10 Years : 10 Questions - My Answers

The Godmother over at ALT:ernative is currently doing a survey - 10 Years : 10 Questions. If you haven't already taken part you can do so by completing this simple form (or blogging or emailing her) and I'd recommend that you go do it! At the end she will be putting together a series podcasts detailing the results and I think it will make for some really interesting reading, well listening.

Token pretty picture to make up for all the text

On with the questions...

1. Why did you start playing Warcraft?

I started messing about with WoW sometime in 2011 playing on my boyfriends account. At that time we were both at uni and lived separately and there were times when I was bored at his house with nothing to do - so I started exploring Azeroth. Whilst it was primarily a way to pass the time, having seen him play WoW and raid, it was also something that I wanted to know more about.
Eventually in February 2012 I got my own account (i.e. he got fed up of me stealing his game time and romantically got me it for Valentines!).

The Liebster Awards: Part 3

Part 3: Questions by Thibaste of Level This

The Liebster Awards: Part 2

Part 2: Questions by Zeirah of A is for Azeroth and Z is for Zeirah

1. What is your favourite zone in WoW?

Hmm pre-Pandaria I'd probably have said Stranglethorn (north & south) or maybe Grizzly Hills but I think Krasarang Wilds is my current love. Despite all the Mogu it's a rather tranquil place and perfect for fishing - one of my in-game loves.

2. What is you idea of a perfect day?

I think my perfect day would be a mixture of being out & about, playing computer games and sat schnuggled up with my zebra blanket. Most evenings I actually sit playing WoW wrapped up in my blanket or in my Jedi Robes. I'd go for a stroll in town (assuming it was sunny), I love window shoopping for pets and then home for gaming. To top  it off I'd either have take away or some other home cooked yummy food (i.e. Chinese, pizza, curry...).

3. If you could be any npc, who would it be and why?

Well the obviously choice would be Jojo the Pandaren that sells cooking supplies in the Shrine! 
Alternatively someone like Nat Pagle who just chills out all day by the sea fishing.

Jojo & Jojo

4. Aside from food, water, and shelter, what one thing could you not go a day without?

Other people. I'm a sociable person and I get lonely quite easily - unless I can distract myself playing games etc. So if I had nothing but food, water and shelter I'd probably go crazy pretty quick. I also, unsurprisingly, suffer from cabin fever!

5. Why do you blog?

I started blogging after I finished my masters as something to fill my time whilst I was looking for a job. When I got a job I never stopped blogging although admittedly my blogging has gotten less frequent. I suppose it's fair to say I still blog as I enjoy it. It gives me a media to ramble about my virtual life and I've met some amazing people as a result of it! I hope that by continuing to blog I'll more awesome people too.

6. What would you tell a brand new wow player about the game?

If it's grey vendor it but other things you should try to sell (auction) - atleast test the water - you could make a lot of money.
And the internet turns even the nicest people into jerks - ignore them and move on... but never give up!

7. If you could pick any theme for the next expansion what would it be?

I don't know a lot of lore if I'm honest so I wouldn't pick anything lore based like this Emerald something that lots of people chat about. And WoD fits with my desire to have more Draenei lore going on. Which leaves me with nothing springing to mind if I'm honest.

8. What is your favourite mount?

I think I did a post about my favourite mounts not too long ago. Since that post I've actually gained a few new mounts too. But, if I had to pick one mount *grumbles* I'd probably go with... the Swift Zhevra which I don't and probably never will own.

9. What cheers you up?

Food, cider, schnuggles, gaming...
10. Glass half full or half empty?

Half full! I like to be positive as much as possible.

11. What your favourite thing to do in wow?


I don't think I could name just one so I'll list a few of the things I enjoy - leveling, pet battles, the so called 'boring' things (i.e. fishing, archaeology and farming ores, herbs etc.) and my most recent love has to be flex raiding. Never thought I'd enjoy flexing as much as I do - the people are definitely a contributing factor! [Same goes for Friday Fun Runs - we could be doing anything, it's the people that make it].

