Sideshow & Syrana

(Part 8 ) For a complete list of this series, please go here.

The sound of an explosion caused Aerissa to bolt up out of bed.  Locke sprang from the bed, alarmed, and crouched before the door.  Aerissa patted her hands over her head and torso, satisfied that she had not been hit with anything.  Grabbing her bow and slinging her quiver over her shoulder, she popped her room door open with her foot.

Aerissa padded out the door quietly with bare feet, crouching along the railing.  She motioned at Locke, who took the lead down the stairs.  The pair crept their way down to the common area of the Inn, but were surprised to see everyone going about their business in a calm manner.  Aerissa wiped at her face nervously.  Maybe they hadn’t heard the explosion? she thought.  She silently shook her head, knowing it would have been impossible to miss that loud of a noise.

“What are ye doin’ creepin’ on my stairs with yer weapon ready to fire? Someone could lose an eye!” The Innkeeper cracked a crooked smile, her empty eye sockets looking directly at Aerissa and Locke.

Aerissa cleared her throat.  “I hear-heard an explos-” she stammered, unnerved by the eyeless vision of the Forsaken Innkeeper.

“Bah!” The Innkeeper waved her hand dismissively, placing a towel over her shoulder.  “That just be the apothecaries with them experiments.  Sometimes they mix things that go ‘boom’!”

Wide eyed, Aerissa cocked an eyebrow.  “It was just… someone mixing potions?”  She laughed to herself, feeling her heart beat slowing.

The Innkeeper nodded curtly.  “Aye.  But it does well to wake ye up in time for work, hm? I be suspectin’ ye be needin’ yer boots.  Come to me when yer ready, eh, Elf?” She pointed a boney finger at Aerissa’s bare feet. (continue reading…)

Lay Your Weary Head to Rest

At the beginning of January I wrote a post speculating on the State of the Warlock and feeling as though I was headed for the endangered species list.  Unfortunately, it looks like I am on there.  I can handle that… being special… just as long as we don’t become extinct.  I really, really love playing my warlock!

At the end of said post (if you didn’t catch it, you can go skim it if you want quick), I questioned if there was a decline and why this was so.  Some people claim warlocks are broken, nerfed, too complicated, too easy, etc. etc.  I’d also made a decision to revisit this topic once I hit 80 to see if there has been any change or not.  It has been 2 months since that other post, so let’s take a look, shall we?

Now, I apologize that I had not taken screenies of the stats at that time, so I will copy over the text with the population information for easier comparison:

Overall Eitrigg (Horde and Alliance) “warlocks and rogues are tied at 8%.”

Eitrigg Horde side, warlocks are considered to be tied for 3rd of the most represented classes.  Huh.  Death Knights still top the charts at a whopping 19%.  Hunters are second with 15%, but warlocks are tied with paladins at 10%.

So what do the numbers look like now?

7 7 7 - The new number of evil?

I got these figures from Warcraft Realms.  Granted, the Eitrigg census warns that there has been a lack of Horde side data uploaded in the past 2 weeks, but all three ways I looked at it showed warlocks steady at 7% among level 80s.  Now, don’t get too excited just yet.  When I wrote the last post, I was looking at levels 10-80.  Although, when I bring up 10-80 the numbers are not much different.  Warcraft Realms show 8% over all servers, both factions; 8% for Eitrigg, both factions; and 9% Eitrigg Horde.

What this is showing is that there aren’t a lot of warlocks being  leveled to 80 since the representation drops at 80.  This is sad to see.  Very sad indeed.  It can’t be because we suck, can it?

Don’t You Cry No More

Guildie: Why dps as a clothie if you can wear plate?

Syrana: I’m eviler in cloth.  No one expects the squishies.

