It's been a couple weeks and I'm only at level 62, but I've cut back on my playing time. The new guild and the game are fun, but I've been doing some other stuff.
Anyway, I was playing a couple nights ago over in Terrorkar Forest. I think I was killing some stupid giant moth or something when I see this level 68 horde warrior walk past me. I continued to fight, but repositioned the camera so I could see him. GRRR...I was literally within a second or two of hitting my vanish when this jackass charged me. GRRRR....it wouldn't have pissed me off so much if I hadn't been down to...oh I don't know...20% health maybe. He stunned me and then got a rend down which meant I had no way to escape. I couldn't vanish so I got some shots in, but yea....68 > 62 so he kicked my ass.
One of my guildies was saying he was out questing when some level 70 hunter came swooping down on his flying mount, dismounted and then shot him "in the face". :-) The way he described it was funny as hell.
I'm hoping to hit 63 sometime this week, but we'll see how it goes.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Not letting WoW get the better of me - revisited
As I've said in previous posts, I'm doing my hardest to keep a level head about the game and the time I spend in it. I'm not worried that 3 of the 4 that left BBF with me are now at level 62 (almost to 63) and I'm only 61. I'm not worried that my buddy Squig (another rogue) outgears me or that his wife Tiff (warlock) consistently outperforms me in damage because in the end, it really doesn't matter. We're all having fun and that's all that counts.
I also mentioned that I went to a tech conference last week. As luck would have it, I had an interview while I was there and it looks like I may be scoring a nice sub-contracting gig. If I do, that means my WoW time will be reduced even more, but that's ok. :-)
Guilds
Things have changed for me in the past week. Not only did I (and several others) leave our guild (Baptized by Fire), we ended up joining another, more laid-back guild.
My reasons for leaving Baptized by Fire centered around the higher level clan, not anyone that was actually in the guild. I was tired of people that didn't even play WoW try to set policy within our game. I was tired of the "good ol' boy" network they had. When we left BBF this past Tuesday, we all said, "all we want to do is have fun". We were fully prepared to either remain guildless OR start a small guild with just a few close friends.
Sometime last year, Baptized by Fire started running Molten Core with a guild called "Spanish Inquisition". The SI people are great! Not only are they really good at playing, but they're a really close-knit group that really just wants to have fun. Anyway, pre-expansion, but after Christmas, we started running PVP battlegrounds with them.
When we left BBF, some of their members started asking us to join them. Originally, when the 4 of us discussed it, we decided to create our own guild, mainly because we figured we'd be leaving BBF "drama" only to find SI "drama". Well, as the expansion came out, we (the 4 of us that left BBF) kept running with SI to do quests, etc. Finally, there came a point when the 4 of us decided to give SI a shot. They matched our goals, the people are great and there isn't some higher level organization watching us.
I'm relieved to NOT be a guild officer anymore. Even though it's "just a game", being a guild officer is still tough. I don't have that stress anymore. What I have is a supportive guild, my old friends and a great group of new ones. Yea, there was/is some bad blood between those of us that left and the "clan", but oh well. As they've put it, we "weren't really BBF'ers anyway". :-\
Will SI be my last guild in WoW? Maybe. Maybe not. Regardless, I'll come out of SI with some great friends.
My reasons for leaving Baptized by Fire centered around the higher level clan, not anyone that was actually in the guild. I was tired of people that didn't even play WoW try to set policy within our game. I was tired of the "good ol' boy" network they had. When we left BBF this past Tuesday, we all said, "all we want to do is have fun". We were fully prepared to either remain guildless OR start a small guild with just a few close friends.
Sometime last year, Baptized by Fire started running Molten Core with a guild called "Spanish Inquisition". The SI people are great! Not only are they really good at playing, but they're a really close-knit group that really just wants to have fun. Anyway, pre-expansion, but after Christmas, we started running PVP battlegrounds with them.
When we left BBF, some of their members started asking us to join them. Originally, when the 4 of us discussed it, we decided to create our own guild, mainly because we figured we'd be leaving BBF "drama" only to find SI "drama". Well, as the expansion came out, we (the 4 of us that left BBF) kept running with SI to do quests, etc. Finally, there came a point when the 4 of us decided to give SI a shot. They matched our goals, the people are great and there isn't some higher level organization watching us.
