With the higher volume of page viewers and such I have decided to extend the contest. Please visit the contest blog posting and enter. Please enter often and please make sure to mention the contest in your post/link on other sites so that they too can see the contest and they can enter too.
Due to the knee surgery and complications that came of it I have decided to extend the contest deadline until the end of August. So the new drawing date will be September 1st. So please make sure to mention the blog and future podcast wherever and whenever you can. I discourage using the WoW forums or Trade Channels as you have seen from my previous posts that could get your account suspended. But other chat rooms and such are great if you can tactfully mention the blog for the contest. Don't forget to email me your contact information as well as posting the web address to your link in the comments of the contest.
Good luck!
Remember to PIMP YOUR NOOB!
Sunday, June 28
Saturday, June 27
THANK YOU!
I just want to thank everyone for their kind words on Twitter these last two weeks. With my knee surgery and my account suspension I have been a little busy to make too many blog postings.
I looked at my www.statcounter.com account that tracks my page views and such. And to my surprise I actually broke 100 page loads on Saturday June 20th with 116 page loads! Couple that with 82 unique visitors to the blog that day.
I am so happy that the blog seems to be running as well as it is. I hope that it continues to go well. Make sure you enter the contest here. And please comment on any of our posts, we love to hear from our fellow noobs.
I looked at my www.statcounter.com account that tracks my page views and such. And to my surprise I actually broke 100 page loads on Saturday June 20th with 116 page loads! Couple that with 82 unique visitors to the blog that day.
I am so happy that the blog seems to be running as well as it is. I hope that it continues to go well. Make sure you enter the contest here. And please comment on any of our posts, we love to hear from our fellow noobs.
Friday, June 26
At the stronghold… Original Fiction by Xan
Stepping through the porthole comes the wizard, a miniature man, a silly looking human in chain mail, and a giant. The paladin stands up from his chair at the table where he was eating a nice feast. The wizard waves the travelers over to the table and motions them to have a seat. With another wave of his hand, the food magically expands to fit their ravenous appetites.
“How much longer do I have to wait to destroy the evil plaguing this land?” Came the immediate reply of the paladin to the wizard. “These three aren’t evil.”
“Patience, Solcloud Genus you will have enemies aplenty to destroy in no time. Please let these three catch their breath. They have been part of a slave train for many days now. They were on their way to Gleorn, just as you were. I think we owe them some background, wouldn’t you agree?”
“As long as I can make evil pay soon!”
“In time, I promise you.”
The wizard sits at a high backed chair to the head of the table and motions the travelers to eat their fill. The giant tears off a chicken leg the size of the small man with his left hand and begins to devour it, while he reaches for a drink and a roll with his right hand. The little man gulps, trying hard to stay out of his ravenous way.
“Damn, he could eat me if I don’t watch myself.” The small man mutters in a different dialect.
“I don’t eat little ones like you.” Came the deep voice of the giant in the same tongue.
“A giant speaking the language of my kin? Now that is a sight!” The little man shrieks in the common language of the land. “The name is Beasley.” He cleverly looks around and continues on the strange dialect he previously spoke in, “Beasley Quinn Silvermoon of the Northern Silvermoon’s not the South.” He continues to speak in the more common tongue “I don’t recall traveling with the likes of you, or you.” He gestures towards the silly man trying not to get his mis-fit armor or his hands dirty with the food.
With a full mouth of food and a chicken leg in his hand, the giant begins to speak, waving the chicken leg in the air. “Well said my halfling friend! I am Zander Adalstein, The Noble Stone, Son of “the Indefinite”, Adherent to the teachings of Othr, Professor of the ways of…”
“OK, I think we get the idea.” Solcloud waves his arms in the air at the sound of such stupidity. “Obviously you may look like a half-ogre, but you definitely have the name of a halfling. St. Cuthbert strike me down if you don’t break the mold!” The Paladin turns to the thin man, “Please tell me your name is short and sweet?”
Startled, the man looks up from trying to eat without getting his hands dirty. He politely lifts his hand up to motion he has food in his mouth. He quickly chews to clear his mouth then dabs the corners of his mouth daintily before speaking. Solcloud rolls his eyes impatiently as he awaits a reply.
“I am Mayvn Dyse. However, life is too interesting to ‘dies’ just yet.” He snickers at his own humor. Even the halfling looked at him funny by the lack of humor in this man. “I am a bard by trade. But as you can see, I have been ‘liberated’ of my position and my clothing.”
“Ah, yes, after we have all finished our meal,” Philomar interrupted. “I will change that for you. However, for now, please, eat. You must be famished traveling for days without food. It is a wonder I found you alive. I now see why you all passed out when I attacked the slave train. Moreover, obviously your memories of how you were captured also elude you. Most who are without sustenance can suffer memory loss. Please eat and regain your strength.”
Beasley and Zander engaged in an eating contest that lasted several hours. Mayvn, being more refined and with a napkin in his lap, sipped soup and tea with a pinkie towards the sky. The giant and the halfling leaned back in their chairs beaming like lions after a good hunt. Mayvn sat in awe and disgust at the lack of table manners displayed by these ‘guests’ at Philomar’s table. With a wrinkled nose, he clears him mouth and begins to speak with more flamboyance. “Let me apologize for these… oafs and their lack of manners. That was a wonderful meal.” He again pats the corners of his mouth with his napkin. “I hate to sound under appreciative, but you mentioned being able to change me…umm…us out of our rags into something more appropriate?” Mayvn looks at his armor and smells the sleeve, obviously repulsed.
