Original Fiction by Xan... (Part 3) "The Search Continues…"

“Find him!” Ergun roared to his men. “You will suffer a worse fate than that prisoner if he is not found.” The guards looked up to their chief in confusion. “NOW!” Ergun roared to his men. The armored guards scurried away roaches carrying spears and swords. “He cannot have gone far. He hasn’t eaten for days.”

The giant wrung his hands together; small shards of ice twinkled and dissipated as they fell from his huge spiked gauntlets. He turned and began walking down the hallway nearly dragging his massive hands upon the ground. Guards stood at attention as he walked past them. He glared at them and almost growled, the look of a caged lion upon his face.

“My Lord!” A petrified voice could be heard coming around the corner.

“What!” Ergun’s temper flared.

“My lord,” The guard panting as he stopped running and faced Ergun. “We may have captured him.”

“WHERE!” Ergun was already pushing around the guard in the direction he came from.

“We cornered him at the gates of the dungeon, Sir.” The guard scurried behind his towering leader. “He reached the doors to the dungeon which were locked from the outside.” He chuckled. “The old man isn’t going anywhere.”

Ergun quickened his pace and disappeared around the corner as the guard tried to keep up with his hulking master.

Moments later a roar and clatter of armor hitting stone could be heard in the direction of the dungeon gates. The guard climbed up a slope of stairs and looked up just in time to see a fellow guardsman flying past him down the stairway.

“You fools!” Ergun roared again. “You let him escape!”

The guard made his way up the final couple stairs and saw several guards littering the floor. Their breastplates covered in ice and horribly dented. The guard could only watch in awe at the spectacle of his commanding officer killing his own men.
One lone guard remained alive but only just. His feet dangled several feet off the ground. Ergun had grabbed the poor man by his throat and lifted him off the ground. Ergun’s hands the size of pumpkins easily wrapped around the guards’ neck and shoulders. The dangling guard shivered as his skin slowly turned blue around his neck and frost collected on his breastplate.

“What…happened?” Ergun fought to remain calm. “Speak clearly boy or you will meet your friends on the other side.”

“S-S-Sir?” The guard fought to push the words from his blue lips. “I-I-I dunno what happened exactly. The old man held a candelabra in one hand and then just stepped through the doorway like it wasn’t there.”

“What!” Ergun growled.

“I-I-It was like he melted right through the bars.” The guards eyes began to glaze over as ice crept up his face. Snaps and pops could be heard echoing through the hallway. Ergun dropped the body and looked to the shocked guard who brought him the news of Philomar’s supposed capture.

“Find him, or you will be next.”

Gnomes with Pink Mohawks shout out to T.E.N.!

One more email and PIMP spot under our belt here at "The Experienced Noob." I had an email read by the gnomes at "Bind on Equip" this last Wednesday. You can review the show notes HERE under "Show Notes" Episode #22.



The email was about 23 minutes until the end, so 1 hour and 3 minutes through the podcast. The gnomes were gracious enough to pimp our guild as well as the blog. So check it out!

The podcast is already available on iTunes or you can listen to it directly from the Bind on Equip podcast site, and listen to Episode 22.

Or looking to join a new guild? Check out ours Devil's Dirty Work.


Al-BEAN-Oh! FTW!!!

Why do you play WoW?

I have had a lot of people ask me why I play this game and I thought I would share my thoughts. (Random as they may be). I started out playing City of Heroes and thought that was a pretty cool game. I was a tank and was pretty good at it. (I had a tendency to run in places without really scoping it out first.) I would run in, pull all the aggro and then wait for the others to pick them off.

Then, my youngest son (as an incentive for him to keep playing football until the end of the season) said he wanted to have WoW. I thought to myself, OK this will be fun to check out and if it plays as well as CoH, great! Oh boy…I didn’t know I would be hooked from the minute I loaded it on my computer! As I watched the opening cinematics (which I have to say is ALWAYS what sells me on the game) I saw the dwarf with the bear and immediately I wanted to be a hunter (don’t be hatin’ /wink). And thus, Whisperlis was created.

The funny thing is, when I started I would look at everyone that had started playing before we did and see their gear and be so jealous. When a friend gave us 10 gold each it seemed like SO much money. And, the ultimate...starting to hear the Chuck Norris stuff in the barrens. (Oh to be new again) LOL.

Those were all the fun things that started my love affair with WoW. Now though, I play because Blizzard keeps adding new aspects to the game to keep it fresh. Granted, the physics engine is a little off, BUT! It isn’t off enough to keep me from playing.

