So. Freaking. Busy

Okay, so check it out. I'm going to level with you guys today. I love my blog. It has been great. I'm concerned I'm doing an awful job actually, you know, writing in it. There are a whole bunch of reasons for this. Let me talk about some of them.

First and foremost... I think I've mentioned it, but for those that may not know, I went through a life-changing even at the end of last year. Things got shaken up. I'm still trying to put a lot life back together. Life happens.

One casualty is WoW. I don't play like I used to. My old guild imploded, and my personal time really dried up. I don't think I can maintain a raid-ready toon. I simply don't play enough. I don't really want to quit, but LFR is only so enticing. I may switch soon where I play with each patch, see the content, and then am done for a while. May even un-sub if there's enough time between things. I don't know. This makes me a horrible WoW-blogger.

I've written about other games, and I plan to continue to play some of them. League of Legends is the big one I'm playing, but I don't feel like I have much to say about it. It's simple. Easy to jump in/jump out. And I'm not playing it hardcore. I will finish ACIII eventually, but I'm way behind with that. A new Sim City also dropped today, and I'm excited to try it. I may spend some time there.

All in all, though, my gaming time was the first thing to get cut when my life went kablooey. It's a luxury I cannot afford right now. The second thing to go? Writing. My writing has suffered a bunch. Very simply, I picked up a whole lot more to do by default, and have to do it. Plus I'm trying to resurrect a social life, and several friends recently moved close by. I'm doing more of the RL thing. Crazy, I know. Also much more expensive, let me tell you.

My Day Job has gotten really, really busy in addition to my home life. I'm generally juggling a whole bunch of things on any given day, and there is ever-increasing pressure to deliver. I used to be able to squeeze posts in at work pretty reliably. That is no longer the case.

So I can't fit more outside of work. I can't fit more during work... What's a warlock to do? I researched some time travel, but it seemed more magey/dragony type of work. Cloning some minions seemed more appropriate, but I lack the necessary shards, I guess.

I guess I bring this all up because it may be that I shut my doors around here in the near future. I thought about just rolling my personal gaming stuff into my writing blog (make it more of a generic personal blog). I don't know. I'm not sure it fits. For now, I'm going to try to keep doing one post a week, but they're going to be more of a personal nature. Just what I'm playing, etc. I generally get the best comments on those these days anyway. I wanted to try and keep up on guides but, let's be honest, that hasn't happened.

Ah well, life happens. Thanks for hanging around. I'm not going to peace out just yet, but don't feel like you need to stay around and read the boring personal stuff. I'll download 5.2 tonight, but I think the new Sim City may have me captivated for a bit. We'll see.

(Side note: Anyone else think Blizz planned the release today to compete? Aren't they both technically the same parent company? Some thoughts for you tinfoil hatters...)

Happy 2013!

2013 marks the start of the 6th year for this blog. This is also post 884. That's not a special number or anything, but boy is it a lot. 2012 was a bit of a rough year for yours truly, and my writing definitely suffered as a result. Still, I'm incredibly glad I took the plunge and opened my doors 6 years ago. I may not be as useful these days, but I'm thankful for all of you readers that have stuck with me, commented, and otherwise shared this space. I can't begin to express how much it means, especially when you're having a crappy year. One of the greatest things about the Internet (and our gaming community in particular) is the assurance that even when you feel alone... you're not.

I've met a lot of amazing people on this journey and was just taking a moment for reflection this morning. I will be back in 2013, writing about random warlockery. Though I've been quiet over the holiday break, it is not for a lack of gaming. I'm one ilevel point away from being LFR geared and dipping my toes in a bit of raiding. It was somewhat of an accomplishment for me to get back on the horse, so to speak. I've been proud in the past to be the first in the guild to cap, to be the best geared, etc etc. This time I'm coming from a whole different angle, and in some ways its eye-opening. Can you still be proud when you're the absolute last person to the party? I suppose my pride surprises me.

If you're curious and looking for a warlockerly tidbit, I'm in the midst of the Golden Lotus daily throes. I'm also doing the Operation: Shieldwall stuff, as that seems to be the best way to get geared quickly. My first exalted rep in MoP was definitely the Tillers. Go figure. But more on that as things settle back into a somewhat normal schedule. Until then, happy holidays to you and yours, thanks for reading, and pleasant corrupting in 2013!

I shard all of you.

Realm Transfer

What did I do last night in preparation for MoP? Realm transfer. That's right. I got my butt off of Lothar and onto Alexstrasza. Stuff happened, and I decided to leave before things got awkward, and try my luck with a new guild. It helps that I have family in this other guy (and I'd been wanting to try to raid with them for a while now). We'll see how it goes.

Originally, I was planning to take today off and spend time with the game. Unfortunately, my life took an abrupt right turn in the last month. One of the contributing factors is that my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She's having surgery this Thursday, so that's where my day off went. Gotta have priorities, right?

This is the time of year when I'm busy coaching high school football, so even without the added complication of a serious family illness, my playing time is limited. Thus, I'm probably going to be way, way behind the rest of you when it comes to experiencing the expansion. I'm just going to pretend that everyone else is equally slow (some undoubtedly are), so if you are reading, feeling like, "that is so last month," be kind, rewind, and re-enjoy the moment with me.

Incidentally, October is breast cancer awareness month in the US. Consider me aware.

Here's your tidbit if you're a woman. They caught my mom's cancer as part of that whole "cold smush" (as we sometimes call it) routine procedure. It's "stage 0" which is as early as you can get. It's also very slow growing, so we're in great shape. The point here is DO NOT NEGLECT REGULAR HEALTH CHECK UPS. That's your service message of the day. Cuz, like, seriously... cancer sucks.

Happy Panda-ing. Sorry to be Buzz Killington today with the srs bzns, but it explains why I'm sort of out to lunch when it comes to keeping up with an informative and entertaining blog. Also, I thought it would be helpful to know that the realm transfer went smoothly, so if you're on my new realm, feel free to say "hi."

The One That Got Away

Apparently my brain is stuck on relationship-related gaming musings. Today's brought to you by a Katy Perry song that's stuck in my head. I have a love/hate relationship with pop music. It just gets in there, I can't help it, and then... then... bah! Not very warlockerly, I know.

On the opposite end of the things-that-stick-in-my-head spectrum is a gaming phenomenon. Tell me if you've ever had this one. It could just be me.

Freshman year of college (almost ten years ago now, holy cow), I had a random-draw roommate. You never know what you're going to get, right? In this case, the guy was pretty cool. I'm a strange hybrid of athletic and nerdy. I love sports and playing sports, always have. And I'm pretty decent at just about any of them in a casual way. Similarly, I've always loved gaming and can sit down to a new game and not be completely awful. I span several worlds, I guess you could say. (Oddly enough, the dichotomy worked against me in most circles as far as acceptance went. To the jocks, I was a nerd. The nerds, I was a jock.)

Random Roomie was completely vested in the burgeoning nerd culture. Yes, this was back before nerds were "cool." He had a tricked-out Alienware laptop that I was insanely jealous of. We shared a passion for the X-files. And more than once I asked him what game he was playing so that I could give it a try.

Back then, I was more of a FPS player than I am now. Halo parties were The Thing, especially when you have 8 floors of dudes in a wing and can run Ethernet cords all over creation. Random Roomie was more into Tactical Fleet Simulations (TFS, a term I didn't know existed until recently). He also wasn't big on the social component of, well, anything. Apart from our nightly X-files marathon sessions, we didn't really hang out. Yet, I would hesitantly call us friends. We certainly got along better than a lot of other roommates.

One of my most vivid memories was of a TFS-like game he was playing one time. I walked in from a Halo session, perhaps after a few bevvies, and saw a whole bunch of really cool looking spaceships on his screen. He was launching some mini-probes and there were lasers, and it looked epic. I watched for a bit before asking him what game he was playing. The answer has since been lost in the sands of time.

