Sideshow & Syrana

I thought I would grace you with my presence since Syrana is taking a short hiatus and removing the sick germs from herself. What have I been up to? I bet everyone is waiting with anticipation.

Last I posted about WoW was when Syrana asked me to answer a few questions. One of those questions was about what I wanted to accomplish in 2010. I basically said that I wanted to get both the Salty and Chef titles. Looking at what I had left, Chef should be simple to grab first. It turns out that I got Salty first. I really didn’t spend a lot of time trying to catch that rare fish. I usually just logged in on my laptop during football games on Sunday and fished while I watched. I’d say it was probably 4-5 hours total until I finally caught that Dark Herring in Howling Fjord. I’ve read comments from people who’ve taken almost 40 hours to catch a rare fish. Crazy. Sadly, I still haven’t got the Chef title yet, but I really haven’t tried. I did take a quick WoW break for a few weeks to play other games.

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(I blame Krizzlybear, who’s been doing a lot of song parodies this month!  This one is based upon Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day [Lyrics] [Video])

I walk a lonely road
The only zone that I have ever known
Don’t know where you are
But it’s fun for me and I quest alone

I quest this empty zone
On the Barrens Road of Broken Dreams
Where the centaur sleeps
and I’m the only one and I quest alone

I quest alone
I quest alone

I quest alone
I quest a…

My mini-pet’s the only one that travels with me
No recruit-a-friend to keep me company
Sometimes I wish someone would group up with me
‘Til then I quest alone

Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Aaah-ah,
Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah

I’m heading north this time
Can’t decide which quest chain to follow
On the border now
Of the Barrens and Ashenvale, wait

Who’s coming at me
I fucked up and flagged myself and died
Time to find my corpse
Resurrect again, and so I quest alone

I quest alone
I quest alone

I quest alone
I quest a…

My mini-pet’s the only one that travels with me
No recruit-a-friend to keep me company
Sometimes I wish someone would group up with me
‘Til then I quest alone

Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Aaah-ah
Ah-ah, Ah-ah

I quest alone
I quest a…

I quest this empty zone
On the Barrens Road of Broken Dreams
Where the centaur sleeps
and I’m the only one and I quest alone

My mini-pet’s the only one that travels with me
No recruit-a-friend to keep me company
Sometimes I wish someone would group up with me
‘Til then I quest alone…

(Part 46) For the complete list of this series, please go here.

After a few moments of solitude in Sunfury Spire, Aerissa repositioned the cowl Twyla loaned her to obscure her face.  As Aerissa passed the large fountain on her way out of the Court of the Sun, distant shouting caught her attention.  She peeked over her shoulder at the commotion amongst the guards and quickly headed for the Bazaar.

She checked the information Tomber had given her and searched for the shop.  Aerissa wandered along the outer ring of the Bazaar, gazing at the window displays.  Occasionally she would stop to admire this item or that for a few moments, then move along, but the next window Aerissa passed drew her in.

She gasped, moving closer to the window.  Aerissa placed her hands upon the glass, staring at the beautiful dress before her.

“Ouch!” Aerissa yelped as the prick of the needle poked her hip.

“Hold still, missy!” The seamstress said sternly.  She readjusted the needle, wrapped measuring tape around Aerissa’s waist and pinned another bit of fabric.  “I can’t custom fit this dress if you keep squirming.” (continue reading…)

A few years ago, Sideshow and I bought a treadmill.  At the time, we were trying to go to the gym on a regular basis to work out.  Like lots of great plans, it worked for awhile, but then trailed off.  Mostly due to the extra time it took to get there and back.  Solution: buy a treadmill for home.  I don’t have anything against treadmills and used it almost every trip to the gym… so why not have one at home to use to fill in the gaps between our trips there?

We bought it and used it for a bit.

Now it sits in the basement, unused.  Why? Well, the environment is not conducive.

I get the treadmill effect with some games.  At this point, I’d say Aion was my treadmill MMO.  Once my workout buddy stopped playing, it was hard to keep my interest.  Then there’s the grind.  Sure, I’ve said time and time again that putting seemingly mundane and repetitious tasks into game form and I love ‘em.

But the environment wasn’t quite right.

So Aion, much like my treadmill, sat unused for a lengthy period of time.  All the while I kept telling myself I should get back in there.

But I didn’t.  My account expired a few weeks ago.

I didn’t quit because I disliked it or because of World of Warcraft (which I haven’t logged into for a few weeks either).

