An update.

Right it's been a while since I said anything, now as my readership is so small, that should be no issue. But I thought I'd put up here what I've been up to for my own sake, even if no one reads it.

Recently I've been doing something I never thought I would do, ICC10. First I had a SAN run on Athru. Hmm, maybe I should explain about Athru, originally he was my high level bank alt/epic gem crafter, but I was bored one day and thought I'd level him just for the craic. So I got him to 80 and started the slog of gearing him up, pugging as a healer (he is dps) just to get groups easier. So on two consecutive days, the first being the day he hit 80, LFG gave Occulus up, on both runs I got a little present, so that meant spending 5k I wasn't planning on spending, good thing he's the bank alt. So into ICC Athru went with SAN, poor guy was healing, but we did well and one shotted most of the bosses though on Festergut we had one wipe. Athru picked up a shiney, but best of all he got rep and got himself a nice ring.

Next up is Afaon, he too has been inside the icy walls of ICC, spread over two nights he and the group he was with managed to down all bosses but Sindragosa and The Lich King himself, which I think is a fair old achievement considering, I was tanking and not quite sure where I was going or what I was doing most of the time, picking up his own ring along the way and a few shinies. Admittedly wipes happened, but there was no drama and fun was had by all, well I think so, I know I had fun at least. I have also been building up Afaon's Ret set and even doing some heroics as dps, it makes a nice change from the stress/pressure of tanking.

The rest of my toons are progressing in their own way slowly but in the main successfully. I had plans but I've decided me and plans don't work out so I have 'would likes' instead, 'I would like to do this', 'I would like to do that'.

All in all I can say I'm playing my game and having fun with it. Thankfully, I was worried for a while there.

I'm not dead

Just doing random things like oh this:

Were it on my druid it would at least have a proper use, but at least it didn't drop for my paladin.

The here and now

While this post is not a response to Pilf's latest post, it does have some ties in, but this is something I have been trying to work through. I will not rehash or give more depth, than the posts already given, but I'll assume you have an idea of what has occurred in the past while. I have lost a lot in the past while, but also gained other things, one thing though, in losing I also lost some direction in regards WoW, I have played so long as the half of a team that I am having difficulty playing at he moment, that is not to say that I have not, nor can not play solo, I have done so and do do so successfully many times, but there is something in playing with someone else. Admittedly it is not something I have done in recent times for a variety of reasons, but it is something I have missed.

This is not meant as a finger pointing post, but just a statement. I used to joke that Pilf was the social half of the two us, and that I was just along for the ride, I have found that not to be true. While she can and does make friends more easily than I, and can talk more freely, if the social contact was not there I would miss it. So to my guildies, all my guildies, I thank you for keeping me sane, going and for putting up with my bouts of textual rantage I have from time to time.

---------------

In other news, this picture just makes me want to play the Worgen even more.

A New Challenge

(Also an RP post.)

I been tempered in the fires of Outland, I stand now at the beginning of the hardest challenge I have faced. My faith and strength in the Light shall stand me well in the coming battles. Though many have gone before me to face Arthas and they now fight in his very Halls, I am not ready for such a fight, but I shall do my part and prevent the minions of the Lich King from flanking the warriors of the Horde and of the Alliance. For in this seemingly endless fight against Him, we can spare no able body.
For my first steps onto this battlefield I have pitted my strength to fight alongside my Forsaken allies, for their temperament matches mine better than that of the Orcs.

May the Light guide my blade.

An Honour

Naofa, with his mentor and old friend Afaon after Naofa was presented with his Blood Knight Tabard.

Standing at the crossroads

*looks around at the choices he has*

*looks back at the road so far travelled*


Now what?


But of course one step at a time.

*prepares to take that first step*








Didn't you know the first step is the hardest and I'm scared of making it.

The Grand Experiment: Results(?)

Right then, the results of my week long experiment, hmm results is that the right word ah well you'll see in but a moment, I realise this post is a bit late, but nobody is perfect.

Fiatim
Still a-farming for the mount. No joy thus far, had I got it my screams of joy would have been heard no matter where you are reading this from.