The Liebster Awards: Part 1

During my impromptu absence from blogging it seems a new craze happened - The Liebster Awards!

The Liebster Awards are given by bloggers to bloggers as a way of discovering new blogs (I think!). There's a lot of information over at Wording Well including details on the various rule-sets. It's lovely to know that not one, not two but three fellow bloggers are aware of my existence enough to nominate me, so thank you! And, well thank you to everyone that take's the time to read my ramblings.

Part 1: Questions by Velgana of Adventures in Skywall

Blogiversary Naming Competition

Today happens to be my first blogiversary. It seems crazy that a year ago today I made my first blog post. In the past year I've written 247 posts (this is my 248th) and taken part in various blogging community events - from taking screenshots to writing short stories to designing transmogs. But I think the most important thing is that I've had a lot of fun, made some awesome (of virtual) friends and have every intention of continuing to be an active blogger (provided I have the time).

For some time I've been thinking about how to celebrate my blogiversary and a while ago came up with a loose idea that I've now decided to go with...

200th Blog

Yep, you guessed it - this is my 200th blog!

Back in March I posted my 100th blog, just 5 months after starting my blog. Here we are in August, 5 months after my 100th blog and 10 months into the blog as a whole. Which means we're very close to my 1st blogiversary. And also that writing about 100 posts in 5 monts is average for me, or so it seems. In my 100th blog I did a sort of mini review of things so far and I've decided to do that again plus a few little extra things here and there.

One major game change for me is raiding. In April I took part in my first LFR and much to my surprise found it wasn't the horrendous tortuous experience I had expected! I have since tried to do on LFR a week. Initally I was working through the various raids going up a tier (I think they're tiers) each week. More recently, I have been doing the Terrace of Endless Springs more often than anything else as I really like it! Plus I'd quite like the gun (Taoren, the Soul Burner) from Lei Shi - who I should point out I love.
Note: I got the gun during tonights LFR night :)

Breakfast Topic Thoughts: Random Group Tools - The Results

A couple of days ago WoW Insider's Breakfast Topic, asked by Lisa Poisso, was Love 'em or hate 'em, do you use random group tools? I decided that rather than blogging about my thoughts on this topic on the day that I'd wait for the results.

 

First off my answer to the poll was "I use them, and I think they're a fantastic addition to the game." Quite simply if it wasn't for these tools I'd never see a lot of the content - in particular raids. I've only recently gotten into raiding (well LFR) and I am enjoying it. But I can safely say that real raiding (as so many people like to call it) probably wouldn't work for me. If I'm perfectly honest I don't think I'm cut out for it and I could see myself getting stressed - which is not what I want to achieve from the game!!

Community Blog Topic: What 3 features do you wish WoW had?

WoW Insider has started hosting 'Community Blog Topics' which I think is a really great idea and way for the blogging community to interact etc. This is the first time I will be particiipating in this community event but hopefully there will be many more in the future.

Last week Robin Torres asked 'What 3 features do you wish WoW had?'. Robin's wishlist consisted of:

• Free server transfers
• Unique class storylines
• Account-wide mail

All of which I like the sound of. But I do have some wishes of my own...

Level scaling
The abilty to scale a character down (obviously not up) so that you can quest, dungeon etc. with lower level friends or to complete content at the appropriate level (so that it's a challenge). For me there is a lot of content that I never had the chance to do when it was current. I know I can do dungeons still but there's a lot of older raids that I'd like to have experienced. I hear lots of nostalgic stories of how hard Raid-x was back in the day and how better to understand these sentimentalities.

Galleries/Museums (Similar to housing)
A lot of people talk about in-game character housing which I like the idea of. However, I'd much prefer it to be a more gallery/museum like facility. I'm not overly fussed about my characters having beds, wardrobes and sofa's but I would like a place to store [older] archaeology artefacts that I've made (ie a museum). Moving slightly more towards housing I'm quite keen on the idea of a communal guild area where the heads of defeated bosses are displayed - similar to how you might see the stuffed & mounted head of a deer in a stately home. This being said I can see the appeal of character housing in general.