So, I would like to hear from others…what keeps you playing WoW? What is it about this game that makes you pay your $14.99 a month?

~Bela

Mentioned on All Things Azeroth

One more email and PIMP spot under my belt here at "The Experienced Noob." I had an email read by Medros "All Things Azeroth" this last Monday. You can review the show notes HERE.



The email was about 6 minutes until the end, so 1 hour and 6 minutes through the podcast. I pimp our guild as well as the blog. So check it out!

The podcast is already available on iTunes or you can listen to it directly from the All Things Azeroth podcast pickle podcast site, search for "All Things Azeroth" and listen to Episode 110.

Or looking to join a new guild? Check out ours Devil's Dirty Work.

Going LIVE!

One more interview under my belt here at "The Experienced Noob." I had an interview with Aprillian, Ashayo, and Glanthur at "Ctrl Alt WoW" this weekend. You can review the show notes HERE.



This was a real sacrifice for me considering they were recording at 5:00 AM Sunday morning. But good old Xan was up at 4:15 AM to get his laptop and Skype ready. I got everything rolling at about 4:30 AM and was waiting for Bela when BLAMMO! They were ready for me at 4:45 AM. Interview was over before 5:00 AM when Bela logged into Skype. (SORRY!) But she was a trooper for being ontime and everything anyway.

The podcast is already available on iTunes or you can listen to it directly from the Ctrl Alt WoW podbean podcast site Episode 111.

I will be speaking to Bela after my business trip to New Mexico as to when we will start recording our own podcast. So in the meantime... Check out our contest HERE. Still only TWO entries and so as it stands they have an ASSURED prize. Don't miss out on your opportunity for FAT LOOTZ!

Or looking to join a new guild? Check out ours Devil's Dirty Work.

The Experienced Noob is Going Global

I recently got a new gadget added to “The Experienced Noob” website and I believe it is a great tool known as StatCounter.com. This wonderful little gadget shows me how many people have visited the website as well as where they are from.



Santiago, Chile
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Athens, Greece
Dublin, Ireland

WOW!

I want to thank all of those who have visited my website and encourage you to continue to visit the site. But most importantly please leave a comment or two. Even though I have the ability to track the traffic on my blog I don’t know who any of you are.

We have a contest going on right now for loot cards and redeemable codes and with only two entrants it makes it difficult to make it a contest and more like a give away. Please enter at the link I have provided.

Additionally there will be a contest where I give away a $25 gift card from
J!NX.com. Bela and I already have our fat lootz from J!NX and we would like to spread the wealth. This contest will be held in the future so get in on the current contest as I will be rolling over all participants from the previous contest into the upcoming J!NX contest, don’t miss out!

Again, thanks for the page views and I look forward to your comments and suggestions!

But I want to Raid?!?!

Alot of people want to see content that they haven't seen before even without the time commitment, that's part of the fun of WoW is to see the content.

I was asked to add my views of "noobishness" I have encountered. I have known Xandarr in World of Warcraft for going on about 3 years now, and I appreciate his perspective and insight, because no matter what we can all learn from others.

A few years ago I ran into a former guild member that was looking for a 'better guild,' because they felt out of place where they were, I advised that they could join the raiding guild I was in, but asked them to apply as SOCIAL, and not to expect to raid on raid nights. Somehow that didn't get communicated well.

So they applied in what looked to be a raiding position. Later I found out they didn't mean to join in the guild that way, but the application came through as such. The officers really didn't have a choice but to say no, and I had to agree with them.

When this player was applying to my guild we were starting Hyjal, the player's application didn't have a solid spec as a tank or a healer, mainly because they didn't know their class as well as they should and what needed to be improved.

One comment on their application was they needed to research, and was sent just to the link of http://www.elitistjerks.com with no links to anything specific. All I could think of was how daunting that could be.

While http://www.elitistjerks.com does have some of the best information about the game, sometimes it is not the easiest forum to read.

As a typical guy's response, the player gave up on the application into the guild I was in, and has responded lots of times with "Why should I have to use my WoW game time by researching how to play the game?"

Noone has to research how to play World of Warcraft, but it is expected to be done in the smaller raiding guilds. Not only research for the best dps, the best healing, the best tanking but research on the current raid content. Research doesn't have to take that long, but long enough for you to know some of the answers.

Usually there are posts on forums about how the guild is going to attempt a certain encounter, and depending on how serious your guild is, everyone is expected to read those posts, to be prepared for the encounter before you get to it.