I'm relieved to NOT be a guild officer anymore. Even though it's "just a game", being a guild officer is still tough. I don't have that stress anymore. What I have is a supportive guild, my old friends and a great group of new ones. Yea, there was/is some bad blood between those of us that left and the "clan", but oh well. As they've put it, we "weren't really BBF'ers anyway". :-\
Will SI be my last guild in WoW? Maybe. Maybe not. Regardless, I'll come out of SI with some great friends.
The Burning Crusade (part 2 of many)
Being the impatient person that I am, I ended up running out last Tuesday to buy The Burning Crusade even though I had one showing up via UPS the following day.
In the last week, I haven't really played all that much, but did manage to get to level 61 with the help of some friends.
Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the expansion, except I don't think Blizzard was prepared for the number of people that would swarm to a particular area in the Outland. The lag was really, really, really bad for the first couple of days. You'd have 50 alliance and 50 horde all vying for the same mobs. Luckily the respawn rate was really fast (almost too fast in some cases), but sometimes you'd have small alliance vs. horde fights pop up.
All in all, the ganking didn't really start until people started hitting 62+. :-\
I've been doing quests in Hellfire Peninsula and the marsh area. Pretty cool stuff. I've upgraded much of my Tier 0 gear with really kick ass green items.
In the last week, I haven't really played all that much, but did manage to get to level 61 with the help of some friends.
Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the expansion, except I don't think Blizzard was prepared for the number of people that would swarm to a particular area in the Outland. The lag was really, really, really bad for the first couple of days. You'd have 50 alliance and 50 horde all vying for the same mobs. Luckily the respawn rate was really fast (almost too fast in some cases), but sometimes you'd have small alliance vs. horde fights pop up.
All in all, the ganking didn't really start until people started hitting 62+. :-\
I've been doing quests in Hellfire Peninsula and the marsh area. Pretty cool stuff. I've upgraded much of my Tier 0 gear with really kick ass green items.
Monday, January 15, 2007
The Burning Crusade (part 1 of many)
I received notification from Amazon that my copy of The Burning Crusade shipped and will be here on the 17th. Unlike many of my friends and guild-mates, I decided NOT to run out to the store at midnight tonight (Monday) and pick up a copy.
While I'm really looking forward to playing some new content, I've got other things to worry about besides the game this week. Hell, I know some of my guild-mates are actually taking Tuesday off from work so they can play! Seems kinda crazy to me, but as I've said before....we're all adults, so they've gotta decide what's right for them. :-)
One decision some of us have already made is to create a new toon on the alliance side: shaman. Shaman, as I've mentioned in a previous post, are one of the most overpowered Horde classes, so it'll be nice to have on. Of course, the Horde are getting Paladin's, but whatever. Pallies are nice, but they are the true "jack of all trades, master of none".
As a quick aside, I'm headed out of town starting Wednesday afternoon and won't be back until Friday night / Saturday morning. My play time will be pretty limited (which is another reason I'm not in a big yank to run out at midnight) and I'm not even sure I'll have BC before I leave.
While I'm really looking forward to playing some new content, I've got other things to worry about besides the game this week. Hell, I know some of my guild-mates are actually taking Tuesday off from work so they can play! Seems kinda crazy to me, but as I've said before....we're all adults, so they've gotta decide what's right for them. :-)
One decision some of us have already made is to create a new toon on the alliance side: shaman. Shaman, as I've mentioned in a previous post, are one of the most overpowered Horde classes, so it'll be nice to have on. Of course, the Horde are getting Paladin's, but whatever. Pallies are nice, but they are the true "jack of all trades, master of none".
As a quick aside, I'm headed out of town starting Wednesday afternoon and won't be back until Friday night / Saturday morning. My play time will be pretty limited (which is another reason I'm not in a big yank to run out at midnight) and I'm not even sure I'll have BC before I leave.
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Not letting WoW get the better of me.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I never thought I'd like WoW. After all, I was a huge fan of first person shooters like Doom, Unreal Tournament, Half Life and Halo. I liked nothing more than to blast away at stuff and not really have to think about it.
