what will i do?

I feel in an odd spot,  at the moment my EU account is open, but my main account is lapsed. I had a bad weekend. It wasn't actually all that bad, that's the odd part, I did eleven pugs  four were awful,  the people , were at least and that tank., but in fact the rest were good to great. I don't exactly feel like   re upping my sub.

I want to play but feel detached, the account wide  achievements distresses me or probably more the pets and mounts.

I love pets, I love farming. Each character that I get attached to has a special pet. Usually I farmed for the pet. My mage has an azure whelpling, farmed up before Cata, my level 30 shaman on Moon Guard has one too, and my priest who accidentally learned it while farming for my blue haired druid.  when Mists comes out they will be merged.  But to me they are different whelps The thoughts and story of my mages whelp are different then my Shaman's.

My mage wanted to save the whelp she got from Malygos's  madness. Not really reasonable but that's how she thought, she's an odd dreamy character, kind of a flake. She will save the world and all the cute things  or set stuff on fire.

I paid a paladin to escort my Shaman (level 19 twink at the time) around the world for elder coins he put loot on free for all and we ran across the world killing stuff and she picked up the loot as we went through Ashzara, he killed some  dragonkin and  a whelp dropped, he didn't care and I kept it, a bit of random  luck, if My shaman feels she needs luck the whelp is her pet of choice.

My priests whelp  was me being clumsy, I learned it and was stuck,  she was my highest level character on that server and I used her to farm it for  my druid. The story I made up was as she traveled with it , it grew attached to her so  it didn't want to leave her.

Of course my Druid  will be able to use the whelp.

In Mists they will merge.

Yes I have my memories but the next time an azure whelpling drops I'll probably sell it, I know I can make up a story and that character can pull out the one I know  already and  say it's the one that dropped still it won't be.

It won't be the same ,  it won't feel the same if I decide to go to a new server, all my pets  are there , just pick one. What would be the point to farm  for my 23rd dark whelpling because  all the others are now just one. ( well gold but, meh )

A new character carries the history of all the other now, and sometimes that weight is too much.

My pugs each one earned by different characters doing pugs each one has different quirks, soon when I have pugged with 100, no run to the post box for my pet. The firefly my old guild master gave me before leaving, the rat fished in Dalaran while I joked with my best friend as we waited on queues,  The spirit of summer my druid has so hard to get as she ran unmounted through the world at level fifteen, merged with the others I had.( most have their on story too) My  broom riding kitty my  level  eleven troll has from riding around with some random fellow who said "hey come ride my rocket  you can trick or treat with me, you look sad, fun must be had."( My  troll was  actually giving directions to someone where to buy their wolf,not sure why she looked sad, but who could turn down such a tour!) So many other pets each farmed with the character that  wanted them, all that feels disconnected.

The only pets I'm fine with being across account are the card pets, because well  buying stuff is not quite the fun farming it up is. Actually it's annoying , but the puffer fish is adorable.

I don't raid, I'm not good enough,( also gear is not really exciting for me , the feel of success is but I would only drag a team down now.) but I farm stuff and that is my fun. I really love doing that now it feels like it's done,  I can fish or gather stuff other things I like and  of course I like PuGs. I like each time  something (ok a pet or mount really)  drops for each character, because each time is different.

I know there will be new things , but right now I feel kinda sad and apprehensive that maybe it won't be the fun I used to have , and will I find new fun?

Dear tank

Dear tank, amazing tank, tank that we lowly peons did not deserve. You great carrier of the masses, Ok maybe not that, because you said you don't carry  (word that I don't like to use). I know your usual healer is amazing almost but not quite a great as you. They can even heal around corners!! I could never do that! Yes I am indeed inferior. Most DPS you know can read your mind and know when you will race off , sadly the DPS in your last group couldn't and yes, the two who hadn't been there before were a little confused, I know unlike you  they weren't born knowing the fights and  I didn't type fast enough on that boss We're all really pathetic , maybe you could have pulled fewer packs at a time. I know it's slower but , some of us are well you know ....  new! yes we ARE lesser. ..

.... or maybe not, because you were sorta squishy even if your DPS was amazing ( I was impressed ) but usually with really great tanks  I don't have to heal the DPS in non AOE fights much or maybe even not are all.

So no we didn't deserve you,  because you were a pompous jerk, who called people names and threw a tantrum, when  someone died to an unexplained mechanic, one unfortunately left unexplained  because you pulled too fast.

You left and a polite tauren tank joined us a bit later he was actually a great tank, ( the DPS suddenly stopped taking damage , I know weird !) plus he was nice  and patient like his title said !

So I hope you get a group you deserve,  really I do , a group of people like you only more so!

Thanks ,

a healer

Scribbles (or art of your character)

 Like I said a few posts ago, I'm not going to be in game a lot  at this time  (except probably weekends)  I do still have time to draw between doing other stuff.