This player did end up in a guild, of his own creation, still questing and adventuring at his own pace, and overall a better place for him, than being a "social" player in a small raiding guild.

"Devil’s Dirty Work" Now Recruiting!

Picture provided by http://warcraft.swagdog.com/


VISIT OUR GUILD ROSTER HERE

Yes, it is true… our guild is looking for new recruits. We are looking for “Experienced Noobs” that are at least to Outlands content. (level 55+) We are located on the Trollbane server Alliance side. We are a small but growing social guild with a focus on leveling and fun. If you would like to join us please apply! Our goals are simple: Striving for better gear of all guild-mates in moving to 10 & 25 man content.

Please reply to this post with your in-game name and level, Then send us an email at TheExperiencedNoob(at)gmail.com with the guild questionairre, the officers will review your petition and will respond in an email to you.

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The guild rules are as follows:

1. Be nice and have fun

2. No discussions or jokes about politics or religion in guild chat

3. Don't beg for money, items or run-throughs. Please try your best to get a group together within your own level if you need to do an instance.

4. The guild bank is open for everyone to view. Only higher ranked members can deposit and withdraw items. If you are of a lower rank but see something that you would like, send a tell or in-game mail to an Officer with your request.

5. Ranks are as follows from low to high: Prospect, Member, Soldier, & Warlord (Officers)

6. When it comes to instances, raids, and groups there are some strict policies that will be adhered to when running with other guild mates:

a. If the item is a DIRECT UPGRADE for you and can be equipped as soon as it is picked up, “roll need”

b. If an item comes up that IS NOT a DIRECT upgrade for you, “roll greed” unless the item is a BoP item and then you will “pass” the item until everyone else has had a chance to view the item

c. If the item is BoP and no one can use the item we will roll for vendor (sharding the item if there is an enchanter in the group)

d. “Ninja-ing" loot with other guild members or if you are reported for ninja-ing in a PUG to an officer it is grounds for immediate termination.

e. Listen to those who have been in the instance before or guild officers when running instances. Wait until the group is ready to continue before pulling mobs or the boss.

7. To prevent any possible issues, children are not allowed in the guild. What age qualifies as too young is up to the guild leader and the officers discretion.

8. Conduct yourself with respect while in WoW with the guild name floating above your head. No spamming, griefing, ganking or harassing other players. You are a representation of our guild on the server so act as such. Also, anyone who knowingly breaks the WoW terms of service is subject to being removed from the guild. Zero tolerance.
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GUILD APPLICATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG

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We look forward to having you in our guild and growing to bigger and better things!

Felicia Day from "The Guild" mentioned Xan in her blog...

Wow, who-da thunked it? Felicia Day from the popular web series known as "The Guild" saw my Twitter in response to hers and it was one of many to make an impact on her day. Read her blog posting HERE.

Who knows, once we get the podcast up and running I could Twitter her and ask if she would like to make a guest appearance and share her adventures in WoW doing noob-ish things.

Bela got hitched

Well, things have changed here on the blog. Bela up and got married on me. She didn't let me know it was upcoming and unfortunately I didn't even get to go to the ceremony.

I know that Draenei are ugly and are soo big they are like an elephant in the room, but her own "brother" to not be invited to the wedding is hurtful. I will get over it eventually. But there might be a time before Bela puts a posting up on the blog again. I doubt she is playing WoW currently.

Until then I will have various guest bloggers posting so look for those.

Meanwhile, in another part of the world… (Original Fiction by Xan)

Continued from Part 1

She fell hard into the snowdrift, her midnight hair dripping with sweat and melted snow. In a panic she shook the snow from her head, clutching her swollen abdomen as she clambered back to her feet, looking behind her for any signs of pursuers. Her clothes, nothing more than tattered rags, insignificant protection from the driving snow as it pounding mercilessly on her body. She got back to her feet and continued running, her throat burned as she gasped for breath in the cold. Her body ached, scars and open sores alike now a deep purple in the frozen air and yet she continued like a fox running from hounds. She neared the crest of a hill and could see through the blowing snow, lights. The joy of seeing civilization raced through her body, her heart leapt seeming to push her on with a newfound energy.

