because of interpersonal differences, not because of requirements. Ergo, your one of the best healers in the guild, we're running gruul's but since you & I don't like each other, I had the raid leader who's a buddy of mine not invite you. This drama can progress to the 25man content, but it gets stopped @ Tier 4 content since you need specific classes for the Tier 5 & 6 boss fights.
This occured to me in my current guild about a month ago (it's been resolved since!) One of the raid leaders felt my character offered nothing to the raids so if he was doing the invites he'd never invite me. This climaxed with a Gruul's pug run where I didn't tank ziggler the crazed, Which raised the attention of three other guild officers & the guild master. He was summarily told to start inviting classes that he had dismissed as ineffective, or he would be gkicked.

3.) Sex\Cattiness: In other words Vaginal Aggro.
This was the topic that I was most concerned writing about because I never know if someone is going to flame me about my opinion. In general I find that women cause the most time consuming drama in the game. Since playing wow I've seen the following.
Women using sex (real-life or chat) to
get gear\gold
dominate guild politics
Get preferential treatment with guild runs
(we can't run until she's back from the grocery sorry ppl!)
Have guild members kicked\stripped of rank
Have gear that guild members found through grinding\non-guild runs be given to them through intimidation.
- This one strikes a chord w me, In my previous guild I found a BOE 280 JC recipe & was told to give it to WomanX since she was a JC. However the alchemy world drop that she found was put on AH & I was told that she didn't know I was a Elixir master & that she really needed the money for her epic mount.

So there's the Sex Aspect. On top of that they're the cattiness between women. As I've mentioned before about my pet chinchilla's, we like to joke in my house how female chins act like human females, plotting scheming & willing to kill a woman who's not in the tribe.
This also extends to WOW. If all the women in the guild get along, I heartily recommend that you never ever leave that guild. This means they're all friends & the rank structure has been hammered out. If you get a women who decides that she wants to be queen bee, flee that guild! unless the GM steps in (and mark my words it takes a tough GM to be willing to go into that fray.) it will turn ugly & nasty & no guild progression will occur until the other woman nip her back into place.

This leads me to the title of my post stopping guild drama before it happens. Last week I noticed on of my ex-guildies (specifically the one who caused all the vaginal aggro in my old guild) on my guild vent. I asked the guy running the 10 man kara run & he said yes, she's running w us tonight. Faced w the possibility of her joining my guild I proceeded to inform every female guild member who she was & what she did in my old guild. I also made it clear to the female guild officer that I would gquit on the spot if she was accepted. I then contacted another old guildie, who was a woman & had to deal w her antic's. She informed me that she was blacklisted from the top raiding guilds (except ours) because she would pull her vaginal aggro during 25man's.
Since this occurred I haven't seen her sniffing around.
Thank God

The Burdens of responsibilty

As I've posted previously at my office several co-workers who play wow. We're all married men, some of us have kids, & all of us no longer have a life were we can work, then go home & play all night then go back to work on 4hrs sleep. Nor can we spend all weekend sitting in front of the computer until we pass out in the middle of an instance. That time in our lives has passed away.
So for me it was a bit of nostalgia when we got a new temp in our dept. He's 22 lives with a friend & is a young geekling. Within an hour of him starting I knew that he played WOW had started after Burning Crusade & was in awe of our 733T'ness. He was cute, it reminded all of us of a simpler time, when the burdens & responsibilities that we have to deal with everyday were not placed on our shoulders. When our lives revolved around just going to work & coming home to play games all night long.
At the same time it also reminded me of how small my world used to be. Last week he called out 'sick', and my co-worker & I both knew he wasn't sick, he had been up all night in Kara (his guild finally went into kara..they spent 7 hours on the first 5 bosses) That alone was worth a good half hour of guild chat as we all reminisced about when we were lvl 70's in blues trying to get our first epics. When we dreamed of seeing hyjal \ black temple. Now we are there and with it comes all the burdens of that level of the game, the preparation, the reading up on strategy, the guild drama not because who isn't invited, but who can't go because they're not ready yet.
As I said the burdens of responsibility.
Yesterday when I got into the office, He looked like he hadn't slept, he had the greasy, waxy skin & hair that gave away an all weekend session without pausing for basic hygiene such as washing the face, hands or brushing his teeth. When I asked him if he got sleep over the weekend he replied "I got tons of sleep."
At that moment, I felt old. Not because I was jealous of his single life, but because I knew that he was lying to me since I had done the exact same things at his age. I felt like the father of a teenage son who'd gone to a party & came home w beer on his breath, and didn't think his father could tell.
He's a good kid, I like him & it's nice to have a youngling around, but if doesn't start growing up soon, he'll be gkicked from our office without an ounce of pity.