Keep in mind, this was before things like Steam and easily downloadable games. Generally, if we wanted a game, we went to the local Best Buy or GameStop or whatever and plunked down $50. As a college student, that's a lot of beer. I mean, money. So, the game got relegated to my "sometime when I have money" list in my brain, where it was promptly drowned by copious amount of alcohol, I'm sure.

Ten years later, I found myself having a sudden craving to FIND THAT GAME. I don't know what it was. A boring Sunday, time on my hands, money no longer the biggest issue in my gaming life... I wanted to play THAT game. Not a similar game, but that one.

So I spent probably 4-8 hours (I lost track of time) wandering the Interwebs, looking for a screenshot to match my memory. I learned what a TFS is. I spent $20 on a Steam game that I played for all of 5 minutes before realizing that it was not the one (it looked similar). The best search term I had to go on was "like Civilization, but in space with cool lasers." I researched the history of 4X, turn-based games. I found a myriad of top ten lists in both genres... but it was all for naught. True Blood came on at 9pm and that effectively ended my search.

This isn't the first time the desire to find the mystery game has struck me. Random Roomie and I have lost touch over the years, but I suppose I could shoot him a Facebook message. "Hey, remember me? How are things? Listen, do you remember that cool spaceship game you were playing that one time? I don't know, I think it was a Tuesday. It had lasers. And celestial bodies. Whaddya mean that doesn't really narrow it down?"

Okay, so I don't really want to go that route. Where's the fun in that? Plus, it seems fruitless and awkward, and I try to avoid fruitless and awkward whenever possible. Instead, I'd rather whittle away countless hours hoping to luck upon it through the wonders of Google. Excuses, excuses.

And before you ask... no, I don't really know any more than this. I know, I can't even describe the screenshot adequately. If I could remember like a faction name or a symbol on the side of the ship, one of you could probably name the game in a heartbeat. But I can't. And the memory only gets fuzzier with each passing year.

Do you have a game that "got away?" Were you able to find it years later? Did it even live up to your rose-colored expectations? (I have a sinking suspicion that even if I found this game it would turn out to suck.)

Maybe in another life, I'd download right away, so I don't have to say you were the one that got away. The one that got away.

Sporadic Posting Inc

I've been a bad blogger. Seriously, one post last week? That's slacking. I honestly tried to write a second post on Friday, but was so busy that it has sat half-finished in the unpublished state. I've tried over the years (wow, has it been years?) to not make a whole lot of these self-indulgent apology-type posts. I think we have an unspoken bond of trust, whereby I do my best to write interesting things and not waste your time, and you believe that I'm doing my best. It may not be true in all cases, but the assumption has generally served me well.

As such, I'll keep this short. Don't want to waste your time, you know. Day Job is acting up just as optional Night Job (as an author) is struggling through my final round of edits for my latest book. Day Job is sending me to our plant in Juarez, Mexico. I'm actually writing this during my layover in Houston. Though, I'll have post it later because I'm not paying $7.95 for sub-par wifi for an hour. Nor am I downloading your software, Boingo. If you'd just pop some ads up, I'd be okay with that. Annoying, but I get it, you gotta make money, too.

Anyway, it probably comes as no surprise that my gaming has taken a bit of a back seat. And when you don't game, it makes it really tough to write about gaming. I'm not quitting though, I guess I just wanted to poke my head in and say "hi." A lot of you are probably caught up in the whole Guild Wars 2 storm right now anyway. I've got nothing to add there. I don't plan to play it upon release. I may check it out at some point (some of my Facebook friends have already pulled me into a group they have for the game), but it'll have to be when I get some time.

SWTOR has been frustrating lately. For a while, Reps were winning a lot, and things were good. By a lot, I mean probably 50% of the time. Coming from a much lower percentage, it seems like a lot. Then, things swung back the other way. Now it seems that every time I log on, I can't get a win. Makes it not so much fun. So I levelled an Imp to 10. Got a win my first try. I'd like to keep working on my main, but not at the expense of fun. With the introduction of the Legacy perks in 1.2, I think it's high time I spent a bit on alts. So my plan is to swing away from PvP and back to levelling. I'll queue while I'm working on quests, just to see if I can get on a lucky streak, but no reason to beat my head against a wall.

For WoW, I'll probably have to miss my raid this Friday on account of travel. My plane will just be touching down when we're supposed to start. Maybe I'll catch the tail end of some action, who knows. Otherwise, I've not had time to jump in the beta any more. Surprise, surprise.

Maybe next week. Though, at this pace, it'll more likely be May 15th before I can work in some solid time. Yes, that date choice is intentional: Diablo III should drop. It may make a great (and free) welcome back gift. Until then, expect some sporadic posting.

Shameful Confessions About My Warlockery

Poneria wrote a great article yesterday over at Fel Concentration. It actually spawned a bit of Twitter-flurry between several of us 'locks on there, as we discussed some of the sentiments expressed. For my part, I simply stated that I sometimes feel the urge to defend the "funness" of playing a Warlock, especially and Affliction Warlock. I suppose I feel like sometimes we get a bad rap for being too hard, too complicated, so as not to be fun. It sometimes seems like, in order to be considered a good Warlock, you have to know how to run simulations and consult spreadsheets and spend a whole bunch of time devote to arcane studies.

To that feeling, I say: Being a Good Warlock is as much an art as it is a spreadsheet.

Many of us find it hard to explain the feeling when you're really "clicking" on your 'lock. It's a feeling I've yet to match with my limited playing of other classes. Frost DK, the class I've played the most outside of my 'lock, does not have the same feeling. When I'm playing my DK, I feel like a brute. With her, it's more like playing an old button-masher fighting game.

On my Warlock, when I'm playing well, it's smooth. It's a thing of beauty. The best comparison I can make is that it is similar to what athlete's describe as being in "the zone." Training and instinct take over, and the shadows flow from me like notes from the fingers of a virtuoso pianist. Indeed, I often feel like some sort of grand conductor, standing high on a pedestal and gesticulating wildly at my own demonic orchestra.

But things aren't always that way. My play is often far from perfect, and sometimes I couldn't find "the zone" if it were a barn in an empty field and I just smacked headfirst into the side of it. Yet, when we bloggers write about our classes, we're often writing from the best case scenarios, not the worst. Sure, we may talk about troubling mechanics, but I think maybe we don't talk as much about how much we actually suck at playing our class some nights. The zone is great, but it's not all there is to playing. In fact, it's generally a small slice of the time I spend online. And sometimes, it's the most rewarding when you're fumbling around for the right key, boss bearing down on you, and just barely manage to tap it before you get squished. Yep, sometimes it's just luck.

So, I'm bringing 'Locky back. I'm going to admit the things I routinely fail at. A dark confession, of sorts.

I'd like to think people consider me a good 'lock. Maybe not, I don't know. But I've been around for a while, and people seem to stop by here to see what's up with Affliction (when there are, you know, some changes). I'm not a hardcore, bleeding edge player by any means, but most of us aren't.

I simply love my Affliction Warlock. I want others to share that love without fear of being a "failure." Aff'locks (and, indeed, other flavors of Warlock) can be a whole lot of fun, even when played sub-optimally. Sometimes, it's very easy to get caught up in eking out that extra 1k DPS, when our sanity would be better served by saying "F the 1%" and focusing on having fun with the other 99. (Percentages may vary. It's probably more like 80/20, but talking about the "one percent" amuses me.)