Numerous howls came from behind her, seemingly from every direction, as they echoed in the cold air. A hunting horn seemed to gurgle in the distance as well. Fear took hold of her heart as she began her descent to the lights below. She felt as though she was a fox being chased by hounds and hunters. Her legs felt like frozen iron and her feet as lead bricks. Although the destination "Safety" was in view, every step seemed to take all of her willpower but she continued on. Her heart and mind were willing but her body ached in the harsh cold. She felt as though she was about to fall forward when a heavy mound of hot fur hit her square in the back. Her body snapped as the mass hit. She could no longer feel her feet. "Was it the cold?" She thought to herself as she lay in the frigid snow. Her eyes pressed shut as the tinge of pain surged through her body. Darkness seemed to close in around her. She fought desperately to focus on the lights of the village and to find her attacker.

The blackness that encircled her vision slowed for a moment as she saw the terror that stood before her. A beast the size of a lion stood before her. Its white fur with black specks nearly camouflaged it in the snowy wind. It loomed over her while several others lurked just out of sight in the twilight. She could feel its warm breath upon her face. It almost seemed inviting in the frigid winds. The monster's lips began to curl back revealing long fangs stained pink from previous kills. The lips didn’t stop curling at the gums, but continued to curl back completely from the monsters head, revealing a mass of thick bone and sinew.

Just outside of the ring of looming beasts a larger humanoid figure could be made out in the twilight. “Dear Skadi,” the woman prayed to her goddess. “They sent Grrlum and his krenshar after me!”

The macabre face of the krenshar opened its mouth and moved towards her as if to taunt her, it suddenly shot to the left. Its grotesque teeth scraped like razors on her frozen skin as it nearly missed her face. Warmth trickled down her face. Her mind thought she should be feeling pain, but the heat from the wound actually felt comforting.

“Protect the woman!” a shout came from a distance.

She looked at the fallen krenshar as it lay in a heap. An arrow the thickness of her thumb protruded from the monsters neck. The other beasts scattered as the ambush of hunters moved in. The large humanoid turned on his heels, blew a mighty blast on his horn and disappeared into the blizzard.

“Thank you Skadi for protecting me and my unborn child.” The darkness closed in around her as she held her enlarged stomach. A large bearded man fell next to her and cradled her head in his lap.

His thunderous voice boomed. “Bring some blankets, quickly!”

She looked into his eyes. “Save my child.”

Xandarr mentioned on "The Instance"

http://www.myextralife.com/wow/?p=617

Mentioned breifly in a contest on "The Instance" your friendly neighborhood Paladin is mentioned by his earthly name multiple times. Check it out!

Respect In Game

*WARNING…WARNING…THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE NOT FOR EVERYONE AND SHOULD BE READ AS JUST THAT…OPINIONS!*

R E S P E C T…find out what it means to me!

This is where Bela is going to get on her soapbox. (It helps me to get up here to see the crowds of people that are running to read this Blog…BTW, you all ROCK!)

I have played in some REALLY awesome guilds and I have played in some not so awesome guilds. The one thing that they had in common was the way they treated the people in the guild. Those that are great respect their people and those that aren’t treat them with little to no dignity.

One such ‘drama’ in my WoW history was being in what I thought was the best guild in the whole world (of warcraft) and finding out that the people behind the avatars were not so nice.

While my ex and I were married, we found a great group of people and they invited us to be in their guild and all was well. My ex was invited to be an officer because he really knew what he was doing.

Now, he and I used to play the game side by side and because he was an officer, they would use officer chat to talk with each other. One day, while we were in an instance, I noticed that the others were talking about someone who was doing the instance with us and these comments were NOT in any way shape or form nice. I have to admit I take criticism of any kind pretty hard and that’s what they were doing in Officer Chat, criticizing this player. My ex wasn’t saying anything to them about the other person, he just let them talk but I got offended and had to stop playing for the day. The next time we did an instance, the same thing happened and I told my ex that I couldn’t play with people that were doing this and so, I quit the guild. BOY OH BOY, did this EVER start a huge deal. They started to yell at my ex about me and to make a long story short he ended up quitting the guild also.

Subsequently, we found a guild that was our home up until he and I divorced. He has stayed with them, but I have moved on and have once again found what I think is a great guild on the Alliance side.

Anyway... (wow, I should have gone with the reader’s digest version /smile).

Part of respect, IMO, is not talking about people behind their backs. You should always respect the people you play with. If you have some advice to give them, do it in a way that will not alienate them. Some of you out there are AWESOME players and really know what you are doing…others of you, well you are just mean! Think about what you are going to say before you say it. Help where it is needed, but also realize that people have their own freedom of choice and may or may not take what you say into consideration. Afterall, there is always someone out there who is better than you and can tear you down too!

Remember: DO TO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE DONE TO YOU!

