The 20 Days of World of Warcraft: Day Seventeen

What do you do when the server is down?


A fitting topic for the day. Well, since maintenance day is typically Tuesday and  I typically have Tuesdays off of work, I pick Tuesday for my chore day. I run errands, clean up the house a bit, whatever needs doing. If I really run out of things to do, I catch up on my blog reading/writing. And then, if I still have time to spare, I'll either watch some TV or pick up an F2P game to putz around with until servers come back up.

Totally boring, I know, but there you have it.

The Dungeons: 1-5

The first dungeon I set foot in on Audrid was actually Deadmines. I ported in to find the group already ahead of me, the tank nearly dead and pulling more, the balance druid calling me out for not healing while I wasn't even in the dungeon yet. I was level 16. This was my first dungeon on this toon. I was not about to cope with the abuse that I could feel coming if I decided to stay with this group. So I said a quick word about not pulling before your healer is there and bailed.

Hello 30 minute deserter debuff. Goodbye happy fun healing time.

That one didn't count. I call for a do-over.

So the first dungeon I completed on Audrid was Ragefire Chasm. You have to try really hard to mess that dungeon up. Sometimes, when I look back on it, I feel jealous of all those years the Horde had keeping this instance to themselves. It has to be the best starter instance ever. Deadmines for a beginner is much, much harder, imho.

Dungeon number two was Deadmines. I was nervous so I started out warning the group that I might be a little shaky on the heals, and asked them to please bear with me. It turned out I had nothing to worry about. This was another smooth run with kind folks to boost my fragile healing ego.

Dungeon number three was Wailing Caverns. An hour and a half of Wailing Caverns, because I was the only one who had any kind of clue how to navigate, which means we got pretty lost. But everyone stuck with it and we had some playful banter as we went through, as well as a few bio breaks. Although this was not as painful as some WC runs I've had, I still absolutely hate this instance, almost as much as I hate BRD, but that's another story for a different time.

Dungeon number four was another Wailing Caverns. This one went much more smoothly since I had just done it I remembered where everything was and was able to guide us through.

Dungeon number 5 was Shadowfang Keep. Oh, how I love to hate SFK! It's my favorite and my least favorite dungeon all rolled up into one. We did just fine all the way up until Godfrey. When we wiped 3 people bailed including the tank. The next tank in new exactly how to handle the Godfrey fight and taught us. It was beautiful and I can't thank Notapally of Echo Isles enough for being such an awesome tank and being patient with this newb healer who didn't know how to do it.

At this point Audrid was level 21, and looking pretty awesome in her kilt. All in all, not too shabby for pure pugs.

Stay tuned for dungeons 6-10, coming soon.

Quick pug stats: Tanks - 2 Warriors, 2 Bears, 2 Paladins.
                         Ranged - 3 Hunters, 2 Mages, 1 Balance Druid, 1 Warlock.
                         Melee - 2 Rogues, 2 Warriors, 2 Kitty Druids, 1 Paladin, 1 Shaman.
                         Wipes - 1 to Godfrey in SFK.      

I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face

She almost makes the day begin.
I've grown accustomed to the tune that
She whistles night and noon.
Her smiles, her frowns,
Her ups, her downs
Are second nature to me now;
Like breathing out and breathing in.
I was serenely independent and content before we met;
Surely I could always be that way again-
And yet
I've grown accustomed to her look;
Accustomed to her voice;
Accustomed to her face. 

Alan Jay Lerner from My Fair Lady

There's been a bubble of people who have left WoW and the WoW blogging community recently. The two that have had the most impact on this lonely little blogger are the loss of Jaedia of Jaedia's Menagerie and Ardol of WoW Philosophized.

I don't want to put a guilty burden on these folks for leaving. That is not the intention of this post. I truly wish them all the joy in the world in whatever they move onto next. But they are going to be missed.

I know what you're thinking. People come and go in WoW all the time. What does it matter that these two have left? No doubt, in time two more will pop up to take their place. Still it leaves me in a sort of melancholy state. Its a bittersweet happiness or a semi-sweet bitterness. I don't know exactly what it is, but I feel the same way everytime someone I've cared about has gone away, whether it be IRL or in a game. The strongest regrets that I have are the ones about losing those closest to me.

I'm not going to say that these two were close and dear friends, but you don't read someone's words day after day for over a year and not somehow feel close to them.

I've read each of their posts about why they are leaving. Each is well written and well thought out. I can understand the reasoning, and yet, there is a part of me that never will truly understand (at least not until I feel the same way).

It worries me that some day down the road I will be in their shoes, saying my goodbyes to WoW and the blogging community I've grown to love so much. I can't even think about quitting WoW right now, let alone the unique community that blogs about it.

I can't even imagine what my life would be like without WoW and without my blog. I think I'd be a little bit less happy. Today I'm feeling a little bit less happy to see some friends say goodbye.

Lady in Gold?

At the entrance to the Pig and Whistle in Stormwind's Old Town, there is a picture of a beautiful human woman in gleaming golden armor. Who is she? Why is her picture there? Has it always been there?

I've searched Wowpedia and Wowhead and various other WoW sites for information on this, and have come up with nothing.

There are two scenarios that seem to fit to me.

1. She was the owner, daughter or wife of the owner, or some other kind of relative to the owner of this fine establishment. However, there is nothing in game to back this up. None of the NPCs in the bar mention her, and there is no one in the bar that looks like her.

2. This is an image of Lady Luck (otherwise known as Lady RNG), and I should be spending my spare time worshiping in this holy place (in other words gambling), in order to increase my reputation with this Goddess.

What do you fine folks think? Does anyone have any information that I haven't been able to find?