There have certainly been speculations about warlock DPS.  And we have heard that Blizz is working on us (and those darn soul shards!).  We also know that Blizz intends for pure DPS classes, like ourselves, to be rockin’ the top of the meters.  Now, I know meters aren’t everything.  I also know that putting up numbers can be heavily influenced by who is in your group.  But, my first attempt at a heroic (with others that are geared for it while I know I was NOT) less than 24 hours after dinging 80 gave me some hope because I know there is room for improvement with gear and enchants/gems.  Now, for this chart, please keep in mind that we did not clear Heroic Violet Hold.  We got stuck with the 2 hardest bosses spawning and decided to call it after wiping on the 2nd boss instead of going through the first one ALL over again.  So, considering the running and stuff I had to do on the first boss…

Not too bad, amirite?  This was before the upgrades I have now and NO enchants.  I had very little hit at that point.  Since that attempt, I’ve crafted Ebonweave Gloves and Wintry Hat of Doom.  (I’d link all that, but you can see ‘em on the right by hoverin’ over my armory stuff if ya want.)  I also got a new belt from the Wyrmrest and a new cloak from the Kirin Tor.  I’ve also gotten a few enchants.  I mean, honestly, I didn’t go in there with all level 80 equivalent gear on.  Yes, basically all blues – but quest blues and crafted blues…. and not much of anything from instances.

Are warlocks gear dependent for top numbers? Uhh, yes.  And a good rotation makes a difference too.  There’s some great info over at the Warlock’s Den on gearing for hit cap in Wrath.  The other raiding gear guides don’t appear to be updated for Wrath, unless I was looking in the wrong place.  But the hit guide should definitely be helpful for me, at least!

We’re Not in Kansas Anymore

Just wanted to give a couple updates!  I’ve tackled a few more zones in Northrend, so we’re on the way to finishing those quest achievements up and getting closer and closer to “the Seeker.” I also hit revered with the Oracles and was called a savior or somesuch.  I bought my first egg and am waiting anxiously for it to hatch.  I’m close to maxing out tailoring and getting closer and closer on alchemy.  (Thank you, Noc, for the herbs!)

Let’s see…oh! I also hit honored with Sons of Hodir and despise that stupid spear.  I want to stab the developer of that daily quest in the eyes with that spear.  I read up on it and followed the suggested strategy and still seem to have issues with my grip before getting to Phase 2.  I can get the bastard down to 30ish%…. grrrr.

I think that was all I wanted to update on.  If not, I’ll make another post!

Oh! Thank you, Fin, for helping me to farm eternal shadows in Wintergrasp.  I have enough for my ebonweave robe…now to wait patiently to utilize mine and others’ cloth cooldowns!  It was also my first time really going into Wintergrasp to battle.  Unfortunately, I showed up shortly before the Alliance finished bashin’ the door in.

Now I’m done!

Last week’s screenshot recap

Last week was the serious looking stone man.  He can be found in the center of the Emerald Dragonshire in Dragonblight.  He’s right by Ysera, everyone’s favorite dreamy dragon.

Introducing…

Looks like this guy tried to get back out and to the bottle…except, someone busted it.  Any guesses on where this shot was taken?

It was just too stuffy in there...

Today, after creating a T-shirt, I have now decided to follow in Fulguralis’s footsteps of comment turning post!  I was over at Miss Elf’s blog catchin’ up on some reads (and I apologize I’ve been a lurker!)  There was an interesting post about what it must be like coming in as a brand new player after the release of Wrath of the Lich King.  My comment became a wall o’ text (/apology) and thus, I decided to make it a post.  I just think it’s an interesting topic.  My favorite paragraph from her post is as follows:

I think the old world needs to be played – yes, played, not zerged. Am I the only one who remembers what this game used to be? When you did every instance on the way to cap, when people talked in General (talked, not argued), when you ran into the same people all the time because you were levelling at around the same pace. When logging in was actually exciting, and questions about quests or looking for help weren’t met with “rofl u noobz omg my mom could solo that hahaha u suck”.