Afaon
I did a slightly(?) stupid(?) thing Sunday, I did 12 hours of sanity tapping on him, did about 13+ instances all told. On the plus side I somehow got grouped with Zal early on so that made it a bit more bearable. Getting groups is instant as a tank, so all ye whiners who complain about queues, go roll a tank.....or a healer.....actually don't....that would lessen my speed at getting groups. I may, may, have burned myself out slightly on PUGs, I didn't realise how long I had been at it till I stopped.

Naofa
Slowly levelling Blacksmithing, once I get to Northrend level of skill I'll stop and worry about levelling once more.

Lobh
Has gotten sick of all the trees in Feralas and gone to Outland to quest, that and the fact he needs to be a bit higher to solo stuff like Dire Maul etc.

Nalac
This was the biggest success of the week, got to level 50 and all professions seem to be up to scratch, especially Lockpicking. I'm proud of that I am.


And that is what I did for the week, roughly.

The Grand Experiment

Right then, this is a where I am type post, in two parts, the reason behind the title is the first part is now, obviously, the second part is this time, ish, next week. Why a week? I have a week off work....and I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with myself, so I though why not? So here we are, Murphy help me. I'd say 'god/elune/the light help me', but Murphy is scarier.

Right to the list of toons in this debacle of a post, in no particular order, Fiatim, Afaon, Shisato, Lobh, Naofa, Nalac, Seilg, Athru.

Fiatim
Poor guy, gets logged onto once a day to try and farm the raven mount. He is also the measure stick that I judge tanks by, a little unfair I know, as he is a druid, but I use his caster form health pool, not his bear form. But considering the source of his gear, and where tanks get their gear now, it a fair measure in some ways.

Afaon
Is slowly gearing up as a tank, that is not to say he doesn't have tank gear, more so that he needs better gear......or I'm just vain, not sure which. Also doing a bit of pvp, I want the set. Or possibly the higher versions....ok I am vain, Afaon is a belf it is what he is. He is also flying round and round and round mining.

Shisato
He is also gearing up, and proving to nabs that Beast Mastery is a viable spec......yeah my trash dps sucks, I run round with Viper up, I save Hawk and my cooldowns for bosses. Also am making gold through Leather Working.

Lobh
Lobh is as ever questing, and yet more questing, am aiming for both Loremaster and Seeker with him, but I think I better go to Outland for a bit so I can solo instances better.

Naofa
Currently on hiatus, until stockpile of ore from Afaon has amassed to get Blacksmithing up.

Seilg
Also on hiatus.....may start pvp on him......or something I dunno......not sure why he on hiatus...errrr....

*shrugs* Moving along.

Nalac
Leveling slowly, while leveling Lockpicking......it harder than it looks....honest.

Athru
Log on, make gem, log off, repeat for stack of mats, once mats finished sell them.....seems to working well for me, albeit slowly. Also an informal bank alt.....or buyer of stuff on AH.....mneh....


Well this is where I am, we'll see where I am in a week.

The Cataclysm Professions Preview and a question.

Right, I'll assume that those who want to have read the previews. Now, as the Better Half doesn't want to know anything on the expansion and tends to be my sounding wall in regards how good my posts are, this will be my views on what is in the preview without actually saying anything meaningful or earth-shattering unless you know to what I reference. May be an exercise in futility, but it'll get my mind working at least, I hope. The question I will put to you in at the end after the next (>'.')>

Right then......to avoid spoilers further I think I'll write this in blue.

Right then. Oo shiney upon shiney, or so it appears. Three of my characters are going to enjoy new pets, wahey. The ability for Tailoring, Leatherworking and Blacksmithing to craft entry level pvp gear for each season is nice, as I'm a big fan of the Savage gear at the moment....though more for looks than you know pvp......I'm getting better at it though. What I do like though, cos of my currently maxed Alchemist is the suggestion in regards them and, well, everyone else :) I so hope it's a transmute. I know this will be an actual reference...but only one new stone? Ya what now? And engineers will be able to make more than guns? Squee!! And leads nicely into my question.