So here are some ugly truths about my Warlock play:

• I only use Demon Soul once per fight. It's macro'ed with my guild banner. Even then, I often forget to smash the button. On most nights, I have no idea whether it's conflicting with anyone else's spell (heroism, etc).
• I have to be badgered to provide cookies. Even then, I generally don't eat mine.
• I often forget my Doomguard. He's macro'ed to that Demon Soul button.
• I trust Mr. Robot almost blindly. I've never run a personal simulation.
• 90% of my 5+ years of play time has been spent running as Affliction with my Felhunter. The other 10% was Demo when I'd already cleared everything as Affliction. I've never chosen a spec/pet based on math/EJ alone.
• I overwrite DoTs... a LOT. I cringe every time I do it, but I get paranoid about them dropping off.
• Bane of Agony gets clipped more than I'd like to admit. Generally, I just press the button because I'm used to pressing it. And then let out a big "derp."
• Especially when I'm raid leading, I get lost in my rotation and forget to keep a DoT up. "Oops, went that whole fight without Corruption."
• I don't really pay attention to my DPS anymore. Generally, if I'm looking at a meter, I look at how I'm doing compared to everyone else, usually in overall Damage Done. That's the category I want to "win." The only time I'll use DPS metrics is when testing new builds/gear.
• I don't test things very often, weathering patches with what I enjoy, even if it's costing me some DPS. Only when it looks like something is "in to stay" will I actually pay it much mind.

I'm sure there are others. (To my Warlocky brethren - What do you routinely fail at?). These are just what I could think of off the top of my head. If a Warlock pro actually watched me, they'd probably point out a dozen things I'm doing wrong. Even so, I've had a lot of fun and generally not shamed myself. Absent the over-the-shoulder 'lock observer, my mistakes go mostly unnoticed. I hold my own when I need to, and play with confidence.

I suppose the major caveat is this: I'm not a hardcore raider, player, etc. I'm the epitome of casual, and don't place a whole lot of importance of playing "perfect."

That being said, I've raided since TBC and seen all the content. I've been in big raid groups and small raid groups, led both kinds. I've never been kicked from anything, never been greifed about my playing. Though, I will admit that I'm not the most outgoing player, and I try to surround myself with good people.

So, I suppose I should distill this into something potent that you can take home with you. Let's go this route... let's postulate Fulguralis's Keys for Being a "Good" Warlock. (And by good I mean satisfyingly evil.)

1. Educate yourself efficiently. In a broad sense, you should generally know what a Warlock is, even if you don't strictly adhere to the idea. Knowledge is power, but choose your resources carefully. You don't want to get mired in minutia if you're only interested in the basics. This goes for both strats and builds. Good Warlocks are experts at seeing the true soul of things.
2. Focus first on living. Good Warlocks prize their own lives very highly. Dead DPS = 0 DPS. A lot of people do not understand this. They're so worried about getting the big numbers that they die halfway through the fight. Raid Leaders can't depend on people like that. Instead, look at your Damage Done for a boss fight. It's the actual damage that kills the boss, and that's what you want to be contributing to. If your rotation is sub-par because you're trying to live... so be it.
3. Kill what needs killing. This means following directions if you're not the leader, or following the kill order. This is also why I blatantly ignore meters on a lot of trash/add fights. My numbers aren't going to reflect that I swapped from the drone to the spiderlings to help finish them off before they caused the boss to regain life (at great personal DPS expense, I might add). Good Warlocks simply enjoy killing things for the sake of killing things. We don't need to e-peen about it. Act like you've killed something before, even if you haven't.
4. Shard your soul. Not the spell, but in real life. Warlocks should have a solid, crystalline exterior that allows us to be true to ourselves and our own Warlocky ways. If you've followed 1, 2, and 3, then you're probably already doing the right thing. Let the rest roll off you. Good Warlocks don't deign to recognize the criticism of others, including other Warlocks. A big part of having fun in social games (I'm finding) is firmly defining your own boundaries. Decide what is important to you, and then be true to that. No one can take that from you.

That's it. Four steps. Learn 'em. Live 'em. Or come up with your own. I could care less. I'm a Warlock, after all.

Brain Leftovers

I've been really struggling to hash out content here on KeS, as evidenced by the lone post last week. Unless I'm on vacation, I've almost never posted so little. I've made a three post per week commitment to myself, and generally the problem is lack of time, not lack of ideas. As Cataclysm wanes, however, (and SWTOR starts) I find myself paralyzed by indecision. I feel a bit like the frogs in Frogger must feel right before hurling myself into oncoming traffic.

Okay, I'm not sure if that's an apt analogy, but we're pro-Frogger references here on the blog, and I wanted to have an excuse to go on record with that. It is primary season and all that stuff. Important issues are important.

Today, I'm going to touch on some disjointed ideas that, alone, I felt failed to merit their own post. They also may explain a bit why content has been hard for me. These ideas are ill-formed simply because there doesn't seem to be a lot to say. Still, it makes a good ADD Monday post, so here we go:

In WoW...

I'm wracking my brain... I'm pretty sure nothing at all happened for Affliction Warlocks since Cataclysm hit. We've really had no major changes, and nothing much to talk about. My playstyle has remained consistent, my spec and stats pretty solid, and damage competitive. Other 'lock bloggers probably feel me here: we've basically been given NOTHING to talk about this entire expansion. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing. I feel like Warlocks are in a good spot. Changes can be a mixed blessing even in the best of circumstances. Topics like: Shadowbolts, now with +10 cool, do not a full post make.

Frost DKs haven't been much crazier. There may have been a few more breadcrumbs on the DK side, but for a Frost PvP'er, I've not changed a whole lot. No posts here.

My casual raid schedule can't keep up with "easymode" raiding. Everyone seems to be blowing through content. We raid once a week, and even that's been a struggle for us the last few months. The result is that I'm just seeing bosses that everyone else is "over" months ago. I think before in ICC and such, it wasn't so drastic. Part of that is us, part of that is the game. Like my feelings about my 'lock... it is what it is.

While we're on that note, I may as well hit on the hot topic du jour: the upcoming raid nerfs. My stance is the same as it has been with every nerf this expansion (and obviously Blizz hasn't listened). Every time they do this, people complain. Every time, I think they could have avoided complaints by simply making the nerfs somehow toggle-able. I loved the ICC buff. I thought it was a great idea that didn't go abuse "one size fits all" development practices. There can be some downsides to it, but I guess I just feel that choice > no choice any day of the week. But this is nothing new to this set of bosses. They've set the course. It's tough to feel surprised or upset when they stay it.

Finally, on the WoW side, there's simply not as much content to talk about. We were promised smaller, quicker patches, and we got those. The problem is, we still got the same number of them. So we just got a smaller, quicker expansion. The end result is that it doesn't feel as epic, the story feels rushed, and the content thin. Is this a surprise to anyone? I still think that Blizz could make "smaller and quicker" work, but they'd have to do it by altering the practice of releasing an entire tier per patch. I'm not sure that this isn't based more on my own personal quirkiness. I would enjoy smaller slices of story, more quickly, that added up to a good big picture. Others that play more heavily might simply get bored faster. Consider this also ill-formed.

In short, I'm willing to see what Blizz has in store for Pandaria, but like many long time WoWers, they're on a bit of thin ice with me. I think most people would agree that Blizz needs to step up the game for Pandaria. A lot of us are willing to weather a sub-par expansion (and, to be fair, they weren't completely phoning it in... there were some good parts).

Shifting gears to SWTOR....

I'm almost to 50. I plan to do a spec post then. I should also be able to chat about one of the big topics of: "what then?" Until then, Fuu and I are simply duo'ing the game. It's fun and I love the stories. This is nothing new.

I'm also completely willing to be patient. I feel like the minority in this regard. I understand why: a lot of folks need to make the decision of what to pay for when this first free month runs out. Thus, they are really judging TOR with a fine-tooth comb to decide if it's worth their money. Call it responsible spending. I don't begrudge this of others. And, for my part, I don't really want to throw fuel on the flames of a game I'd really like to see succeed. I liked the sentiment expressed by Scary Worlds the other day: even if you don't like TOR, general gamers should hope for the game to succeed since, if Bioware can't make money on the Star Wars IP, what chance does anyone else have of creating a the "next" big MMO?