“How much longer do I have to wait to destroy the evil plaguing this land?” Came the immediate reply of the paladin to the wizard. “These three aren’t evil.”
“Patience, Solcloud Genus you will have enemies aplenty to destroy in no time. Please let these three catch their breath. They have been part of a slave train for many days now. They were on their way to Gleorn, just as you were. I think we owe them some background, wouldn’t you agree?”
“As long as I can make evil pay soon!”
“In time, I promise you.”
The wizard sits at a high backed chair to the head of the table and motions the travelers to eat their fill. The giant tears off a chicken leg the size of the small man with his left hand and begins to devour it, while he reaches for a drink and a roll with his right hand. The little man gulps, trying hard to stay out of his ravenous way.
“Damn, he could eat me if I don’t watch myself.” The small man mutters in a different dialect.
“I don’t eat little ones like you.” Came the deep voice of the giant in the same tongue.
“A giant speaking the language of my kin? Now that is a sight!” The little man shrieks in the common language of the land. “The name is Beasley.” He cleverly looks around and continues on the strange dialect he previously spoke in, “Beasley Quinn Silvermoon of the Northern Silvermoon’s not the South.” He continues to speak in the more common tongue “I don’t recall traveling with the likes of you, or you.” He gestures towards the silly man trying not to get his mis-fit armor or his hands dirty with the food.
With a full mouth of food and a chicken leg in his hand, the giant begins to speak, waving the chicken leg in the air. “Well said my halfling friend! I am Zander Adalstein, The Noble Stone, Son of “the Indefinite”, Adherent to the teachings of Othr, Professor of the ways of…”
“OK, I think we get the idea.” Solcloud waves his arms in the air at the sound of such stupidity. “Obviously you may look like a half-ogre, but you definitely have the name of a halfling. St. Cuthbert strike me down if you don’t break the mold!” The Paladin turns to the thin man, “Please tell me your name is short and sweet?”
Startled, the man looks up from trying to eat without getting his hands dirty. He politely lifts his hand up to motion he has food in his mouth. He quickly chews to clear his mouth then dabs the corners of his mouth daintily before speaking. Solcloud rolls his eyes impatiently as he awaits a reply.
“I am Mayvn Dyse. However, life is too interesting to ‘dies’ just yet.” He snickers at his own humor. Even the halfling looked at him funny by the lack of humor in this man. “I am a bard by trade. But as you can see, I have been ‘liberated’ of my position and my clothing.”
“Ah, yes, after we have all finished our meal,” Philomar interrupted. “I will change that for you. However, for now, please, eat. You must be famished traveling for days without food. It is a wonder I found you alive. I now see why you all passed out when I attacked the slave train. Moreover, obviously your memories of how you were captured also elude you. Most who are without sustenance can suffer memory loss. Please eat and regain your strength.”
Beasley and Zander engaged in an eating contest that lasted several hours. Mayvn, being more refined and with a napkin in his lap, sipped soup and tea with a pinkie towards the sky. The giant and the halfling leaned back in their chairs beaming like lions after a good hunt. Mayvn sat in awe and disgust at the lack of table manners displayed by these ‘guests’ at Philomar’s table. With a wrinkled nose, he clears him mouth and begins to speak with more flamboyance. “Let me apologize for these… oafs and their lack of manners. That was a wonderful meal.” He again pats the corners of his mouth with his napkin. “I hate to sound under appreciative, but you mentioned being able to change me…umm…us out of our rags into something more appropriate?” Mayvn looks at his armor and smells the sleeve, obviously repulsed.
Thursday, June 25
Mo-Moments #6: To Celebrate or Not to Celebrate...
Do you play with fire?
Does your WOW character(s) play with fire?
Well I don't know about you but I like my fair share of fire/fireworks, while we are all being safe of course.
Ahhh, I remember ditching school back in Chicago (when someone says Chicago or any major city they are from it usually includes the area or region surrounding the major city... FYI) to go to Indiana to get some real fire...um never mind. Don't tell anyone ok!
Well to my point.
Do you get excited about the WOW holidays or the special events they have year round?
Are you one that is completing every quest and achievement to get the special mount? (if you are, well you do deserve a mount and then some other gifts and a drink on Mo!)
The latest Event/Holiday is Midsummer Fire Festival.
I always like to look at thing from both sides of the story; pros/cons salt n' peppa, you know what I mean?
The fire festival or fire festivus i like to call it, it is related to the Festivus holiday.
One great reason for everyone to do at least the Horde/Alliance Bonfires is that you will be able to go all across the land of WOW, explore, PvP if you are on a PvP server, and I would like to take this time to thank the rogues and druids that were following my every step the first day! Thank you very much, gang banging is what I look for on Sundays!
Not only do you explore, complete the event quests, get XP if you are low level, gain gold if you are high level and it will give you a chance to work towards the exploring achievements.
Anyone can do that even if you are not into the achievement system.
One of the many resources out there, website and blogs, from Twittering I was reading wowgrrl's tweets and you can check out the blog at http://wowgrrl.com/
One of the good blogs out there, has a link to WowWiki, for Horde and Alliance.
Check out the other wonderful wow blogs, there are plenty but it is always great to check other peoples views.
If you are a new WOW player or someone like one of my guildies that was away from the game for a while, well I have many guildies like that but it is a great way to get back into the game.
Along with the easy part of each holiday or event come with the not so easy part; the tasks/quests that usually take groups. Let me tell you I have not had any luck doing these on pugs on my main server and yes I may quit too soon but if you do not care about getting the "meta" achievement I believe the experience WoW players like to call it. I call it special cool looking drake mount achievements. Either way, it does take time and patience and at best good pugs/groups to complete. There will be many that say I am incorrect but for me I do not have any desire to complete them and it is great for those that do complete them.