Over the past year of playing WoW I've gone through several stages of game play. The first, which lasted the longest, was spent exploring and figuring out how to play, where to go and what to do. I didn't really have anyone guiding me -- I just played the way I thought I should play. I didn't care about gear, I didn't care about stats -- I just played.
Once I realized what better gear and better stats meant, I entered the second phase - gear whore. ;-) I was all about finding / buying the best gear I could get. I was getting much better at the game play and wanted to crush whatever was in my way. I dreamed about the game. All I wanted to do was play. It got so bad at one point that I actually had my wife lock down my account using the parental controls found on the Blizzard website. She had it locked down to where I could only play at certain times during the day (and for pretty short periods of time too).
Since I was essentially locked out of the game, I had to do other stuff. In the whole scheme of things, this was definitely a good thing, but at the point I was addicted and I knew it. As silly as it sounds, but the withdrawals were a bitch. I would find myself surfing WoW websites and doing "WoW" stuff when not playing.
After a few weeks, I got over it and entered another stage; playing just to have fun. I stopped worrying about the game so much. I stopped dreaming about it. I played a little bit here and there, but stopped putting in the hours I had been. Granted, I'll occassionally pull the 8-hour session, but that doesn't happen very often anymore.
I think I'm transitioning to another stage now. With all the drama in the guild (more about that later), I find myself wanting to play less. I also have a tough time with how much time people in the guild play. Yea, one guy is retired and he plays 14-16 hours a day. Whatever. If that's how he wants to spend his retirement, so be it. :-) What I struggle with is hearing other people talk about how they dream about the game and the game is all they look forward to (even though they're married and have kids).
I know everyone makes their own choices, but I know the struggle I had with the game and I see other people going through the same stuff. We're all adults, so I don't really feel like I can tell them they need to stop. The most I've said is, "dude, go outside and take a nice, deep breath of fresh air. it's just a game." ;-) They'll have to come to the realization themselves that the game is taking over and do something about it.
I doubt I'll give it up anytime soon, but I've got other things I want/need to do. I have a struggling consulting business that really needs some focus and I have a great family that needs / wants a dad and husband, not a level 60 human rogue with the best gear and an epic mount. :-)
Over the past year of playing WoW I've gone through several stages of game play. The first, which lasted the longest, was spent exploring and figuring out how to play, where to go and what to do. I didn't really have anyone guiding me -- I just played the way I thought I should play. I didn't care about gear, I didn't care about stats -- I just played.
Once I realized what better gear and better stats meant, I entered the second phase - gear whore. ;-) I was all about finding / buying the best gear I could get. I was getting much better at the game play and wanted to crush whatever was in my way. I dreamed about the game. All I wanted to do was play. It got so bad at one point that I actually had my wife lock down my account using the parental controls found on the Blizzard website. She had it locked down to where I could only play at certain times during the day (and for pretty short periods of time too).
Since I was essentially locked out of the game, I had to do other stuff. In the whole scheme of things, this was definitely a good thing, but at the point I was addicted and I knew it. As silly as it sounds, but the withdrawals were a bitch. I would find myself surfing WoW websites and doing "WoW" stuff when not playing.
After a few weeks, I got over it and entered another stage; playing just to have fun. I stopped worrying about the game so much. I stopped dreaming about it. I played a little bit here and there, but stopped putting in the hours I had been. Granted, I'll occassionally pull the 8-hour session, but that doesn't happen very often anymore.
I think I'm transitioning to another stage now. With all the drama in the guild (more about that later), I find myself wanting to play less. I also have a tough time with how much time people in the guild play. Yea, one guy is retired and he plays 14-16 hours a day. Whatever. If that's how he wants to spend his retirement, so be it. :-) What I struggle with is hearing other people talk about how they dream about the game and the game is all they look forward to (even though they're married and have kids).
I know everyone makes their own choices, but I know the struggle I had with the game and I see other people going through the same stuff. We're all adults, so I don't really feel like I can tell them they need to stop. The most I've said is, "dude, go outside and take a nice, deep breath of fresh air. it's just a game." ;-) They'll have to come to the realization themselves that the game is taking over and do something about it.