I, on the other hand, am pretty much an unabashed fanboy when it comes to Star Wars. So long as the game was moderately solid, I was going to like it, and they certainly delivered a moderately solid game. I have some complaints, but none that I'm up in arms about. There are a collection of minor things here and there, and I have confidence that they'll get around to fixing them eventually. Also, I suppose I've not experienced enough yet to really form proper opinions. And I'm not in a hurry. Messing around with lightsabers can keep me entertained for hours, and I find it worth my money.

Sealing the Tupperware...

So, basically, all of my posts would be boiled down to: I see where others are coming from but don't feel strongly myself. Which makes for very boring writing. A side note, one I haven't really mentioned on here, is that Fuu has had some health issues lately. It was scary for a bit, but doctors are no longer of the opinion that there is anything potentially life threatening. Still, such a scare tends to put things into perspective. Maybe I've just found it hard to write because I'm emotionally occupied elsewhere.

In any case, I guess I wanted to get all these brain leftovers out there. I'm still around. Still playing. And if my posting seems less frequent, it's simply because I don't want to bore you guys. Rest assured that I'll be watching the wires for my usual fare. If Blizz comes out with some major Affliction Warlock change tomorrow, I'll be writing about it. Once we get things ironed out with Fuu, I should have more emotion to spare for fiction and such, too. It's something I want to get back into, but I'm not going to force it either.

I suppose the best way to wrap up these disjointed musings is to offer gratitude for the folks still lurking around these parts. I appreciate my readers all the more when the going gets rough at home. I mean, I threw one raiding article up last week and got great responses on it. This is a great community to be a part of. And if you guys notice something I'm missing, feel free to shoot me and email and I can get on it. I'm certainly not above accepting writing prompts. 

Movember

Quickie post today. In case you don't stalk him like I do, Gnomeaggedon popped in with a Movember reminder post.  (The stalking, of course, is simply natural for a warlock to do to a mage... to harass and corrupt.  For sure.)  The short story of Movember is that we like to use mustaches in the month of November to raise awareness about men's health.

I'll be doing something, not sure what yet.  Last year we missed out on an opportunity to hang out at a bar and don mustaches (paste on for the girls) and drink good beer.  There was some sort of donation involved, but they had me at beer and mustaches (had I not been indisposed).  I'm hoping they do it again this year so we can attend.

Gnomer has talked about depression in the past, and it is an illness that hits home around here.  I write about our own adventures monthly on my personal blog.  Feel free to stop by there if the topic interests you. 

Otherwise, I'll be keeping my eyes out for any cool events.

To Wrap Up The Week

No fiction today, sorry. I've been sick all week, plus work has been busy. Amazing how that happens, right? It's like they wait until I feel like crap to all show up at my desk and want stuff done.  In any case, the day's already flying by and it's not looking like I'm going to have the appropriate time to dedicate to a good bit of fiction.

On that front, though, I'll pass along some news.  I've compiled a short story based on the posts I made for the Fall of the Lich King that we're planning to submit for the Blizzard Fan Fic contest.  It's short at around 3,500 words, but represents some good memories from what I consider the pinnacle of the game.  (Right now, anyway.  I reserve the right to have the future change my judgement, but killing Arthas was truly a great moment in gaming).

It'll be prettied up, and I added a new little bit at the end to tie it all together.  When it gets done, I want to try to offer it around here for your e-reading devices.  I'm not sure if I'm allowed to go through like Amazon or B&N or any of those places, but at the very least we're going to try to set up a little download mirror that will let you download it for free.  I'll be open to suggestions when we get it up.  We're also working on getting the rest of the fiction in a single, coherent format so you don't have to comb through archives and such around here... making it more of a novella than a collection of posts.  We'll see how it turns out.

Apart from that, I've been thinking about gearing all week, and wanted to wrap up the hot topic with a few last thoughts.  Cynwise wrote a great article today sort of tying things together and hashing out the basics for each gear path.  As he says, there is not really one thing you can point to as a good solution, and each PvE and PvP path has its problems.

My final thought on the whole thing is that, reading Cyn's bullet points, I can't help but feel like the PvP system is better suited for PvE players, and the PvE system would appeal to PvP'ers more.  That sounds crazy, but look at it this way.  If PvP seems more suited for a gradual build-up over time, a steady progression to gearing with periodic resets... isn't that what we want in PvE?  We want to make steady progress, and if stuff resets along the way, that makes the entry barrier to raiding that much shorter.

Then you have PvE, where gear seems to retain its value for longer and the player base gets more stratified (borrowing Cyn's word, a good one) over time.  Aren't those things that appeal to your typical PvP player?  They want to be rewarded for being beating another player, and then to have that reward mean something.  It's almost like Blizz has it backward.

At the same time, though, one has to acknowledge that, to some extent, each of these paths are products of their respective environments.  For instance, how would gear resets work in PvE with each tier?  Or in PvP how could you maintain a stratified player-base without ruining competitiveness?  There's simply no easy solution.  At the end of they day, all we can really say is that they each have their own problems.  And those problems may be more or less annoying depending completely on the person. 

What drives Cyn bonkers, I may take comfort in.  What I can't stand, he sees as a ray of hope.  Yet, we both play Warlocks and love our class/the game enough to blog about it (ad nauseum, for years).  It's really two sides of the same coin. 

Just Another Word for Casual

Here's something fun for a Monday. Typhoon Andrew wrote last week about a deeper breakdown of the common "casual" and "hardcore" gamer tags.  It's a nice little article, but I'm particularly a sucker for personality tests.  They speak to the closet psychology nerd in me.  Hence, I have to point you over there.

I, of course, am an AELOHF. 

Amateur, for sure.  Though I wish I got paid for being casual.  I would have to say I'm Experienced now in WoW, though there are plenty of things I don't know... and it's always changing.  My time is extremely Limited.  Fortunately, I have 10-12 other L's in a guild with me, which is the only thing that allows me to raid.  I'm an Optimal player.  Sometimes this annoys the hell out of my guildmates, I know, but I crave optimization in my gameplay.  I tend to get pretty antsy when people are "dicking around" (as I say) or "having fun" (as they say).  Generally, I try to reign myself in (since it's obviously a personal thing) or sit out for "fun runs."

Though I'm a blogger, I would classify myself as Hidden.  This is because I generally don't talk to people when I'm not doing group content.  It sort of goes with that optimization stuff.  If I'm online, I'm usually trying to complete something.  I generally don't get on to shoot the shit.  Still, I could wane Social here because who I'm playing with is extremely important to me.  I try to surround myself with people that I can play well with, and don't PuG a lot.  I recognize that I have pretty specific opinions about my play time, so I try to keep a close group of people that feel mostly the same. 

Finally, I'm Focused.  I have one PvE toon, and one PvP toon.  I would have had them both be the same, but I have an in-your-face mentality with PvP that doesn't translate well to playing as a Warlock.  Also, it does provide a nice change of pace.  Still, after, what, four years of playing, I only have two max level characters, and have really rolled only three others.

Anyway, it was a neat article and had me thinking about my proclivities.  Thus, I thought it was worth sharing.  I'll get back to beating the dead horse of the FL-nerf topic tomorrow, as tonight will be our first chance to experience it.  I expect a one-shot on Rag.  :-D.

RL IC Friday

I'm not feeling the fiction today, sorry. Sometimes the battery needs recharged. And, also, this sort of thing is happening at work today...

Cast of Characters
M - A Young, Friendly, Competent Engineer (aka Grunt)
A - Senior Engineer with several Master's Degrees (aka Oldtimer)

Act I, Scene I
(The curtain rises on a stereotypical office workspace.  Cubicles abound.  The lighting is dingy and utilitarian.  A dashing young man sits before an open laptop computer, typing methodically.)

(The phone on the desk rings, and our young hero picks it up.  As the connection is made, a light blooms onstage to the right, revealing a middle-aged woman on the other end.)