Much like my treadmill – I enjoyed it when the environment was conducive.

I could start using either one again at anytime.

(Part 45)  For the entire listing of this series, please go here.

Reaching the hallway leading away from the Royal Quarter, Aerissa clutched the song book close to her chest.  With her other hand, she grasped her dress and raised the hemline.  She increased her pace until she was at a very brisk walk.  Aerissa chewed at her bottom lip, her cheeks and neck blotchy with redness.

I thought she’d be happy… instead I brought her more pain and misery.  How awful!

She decided it was time to head back to Silvermoon City and then return to Tranquillien as quickly as possible.  After several wrong turns, she eventually navigated back to the orb of translocation.  Once she reappeared on the platform in Sunfury Spire, she leaned against the wall with a sigh of relief.

* * * (continue reading…)

(Part 44)  For the entire listing of this series, please go here.

Aerissa wasn’t entirely sure why she felt so nervous as she got ready.  She felt a bit off, but figured it had more to do with not being able to see the morning sun.  That, and her stomach would revolt occasionally from the smells of The Undercity.

Guess I haven’t gotten completely used to the stench, she thought as she rinsed out her mouth again.

Quietly she hummed, trying to calm her nerves, as she slipped into the elegant green dress.  She stared back at herself in the scummy mirror.  The dress fit her very well, although it was a little tight across her hips.  Aerissa frowned as she rubbed her hands over her belly.

Have I gained weight?

(continue reading…)

(Part 43) For the complete list of this series, please go here.

Keeping her head bent low, Aerissa made her way to the Court of the Sun.  She chided herself for making a fool of herself with the troll merchant.  I had no trouble bartering with Tomber… She wasn’t sure if it was the intimidating look of the troll woman, her accent, or the crowd that had affected her.  All of the above, I suppose.

When she reached the Court of the Sun, she stopped to politely ask one of the guards outside the palace where she could find the orb of translocation.  He informed her it was just inside the palace, in the inner sanctum of Sunfury Spire.  He warned her to stay away from the portal room, which was the territory of the mages, by following the ramp up and keep to the right.

When Aerissa reached the room in question, she was a bit surprised to see that the room contained nothing more than two platforms and a brightly lit orb.  Cautiously, she approached the orb.  Her ears detected a low humming sound.  She had heard about orbs like this, but had never used one herself.  Aerissa leaned back as she stretched out her arms, her fingers inches from the orb.  She took a deep breath and placed her hands on the orb. (continue reading…)

(Part 42) For the entire list of this series, please go here.

(A friend of mine made this when I started RPing Aly... I recently found it and it seemed fitting)

Scanning the sea of faces in the bazaar was a daunting task.  The place was too busy and the crowds swallowed people up as though they had never been there.  Aly let out a loud sigh, leaning heavily against one of the stalls.  Her head was pounding from the bloodthistle withdrawal, which didn’t help the strain her eyes were beginning to feel.  Rubbing her temple, she plopped down onto a crate.

“Wat yu be doin’ dere? Get off da wares!” the troll merchant hollered at Alynedarra, shooing her away with her hands.

Alynedarra hopped up, startled.  She turned to look down behind her at the crate, then back up at the troll woman.  “I’m sorry, I just needed a moment.”  She flashed her a weak smile.

The troll woman grunted her displeasure, using her large blue foot to slid the crate back into the confines of the stall.  “Yu be buyin’ sumptin, ya?” she cocked her head to the side, placing her hands upon her wide hips. (continue reading…)

Last week I posted some screenshots from Allods Online.  In the comments, Tami asked the following, which I will answer today:

I’m curious to know how you like the game, past the opening scenes. I don’t know if it was just me being flighty or not, but it seemed really hard for me to connect to the game (adorable hamster people with vicious attack squirrels notwithstanding – mine were Khuu, Bhuu, Rhuu, and Twidget).

Characters

Allods offers some interesting characters to choose from.  There are two factions to choose from: League and Empire.  Each side has 14 different classes you can choose from (which play off of 8 basic classes).  The character creation was kinda fun, but not a whole lot in the way of customization. Plus, I noticed it was easy to change factions and/or classes during the process.

I didn’t see much for descriptions of the races or classes during the character creation. I sort of missed that, especially after World of Warcraft improved their character creation information.  And, honestly, I didn’t want to poke around outside of the game to find out this information. (continue reading…)