Tuesday, July 31, 2007

(Not) In the Bank

In California, the minimum wage is $7.50 per hour.

In Azeroth, my Warlock has almost 151 days /played. That equates to 3,624 hours at my computer, casting Shadow Bolts, Immolates, DoT'ing the hell out of everything, and what have you.

Had I picked up a 2nd job and worked those hours, I would have had an extra $27,180 of gross income saved up over the past year and a half, at the very minimum. That's TWENTY-SEVEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY DOLLARS of extra cash. I know of people who have kids they need to plan financial security for, but yet still play this like it's their duty.

Just remember, all. This is a game. Not your life.

Take care of business. Then play. =)

'Lock and Reload

Change is scary. It's why many people in many facets of their lives would rather remain unhappy than to try something new and potentially wonderful. Dead-end jobs, bad relationships, and the like, they are all consistent and familiar. If nothing else, they breed a sense of security and investment, as crazy and idealistic as that may sound. Constancy is stability, and for the most part, survivability. Why stray away from something that has worked so far, even though it may not be ideal? Change, afterall, comes with risks of failure, and something potentially worse.

That sense of familiarity and security is why I remained on Alexstrasza for over a year and a half, even though the environment itself made it feel like an eternity. Being that it was my first realm, I didn't notice the significance of logging into a deserted UC or Org, which were like ghost towns throughout the entirety of a day. There were other clues that the server was dead or dying Horde-side, but I wasn't paying any attention to them. I had grinded to Rank 14, made some great friends, raided with some of the best, etc; I had made investments, and change was not a palatable option, even when I admitted to myself a couple of months ago (a small fraction in WoW time) that I was no longer having fun.


What the hell was I thinking...

Oh, wait, I actually have a fairly reasonable answer to that! It's the whole "I put so much effort into this toon, I can't just ditch it now" investment kind of thing. I had a Level 70 Undead Warlock, High Warlord, decent spell damage, decent gear, lots of gold, epic flying mount, heroic keys, the works. It was the culmination of 150 days /played, and that made it very hard to walk away.

So what finally pushes people beyond their natural tendency to hold on to the familiar? I'm not exactly sure what it was for me, but when I find out, I'll need to send it a Thank You card, maybe some flowers, perhaps buy it dinner, take it to a movie, give it a foot rub, maybe a back rub, offer it some wine, and then do it's laundry in the morning after I serve it breakfast. Yeah, it's THAT good to be done with Alex. It's been THAT worth it to re-roll. We're having THAT much fun.

The group that re-rolled has been busy leveling, choosing professions, setting up the guild, and all that goodness that comes with starting anew. It's been a strange and surreal experience, lacking abilities and the general familiarity of things. In it's own awkward way, it's been nice going from a very powerful toon to one a good sneeze can kill. It makes you more careful about taking in your surroundings efficiently, which also allows you to appreciate them all the more. Tranquillien, for example, and the surrounding Ghostlands is so incredible and well-designed! If you've never leveled there or even seen the place, I highly recommend doing so. It's where my Undead has been leveling, and he'll continue to do so until there's nothing left to do there. Yeah, THAT good.


The new server is, in a word, amazing. The first time I stepped into Org, my reaction was "holy shit" at the sheer magnitude of people that were standing atop the bank, running between the it and AH, or heading for the flight master. It was far more than any number I'd ever seen in Alex's Org, and it was the middle of the night!


Trade channel was active with tells that were actually economy-related, and the LFG channel was active with PUGs even for Karazhan! Glum and I nearly shit ourselves at the thought. I'm still flabbergasted at the newness of it all. The differences are as wonderful as they were unimaginable to me before I re-rolled. Yeah, THAT big of a difference.


I guess the point of what I'm trying to get at is this. If you're thinking about re-rolling, and you have been for some time and are unhappy with the game and have been considering quitting because it's just not fun anymore, re-roll elsewhere. Don't transfer. Don't find a new guild. Don't start a new toon on your server. Re-roll. Nothing else will break the pattern of familiarity that has been plaguing your gaming experience. Start fresh. Start new. Re-roll, and enjoy the game again.

Oh, and as an aside, and because milestones are pretty exciting when you're starting with nothing, it's worth mentioning that we downed our first boss (Taragaman), cleared our first instance (RFC), and won our first WSG in dominant fashion in just the last couple of days! Oh, and we'll be hitting SFK this week and gearing our casters up big time. Well, for level 20-somethings anyway. =P Lol @ the fun of getting excited for stuff like this again... it's been way too long.


Re-rolling FTW. Change FTW. Fun FTW. FAIL FTW.

Another Episode of LOL

Sunday, July 29, 2007

And So It Begins...

The re-roll is on, and as you can see, Zy and I are totally dressed for the occasion...


We've got a nice little group going on so far, including some of the best players I've ever had the pleasure of playing with. A few of us were in vent early this morning chatting it up, and the consensus is that this is a great thing we have going on here. Everyone is uber excited. And for the first time in a while, I am too. =)

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Just a Little LOL

Lots of people have seemed rather down lately. It's like everyone is walking with a dark cloud over their head or something. Well, there's no therapy like laugh therapy, and here's a little bit for you, courtesy of Pearl Jam's Yellow Ledbetter and the Misheard Lyrics Guy. Enjoy. =)

Starting from Scratch

Talking with a tech from my ISP about recent and absurd issues I've been having with my connection, the topic of World of Warcraft somehow came up. I envisioned a room, much like the cold gray one he described himself sitting in, filled with cubicles and talking tech heads, all playing Warcraft as they "helped" their customers with net-related issues. It happens, apparently, far too often. "WoW is corrupting the minds of our youth and tech-savvy," he said. "We come to work to play WoW... how pathetic is that?" Been there, done that.

But the solid, incredibly fierce grip that this game has had on me has waned a bit. I find myself gasping for a breath of real life far more often lately. When I login to play, which is about as often as I punch myself in the nuts (yes, a couple times a day, apparently), I find myself with little to do. I am not actively doing anything with the guild anymore, and more and more, it feels like I am at a very bland party, sitting slumpishly in a corner all by myself, by choice, and desperately waiting for the opportunity to make at the door, unnoticed. These are good people though, and if I were to leave the guild they so kindly ninja-invited me to out of respect, I would at least owe them the honor of a reason and an apology, no matter how tempted I am to just walk away...