M - Hello?
A - Hello, M.  Care if I call you?
M (fidgets) - I guess not.
A - Great.  I need you to do things and stuff.
M - What sorts of things do you need me to do?
A - And stuff.  Things as well.
M - Right, that's not very specific.
A (blank stare) - ...
M (guessing) - Do you need me to do x and y?
A - Yes, I would like you to do 6 and 7.
M - You mean x and y?
A - That's what I said.
M (shrugs) - I'll have it done within the hour.
A - And 7, too.
M - I'm not supposed to do numbers.  Only letters.  You're supposed to cover the numbers.
A - Z then, but without the bottom thingy.
M - That's still a 7.
A - Okay, glad we're agreed.  Start in ten minutes when I have to go to this important meeting.
M - All right, um, will do.
(M and A both hang up the phones)

Act I, Scene II
(It is ten minutes later.  Same scenery, both areas lit.)

(A types something into a computer, and a window pops up on M's screen.  In order to provide narration for us, they both read their respective conversational input to the instant messaging system aloud.  Also, because I just realized that IM'ing wouldn't work on stage very well.)

A - Start in ten minutes when I have to go to this important meeting.
M - It has already been ten minutes... I've already started.
A (stares blankly) - ...
M - You still want me to do x and y, right?
A - And 5.
M - What?
A - 7
M - What about 5?
A - 5 and Z.
M - But about numbers...  the process sa-
A - I'm sorry, a less curvy S and Z without the bottom thingy.  Add a curly backward E while you're at it.  Maybe a B with a humped back.  And O, definitely O.  It is both a number and a letter.  I've already done X and Y, and boy were those a stretch.  You're lucky you have me.
(M slams his head into his desk)

Short Commercial Break

We'll get back to your regularly scheduled Warlock programming tomorrow, promise. I have plans to write a bit more about the Warlock trinket choices right now, because it hardly seems a cut-and-dry decision.  There have been some great comments on yesterday's post, and one very helpful link in particular that I plan to share and elucidate on.  If you can't wait, go check those comments out and feel free to leave on of your own.  It might get included in the post.

Today I'd like to do a little non-WoW self-promotion.  Those of you who enjoy my IC Friday posts may want to listen up.  I'm only going to do this once, because I don't really like to self-promote.  I feel somewhat guilty asking people to pay me money.  Yet, I definitely want to get the word out there because I think what I'm doing is something some of you may be interested in.  And I think it's certainly well worth what I'm asking for.

What am I talking about?  Well, I wrote a book.  I mentioned in passing before that I'd been working on it, and it's done.  Officially launched.

It's an urban fantasy.  It has vampires and shapeshifters, but I would hesitate to call it a Paranormal Romance (Which is a pretty popular genre right now.  Think Twilight) even though it has a love story.  I really tried to make it more of a fun adventure.  There are some WoW references.  And swordplay.  And none of it takes place in High School.  I don't think it's your standard fare (given what people may think when you say "vampire").  I'm really proud of the story.  I've been writing for a long time, but it represents my first attempt at selling my writing.  Fuu and I have worked together to make a beautiful book, and I think our efforts speak for themselves.  And we're only going to get better at it.

If you're at all interested, please give it a look.  Check out my author website/blog here.  The blurb is there, as well as links to the various vendors and info on what I'm working on.  You can get the ebook for $3.  For a full, 100k word novel (400 printed pages), that's a bargain.  But if the price makes you pause, most of the websites will let you download samples.  We tried to set all those to the maximum allowable amount.  You can read almost the entire first quarter of the novel for free, and if you don't like it... don't buy it.  But if you do, consider supporting me.  I love writing, and it's something I'd like to do instead of The Grind.  There is no greater high for me than sharing my stories with readers.  It really is my passion, and I'd do it regardless.  The cool thing about this whole ebook revolution (if you've noticed), is that right now I (and may other independent authors) have a possibility of making what was once a far-off pipe-dream into a reality.

I wanted to mention it here because I know I have some awesome readers, and I'm incredibly thankful for you all.  A lot of you have been hanging around here a long time, and I'd like to think at least some of that is due to the writing (rather than the awesome theorycrafting and news delivery service ;-p).  If that's the case, you should recognize the voice in the book, then.  It's me.  And I want to keep that voice through many more stories in the future.  I wanted to let you know that I'm out there too, doing some crazy stuff, and I would love your support.

I plan to keep my writing sphere and this place mostly separate.  You won't see a lot of cross-promotion from me.  In fact, after this, I'm going to get back to talking about Warlocks and WoW, like I said in the beginning.  If you read this and have any questions about my other little project... feel free to email me.

A side effect of all this, that is perhaps more immediate for you IC Friday folks... Fuu and I are working to try and get my IC posts rounded up and formatted into a novella or collection of short stories.  Then we'll try to release it on all of the digital platforms.  We're not sure about any legal issues, since all this is really fanfic, but we figure we can at least offer free downloads or something.  I know several people have emailed me wanting to know if they could perhaps get them on an ereader or whatever.  We're working on it.  We wanted to get the book out first, but it is high on our list now.  I'm going to try to clean some of the posts up a bit and tie them together.  Images are going to be a hurdle (we're not sure how to do that yet).  But we'll get it done, and if our debut release is any indication, it should be pretty. 

If you like this sort of thing, that is.  If you're just curious about trinkets, that's totally fine too.  Go check out those comments and I'll see you back here tomorrow.  Same warlocky time, same warlocky channel.

No Story Today

Sorry. I'm taking a week off. My creative well feels dry for some reason, and I don't want to just go through the motions. Generally I don't even like writing apology posts like this, but I know there are a good number of people that look forward to these stories and I appreciate that a ton. End result is I always feel a bit guilty hiding quietly in my shadowy corner, but sometimes you just need to Harvest Souls.

As a consolation prize, I'd like to offer some "insider" news.

For those that aren't all that interested in my fiction and are just here for the Warlockery. I'm updating the guides. I looked at them, and decided they needed a lot of work. Especially the pet choice/stat priority guide (which I've temporarily taken down). My spec is still the same, though I made some very minor edits to that guide and it's up and good to go. The rotation part had a little more of a gutting, though I believe I've gotten that one fixed and up now as well. I'm going to try to finish up the third part over the weekend and plan to post a "summary of changes" post next week. Then I'll need to tackle the Demonology Primer. Yikes!

For those that are interested in my fiction, I two pieces of news that I hope are as exciting to you as they are for me.

First, Fuu and I are working hard to get all of my IC Friday posts compiled into a format fit for e-readers. There is a lot of grunt work involved in this, plus I want to do some basic editing and maybe write some new parts to kind of make things flow more smoothly. I plan to make it sort of a novella, and hopefully find a nice "ending point" for the first installation. I already have a solution figured out that will allow you to download the file for free directly from the site here. I'd been approached by several people asking about this, and I just wanted to let you know that we have all the parts together to make that into reality. We just have to get the time to do it (and I want to do it well).

Second, part of the reason I've been so starved for time is that I've been working on a second, "secret" project. This may not come as a surprise, but I really enjoy writing fiction. And while I don't have leave to produce novels in Blizzard's universe, I can most certainly produce stories of my own creation. This is what I've done. Yep, I'm going to try to make it as a middling author. While I've been writing for years (and have one novel almost ready for release), only in the last five months have Fuu and I delved seriously into the thoughts of publishing these ourselves. It was always sort of a pipe dream for me, but with e-readers building steam, I figure why not now? I enjoy writing, and I think there are people out there that enjoy reading what I write. I'm not looking to be the next Kindle Millionare or anything, but I would like to some day be able to devote more time to writing. At this point in time, it's completely reasonable to self-produce for a small audience (and hope it grows!). That's our plan, and if it's something you're interested it, you can find out more over at my author website.

