Last night was a different experience for me. I was supposed to log on and play with my work buddies. Then my youngest started with the sick thing - you know, fever, crying, etc. One must have their priorities. So, down went the children's Tylenol ®, the appropriate cooing, oohing and such. When the baby was down, I was on and running.
Since I couldn't in good conscious hold back my buddies, I started running my green quests in Dustwallow, near Mudsprocket. They way it worked out, I was able to run a single quest and then turn it in before the youngun woke back up. Then I would follow the process again. I ended up hitting 43 and moving a quarter of the way to 44 before junior became inconsolable. So I logged and spend the rest of the night walking the floor with my boy.
If I had to make a choice between WoW and my family, there would be no contest. Family first isn't just a motto. I am glad I haven't had to make that choice.
For those who might be interested, the youngun was diagnosed with RSV. He is our fifth and this is our first go-around with this issue. My understanding is that it can be pretty serious if not caught early. Fortunately we caught it early.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Update
First off, I joined the Blog Azeroth community. I think in will be a great resource for bloggers as well as those who like to read blogs and want to find more. Perhaps someone will even read my humble offerings.
Moving from there, as you read through the archived posts you will see names of toons that no longer exist. I am still an alt-aholic. I have simply consolidated all of them onto two servers. Arygos and Llane. And the only reason I play on Llane is because that is where my bro. plays.
Further than that, I have come across a new experience. There are 3 other guys at my work - on my team even - who play wow. It has been even more enjoyable to play with people I know from RL. It has shamed me, however, into (mostly) playing only one toon - Mieczlabana.
I do have to say that I'm enjoying the leveling, though. And when I find myself in a slump - a place where previously I would have switched to another toon - I focus on the fact that the guys with whom I work are already outpacing me. I can't afford to stop. Interestingly enough, as I push through the "pain", I find that I hit another stretch of fun.
Now the only time I am playing alts is when I die in a place where rezzing at the spirit healer is really the only option. And I sure as heck aint gonna play with rez sickness.
I will introduce you to my other toons as we go along.
So, for now, "buck up little camper", and I'll see you in Azeroth.
Moving from there, as you read through the archived posts you will see names of toons that no longer exist. I am still an alt-aholic. I have simply consolidated all of them onto two servers. Arygos and Llane. And the only reason I play on Llane is because that is where my bro. plays.
Further than that, I have come across a new experience. There are 3 other guys at my work - on my team even - who play wow. It has been even more enjoyable to play with people I know from RL. It has shamed me, however, into (mostly) playing only one toon - Mieczlabana.
I do have to say that I'm enjoying the leveling, though. And when I find myself in a slump - a place where previously I would have switched to another toon - I focus on the fact that the guys with whom I work are already outpacing me. I can't afford to stop. Interestingly enough, as I push through the "pain", I find that I hit another stretch of fun.
Now the only time I am playing alts is when I die in a place where rezzing at the spirit healer is really the only option. And I sure as heck aint gonna play with rez sickness.
I will introduce you to my other toons as we go along.
So, for now, "buck up little camper", and I'll see you in Azeroth.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Back from the Hiatus
So, I've been gone a while from the blog scene. I'd give a mea culpa but I don't think anyone is reading, so the only one missing out is me.
Since I last wrote, I have dropped most (if not all) of my toons. I am working on my Ally shaman, Mieczlabana. We ding'd 42 tonight.
I also have been playing with some guys from work. Shout out to Ipfreelee, Fireshaper, and Moneyshott.
I also heard about blog azeroth. Ima check into it. Sounds interesting.
Thats all for now - night.
Since I last wrote, I have dropped most (if not all) of my toons. I am working on my Ally shaman, Mieczlabana. We ding'd 42 tonight.
I also have been playing with some guys from work. Shout out to Ipfreelee, Fireshaper, and Moneyshott.
I also heard about blog azeroth. Ima check into it. Sounds interesting.