I am not enjoying this game, a trend that has seemed to drag on like a *insert random Alex Horde guild name here* raid, and recently, I decided it was time for a change. I headed over to my current server's Alliance and rolled a Human Warlock, who looks uncannily like Olympian Apollo Anton Ono. Unfortunately, he doesn't have Apollo's speed skating skills, and his leveling has been very slow going. I simply lack the time and the stamina that Jade has, for example, and I lack the luxury of having an established core of very close friends to run instances with as well, so I cannot see that toon hitting 70 anytime soon as a result. I've optimistically set Christmas as my target date, but we'll see what happens.

Not content with that simple change of scenery, I took it a step further and stepped outside of my emo-drama-ridden server. I rolled a Warlock (hey, it's all I really care to play, stfu) on Illidan to get some world PvP on, and to see exactly what the intelligent Zy and Six are always fussing and gushing about. I'm not sure that this specific toon will be leveled -- I'm not a huge fan of the Illidan server or the a-holes it consciously nurtures. I also haven't decided if I want the toon to be a member of the Alliance or Horde. My first, if not somewhat brash reaction was to roll an Undead 'lock for the sweetness that is Will of the Forsaken. But then I also thought about how I shouldn't choose a faction based on racials alone, and that I need to look at many more important variables before deciding what to roll and where to settle.

I'm new to this whole re-rolling thing, and since I never once thought that I would ever set aside the 'lock that has been my main for the past 1.6 years, I am completely in the dark about how to go about this, if not just a little dumbfounded. I'm not sure what to look for, how to approach it, or even how it will work out. It'll definitely be a learning experience, and tech support (read, you guys with experience doing this) will definitely come in handy. If I come away with anything useful, I'll be sure to let you guys know, in case some of you who haven't ventured elsewhere ever choose to make the journey yourselves.

Wish me luck. ;)

Six and Zy. Your thoughts?

Thursday, July 26, 2007

LFG Fix LFG Tool Pst Bliz

There's this bug... and I call it a bug because it just absolutely cannot be working as intended... that I've come across recently since picking up a new toon to level.

If you've ever used the LFG Tool that Bliz introduced in 2.0, you're probably familiar with it's less-than-stellar and somewhat clumsy user interface. Sure, it's a bit annoying, but when it works, it's worth putting up with. Unfortunately, given the nature of PuG groups and that 90%+ of them are destined to fail, we have to put up with the tool failing far too often. The bug comes into play during such an occasion.

When you are invited into a Party while using the tool, you are put into a queue that searches for more players for that one specific instance. However, if that Party happens to disband (for who knows what reason), you are not returned to the LFG status you set forth using the tool. Oh no. You're forgotten about. Completely. And you have to set it up all over again, that is, if you even remember to do so.

When this happens, time and time again as it so often does, it really, really gets on the nerves. It's totally no wonder why hardly anyone on my server uses the thing. It's totally broken.

Fix please. ASAP.

Kthx.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Post PTR Resilience Response

Now that the PTR has been out for a bit and players have had the opportunity to see Resilience's new effect on DoTS, what are they saying about it? Has the opinion of the majority changed?

"Given that the average damage reduction is dependent on crit chance and bonus in the first place, how can you hope to implement a flat damage reduction on DoTs without letting them crit?" - Lvl 70 Mage

"DoT's aren't out of control in PvP... DoT damage is constant, DoT damage is predictable, DoT damage is delayed." - Lvl 70 Druid

"My damage has taken a steep dive. My Shadow Word: Pain does much less damage than the stated 10% reduction Blizzard stated it would have against heavy Resil. I'm depending on casts with cooldowns and channeled spells now for damage. I mean why even bother trying?" - Lvl 70 Priest

"Currently 8 of 13 Battlegroups have active Warlocks in their Rank 1 2v2 arena. If this does not completely derail [the topic of] this thread, I don't know what does." -Lvl 70 Mage

"Yeah, cause those 30 second dots really kick your ass when the arena match is over 15 seconds after casting them on you, due to OMGWTFMSCRITEXECUTE I hear dots are deadly when that scoreboard is covering your screen." - Lvl 70 Warlock

"I think I see where Bliz is going with this change. Expect our Talent trees to merge into two branches in the near future. They will be called "PvP" and "PvE" and will emphasize the one-dimensional play the game seems to want from it's players. It'll not longer be about doing both, but one over the other." - Lvl 70 Warrior


Now, in all fairness, the PTR is bugged and the effect Resilience has on DoTS is a little higher than it should be, but from what these and other reactions are telling me, there's still a lot of resentment in the air.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

This Week on the Warlock Forums

Ahhh, Sunday. The day to relax, sleep in, take a long shower, walk around the house in your boxers (or panties if that's your kind of thing), play a little WoW, and catch up on all the good-non-sense that's going down on the Warlock forums.

This week, we get a little fashion advice from Zentel on Cho'gall. He points Affliction Warlocks to a t-shirt he found on the Buckle-B website, pictured to the right. Now, I'm all for fashion advice and tips on what's hawt, and this little number may appeal to some of you Warlocks out there, but you wouldn't catch me in this, not even on my worst days. And zomg, for almost 50 bucks, you can do so much better! Zentel, I hope your 'locking is better than your fashion sense, bud!


Moving on... Ceallac on Arygos asks how Warlocks can make their pets tell jokes. Yup, with all of the nerf talk we get and the important changes to Resilience that are upcoming in the next patch, Ceallac just wants to hear his pets tell jokes. Hmm, and some 'locks wonder why people think we're spoiled...


Next, we have Ishamael from Detheroc asking a question that has been asked since the dawn of the 41-pt talent tree: UA vs. Ruin? Well, Ish, I've specced both 41/0/20 and 40/0/21, and I can tell you this. UA is great for instances where there are off-tanked mobs and what not, but that's where it stops. If a Warlock specced for Ruin has 2 Shadow Bolts crit within 18 seconds, he has out-dps'd his UA counterpart, assuming both are near 1000 damage. Why is this the case, when most damage calculators put UA over Ruin? BECAUSE THEY DON'T TAKE INTO ACCOUNT EXTRA CRIT DAMAGE DURING THE IMPROVED SHADOWBOLT BUFF, NOR DO THEY CONSIDER NIGHTFALL PROC CRITS. There's your answer.

Then we have an embarrassing moment for "old school Warlock" Pzykotic of Llane, and surprisingly, it has nothing to do with his name. Pzy asks "old school 'locks" like himself: "with the countless nerfs we have received, what improvements can you think of?" When someone says "Conflag," Pzy answers "when was Conflag buffed?" Old school indeed.