This venture is still in its infancy, and I'm working to get small posts up and really get the blog off the ground. The progress of my projects can be seen over there, as well as musings on what I'm doing and why. If you've enjoyed my fiction, I would love to see you over there. I'm planning to rely pretty exclusively on word of mouth to sell anything, and I'm doing this because I love doing it, and I'd like to learn and improve. This means succeeding with the reader, and that means I really want to hear from you. What do you want to see? How does your creative process differ from mine? What can I improve on? That's the type of readership I'm looking to build over there.

I have been amazed and enormously grateful with the people that found me here at this blog. It grew beyond my meager expectations and evolved into something where I've been able to connect with a lot of really awesome people. I can't believe how active and helpful commenters have been around here. I feel like I've dodged a whole lot of trolls (which, let's be honest, is pretty common when talking about WoW), and I feel like I have great readers to thank for that.

I'm hoping to build on the success here over in my other blog. I know not everyone is interested in fiction that has nothing to do with WoW, and that's fine. A lot of you may not be interested in the genre(s) I'm writing too. But if only some of you awesome folks get involved over there with general fiction as well, it could be a whole lot of fun.

Anyways, thank you for reading. Sorry for no fiction today. I hope some of the above excites you. It has certainly excited both Fuu and myself.

Against Depression

Quick non-WoW, public service announcement type post today. If you're only here for WoW, feel free to "mark as read."

A while back (last Mo-vember), Gnomeaggedon made an inspiring series of posts that revolved around the topic of Major Depression Disorder. November is sort of the official month for the disease (Since, you know, all of the important diseases get a month. I'm glaring at you, obesity. For an epidemic, you're curiously devoid of a month. Unless you're a child, and in that case you get September, which isn't a real month anyways, since "sept" of course is Latin for "fake." (Not really, I'm just trying inject a bit of juvenile humor here. Srsly, get those kids to play!)).

Strange punctuation patterns derived from numerous asides aside... um, yeah, Depression.

I really appreciate the postings by Gnomeaggedon and feel sort of guilty that I didn't get on board back then. You see, Depression sort of runs in my family and my wife's family. It's really something I've grown up with. Personally, I'm mostly depression free. That is to say, I would not qualify for an MDD diagnosis, nor do I take medicines. I have a small touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but who doesn't get pissed sometimes during bleak Midwestern Winters? I'm like a flower, give me a bit of a sunlight and I'll perk right up. Pretty simple, unlike my MDD counterparts.

Fuubaar, however, suffers from MDD. It took her more than a decade of dealing with it, two years with me by her side, to finally admit that and seek treatment. That's one of the side effects of the disease: it can be extremely hard for the sufferers to bite the bullet and get help.

As such, we've been fighting our own battle recently: getting started on meds, finding out what is right for her. I've been writing articles about our journey almost weekly, and Gnome's openness hath inspired me to share this with you guys. Some of you may be interested, some not. No big deal, but I'm posting these on my personal "super secret public journal-blog." You can find it here. I've been blogging there for a very long time now, so there is a lot of crap. There are some serious posts, and then there is a lot of just personal stuff. I usually share it with family and friends and it's a way they stay in touch. Thus, it may not be all that interesting in its entirety, but I thought that maybe it would be interesting for those suffering through Depression.

So I hereby cordially invite y'all on over to that neck of the woods, but respectfully caution that your mileage may vary over there. I'm not always writing it to be interesting or informative. I don't necessarily stick to any sort of posting schedule. Sometimes I just like to post about my favorite sports teams and random crap like that (a lot of times to rib family members and friends). The Depression posts should be easy to find as they are more recent (there are only about four of them right now), but I hope that some people will find them helpful, encouraging, and insightful. If one, just one, Depressive is inspired to seek help or takes heart because of what I have written, well then I'll consider this time well wasted.

Otherwise, feel free to simply ignore this and the link. I won't be re-posting on here as I generally keep my gaming and personal spheres separate. (Feel free, however, to email me at this blog's email if you have questions or just want to commiserate about Depression. Fuu and I share this email so it's a good place to reach us.)

I don't want to make a big deal out of it because we consider ourselves rather fortunate. It's something we're well equipped to deal with. For my part, I chose to write about it. It's sort of what I do. It just recently occurred to me that it might be nice to share that with some of you fine folks that lurk around here.

And with that, back to you, Azeroth.

It's 5 o'clock... Quittin' Time.

Sorry for the late note today. I'm nearly done updating my Affliction Warlock guides and have place a little placeholder line in the links on the left side to let you know where I'm at. I'll publish a summary post tomorrow to go out to feed readers and just to let you know what change (so people who have been around don't have to wade through everything again). Thus, just a quick status post today and check out the site if you're viewing this in a reader and want to see where the guides are at.

I'm shooting roughly for this sort of schedule:
- Summary post for Affliction and all guides up tomorrow.
- RP Friday will get a break this week, sorry. I've just been too busy.
- DK PvP Monday.
- Demo Tuesday.
- Enchantment List Wednesday.

We'll see if I hit all those. Since I have to do a majority of my research at home (and we're traveling this week), it could be dicey. Such is life though, and I want to get them up not just for you guys, but also because, believe it or not, I like to reference my own stuff and it needs to be done. (I'm not sure if that's a deep blogger secret, but yeah, I check my own lists... wanna fight about it?)

Steamboat Blizzie

I'm sure you're tired of hearing that the Shattering is supposed to happen today. Tribute posts seem a dime a dozen right now. Not saying that there aren't some great ones out there, just that it's the obvious way to go.  I'm going to take an abrupt right and talk about something else entirely.  Well, sort of.

Ever since I was a little tyke, my family has made journeys to Disney World almost every two years.  I'm not sure if that sounds crazy or like we were crazy-rich.  I feel the need to clarify.  Both my parents were teachers, and so we only had one "vacation" a year, during the summer for a week or two.  I grew up surrounded by a lot of wealthy folks, so they were all going skiing in Colorado for New Years, going to Atlantis during the summer, hitting cruises and Paris and crap like that.  For us, we did a state park on "off years" and our big splurge was Disney World.  The Happiest Place On Earth.

We have Disney World down to a science, mind you.  Not only were we large Disney consumers as kids, since who doesn't love Disney movies, but we became Disney World pros.  We were probably the first to master the art of the Fast Pass.  We understand the intricacies of the dining plan, and utilize it to perfection.  We've got the perfect balance of relaxing and gogogo-ness that makes it a vacation, hitting the parks at opportune hours and also netting some clutch pool time.  We're really a fine tuned machine when we're there.  We know what we want to see, what we want to do, and we get it done and have a blast as a family.

Those trips are something I've always cherished as I've grown up, especially when we lost our father far too early in life.  The crazy amounts of life insurance he had stored up (because that's what the gov't used to compensate people for not being able to pay them enough) sent us back to Disney World.  We were probably the only ones crying while waiting in line for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, since that was something we'd always shared with our father.  I know, weird shit right?  But that's what we did.  Loss can either tear a family apart or bring it together.  I'm lucky we went with the latter.

I bring all this up now because I was struck last night at how much Blizzard is like Disney.  They started small with a passion for a type of entertainment.  They built their successes into a veritable empire.  Then they opened a theme park: World of Warcraft.  Sure they can still produce great games like Starcraft and Diablo, but WoW is really the Disney World of Blizzard Entertainment.  I think the comparison of WoW to a theme park is really an apt one.  To me, it's almost the next logical evolution of the theme park.  You don't have to travel a bunch to get there, it's not nearly as expensive, yet it shows the same sort of attention to detail in order to provide an escapism that Disney World is famous for.

Besides, WoW has become somewhat of a popular vacation spot for a lot of families.  They get to spend quality time together there.  They get to recharge and it helps them through rough patches in their lives.  Sometimes we get to bring friends too.  You know how you always wanted to bring your best friend on those long, boring family vacations.  Now you can.