Thats all for now - night.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Patch 2.3
Unfortunately I haven't had the time I would like to play. Patch 2.3 has me breaking into otherwise scheduled time to get some game time.
My initial reaction . . . positive. I like the interface changes. I like that even non-human quest givers have the (now) ubiquitous exclamation point. And you can see quest givers on the mini-map? That rocks!
I haven't seen any of the downside hunter issues . . . probably because I'm only at lvl 40.
Another thing that I'm liking . . . ? The drop in exp needed per lvl and the increase of exp per quest. I feel like I'm leveling pre 30 again. Fast levels. I admit, without shame, that I am an immediate gratification junkie.
Oh, and I rolled another alt, surprise, surprise. At least I'm staying on the same server.
But then I read the Resto4Life blog today. From the picture displayed, it looks like they may be physically located close to me. If that's the case, I may see about starting a toon on their server and, when they will have me, joining their guild.
I have been missing much of the social aspect of the game. I do like playing with my bro, but he is in Japan and most of that guild is located in Australia. It is hard to sync with them other than on Friday or Saturday nights.
The people that brought me into the game no longer play. I miss the joy of working together with people I know and like already. The reason I am on my other server is due to my finding out that one of my coworkers plays. He was in his mid thirties when I rolled, so we still don't play much together.
Anyway. . . those are my musings for now.
My initial reaction . . . positive. I like the interface changes. I like that even non-human quest givers have the (now) ubiquitous exclamation point. And you can see quest givers on the mini-map? That rocks!
I haven't seen any of the downside hunter issues . . . probably because I'm only at lvl 40.
Another thing that I'm liking . . . ? The drop in exp needed per lvl and the increase of exp per quest. I feel like I'm leveling pre 30 again. Fast levels. I admit, without shame, that I am an immediate gratification junkie.
Oh, and I rolled another alt, surprise, surprise. At least I'm staying on the same server.
But then I read the Resto4Life blog today. From the picture displayed, it looks like they may be physically located close to me. If that's the case, I may see about starting a toon on their server and, when they will have me, joining their guild.
I have been missing much of the social aspect of the game. I do like playing with my bro, but he is in Japan and most of that guild is located in Australia. It is hard to sync with them other than on Friday or Saturday nights.
The people that brought me into the game no longer play. I miss the joy of working together with people I know and like already. The reason I am on my other server is due to my finding out that one of my coworkers plays. He was in his mid thirties when I rolled, so we still don't play much together.
Anyway. . . those are my musings for now.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Dust in the wind . . . .
The title for this post was the winner between two options. My other choice was "The times, they are a changin".
If anyone is actually reading this blog, you'll have noticed a couple of things.
First, I haven't posted in a great while.
Second, some of my toons are missing from the side bar.
While I don't have a good reason for the first, the second is something I can, and feel I have to, explain.
I finally hit the point when I was stretched too thin. I did that which I thought I would never do. . . I deleted toons. I cleaned off the toons that I knew I would never play again. I cleaned off toons from servers that I really just didn't enjoy playing on.
I am now playing on Llane, because that is where my brother plays, and Arygos. I am, for now, exclusively Alliance.
I will update as I go.
If anyone is actually reading this blog, you'll have noticed a couple of things.
First, I haven't posted in a great while.
Second, some of my toons are missing from the side bar.
While I don't have a good reason for the first, the second is something I can, and feel I have to, explain.
I finally hit the point when I was stretched too thin. I did that which I thought I would never do. . . I deleted toons. I cleaned off the toons that I knew I would never play again. I cleaned off toons from servers that I really just didn't enjoy playing on.
I am now playing on Llane, because that is where my brother plays, and Arygos. I am, for now, exclusively Alliance.
I will update as I go.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
DINGS!
Last night NoHuntardI dinged 34. And I have a new toon. I am trying a warrior again. Her name is Rubigale on Llane. She ding'd 11 last night too.
I had a 30 hunter (orc) on Dethwing but I just can't get into playing him. Big challenge is that Dethwing is a PVP server and I kept getting jumped by Allis in the contested areas. Sucks because I just wanted to level.