O could post more pictures of my characters but frankly I find that a bit boring,

So I was thinking that I might like a little WoW inspiration, and I asked at the end of my rather dull post a couple of posts back ( someone pointed out no one probably read to the end)  if anyone might like to see me , ( well not literally  I mean that would be weird and I'm not inclined to go find a web cam) draw their character, for free ( ok, I do ask for a description  I'm not psychic) nothing fancy, a sketch  of what one might see as they crossed paths with them traveling through Azeroth.

So if you are interested , just leave a description of your character ( link to a screen shot?)  something distinctive or quirky about them in the comments here of email me at Ravenshe [at] g mail dot com

 I'll be doing three the first three that  show up, maybe I'll make it a once a month thing if  people are interested. Posting them on Sundays ideally.

Helping people can Fun, and stuff

So I started a new character, well two actually (I had space, and I'm weak, but I deleted one later because I decided I preferred a different face)  I made a shaman and a little priest , oh  and I guess a druid too, (My altitis is probably incurable, and technically the druid was a level five bank alt so she's not really new) All three got leveled to twenty something.( I get to that level  20 something  range rather fast ,but at 27 distraction sets in.)

So at fifteen I have some  useful quest rewards ( nice that  almost every quest has a sensible  award , no more spirit stamina stuff or other sorta unwanted stat combos) anyhow then it's time to hit the dungeon finder. I actually really like PuGs , I know I complaine  but really  I enjoy them (Or I'm desperate for some form of interaction).

My little priest was first , things went well  the first deadmines run was nice and pretty smooth , except for people  getting blown off the bridge , I had to explain that bit because well it's not obvious enough. I felt happy knowing that maybe people would sorta avoid the  burning exploding spots later on ( How does the dock not break these are cannons?), I was in a very good mood, wwailing caverns a few times then at 18 I zoned into  Shadowfang Keep , there was the tank and one DPS and a rather large number of skeletons , in that Commander fellows room. Things had apparently been going badly.  The DPS was  calling the poor tank all sorts of names and  stuff like that. I suggested he may want to leave after all he must really hate the tank. He left after calling me a short bitch. The Male Draenei  tank who I was imagining being reduced to tears ( Well, I would have been, in character at least) declared he was terrible and having the worst time and he was new. I thought a moment and said hmm well, what do you think went wrong?

He didn't know.

I thought a bit and asked  did you notice the green stuff and wavy arms  coming out of the floor?  (brilliant technical terms on my part). I said well that is bad, and especially if your DPS is not ranged , it can hurt them a lot and this is a bit stressful for the healer.  Move yourself and the DPS out of it. I then explained that there area lot of places that there is stuff on the floor and standing in it is bad (although I didn't go intro the some stuff your group makes on the floor is good to stand in, this  may come up later, I once had a death knight Tank that ran dutifully out on my AOE floor heal, For three instances before I asked him about it and is is so pretty with leaves and all, but he was scared it was a bad thing). I explained the various other mechanics  on the other bosses, and we requed after he got repaired. You know what? ( I mean you can guess it went well,as I'm writing it down)  the next attempt  went off perfectly no one died he ran out of the bad and kept stuff  and that thing that you need to face  away from the DPS was kept from hitting the DPS we were happy, He thought it was amazing and easy. The rest of the instance went well to no one stood in the  pistol barrage ( I preemptively warned the group). I did four more instances with this tank and he was actually better then many if he had some idea what was going to happen. We were both in fairly high spirits when we parted ways. I felt pretty good. ( sometimes I think it would be nifty to do a comic  of all the instances and boss mechanics , it could be funny and informative, but since I only know up to level 80 stuff I'd probably need help and even I forget stuff, well actually my memory is notoriously bad but still....)

The thing is I've had to explain Shadowfang Keep about seven times now, ( I may even have written about this before , because it happens  a lot) at the same point half the times I  came in as the healer at the same point after a wipe. Why can't someone be bothered to type out a simple polite  explanation or something? is it that much harder then typing swearwords or insulting people? ( If you must be rude perhaps a " Don't Stand in The F******  desecration or point the  Sh*t at the DPS you  illbegotten spawn of an murloc!" Should suffice) Do these people never move out of the bad? do most  tanks and DPS expect to be healed through it ( I will heal through it on a well geared heirloomed character, but not everyone is, and then I feel guilty for encouraging incompetence, these people will haunt me in later heroics I just know it)

The other place I have to explaine is the Occulus,  I try to start off with DPS please take an amber drake ....  ( I understand some people are trying for  the achievement but, they usually say.) I haven't had a lot of luck there, it usually goes badly I think by 80 people are very sure they know what they are doing whether or not that's true. One can always try, though.

