Naughty Gnome!

I tried to access my this blog today from a public access PC at work. It did not go well. Our filters blocked it due to *ahem* unsuitable content. Of the sexy kind!! I think it was the Deathwing screenshot. I admit, I did look rather fetching in our line dance, so really I should have expected it. The sheer amount of gnome sexy in that screenshot would probably have blown minds and caused sexy riots all over Azeroth had it not been stopped by those pesky filters. Lesson learned. From now on I will post only sensible screenshots...

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What? I needed a shower after my pew pew session, ok! Don't you judge me, internet filters!

I'm Switzerland

Well, my dearest other half left our guild tonight. But I stayed. A little awkward but whatever. I like where I am. I'm still an angry little teddy bear because we will lose a good part of our shared gaming but it's probably for the best. I'll carry on being smashed into even smaller pieces by Orcs in BG's (big smelly Orcs, I might add) and he'll probably raid like a demon...

I'm sure some people have already chosen sides. But that's not my style. My opinions on anything are based on facts. Anyone who knows me should know this. If I choose not to speak to someone it's because I have made the decision based on what I know, not what anyone else tells me. Even my favourite Lock cannot (nor would he try) sway me.

But there is a message to my post. Our GM tried his hardest to resolve the problem and I know he still feels bad. And he shouldn't. I would have gone too were it not for the sheer effort he put in. A game should not stress anyone out so much. He chose a great quote for our guild message and I know it was not well received but I appreciated it very much.

"There is magic in sincere forgiveness; in the forgiveness you give, but more so in the forgiveness you receive."

A great choice. Hopefully, at some point I'll be able to pay his work back. Not every effort results in a win but that does not mean you lose faith in yourself. Get right back on your feet and keep doing your thing.

 To Arikka: /bow

PS: You're safe from being a penguin... For now ;)

Gankswarms!

The inspiration for this post came from a comment made in an Alterac Valley BG. It's something that has been bothering me for the last few days but I haven't been able to verbalise it as well as this guy could. The comment was:

"ffs...I hate coming in here late and getting griefed to f**k by a gankswarm!"

My thoughts exactly. Not just about AV but  virtually every single BG I've played this week. Battle for Gilneas. Horde took Lighthouse and stood at the graveyard smashing our faces in. Arathi Basin, took the Stables and pounded my gnome into dust. Warsong Gulch, attempted but not this time, pedro. What the hell is going off with Horde lately? Is this the only way they play now? I mean, usually they travel in packs much better than Alliance (which for me is often the reason for their success) but not to this extent. Though this may look like a massive QQ, it's really not. I appreciate a horde who plays well and takes me to pieces but to have rogues, fire mages, huntards and priests gank the graveyard? This has happened sometimes but these last few days it's been the main play style. And it's dull. Still, always the chance to mega penguin and pat prior to my death. Which never stops being fun!

I did have one major win this week with a new talent though. Lets call it a 'Disney talent'. Illusion provided me with the biggest giggle I've had in a while. I was in Twin Peaks and we were trying to get the flag. I was defending but was seeing my team mates frustration at the fact that 2 rogues were guarding the horde flag so I thought I'd take a chance at grabbing it. I popped into invisible mode and made my way to the flag, grabbed it and unfortunately got kicked to death by the rogues. Ok, try again. This time I swam in blinked to the flag, managed to get out of the room but again succumbed to the rogues. Last try. Previously I had tried Illusion and turned into trolls, so I wondered if they might not notice me sneak in. By this time there was a lot of horde stood outside their flagroom. Clicked Illusion and turned into a goblin...of all horde races! So I started running towards them... and they ignored me. I had a wtf moment but carried on regardless. Ice Barrier up, I grabbed the flag. This set the rabbid rogues after me plus a bonus loladin. Counter Spelled the loladin, plus a quick spell steal and Frost Nova'd the rogues. Blinked out and started running. Had a DK put me in Shackles of Ice but the Escape Artist gnome racial sorted that. I got half way down the field before I had a gathering of horde running towards me. Waited until they got close, the BAM, Frost Nova and blink again. I had 1 (yes, just 1) ally run at the side of me from here when I saw a shadow of a little b*****d rogue sap him. He shouted sap and I got a lovely pet freeze ready for him. Popped it on plus Deep Freeze and carried on. Dropped the flag to win the game! During this run, I cursed more than ever I had done. But it was FUN!

Though my mage has lost a lot of her damage until I figure my stuff out, she has not lost the awesome CC abilities and most importantly the fun factor. Though I may not have the DPS of a fire mage or even an Arcane mage, I do have the ability to get either myself or another player carrying the flag up the field. I like nothing better than to help a fellow Ally through a big group of horde with my Frost Nova's and Pet Freezes, while they run on to victory. Or even myself. Seeing multiple horde stuck to the floor while I cycle through my freeze rotation is a joy to behold. Until, of course, I run out and they pummel me into the floor. By that time though, out FC is usually clear. I'm not nicknamed the suicide gnome, by my favourite Lock, for nothing...

PvP Battle Royale: I Got the Pan Lid

I've tried my new talents. My choices are:

• Ice Floes
• Ice Barrier
• Frostjaw
• Cold Snap
• Frost Bomb

All frost. At first they weren't. I initially went for:

• Ice Floes
• Temporal Shield

The rest the same as above. This did not work for me. I missed my Mana Shield, which I was casting constantly. I was not amused!Ice Barrier works better for me now it has a 25 sec CD. I can work with that. But I've found myself back to being the horde punchbag. I'm tiny, yes. Annoying, yes. But I got nuked down by a Shadow Priest in seconds. Also, as if Warlocks needed MOAR fear. I spent my first BG surrounded by locks spamming teh fear. But as always, it's a work in progress. And I have faith in the WoW gods. Do you hear me, faith!