(>'.')>
Right then, my question, I will be creating both a Worgen and a Goblin. Now as it stands the Worgen will be a hunter, not sure yet as to what the Goblin will be. But I was thinking of making an engineer, but which to make, Goblin or Worgen? Goblin of course has strong RP reasons, but as a hunter engineering could be very useful, even without ammo. Now I know that Skinning and Leatherworking would work well off of the Worgen racial but I already have 3 or is it 4 of them. But I have more Horde, so bikes for all....maybe. So, anyone any ideas? Anyone even reading this? *sighs*

Music and Screenshots

Now, the game as described by Anea is a fun one, but one that were I to play by the rules I would ultimately fail. You see, I have a problem, yes another one, I seem to have lots don't I, I wish too much money were one, but I digress, the problem in this case is lyrics, I don't hear them, that doesn't sound right, I hear them obviously, but I can't comprehend them, I can on occassion mouth along to them, but my brain just doesn't register them as anything but part of the song, it why instrumental songs sound so different to the full songs to me I guess. So as such I'm playing the game with a twist, the song itself or the name fits the picture, and having said that onto the songs/pictures.

Any time I did this quest, this song was in my head. I'm sure you'll agree it fits.

(This is all for now, but this is a post in progress, so I should/might update it soon(ish).)

Cataclysm and I: Part 2

I wasn't intending to write a part 2, but here is one nonetheless. In regards Cataclysm previews, or any expansion for that matter, there falls in general two kinds of people, those who read everything they can find, and those who want to know nothing. Now I know that not everything is as black and white as that, that there are an infinite shades of grey in between, but you get the idea. Now, up until recently as the Better Half has said I read everything I could find on an expansion, but...now... Now, I'm not so sure, as many of you are aware leaks have started and the biggest collection of things is as ever on MMO-Champion, what in my case was I was looking at the images and going cool and stuff, but.....but.... If I have to put a finger on it, it is the maps and screenshots, I can look at the image models fine, but the other stuff, it made me kind of, well, queasy to look at. I think at heart I am an explorer at heart, I like discovering things within games. I'll give you one example now of one of my favourites, the Venture Co. mine in Mulgore, now most people know of this mine, at the very least. But I doubt many actually go further than is necessary for the quest, I was among those until I got bored and was farming copper one day. The following screenshots are a visual tour if you will of this little visited spot.

The entrance we all know and love.

Bit big in here.

Look at all the room.

The other side of the mine.

A look back at the entrance/exit.

Looking down at the Golden Plains below, with Red Rocks barely visble.

Oh look an Engineering Trainer.....wait wut?

The view from the Engineers camp.

This is but one example, but there are more the infamous Dwarven farms for one.....or is it for lots?, mneh.....you get the idea, these types of things I think I want to discover for myself, rather than see third hand as it were.

That said I can stand to see Blizzard's Screenshot of the Day and the odd image, but I'll leave it at that. Though I will be looking looking at the talent trees and spells and what not. I need something to get my 'ooooooh shiney' fix.

Of Lobh and Gnomes

Lobh is a travelling sort, he is visiting all sorts of interesting places and killing the inhabitants. He has seen many interesting sights on his travels but none such as this below that reach into the dark places in his mind.....or should I say darker....darkest....

A Gnome buffet with a side of wings.

I have raised an interesting point, does an evil person have a small voice in the back of their minds telling them to do stuff? And is that stuff along the lines of kill, maim, destroy or is it cuddle, hug and love? And which in fact is worse?

An Evening Spent

(My second attempt.......I really should use tags or something.....one day...)

I am not used to this, this feeling a nervousness in my life, but I managed to overcome it. I have seen her, Pilfkin in the city streets. I know from her response to my gift that she was willing to meet with me, but as I know what she looks like and she did not know me, I had to make the first move. And making that move was harder then I thought it would be. This I should have realised through the experiences of my life I have become somewhat aloof from my fellow Blood Elf, I am not as sociable as they are with one another, though I have come to tolerate those of the other races that we are now allied with, you fight beside them it hard not to like them. But that is another matter. Even here in my thoughts it easier to think of the field of battle, then Pilfkin and my....my interest in her.