Why was I on a PVP server? The people that I started playing on were playing on that server. Being a relative newb to MMOs, I didn't understand what PvP or PvE were. I had an idea about what RP was going to be. That turned out to be different too.
My brother mocks my choosing a warrior. "Why would anyone want to be a meat shield?" he asks. I dunno. Probably goes back to playing D&D back in the day. I loved warriors, barbarians, and monks. Yes, I said monks. I would love it if WoW added a monk class. There was just something about running around basically defenceless and unarmed. Or so those poor fools thought, when in reality you have a bichin AC and great attacks. And don't get me started on "Quivering Palm." One-shotting just by hitting someone with your bare hands - d@mn.
Oh, NoHun and Elfbane joined guilds. NoHun joined MOD on Llane. He's about the only toon there at that level who isn't the alt of several 70s. Should be fun. Elfbane on Earthen Ring joined Alea Iacta Est. I may write more about that later because this was my first guild with another toon. I loved playing with AIE. The atmosphere there now is different. Even the people I used to play with aren't the same. I'll ponder this and then write more.
I had a 30 hunter (orc) on Dethwing but I just can't get into playing him. Big challenge is that Dethwing is a PVP server and I kept getting jumped by Allis in the contested areas. Sucks because I just wanted to level.
Why was I on a PVP server? The people that I started playing on were playing on that server. Being a relative newb to MMOs, I didn't understand what PvP or PvE were. I had an idea about what RP was going to be. That turned out to be different too.
My brother mocks my choosing a warrior. "Why would anyone want to be a meat shield?" he asks. I dunno. Probably goes back to playing D&D back in the day. I loved warriors, barbarians, and monks. Yes, I said monks. I would love it if WoW added a monk class. There was just something about running around basically defenceless and unarmed. Or so those poor fools thought, when in reality you have a bichin AC and great attacks. And don't get me started on "Quivering Palm." One-shotting just by hitting someone with your bare hands - d@mn.
Oh, NoHun and Elfbane joined guilds. NoHun joined MOD on Llane. He's about the only toon there at that level who isn't the alt of several 70s. Should be fun. Elfbane on Earthen Ring joined Alea Iacta Est. I may write more about that later because this was my first guild with another toon. I loved playing with AIE. The atmosphere there now is different. Even the people I used to play with aren't the same. I'll ponder this and then write more.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Wife Aggro and How to Handle It
Recently BRK posted about how to resolve wife aggro. This has become a serious issue in my family. My issue may even be a bit more extreme than BRK's questioner.
My wife cannot make the leap that my playing WoW is on the par with her playing POGO and reading romance novels. She has never liked the fact that I am a gamer but was more tolerant of my playing non-MMO games. I have always enjoyed RTS games and have occasionally dabbled in the FPS realm. I think the big difference is that, with other genres, I was always able to quit on a dime and help with whatever she needed or focus on whatever she wanted. With MMO's I can only do that 90% of the time. I have a hard time explaining that when I am in a party, and especially in an instance, I feel have an unwritten contract with those with whom I am playing. I have committed that I will help them and feel compelled to stick it through to the end - or until we wipe, at the earliest.
Keep in mind that my highest level toon was a level toon is at lvl 40.
Part of the issue arises from the fact that I play on game cards. As I approach the end of game card play time I tend to play more, trying to get the most out of my potential play time. I moved to game cards because it freaked my wife out that I was spending $15 a month to play a game that I already spent money on. Remember, this is my first MMO. The fact that I gave up one lunch a week to cover the cost did not seem to mollify her.
So now I buy game cards every two months. That way she doesn't see the outflow.