Finally, we have a Lvl 13 Mage named Slayn on Laughing Skull, who asks that Warlocks get nerfed so he can get to treasure chests. Sorry Slayn. If you want booty, roll a Warlock. We get all the booty. It's that simple.

See ya'll on the forums next week. ;)

Saturday, July 21, 2007

"Epic" Gems?

You know that feeling you get when you're in a 5-man instance and an epic item drops? I swear it's enough to send some people back to a time before puberty, the way the squeak and squeal. The almost immediate reaction is usually one of surprise. "Oh shit!" and "Ohhhhh!" are common ones I see in Party chat or hear in Vent. Sure, no one has even really looked at the item's stats just yet, but it's a RARE, and to most people, purple automatically means uber.

Yeah, not so much. Especially when considering epic gems.

The first time I had an epic gem drop, I was in a Heroic group with some old realm buddies of mine. We all saw the purple letters and reacted as expected. "Oooooh. Ahhhhh." It was the Potent Fire Opal, a spell damage and spell crit gem. Everyone but my Mage buddy and myself had passed, and we spent some time talking it over. The conversation went a little something like this.

Mage: Wow. That's pretty hot.

Me: Yeah, it's definitely nice. Do you need it?

Mage: I'm not sure. I am stocked with Potent Noble Topaz gems, and those only have 1 less Spell Damage and 1 less Spell Crit. Do you need it?

Me: It'd be nice, but I definitely don't NEED it. I'm completely happy with all the Potent Flame Spessarite gems I have. An extra 2 points will hardly matter.

Mage: lol, this is sad.

Me: What? That an epic gem is hardly an upgrade for a crafted green?

Mage: Pretty much.

Me: I can see how several of these may be slightly significant, but really, how often are we going to see someone with several?

Mage: Rarely.

Me: Exactly. I don't need it. You should take it for the crit since I'm an Affliction 'lock.

Mage: Sure, pawn it off on me so you can guilt me into taking a different epic.

Me: /wink


We were sooo disappointed with what we had found. The gem, as is the case with most epic gems, is hardly "epic" in nature. Adding one point to a couple of stats compared to a regularly available blue gem is just not all that significant. And sadly to say, even after months and months of seeing and hearing similar perspectives on the matter, Bliz hasn't done much to make these items any better.

Kinda de-values purple text, if you ask me. Now give me a +20 Spell Damage gem and change my mind. ;)

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Broken Orange Condom

Warlocks have a problem. You see, there's this socially-accepted anti-'lock mindset that has formed from all of that "overpowered" and "nerf" talk out there. You know what I'm talking about, right? If Warlocks complain about a weakness of theirs, everyone else calls them spoiled, tells them to stop QQ'ing, and their complaints are ignored as a result.

For the most part, that's exactly what should happen. There is VERY LITTLE wrong with the Warlock class at this point, so much of the crying is indeed completely baseless. But, that's not ALWAYS the case. What happens when there is something truly wrong that needs attention? What do we do then? For example, what of the issue of the broken orange condom?

If you know a little about the Warlock class, you're probably familiar with the Succi and Seduce. If you're not, it's not nearly as hawt as it sounds, so don't run off and reroll just yet. Seduce is a crowd-control spell that the Succi can cast on one humanoid target at a time. It's very useful in 1-on-1 PvP; "See. Seduce. Smash." is how one Warlock once described it. Back in the day, I used to plant my Succi on the ramp in WSG, Seduce incoming targets, and greet them with a "berserked" Soul Fire / Shadowburn combo that was enough to kill many. Those were good times.

Yeah yeah, nerf nerf, stfu.

But unfortunately for the 'lock, such control comes at a price. The trade off for the ability to mess with another's mojo is that the Succubus is essentially a wet paper bag in a sexy disguise. She is 2-to-3-shotted easliy, and when she's gone, so is Seduce. This creates a very serious problem if the Warlock is in a PvE CC role where Seduce is the 'lock CC of choice. This is especially the case in heroic instances where Succubi seem to be 1-shotted by as little as an NPC's fart.

Fearing, the other 'lock CC, generally isn't the first option in many cases because it is a very high-maintenance and chaotic CC that sends the inflicted NPC running (oh please don't run into that group, oh please don't run into that group, etc.) and creates the potential that other groups will aggro, causing a wipe (oh shit, why did you run into that group!). Sure, 'locks can control Feared mobs with CoR, but doing so is usually at the expense at must DPS, which may not be a smart thing in many situations. Also, with multiple Fears, things can get ugly very quickly. So, when the Succubus dies and seduce breaks, not much can uber-effectively be done about it, and things can go to shit very, very quickly. And oh, how quickly people point fingers and cry.

In the last Mech pick-up group I was in, I was given CC duties over a Mage that didn't want to sheep because "it lowers DPS." Whatever. I just wanted my stinkin' badges. Bye bye Heroic-friendly Imp. Hello crowd-pleasing Succubus.

After about 20 mins of AFKs, we get started. "Jag," (I hate it when people call me that) "you're the orange condom."

"Thanks sweetie."

The first pull went as expected. Lots of DPS. Lots of of tank aggro. It was a clean, almost textbook quasi-wipe (I had made it out of the instance). F'n brilliant I tells ya. The Warrior tank CHARGED into the group of 3 Blood Elf NPCs on the left. The Rogue follows, drawing the robot patrol. "Oh god." I cast Seduce, which is immediately broken by the now dead Warrior's AoE.

Yes, the DEAD Warrior. The Succi and Rogue quickly followed.

Apparently, the Priest was too busy putting Shadow Word: Pain on everything to heal, and in a Heroic, that means a quick death. I cast Exhaustion on the Elves, booked it towards the entrance and made it out alive, only to be greeted by "What happened to Seduce?" on the other side of the loading screen. /sigh

Now, broken condoms are never a good thing. They lead to pain, stress, unforeseen expenses, and many unplanned sleepless nights. When they happen because of idiocy, they can at least be explained, and hell, are maybe even deserved. However, not all broken condoms happen that way.

Yes, some are due to too much friction and not enough lubrication. Been there, done that. But what about the others? You know, the "wth, now that's just lame" breaks that we are oh so familiar with...

In my experience as a Warlock, I've noticed that Seduce breaks early very regularly compared to most other CC's. Now, this might be my imagination or I'm just missing the true cause of the break (AoE, accidental damage to either the Succi or the Seduced, etc.). Whatever be the case, the viability of Seduce as a serious form of CC, especially in end-game, should definitely be considered.