~Bela

We are being Pimped!

Thanks to Medros and Graece of All Things Azeroth Podcast for their plug on EPISODE 107 of their podcast of which I was a breif part through their chat and video feed.

Thanks to Aprillian, Glanthur and Ashayo of Ctrl Alt WoW for their plug and love in EPISODE 108 of their podcast.

Thank you both EMPHATICALLY!

Things I wish I knew as a new player that would have come in handy now

When I first started playing WoW, I just thought it was a fun game that brought to life these fun little characters. I enjoyed the social aspect and the different scenery, but didn’t really think much about it.

I then learned about the ‘Defender of the Timbermaw’ an item you can get once you are exalted with the Timbermaw. I MUST HAVE IT! I MUST! (After all, I am a squishy and don’t always have a healer on hand.) Thus began the grind…

Let the killing begin! OK, sorry I got a little carried away with that. Ahem… The way you gain reputation is by killing enemies of certain factions (or helping to kill them), completing quests for that faction or turning items in. The first two options are pretty obvious, so I won’t be boring and tell you about them. The turn in part, I will tell you about.

Being the experienced noob that I am, I didn’t know about the turn-ins. I am in fact, embarrassed to admit that I would more than likely be Exalted with EVERY faction in game, had I not sold items that could be used for rep turn in. (Hindsight is 20/20 huh?) These items range on what they can be. (If you do a Google search for rep turn-ins for WoW, all kinds of lists will turn up. That and I am just too lazy to list EVERYTHING, I mean come on guys, you need to do some work for yourself /smile.) Often times, you will know these items because they have the white text and you can find them at the auction house selling for an exorbitant amount of money. (Go, farming gold, go!)

Now, I know you are asking yourself why you would want to have a good reputation with different factions. Let me tell you! One great thing, when you hit ‘Honored’ you get a 10% discount with the vendors. (This really does add up) As you gain rep, they also have wonderful bonuses…some are items you can use or recipes for really good items.

After I had my eyes opened to the wonderful things you can have, I have been very aware of watching my reputation climb with the various other factions. It really is pretty easy to do once you get it down and something that a lot of people don’t know about as they do get started on WoW.

Now go out there and get yourself a reputation!

~ Bela ~

How much World of Warcraft is too much?

http://wowrelief.com/ Has some info about how you balance real life and WoW. Below you will find my take:

This is a touchy subject for a lot of WoW enthusiasts and a subject of hot debate amongst players and non-players. I have even found myself in this same debate on many occasions and it definitely is an uphill battle. But lets look at what the issues are and perhaps come to some clarity and guidance to those who may play too much or may be viewed as playing too much.

If you find yourself in this debate on more than one occasion it might be time to reevaluate your playtime and decide what is important to you and what others may see in you that you may not.

How much do you play?

Have you ever noticed the ‘hints’ located at the bottom of the loading screen in WoW? There is one that I find poignant and it says “Take everything in moderation, including World of Warcraft.” Do you play every day, do you play for more than a couple hours, do you find yourself getting locked in for longer than you intended? This may become an issue. Learn to try and limit your time in the game. If this is an issue you can always use the Parental Controls through Blizzard’s site (https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/parental-control-schedule.html) in order to assist you in that.



How much do you talk about World of Warcraft?

Do you catch yourself talking about the game to a non-player? Do you find your comments falling upon deaf ears? If this is a problem, you may also be playing a little too much. In this case try to think before you speak upon the company you are in. I find myself editing myself in conversation because I talk about something that happened in game or something that was said by a friend of mine whom I know through the game. This can be an issue for non-players. Be careful and try to focus on the company you keep and common interests.

Do you do other things with your friends and family?

How often do you go to movies with your friends? Do you have family time, such as playing board games or other family activities? This is something to make sure that you are striving to keep in balance. World of Warcraft is just a game and even though you have friends in the game you have real life people whom you interact with daily that would like some “face time” with you as well. If you find that you are playing the game more and making more friends online than outside you may want to make an effort to do more things with your family and friends when you can.

In conclusion:

This is just a game. Make sure you are thinking of your other priorities. Think about what makes you – “you.” If someone from the outside looking in is telling you that you focus a little too much on “that game” it may be time to think of what you can do to show them that it is not that way. It may take a little more effort in planning other activities and “being there” when you are needed. Take time out for your real life and your real life family and friends. This is just a game. As it has been said by many friends of the game “RL > WoW”

This is a special shout out to my hunter mentor "Big Red Kitty" You will be missed.