So at least visit your main city, check out the quests, do the one you want and abandon the one you don't, like Mo did!
Happy fire boys and girls and be safe, play with fire but don't PLAY with fire!
Thank you
Does your WOW character(s) play with fire?
Well I don't know about you but I like my fair share of fire/fireworks, while we are all being safe of course.
Ahhh, I remember ditching school back in Chicago (when someone says Chicago or any major city they are from it usually includes the area or region surrounding the major city... FYI) to go to Indiana to get some real fire...um never mind. Don't tell anyone ok!
Well to my point.
Do you get excited about the WOW holidays or the special events they have year round?
Are you one that is completing every quest and achievement to get the special mount? (if you are, well you do deserve a mount and then some other gifts and a drink on Mo!)
The latest Event/Holiday is Midsummer Fire Festival.
I always like to look at thing from both sides of the story; pros/cons salt n' peppa, you know what I mean?
The fire festival or fire festivus i like to call it, it is related to the Festivus holiday.
One great reason for everyone to do at least the Horde/Alliance Bonfires is that you will be able to go all across the land of WOW, explore, PvP if you are on a PvP server, and I would like to take this time to thank the rogues and druids that were following my every step the first day! Thank you very much, gang banging is what I look for on Sundays!
Not only do you explore, complete the event quests, get XP if you are low level, gain gold if you are high level and it will give you a chance to work towards the exploring achievements.
Anyone can do that even if you are not into the achievement system.
One of the many resources out there, website and blogs, from Twittering I was reading wowgrrl's tweets and you can check out the blog at http://wowgrrl.com/
One of the good blogs out there, has a link to WowWiki, for Horde and Alliance.
Check out the other wonderful wow blogs, there are plenty but it is always great to check other peoples views.
If you are a new WOW player or someone like one of my guildies that was away from the game for a while, well I have many guildies like that but it is a great way to get back into the game.
Along with the easy part of each holiday or event come with the not so easy part; the tasks/quests that usually take groups. Let me tell you I have not had any luck doing these on pugs on my main server and yes I may quit too soon but if you do not care about getting the "meta" achievement I believe the experience WoW players like to call it. I call it special cool looking drake mount achievements. Either way, it does take time and patience and at best good pugs/groups to complete. There will be many that say I am incorrect but for me I do not have any desire to complete them and it is great for those that do complete them.
So at least visit your main city, check out the quests, do the one you want and abandon the one you don't, like Mo did!
Happy fire boys and girls and be safe, play with fire but don't PLAY with fire!
Thank you
Wednesday, June 24
Blizzard Apologizes...
Well, I got my account restored. When I received the last email from Blizzard they activated my account again. But their email was unclear and I replied back to find out what was going on and this is the response I received from BLIZZ:
Thank you for your follow-up e-mail. I wish to apologize if my former correspondence was not more clear. Initially your account was disabled, not closed, as a result of the advertising. As I previously mentioned, this is standard when we see cases of mass advertising for websites. Your account is currently valid and you should have no issues logging in. I removed the lock at the time of my previous e-mail, and simply issued a warning for the account. This should have no lasting repercussions on your account as we simply wanted to make you aware of our policies. :)
Thank you for your patience and interest in World of Warcraft. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.
Thank you for the apology Blizz. I am just happy I am able to play again and I guess I will no longer advertise my blog in the trade channel.
Thank you for your follow-up e-mail. I wish to apologize if my former correspondence was not more clear. Initially your account was disabled, not closed, as a result of the advertising. As I previously mentioned, this is standard when we see cases of mass advertising for websites. Your account is currently valid and you should have no issues logging in. I removed the lock at the time of my previous e-mail, and simply issued a warning for the account. This should have no lasting repercussions on your account as we simply wanted to make you aware of our policies. :)
Thank you for your patience and interest in World of Warcraft. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.
Thank you for the apology Blizz. I am just happy I am able to play again and I guess I will no longer advertise my blog in the trade channel.
Kilzar's Garage
"Ok i got the bolts, copper wire and ... were are those pistons at?"
Oh hi there, welcome to Kilzar's Garage. Of course I am the owner and proprietor of this establishment Kilzar. I have been asked by Xandarr to tell you about engineering. Engineering has some great items that can be made at all levels.
For starters there are useful items such as ammo. In my humble opinion you can never have enough rounds for your gun. At higher levels the best ammo available is manufactured by us engineers.
You can create your own guns, ammo, scopes and my personal favorite...explosives! Who says you can't have a blast with a few sticks of TNT! Yes, engineers can make explosives. Add to that arsenal land mines and even exploding sheep! Yes, the exploding sheep are as fun as they sound.
Then there is the head gear, there is a huge variety of head gear that can be made for any armor class. There are even goggles that helps you to see into the distance or see through peoples clothes. (Don't worry Mo, I'm working on your X-ray goggles now).
There is even a list of items that enhance your gear in some way. One item is rockets that attach to your boots to help you walk faster, there is the jumper cables that help you bring a toon back to life (we can't always wait for a healer to do there jobs), I use the gnomish army knife which acts like the jumper cables but it is also a pick, skinning knife, a blacksmith hammer and even a wrench. One of my favorite little toys is a little rocket that hooks up to your gloves (the rockets do awesome damage).
There is other items that the entire party can also use, there is the scrapbot construction kit that gives people a chance to repair and to sale there gear, there is even an item called moll-e that is a portable mail box.
