Truly, I do not know why I start so many priests and warlocks. Especially questionable is beginning a new human female, when I know it is only going to end in tears, but until November 13th happens, and the magical spell is broken, my human females are still alluring to me, so Luciyy is here:
No, making priests and warlocks is not the Blog Azeroth topic. While exasperated with the weak Northshire Abbey foot soldiers, who can’t even defend themselves from toothless wolves and not-so-bright Orcs, she went about her business quickly dispatching any and all comers. She noticed a [level 20] paladin following her, step for step. She turned and stared, and yet he kept following her. She felt that uneasy sense that she was being stalked, and gave him a sound slap. This, however, did not deter him, and she realized that the second she attacked a monster or beast, he was right there defending her. He stayed with her through many quests, even when she forgot something, and protected her until she felt he was being taken advantage of; she bowed out, waved a kiss, and said farewell. He bowed, and took his leave. He behaved the perfect paladin: protective, polite, and chivalrous. He gained nothing from helping Luciyy, save perhaps his own satisfaction in doing good deeds.
This led me to think –what if not only did we have class specific quests, but these quests involved other players–strangers specifically–you couldn’t tell the other player(s) what you were up to, but had to somehow manage to perform very specific actions designed for your class? I’m not sure how one would receive “credit” for doing so, but since even the most minutiae of digital movements can be tracked, it seems possible. For instance, I would love if priests had to give twenty blessings on holy days (as deemed by the faiths of Azeroth), or mages had to provide ten free portals. What creative, class-specific deeds would you like to see?
Syrco Owl has a lovely idea – and a wonderful accompanying post asking what places in Azeroth remind us of home? That question is complicated for many of us since we have become such a nomadic group. Although, Washington State has a weird phenonenom: many people born here stay here. I struggle trying to place or fixate any single ‘home town’ with those whose lives enjoy stability and continuity, much like the tall cedars and pines. My eyes soak up many vistas.
Coastal Douglas Firs
The beautiful essence of Azeroth is it provides both that connective sense of familiarity and fantasy. What I fear is that we give too little attention to the natural world and lack balance of our pixel ones. Am I suggesting we abandon Azeroth? Not at all–I’m not suggesting anything. I love being in Azeroth, even though I must confess that since some real life humans did not make me feel welcome or felt the need to strike versus converse, there are more in the real world who do put out the welcome mat. I made a choice when I was vocal about my feelings, and paid a price. So be it.
So, the one thing I wish I could add to Azeroth would be smells. Really. Even for quests such as these. But no one could replace the smell of cedars and oak in central Texas (though some would disagree), and no one can replace the smell of ham, pinto beans, corn bread, and iced tea from my Grandmother’s house.
My grandmother’s memorial service is today, and I will be among the Douglas firs while my family is among the cedars. I will be watching trees out of a window, listening to others complain of relatively low humidity and the “heat” of yesterday – 85°F (30°C) while in Texas it’s probably 93° today. I wish I could fly in a gryphon, a Wildhammer’s naturally, and fly away to where I am needed.
I was wondering if any of you were Nozdormu and could control time, what would you change in your WoW history? Did you leave a guild you wish you had stayed for, did you transfer servers or faction but regretted it later? Have you lost an item you can never get back or deleted something that is now gone forever?
What have you regretted?
I know many players’ regrets, packaged in a heart-shaped box, (complete with deer heart, huntsman’s knife, and a queen’s ring) will come in the form of those things Dragonray wisely mentioned –the lost item, the lost guild, the lost boss fight or opportunity.
My regret(s) come from the real world, attached with stingers, sacrifice, and second guessing.
Since the majority of people I play with are SOIAROMWKOSWKBMWMWHNFORFWILTWAMIMSOACIOOFR’s
“Single, or in a relationship, or married with kids, or sometimes without kids, but mostly white males who have no frame of reference for what it’s like to walk a mile in my shoes, or a husband with a chronic illness or other family responsibilities.”
Okay, sure, he was a single dad, but he had Charlie to help out…
Basically, there is no one “type” of player, but yes, it seems that the vast majority of players do not have direct child responsibilities, at least not at game time. The time zone is such that kids are in bed asleep, or a spouse, usually a wife (but not always in the case of me and Navimie) are in charge of the children while hubby plays. I am not trying to be gender or sexual-orientation biased. I would love to know how many lesbian and homosexual, and transgender couples, manage child rearing responsibilities and their game time/entertainment needs. Gone are the days (thank heavens) when dad came home and wife brought pipe and slippers and he sat with his face behind the newspaper while the family catered to him. If I glance over at my battle.net friends, and count have many have children they need to tend to, my list has two out of…twenty? I haven’t counted the entire list.
But my regret is simple: I regret the time I have taken away from my sons, specifically my younger son. There is a crisis going on in his life right now, and because I am a mom, (and a mom whose attention has swerved for hours toward her computer monitor) I deeply regret the amount of time I have played. I don’t care how I’ve justified it, needed to do it for my own creative playground, or my own emotional escape. There really is no justification. I needed to turn my face away from a screen and make dinner once in awhile. Sit and talk with him. I needed to continue to have conversations with him. It’s not too late, but right now I feel very raw about recent events. With regret comes resentment, its twin sister. (And they are ugly sisters, too.) So when I share with you my deep regret, you will maybe understand why it’s all the more sour when I think about causing a wipe and another player says in raid chat regarding my mistake, “No Words.” There is a litany of verbal punches and jabs players hit each other with, and it feels very Lord of the Flies meets Bart Simpson. I resent when other players are assholes, quite frankly. But more importantly, and poignantly, I resent and regret when I look in the mirror and see my failed self with my most important job.
There are no second chances with parenting. Not really. Kids are the most resilient of humans, though. I have seen that time and again. Horrible, terrible things that happen to children and somehow they overcome the odds. Having a mom who plays WoW is not the most terrible thing in the world. But when my time spent in Azeroth is no picnic, it makes me wonder if I should walk away from the computer screen and go have an actual picnic.
I couldn’t call my mom yesterday or the past few days because I knew I would start to cry, so I did what any modern mother would do and sent her a text. I asked her how she dealt with all my bullshit. (And believe me, there were many episodes of bullshittery throughout my adolescence and into young adulthood –in fact, I’m kind of an expert at it.) She said essentially this: her and my dad’s job was to keep us from being teenage mothers and out of jail. Everything else, as long as no one died, could be fixed.
Wise words from a wise mom.
PS One thing I do not regret is our OLRG runs. Those are my bridge games, my margarita-and-canasta-games, my mental mani-pedis with ladies and gentlemen I adore. Carry on, OLRG!
Please–I think it was PlaidElf whom I was talking with last week, and she gave me a great idea about the moments in Azeroth that if they were a dream, a nightmare, or reality, how truly terrifying they would be. I read the book Divergentover my break, and while it did greatly veer off into the teen-romance ditch, its premise is quite fascinating. One of the plot devices used to prove one’s bravery characters take a mind-altering drug that reveals their greatest fears, and they placontrol their emotions via biofeedback techniques. (Veronica Roth never uses the term ‘biofeedback,’ so points down for that.)
The idea: What events, monsters, places, or quests have truly shaken you to your core? This may seem incongruent in the Northern Hemisphere, as it’s spring and all that. Oh well. Ideas know no season.
I’ll be writing mine sometime soon–not sure when, and make no promises. In the meantime, for those of you who are brave, I’m sharing this little film a “good friend” shared with me. I told her I’m sending her my electric bill.
Sugar&Blood 