Day 04 – Your best WoW memory

I’ve been trying to think of my best WoW memory, and I’m having a lot of trouble trying to pick just one.

I remember playing with my old friends who taught me everything I needed to know, and it’s thanks to them that I’m a raider today. They patiently taught me what not to stand in, what to stand in, how to heal, how to tank, how to not pull aggro as a DPS, how to write macros, how to use Vent, how to PvP, and most importantly, how to be a considerate person that thinks of the people behind the keyboard.

But although those memories are special to me, those days are long gone, as my guild disbanded as the RL friends that founded it and taught me had an RL falling-out. I tried to keep in contact with them, but being on the other side of the world hindered things somewhat.

I remember dinging lvl 70 back in TBC, and running heroics and raids. But those were mostly with my at the time guild, who were a bunch of elitists that spent all day online and felt everyone else should too. =/ The guild has since disbanded and reformed, and when I was offered a ‘Council’ position when they asked me to rejoin I politely declined. I’m still friendly with several of them, but would never rejoin. Those memories are amazing and filled me with such power, but they were always accompanied by yelling over Vent, and Councilmembers getting pissy at those of us that weren’t in full purples.

I remember dinging 80, but that wasn’t nearly as big of a deal, even less when I got my second and eighth. Taking down the Lich King for the first time with my at-the-time-new guild, was incredible. I’m still wearing Kingslayer as my title, but it doesn’t seem like a hard fight at all, compared to the new raid fights, and that seems to lessen the glory.

Some of my fondest memories are of running friends, family, guildies, and random people I befriended through the old Deadmines. That was my favourite dungeon, but the revamp isn’t something I like.

Some of my favourite pastimes are going back for revenge killings; Hogger, Mor’Ladim, Fel Reaver, Durn, those guys in Dragonblight I can’t recall the names of…. I remember the first time I soloed Durn on my DK pre-nerf, I almost fainted. I only wish I’d Frapsed it.

I’ve always been envied by friends and family for my ability to strike up conversations with strangers anytime when online. Some of my closest WoW friends were met through a random conversation, and I’m as close to them as the internets allow. This isn’t always a good thing, as I’m usually to polite to tell them when to stop because they’re creeping me out. I’m the unofficial guild therapist, because people find me good to talk to, and I’d like to think they’ve gained something from our scheduled chats ;-). From strangers I’ve been told of many problems that can only be told to an anonymous person online, such as gory breakups, death, still-births, rejection, embarassment, and the general problems associated with life. For some reason, people open up to me, even IRL. But these aren’t best memories, but I think it’s where I’ve done the most good.

I remember getting my epic mounts, ground and flying, when it was still a big deal. I remember finally getting heroic purples in every slot (only to replace them with greens and blues in the next Xpac). I remember teaching new players how to act in dungeons (eg. don’t stand in crap, if you’re not the tank don’t pull crap, if you spank the sheep you tank the sheep, etc). I remember my first macro (a /roll one with a witty /e I can’t remember). I remember helping others with rotations and talent points (I still do this every patch for a cousin). I remember my first trip through ICC (We did up to the dragon, but decided to save her and LK for next time. I found out later most of them were in Heroic mode o.O). I remember dying in my first fire (Deadmines). I remember my first summons (From Teldrassil to Goldshire). I remember the first time a gold spammer put ME on HIS/HER ignore list (I am now up to 7. I feel accomplished). I remember when I first caused a group to wipe (Accidentally pulled the lumber goblins in VC because I got too close). I remember the first time I got really chewed out by a Raid Leader (Kara, by a Councilmember I never got along with, for a decent reason but taking it too far). I remember my first BG (WSG-We lost, 3-nil. Alliance sucks at BG). I remember endless gankings on a PvP realm. I remember the same guy doing it the next guy, and I remember telling guildies and having 9 lvl 70’s coming to my rescue(they camped him until he plug-pulled). I remember when I first started being known to guildies, friends and family as a verbal Thottbot/Wowhead/Wowwiki/Tankspot/EJ. I remember leading my first raid, and having it flop (Ulduar).

At the moment, it’s too hard for me to pick out a single moment as the best, because I know that my best memories and proudest moments are yet to come.

But with that being said, killing Mor’Ladim always makes me LOLIRL. I HATE that guy!

Day 03 – Your first day playing WoW

My first time playing WoW……gee that was a long time ago.

It was back in Vanilla, and my cousin (8 years my senior), was showing me this new game that we should buy and play with him and other people we knew. My dad was skeptical. “So I buy the game, and then pay to keep playing it? Runescape is free.”

So, in order to convince us, he let me make a character on his account. I was eager to buy and play this game, as being a nerd and all, I had read the WoW manual and guide books my cousin had left unattended next to the computer. (Years later he told me that he had done so deliberately, because he knew I’d read them, so that I’d convince my dad to join.)

I loved the look of the Night Elves. Humans were too boring and super-modelly. Dwarves were kinda ugly. Gnomes creeped me out. But those elves were beautiful and exotic. I wanted one. I made a female one (because I didn’t like the male’s faces and also because ewww I’m a girl why would I play a boy?!?!?!), but I was confused as to what class to play. I mean, come on! There were so many! I liked the idea of turning into animals, but my cousin said that a warrior is the easiest to learn to play.

I tried a few different names, but they were all taken. Then, the final name I tried accepted. So Moondance the Nelf Warrior was born. I ran around on her, doing all the quests in the starting zone. My dad kicked me off after a while, because he wanted to try it too. When he gave it back to me, I had to take an antidote to this guy, and there was a timer! I failed that quest about five times, before I finally found the guy, because my dad had gotten the quest, not me. My cousin let me take his Paladin for a spin too, it was level 60! I remember thinking at the time, “Wow! It must have taken forever to get this high!” And it had. 18 months.