But the top two items that I love are Nesingwary 4000, which is one of the top guns in the game. There has been many elites out there that have fallen to its might! My other favorite, which I am working on building now is the Mekgineer's Chopper, (for the horde you ride a similar mount known as the Mechano-hog) who would not love one of these in their 'stable?' I know when I complete mine it will be my biggest toy.
So, you might be thinking why you should become an engineer instead of a tailor, a blacksmith or even a leatherworker? It is simple, engineering is way too much fun not to be one.
So, here at Kilzar's Garage we want to thank you for stopping by and just remember if your not having fun, than you must be playing a orc.
(Now, were is that piston at?)
If you would like to ask questions from Kilzar please email us at theexperiencednoob@gmail.com and put "ASK KILZAR" in the subject line. The grumpy ol' dwarf will be glad to answer readers questions.
Oh hi there, welcome to Kilzar's Garage. Of course I am the owner and proprietor of this establishment Kilzar. I have been asked by Xandarr to tell you about engineering. Engineering has some great items that can be made at all levels.
For starters there are useful items such as ammo. In my humble opinion you can never have enough rounds for your gun. At higher levels the best ammo available is manufactured by us engineers.
You can create your own guns, ammo, scopes and my personal favorite...explosives! Who says you can't have a blast with a few sticks of TNT! Yes, engineers can make explosives. Add to that arsenal land mines and even exploding sheep! Yes, the exploding sheep are as fun as they sound.
Then there is the head gear, there is a huge variety of head gear that can be made for any armor class. There are even goggles that helps you to see into the distance or see through peoples clothes. (Don't worry Mo, I'm working on your X-ray goggles now).
There is even a list of items that enhance your gear in some way. One item is rockets that attach to your boots to help you walk faster, there is the jumper cables that help you bring a toon back to life (we can't always wait for a healer to do there jobs), I use the gnomish army knife which acts like the jumper cables but it is also a pick, skinning knife, a blacksmith hammer and even a wrench. One of my favorite little toys is a little rocket that hooks up to your gloves (the rockets do awesome damage).
There is other items that the entire party can also use, there is the scrapbot construction kit that gives people a chance to repair and to sale there gear, there is even an item called moll-e that is a portable mail box.
But the top two items that I love are Nesingwary 4000, which is one of the top guns in the game. There has been many elites out there that have fallen to its might! My other favorite, which I am working on building now is the Mekgineer's Chopper, (for the horde you ride a similar mount known as the Mechano-hog) who would not love one of these in their 'stable?' I know when I complete mine it will be my biggest toy.
So, you might be thinking why you should become an engineer instead of a tailor, a blacksmith or even a leatherworker? It is simple, engineering is way too much fun not to be one.
So, here at Kilzar's Garage we want to thank you for stopping by and just remember if your not having fun, than you must be playing a orc.
(Now, were is that piston at?)
If you would like to ask questions from Kilzar please email us at theexperiencednoob@gmail.com and put "ASK KILZAR" in the subject line. The grumpy ol' dwarf will be glad to answer readers questions.
Tuesday, June 23
Without Warning?!
OK, so I got an email from Blizzard that said that they were justified in canceling my account. Here is their email:
Greetings _____,
Thank you for contacting us regarding the World of Warcraft account you use. Upon further review of the action taken upon this account, we have determined that our original findings were accurate and the action was in line with our current policies. When account is used for any form of mass advertising, the account will be disabled. This is to help prevent any form of disruption for our players as well as prevent exploitive advertising like gold selling.
In this case, we determined the account listed below was advertising in multiple channels. Any form of advertising for any website even wow related is a violation of our Terms of Use.
Account Name: ______
Realm: Trollbane
Character Name: Xandarr
Account Action: Warning
Reason for Action: Harassment Policy Violation - Advertising
Details (times listed in Greenwich Mean Time, GMT):
2009/06/07 13:35:39 Xandarr Trade - City "http://theexperiencednoob.blogspot.com Please check it out, Podcast is upcoming. Contest for $25 J!NX gift card!"
The chat above is in violation of the World of Warcraft Terms of Use. We ask that you take a moment to review these terms at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html.
You may not transmit or post any content or language which, in the sole and absolute discretion of Blizzard Entertainment, is deemed to be inappropriate or offensive.
Please keep in mind that while certain language may seem appropriate to you, another player in the game may find the same language inappropriate or offensive. In the end, we want World of Warcraft to be a fun and safe environment for all players.
We base all of our actions on the severity of the violation, and we take previous violations into consideration. This action has been taken in accordance with the Terms of Use and our In-Game Policies (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/20309).
As a reminder, only the Account Administration department can address disputes or questions about this account action. To learn more about how we are able to assist you, please visit us at http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/21505.
We hope this has resolved any concerns you may have had. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Remokh
Account Administration Supervisor
They didn't give me a warning before shutting my account down. Had I known this was any kind of violation and had been warned about it I would have happily stopped advertising the blog. Especially i the warning included the threat of termination. I have played my toons since just before BC came out and wouldn't put my account at risk in that way.
What do you think?
Greetings _____,
Thank you for contacting us regarding the World of Warcraft account you use. Upon further review of the action taken upon this account, we have determined that our original findings were accurate and the action was in line with our current policies. When account is used for any form of mass advertising, the account will be disabled. This is to help prevent any form of disruption for our players as well as prevent exploitive advertising like gold selling.
In this case, we determined the account listed below was advertising in multiple channels. Any form of advertising for any website even wow related is a violation of our Terms of Use.