(For the rest of Miss Elf’s post, please go here.  It’s a good read.)

And that brings us to the comment I left over there:

I do see these trends happening, but it’s not all lost… at least not for everyone.

I started playing prior to BC, but I still love(d) all the content.  (Then again, I’m a lore nerd *ducks*)

I’m glad to see you say that old content needs to be played and not rushed through.  My parents started playing last November.  Sure, you could say their motivation is me… but… I honestly am not putting it on EZ mode for them.  Oh no.  I want them to experience it as fully as they can.  (omg, wall o text incoming in 3…2…1)

I did give each of them a few gold to start off with, just as my husband gave my toon when I started.  I made a couple bags for them too.  I gave them a couple addons, but nothing crazy or overboard.  (NO Questhelper.  Bad. Bad. Bad.)  I taught them some tricks for the AH.  Not get rich quick, but so they weren’t getting cheated on it.

They both applied for my guild and were invited in.  (Even as an officer, I could not avoid protocol for my parents! )

My mother, bless her, found people while she was leveling and they were grouping together.  I’ve run her and my father through a few instances, but usually I’ll go on a toon that is only 10ish levels higher (since I didn’t have any close enough otherwise), like my pally, to tank while they burn stuff down.  I’ve helped them learn some group expectations, roles, etc.

Then, as my mother’s main gets closer to level 55, a guildie (that has several characters, as do I, but is one of those people that levels fast – unlike me most of the time lol) says we can summon her out to instances in Outland and run her through.  I say, “No.”  They say she can go in at 55.

I wasn’t questioning the level restriction.

I whisper and explain that we need to keep in mind this is her first toon and I want her to experience it as such.  I remember the first time I went to the Dark Portal… it was cool.  Let’s not rush her.  Let her have fun.  No powerleveling until like, her 3rd max level toon, mkay? xD

What do you guys think? (About the issue, not the length of my comment! )

A few days ago when I logged into WoW, I was informed there was a new club started.

The “I Love Syrana Club.”

This fantastic club was created by Kelinarra, Jae, and Rissy, who apparently had all agreed that they loved me.  Sideshow and Les (our guild’s GM) are battling for the rights to be called the #1 Fan.

So, since I had some extra time on my hands today, I thought it’d be amusing to create a fan club shirt.

Get 'em while they're hawt!

Yep.  Had a bit too much spare time today.  Thought you’d enough this.  Now, on the off chance someone would want to proudly sport this baby, (or wants to see a better, up close ‘n personal view of it) you can meander over to here. [Update 5/20/09: Link removed, no longer works]  Yup, see the time and work I had to put into this humorous gem for ya on a Friday afternoon?

I give up! I can’t think of a clever post title and I need to get this shtuff dumped outta my brain.

First up – Amongst The Ruins jam session! (Last week had to be cancelled by yours truly.)

For some reason, we decided to let the RNG of Rock Band decide the majority of the setlist, as you will soon see.  Sideshow and Syrana started with 2 warm up songs before the Kow got in, too.

The Setlist:

Rush – “Witch Hunt” (and I did hunt… for hittin’ the pitch )

The Clash – “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” (We only got started, stay prz.)

Foo Fighters – “Learn to Fly” (I got the message, I’m working on Aly’s epic flyer, sheesh!)

The Replacements – “Alex Chilton” (Who?)

Disturbed – “Inside the Fire” (Devon is a Forsaken, I think.)

Offspring – “Come Out & Play (Keep ‘em Separated)” (Don’t do tha crime if ya can’t do the time.  That under 18 bs doesn’t net you a “Get Out of Jail Free” card no more no more no more!)

Lamb of God – “Laid to Rest” (Please don’t try to imagine my sweet voice trying to growl this one out.)

Ratt – “Round and Round” (Classic.  And no, I have no idea why I decided to add commentary to each song this time.)

David Bowie – “Suffragette City” (Wham bam, thank you ma’am!)