Storage Solutions
I guess this in part relates to the above point. I am a bit of a hoarder but I think it's a general issue within the game - that being, people have bags and banks full of items that have no day-to-day use but they don't want to get rid of. Above I have outlined how archaeology items such as Kaldorei Wind Chimes can be stored but what about tabards? or armour/transmog sets?
I think tabards would work really well being incorported into the character pane ('C') in a similar way to titles. Once you purchase the tabard it appears in this pane and can be chosen.
Armour/transmog sets would again work well in galleries/museums. I'm not saying have an unlimited set of manakins waiting to hold theses sets but maybe two or three. Or even if you had to pay for your manakins like you'd have to pay for storage.

Breakfast Topic Thoughts: Could you step into your character's shoes? & Do you play WoW with a family member?

A two-in-one Breakfast Topic Thoughts today as I didn't finish my thoughts on yesterdays topics yesterday and I thought today's topic was worth a ponder to.

Yesterday's WoW Insider Breakfast Topic (asked by Lisa Poisso) is "Could you step into your character's shoes?". Lisa asks:

"Could you effectively step into your character's shoes in Azeroth? Like my mage, could you get the work done if you could find a non-combat position? Or do you play any characters whose jobs simply aren't a fit in any sense for the real you?".

I have a range of characters from an assortment of classes and with a variety of professions. I don't think any of them fit the real me perfectly. That said I've never really tried to make a character that's like me in every possible aspect - appearance, class and profs. Appearance wise I'm certainly a mix of my Gnome mage and Dwarf warlock.

I don't think I could step into a combat role. I'm really not the athletic type! Running around isn't my thing and nor is swinging swords and axes. My main is a hunter and when I was a guide I was quite a fan of archery & I wasn't that bad at it so I guess that's something that would stand in my favour of being a hunter. I guess I could cope as a caster such as a mage, warlock or druid.

As I'm into science I think I could do fairly well as a herbalist and/or alchemist like my mage. I'm no expert on terrestrial plants but it has to be said I'm not too shabby with seaweeds! Being a marine biologist I think the druid Glyph of the Orca would allow me to carry out my job a lot better (if I an get over the whole diving thing). So maybe I could be a mash-up of my mage and druid.

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Today's WoW Insider Breakfast Topic (asked by Robin Torres) is "Do you play WoW with a family member?"

For starters it depends what you class as family. None of my blood relations play WoW, to be honest I think most of them would be quite baffled by the game concept alone let alone all the buttons etc.

I do however play with my boyfriend who is essentially family. Up until recently we were in the same guild and would do scenarios, dungeons and old raid runs (for pets) together. However, he left the guild a week or so ago and I haven't seen him in-game since. That's not to say that we won't continue to do the occassional thing together - primarily farming for raid pets.
 

Breskfast Topic Thoughts: How do you start a new character?

This morning's WoW Insider Breakfast Topic by Elizabeth Harper was How do you start a new character? I'm a bit of an alt-aholic and have made a dozen or so characters in the short time I've been playing WoW. I don't have a serious problem or rather addiction to making alts like some players but it's still a large part of my in-game experience and enjoyment.

Night Elfs have an awesome array of hair colours.

Normally when I'm making a new character it's because I've already decided to roll a particular class and/or race. If I've only chosen the race (for example) then I set about picking a complementary class. There has been one case where I had my heart set on a Pandaren paladin (Palminglee) but sadly Panda's can't be paladins so I made a shaman (Shaminglee). Now that's the relatively easy part over with.

Tauren horn style can be changed.

I find picking the character features can vary from being quite tricky to almost too obvious. As I'm sure we're all aware the customisable options vary between races, some have lots of options and others only a few. For me, this can pose an issue. If we take the faces for example - some I don't like, others I love and some I'd pick but they don't jump out at me. I, therefore, usually go for the one's that really appeal to me. I also try to keep each characters features unique - so when I have two or more of a single race I try to pick different features etc.