I doubt I'll give it up anytime soon, but I've got other things I want/need to do. I have a struggling consulting business that really needs some focus and I have a great family that needs / wants a dad and husband, not a level 60 human rogue with the best gear and an epic mount. :-)
Saturday, January 6, 2007
World PVP - the worst shaman on Stormscale
A few nights ago, I was helping a couple of guildies run through some quests in the Arathi Highlands. Specifically, they needed to kill a couple of bosses in Stromgarde Keep.
I logged onto my 60 rogue and met them outside of the keep. We cleared the path and went into the keep. Just as we were about to kill the two bosses (we had our backs to the wall and I was explaining to them what I was going to do), 3 horde came crashing into the room and "stole" the kills.
Needless to say I was not happy. As luck would have it, it was only a 60 shaman, a 38 shaman and a 38 priest. I had a couple of mid-30s with me (a lock and a rogue). While the 60 shaman was killing the bosses, I snuck up behind him (I was stealthed before they came into the room) and laid the smack down. He went down like a cheap whore. :-D We then proceeded to kill the other two.
After the bosses respawned, we killed them. Instead of hearthing out, we decided to go back outside to see what was there. The horde had called in some of their buddies because we now had 2 level 60 shaman (note: shaman are among the most overpowered classes in the game. They are not to be taken lightly because, for the most part, they'll tear apart anyone that gets in their way), a 38 shaman, a 38 priest and maybe one other.
By this time, one of our other locks (high 50s) joined us. When I saw we were up against 2 level 60 shaman, I said, "I'm outta here", but before I could leave, the 50'ish lock that showed up (Areso) said that we could take them.
I was skeptical, but decided to stay. Let me just say that the shaman must have been the worst on the server because I was able to kill both of them with very little help. The typical encounter with a shaman is: DoT, DoT, Deathcoil, dead or something close to that. :-) These guys truly sucked. They didn't put up an DoTs (death over time -- spells that will kill you over a period of time), they didn't try to heal themselves or anything else you'd expect from a shaman.
After wiping out their group, we stuck around for a few. They res'd and started putting up totems (essentially, totems give shaman and the groups they're in special "buffs" or other nastiness). We waited for the totems to go down and as soon as they did, we hit them.
So, not only did we find the worst shaman on the server, they came back for more! :-D
Good times. The only regret I have is that I can't recall the names of the shaman we killed. :-(
I logged onto my 60 rogue and met them outside of the keep. We cleared the path and went into the keep. Just as we were about to kill the two bosses (we had our backs to the wall and I was explaining to them what I was going to do), 3 horde came crashing into the room and "stole" the kills.
Needless to say I was not happy. As luck would have it, it was only a 60 shaman, a 38 shaman and a 38 priest. I had a couple of mid-30s with me (a lock and a rogue). While the 60 shaman was killing the bosses, I snuck up behind him (I was stealthed before they came into the room) and laid the smack down. He went down like a cheap whore. :-D We then proceeded to kill the other two.
After the bosses respawned, we killed them. Instead of hearthing out, we decided to go back outside to see what was there. The horde had called in some of their buddies because we now had 2 level 60 shaman (note: shaman are among the most overpowered classes in the game. They are not to be taken lightly because, for the most part, they'll tear apart anyone that gets in their way), a 38 shaman, a 38 priest and maybe one other.
By this time, one of our other locks (high 50s) joined us. When I saw we were up against 2 level 60 shaman, I said, "I'm outta here", but before I could leave, the 50'ish lock that showed up (Areso) said that we could take them.
I was skeptical, but decided to stay. Let me just say that the shaman must have been the worst on the server because I was able to kill both of them with very little help. The typical encounter with a shaman is: DoT, DoT, Deathcoil, dead or something close to that. :-) These guys truly sucked. They didn't put up an DoTs (death over time -- spells that will kill you over a period of time), they didn't try to heal themselves or anything else you'd expect from a shaman.
After wiping out their group, we stuck around for a few. They res'd and started putting up totems (essentially, totems give shaman and the groups they're in special "buffs" or other nastiness). We waited for the totems to go down and as soon as they did, we hit them.