Think about it. Seduce is one of two CCs in the game (if you even want to count Mind Control) that can be broken by hitting a target other than the CC'd NPC. In group PvP, this renders it almost useless.

Strike 1.

Hitting the Succubus pretty much kills it, almost immediately in Heroics and some PvP situations. No other CC'ing class has a problem quite like that, because if they are attacked, they are usually given healing priority, whereas 'lock pets are usually ignored. I can hear Mages, Priests, Hunters, and Rogues laughing at the thought.

Strike 2.

While Mages and Priests can re-Sheep and re-Shackle before their initial CC's expire, Succubi can't re-seduce during an active Seduce cast. The charm has to break first, and only then can Seduce be cast again. This is something that can be dealt with in most instances, but in Heroics and PvP, it's quite underpowered.

Strike 3.

You're out.

Oh, and they cost a shard to summon every time. And when they die as easily as they do, well, that's a lot of shards.

You're out, twice.

Okay, so you know, maybe I'm exaggerating a little about a few issues that aren't really that big a deal. I usually don't have problems when CC'ing with my Succubus, and I haven't heard many complaints about their weaknesses, to be honest. But I also don't see many Warlocks using their Succi all that often. And given the fact that Warlocks instigate very negative reactions when they complain about anything, maybe passivity is just how the class has decided to deal with it. Perhaps that's the strongest argument of all that Succubi require some much needed attention...

...cause lord knows the last thing we need is another broken condom on our hands.

Monday, July 16, 2007

All for a Tabard

I know I said I would stay away from personal-type posts, but this is kinda funny and worth mentioning. I woke up a bit ago to my wife giggling to herself and found that she has not only left the guild we are in, but has already joined up with our old guild (Prom Kings) just for the Pink Heart Tabard. Seriously, what the hell are you all doing while I'm asleep?!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

The WoW Balance

Back when I was in college, I found many different potential ways to approach my studies. I could study extra hard, overload my class schedule, put a lot of time in, and move forward at a rapid pace. I could take the the bare minimum required number of units, study infrequently, and take a bit longer to finish my degree. I could balance my class schedule to keep me challenged but also, keep me from going insane. Or I could take a bunch of courses friends had already taken, borrow their old exams, and ride my way through college on their coattails. Each approach would eventually get me to where I wanted to be, but each would offer me varying experiences to come away with, not to mention that each would speak greatly about the kind of person that I truly am. Now that I've graduated and have worked for a while, I'm glad I chose the route I did - one of balance.

WoW is pretty much the same kind of environment. You have people playing their hearts out, trying to excel through their own efforts. You have other people that are more casual, taking things as they are and trying to enjoy it without worry of their rate of progression. And then you have people that don't care for the path and just want the prize, not really caring about how they get it, as long as they can equip it sooner rather than later.

As one's approach said much about them in the college environment, so too does it say much about them here. I'll leave you to figure out what kinds of character traits would lead individuals to choose one approach over another. Just be sure to keep them in mind when you're walking your own path. Keep it balanced. Your reputation will thank you later. ;)

Fear Response

My wife was running Glitz around Hellfire Peninsula yesterday evening doing the Hellfire Fortification quest. She's never really found herself in a world PvP situation, so she really didn't know what to expect and took it very lightly. After capturing the first two targets without a problem, she headed to the Stadium where she found a Lvl 62 Gnome Warlock, flagged, and sitting on his Dreadstead. Seeing her screen, I jump out of my seat and dart across the room to the computer. "Go go go. Don't let him get a fear off!"

She froze. Her hands hovered above the keyboard motionless, as if the 'lock wouldn't see her if she didn't move. Her eyes grew large as if she had seen a ghost, and her pupils dilated, turning blue into black. Psychologists call this the "fear response," a natural reaction to threatening stimuli. How appropriate.

The 'lock dropped off of his mount and began chain-fearing Glitz. The wife started waving her hands over the keyboard as if someone had just lit them on fire. "What do I do?!" she screamed. "I can't do anything!" The Warlock cast Fear again, before his first had even broken. Glitz took Resurrection Sickness shortly after... /sigh

Fear. Probably the most frustrating and annoying spell in the entire game of WoW. It can be chained, you take damage while affected, and you really have no idea when it is going to break, assuming that it will before your toon meets the Spirit Guide. You run around, helplessly losing life, and can do nothing about it. Well, at least that's what the QQ'ing majority would have you believe.

As we waited for Glitz's Res Sickness to wear off, we talked about what she could have done differently. We talked about PvP trinkets that break Fear, catching the Warlock with DoTS and damage before and between his Fear casts, bubbling and healing through DoTS, making the Warlock Lifetap himself to death, using Silence, Arcane Torrent, and all the other things most people don't apply properly, leading to death by DoT'd Fear. "Show me how to do it." she says. Gotta love her attitude.

I took Glitz back to the scene of the crime. A different Warlock (Lvl 64, Demonology spec) was running around outside of The Outlook, flagged, and ready to go. I flagged up again, bubbled, Silenced the 'lock, and preceded to kick his ass. A SW:Pain here, a Mind Blast there, then an Arcane Torrent and Psychic Scream into a chain of Mind Flays that was topped off by a SW:D. The Warlock didn't get to cast a single Fear. I dropped out of Shadow and healed through what DoTS I couldn't remove. The wife was floored.

"So, you just keep them Silenced and beat them to casting Fear?"

"Well, in a Shadow Priest's case, yeah, I guess."

"And others have different ways to do it?"

"Yup. Pretty much."

"So anyone can beat a Warlock..."

Congrats babe, you just figured out what 90% of the WoW population has yet to realize. All you have to do is respond to Fear, the right way. ;)

Saturday, July 14, 2007

This Week on the Warlock Forum

Some posts on the Warlock forum that caught my eye this week:

Dear Warlocks

A Lvl35 Paladin shows up to talk about how Soul-Linked Warlocks almost always admit that they are overpowered, and then asks that all racials be disabled during arena matches. Best response so far?
This is stupid.

So say you disable racials. But then gnomes have the advantage! They're smaller, harder to target and harder to see. A tauren is a heck of a lot easier to target. So all players will then have to be scaled so they'd be same in size, so nobody would have the advantage. Imagine a gnome as tall as the hight elf? Big fatass sumo gnome. Is that what you want you pervert?!
Hey, if what people want is a 100% equal playing field, that's bound to happen. And while we're at it, lets just give everyone the same exact stats, abilities, and balance latency individually. Maybe that'll make people that lose realize they just need more practice or to learn more about class weaknesses instead of complaining about "over-powered" abilities all the time.