Of course there is the other side of things , the times when you politely tell the  tank or someone (after a wipe usually) and they get really mad even though your advice was sound. in this case trying to help is not  fun. Or perhaps you need to try the swearing obnoxious explanations,( " Hey douchnozzle! if you didn't feel a need to wave your dick about by "bravely" pulling half the F*****g instance, before the  party was zoned in the damn place, then run off and pull the boss while the healer was drinking you pile of corpse worm manure , we might not wipe, by the way  the first boss mind controlls,  you poopyhead!")  this might work I'll have to try it some time, at least after the polite attempts fail. I'm also not all that good at swearing, I may need to polish my style a bit to be on par with many in the LFG.

Helping feels good when it actually helps and you do it in a nice way, but explaining something for the tenth million time can get annoying too.  I'm not exactly sure how to balance it, but I do know some nice folks helped me out when I started, but now everyone expects you to know it all already and I guess there are sites out on the web that can help, ( I know there are, since I  use them quite a bit , because I would be terrified to ask anyone  about something in game with how the atmosphere is lately) but I think it makes someone feel good to get some personal help perhaps with a suggestion later on they could research things.

The PuGs with the Shaman went smoothly same with the druid I got mostly experienced players and  when people  felt a need they asked  what to do, right off even, .

I deleted the gnome, but I'll just remake her later.

The great delete ( well not a great as intended)

I have too many character, I'm highly unlikely to play most of them ever again. Still I keep them, one may have an unobtainable recipe or pattern or perhaps a quest reward no longer in the game, or in some cases just  memories. I did delete my first level 60 or the second character I created, but then I only made her because my friend would rather my hunters hair was white. Obvious advice here, but don't let others dictate what you will play it will only end badly!

Her cat changed colour in when Cataclysm came out, or my memory is fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure he had stripes before.

It's a little much, I actually really like leveling and  since I try and only keep one account open at a time I often run out of space.

I'd sorta actually like to just have a main, maybe three sorta mains because I like the number three.

I think I may have too many characters and one server isn't showing for some reason.

So I went on a bit of a deleting spree, clearing up the clutter, a few characters will stay till MoP because they have rare non duplicate pets, and account wide pets will solve that so then they are off to retire ( I imaging a nice spot near a beach with good fishing and some cuddly friends to hang out with since almost all my characters have cats, which is funny because I like dogs).

At first I would clear out their banks  and mail stuff to other characters , because well it might be of some use some day.  I really, really must like snowballs, seriously!  four 16 slot bags of snowballs on three characters at least ?!

Eventually I was just stealing myself  closing my eyes and wincing as I logged out after checking to see if the had anything really important or rare and deleting.

Other then the snowball thing I found out about what I keep, eyes, skulls, plant bits like crushed petals, a lot of grey items a bag of symbols of divinity (oh yeah, I was a fun paladin to hang around with! luckily at the time I discovered DI I only had one friend and we took turns  killing ourselves.)

Some things I noticed about my self, at least on this account.

I mostly make Priests, then Druids, then Hunters  then Paladins, then Warlocks  Then Shamans, Warriors and Mages, and Death Knights, no Rogues.

The few Warriors were deleted without any regret.

I now hate most of the names I used to use repeatedly.

My only characters over 80 are Shamans.

Most of my characters are horde even though I think I like Alliance better.

I seem to stop leveling  between  30 and 50 then again between  62 and 64.

I'll probably just keep making alts, after all  you can only level a character once and I still like the feeling of leveling.

less characters but still a bit many

been a bit busy and sleepy to play WoW much

So I'm planning to go to a convention and that means a costume, plus actually going outside a few times a week  and sleeping a lot because my neurologist  increased my meds,  so I'm not on the game much, but I do miss it and I'm thinking about it.

I was logging on various characters to be sure their post boxes were empty , I hate forgetting mail and losing it , especially gold from auctions ( I once forgot about 2k gold in my shaman's mailbox and it went off into the nether or wherever mail goes after thirty days, since she's a goblin a she was rather traumatized and I was a bit worried when she started hanging about near lava, but all was well since she was just fishing up volatile fire, gotta make back that gold !) , So since I was  organising mail I went and looked in my banks to organise them too.

Anyhow I found the mail belonging to one of my favourite mages, ( I only have three but I do like her best, I know the Draenei thinks she is but I like my Blood elf.) she would go about  the world talking to folks and  stuff and I/she  ( I mean, I know I'm not my character) would draw them (she's a scribe and she makes the loveliest  inscriptions , her illuminations are exquisite) , it was fun and she had a few nice letters about the sketches.

I was thinking that I missed that and have had no inspiration for scribbles, (well WoW related ones that is.)

So, then just leave a description of your character or whatever, what some mage fishing in Ratchet would see if they passed by, (fishing's not quite as good in Ratchet as it used to be but well that's where her hearth is, maybe I should move to Dalaran?) I'll sketch the first three folks who leave a reply description, or something like that over the next few weeks and post them as weekly scribbles. They won't be amazing, just sort of like the full bags picture pencil, ink, crayon whatever I feel like, mostly I just like the feeling of watching folks go about their buisness in Azeroth.

a little too spectral?

Just sitting in some sort of purplish mist