Love in the time of Warcraft: A primer for the married man

My wife hates video games. Although she'll deny it or say I was too extreme in my belief, she really does hate video games. In her heart she views them as childish & immature. She's not alone, she holds onto a view that many adults cling to from the earlier ages of video games. That they're for kids & teenagers, that grown adults don't play them. Or if they do play them they're acting childish.
Of course the paradox is that her along with many other adults who share this archaic view but play videos games. She loves Zuma, but to her Zuma isn't WOW, it's a diversion. Just like the Wii she bought for her conferences. The adults who come to her booth & will play Wii Sports aren't gamers, they're just goofing around.
And I'm the Pope.
It's cognitive dissonance, it's the ability to hold the matter\anti-matter together, Adult's don't play video games, When I play Wii sports I'm not playing. I'm not going to rake my wife about this, I'm just saying that she & a lot of people have this view.
With that said, I have started to come up with advice for married men (or men who are in relationships) that may help you with your significant other if she's not a gamer.
1.) Sometimes you'll need to logoff: I cannot stress this enough, the dailies will be there, there will be another daily heroic, they're will be another raid. Logging off when she least expects it goes a very long way.
2.) Don't bother explaining the game: Again, she may fawn interest, but it's not the same interest that you friend who doesn't play wow but plays COD 4 will give you. Also you may annoy her as you explaining game mechanics, talents, & lore.
3.) VOIP may be beyond her: VOIP is getting more common, but for most non-geeks they only see it through the office or a digital phone. Headphones & Mic though may be beyond her. Therefore be prepared that while you chat over vent, she may be baffled.
Take care for now..

Guild Drama it never ends

Over the last couple weeks I've been slacking on the blogging, it started in late march when I went on an epic quest of my own design to bag the greatest of wow lewt, My wife. I spent a week farming for the blue dragon whelpling in azshara & in the process I offered one to my night elf queen, she who rivals Azshara in Beauty, as a simple lure to get her to play WOW, it failed, she dismissed it as simple male tom-foolery. Although it did grace her mind breifly that if she played wow I would have to give my gold & gear (just like real-life) but she went back to her own machinations.
The 2.4 came out & I committed any free time to grinding rep with the SSO & the new daily quests (fishing anyone?) While this was going on I noticed that I wasn't being called for raids. Which was making me ancy since I had left my home to join w my new guild. In fact I almost left & went Ronin, but @ the last moment I was saved by the casuals...AKA they in the guild who have a life besides wow.
I realized quickly that my guild was split into two factions, those who only wanted to progress & would only play w players of the same 'caliber' & those who understood that to complete the end game you needed more that a L337 Tank. You needed the right groups with the right makeup & the right skills. Our leadership was able to view above this bickering & keep the peace, but he's been slacking...well slacking isn't the right word...real life has taken a priorty...apparently buying a house is more important than running a raid =P Regardless though without his leadership the guild is cleaved between the two camps.

Is attunement neccessary?

I've been slacking on my blog the last couple of weeks. Mostly because if I'm not working, doing chores being a good husband etc. I am doing the new Heroic Dailies. I am such an Rep Whore it's not even funny, the need to be exalted w a faction can make me into a daily running machine. But hey on fenris we're not even @ 60% of phase II & I'm already revered with SSO.
In the mess that is 2.4 Blizzard removed attunements. While at first I supported them on this change, after experiencing several sunwell pugs with players who don't know their ass from their elbow I have had to change my view on the attunement process. Attunements in the game are necessary, you need to separate the wheat from the chaff, but it needs to be balanced with letting casual players have access to content. Otherwise you get players who cannot complete the content becoming frustrated & frustrating fellow players.

April Fools

Blizzard has outdone themselves again, the molten core console game & the new bard class look awesome.
Have a great April Fools Day!

New Posts on Patch 2.4\Mag Terrace & De-Attunement Coming Soon!

World of ChinCraft II: Chinchilla Talents

Happy Easter Everyone!
After my fluffy sons throughly sniffed around the house to verify that no long eared rodents made it through the proximity mines, I decided to finally post the Chinchilla Talent Line for World of Warcraft

Note: For any non wow players reading my blog here are a couple links to help you understand talents:
The official blizzard site
WOW Wiki's Page on talents & talent builds

And with that here are the chinchilla talent lines for world of warcraft!