Mighty Mighty Bosstones – “Where’d You Go?” (Noneaya.  None a ya damn business.  Stalker.)

Duran Duran – “Rio” (Oh Rio come bounce wit’ me, bounce wit’ me.)

Testament – “Souls of Black” (I prefer my souls purple, kthx.)

System of a Down – “B.Y.O.B.” (Booze and bombs are never a good combination for a party.)

Stone Temple Pilots (STP) – “Vasoline” (…. I’m tapped out.  I gots nothin’.)

We (All) Have Heads, But Not Necessarily Brains

Ok, quick background on “we have heads.”  A few years ago, when Sideshow and I were visiting my parents, a friend from high school came over to catch up and brought her son with.  He was about 4 years old at the time, if I remember correctly.  We’re all talking and he abruptly exclaims as he puts his hands on his head “We have heads!”  He was proud of this observation.  And, now it’s sort of a running inside joke.

But yar, those heads don’t always have brains.  Ok, this is the ramble part.  I decided to leave work a bit early since I was caught up on paperwork, etc.  Well, it ended up taking me twice as long to get home, so it was almost like I didn’t leave early.

So, I’m driving towards home.  Out and away from the ‘big’ city.  Until I get near one of the high schools I drive past twice a day nearly every day.

There are cop cars everywhere.

The road is blocked off.  I see a ton of people milling around outside the school and a few seated on their arses and handcuffed.  Because of the area I work and such, my first thought was there had been a shooting.  (Thankfully this was not the case.)  So, the cops were diverting traffic off onto a small residential street (we’re talking going from a 4 lane major street) that can barely handle so much traffic alongside the parked cars.  And, not necessarily the nicest and most pleasant of areas.  The traffic is nuts because it is during rush hour.

Although I tend to know and find my way around there, I was off on some road I hadn’t heard of, and it turned and looped funny (because I decided not to wait behind the long line continuing on and decided to follow some other people on their detour).  Yeah, so I got discombobulated and disoriented with direction.  I’m going along, making turns (right, because left was hell with the traffic) searching for another major road I recognized.

However, at that time of day, traffic is crazy, the bus stops are FILLED with a gazillion people and it’s just… not a good time to not know where you are.  Eventually I got to a familiar road and figured out a way around the big blocked off mess.  And, here, I give you the reason for the mess (that resulted in 10-13 squad cars responding):

“The fight started between two girls in the school’s auditorium during a pep rally at the end of the school day. The fight spilled into the hallway, and then outside of the school, where a number of adults apparently joined in.”

/facepalm

And no, I didn’t make this up.

I know, shocking, right?  And I hate to break it to ya, but there really are girls on the interwebz.  Yup.  At least, I don’t think I’m the only one…

The other day I read an interesting and entertaining post by Anna of Too Many Annas.  You’ll want to check it out to fully appreciate my commentary here.  (I’ll wait, I promise!)

Amusing, entertaining, and a bit sad, wasn’t it? (Not Anna’s post as sad, the video.)

New Demographic?

While I don’t really thing calling women gamers a new demographic is accurate.   I think I can agree that it is an expanding customer base.  More girls are seeming to find their way into the old gaming boys club, especially as gaming is becoming more mainstream.  Or at least, geek coolness.  I really think some of these companies may think women are a new market, but it’s just that they are finally recognizing that they can sell us stuff.  Problem is, the female gaming market is not as easy to pinpoint as say… marketing children’s games.  We like all sorts of games, just as men (and boys) do.

