The Wonders of a Lagspike

Every once in a while, you get a lag spike from heaven. Nearly all lagspikes come at the worst possible moment, but they can result in wonderful screenshots you wouldn't have been capable of taking otherwise.

Allow me to demonstrate.

Wow Rehab?!

In my first post I wondered if there were any rehab-possibilities for gamers gone too far. Here's the answer.
http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=165821
(Warning: Article in norwegian. Posted a quick tranlation by moi.)

"About 8 million people world wide play WoW, which is the most popular online roleplaying game. About 70.000 people play this game in Norway alone. BUt some of them loose control, and worried parents contacts "The Help Line", writes "Our Country" (newspaper).
Problems connected with games without money is a growing challeneg, says Thore Paulsen of the Help Line, a help service for people with gaming problems. Paulsen says he has had the first WoW patient for treatment at "Sykehuset Innlandet", Sanderud in Hedmark, Norway. Helene Fellman, leader of a child care center in Oslo, also works with young people who has problems liberating themselves from WoW. She is devloping a rehab program for people who has addictions to role playing games, with funding from the government. "I've had conversations with several young boys and their families who experience that WOW has taken over", she says. She explains that many get's so tangled up in the game that they quit other activities, forgets other friends and quits training and school. "


Hm... where can I sign up? Seems like they've only mde a program for boys tho. Sexists. *sniff*

Oh noes!

This is it. It's over. Tomorrow I'm going back to work again. This means getting up at 6 in the morning, and not being home until 4.30 in the evening. And almost passing out on the couch, going to sleep at 8. Rince and repeat.

And I can't say I'm looking forward to it. No more all night (and all day) gaming. I sound like a lazy and whining little gamer for saying so, but there you are. I don't mind the work, actually, apart from the odd angry and unpleasant customer, it's sort of ok. It's the cold weather, the 15 mins of scraping ice of my car, the slippery roads and 30 mins driving that chokes all of my motivation. And maybe it's about time I stop this gaming craze (because lately it's been insane), and slow down for a bit. Just hope my health keeps up with me this time, so I'll be able to stay at work. (Because I sincerely want to.)

On the bright side, work means money, and money means I can go visit some friend I haven't seen for a long time, or so it feels like. Including my personal healing tauren :D And it means that I'll be able to have a beer or two with those friends without feeling guilty about it (or taking up a small banking loan to be able to).

Ding Sixtytw--three?!

When I heard that TBC would be including the possibility of leveling up to 70 I thought "Oh gee, it'll be faster to bicycle through Sahara drunk than leveling from 60 to 70. I know Blizzard, they'll make us wanting to play this game forever and ever, and make each level last about that too." But I have to admit, once again, that I was wrong (been happening a lot, huh?). Because Akrah just dinged 63.

Yes, I've been online for... 8-9 hrs straight, doing nothing but questing and killing, my head hurts and my eyes itch, but still. I thought it would take longer. Maybe that says more about my views on Blizzards sadistical sides, than anything else. And of course, I'm not keeping myself awake and online for this long just to ding. Firstly, I wouldn't have been able to sleep anyways, so why lie in bed bored? (Ok to say that now when I don't have work, but how will it be on monday? Eeeeep..) And second; I do have some company. Luckily I have a healer friend of mine, an insomniac tauren who I gladly can spend 8-9 hrs straight with online. And thankies too Mokoru for keeping me alive, don't think I even died today, except when I left him to do something on my own. Bwaha.

The quests in the Outlands literally throws imba (read: very good) stuff at you, green (rated as "uncommon", but really not that uncommon) items that beats everything you could've gotten pre-TBC. Well, almost. I've sold more than one old purple epic today, accepting the fact that "Yes, this new thing actually is better". Akrah has gone from +305 spelldamage at level 60, to +395 at 63. I haven't paid that close attentiont to spell critical chance, but assume they've gone up from 11% to about 15%+. All seems very technical, but here's the short version: Akrah rocks, and kicks butt. End of story.

Also got Akrah her first socketed item today, and literally ran to the AH searching for gems. Not that many around at this hour, or maybe so early in the expansion. And maybe a wee bit disappointed about the stats on them. Don't know what I expected, but hey. Bought 2 gems giving +4 stamina and +4 spell damage each, still having another gem socket.

The top picture show's a slightly tired and red-eyed Akrah back in Orgrimmar after too many hours of running around in a swamp. Picture below shows Akrah and Mokoru having a wee rest before resuming the violence. And yes, we have matching staves. Who can resist a weapon with +80 spelldamage on it. Not us. Moo.

Nerf!

Nerf 1:
Warlocks.
Got a 101 shadowbolt crit at level 18. Now that's not sane. Getting a 103 non-crit shadowbolt record at 20, is even less sane. Tsk tsk tsk.
Oh. And that caster staff you get from the quest in Deatholme? Well, don't nerf it, but.. Well yeah, nerf that too.