Things I dislike:

• Having cast time on my Frost Armor. Slows me down when I res and want to go pewpew fast!
• Cast times in general
• No Mana Shield
• Priests breaking my Ice Block (though I hear this was there before the patch. I just never saw it)
• Fear, fear, fear

Things I do like:

• Frozen Orb is just so pretty!
• Nuking rogues (3 in 1 BG. Though they may have just been terrible)
• Tiny familiars in Arcane. Tiny Water Elemental is, well, tiny
• Frost Bomb 

Yes, all the things I like are cute. I know, but I'm a GIRL. I like cute, as long as it's coupled with frosty death. Which has yet to happen in abundance but it will. Trust me, it will. Also, mad at DK's Horn of Winter snowstorm. It's so awesomely awesome that I'm jealous. WANT! 

Any comments welcome. I'd like to see how other Frost Mages are managing. Also, happy to hear what other classes are happy/unhappy with. My other half is not happy with his destro lock. Share your thoughts!

Things To Do Whilst Downloading Patch 5.04

I've been downloading patch 5.04 for approximately 10 minutes and have got to 7%, which means I'm probably not going to get it in 15 minutes...more like 4 hours! So, I'm compiling a list of things I can or am doing while I wait:

• Eat my breakfast. Which consists of 1 Cadbury's Twirl and 1 can of Dr Pepper. Don't look at me like that. I waited all my childhood to eat junk for breakfast. Now I'm a growed up I can!
• Do my ironing... As if!
• Look over last night's server shutdown screenshots, edit them (you know what trade chat is like) and post on here.
• Clean. See Number 2

I'm at 10%

• Read some more guides about how Frost Mage's have been nerfed (why???), QQ a bit, then find that they're not actually that bad when I get in
• Get all shades of excited about new areas. From what little I've seen so far, they look amazing!
• Have a chuckle to myself about how much QQ'ing rogues will be doing!

13%

• Tell my daughter she no can haz morning pewpew session.
• Start shouting at my Antivirus to stop asking silly questions. Of course Blizzard can have access. It can hear me, right?
• Pay my bills and think about how I can farm more RL gold. I have 4 part time jobs that equate to 1 full time and I've been offered another.

25%

• *squeeeeee* a quarter of the way done!

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!

Kids in Azeroth

I know that the issue of children playing World of Warcraft has been discussed quite a lot in the past but I thought I'd weigh in with my own opinion on this. I can speak from experience, as our own daughter plays.

Initially she was bored with it but after seeing me play she decided that she would like to try it again. She plays a Night Elf Mage (the kid's got taste). Usually she plays PvP like myself but lately she has started to play dungeons. And here are where the problems have begun. Though she is technically not the best player in the world, she does learn very quickly. Only once has she been subject to abuse in a dungeon. As we monitor her play, we were quick to jump in on the situation. Where we were met with, "it's 12 and above for a reason!" 

That may be the case but with parental guidance, we don't believe that an 11 year old playing is a massive problem. What we do believe is a problem is the amount of adults willing to throw out abuse. Our own daughter is unmoved by it. We have had long discussions on the kind of things she may hear, trolls, role play,  internet safety and such. Luckily she is strong enough of character in RL that the things that go on in WoW don't affect her at all. And she is at that pre teen age where name calling bounces off her and that as of yet any abuse has been game related. One day this may change, hopefully it won't. But this is not always the case.

Our own guild has experienced problems with a player who decided to throw threats at a junior member. We only have 3 children in the guild. 2 of which are children of senior members and 1 who is not. My daughter is the youngest, the others are over 12. We are predominantly an adult guild, but we are very family orientated. We don't curse in guild chat and we treat the children as we would our own. We help and guide them through the game. Now a few months ago we got a new guild member who seemed a little obnoxious from the start. Within weeks he'd managed to insult just about every guild member and troll trade chat for arguments. Then he seemed to take a sinister turn. He started throwing out nasty and awful RL threats in whispers to one of our junior members. She was deeply affected by this and became quite frightened thinking this person would actually carry out these threats. Understandable, even for an adult to recieve threats like these. As her parent is a guild member, it was taken care of straight away. But our GM continued to receive threats until Blizzard actually banned the person. It was quite an episode but it highlights the problems that may occur. 

We now make the kids aware of who to come to if they have a problem. The 3rd kid that plays doesn't have a parent in game so he tends to message me if he has any problems with other players. Usually I will go to wherever he is and monitor the situation and provide support. It often ends the problem straight out.

I talk a lot about the negatives of the game but I do believe that WoW has a lot of positives for kids. Being part of a huge community of mostly great players is a good thing for any child. Some players have shown immense kindness to our daughter. Plus, the tactics behind the game keep her mind busy. Stat priorites, play style of different classes, boss mechanics... they are all part of the learning process. Also, group etiquette. The tank is the leader, follow his instructions. Don't pull, be aware of your role within the group, keep up, aggro management. Be a good team player. Many group skills translate to real life. Working within groups is an important skill for anyone to learn, whether it be in a game setting or real life. And I would rather her play WoW than a console game such as GTA.

Besides, there's no prouder moment for a WoW mum when her daughter comes top of the kill list in BG!