Account Name: ______
Realm: Trollbane
Character Name: Xandarr
Account Action: Warning
Reason for Action: Harassment Policy Violation - Advertising
Details (times listed in Greenwich Mean Time, GMT):
2009/06/07 13:35:39 Xandarr Trade - City "http://theexperiencednoob.blogspot.com Please check it out, Podcast is upcoming. Contest for $25 J!NX gift card!"
The chat above is in violation of the World of Warcraft Terms of Use. We ask that you take a moment to review these terms at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html.
You may not transmit or post any content or language which, in the sole and absolute discretion of Blizzard Entertainment, is deemed to be inappropriate or offensive.
Please keep in mind that while certain language may seem appropriate to you, another player in the game may find the same language inappropriate or offensive. In the end, we want World of Warcraft to be a fun and safe environment for all players.
We base all of our actions on the severity of the violation, and we take previous violations into consideration. This action has been taken in accordance with the Terms of Use and our In-Game Policies (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/20309).
As a reminder, only the Account Administration department can address disputes or questions about this account action. To learn more about how we are able to assist you, please visit us at http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/21505.
We hope this has resolved any concerns you may have had. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Remokh
Account Administration Supervisor
They didn't give me a warning before shutting my account down. Had I known this was any kind of violation and had been warned about it I would have happily stopped advertising the blog. Especially i the warning included the threat of termination. I have played my toons since just before BC came out and wouldn't put my account at risk in that way.
What do you think?
My knee update
Due to all my fans being concerned about my well being through Twitter. I decided it would be a good idea to give everyone an update on my condition.
I have had severe complications with my knee surgery.
Currently I have been ordered to stay off my knee completely. When I went into surgery last Tuesday (June 16th) I was at risk for having blood clots after the surgery. (This was due to the last time I had knee surgury ten years ago when I got blood clots in both calves.) So they put me on a blood thinner, Cumadin.
I started having pain in my knee and my foot since Sunday, June 21st at about 12:30 AM. Yesterday, June 22nd, I called my Ortho and he told me to go to the Emergency Room and have an ultrasound taken to check for clots.
I went to the ER from 6:00 PM to 10:15 PM.
Come to find out my knee is filled with blood. My blood is actually too thin and my white blood cell count is 15,000. (Norm is 10,000)
So I was given a shot of Vitamin K to start thickening my blood back to normal levels. I have been ordered to stop taking the Cumadin immediately. I have to call the Ortho this morning to see him and check if he wants to drain my knee of the excess blood and risk infection or talk about further options.
I will keep everyone informed about Ol' Xan and his ability to tank with a gimp knee soon enough.
I want to thank everyone who has twittered me their regards. I truly appreciate it.
I have had severe complications with my knee surgery.
Currently I have been ordered to stay off my knee completely. When I went into surgery last Tuesday (June 16th) I was at risk for having blood clots after the surgery. (This was due to the last time I had knee surgury ten years ago when I got blood clots in both calves.) So they put me on a blood thinner, Cumadin.
I started having pain in my knee and my foot since Sunday, June 21st at about 12:30 AM. Yesterday, June 22nd, I called my Ortho and he told me to go to the Emergency Room and have an ultrasound taken to check for clots.
I went to the ER from 6:00 PM to 10:15 PM.
Come to find out my knee is filled with blood. My blood is actually too thin and my white blood cell count is 15,000. (Norm is 10,000)
So I was given a shot of Vitamin K to start thickening my blood back to normal levels. I have been ordered to stop taking the Cumadin immediately. I have to call the Ortho this morning to see him and check if he wants to drain my knee of the excess blood and risk infection or talk about further options.
I will keep everyone informed about Ol' Xan and his ability to tank with a gimp knee soon enough.
I want to thank everyone who has twittered me their regards. I truly appreciate it.
Saturday, June 20
Account Cancelled?!
You good friend Xan has run into a bit of a hang up. It seems that Blizzard has canceled my account without any explanation.
Xan was running Heroic Nexus and just after Anomolous my game was dropped. I tried to log back in and it said I needed to visit Blizzard.com. When I went to log in there I got this screen:
This account has been temporarily disabled and is currently unable to access World of Warcraft.
An email has been sent to the registered address on the account with the reason for this temporary closure. If you would like to appeal this decision or did not receive the message please contact our Account Administration team at wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com from your registered email address.
I then checked my email for my account. I received an email that stated the following:
Greetings Jason,
* * * NOTICE OF ACCOUNT CLOSURE * * *
Account Name: (WITHHELD FOR POSTING PURPOSES)
Realm: Trollbane
Character Name: Xandarr
Account Action: Account Closed
Offense:
The actions detailed above have been deemed inappropriate for the World of Warcraft by the Blizzard Entertainment In-game Support Staff. After a thorough investigation, this account has been closed.
These activities violate the World of Warcraft Terms of Use. We ask that you take a moment to review these terms at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html.
This World of Warcraft account has been closed by our staff based on a review of the account and all related policy violations, in accordance with the Terms of Use and our In-Game Policies (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/20309). Any recurring subscriptions on this account have been suspended to prevent further monetary charges. If you have any questions about the infractions that lead to this closure, or if you would like to dispute this action please contact Account Administration.
To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/ .
Regards,
Taimy
Game Master
Blizzard Entertainment
www.worldofwarcraft.com
I am asking anyone out there that can help to please help me. Blizzard is only available by phone from 8 AM to 8 PM Mon - Fri. What does that do for those of us that have our accounts hacked on the weekend or our accounts canceled on the weekend as well?