Nerf 2:
Rogues.
Intially, after Wimwicket respecced, I was a bit disappointed, I have to admit. Seemed like not very much high-burst damage anymore. But then I did a Hellfire Ramparts run, got some buff goodies on me, increasing my attack power to insane 1200 something. Now here's the result:


In other news: Ixsoana dinged 23 and Tebenaar dinged 20, getting her Succyboobs--ahem, Succubus with some help from Zenjun. Thankies!

Fist weapons and ding!

Wimwicket Dimpletwix has always been a very old-school rogue. Swords were for wannabe warriors, she refused to believe they could yield more damage then daggers, and she's always loved a good backstab. But deep down, from the very first eyes she ever laid eyes on a pair, she has always wanted fist weapons. But she's never found a pair that's been any good. So you can imagine the joy when these of stamina (+24) dropped while leveling with Akrah. The thought that TBC could bring Wim some fist-weapon-goodness never occured to me until then. Well, I logged on Wim, went straight for the AH and found these of agility (+17) for 15g, bought them immediately and went for a respecc. I thought Wim deserved that much after 39 something days played, to have her deepest wish fulfilled.

After pondering talent points and transferring fist weapon from horde side, I went straight to Hellfire, excited as a kid on christmas. And first, I have to admit I was disappointed. As an old combat-specced dagger rogue I'm used to short bursts of uber damage, 2000+ eviscerate crits and good backstabs, but lower general white damage (and you never notice the white numbers unless it's a new hit record, do you?). Fist spec takes away the goodies of ambush and backstab,but as I slowly discovered, it gives back a lot in form of white damage. I also respecced slightly, giving Wim adrenaline rush in addition to blade flurry. Those two combined is.. well, pornographic almost. The dps (and aggro!) output of the little gnommer turns insane. As Wim (or maybe I) am going to miss the great crits from backstabs and ambushes, I think I can live with 1000+eviscerates too. Somehow... :P


Oh. And Akrah dinged 61! Me and Mokoru (also the author of randomrantsandsputteringcomments blog) had another joined insomnia night, and went on a questing rampage. Firemage and resto druid makes a good pair actually. Loads of new goodies, and a new talent point. I never thought I would ding again with Akrah, just as little as I thought greenies would pwn epix ( I tossed away a ZG necklace for a greenie reward today). And somehow that's a bit hard to swallow. You feel like you've... well, not wasted your time raiding, because hopefully you don't raid ONLY to get the epix (I hope you're doing it for a spot of fun too?), but... Things feel a tad meaningless. Like gaining rep with Zandalar. And stuff like that. But hey, I am not complaining. I scared Mokoru into calling for his mommy several times with 2100+ pyroblast crits and bursts of 2000+1848+1100 crits one after the other against one poor mob. *evul grin*

Never underestimate...

...the power of many things. Chocolate. Money. Murlocs. Music...

But mainly, never underestimate the power of WoW. In retrospect, reading back, it might seem like WoW would do you no good. I mean, addiction, altoholism, fubar sleeping patterns and little to no social life. C'mon, that can't be good for ya. Or can it?

One thing people forget to take into consideration when talking about (bad mouthing) gamers who take their.. uhm, devotion towards World of Warcraft a bit too far, is the fact that it IS a social game. You are online, playing and interacting with thousands of other players, join guilds and raid communities. In fact, you wont' get very far, or have very fun in the long run, without the help of other players. Not that I am trying to justify or defend people who never go out, never socialize out there in the "real world", because that's not healthy either, I've tried that life. But many of my friendships in WoW have turned into real friendships. People I've met on the outside, in the real world. And you do stand a good change meeting interesting and ingenious people, people you have lots in common with, since you all share a thing in common in the first place: you're a gamer. And there are certain types of people who play MMORPGS, and they tend to have things in common. I even met my dear little honeybunch (*barf*) on WoW. And I probably never would've met him otherwise. So now, we live together and wub eachother, all because of wow. Ain't that cute, huh? And I admit, if it hadn't been for the people online, I probably would've either quit or taking much longer breaks from playing. I know that goes for a lot of people.
(The screenie is from an "in character" wedding between the two standing on left side of a party dressed Wimwicket. I know them both and have met them in real life. )

Well, my point probably is; WoW isn't all that bad, and for most people it only expands your social network instead of limits it. The difference is between the people who dare to take their online friendships offline, and those who wont.

Oh, and never underestimate the power of wanding at low levels. Ups your DPS immensely, at least as a 'lock, and it's mana free!

Ooops I did it again...

Yes I've done it again. I warned you this was gonna happen. I've made a new character. Thruth be told, I made her before I even made this blog. But I had yet to decide if she was going to make it past level 7, or if I was going to choose a priest. And I admit, I tried the priest, but I just can't seem to get the hang of it. I once had a dorf priest who made it to 29, an uber twinked one at that, and I can't understand how I even made it to that. Priest is very fun in PvP, and I love healing, but solo questing is just... so horrible I get ticks.

So, without further ado:
Character name: Tebenaar
Class: Warlock
Level: 11 as of right now
Guild: Hopefully Mog Nogu
Spec: Demonology

'Lock is just plain old evil fun. There's something very amusing about fear, DOT's and an own personal blue tank.