I introduced myself to her and she thanked me for her gift. It was a simple gesture, but she is worthy of it and more, I think. No, I know. She seemed to feel uneasy in my company at first, but she suggested a walk in the forest, and I was more than happy to accompany her. We talked of simple things as we walked, though she kept looking behind me at times. We stopped at a crossroads considering which path to take and I saw what had been troubling Pilfkin on our way there. I am ever followed by a Haunt, it has followed me so long and been with me that I often forget that he/it is there. I tried to alleviate any worries she had, that the Haunt was a student of mine, akin to how her cousin Naofa was. But this student was brash and foolhardy and well did not learn well, or at all. But he now serves as an object lesson, 'Learn well your lessons and guard yourself well or this is your fate.' Though in saying this I raised her concerns of her cousin. Such concerns are unfounded he learned his lessons well and I no longer see him as someone I had once mentored, but as a Brother-in-Arms of sorts, someone I am willing to fight beside without worry or fear. And there I go again.

We continued along to the coast. I have seen many coasts and many seas but the seas beside Silvermoon have always held a hold over me, more so that evening. Pilfkin has a beauty that I have not seen in a time, and she leaves me speechless. Thankfully the silence between us was a pleasant one. She had expressed that she was at a disadvantage, that I knew some of her, through my discussions with Naofa, and that she knew little of me. I tried to lessen that, by giving her some background on myself and my family, or at least my brothers, Shisato a hunter more at home with his pets than others and Zat a warlock whom with are unsure of, there was an incident with a portal to the Twisting Nether, and as such we haven't seen him since. In short we are a family of independents. As I discussed my family Pilfkin discussed hers, while I had some idea of it from Naofa's viewpoint, I did not grasp it from hers, I better understand it now though.

As the time passed I felt more at ease in her company and I felt again that there were similarities between us that I wish to...explore. But as the hour grew late, Pilfkin, indicated that she needed to return soon lest she get into trouble with the family and I understood that. I did not expect that we should race nor did I know that she was in possession of the rare white hawkstrider, as once favoured by Kael'thas Sunstrider. Such was my surprise of these that I......that lost the race. Thinking back maybe it was a good thing I lost.

We walked back into the city and we said our goodbyes and I expressed my wish that we could walk together again and she accepted. I am unsure of what the future holds, but at the very least I would see her as my friend, perhaps.......

Molten Core

As the Better Half has shown you, we did Molten Core last night, now admittedly it wasn't my first time killing Ragnaros, but it was my first full clear of the place.....well first full clear of all the bosses. That place is huge. But I thought I'd share my few screenshots of the last boss.

Ignore my interface. I'm used to it. But this was my view if I looked up.

Biiiiiiiiiiiiig!

Afaon learns to fly.

Meep!

A different path

(Forgive me but this is my first attempt at an RP post, be gentle.)

I am a paladin, a warrior of the Light, give me a place to stand and I shall prove my mettle. I have earned my place among those of the Argent Crusade and Argent Dawn, I am not well known, but I am known as one with whom to stand and fight. I have been a mentor to many of my Blood Elf brethren and others in the fight against the Scourge threat and the ways of the Light. But it is this that has caused me to doubt my path forward. I have led a solitary life to this point, not through any real conscious thought, but I have formed friendships with some that I have mentored.

One such friendship is with Naofa. He is someone I would gladly have by my side on the battlefield, and have done so in the past. Over time he has told me much about his family and in particular his cousin Pilfkin. What he has said has touched my heart, she seemed as though a kindred spirit in so many ways, but was it just a cousin's bias in his descriptions? I sought her out and having seen her in the company of Naofa I have to say she is a beauty, but there is such a sadness about her, so that part of his description was truthful.

It has been so long since I have done something like this I was, I am, unsure of what to do. I have sent her a gift and have received a response that she enjoys it and would be willing to meet with me when we are both in the city.

I hope this all works out for the best.

The pets of Shisato

I mentioned my pets and how come the next expansion how I will be looking forward to the increased stables. So I thought I would introduce you to them.