Maybe I should use the Disneyland season pass analogy. Up until about a month ago we lived in Southern California. We have five children. This means that we go to Disneyland. When we did the math, it made sense for us to get season passes. After we got them they became even more valuable. If you have ever been to Disneyland at a peak time, you will realize how miserable it is. One of the funniest phrases we heard at peak times came from parents threatening their kids. The threats were along the lines of "be good or we'll leave." Laughable because most people spend hundreds of dollars just to get to and then into the park. Very few people are willing to spend that kind of money just to leave. They never do and the kids pick up on it quickly.
Enter the season pass holder family. If the kids start acting up, you leave. You can do this because you can come back the next day, or the next, or the next, and on and on. This gives the threat validity.
The other thing it does is when you show up and the park is just wall-to-wall, you just leave. You don't feel bad - except for the poor souls that will feel obligated to stay just because they have invested so much just to be there.
The monthly subscription does the same thing. If I don't get to play today or if I only have 15 minutes to play and then I have to log - no big deal. I can come back the next day, or the next day or . . . well, you get the idea. When I am on game cards, I don't feel the pressure until it gets down to the last couple of days. Then I spend way more time than I should because I don't know when I'll get a new card.
That is where I was this week. Game card was running out and I hadn't purchased a new one. I prefer to shop around because I can often get them right at the subscription price after taxes. I really hate paying more than the subscription price. I found one place that would put me on an auto-ship and it would end up being the same price as the subscription, but that kinda defeats the whole purpose, doesn't it.
This is what real estate between Rock and Hard Place is like.
My wife cannot make the leap that my playing WoW is on the par with her playing POGO and reading romance novels. She has never liked the fact that I am a gamer but was more tolerant of my playing non-MMO games. I have always enjoyed RTS games and have occasionally dabbled in the FPS realm. I think the big difference is that, with other genres, I was always able to quit on a dime and help with whatever she needed or focus on whatever she wanted. With MMO's I can only do that 90% of the time. I have a hard time explaining that when I am in a party, and especially in an instance, I feel have an unwritten contract with those with whom I am playing. I have committed that I will help them and feel compelled to stick it through to the end - or until we wipe, at the earliest.
Keep in mind that my highest level toon was a level toon is at lvl 40.
Part of the issue arises from the fact that I play on game cards. As I approach the end of game card play time I tend to play more, trying to get the most out of my potential play time. I moved to game cards because it freaked my wife out that I was spending $15 a month to play a game that I already spent money on. Remember, this is my first MMO. The fact that I gave up one lunch a week to cover the cost did not seem to mollify her.
So now I buy game cards every two months. That way she doesn't see the outflow.
Maybe I should use the Disneyland season pass analogy. Up until about a month ago we lived in Southern California. We have five children. This means that we go to Disneyland. When we did the math, it made sense for us to get season passes. After we got them they became even more valuable. If you have ever been to Disneyland at a peak time, you will realize how miserable it is. One of the funniest phrases we heard at peak times came from parents threatening their kids. The threats were along the lines of "be good or we'll leave." Laughable because most people spend hundreds of dollars just to get to and then into the park. Very few people are willing to spend that kind of money just to leave. They never do and the kids pick up on it quickly.
Enter the season pass holder family. If the kids start acting up, you leave. You can do this because you can come back the next day, or the next, or the next, and on and on. This gives the threat validity.
The other thing it does is when you show up and the park is just wall-to-wall, you just leave. You don't feel bad - except for the poor souls that will feel obligated to stay just because they have invested so much just to be there.
The monthly subscription does the same thing. If I don't get to play today or if I only have 15 minutes to play and then I have to log - no big deal. I can come back the next day, or the next day or . . . well, you get the idea. When I am on game cards, I don't feel the pressure until it gets down to the last couple of days. Then I spend way more time than I should because I don't know when I'll get a new card.
That is where I was this week. Game card was running out and I hadn't purchased a new one. I prefer to shop around because I can often get them right at the subscription price after taxes. I really hate paying more than the subscription price. I found one place that would put me on an auto-ship and it would end up being the same price as the subscription, but that kinda defeats the whole purpose, doesn't it.
This is what real estate between Rock and Hard Place is like.
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