Aleara has already petitioned a GM. View Here Anyone else that could do the same for ol' Xan would be appreciated as well.
Calling all WoW players who read the blog. Please help me get a hold of a Blizzard representative to find out why my account was cancelled and why I didn't recive any warnings if I MIGHT have done anything wrong.
Thank you everyone! Please reply here if you are helping with an open ticket on Trollbane Server or whatever you are able to do.
Thanks again!
Xan was running Heroic Nexus and just after Anomolous my game was dropped. I tried to log back in and it said I needed to visit Blizzard.com. When I went to log in there I got this screen:
This account has been temporarily disabled and is currently unable to access World of Warcraft.
An email has been sent to the registered address on the account with the reason for this temporary closure. If you would like to appeal this decision or did not receive the message please contact our Account Administration team at wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com from your registered email address.
I then checked my email for my account. I received an email that stated the following:
Greetings Jason,
* * * NOTICE OF ACCOUNT CLOSURE * * *
Account Name: (WITHHELD FOR POSTING PURPOSES)
Realm: Trollbane
Character Name: Xandarr
Account Action: Account Closed
Offense:
The actions detailed above have been deemed inappropriate for the World of Warcraft by the Blizzard Entertainment In-game Support Staff. After a thorough investigation, this account has been closed.
These activities violate the World of Warcraft Terms of Use. We ask that you take a moment to review these terms at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html.
This World of Warcraft account has been closed by our staff based on a review of the account and all related policy violations, in accordance with the Terms of Use and our In-Game Policies (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/20309). Any recurring subscriptions on this account have been suspended to prevent further monetary charges. If you have any questions about the infractions that lead to this closure, or if you would like to dispute this action please contact Account Administration.
To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/ .
Regards,
Taimy
Game Master
Blizzard Entertainment
www.worldofwarcraft.com
I am asking anyone out there that can help to please help me. Blizzard is only available by phone from 8 AM to 8 PM Mon - Fri. What does that do for those of us that have our accounts hacked on the weekend or our accounts canceled on the weekend as well?
Aleara has already petitioned a GM. View Here Anyone else that could do the same for ol' Xan would be appreciated as well.
Calling all WoW players who read the blog. Please help me get a hold of a Blizzard representative to find out why my account was cancelled and why I didn't recive any warnings if I MIGHT have done anything wrong.
Thank you everyone! Please reply here if you are helping with an open ticket on Trollbane Server or whatever you are able to do.
Thanks again!
Friday, June 19
Wagon Train… Original Fiction by Xan
Amongst the devastation of three wagons, horses pawed at the ground trying not to panic. One of the three wagons lay in ruin, fire licking up the sides and wrapping around the top wheels. A small man sits up from the ground and shakes his head trying to remove the cobwebs from his head. The commotion startling him back to reality he dives for one of the two remaining upright wagons taking cover next to one of the large wheels.
Two guards fire their crossbows frantically at an unknown target in the forest. Several other guards lay strewn about charred by flame or holes blown into their armor from some other means.
As if by instinct, the small man scurries to the closest guard and begins to loot the body. As he is does so he seems to instantly assess value just by weight and outward appearance like a packrat or raccoon digging through a rubbish pile. As he tries to remove a rusty gauntlet from one of the downed guards he groans a little too loudly, a guard hears the commotion and turns to see a small shadow over the dead body. Realizing he had been spotted the tiny man darts quickly under one of the wagons.
In another section of the devastation a much larger being, nearly three times the size of the small raider on the other side of the commotion, begins to stir. He groans and rubs his head, the same familiar cobwebs he has felt so often the last few weeks returned to plague his mind.
“I am really growing tired of being knocked unconscious.” The large being mumbles to himself as he rolls to his hands and knees and looks around. “I must thing of a way to grow a thicker skull I suppose.”
To his surprise, four guards begin their way towards him. Before he has a chance to take cover he is spotted by the guards and is shot right away by two crossbow darts. Not wanting to wait for his demise, he tries to shuffle his way underneath the closest wagon. Due to his unusually large size he finds the access beneath to be a tight fit. The large man struggles to wedge himself under the wagon drawing the attention of all four guards; he draws the attention of all four guards.
To the other side of the same wagon a golden construct rolled over and held its head and then jumped as if its head were missing something.
“Oh drat, ‘she’ was my lucky hat too,” he mumbles to himself. “The children told me there were only three hats like ‘Betsy’ in the world and they scrimped and saved to by her for me. Oh dear, they will never forgive me now.” Hearing the clash of metal to wood he looks around and realized he was in the middle of a battleground. Dead bodies littered the ground all around him and four guards were slashing at something rather large under the wagon nearest to him.
“Oh my, my, my,” he squealed to himself. He looks underneath the ‘unoccupied’ wagon and sees a body about his build. He begins to crawl towards the dead guard. He makes it to the body and quickly assesses that the damage is minor to the armor and the weapons seem to be useable. The gaunt man mumbles to himself and the dead body, “Sorry, my friend, your taste in clothing is horrendous. Nevertheless, it will keep me alive until I get myself some decent clothes befitting my talent. You’re only as beautiful as your clothing, I always say.” He begins to wrestle to get the armor off as he hears a guard coming towards him.
The tiny man turns to a sound of crackling fire, just in time to watch two guards armed with crossbows become engulfed in flame. Screams echo through the dark woods as one guard immediately sizzles to the ground. The other is on fire while running away. The man runs in his direction as a bolt from a crossbow soars over his tiny head. The man darts towards the burning, screaming guard and ends his suffering. The tiny man looks up to see a white wizard make a gesture towards him to come towards him. As he makes his way towards the wizard, he notices the far wagon moving with two reluctant horses being pushed by whatever is under the wagon. The guards desperately swipe at the shadow under the wagon.