Foiche

Or in other words lsdwaspodoom. It sad but she is too big to take into instances, especially under the effects of this. I dare not get rid of her for a smaller model because she is well this.

Anbhás

I have had Anbhás basically since level 10, however along the way I changed model from this to this. For the sole reason of it changing colours. The version above is my favourite of the three colours.

Cúarthine

Suffice to say I was told to get a wolf, so I thought I'd be different, well when I got him I was different, I see more of this particular model around every day.

Andarta

What can I say I needed a tanking pet on occasion, so here he is. What can I say I like white bears, he was briefly changed to a gorilla, not for the normal reason the original bear was actually released so I could catch the next pet, but I got him back when Thunderstomp became a talent rather than a specific spell.

Sally

I was really lucky in getting this pet. I just love the model and it is my default pet for all occasions, even now I get positive comments on her. What more can I say.



And there you have it, my pets.

Cataclysm and I

Right by now everyone who wishes to see the Cataclysm class previews has done so, so I thought, why not do a review of sorts from my point of view and that of the toons I play. You have been warned.

Right I'll do this in no particular order.

Rogue
Right, overall the combo point overhaul is a good thing, I think, at least how I'm reading it. The removal of the weapon specializations just make it that much easier to play, and maybe I'll finaly hit the end cap with a rogue...one day.....one day.

Mage
The mage changes seem to be focused on fire, or that seems to be my interpretation of it anyway, but I've always been interested in frost in some form or another, even when the end talent was lacklustre at best. But the frost mastery, Deathfrost, looks like it will be a lot of fun, especially of you count in Brain Freeze and the Arcane Missile change.

Warlock
The soul shard change has been a long time coming and I think the direction they are taking looks to be interesting. Though the most important thing is that the future looks Green.

Druid
Now how can I put my joy into words......hmmm......'come here little roguey.....I won't hurt you.....much.....' *evil grin*
Yes I'm feral.

Paladin
Weeeeeee, more buffs. I just glad they didn't make any more changes to seals, that was my biggest worry. Though the wording on Blinding Shield makes me nervous, just from a logistics point of view if nothing else. Also Healing Hands looks like it could be a great 'Oh shit!' button for tanks, but who knows yet.

Death Knight
The biggest thing for me out of all this is that Blood will be the tanking build, I'm worried that more people will take up Frost as a result, I like Frost, it helps distinguish me from all the nabs out there.

Shaman
Spirit will be my hit........my hit.......what the hell? Oh but I get more pew.......pewpewpewpewpew......eh that'll work for me.

Warrior
When I play warriors I play Arms, so all in all I think things are looking good for me, the Inner Rage thing looks especially fun though.

Last but no means least....
Hunter
I'm really happy about the stable changes, I need more slots, I really do. I might explain that at a later date, but not now. The focus changes? With experience I might be able to give you my view but seeing it from the abstract I have no clue. The ammo change, or rather the removal of arrows and quivers, yes and bullets and pouches, but I see it it as arrows. I'm not a big fan of this, true it'll save me gold in the long term, but at a loss of such things as this and the quiver model shown on my characters back? I'm just not sure it worth it. Petty aren't I?

I said last didn't I, but as I'm sure you may have noticed I missed out on priests, there is a reason for this, the Better Half plays a priest, if I did such a thing, she'd have to play a tank and though in my head it may sound fun , I have been told in no uncertain terms that this would be a bad thing, so I think I'll stay clear of priests. Especially as I got an early birthday present in the form of this from her. You want to know what is a really hard decision choosing which account got it, I have two, that was a painful few minutes, I mean I had to think hard. Thinking isn't my strong point......I'm not sure what is....maybe tangents......can tangents be a strong point....what was I talking about again....

Changes

A lot has changed in the last month. I have made Argent Dawn my home now, as I'm sure the Better Half has too. As it is an Role-Playing server I was worried initially about how she would cope with it, but not for myself, as though I have RP'd before she hadn't. As I'm sure you all know, those worries were unfounded, and if I am being perfectly honest I feel both a bit jealous and intimidated by how well she has done in this regard. I guess I can put it down to playing my toons as me rather then as them.....did that make any sense?...ah well carrying on.