Destined to stay inside...

... and play WoW? Seems like it, since every attempt I make at leading a normal, social life goes down the drain. Not meaning to sound like an intolerable emo-kid :P

I got a job in December, working in support for a major telephone and Internet company in Norway. The training period was set to 4 weeks, and is pretty intense since the job is rather technical. But of course I had to go get myself some sort of tendon infection in my hips, and was unable to move faster than a snail for a couple of weeks. This lead to quite too much sick leaves and absence for me being able to go straight into normal work. The company decided to give me another chance, however, and I get to take another course starting January 29th. What does that mean? I have three weeks off. Just in time for TBC release. A cynical and geeky thought, I admit, but hey: I am an addict.

But today, my boyfriend and I was about to venture out into the real world. We decided to go get a pizza and see a movie, being slightly sick and tired of the same living-room and the same game for a week. But ofcourse, living in Norway, weather has much to say in the matter of getting around. I have a BWM with rear-wheel drive, not exactly made for snow-storms, and decided I was not going to risk my life for a good pizza and a movie (though I am tempted because of the pizza). So we quickly decided, after sticking our noses out the door, to forget the whole trip and go back to lurking in the living room. Playing WoW. 'Tis a curse, aye. (I have many of those)

For last, I'd like to post a killer screenie. Ixsoana just dinged 20. Dual wield ^^

Altoholism

Yes, I admit. In addition to my WoW-addiction, I also suffer from something called Altoholism. The term is self-explanatory; you have problems committing to one character, and tend to have many "alts", alternative characters. Or, as I do, I have many "main characters".


Character name: Thila Grimale (Sister of Tundril Grimale)
Class: Paladin Level: 49
Guild: Whispering Shadows (Scandinavian)
Spec: Holy / Retribution

Thila was my first ever character. I got pushed into paladinism by the same guy who pushed me into WoW-life. I would've sued him if I had known he had any money. I had no idea what I was doing or what paladin-life was all about, and soon got both bored and restless. Deleted Thila sometime during the winter 2005, and got her restored January 2007. And I discovered healing and being a buff-bot isn't all that bad :)

Character name: Wimwicket Dimpletwix

Title: Littlest General and first rate pilferer.
Class: Rogue
Level: 60
Guild: Whispering Shadows
Specc: Mainly combat, dagger specced with blade flurry.

I made Wim prior to deleting Thila, and got instantly hooked on the damage-filled roguelife. Wim is the character I love the most, and she's been a member of countless guilds and even tried a raid community, but angry turks isn't the best way to start raiding life. Hence she got stuck on instancing, and does not have the gear to correspond with her 38 something days played. Hopefully that can be fixed in the Burning Crusade! Wimwicket is a middle-aged gnomer, loves to tease and can seem a bit crude. Has travelled the world and studied marshal arts. Wim also had a brief PvP-craze, and joined the PvP Community The Pack. The Pack eventually started a horde-guild called Mog Nogu.


Character name: Akrah
Class: Mage
Level: 60
Guild: Mog Nogu
Spec: Fire/arcane
Raid Community: WhaCo.
Akrah was made as an alt, I was curious of the horde-side and of mages. I again got hooked, and sent Wim on a very prolonged holiday. Akrah was briefly a member of the Darkspear Tribe before joining Mog Nogu again. Joined a raid community in october 2006 and wham bam! Akrah got epixed out! Safe to say she does insane damage.




Character name: Jeeyola.
Level: 50
Class: Warrior
Guild: Mog Nogu
Spec: Fury baby!

As a natural progression of being so extremely sick of being a manauser, a clothwearer and a vendoring machine, I longed for the exact opposite. And tada; Jeeyola was born. A blue lump of plate-covered rage. Jeeyola is the kind of troll who runs at an enemy and slams hear plate-covered head into them first, and who gnawes on her shield when she runs out of stuff to kill. Tsk tsk tsk. *shakes head* Scary womon.



Character Name: Ixsoana
Class: Hunter
Level: 19
Guild: Whispering Shadows
Spec: Beastmaster
Pets: Jia (cat) and Zenzen (birdie).

Yes, I jumped the burning crusade band wagon, and made a huntard. Have had a hunter before, but no-one who survived very long. I promise you Ixsoana will. Hunterlife is easy, effective and very very phun!



As you might've understood, it's very likely more characters will be added. 'Tis a curse, aye. *sigh*

Introduction

Hi.
My name is Emmy. I'm 21 years old. I've been playing wow for 15 months now...

Sounds like the start of every addiction-meeting you've ever seen in the movies, no? Well, this blog isn't part of any 12-step program aspiring to getting rid of my addiction. Wonder if something like that exsists? Some rehabilitation-program for gamers gone too far? Maybe THAT's what those fat-camps really are... This must be investigated.

Anyways, World of Warcraft. With the Burning Crusade expansion pack only days old, I see no end to my WoW-life in the near future. Sadly. So, why not make a blog about it?