More guards with crossbows come out from behind and they notice the scrawny human fidgeting to get one of their fallen comrades out of his armor. Not wanting to see their fellow guards mistreated in any way, they begin to fire at the man. Crossbow darts hit the dirt around him as he increases his efforts to disrobe the dead guard.
Lightning and thunder crack through the night, blasting the menacing guards’ intent on killing the large man beneath the slowly moving wagon. The large man stops pushing the wagon and crawls out on his hands and knees amazed that the wizard commands Othr’s power.
“You must be one with Othr!” He bellows. “I must be blessed by Othr’s hand to have someone as small as you use his lightning. What is your name, Lord of the Light?”
“No time for that!” The wizard snaps. “We must leave, more guards are coming. Catch up with your diminutive companion over there as I go see to the others.”
“As you wish.” The giant lumbers over towards the miniature man, who is desperately raiding the burned guards’ body for anything of worth. Tending to his wounds the giant looks up to see a scrawny man walking with the wizard. The man does not fit too well in the armor and looks ridiculous. The giant chuckles under his breath at the silly sight.
“I am Philomar. Please we must flee here immediately. I will explain more once we arrive in my stronghold.” With a swift waive of his hands a portal opens up and the wizard begins to usher the three confused ‘travelers’ through the doorway.
Two guards fire their crossbows frantically at an unknown target in the forest. Several other guards lay strewn about charred by flame or holes blown into their armor from some other means.
As if by instinct, the small man scurries to the closest guard and begins to loot the body. As he is does so he seems to instantly assess value just by weight and outward appearance like a packrat or raccoon digging through a rubbish pile. As he tries to remove a rusty gauntlet from one of the downed guards he groans a little too loudly, a guard hears the commotion and turns to see a small shadow over the dead body. Realizing he had been spotted the tiny man darts quickly under one of the wagons.
In another section of the devastation a much larger being, nearly three times the size of the small raider on the other side of the commotion, begins to stir. He groans and rubs his head, the same familiar cobwebs he has felt so often the last few weeks returned to plague his mind.
“I am really growing tired of being knocked unconscious.” The large being mumbles to himself as he rolls to his hands and knees and looks around. “I must thing of a way to grow a thicker skull I suppose.”
To his surprise, four guards begin their way towards him. Before he has a chance to take cover he is spotted by the guards and is shot right away by two crossbow darts. Not wanting to wait for his demise, he tries to shuffle his way underneath the closest wagon. Due to his unusually large size he finds the access beneath to be a tight fit. The large man struggles to wedge himself under the wagon drawing the attention of all four guards; he draws the attention of all four guards.
To the other side of the same wagon a golden construct rolled over and held its head and then jumped as if its head were missing something.
“Oh drat, ‘she’ was my lucky hat too,” he mumbles to himself. “The children told me there were only three hats like ‘Betsy’ in the world and they scrimped and saved to by her for me. Oh dear, they will never forgive me now.” Hearing the clash of metal to wood he looks around and realized he was in the middle of a battleground. Dead bodies littered the ground all around him and four guards were slashing at something rather large under the wagon nearest to him.
“Oh my, my, my,” he squealed to himself. He looks underneath the ‘unoccupied’ wagon and sees a body about his build. He begins to crawl towards the dead guard. He makes it to the body and quickly assesses that the damage is minor to the armor and the weapons seem to be useable. The gaunt man mumbles to himself and the dead body, “Sorry, my friend, your taste in clothing is horrendous. Nevertheless, it will keep me alive until I get myself some decent clothes befitting my talent. You’re only as beautiful as your clothing, I always say.” He begins to wrestle to get the armor off as he hears a guard coming towards him.
The tiny man turns to a sound of crackling fire, just in time to watch two guards armed with crossbows become engulfed in flame. Screams echo through the dark woods as one guard immediately sizzles to the ground. The other is on fire while running away. The man runs in his direction as a bolt from a crossbow soars over his tiny head. The man darts towards the burning, screaming guard and ends his suffering. The tiny man looks up to see a white wizard make a gesture towards him to come towards him. As he makes his way towards the wizard, he notices the far wagon moving with two reluctant horses being pushed by whatever is under the wagon. The guards desperately swipe at the shadow under the wagon.
More guards with crossbows come out from behind and they notice the scrawny human fidgeting to get one of their fallen comrades out of his armor. Not wanting to see their fellow guards mistreated in any way, they begin to fire at the man. Crossbow darts hit the dirt around him as he increases his efforts to disrobe the dead guard.
Lightning and thunder crack through the night, blasting the menacing guards’ intent on killing the large man beneath the slowly moving wagon. The large man stops pushing the wagon and crawls out on his hands and knees amazed that the wizard commands Othr’s power.
“You must be one with Othr!” He bellows. “I must be blessed by Othr’s hand to have someone as small as you use his lightning. What is your name, Lord of the Light?”
“No time for that!” The wizard snaps. “We must leave, more guards are coming. Catch up with your diminutive companion over there as I go see to the others.”
“As you wish.” The giant lumbers over towards the miniature man, who is desperately raiding the burned guards’ body for anything of worth. Tending to his wounds the giant looks up to see a scrawny man walking with the wizard. The man does not fit too well in the armor and looks ridiculous. The giant chuckles under his breath at the silly sight.