Eventually, a few months before BC came out, we caved and bought an account. Moondance was deleted from my cousin’s realm, she was only level 12. When I made my first character, I wondered if her name was available. It wasn’t. So instead I made a hunter, and I was ticked at my cousin. Hunters were MUCH easier than warriors. My first day on her was spent questing.

I can still remember all of this clearly, even though I haven’t tried to recall it for years.

Day 02 – Why you decided to start a blog

I started this blog because I love reading WoW blogs in general.

Most people that write blogs don’t have to fake enthusiasm or knowledge to get their readers, they’re just themselves. If they’re pissed at someone, they’ll rant. If they’re happy about something, they’ll say so.

Because I like to read the achives first, I see how they started off: mostly just talking and ranting to themselves. Then, one day somebody comments on a post that struck a chord with them, and the author of the blog is all “ohmigosh the interwebs are reading this for reals?! squee”. And it’s all uphill from there.

I’ve played WoW for quite a while, and I’d consider myself a competant player and raider. So, I decided to play a character I’ve never seriously levelled before, and blog about her and her adventures. But I wanted a flexible name, in case I decided to use a druid, or a shaman, instead of a paladin, or in case I wanted to completely change my topic.

I know this is a day late, but because my wireless internet provider is awesome, I lost my connection for most of yesterday because the tower went down for unknown reasons.

Day 01 – Introduce yourself

Over at http://spellbound.nu/?p=829 , I saw the proposal for the 20 days of WoW Blogging Challenge. I figured it could help me start my own rolling.

These are the criteria for the days. I’ll hopefully add links once I finish each one.

Day 01 – Introduce yourself
Day 02 – Why you decided to start a blog
Day 03 – Your first day playing WoW
Day 04 – Your best WoW memory
Day 05 – Favourite item(s) in game
Day 06 – Your workplace/desk (photo and/or description)
Day 07 – The reason behind your blog’s name
Day 08 – 10 things we don’t know about you
Day 09 – Your first blog post
Day 10 – Blog/Website favourites
Day 11 – Bad habits and flaws
Day 12 – A usual day in your life/online time
Day 13 – People (players/bloggers) that you admire
Day 14 – This upsets you
Day 15 – Your desktop background (on your computer) and why you chose it
Day 16 – Things you miss (post Cataclysm)
Day 17 – Your favourite spot (in game or outside it)
Day 18 – Your favourite outfit
Day 19 – In your bags/bank
Day 20 – If this was your last day playing WoW, what would you do?

So, Day 01. Introduce myself.

So, my name is Laura. I’m an Australian female gamer. I’m a complete altoholic, with about 30 active characters that I use at least once a week. I have difficulties keeping my characters down, as when I start one, I think to myself ‘Wouldn’t a druid/hunter/pally be awesome! Then I’ll be able to do other things too!’ Then it continues to explode. I am proud that I’ve managed to keep my Khaz’goroth population down to a mere four, and two of those are name placeholders that I use as bank toons. Every time I feel like rolling another character, I play on a different realm for a while.

I’m also a complete achievement whore. I love acheivements, and I want to get them all. I collect companion pets and mounts, as well as novelty items that amuse me.

IRL, I’m not the social butterfly that I am online. I am partially deaf, so I find conversations difficult to maintain, and I have had one hip operation and am requiring another soon, so I cannot stand or walk for very long. Also, because I don’t care to discuss things like clothes, makeup, hot guys, and that slut over there (ohmigosh what IS she wearing?!) I am left out by my peers (18-24). This leaves me alone to be the nerdy, techie chick that is socially awkward. =)  But I really don’t mind. I rarely go anywhere without my laptop and graphics tablet, and as I have talent points in Improved Stealth I go virtually unnoticed by those around me, leaving me free to sketch them without their knowledge, giving me amazing reference material for my art course that I’m currently doing.

I love anime and manga, as well as most books in general. I’m not usually one for the movies, as I normally love the books they blatently ignore to make the movie ‘fresh’. I’m not a Twilight fan (although I own all the books, hypocrite that I am), and I do not think Rob Pattison is the hottest guy alive, although I will admit he appeals to me more when he talks in his British accent rather than his fake American one he uses for Edward Cullen. I’m not a fan of the Harry Potter movies, although I adore the books. I love action, sci-fi and fantasy movies, like Iron Man, Hulk, etc. I’m not a romancey person, nor a fan of tear-jerkers, as not only do they bore me but I always end up crying. Fun Fact: When I yawn, my eyes overflow. No clue why.

I’d love to be healthier by going on healthy food diets, but I love meat and unhealthy foods way too much.

I’m 4’11”, as I shrunk half an inch due to my hip surgery. Fun stuff. Clothes never fit me properly, as women’s sizes are too long in arms and legs, and kid’s sizes are too small around the bust and hips. I hate clothes shopping, but I’ll happily wander around window-shopping.

All of my computers have been Windows PCs. From my ancient desktp with Windows 95′ to my nippy laptop with Windows 7, I’ve never owned an Apple Mac, and am proud of that fact. At school, I was forced to use the Macs in the Art rooms for my Photoshopping. They’re so restrictive in what they let you do. Eventually I just bought a Windows-using laptop, and brought that to classes. I now combine my laptop with my Wacom Intuos 4 graphics tablet, for my digital art.

Well, I’d best stop here before I run out of things for the next 20 days.