Who Are You?

So, I was thinking about how we choose our characters on WoW. And which of our characters we choose to be our main. I know the Role Players like to become their characters but even the most seasoned raider must choose according to their personality type. I spoke to a RL colleague the other day about the fact that I play WoW (we share similar nerdy passions). He said he has a lot of friends that play and asked whether I do PvP or PvE. When I said PvP, he laughed and said I must be aggressive. I think he is very wrong. PvP is aggressive but it also offers constant variety. I'm easily bored and this does not happen in PvP. It's always different. One game I might smash a boomkin into a pile of feathers. The next game a boomkin might stomp me under his giant chicken feet.

But as for my choice of Frost Mage, here is where I believe my personality shows through in my choice. Frost Mage spec is all about control. If I don't want you to move, most of the time you won't. Try and run away and I will make you stand still. Want to cast without my permission? I have counterspell to shut you up (and Frostjaw now, which makes horde sit down AND shut up. Thanks Blizzard!). I have epic control issues in RL. Which doesn't always work out. Where's my darned CS when I need it? Many of the jobs I have had require me to deal with problematic and sometimes aggressive people. Sometimes the crowd needs controlling. And you always need to go for the player who will do the most damage. As far as the ranged aspect goes, this is also true. As a child when arguments occurred, I never fought but I was always the one hurling the fast insults from a distance while someone much bigger than me did the fighting. I'm small and squishy and got picked on quite a bit so I always had to hide behind my bigger friends and try and break bullies down with words. Didn't always work out. Sometimes I took a sound beating for not being able to control my mouth. As I've got older I have learned to control my DPS, to prevent instant wipes. The annoyance factor of the penguin appeals to me very much. Make someone arrogant and cocky feel small. Sometimes those people need it. And my play style is similar to RL. I like to help people. In game, with the flag, in RL with anything that will help them attain their goals. If something doesn't work first time, then try a different approach. But never, ever give up, even if it is the RL equivalent of a horde gankswarm coming your way.

The gnome character is one that I love. I intend to play every gnome class available. They're the underdog. The little ankle biters. They're also of similar proportion to me. Except for the giant hands, which are the complete opposite to mine. My hands are sideshow freak tiny. I had to have my engagement ring sent away to be resized to a child's size. I still don't wear it now because it slips but the jewellers said to cut it any smaller would distort it beyond repair. But height wise, yes we are alike. My friends are almost all 5'6" and above (up to 6ft for the females), where I measure in at a measly 5'2". And they all like high heels. And that's just the men...

Seeing as you know my life story, you might as well see my face. Just so you can visualise me sat swearing at a big Tauren moo cow on my screen:

In my Halloween disguise as Alex from 'A Clockwork Orange'

In my WoW disguise as an annoying little gnome.

I would love to know whether other people agree with me on this or can identify with the role they play in game. I would very much like to hear why. I think my comments are fixed now, so please feel free to share your thoughts! :)

  

Red Carpet Fashion: Cataclysm Edition

I'm getting a little excited about the new patch tomorrow. So in honour of Cataclysm almost being over, I've decided to do a little post showing my two transmog sets. Being a fashionable gal, Azerothian (is that the actual term?) clothes do not always suit those of us who are small in stature. I would post a screenshot of my gnome wearing the red dress someone gifted me but honestly, the therapy bills for you would be huge. I prefer my gnome not to rock a slutty look (her thighs and muffin top prevent it, or I'd have her in a bikini). Practical, yet garish is my chosen style. And yes, she is in pink...

First up: PvE kit in Arcane spec

And my PvP Frost Mage Kit:

While not being a complete transmog junkie, I am looking forward to seeing what MoP has to offer!

Rage Shout!

I love my game currently but there are a few things that annoy me. And I have found company in my annoyance. A frustrating part of the game is the amount of rage shouting people do. Now for Battlegrounds it seems the norm and I accepted that, as most of the shouting is aimed at the faction generally. For example:

"Ally sux fuxin NOOBS"

Now aside from the terrible spelling and grammar in that sentence, there isn't much to be offended by. It's just someone QQing because they aren't winning. Or maybe they're like, 10. Very rarely is one player singled out for abuse.

Not so for dungeons. In my early days as a Frost Mage (which is by far the most fun mage to roll), I spent the majority of the time being raged at or kicked for low dps. This didn't really bother me until I actually wanted to gear up nad play seriously. I started to feel like no one would give me a chance. I asked for tactics for one Hour of Twilight Heroic, that I was doing for the first time, so I wouldn't do something totally stupid and get kicked for it and got this as a response:

"If you don't know the tactics, you shouldn't be here. LEAVE."

Not exactly encouraging. I didn't leave but spent the entire dungeon being ragged by this wonderful guy. After that I refused to dungeon for a while. I didn't want to be singled out whilst I was trying to learn. After a bit of a push from my partner I went back in and got my iLvl high enough for Raid Finder. He sat behind me and told me what to do. Whilst many might see doing Raid Finder a mistake if you don't like being singled out, it was actually a real turning point in my game. I very quickly learned how bad my dps was thanks to recount reports. I was singled out to be kicked for doing an underwhelming 6k dps. But then, a legend wrote this in chat:

"Haha 6k dps. Leave the mage. Ice lancing like a boss!"