Warlocks, are you guys serious?

A Lvl 70 Rogue complains that he was dotted with 4 DoTS, at which point he flew away on his mount and was forced to land at 25% to use his Cloak of Skill Shadows to remove all of the remaining DoTS, instantly. I'm sure that makes even mediocre Rogues laugh a little. And a Lvl 70 Rogue responds...
The fact that you are even suggestion you get killed by locks 1v1 means you yourself are a fvcking joke. GTFO and come back when you learn to play YOUR class. Fvcking idiot.
Spelling issues aside, this guy knows what he's talking about. I mean, the guy REMOVED ALL DOTS at the click of a single button, pretty much ignored the fact that he could stun lock anyone to at least half health, and proceeded to complain anyway. And these are the guys Bliz is listening to...

If you can't tell me this is op


This post is so epic, I'm just gonna quote it.
Im a priest and i get the jump on a warlock, he sends his felgaurd on me and i get stunned for a second, THEN he dots me up, unstable affliction included. So i dispell it (i can heal what ever i lost from the dispell) and guess what? I get crit for 4000. I have no idea how a dot can suddenly turn into a nuke if dispelled this is utter BS. good going blizz
Yeah, uhuh, I love my 41/41/0 spec as well.

Those three posts are pretty much a good representation of what you'll find on the 'lock forums. Crying, whining, and straight up lying. Lesson to be taken? Warlocks aren't overpowered. Lots of players (including many 'locks) simply suck. >=)

Loading the Fab

I just saw the loading screen image to the new Zul'Aman raid instance, and all I can say is, homo-erotica a little? I mean, just look at that burly troll. If his nakedness and posture doesn't scream "entrance around back," I don't know what the hell does. And those giant horns/tusks of his... need I say more about them? It gets me wondering about what's on the other side of that screen. Is it an end-game instance or a fabulous new club in San Francisco?

Friday, July 13, 2007

Blizzard Sued for Server Recommendations

I received my monthly E-Trade newsletter this morning, and as I was skimming through the pages looking for something interesting to read, the words "Blizzard" and "lawsuit" caught my eye. Turns out, the big boys over at Bliz are getting their arses sued for something I have totally joked about in the past: the recommendation system.

Vivendi Universal Faces Class Action Dispute

A lawsuit naming Blizzard Entertainment, premiere publisher of video game software and division of Vivendi Universal ('V'), was filed late Thursday evening in California's Orange County district Superior Court. [...] District Attorney Harold Wells accuses the company of false advertising and malicious business practices involving its popular online video game World of Warcraft. [...] Wells and the 227 subscribers he represents allege that Blizzard Entertainment knowingly profits through deception, recommending servers that do not provide the gaming experience the company advertises, then charging a fee when players choose to transfer elsewhere. [...] Neither Blizzard Entertainment nor Viviendi Universal representatives could be reached for comment. Vivendi Universal stock rose 1.64 points after close on Thursday.


So if I got this right, a bunch of players have filed a class action lawsuit against Blizzard for recommending them to a server, and then charging them money when they felt that server didn't hold true to the claims Bliz advertised about the quality of the WoW experience. As outrages as it sounds, these guys might actually be on to something. I mean, there are no guarantees Bliz makes about the gaming experience or anything, sure. But if the plaintiffs can prove that the recommendation system is flawed in an obvious way that even Bliz can't deny, and that Bliz recommends specific servers (low population, etc) knowing that a good number of players will likely and eventually want to transfer from them via a paid transfer, then ya, that's pretty underhanded. Oh, and by the way, I'm totally burning time atm, and none of this is true whatsoever. Tricked ya, yeah? The whole thing almost seems that it could really happen, especially when thinking about Alexstrasza and all of the "man this server sucks" threads on the realm's forums. Hmm, maybe someone should kick Bliz's ass on the matter, eh? Lord knows they deserve it.

/gavelftw

Thursday, July 12, 2007

New Mount

Holy crap. That's pretty much all I have to say about the new Spectral Tiger Mount. Unfortunately, it's only available through the upcoming "Fires of Outland" TCG expansion pack, and since I'm not a nerd, I won't be buying a single deck. Nope. Not even for a shot at one of these freakingly hawt rides. I'll buy mine on eBay. That's right. eBayin' like all the other cool, angry jocks that play WoW. You hear that, nerds? Angry athletic folk are looking for the Spectral Tigers, so you better put those mounts on eBay or we'll break your glasses into two, smash your precious science projects all over the cafeteria floor, and hang you from the basketball rim by your non-designer shorts. Got it? Good.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Mono-game-ous

When 1up visited Blizzard Studios in Irvine, CA, they had the opportunity to sit down with some of the crew members behind the game's design and ask them some questions. As tempting it must have been for them to ask the questions you and I would ask, like "CAN I BE A GM?! PLEEAASSE!!!!" or maybe "How about some gold? Free items? Umm, how about naming an end-game boss after me? Oh #$%^ you guys," they kept it pretty professional and got some very interesting dialogue going on.

One of the topics 1up editor Luke Smith initiated was the idea that World of Warcraft makes players gaming monogamous, playing WoW exclusively and giving no time whatsoever to any other game while involved. When he asked the Bliz boys if they were mono-game-ous, he was greeted with a list of games that the guys enjoy alongside WoW, which included Gears of War, Guitar Hero II, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Crackdown, God of War II, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Civ 4, and Viva Pinata. It makes sense that they do, I guess. Afterall, when you serve coffee all day long, the last thing you wanna do when you get home is drink a bunch of it. Variety is good in that sense, so why do so many people limit themselves to just this one game?


Okay, so maybe a bunch of half-naked gnomes aren't the answer...

Thankfully, Smith asked that question of the Bliz boys as well (he really didn't pull any punches, which is quite admirable), and their response was, surprisingly enough, quite philosophical. Basing their reasoning in classical conditioning, they stated that gamers seem conditioned to play games as if each game has an ending, and get into a mode that leads to a "just wanna finish, wanna finish, wanna finish" mentality. Games like WoW, however, are like the internet and never truly end, so they must be treated as such. The key, they stated, was playing the game casually to leave time for other things. "WoW will be there tomorrow, and the next day... try to play other things." Funny coming from the guy who just admitted to having planned "Lunchtime Runs." WoW > Food, apparently.