Right as this is now my home, I felt guilty about leaving my 80's on my old home server, however I felt I owed the guild I was in not to desert them, even though I had barely logged on in about 3 months or raided since before 3.3 hit. But as I was trying to think about what to do, I noticed a new thread on the guild forum, they were going to transfer server, to try and get into a larger pool of players, so as to increase their raider pool, which was in difficulty, even before I stopped raiding.So in the end Fiach, Fiatim and Naofa transferred over to AD.

The problem was that I already had a Naofa on the server, so Naofa, the first, became Afaon. I know it not an actual reverse, but this name apparently means Lawgiver or some such, so cool, unintentional, but cool. And here he is in his rp outfit.
It wasn't an intentional outfit though, he's had it in his bank since the pre-Wrath event, but he is fairy unique among the rest of the paladins kicking round I think.

Fiach had a similar problem in that his name was already taken, not by me, but the result is the same. So Fiach became Shisato, a name I pulled from MtG. Something I played a lot at Uni, but no more. Ah well, the cards have been 'inherited' but my brother so money not really wasted I guess. Anyhow here he is.
Fiatim is still himself, still a Night Elf and still called Fiatim, aren't unique names fun? So no real point posting a pic of him, but what the hell.A fun fact about Fiatim, his gear is.....well how to put this, it's Naxx 25 gear with the odd piece of Ulduar 10/25 and TotC 25, why is this fun you may ask. Simple there is a complaint going round that people farm heroics and buy T-9 with no real sense on how to play, my gear may be worse in regards ilevel to those I may pug with, but by hell it shows I know what I'm doing. Also make me laugh that in caster form I have more health than the dps, with their 'uber' gear. It amazing how fast they shut up about my 'lack' of gear. Actually if I think about it, most of my toons seem to 'lack' in gear compared to others, yet I hold my own when I have to, always fun when that happens.

On a not completed unrelated note my screenshots folder is a mess, so I think I'll go sort that out.

Tanking and I

As I am one of those lucky few in the WoW world who has nothing to whine about, really I don't, I thought I'd blog about something I know and that is tanking. But I have a problem, though I am undoubtedly a tank I have no clue whatsoever about what I do when I tank. If you were to ask me what I do, well my answer is errrrr well. I have come to the conclusion that what I am, what I do is tank. Simply put: "I am therefore I tank, I tank therefore I am." And if I ever want to dps I need to roll a non-tanking class.

*sighs*

And I was so hoping that I could level Naofa as a retribution paladin. Ah well. Hmm, does that count as a whine? I think it may. Sweet.

But it has been pointed out that I should not feel pressured into tanking, I don't, as I'm trying badly to explain I just seem to always end up tanking. I'm just not sure why, or what I'm doing when I do it. Which may make my SAN guildies a bit worried about grouping with me, but though I don't know what I'm doing I seem to do it well. At least thus far.

Another picture.

I know I know, last post was full of them, this one is special though. This is my hunter soloing Wailing Caverns back in 08. I'm proud of that I am....and with a ravager. Started doing it at 20.....till about 30.

A history in pictures

I apologise in advance, I've being going though my screenshots folder recently and I thought I would share some with you. I say 'some' because I'm not sure how many I will end up doing.


In the above picture we see the brave Naofa, the first, face down the evil paladin Agrus, whom had just invaded Stormwind to run the Stockade. And no, I'm not calling him evil for being a blood elf, he's my little brother I can call him evil if I want to. Also in this pic you can see Nao and Pilf have been together for a while.


Here they are in Hellfire......isn't Outland gear so very er......stylish.....that's a word for it, not the word you understand but a word certainly.


Here we are at 70, before Wrath hit much better looking gear wise, yes I know I'm vain, not as bad as Bro, but what can I say.... I really like this tabard. Dang I'm going to have to go get it again for the SAN toons.


And Nao at 80. I feel sorry for Nao now and somewhat guilty. His gear since this picture has not improved much and all he gets to do is well....


.....pose on his pink drake.


Moving on to another of my characters, Fiach my hunter.