This raised a few laughs in the group and I didn't get kicked. I think they thought of me as like a little gnome mascot, biting ankles on my way. It was a lot of fun and allowed me to see the fights and see what other mages were doing. After that I decided to change my spec to Arcane. Not as much fun but waaaaay better dps. After doing my weekly RF plus random HoTs for Valor Points, I have managed to get my kit and my play style ready to try Dragon Soul Normal Raid. I have tried the first part up to Hagara twice and held my own with dps and using correct tactics. And this is an awesome feeling. But still I won't join pugs for fear of the old way returning. And this is silly.

So to any people who think it is ok to rage at a fellow player who is trying to progress, you suck. You are the thing that holds this game back. If wipes happen, it's not the end of the world. Blizzard will not take your account from you. Your pixels will not be obliterated. Your PC will not explode. You will just ressurrect and try again. Or not, if you rage quit. Then you will spend forever on trade chat trying to pug another group where you will more than likely rage quit again. If you are one of these people, you were not born naturally talented at WoW. You had to learn. And while some people learn faster than others, they do not have the right to abuse anyone else. Give people a chance. It won't hurt you.

If I am in a group that is slower than usual, I do a quick inspect of gear. If the gear is low, I understand. We move on and I feel good that someone has had an opportunity to try. Unless someone is being abusive or afk I don't believe in kicking. If your healer says their gear sucks, don't stand in harm's way. Try to make their job easier.

So, for anyone who has had abuse in dungeons. Don't stop doing them. Keep at it. Because when you start climbing the dps list, it stops. Then they move on to the tank...

I am a Secret World of Warcraft Player

Ok, it's time to admit it. I play World of Warcraft. I play it hard. So, you might be thinking, "what's the big deal?". For me it is a huge deal. World of Warcraft broke up my partner and I approximately 2 years ago. After 9 years together, a f*****g computer game broke up our relationship. Not through me playing (and I did, but not a lot). But through my partner's devotion to the game. He was obsessed! To the point where the raid came before everything except work. It was not the only thing, but it certainly played a big part in the breakup. We were apart for 18 months. And somehow we ended up back together. With terms and conditions. No Warcraft under any circumstance! But this was not to be...

Our daughter is now of an age where she no longer wants our company. She's old enough to play out with friends, chat on FaceTime, play her own computer games. So, after long and lengthy chats about acceptable usage, I caved. The poor guy was bored out of his wits! I read, sew, piss about with my PiePhone etc. all of which he does not do. He's a gamer, as was I when we first met. So, I gave in, but I had a sly plan. If I went on and had my own WoW account, then he would happily come off the PC to let me play. My intention was to limit times, without making a big deal about it. And thus, my own addiction began.

I created a Gnome.

A badass Gnome Frost Mage. It had been a long time since I had played and Azeroth has changed a lot. Also, my previous Toon was a Horde Blood Elf, so I was changing faction too. I didn't like Alliance initially (and secretly I do still favour horde, though my guild would disown me for saying it!). What I didn't realise was that I had gone from the most hated Horde race to the most hated Alliance race. But fuck the haters. My gnome is awesome and the Frost Mage spec suits me down to the ground. Especially in PvP. Where I know I am potentially the most annoying character on the field. And I live for that shit. I started gently and vowed to join no guild (I'll get to the reason why in another blog post), that I was only playing to keep my significant other from becoming an unsociable addict again.

Then I PvP'ed. Instantly I was hooked. Where else could I go to get raged at by someone on my own side, rocking a huntard? Also, I found that my spec did indeed allow me to be annoying. Make them stand still while I laced them with some Ice Lance spam (which I did not know was bad at first. It has taken me a long time to improve my game).

Then came the polymorph. The sheep, which has since become a penguin. Which has given me so much joy! Can't get out of the graveyard because the other side are camping shitheads? Fuck it, penguin them one by one for shiggles. They deserve it. And also, they look like they're wearing tuxedos. So it's win win. My partner is often amused by my Tourette's like rants at the PC while PvP'ing, but his favourite by far was my "hah! Big Tauren *insert custom curse* now teeny tiny little penguin", to myself. I might add that my rants are nerfed to ones without Tourette's whilst the little one is in the house! When only adults are present, my sweary rants are legendary. I can't help it. Rogues illicit a similar sweary rant, even now I'm a big Lvl85, with pretty good kit. They are just annoying little wankers aren't they?

So, I'll go into more detail about my Wow based exploits in my next posts. My main decision to make this blog is to meet other players. I have no one other than my partner or my guild to share amusing Wow tales with. So, it would be nice to share with like minded people. Beware though, if you are of a sensitive nature, I rant and curse quite a lot. Especially when referred to as a pink goblin...