But if we truly need to play WoW "casually to leave time for other things," and "WoW is like the internet," that naturally leads to Smith's next and maybe most important question. "Where the hell is the porn?"

Okay, that's not the question (maybe next time), but he did ask where they are in their own WoW travels. Ironically enough, it seems that those who can "create 100 Onyxias and kill them all in one blow" are happily raiding Karazhan on their anonymous toons, which are intermingled in the general WoW population. It definitely creates for some interesting times, they say. "Nothing like having a raid leader explain the mechanics of a boss encounter to you that you know aren't in the game." Lol at that.

/offtopic

Oh, and incase you were wondering. Onyxia's "Deep Breath" is a totally random attack that has nothing to do with DPS or player positions and what not. I know it's old material, but it's still funny as hell to learn about it considering all of the times my old guild was yelled at by our GM for just those things. Lol at that too. =P

/ontopic

Another very interesting topic of discussion that kind of encompassed the mono-gaming issue was the concept of the frapsing culture and why it has become so addicting and popular. The Bliz guys apparently pinpoint the birth of said culture to a guild named Conquest, whose members were banned for questionable methods while raiding MC and AQ40 back in the day. Their way of getting back at Bliz was to publish all of their strategies via text and video (to force Bliz's hand, I guess), and through their massive efforts at doing so, they created a new trend where it was not only required to get the world first, but to get that first, publish it and the strats, and claim it all as your own as others soaked it up to do the encounter "your way" themselves. This takes incredible amounts of time and dedication, obviously, and feeds the need to play WoW above all else, leaving little time for anything outside of Azeroth and Outland.

What it came down to, and I think Smith caught on quickly to this, was that the game's design maintains the "must play, must play, must play" behavior. Blizzard puts a lot of thought and effort into their game to keep people playing as long as possible, and while they didn't openly admit to helping to maintain addictions in their interview, they did give a glimpse at the grandiosity of their methods when discussing Naxx, one of the most respected raid instances (if not THE most) in the entire game. It's design began before WoW was even released, and the attention to detail resulted in a "very polished product and experience." Polished like a rock, if you know what I mean.

The basic question I came away with from the piece was how much time do I, and really, all of us, give to other games or activities, outside of WoW. I go running with my puppies, mountain bike, play Wii titles with the wife (who also plays WoW), and try to "play" outdoors as much as possible. Yet, I find myself playing the game for hours a day, and even sometimes, most of my waking hours. So I guess it comes down to personal choice and level of self-control.

With that in mind, ask yourself what your WoW habits are. What kind of WoW gamer are you? Are you a die-hard mono-game-ist or a hardcore poly-game-ist (read "filthy gaming whore")? Leave your comment and let us know what's on your list and why. Maybe it'll help us to better understand why so many people leave little time for games other than World of Warcraft...


...well, for reasons aside from that one. =)

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Why We Play

Every single one of us, at one point or another, has wondered why we continue to spend countless amounts of time sitting infront of our computer screen playing World of Warcraft. The experience isn't always fun, and yet, through all of the nerfs, drama, and the ever so epic patch changes, we're all still here. Beyond the addiction of WoW and personal social pressures that keep us living in Azeroth, there is buried an answer to the question of why we play. I'd get into it here, but Ferraro, one of Alexstrasza's most loved Paladins, just did a pretty damn good job of explaining it in her blog's inaugural post. It's totally epic and I think she answers the question very well. Head over there and check it out. It's definitely worth the read.

Monday, July 9, 2007

WoW on the iPhone

What do you get when you combine the greatest game of all time with the most anticipated and hyped gadget ever made? The most incredible mobile gaming experience imaginable! The most frustratingly WoW experience ever concocted by mankind. Check out this vid to see what I'm talking about:


It's not quite Wow on the iPhone, and not quite how I imagined it would be, but it is, kinda. Make sense? Not for me either, but it is quite the tease. Here's to hoping that this gets cleaned up a little and turns into something great. ;)

Sunday, July 8, 2007

New Title, New Approach

So, the other day, when I first brought up the title of the blog, I realized that if anyone who didn't know me or that didn't play WoW on Alexstrasza were to visit this site, that they would be very put off by the prospect of reading about my "private parts." I decided it needed to change, and after much thought, the new title is "Warlock Therapy." Good enough, yeah? Not too scary, and maybe even a little inviting? I mean, if I read that, I'd be like "wth does that mean... /reads more." Hopefully it'll lead others to do the same. =)

Oh, and with the new title I think I'm going to take a slightly new approach to the whole posting thing. Instead of being uber personal to Alex, I think more general topics would be more appealing. I mean, who the hell wants to read about drama on a specific server, and a crappy one at that? Not many, is my guess.

So there ya have it. And before I forget, I need a new subtitle. Get to thinking and commenting pls. Thanks a bunch. =)

47 Computers, 7 Monitors, 2 Chairs, 0 Real Friends

Back in the day, I thought I was pretty special when I used to play WoW on three seperate systems all at once. I ran one desktop and two laptops, and while "special" probably isn't the word I should use to describe it, the setup was definitely overkill a bit. So, imagine my shock when I read up on a guy who runs WoW on 47 computers and 7 monitors! I mean, that's just a power-leveling beast if I ever saw one, and since the setup includes 2 chairs, he can even bring along one of his Chinese gold-farming friends to help with the endless grinding.

Here's a pic of the rig, and the 0 real friends he has to enjoy it with. =P


Crazy, yes? Looking at the pic, I'm not even exactly sure what the hell is going on or even if it's legit. But it must be. I mean, someone who has the patience and skill to line up all of those WoW boxes like that has to be a master of networking, am I right?

/inadequacy ftl

Saturday, July 7, 2007

All It Would Take

I stumbled across a pretty interesting article today. It pretty much highlights (very briefly) what all tech-loving gamers already know: the Apple iPhone is incredibly lacking when it comes to gaming, but also that it would seemingly make for a wonderful gaming platform. I mean, just look at the thing. It has a wonderful touch-sensitive widescreen, is Wi-Fi capable, has a pretty decent processing engine, and is TINY. What else could one really ask for in a mobile gaming platform?

I haven't jumped onto the iPhone bandwagon just yet, but for me, gaming would be all it would take. I mean, can you even imagine...