Photo courtesy of AtariAge.com

And not all women are recently converted to gaming.  I’ve been gaming for years. I started with an Atari back in the day.  I think I was 5ish when we got it.  How I loved Keystone Kapers and Crystal Castles.  Oooh and Pitfall.  ET sucked though.  Zomg and Circus… we had the special paddle controllers for this and it was sooo cool when we got the ginormous trackball controller!  Anywho…

So, yeah.  I gamed throughout my childhood.  I had guy friends in elementary school and junior high that would want to come over to my house to hang and game.  Of course, the first time they realized I might beat them was classic.  NBA Jam on the Sega Genesis.  My friend was boasting how good he was when he rented it.  We put in our initials and the stats come up.  That’s right.  Syrana had beaten all teams.  /cackle

Oops, losing my focus here.

Of Stores and Such

Fast forward to more recent events.  I am no stranger to getting looks when in a gaming store.  Over the weekend Sideshow and I went to Best Buy.  He was looking for a scanner for preserving family photos and his genealogy blog.  The all-in-one printer/scanner/faxes were near some gaming mice and keyboards.  For once, we were waiting for someone to ask if we needed help.  Usually we are swarmed it seems.

So there I am, looking at the boards and mice with Sideshow not very far from me.  A male employee approaches to ask if I need assistance almost as soon as I start touching stuff.  Clearly, I’m in the wrong section or have no clue what I’m looking for.  I had to direct him to Sideshow… after he and I had spent a good 10 minutes or so staring at the all-in-one’s waiting to ask some questions.

Then again, at places like Target… it’s like pulling teeth to get someone to ask if they can grab a game out of the locked cases for me… or the looks of shock and surprise when I go hunting for someone.  (I should just take Sideshow, his lockpickin’ skills are maxed!)  I know I don’t look like the typical gamer (whatever that means), but it’s just odd sometimes the way you are looked at, talked to, and approached (or not).  And I’m not usually in my business attire.  I’m usually there in jeans and a metal tour shirt.

But you know what’s really fun? The looks and questions of surprise when I’m at a resturant, gas station, or store non-specific to gaming.  When I hand over my WoW credit card, I get some interesting reactions.  The most priceless one was at Best Buy (again).  A female cashier was ringing up my purchases.  I was getting the battlechest for a second account and when I had to show my credit card she said, “Wow, you must really be a fan.”  Yep.  You could call me a fan. 

This Wednesday is debuting a new series of posts.  The first Wednesday of the month will feature a gaming word.  This idea started from a few different guild chats where someone would ponder the beginnings of this or that word that has become a part of gaming culture.  We’ll start with 2 words this time, since we’re startin’ this off “late” and many of the words that will be featured here branch out from a form of “leetspeak.”  Let’s have fun with this, shall we?  Oh and if anyone has any suggestions or requests, post ‘em up in the comments.  I will gladly address those!  (A special thank you to guildies Blood and Gabb for gettin’ this idea started!)

Leet

Also known as “elite,” “1337,” “l33t,” and other variations.  Leetspeak started out as a form of communication for hackers across the internet.  They would utilize numbers, symbols, and misspellings to create cryptic messages to each other or as an attempt to bypass different filters.  This type of communication was used a lot in the 1980s over bulletin board systems (BBS).

Leet, shortened from elite, was often used as an adjective to describe or boast about one’s knowledge of computers and accomplishments.  However, leetspeak has evolved in the gaming world to provide short hand in chats and/or sarcasm.  Although, you will still see some people using it to boast about their “leetness” in the gaming world.

Example: I’m a 1337 blogger that can look up these words for your amusement.

Pwn/Own

Now we get into the meat and potatoes… the fun stuff!  I’m sure most of you have “heard” these words used in game and possibly spoken in daily conversation.  (No, maybe that’s just me? hehe)  So what does it mean to be owned? or pwned?  And why do they mean the same thing?

Own/Owned:

This is a slang term to describe a defeat.  It is meant to be humiliating.  You didn’t just lose, you got OWNED!  This has evolved though.  Owned previously was used by hackers to refer taking control over another computer or network.  However, it has become a way of describing victory against a mob or another player.