I was seeing if my wasp was suitable for 5-man instancing......yeah no......

And lastly but by no means least is Fiatim, my druid. I'll just upload a few pictures and let them speak for themselves I think.






And to finish off a random yet beautiful picture.

Where I Am

I know I said I was going to list my toons and give a bit of an in-depth behind each one, but wait for it, I got sidetracked, surprised? You shouldn't be, I thought I went over this already.

By what you may ask, ah there in lies the tale, and the reason behind this post. I like many bloggers out there have joined in with Single Abstract Noun, when the Better Half said why don't we join this I, as ever, followed along for the laugh. SAN is, what's the word, oh yeah it's an experience. I will freely admit I am not the most avid of bloggers or blog readers, I am however a huge Warcraft nut. I've played the series from the beginning, so the chance to be guilded with people who are mature, know what they are doing AND can have a laugh, well the opportunity to do that is something I am always on the look for. There is also another reason for enjoying this guild as I do, no guilt or pressure. I am not being forced to level, or instance, or raid. Actually I am under a bit of pressure, on Nao (the second), I had intended to level as ret and to do it properly for once. But ever as there is a lack of tanks, but if I'm honest, most of the pressure is from the Better Half, who if I'm honest I am happy to have on my back about this. It feels almost like second nature for me to tank with her healing and as she has said a time or two, it probably very apparent to any we group with that we have played together a lot.

But Naofa isn't the only toon I have in this guild, there is also Lobh the Blood Death Knight who I originally created to mine ore to feed to Nao, levelling Blacksmithing is a pain, but has ended up as something more, and there is also Seilg the Marksmanship hunter who I transferred over from my home server.

What happens here on in, I'm not sure, but I hope this guild continues on, it's a fun place to be.

On names

I will get round to telling you about my toons, honest. But as ever I got distracted, by names. How can you get distracted by something as simple as a name? I have found that in this game, that the name you choose for your character has a bigger impact on your game then you would think. The name you choose for your character is what you will be known as for your gaming life, so while a name seems like a laugh when you first make a character it may not seem so when you get along in levels. I am one of those hypocritical folk that instantly dislikes people who put their race/class/spec into their characters name or the really special people who put all three, though that said since I play on the EU servers dk not only means death knight, but also Denmark, even so, you get my point. Why hypocritical? Well due to my lack of textual imagination I can't come up with names I use an aspect of my character and get the Irish of it and usually end up a name. But at least it doesn't look as just plain stupid as undeaddk or whatever the name ends up being. Huh? Well consider some of my character names Naofa, Fiach, Bás, Lobh, Laoch, unusual seeming aren't they. But back to Naofa, who along with Fiatim are what this post are meant to be about.

Right before I get into the meat of this post.....*reads up*.....er....or rather what I had intended to the meat of this post, a little aside and a bit of history. Fiatim as a name is uniquely me, there are no others who use that name. It came about as a mistake that happened in real life but it was the name I chose for my until then unnamed feral druid that I always wanted to make, but couldn't due to computer issues, lack-there-of if you must know. Fiatim the nelf druid is the first character I ever had. *sighs remembering the early days.*

Right then, on names. On the server I play on, I am not a well know figure or troll, I am not someone who is known by all, but I am known by two names, that of Fiatim and that of Naofa. Fiatim is the name I known as in the raid guild I am in, Original Sin, nice guild, nice people, currently recruiting *plugs*, though I no longer raid with them. I was an OT with them and though I am no longer active I hope at the very least I am not disliked, when I miss social interaction with no repercussions, rare though that is, I log onto my druid, my pala or my hunter and listen....er read...er listen....oh you get what I mean, to the randomness that is guild chat. They are also a good source of impartial advice on specs/professions when I need/want a source I can trust. Naofa, or more often Nao, is the name I am known to a now small number of people. To explain fully a bit of history, as I have said my first character was and is a night elf druid. But I truely played horde for a long time, I played a blood elf warlock, and in the guild I was in I met another lock who to make a long story short is now my better half. When we together hit 70 in tbc we decided we wanted to raid and instance and stuff, so rather then attempt to find a raiding guild that would take two locks, without begging favour on my brother. Hmmm my brother now there is something to post on, as if his ego needs a boost, but it'll be something to write about. Where was I? Oh yeah, so the two of us decided to reroll. We figured if we rolled a tank and healer combo that we could get instances easily and the like. Since I had a tendency to be an aggro magnet anyway and as I wanted to see what Bro was always hyping on about I rolled a Paladin and chose the name Naofa, the Better Half chose a priest who was called Pilfkin. Rather than go into some random guild we joined Synergy which my druid was then residing, said guild was building to become the biggest guild on the server.....did you know that if you get more than 500 guild members you can only list 500 of them? No, well it's true, I witnessed it. Together we leveled basically from 1-70 in the guild and started in on raiding Kara with them, though the Better Half started raiding before me, getting geared to heal a raid was slightly easier than getting defence capped as a paladin in those days. So to the old guard of Synergy I'm known as Nao....not that much of the old guard remain in saying that. Most of them are officers now I think or just not playing anymore.

