One for the Photosensitives!

I started doing Raid Finder last night. I only did the first part but I kinda enjoyed it. I was able to play in Frost. Not the best dps ever but manageable. My gear is only just 460, so it'll get better. Also, the trash mobs are freezable, which = giant ice cubes! So, today my friend and I went to do it again, post reset. The first half went great. Although I was uber jealous of the Fire Mage pushing out epic dps. I almost went all Showgirls on him and wanted to throw some marbles for him to fall over!

Then we went to do the second part. Aside from me throwing out all my AoE's at the same time, arms flailing, when I wasn't supposed to (you live and learn), it was ok on the first boss. Then that big starry dragon happened. And for that I would like to send Blizzard a big middle finger! And here is why...

I am a photosensitive epileptic. I also have problems with fast moving geometric shapes and tightly spaced lines. I enjoy gaming and i know my triggers. But I am in a position now where any sort of progression in Raids has come to an end. Yes, in past raids there have been bosses with lots of seizuretastic flashes. But provided we down it fast and have no wipes, all is good. I've only had a bad problem once. In DS, our group wiped a few times on the Ultraxion fight. Because that fight requires you to concentrate and time the Hour of Twilight and everyone is stacked, throwing out lightning bolts, arcane barrages etc, the risk becomes greater. By the end I was twitching (myoclonic jerks) and it put me in bed for a day. So, that ended that little journey. I love my gaming but I know when to call some of it quits.

On the new raids the fights are longer, the screen bounces a lot on all bosses and everything moves so fast. But the shiny dragon...he is something else. Pretty though he is, he is an instant downer for someone sensitive to flashing lights. He was like a little Easter egg of bad. I know the game has to be fun and visually exciting and that it isn't only aimed at me but did it really have to be so god damned flashy? I will not be trying that fight again, ever. I played most of it blind (one eye covered helps disrupt the flashes. but I also only have 20% vision in the eye uncovered. which means lesser chance but more blind). Apologies to anyone in this Raid group. If you saw a FM running around like a headless chicken, that was me.

This means I'm out of raiding, even as a spare on a guild run. It means I can't try for the epic drops either. Looks like its back to fishing and growing crops for me! I'll carry on working towards Arena but until my partner is back, I'll just have to amuse myself with other things.

Anyway, more QQ later. For now I'm going to nap and feel better.

Something's Missing...

I went to see Agee today. Something has been troubling me and this wise little old guy is where I go for comfort...

We sat in front of a roaring fire, just pondering life. The silence was a comfortable one. One that can only be shared between close friends. Agee knew I was troubled but asked no questions. That's the great thing about Agee.

 Soon I found myself falling into a deep, peaceful sleep. One that I had needed for so long..

The bright sun shone down on my face. I rolled over to see a small animal running towards me. His eyes red, as though he had been crying for days. He said to me, 'My name is Socks and I need your help. Seek out the Short Bearded Paladin who shines like the sun to avenge Gizmo's death!'. Then he vanished. It was then I knew I was dreaming. I had met Socks before but he was turned into Jade by the Jade Witch, so this could not be real life! I, erm, might have abandoned the quest that released him from the Jade so I could go farm windwool and fish. So, because of my guilt at letting him become a lawn decoration (don't even go there readers...I'm sitting in no gardens), I decided to seek out the Paladin of which he spoke.

I woke up, bleary eyed but dedicated to fulfilling Socks' request. But where would I find such a Paladin? I thought of my dream. Socks had told me the Paladin was short and bearded. This can only mean one thing. Dwarf! My search would begin at Ironforge. I transported myself immediately by portal, because I'm too damn lazy to fly.

I went straight to the top. The mission was of utmost importance. To the High Seat I went. I stormed past the guards and looked Muradin Bronzebeard in the eye. I told him of my quest. He responded with, 'sod off, y'er little bastard' in his Scottish drawl before the guards manhandled me and threw me into the corridor. I get the feeling dwarfs don't like gnomes very much...

Dusting myself off, I decided to ask a kindly looking Blacksmith. By this point I did not care if dwarves hated me or not. Gizmo needed to be avenged. Fortunately, this particular dwarf looked upon my cute face and took pity on me. But he requested a price for this information. I had to do a /train for him and his friends. I took a deep breath, knowing the scorn my high pitched 'chugga chugga choo choo' would cause. I did it and the whole place erupted with belly laughs and 'wtf's'. When he eventually composed himself and changed his pants (dwarves have bladder control 'issues'), he told me a Paladin fitting my description had passed through not long ago to use his forge. He did not know where he had gone but he said his armour was the finest he had ever seen! On I went, disappointed with my venture...

I went to Karanos next but they had not seen nor heard of the Paladin I was looking for. My search seemed futile. On a hunch I decided to go to Tinker Town to ask there. I had a feeling in my gut that this dwarf had a soft spot for gnomes but couldn't express it due to his races' prejudice towards us, lest he be mocked for being a 'gnome sympathiser'.