O.O

Friday, July 6, 2007

Rules

With all the group issues I've had recently, including my own disconnects, I got to thinking about group etiquette and the ideal approach a player should take when joining or leaving a party. It's not really something that's ever talked about. I mean, there's the tip at the WoW loading screen that suggests players treat one another well for grouping purposes, but really, that's all I ever see or hear about the matter. And given the lack of social awareness out there, I'm thinking we need more. Much more.

Here are the rules I hold myself to:

1) When looking to join or am invited to a group, I consider the time I have available, the length of the run, and I let the group know whether or not I can stay for a full clear BEFORE the run actually begins (and even before joining the Party).

2) When I join a group and have established how long I can stay, I plan on staying that amount of time. No bones about it.

3) if something comes up, I tell the group at the first sign of the potential that I may have to leave early so we can get started on finding a replacement asap.

4) I (as in, me, myself) put a great deal of effort into finding a replacement, and I try not to leave until one is found.

5) I apologize. Walking out of a commitment or responsibility affects others, so acting like it's no big deal is selfish and incredibly asinine.

6) When disconnected, I do whatever I can to get back online asap. I hate being left to wait, so I wouldn't wish that upon anyone else. Once, I even drove to a coffee shop to hook up to WiFi to let the group know I couldn't be back.

7) On multiple disconnects, I treat it as if I have to leave the group early and start looking for a replacement asap.

That's pretty much all I can think of atm... not because there isn't anything else, but because I'm out of the drinkie and am going to take a little trip. If you have any other rules of behavior or codes of honor that you play by, please let me know. I'd love to compile a list for the realm forums, cause lord knows, our realm needs it. ;)

Peace.

D/C'ing

I was very sure that my internet connection had stabilized after I had spent hours on the phone with tech support yesterday. We did a few tweaks on both ends and boom, I was up and running and didn't drop once. Earlier today, however, and during a most un-opportunistic time, my connection failed, and I was back to D/C'ing again.

To Scorn/Deathcrawl and the other members of RA that were in the Heroic Mech run, I totally apologize for the disconnects. I should have warned you guys after the first one, and lord knows I tried to login again after the second one to let you guys know to find a replacement, but it was to no avail. Again, my apologies, and I hope you were all able to finish your run.

I am still unable to access my own connection at this moment and am back to leeching from a neighbor. Sooo frustrated at this point. FIOS can't come soon enough.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Optimislm FTL

Every once in a while, both in-game and out, I come across individuals that just make me laugh and shake my head a little. For example, today, in class, there was a student that started talking on his cellphone in the middle of lecture. And this wasn't just your average /whisper "Yeah, I'll call you back. Bye." conversation. It was a full on "Hey! How are you? Good! I'm in class at the moment. How's everyone doing over there?" Etc. Even after I brought the lecture and slides to a complete halt, he kept going. Even after making eye-contact with me, he kept going. He finally got up and left after a half-minute or so (felt like an eternity), and yes, I laughed a little, lowered my head, and shook it a little.

Little did I know it would happen again a many hours later, in Heroic Mech. I joined a PuG group led by Cullixkilla, an old PvP bud of mine that I came to know during my days with Onyx. Stonemaiden was in the group, which is never a good thing no matter what group your with or what instance you're in, but I went along with it. "Who knows?" I thought to myself. "Maybe he won't act like the jackass he is."

Optimism FTL.

After 3 quick wipes, 2 of which were on the mini-bosses and at 5% of their health or less, Stone dropped Party. No word. No explanation. No warning. No replacement. Just gone. Again, knowing what I know about Stone, I just laughed, lowered my head, and shook it a little. "Such a lack of self-awareness." I thought. I mean, wouldn't he know his reputation suffers by acting the way he does. Surely enough, as soon as he dropped, talk of his very low DPS took center stage in Party chat, as did his lack of etiquette and respect. Well deserved, imho.

Oh, and btw, that student who was talking on his phone during lecture. He apologized to me after class for his rudeness and disrespectful behavior.

Still waiting on you, Mr. Military.

/laugh

/shakeshead

Just Not Worth It

Logging into Alexstrasza Horde-side is like walking into a severely under-active pool hall, and while there are a few people playing there, they can't break for shit, and lord knows they can never pull off a combo. I logged into the realm today and saw the absence of activity everywhere I looked. /who Karazhan. 1 guild run. /who Gruul's. Nobody. I slash-who'd a number of other places only to find a fraction of what would be found on healthy servers. Hell, even RA seems to have lost a great deal of it's steam lately. The other day, I noticed Crusher and Raeka in Shadowmoon Valley together, sans any other member of RA. Might have something to do with it? History says "yes," but I digress.

While this may sound strange, Alex's inactivity has been rather refreshing lately. There's no pressure to login, no stress when I D/C, no problem when I can't make a raid etc. In all reality, it makes enjoying the game much easier for me, and I dig that. I can't imagine feeling like I HAVE TO login again. That was such a terrible feeling, and if I transferred off of this server, that's probably how I would find myself feeling again. That is why I chose to stay vs. hitting up end-game in the big time. It's just not worth it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm not going anywhere anytime soon with my toon. I'm happy how things are going now and want to continue enjoying the game for what it is (a game) and not for what it shouldn't be (a job). So, yeah, maybe I'll be missing out on some great content and gear, but I'd rather play pool on my terms than on someone else's. It's just better that way.

/scratch

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

More Leeching

July 4, my only day off from the work week in all of July. So, naturally, I slept in a little, had a good, unrushed breakfast, took my dogs for a walk, and when I got back in, checked my internet connection (down from yesterday) for some potential WoWage. Huzzah, a connection.

I logged in with the 'lock and picked up an Orb of Deception for some coinage. Good start. I logged in with Glitz who has been sitting at Lvl 61 for a while for some much needed XP-age. I got rolling on a few quests, when, "sputzzz." Disconnected. I logged back in and kept going. About 30 minutes later... another disconnect. I was again able to log back in, so I kept questing, hoping the instability would pass. I got to talking with Jade for a bit and then d/c'd again. Then again. Then again. Then a 6th time almost immediately after logging back in. After that... nothing. My modem isn't syncing, and I'm back to more leeching. Not so independent, is it...

So, I'm gonna go act like the old man that I am and take a nap. Happy 4th everyone. ;)

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Leeching

After days and even weeks of experiencing disconnects and an overall unstable internet connection, the signal finally went "sputzzzzz...." sometime today while I was at work. I've spent about an hour on the phone with tech support trying to figure out what's going on, and after being "elevated" to peeps who actually know what they are doing, I am still disconnected, waiting for a callback from Verizon (the actual ISP), and leeching my neighbor's Wi-Fi to make this post and check on my FIOS order. Fun, huh.