Pwn=Own:

There are a few different suggestions, if you will, as to how own evolved into pwn.  I’m not sure there is any one right answer and it is quite possibly a culmination of several of the following scenarios:

1.  The “o” and “p” keys on the keyboard are close together, making it a common typo that eventually became its own word.

2.  In the olden days of gaming across a BBS and playing chess, winning by use of checkmate with a pawn.**

3.  In a Warcraft game, a designer apparently made a typo of “player has been owned” but entered “player has been pwned” instead.**

4.  As an homage to early hackers that tampered with phones, as other hacker slang start with the letter “p” to purposely misspell words.***

There ya have it.  I hope you enjoyed yourself and maybe learned a little gamer history!

Sources:

Leetspeak, Leet, Pwn***, Own**, Owned, Pwn(2)

(Part 7) For a complete list of this series, please go here.

“Hrmpf,” Aerissa groaned as Locke nudged her awake.  She rubbed her eyes as she sat up, noticing the moonlight bathing the inside of the building.  Locke was growling at something on the other side of the dying fire.

“What is it, Locke?” Aerissa squinted her eyes, trying to focus on the shadows outside the door.  The figure made a hissing noise as it skittered back and forth.  She stretched her arm out, groping for her bow as her mind was still clouded with sleep.

Locke growled louder as he crouched, his hind legs dancing as he readied to pounce.  The hissing from outside got louder as it moved closer, the fire and moon lighting up what looked like a hundred legs.  It spat at Locke, spewing webbing over him, hindering his movements.  Quickly, Aerissa reacted by taking aim and firing off an arrow.  The arrow flew straight into the spider’s mandible, choking off its hiss.  The legs flailed and tangled over themselves in uncoordinated desperation.  The spider tipped backwards, giving Aerissa an opening to fire at the underside of it’s midsection.  The force of the kill shot knocked the spider over onto it’s back.  The legs twitched as the life ran out of the large spider.

Aerissa slapped each of her cheeks, as though making sure she was awake.  She stared at the dead spider for a few moments before Locke’s whimpers brought her mind back.

“Oh no, look at you…”  She clucked as she removed the webbing from the lynx.  She plucked the sticky threads from his fur.  She tucked some of it away in her back, hoping to find it useful for crafting.  Locke nuzzled his nose against her cheek.

Thank you.

“You are quite welcome,” she replied.  She tilted her head back, looking up at the sky through the partial roof.  The stars still twinkled in an almost cloudless sky although they were no longer sparkling bright.  The stars were beginning to fade as dawn approached.  The sun soon to rise as the moon began to set.

Aerissa yawned, covering her mouth.  She closed her eyes for a few moments, then reached for her pillow.  Locke laid down, lazily licking at his front paws.  Though groggy, Aerissa shoved her pillow into her pack.  She decided that it was best to move through the woods of the Ghostlands with as much daylight as possible.  Plus, it would be hard to fall back asleep after the spider attack. (continue reading…)

A few weeks ago, I had posted up a silly little real life quest and thought I was clever with the name.  Turns out, the name was in my subconscious because it really is a quest name in World of Warcraft.  (And I’ve rolled so many Blood Elves…)  So, a good handful of people that were looking for quest help were unwittingly brought to my silly little quest post when they googled for help.

Yes, this quest seems to be troubling a good chunk of people that have found their way here.  Well, I have heard your cry for help.  I shall present to you the Guide of All Guides.  (Although, I must apologize for the ones looking for a video guide of this particular quest, as I will not be able to provide such footage.)  Let us journey forth to complete the quest Thirst Unending!

Step 1 – Roll a Blood Elf

Click for larger image

I can’t stress the importance of this enough.  If you are not a Blood Elf, you cannot complete this quest.  With The Burning Crusade expansion, we were introduced to two new races: Blood Elf and Draenei.  These are the only two races that have a starting quest on how to use a racial ability.  Thirst Unending is about using the Blood Elf racial spell, Arcane Torrent, to feed their need for mana. (continue reading…)