So, not only did we find the worst shaman on the server, they came back for more! :-D
Good times. The only regret I have is that I can't recall the names of the shaman we killed. :-(
When is a guild not just a guild?
When is a guild not just a guild? When they belong to a larger gaming "clan". Baptized by Fire (the WoW guild) is part of the "PC division" of the Baptizedby Fire gaming clan. Basically, the clan provides servers and a supportinfrastructure for other types of games (mostly war-type games) such asBattlefield 2, Renegade, etc. The people that play those games don't pay amonthly fee to the gaming company like WoW players do. Instead, they buy thegame and then the "clan" pays for servers on which they play.
First, let me say that I have a huge amount of respect for the men and womenwho have served and are currently serving our country and who have rightfullyearned their ranks and awards.
The clan has a military-like structure, which to be totally honest, really bugsme. Each person in the clan is given a "military rank". Based on what you do,you may also be given medals. The "wannabe" bullshit the clan forces on usreally irritates me. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do about it. Ibelieve it's truly disrespectful to the brave men and women who put themselvesin harms way every day.
Since day 1 of my guild membership, I have questioned our relationship with theclan. Nothing the clan does really benefits our guild. The clan members thatDON'T play WoW tend to butt into our business a lot and they try to force theirways on us. For example, they pretty much demand that we assign one of ourmembers from the guild to be the "morale" officer. Lame. Anyone that spends anytime in our guild chat or guild vent knows that morale is NOT an issue. They also expect us to do "roll call" - this is a bi-monthly even in which weare supposed to indicate which games we're playing. Again, Lame.
The clan also thinks they can control what we do within WoW. WTF-ever. Our guild master was actually told to punish me (by the clan leadership) becauseI actually posted in our WoW forum how silly I think the clan is.
We've talked about splitting from the clan, but as it turns out, the guildmaster would rather bring in as many clan members into WoW as he can.
I'm now at the point where the interference from the clan is making me notwant to play in the guild. Some of my friends who have been in larger guildshave told me that guild drama is the norm, not the exception. Unfortunately,I'm starting to see this.
All I want to do is play the game and have fun.
First, let me say that I have a huge amount of respect for the men and womenwho have served and are currently serving our country and who have rightfullyearned their ranks and awards.
The clan has a military-like structure, which to be totally honest, really bugsme. Each person in the clan is given a "military rank". Based on what you do,you may also be given medals. The "wannabe" bullshit the clan forces on usreally irritates me. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do about it. Ibelieve it's truly disrespectful to the brave men and women who put themselvesin harms way every day.
Since day 1 of my guild membership, I have questioned our relationship with theclan. Nothing the clan does really benefits our guild. The clan members thatDON'T play WoW tend to butt into our business a lot and they try to force theirways on us. For example, they pretty much demand that we assign one of ourmembers from the guild to be the "morale" officer. Lame. Anyone that spends anytime in our guild chat or guild vent knows that morale is NOT an issue. They also expect us to do "roll call" - this is a bi-monthly even in which weare supposed to indicate which games we're playing. Again, Lame.
The clan also thinks they can control what we do within WoW. WTF-ever. Our guild master was actually told to punish me (by the clan leadership) becauseI actually posted in our WoW forum how silly I think the clan is.
We've talked about splitting from the clan, but as it turns out, the guildmaster would rather bring in as many clan members into WoW as he can.
I'm now at the point where the interference from the clan is making me notwant to play in the guild. Some of my friends who have been in larger guildshave told me that guild drama is the norm, not the exception. Unfortunately,I'm starting to see this.
All I want to do is play the game and have fun.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Belonging to a guild
I pretty much soloed levels 1-60. Yea, I found the occasional pick-up-group (pug) and even tried a couple of guilds. The guilds always disintegrated within a day or two, so I had convinced myself that I would live out my time in WoW as a solo player.
Part of being a non-guilded player is the constant barrage of blind invites into guilds and the occasional whisper asking to join. One day in September 2006, I was coming out of the bank in Stormwind (one of the major Alliance cities) when someone named ItchyCoyote whispered me asking why I wasn't in a guild. I humored him and told him that my experiences with guilds was less than impressive and that I was probably going to stay a solo player.