Hope you're all having a good night. ;)

Down

After way too many attempts, what seemed like 10,000 infernals, and way, way too many bad placements, we finally had a lucky run against the Prince, and even with me watching for Infernals (zomg!), we were able to down him before server reset. Good times. =)

Grats to Equinox. Nightbane and Gruul's this next week. XD

Monday, July 2, 2007

My New Build

I've been thinking a lot about my spec lately, give that I will probably just be using the Warlock for raids or to help the wife with mundane quests and what not (as in, logging in to clear an area for her, then logging out so she can have free reign there, etc). I don't see myself PvP'ing much, at least not at the current time. So, I'm thinking that Stamina isn't as important as it would be otherwise. Therefore, I'm relocating all of my pro-Stam points from the Demonology Tree and placing them in talents that will up my DPS directly -- Contagion and Ruin.

Here's a LINK to the build, incase you want the details.

There are a few variations that I will likely play around with on the PTR sometime this week, but as a basic outline of how things will end up looking, the 40/0/21 backbone is pretty much it.

Bye bye Demonic Aegis. You'll be missed. =(

Degrees F

Ahh, Southern California in the Summer. The current temp in my area is 103 degrees F, which is miserably hot if you're not in a swimming pool or standing totally naked in-front of an A/C vent or something. And along with the sweltering misery comes all sorts of other good stuff. Fire danger is definitely an issue, and fire trucks and water-dropping helicopters and airplanes are all over the place today. Then there's the seriously bad-for-you smog that gets so much worse on uber hot days like this. Just to give ya an idea of how bad the smog is, I can't see the mountains that are just a 15 min drive from my house. It's actually pretty disgusting.

But more annoying than all of those things combined is the constant dropping internet connection. It has gone down four times since I arrived home this afternoon, and of course, Verizon is blaming the weather. Meh, annoying. But, on a positive note, I am upgrading to a fiber optic connection this week, so that should brighten things up a bit.

Unfortunately, the FIOS connection is also through Verizon, so we'll see just how much things will actually change on the satisfaction front. I need to have constant email access now that I'm going to have students communicating with me regularly, so for me, aside from the whole "zomg WoW withdrawal" thing, it's a pretty big deal. And since when did the Internets have to run inside to grab a bottle of sunscreen and a cool martini? WTB a working, constant connection, kthx.

Oh, and tomorrow, it's supposed to be 107 degrees F. Yay.

Immediate Reaction

So, I just got in from my new job a bit ago, and just to let ya know how things went on my first day as a prof, I'm sitting at my desk right now with two bottles of Ginger Beer and a metro sandwich of some sort (piadini?). I had to just veg a little after the chaos of being in a lecture hall. My god. The other side of the classroom is truly a scary position indeed.

During the first class of the day, I introduced myself, had to explain my age and background, twice, and somehow got started on the topic of World of Warcraft (shocker, I know). There was an immediate reaction.

The jocks, punk-rockers, philosophy-wannabes, and hot girls all looked at me like I was a weird-ass (the kind of look I used to give... wtf). The Asians became totally interested in what I had to say all of a sudden, as if I couldn't teach them anything before but was now (all of a sudden) a source of enlightenment. Some tech geeks started rolling their eyes (stupid Alliance players fo' sho') while others grined menacingly (for the Horde), and the older people in the room must have thought I was talking about real witchcraft or something because they looked both confused and incredibly frightened at the same time.

Of course, I was there to talk about Psychology, not WoW, but the connection between the two are easy and we ended my introduction to the class talking about addictions, behavior modification, and classic reinforcement, punishment, etc. A connection was made, and it ended up working out very well. But oh my damn the pressure... question after question after question, and man was it tiring.

Glad that the first day is done and I can prep for the familiar instead of the unknown. But tonight, Glitz hits 62. I can feel it. ;)

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Again Tomorrow

Tonight, I found myself in a raid group for the first time in, geez, a very long time. I popped in for a quick DM rare check and was invited to take a shot at Prince with the new crew. I hesitated at first, since I start a new job tomorrow and didn't want to spend too much time online tonight. But "what the hell," I thought. I had the time.

Running Karazhan with a completely different group than what I'm used to took a bit of adjustment. Actually, being in a raid altogether was a bit of newness again. After getting re-acquainted with the mayor of Aggro City, I started to get things back in order while in my familiar DPS role. On Prince himself, however, I realized a new-found respect for raid-leading, as I was in charge of watching the incoming Infernals and moving the group accordingly. My DPS suffered quite a bit, as I was more worried about when and where Infernals were dropping and keeping track of Enfeeble than I was about when to time my DoTS and Shadowbolts for max damage. On average, I was 2nd in DPS behind another Warlock (by about 3-5% at times), which still wasn't bad.

This was Equinox's first attempt at doing the Infernal Dance, as I call it -- basically moving around Infernals in a fluid manner instead of staying in one spot as long as possible. We did very well and everyone seemed to be on the ball about their positioning, but just as it was with Prom Kings, luck played a major role, and tonight, luck wasn't on our side.

The guild is going to try again tomorrow, and I'm sure that once we get a decent Infernal pattern, Prince will go down hard. In the meantime, I'm thinking about respeccing to pick up my DPS a little bit, grabbing Ruin and Contagion. I'll be taking a pretty significant hit on the Stamina front, but if I'm not worried about PvPing all that much (a decision I have yet to make), it wouldn't be a significant loss. I dunno, we'll see.

Props to ya Jade. Calling the Infernals is kinda annoying. And no wonder I was usually ahead of ya DPS-wise during complicated Prince encounters. Being busy vs. DPS'ing ftl!

Her Responses

Has anyone else noticed how many other blogs came to a screeching halt almost immediately after Jade deleted hers? Does anyone else think the fact that the events are probably related is a little funny? I giggle a little at the thought. Like a school girl. Eating cotton candy. In a plaid mini. And 3 inch heals. Calm down, Cheese.

It's kinda sad but also a little impressive how girls can do that to some boys, isn't it? I mean, it's totally an attention issue, and as soon as Jade shied away from the whole blog scene, those that were in it just for her responses (whether real or imagined) basically just up and left as well.

Look around. I'm sure you'll notice which ones I'm talking about. Kinda explains a lot, doesn't it.