Cuteness
The Cuteness line focuses on behavior that will endear to hairless chinchillas.
Cute chinchillas are able to get caught doing bad things and get away with it.

Insolence
The Insolence line focuses on craftiness & wits. Insolent chinchillas are
able to get others to take the fall for their misdeeds & have long term
schemes come to fruition without detection.

Nimbleness
The Nimbleness line focuses on senses & agility. Nimble chinchillas easily
evade predators & hairless doe's!

Cuteness
Tier 1
Opportunistic Sneeze (5 Ranks): You Sneeze more often, increasing positive
attention by the alpha doe by 10% but raising your chance to be found by
her by 1%
Chortle of Clarity (5 Ranks): Each rank increases by 10% the chance for
your chortles for treat to be heard over the din of the nest.

Tier 2
Kit Faced (5 Ranks) : You appear cuter & more kit like. Each rank increases
by 4% the chance that some minor misdeed will be ignored
Improved Beg (5 Ranks) : Each Rank increases by 4% that you'll get a major
treat when you assume a begging stance.

Tier 3:
Well Timed Bark (5 Ranks): Your Bark coincides with an intresting moment
around the nest! Each Rank increases Attention & Affection by hairless
chins by 10% for 10 minutes
Serene Shoulder Stay (5 Ranks) : You've mastered using a hairless doe's
shoulder as a perch. Each Rank increases by 10% you will get a major
treatle by the doe.
This talent leads to..
Sweet Nothings (1 Rank \ Instant \ 24hr cooldown) You squeak sweetly into
the alpha does ear, guarantying a raisin!

Tier 4
Aura of hairlessness(5 ranks): Your mischief will appear as innocous as if
it was done by a hairless kit. each rank increases by 10% that a major
misdeed will be ignored outright by the alpha doe & increases by 5% that
the misdeed will be regarded as cute by the alpha doe & will garnish either
major gnawwood\major treat
This leads to....
Wave Hands (1 rank\instant\12 hour cooldown)
You can wave your hands! This guarantee's increased positive attention by the
alpha doe for 30 minutes.
Tier 5
Mark of Whisper (1 rank\instant)
You've mastered the art of adorableness & assume the guise of Whisper. If
caught by a hairless kit, buck or doe no harm will come to you.

Insolence
Tier 1
Improved Cunning (5 ranks) : Increases intelligence by 2% per rank.
Improved Helplessness (5 ranks): Each rank increases by 15% that your helpless stance will get
The alpha doe's defensive attention.

Tier 2
Kit Bark (5 Ranks): Your barks sound weak & kit like. Each rank increases by 10% that you'll get 5% more treat than you normally would. At the same time it increases by 2% that the Alpha Doe will pick you up & hold you out of concern.

Silent Patter (5 Ranks): Decreases detection from out of cage movement by 10% per rank

Tier 3
Mark of the Doe (1 rank): Your lies, falsehoods & fabrications bear the seal of the Alpha Doe! decreases chance of for other chins to disbelieve your whoppers by 75%
This leads to
Improved mark of the Doe(2 ranks): Each rank allows you to lie convincingly to Doe's!
Rank 1: Seal of the Grand Alpha Doe. This Rank allow MOTD to work on Alpha Doe's & Below 60% of the time.
Rank 2: Embossed Fiery Seal of the Great, Grand, Alpha Doe: This rank allows MOTD to work on Grand Alpha Doe's 60% of the time, and allows MOTD to work on Alpha Doe's & below 90% of the time.
Important Note: Do not attempt on Great, Grand Alpha Doe's, they are far to cunning to fall for your simple buck lies. The Best advice from end game forums is to let them in on your schemes & hope they give you a 1% cut & don't send you to a furrier!

Improved Decoy (5 Ranks): increases decoy mis-direction by 20% per rank
This leads to
Patsy(1 Rank/instant/48hr cooldown): Allows you to place blame squarely on a lower rodent (Mouse, Rat, Squirrel, Chipmunk, Rabbit) if said rodent is available. This will get you out of a minor & significant misdeeds by 100%

Tier 4
Improved Lackey (5 Ranks): Each rank increases by 20% that your Lackey's will follow your order's without deviation.
Master of Strategy (5 Ranks): Increases plotting by 15% of your intellect per rank.

Tier 5
Disciple of Pete (1 Rank \ Instant \ 24hr cooldown) : Your ability to manipulate hairless bucks is the stuff of Legend. Like Pete, you decided who lives & who dies.
When cast this puts the Alpha Buck in a trance state for ten minutes. He will then do as you command. The following actions will cause the trance to break.