Like Disney, we see Blizzard starting to dip it's fingers into other arenas as well.  They may make movies.  They might get some music going.  Maybe we'll even see a Blizzard Channel on the television.  That's not completely crazy, right?  They're planning to open up another theme park.  They'll continue making the quality products that put them on the map.  And, oh my, the merchandising.  The MERCH!

Is Blizzard the Disney of the 21st century?  Only time can tell, but to me it seems like they're well on their way.  I see sometimes people refer to the "WoW theme park" as a bad thing.  Well, I loved Disney World growing up: the lines, the heat, the bustle, the commercialism.  That's all part of it.  And I love Azeroth now, too.  There will always be downsides to being big and popular.  You just have to ask yourself if it's worth it to you.  After all, Disney World isn't for everyone.  Paris, Colorado, Atlantis... those are all really cool places that I've never been.  I think I'd like to go someday, but I wouldn't trade my time spent in Disney World for anything.

Theme parks go through renovations every now and then in order to stay relevant.  WoW is on the cusp of a major amount of construction.  We've been gazing at that special pardon-our-dust wall with the label "magic at work", wondering what will be created this time.  A new coaster?  A new show?  A new eatery?  A whole new park?  Obviously we've peeked a bit, so we know, but we're still excited.

I see the player community to be a lot like my family with Disney World right now.  We've been there a lot.  We know what we like and what we don't like.  We are in our element in this theme park.  Yet, I remember my excitement when they added The Animal Kingdom to Disney World.  A whole new park that was unexplored, uncharted.  We had to learn to be efficient all over again.  We might have stood in some extra lines that first year, but we figured it out just like the others.

A lot of folks are talking about where to set their hearth.  In Disney, we always stay in one of the main resorts.  Next time we might go back to the Contemporary, having stayed at both the Floridian and the Polynesian now.  I've had a hearth in Shattrath and Dalaran for a while now.  Time to get back to The Slaughtered Lamb.

Email Check Fail

So I logged into the blog email yesterday morning and: Holy Fel! I haz emailz.  I'm sure there are many other bloggers that can sympathize with how you can go two years, getting not much more than one email every month or two, and then all of a sudden you apparently get a Nightfall proc of email.  It tends to totally jazz one up.  At least it does to me.  Who doesn't like feedback and opportunities?

The downside is that you tend to fall into the rut of not checking the blog email because you don't want to be presented with the ubiquitous "no messages in the inbox" message.  I mean that's depressing, right?  What happens then, is that you log on, steeling yourself for a depressive loneliness, only to find you've been missing overtures for the last 10+ days.  My apologies, surfers of the internet.  I have been lax.

Okay, so what did I have in my inbox?

First, an invitation to a Warlock round table with the Raid Warning Podcast.  Any time a coven of 'locks get together for some chat and chit, you can color me interested.  Luckily they still had a spot for me when I got back to them, you know, ten days later.  Either way, count me in and excited.  Head over to their website and submit some questions, especially if you want to hear from me :-).  Looks like we'll be recording sometime after Thanksgiving, so stay tuned for details.

Second, a representative of the Zam Network (owner-operators of Allakhazam, Wowhead, Thotbot and other well-know resource sites), contacted me wanting to write a "feature" piece about the blog.  They gave me a nifty example here, and explained that I'd need to answer a few questions.  Well, lucky for them, I'm a question-answerin kinda guy.  Fuu's gonna get in on this too.  Should be a neat little article if we succeed at being answerful. I guess I didn't realize they were the wizards behind the curtains of all these sites; what a huge collective!

Fuu also had a nice email in there, a little feedback from her tanking podcast she did several weeks ago.  She loves getting email, though she usually ends up sending replies through her personal email.  Hopefully the individual doesn't think some crazy girl has hijacked our blog and is pretending to be a Protection Paladin.  I mean, who would do that?

Finally, I got an email from a new Affliction Warlock blogger.  Vasburg is the author of a little blog called The Daily Dot.  It looks like he just started blogging a little over a week ago, but I already like what I'm seeing.  First of all, gotta give love to my aff'locks out there.  /Affliction Warlock Power.  Second, this cat looks to be a smooth hand with photoshop and other visual tools.  I love clever visuals!  Check out his post today.  I'm pretty sure my fellow raider, Miss Jessabelle, would completely sympathize with the little video.  I would so totally rather buff myself with cool shades than give out soulstones and healthstones.  Although, I admit, I am a bit better about it now that it doesn't cost a precious shard.  She still had to give me a testy reminder last night on Halion though.  In any case, I recommend the site and will pop it up on my Warlocky blogroll over there on the left side. 

So, hope I wasn't too late on my email perusal.  Good stuff in there.  I've actually set it up to forward to Fuu and my personal emails now, so we shouldn't miss stuff anymore.  Good times.  Catch any of the new event stuff yet?  Fuu and I got to do a little bit prior to our NO LONGER ICC RAID last night.  (Sorry, still dragasming a bit).  It was pretty crazy.  Lots of mammoths.  What's up with that?  Pics to come!

DK Specs, Fuu's Debut, and 310% Flying Cheap(er)!

The above represents perhaps the most auspicious title I've ever had around here.  I mean, usually I stick with one topic, or go with some form or "Randomness is Random" title.  Here I have three distinct, and pretty much unrelated, writing points.  Could be crazy.  You've been forewarned.

Why am I rambling about the title?  Well, as you may have surmised, the title is generally what draws people in.  Also, it makes for easy search and find via a service like Google.  That's why for information that I want to get out to more than just the regulars, I tend to have a more mundane heading.  People search for things like "4.0.1 class spec", and not "Ful's Cavalcade of Hilarious and Insightful Talent Spending."  Not that I'm in any sort of position to give other burgeoning bloggers advice... it's just something to keep in mind as we go into Cataclysm and are looking to get helpful information in the hands of the people looking for it.

With that said, no one is likely to search for "Fuu's Podcast Debut", so what's that doing in there?  Well, she mentioned it earlier in the week, and it's now up!  For you tanky types out there, I'm sure it's worth a listen.  I haven't even gotten to hear it yet, so I'll be perusing it with the rest of you when I get a chance to hit up the link.  There is a link right?  Yes, I'm sure and I'll pop it in here as soon as someone can get it to me at work (I'm, of course, blocked), or we find it at home tonight.

edit:  There were a few issues with the podcast being available on iTunes. It finally showed up. Here is the link to his website at The Guardian Tank. I believe that it starts working with your main media player (Quicktime, Windows Media Player, etc.) If you would like to download it directly to your iTunes or Zune, you can search for the Program; The Guardian Tank. The Episode is called: Tanking Mastery 3 (Master Tank: Fuubaar). Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, issues finding/ downloading. <3 Fuu

Fuu is the podcast queen.  If there is a podcast, she's probably listened to it.  I, on the other hand, am terrible about listening to podcasts.  It's probably why I've never been invited to one. I've tried, I really have, but I'm just a reader through and through.  I love talking to others, but just listening is like torture to me.  I want to interact!  Moral of the story: direct all podcast questions to Fuu.  I'm just the odd scribe she lets out of the dark cupboard under the stairs every now and then.

If you're here for the prospect of 310% flying at a discounted rate, I have great news.  Commenter "Ben" tipped us off last week that you could potentially get the required training for a much more modest 4k gold at Valiance Keep (for Alliance, Horde I believe is in Warsong Hold or something).  Of course, the discount comes from having an exalted reputation with the folks out there.  I know it's one of the Wrath groups, not sure which one though.  I earned exalted with all of them through the Argent Tournament a while ago.  In any case, there is a trainer right next to the flight point in Valiance Keep that will give you the same training as the dude in Dalaran, only with a 1k discount if you're exalted.  Totally a deal, and got me my 310% perhaps two weeks earlier than I'd thought at the rate I'm going.  Big thanks to Ben for the great tip!  