But You Have Full Mana!!!

This has been the battlecry of the fail dpser/tank who died because (in their opinion) I must be a horribad healer.

I would say, on average, my experience using LFD so far has been 60/40 Good/Bad. I can only imagine that it is either going to get better or worse, considering the dungeons I've been doing are the early/easy ones.

As a Paladin, my spells are limited at this level. I don't even have Flash of Light yet. I'm limited to Holy Shock, Word of Glory and Holy Light as my bread and butter, which is a long cast spell. I have no AoE (unless you count passively healing myself whenever I heal anyone else). I can't work miracles.

I'm talking about you, Paladin "Tank" in Intellect gear spamming Exorcism. I'm talking about you, crazed Hunter who refuses to wait for the tank to pull and has his pet on aggressive+growl. I'm talking about you, Druid who tried to tank in Kitty form. I'm talking about you, Balance Druid who refused to let the tank pull because you have better armor than the tank. Fine, but then switch into freaking Bear form. Don't try to tank as a Night Elf. You are squishy and will die.

It's as if by the fact of just having mana I should be able to instantly transfer all of that mana into health magically saving everyone's stupid ass. I'm sorry, but it just doesn't work that way. There is no magic IWIN Healing button. If I spam heals on a tank and he still goes down, either a. the tank was not geared/specced correctly or b. the tank (or someone) pulled way too many or c. the tank (or someone) didn't move out of the bad or d. the tank did not pick up adds and I was too busy saving myself. I don't like to blame others. When people point the finger at me all I will say is I'm doing my best. If they keeping blaming and complaining at me I simply leave. Its just not worth the effort to argue.

I am a damn good healer. I've been healing for so long its like second nature. I know when a wipe is my fault and I will freely admit it. Just because I still have mana doesn't mean I've been sitting and twiddling my thumbs letting you die. Believe it or not, at this level I have yet to go OOM. Maybe its all the Spirit gear I've been getting. Maybe Blizz tried to make it a little easier on low level healers. I don't know.

Wipes happen. I don't know if anyone told you, but Godfrey is a hard boss, even on regular at level 20. I don't know if you realize, but 10 mobs is a bit excessive and is likely to wipe even the best group, especially if no one seems to know how to CC. How many healers are going to be left if the first thing we hear is that its our fault? Even if it is our fault, c'mon, cut us some slack.

From One Paladin to Another

Old Server:::New Paladin

I think that I could just play Paladins for the rest of my WoW career. I think that could make me happy. They have such stories to tell. They speak to me like no other class ever has.

I tried to do something different. I really did. I made a Hunter and quickly grew bored. I made a Paladin and well... 20 levels later, I think she's a keeper.

Hello. My name is Audrid. I have a very large mace.

Yes, I know. Another Dwarven Paladin too.

That's right, Moira's my Queen. Ya wanna make somethin' of it?

But this one is different. This one is all caught up in the Ironforge/Dark Iron drama.

So what if I'm wearing a kilt?

And she's a Holy Paladin, just like Gwennis was. What can I say, I'm a healer at heart. I'm leveling her almost purely through dungeons, and loving every minute of it.

In case you hadn't noticed, I almost always choose the double braid hairstyle for my Dwarven women. If you've never seen this hairstyle in action, I strongly suggest you make a caster with this hair and cast something long. Hours of entertainment watching those tresses twirl. Even funner when a random pugger notices it. I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone say, "OMG! Look at her hair!"

I'm still here...

I apologize for my lack of posting, and would like to thank those who commented on my last post. Your advice is greatly appreciated, even if it is no longer necessary.

You see, I keep changing my mind about what I want to do in the game. I guess I'm just a restless soul anymore. Maybe its one of those signs that I'm slowly burning out, but I really don't think that is what it is. I greatly enjoy the time I spend in game, I just have no desire to choose a main and get to level cap, so that leaves me very free to willy-nilly create and delete toons and play God for a little while.

How many characters have I started and wrote a bit of RP story about only to fade into nothingness? And so Gwennis will fade into the background as well. I'm sure there will be others to take her place. Maybe one will even stick.

I found it near to impossible to make friends on new realms, least of all friends that are also interested in RP, even on RP realms. It's as if you have to know names to get in with the cool kids or something.

I've decided that I can enjoy my RP well enough without the interaction of others. I can write my little stories and be happy. And so I return to my old realm, Cairne, where at least I have friends. I was far too lonely those weeks on Argent Dawn.

I deleted three of my five high level toons to make room for the alts I intend to make on Cairne. I deleted Ama, Viva and Ashwynn, as well as various lower level toons. I kept Icelica, and hope maybe someday I will level her up and become an uber DK tank. I kept Levity as my bank alt, mostly because I know I will never want to play her again so she makes a reliable banker (plus she has big bags and shiny flying mounts).

And so I am back among friends, with a shiny chunk of change. Who knew that between those 3 toons I had 20k gold? I know, for those of you auctioneers out there that's chump change, but for me its a lot.


I also found that I have two and a half bags full of BoA heirlooms, which I don't even want to use. I have no desire to rush leveling any more than it is already rushed. I've actually decided that none of my toons will have gathering professions to start with. I can always go back and level that up later, but I can't undo the XP gains provided by these skills.

I'm taking my time and feeling out different toons. I have one that I plan to level purely through dungeons, and several that I plan to level by questing alone. Maybe someday I'll even have a PVP only toon, if I can ever get up the nerve to enter a BG again.

I know, most of you are probably thinking I'm insane for deleting a level 84, 80 and 70. To me it just made sense, and honestly I feel a great weight lifted off of my shoulders. No regrets. Now I have room on my home realm for new toons, and I couldn't be happier.