After chatting for a few minutes, he invited me onto their ventrilo server (a way to do voice communication while in-game) to talk. I was hesitant, but decided to jump in to see what the deal was. We talked for a few minutes and he said (in a nutshell): give us a try. If you don't like how things are going after a couple weeks, you can leave. After mulling it over for a few minutes, I decided to join the guild named Baptized by Fire.
Over the course of a couple months, I realized what I had been missing out on during my solo play. I was finally getting into higher end instances / dungeons and completing some quests that required more than 1 person. My gear slowly went from all green to all blue to now some a mix of purple and blue (note: the color indicates "quality" - grey = worst, white = blah, green = better, blue = even better, purple = best).
After my probation period (during the first 5 weeks, they can kick you out with no reason given), I was offered an officer position within the guild. I enjoy being an officer, but sometimes people forget that it's just a game and get pissy about stuff. I'll blog about the "drama" more in future posts.
While we have about 90 in the guild, there are probably 5-6 of us that get on vent every night and play together. It's a lot of fun to get to know people that share my interest in WoW and I have definitely made some friends.
Part of being a non-guilded player is the constant barrage of blind invites into guilds and the occasional whisper asking to join. One day in September 2006, I was coming out of the bank in Stormwind (one of the major Alliance cities) when someone named ItchyCoyote whispered me asking why I wasn't in a guild. I humored him and told him that my experiences with guilds was less than impressive and that I was probably going to stay a solo player.
After chatting for a few minutes, he invited me onto their ventrilo server (a way to do voice communication while in-game) to talk. I was hesitant, but decided to jump in to see what the deal was. We talked for a few minutes and he said (in a nutshell): give us a try. If you don't like how things are going after a couple weeks, you can leave. After mulling it over for a few minutes, I decided to join the guild named Baptized by Fire.
Over the course of a couple months, I realized what I had been missing out on during my solo play. I was finally getting into higher end instances / dungeons and completing some quests that required more than 1 person. My gear slowly went from all green to all blue to now some a mix of purple and blue (note: the color indicates "quality" - grey = worst, white = blah, green = better, blue = even better, purple = best).
After my probation period (during the first 5 weeks, they can kick you out with no reason given), I was offered an officer position within the guild. I enjoy being an officer, but sometimes people forget that it's just a game and get pissy about stuff. I'll blog about the "drama" more in future posts.
While we have about 90 in the guild, there are probably 5-6 of us that get on vent every night and play together. It's a lot of fun to get to know people that share my interest in WoW and I have definitely made some friends.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Some stuff about me
Welcome to my blog about The World of Warcraft!
I've been playing WoW for just over a year. I started playing after a couple of my friends convinced me to try the 10-day trial of World of Warcraft. At the time, I was 100% into first person shooter games like Halo, Half-Life, UT, etc. I told myself there was no way I was going to continue past the 10-day trial.
Here I am, just over a year later. I have my main character (human rogue) to level 60 and some alts (35 human mage, 31 dwarf hunter, 20 elf warrior).
In September, I joined a guild and am having a ton of fun playing. I'm really looking forward to The Burning Crusade.
I play on the Stormscale realm which has given me the opportunity to experience some decent world PVP (I love killin' horde).
Anyway, I definitely have somethings to say related to my experiences in a guild setting as well as some silly stories to tell.
I've been playing WoW for just over a year. I started playing after a couple of my friends convinced me to try the 10-day trial of World of Warcraft. At the time, I was 100% into first person shooter games like Halo, Half-Life, UT, etc. I told myself there was no way I was going to continue past the 10-day trial.
Here I am, just over a year later. I have my main character (human rogue) to level 60 and some alts (35 human mage, 31 dwarf hunter, 20 elf warrior).
In September, I joined a guild and am having a ton of fun playing. I'm really looking forward to The Burning Crusade.
I play on the Stormscale realm which has given me the opportunity to experience some decent world PVP (I love killin' horde).
Anyway, I definitely have somethings to say related to my experiences in a guild setting as well as some silly stories to tell.
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