Finally, if you're here for DK specs, I've been a bit busy with Warlocky stuff and haven't really gotten to spend much time with my alt-DK.  I have, however, worked out some preliminary specs.  I've only used the DPS one in game so far, running around doing some dailies.  I'm rather scared to try out my tanking now that I have to go to a whole new tree.  Plus, I still only have DW weapons and there really isn't a DW tanking option.  I suppose you still can (and I will until I lock down a solid 2H weapon), but it's not nearly as cool or "niche" as it once was.  In any case, I wanted to pass along the links for both of these specs for any interested parties.  I'm definitely looking for feedback and will be updating those guides in the upcoming weeks as well.  Warlockery comes first 'round here, but I don't plan to abandon my PvP toon and alternative tank.

Preliminary 4.0.1 Death Knight Tanking Spec Here.  Some notes:

• Talents were hard for me to pick here, seemed like there was a lot of good stuff.
• I focused on things that would give me survivability (not worried so much about threat right now).
• Blood Boil could be a great AoE spell for us (as opposed to relatively trivial before).
• Epidemic seems important to me to pick up.
• Since I specced for survival, I tried to glyph more for threat.  Seemed to work out best.

Preliminary 4.0.1 Death Knight Frost Dual Wielding DPS Spec Here.  Some notes:

• I've yet to really figure out a rotation, it seems like I'm constantly rune starved.
• I made this spec with PvP (BGs) in mind.  Thus, some of the talent choices reflect that.
• Glyphing seemed easier or this than the tank, just buff your DPS.
• Diseases seem to last a heck of a lot longer, plus we have that new strike that refreshes them.  I've not been able to fit it all together nicely yet, but haven't had a lot of time to spend with it either.  Advice appreciated.

I don't usually get to do nearly as much research for my DK as I do for my 'lock.  It's just the way things go.  Still, I wanted to post up my spec plans with the hope of getting feedback.  At the very least, I think they're good starting points.  Death Knights saw a huge amount of change with the 4.0.1 revamp, so it's going to take me a bit to get my mind around them all.  It just doesn't feel very smooth right now, but that could simply be due to lack of practice as well.  I hate feeling clunky, don't you?

Writer's Corner

Thanks to everyone who's been reading my stories on IC Fridays. I've gotten a decent amount of positive feedback over the last year or so about them, and that's really appreciated.  Anytime you work to create something, you end up putting a piece of yourself in there, and it's nice to know others appreciate it. They are a lot of fun to write and I plan to continue into Cataclysm with them.

I wanted to touch on them today because very soon I'm going to be doing something I've yet to do.  You see, mostly I've looked to the actual adventures of my toons for inspiration.  That is, when Decedereful was poking around looking for her brother at the tournament way back when, Ful was actually parked there and I was leveling with her.  Also, since she's my PvP toon, it makes sense for her to run around to different BG locations.  Ful is generally spotted wherever we're raiding (being my raid toon).  Obviously the other characters follow suit as well.  The bottom line is that I usually try to have a loose linkage to what I'm doing in game.  That probably makes a basic kind of sense.

Now that we have the timing of Cataclysm, though, I find myself needing to advance the storyline further than I've actually progressed via raids.  Our raid crew continues to battle away at the Lich King, but we'll probably take it right up to the wire, which is what we expected going into this.  I think we'll all be pleasantly surprised at how much better the "curve" feels in Cataclysm, since we'll be raiding straight 10 together from the beginning.  In Wrath, we only solidified our team near the end of the expansion to take on ICC.  Imagine if we'd had all the other raids together building up to the last one?  Perhaps it might not have made a difference, but I'd like to think we would have ironed out a lot of the minor issues and gotten better at anticipating and understanding each other.  I mean, more time together should only help right?

In any case, I'm going to write in the demise of the Lich King from my character's perspective pretty soon here.  I'm noodling the scenes and storylines now to try to get an idea of what I want to do, and chances are it will not coincide with our actual downing of the Lich King.  I'm sure many of you are shrugging and saying "eh, no big deal", but to me it represents a stark departure from how I've been writing the story all along.  I still hope it'll remain entertaining and fun, which has always been my goal.  I like to throw in some drama and suspense, but at the end of the day my aim has always been to make you, the reader, crack a smile at least once.  That's what Fridays should be for, IMO. 

Anywho, I just wanted to bring that up today and give you guys a heads-up going into tomorrow's episode.  If anyone has questions about my process or just wants to chat writing... we do check the inbox at least once a week (it's mostly empty) and there are always comments.  We love hearing from you!

Also, as a teaser, Fuu has some exciting news coming up, but I'll let her tell you once she knows more about it.  Suffice it to say, if you're a pally tank fan, you should probably keep your eyes open for her announcement :-).

Raid from the Heart

Today I wanted to go ahead and plug Raid from the Heart. If you haven't heard about it, it is the annual Raid for a Cause event organized by Big Bear Butt et al. on October 16th of this year. I believe this would be, officially, like the second or third annual cause raid that he's been a key part of. It's not always planned to be annual, but it has sort of worked out that way for a few years now.  In any case, this year it is loosely tied to heart disease, hence Raid from the Heart.

I say loosely, because it's not like you go and are brow-beaten for donations are anything.  One of the charms of these events is that it's really just about people getting together and enjoying the good company.  Fuu and I have attended in the past, and it has always been a blast.  Usually there are upwards of 100 people, often more than that, just generally having a good time.  I got to chat with a lot of bloggers and readers that I'd never had the chance to chat with before, which was just awesome.  Plus, it's just something different and unique.  In my experience, being a part of something that is bigger than yourself always tends to be a rewarding experience, even if you're not donating money or anything like that.  Just spending the time is the important part.

Sadly, Fuu and I will not be able to attend this year.  We're batting .000 on doing anything cool or community oriented this year, and it really sucks.  However, on the 16th, we already have 3 weddings to attend (two family, one a close friend, and we've already made plans, which was a sucky decision as well).  Thus, our dance card is full.

I would still encourage anyone who's thinking about it, and free, to go.  There are more details on BBB's site, but the fun kicks off around noon.  You don't even have to attend the whole thing.  If you want to meet up with the group later, I'm sure no one is going to bat an eye.  Heck, you can probably just pop in, say hi, and leave if you want.  Like I said, it's about the company.

I don't mean to belittle the cause either. Heart Disease is something that's likely touched a lot of folks.  I know my grandpa had 3 heart attacks (and 4 strokes) before he turned in his last quest (he had a Cataclysmic health pool, apparently.  That, or stellar healers.).  Fuu's dad has had one as well, and is working hard to make healthier choices so he can be around to meet our kids (leveling up his exercise skill?).  It's a cause I think we can all get behind... Who doesn't like healthier hearts? Mmm...

Anyways, just wanted to pass along the information.  For complete rules and regulations, see the link above.  And by rules and regulations, I mean a Bearwall of explanatory text that gives you pretty much a play by play of what to expect.  Don't let the guttural growl scare you though: it's really as simple as popping in, joining the correct chat channel, and following the crowd.  Even if you get lost, folks will be there to help.  Trust me, bloggers will be the first to admit to getting sidetracked and lost, even with a cause in mind.  Plus, we like to help.  And we love to hang out and chat.  There should be no shortage chatter.  I'm sorry I'm going to have to miss it.  So show up for me!  Roll a horde of 'locks and represent, because a sharded heart is a healthy heart.

In all seriousness, this is one of the great and unique things about a game as big as WoW that is worth experiencing for the sheer epicness of it.  After all, not all awesome has to be served up to us by developers.  We are quite capable of being awesome on our own (and have proven that in the past).

Disclaimer: All comments above are unsolicited.  KeS, Shd. is in no way affiliated with Promitus Ursus Posterius Productions (PUPP) or the Big Bear Butt Blog (B^4). Kthxbye.