As such I give these words of warning chose your name well, for who knows how many years you shall bear it.

Back to the problem

Originally this second post was going to be about me telling you about the various characters I have and what I spend my time doing with them. But while I was thinking about all that I came to think about their professions and the fact that some of them are a wee bit behind where they should be. So in thinking that I set myself a challenge of sorts, what would happen if I concentrated on levelling these professions and/or grinding the mats for them, for a length of time, say maybe a week. Now having said a week, I do acknowledge that I can't spend all week doing this as I have things like work and real life to deal with as well, but what if.....well we'll just see won't we.

A start

Right everyone needs a place to start and I am no different.

So.....*looks around*.....*takes a step to the left*.....here, this will do.

Now then, I have both a vice and a problem and one affects the other and the other propagates the one.

The problem is that I have a very, and I do mean very, short attention span. Sort of along the lines of 'train of thou-ooooooo what does that do-oh cool what is this-and this-what was it again-ght. The outcome of this is in part is my doodling, but this is not the time or the place for that topic. Though I will say it a good thing there is no time for idle thought much and when there is there is a pen to run through my fingers. It, my attention span, has been an issue for years, and it tends to annoy my better half quite a bit.

The vice is computer games, all sorts, but the purpose of this....*looks round*....is one specific game, World of Warcraft. That was kind of anti-climatic wasn't it. There are thousands upon thousands of blogs out there on the subject of Warcraft, this is not going to be like all of them, they are all interesting and have deep and meaningful topics, while this will be well.....not. Did I mention my problem? Yeah, well that is going to be apparent shortly.

Where was I? Oh yes my vice and my problem, I have alts, a lot of alts, or as I prefer to call them my toons. An alt is an alternative to your main character, but if you have no main, just some characters you play as and when you feel like it, what do you call them? Toons. Don't ask me why it just something I picked up along the way, like a lot of things. Somewhere back along shortly after I first started playing I hit upon the idea that if I played a class I could understand it better and thus when I grouped with said class I would know what to expect from it in a group or raid situation. As such I have got about 20+ toons littered across the servers, and yes I realise there aren't that many classes, some I just tend to play more than others. Like tanks. Yes I realise that tank is a spec not a class, but of the 4 80's I have 3 are tanks. A paladin, a druid and a death knight. I'm currently levelling a warrior tank too.

Huh, what was that? Raid? Yes I said the 'magic' word. I used to raid, I raided kara and ZA in tbc, naxx, OS, EoE, Ulduar and TotC, tanking them all. But I hit a problem, or rather two closely linked problems, I wasn't having fun anymore and I was close to burning out, it not just healers who suffer from that problem. I can tell you now the one thing I do miss from raiding and I think the only thing I miss is seeing the instances and the layout of them, the details put in and that's about it really.

The one thing I can't seem to do game wise and this is due to my original problem is make gold, but as I no longer raid, what need for gold have I. The toons you say? I like the challenge in starting from nothing and getting somewhere, it just not where everyone seems to want to be.

To be short and to the point for once, I play to be happy and have fun and it how and what I do with my play time that I will write about. I may even give you some proper history at some point.