Commanding the alpha buck to harm himself or by cause of action allow him to be harmed
Commanding the alpha buck to harm the alpha doe or by cause of action allow her to be harmed
Commanding the alpha buck to harm another chinchilla or by cause of action allow another chinchilla to be harmed

Although buckling your may be a disciple of the feared one, you still have much to learn. And after all Pete did take the many secrets over the rainbow bridge...

Nimbleness

Tier 1
Keen Ears (5 Ranks): Increases hearing range by 10 yards per rank
Keen Nose (3 Ranks): Improves Treat Detection by 10 feet per rank
Improved Fake Sleep (2 Ranks): Improves your Fake Sleep ability by 10% per rank.

Tier 2
Controlled Panic (3 ranks): You can control you flight response. Decreases fur slippage & accidental injury by 25% per Rank
Improved Sight (2 Ranks): Increase your vision by 5 feet per rank
Misdirected Bark (3 Ranks): Each rank increases by 25% that your warning barks to get the alpha bucks positive attention & will guard nest for 30 minutes per rank
Improved Taunt Doe (2 Ranks): Each rank increases by 10 minutes the run time caused by your Taunt Doe ability.
This leads to...
Tactics (2 ranks instant): Improves the base chance that your Misdirect: Alpha Buck will work from by 25% per rank


Tier 3
Ignore Fooey Instant (5 ranks): Allows you to gnaw on Fooey sprayed wood for 1 minute per rank.
Hidey-Hole (3 ranks): Each rank increases the duration your Annoy Doe: Safely ability by 10%

Tier 4
Improve Evade Doe (5 ranks): Each rank increases the duration of your Evade Doe ability by 5 minutes
Adorably Defensive (5 ranks): Your cautious & your cute! Each rank increases the chance that when your in a peeping stance you'll garnish treat from the alpha buck or doe!

Tier 5
Trance of the Viscacha (Instant/36hour cooldown): You sucked it up, went back home, & studied under your country cousins! There your learned how to sit still for hours on end..until the time is just right. When activated you'll enter a trance that allows hairless chins to pick you up because they think you want to be! Once you reach your desired destination, you de-trance instantly with 200% of your normal abilities for 30 seconds. Woe to those unprepared hairless chins...

Happy Easter Everyone!
Neren & Family

Power...Unlimited Power...

Being a married man with a life means that I have to schedule my game time. I don't have the luxury of playing every day or night. This was something that I discussed with my guild master when I switched over to Utopia. With that said, I've noticed that Murphy's Law has made me it's bitch! When I've blocked out time for the 25man raids, I'm not called to battle. And when I'm logging on to do a couple dailies or grind, because of real world commitments I get invited.
I try to stay positive & appreciate when I am included in the raids. After all you only appreciate something when you don't get it all the time and I've lost track of how many conversations have been about how grateful everyone is to be included in the End game content. So even if he never reads this thanks to Fugasi & the rest of the guild council for their time & commitment.
But getting back on subject. This Tuesday we were supposed to clear the Eye up till Kael, & since I blocked out the time to raid I wasn't called(Murphy's Law you cruel tyrant!) So I decided that I had two options 1.) level my alt or 2.) Farm for the Elixir of Dream Vision. I went with # 2. Emptied out my bags, & started farming in Azshara. I spent the next 4 hours slaughtering the Blue Dragonkin that were added in patch 2.3, hoping to get an Azure Whelpling. Instead I got Kang the Decapitator, which marks the 3rd Epic World drop I've gotten since starting playing back in 2006. It's sitting on the ah now I priced it at the median per Allakhazam.
In those four hours I sent my ah bitch, 40 items for ah including Kang. I actually had to run back to Astranaar twice because of lack of bag space. When I got back to Azshara, I saw a level 60 hunter trying to farm the Dragonkin, and I watched for a few seconds, decided to buff him & his pet, & proceeded to slaughter all the Dragonkin. Then it hit me, for the first time I felt more powerful than someone else. Here he was trying to take down one elite, while I had just killed eight of them not in Moonkin form. I had never felt this before in game, because I always tempered my progression to appropriate levels. I never went back to old world content, & when I farmed Azshara for my elixir drop, I never saw anyone else there unless maybe a level 70 farming for the dragon pet.
I hate to admit it but it felt good. I can see now why Power can be addictive. I sure don't hope I goto the dark side!