I asked all around town until someone pointed me here. They told me they had seen a dwarf fitting my description 'chilling' in the coolest house in town. So cool, in fact, that they all wore sunglasses...inside. I walked in, in my garish red outfit, like a boss. They sat, staring at me behind their expensive branded sunglasses. I demanded they tell me of this dwarf immediately. In a slightly drunk sounding voice, one of them said, 'yeah dude, we partied with him. Dwarf can drink!'. Ok, we were getting somewhere. I calmly asked what he had said and that the killers of Gizmo must be avenged. The gnome on the bunk looked up and replied, 'chill dude...!'. I stopped him right there...'chill dude?? I will Ice Lance you to the face if you don't tell me where he went. This dwarf is the only one who can stop Socks haunting my dreams!'. The gnome shook so hard, he almost fell off his trendy modular bunk. 'Ok, Ok, he said he was going to find an epic Golden Axe to go with his perfect Golden Armor. He said he would farm that dungeon until the bloody thing dropped and transmog the axe he had with better stats into something more awesome looking because Cataclysm gear is ugly'. I knew then that this was the dwarf I was looking for. Socks said he shined like the sun...golden armor. It all fits. So, I went the only place I knew I would find him. Stormwind City.

And here I waited. I know that one day he will return. When the time is right, he will be here. And then I will give him his task. Rubedeus, Socks needs you. Put on your Golden Armor, hunt down Gizmo's murderers and slay them all. Then drinks and cake, ok? :)

They're Following Me, I'm Sure!

New books arrived at work today and this was my favourite, of course!

Pandas in pants, running wild! What's not to love! In my mind, this is the story of what will happen should I ever roll a panda...

Kodak Moments!

I was taking a look through my screenshots this morning and found a few that I forgot about! So, here is my blog photo album. Enjoy!

Here we have the last day of Cataclysm, Just before the reset. If anyone has been present during a normal reset, you will know what happens in SW. But this one was different. A shout appeared in Trade Chat for everyone to go to the Cathedral. I'm nosy, so I went, to find this. Looks innocent enough, so I joined in...

And then more came...

Still fairly sensible...

Party Time! Let the dancing begin!

Awkward moment when some tall dude dances right in your face *blushes*

Almost time...

The End Is Here! Bye Bye Cataclysm, it was fun.

*Apologies for the swears. But it's, well, Trade Chat*

When WoW tries to give you a hint...

Thanks for the confidence boost Blizzard!

Suffering some lag in SW when I tried to mount up. Nothing happened. Then 5 mins later when I was minding my own business, this...

Flying Gnomie!

Randoms:

Check the recount...Mage Raaaage!

Quality response to some BG rage! This made me chuckle...more than it should have!

When Illusion goes horribly, horribly wrong. 

More to follow :)

Time To Enter the Arena...Almost!

Apologies to anyone who regularly reads this blog for the lack of posts lately. It's just, well, sexy new expansion grabbing my attention. And sexy it is. By far and away my favourite area of the game, Pandaria has given me tons of new things to do, with stunning looking areas and fun quests. Though I'm enjoying quests, dungeons and pottering about, my main goal is to be arena ready now the season has opened.

Last season I only did a couple of arena matches but this season my arena partner and I are gonna go hard! I'm back to being a full on Frost Mage now (because it's awesome) and I have a wonderful Shadow Priest partner who is a) Far more skilled than I, b) Capable of putting out wicked amounts of damage AND keep me healed and c) Lots of fun to play with! The combination is loaded with win. Our Frosty/Face Melty power has been tested in BG's and has yielded great success. We've held towers and bases alone, without too much hassle from the opposition. Though we've had some defeats, the majority of our adventures have been very satisfying. With better gear and more training we shall soon be a team to reckon with! And with my partner's wife hopefully joining us for 3v3 as a skilled, pvp Hunter, we will soon be racking up the body count! As you all know, the biggest enjoyment of the game for me is splatting horde, so to find like minded guildies, willing to let me join them (even though sometimes my brain leaks and I get us all killed) is an excellent bonus!

So, soon I will be posting tales of our exploits. The wins, the losses and most of all, the fun times!

A Shammy Stole My Dinner Money!

I have my sad face on right now. If you saw it, you would cry. It's that sad. Tonight I duelled with a Shammy from our guild. He has much lower level gear than me but he did indeed beat the living daylights out of me. More than once! 

Jokes aside, he's a great player. I unfortunately am not the best. I've never duelled a Shammy before and in BG's they always, always, beat the living crap out of me. Before 5.04 it was Ferals and Rogues, but I've just about mastered those. Shammy's however never fail to make me feel like I've just started playing. They run rings around me. I can't keep them silent for long enough, my damage they can heal back easily and those bloody totems...

But enough of the QQ. He did a brilliant job of explaining to me what I can do to help myself when faced with my arch nemesis'. Now I just have to put it into practice, so I can walk away from a duel with my head held high. At least once...

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! :)