Goblin ear customisation also alters the nose and chin.

My final step during character creation is the naming. I don't follow any particular naming convention and so there's no limit or criteria that I need to follow. In a way I have shot myself in the foot by not having one. I am yet to think of a character name during the creation process that I've then chosen and has been available. There are so many names already taken, yet the number available is still enormous. Nonetheless, it's incredibly hard to pick the right name. I'll admit to having created a new character, played for a bit, decided I don't like the name and re-rolled the character exactly the same bar the name! For me, paying to change a character's name isn't a financial option and so I give myself until level 20 to make the delete/re-roll decision.

I'm really intrigued how others create new characters and would definately recommend reading the comments section of the original article.

Breakfast Topic Thoughts: What type of character would your mother play in WoW?

It turns out that yesterday (Sunday 12th) was Mother's Day in various countries but not here in the UK. Our Mother's Day was back in March and to celebrate I did a post on in-game Mummys (mounts) and their kids (pets) which you can view here.

Yesterday, WoW Insiders Dawn Moore asked What type of character would your mother play in WoW? and I thought this was a pretty neat question. It really provoked some thought as well as I'd never considered my mum playing WoW or even what race/class she is most like in personality etc.


Firstly, what would my mum play? Well it's safe to say my mum isn't the best with computers. She's approaching 60 and whilst she is suitably skilled to do a lot, with computers, I don't think games is her thing. However, if she ever did play I think she'd enjoy pet battles and leveling professions - much like myself. I think she'd find the combat a bit too much - too many buttons, too much going on etc. (again, a little like myself!). As such I can't really say what class or race she'd play out of choice but...

 

What is she most like? Race is easy - a (ginger) dwarf, much like my warlock Boltzy whom I pride on looking most accurately like myself. Class is slightly more tricky. She's got a range of qualities; good with plants, nature and mending (like a healer [primarily druid]), a stubborn battler (which I imagine to be a tank-like quality) yet she can be a bit of a witch. Overall, I guess my mum is more like a druid but dwarfs can't be druid. I guess the next best thing is a shaman - she can heal but can also deal some serious damage!

Can I make it as WoWs Iron Lady?

A while ago I tweeted saying that I was considering taking part in the WoW Ironman Challenge. I had a few encouraging tweets back and a load of helpful hints and tips from various people. I finally decided to take the plunge. It just so happened that the UK's own iron lady Margaret Thatcher died earlier this week and hence inspired the title - impeccable timing Maggie!

What is the WoW Ironman Challenge?
I'm sure a lot of you will have heard of the WoW Ironman Challenge and some of you may even have taken part in it. It is a community run challenge that essentially see's the competitor attempt to level a character to max level without dying! There's a whole suite of rules that can be found on the website but I'd sum these up as being: only white or grey gear, no enhancements (gems, enchants, external buffs, flasks etc), no friends (i.e. guild, groups or things that involves groups - dungeons etc), no profs (except first aid) and no talent points/glyphs/class specialisations.

Why am I doing it?
I've been thinking about doing it for a while now. I think it's the idea of setting myself an in-game challenge that really will be a challenge for me. Too often I have found myself in the situation where I've ran into a mob, then thought and realised that I've pulled to many or just can't handle them all and have died. In short, I hope(d) that taking part in the challenge will help me curb my think later approach.

My 100th Blog!

Here it is, my 100th blog post!

My blog's been going for just under 5 months now and I think 100 blogs is pretty good going. I've fluctuated from blogging multiple times a day to once every couple depending on spare time and whats happening in-game and this has worked well for me.

I'm a little unsure about what I should include in this special post. Whilst it's not a blogiversary - which is somewhat like a birthday and a big event which I really hope I reach atleast one of - it is a similar (if smaller) milestone.

I guess I will talk a little about what blogging has done for me...