“I am Philomar. Please we must flee here immediately. I will explain more once we arrive in my stronghold.” With a swift waive of his hands a portal opens up and the wizard begins to usher the three confused ‘travelers’ through the doorway.
Wednesday, June 17
Stitch This!
Hello to all,
We would like to bring you our thoughts about professions.
Now you may ask, why thoughts and why not a guide? Well it will be a thoughtful guide in part and also there are so many guides out there, I would like to show people how my approach is to some professions on new characters I start or my high level characters.
First I want to mention, do not forget the WOW website, www.worldofwarcraft.com
they have so many useful guides, suggestions, and just information. If you are new to WOW than that should be your first stop. There are other sites, which you can use the old trusted Google to search or by getting on different wow websites, blogs, or writing to US! Yes we can answer questions, believe it or not.
Well as for the profession I would like to discuss, it is Tailoring today, yes, sew n' sew by Mo!
When you are starting out with WOW you may or may not learn in the beginning that having professions is important and vital to your own income and vital to your guild (if you are in one).
The reasons of course being that you will be able to use the materials you loot to make things and you will be able to use some items, sell others and even share other items with your friends.
I will get very basic for the people that are new to the game or just new to professions.
You are able to learn two major professions such as: Tailoring(other professions include: Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Enchanting, Engineering, Herbalism, Inscription, Jewelcrafting, Leatherworking, Mining, Skinning). Another key fact you should remember is that there is no one right way to do things in WOW; meaning you can pick any two professions you wish. Some will benefit you and your guild/friends, others can be more of a cash-cow. Just remember, always remember, this is a game and pick any professions you like or don't pick one up if you don't believe you need it to make gold or make yourself items.
Some professions may be learned in the starting zones or you may have to go to the capital cities, such as: Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, Silvermoon City, and The Undercity on the Horde side. Oh yes there is an Alliance side to this game, yes yes I am more on the Horde side but I will be fair on this post, the Alliance major towns are: Stormwind, Ironforge, Darnassus, and Exodar. Remember to visit the profession supply vendor after you learn the profession for the initial minor materials to make items.
Tailoring is a cloth centered profession, which means if you are a priest, mage, or warlock class you will most benefit from this profession. However, other classes will have uses for it as well. For this session we will not get into those specific details but concentrate on the initial uses of Tailoring, such as making clothing and bags. As you start tailoring you will be able to make low level items that you will be able to use for yourself such as cloaks, pants, chest items and shirts. You may walk around the world of Azeroth saying Thrall took the shirt off of your back but you also want to me fashionable in your Blue Linen Shirt or Simple Dress.
As you are leveling you will receive cloth from the different mobs you kill in every zone.
In the early zones up to about level 15 you will be receiving linen cloth and using that to make different items that tailoring will allow you to at your skill.
I did forget to mention, when you first train to learn tailoring, hit the C button than you will see your character screen with some tabs; click on the skills tab to see your characters skills. As you make tailoring items you will see your skill rise and you will need to go back to your trainer to learn higher levels of tailoring (or your other professions). Also you want to hit the P button to open up your spell book screen which will show you your tailoring skill action button. This is important as it will allow you to click it, drag it onto your action bars so you are able to open your tailoring screen whenever you want to.
As you are initially leveling up your tailoring skill, at tailoring level 70 you will learn from your trainer how to make linen bags which have 6 slots. To some wow veterans this is a joke, well it is a joke to most players. However, if you are new to WOW or just starting a new character on a new server you will need these small bags to be able to quest with. Another key important thing to remember is to visit different vendors in all the cities as many times they all have different special recipes for your to buy and learn to make.In the beginning you may need to wait until you have make some more copper and silver but you will need to remember that.
Before we go too much into tailoring, as I mentioned, you will be able to learn two main professions. Most people like to learn Enchanting with Tailoring. Without talking too much about Enchanting, basically it is a profession, as it is names, which will allow you to enchant an item you or someone else is wearing (or a profession crafter item) so a certain stat is improved, such as: +3 stamina, which of course will increase your stamina.
I believe it is important to get back down to the basics for, well, many reasons but the key once being that most of the time we forget what all these stats mean. Without getting too technical, anyone can learn the basics of the game so they can better enjoy their experience and playing style. We will deliver for most playing style or I should say majority of the playing styles.
Well the benefits of having tailoring and enchanting are that you will be able to disenchant the items that are green from your tailoring profession which than provides materials to enchant items. As I mentioned earlier, pick what ever you like to that is the great thing about tailoring, any profession goes with it.
I will leave it off there for now and we can get continue tailoring by Mo at another time.
Thank you,
Mo
We would like to bring you our thoughts about professions.
Now you may ask, why thoughts and why not a guide? Well it will be a thoughtful guide in part and also there are so many guides out there, I would like to show people how my approach is to some professions on new characters I start or my high level characters.
First I want to mention, do not forget the WOW website, www.worldofwarcraft.com
they have so many useful guides, suggestions, and just information. If you are new to WOW than that should be your first stop. There are other sites, which you can use the old trusted Google to search or by getting on different wow websites, blogs, or writing to US! Yes we can answer questions, believe it or not.
Well as for the profession I would like to discuss, it is Tailoring today, yes, sew n' sew by Mo!
When you are starting out with WOW you may or may not learn in the beginning that having professions is important and vital to your own income and vital to your guild (if you are in one).
The reasons of course being that you will be able to use the materials you loot to make things and you will be able to use some items, sell others and even share other items with your friends.
I will get very basic for the people that are new to the game or just new to professions.
You are able to learn two major professions such as: Tailoring(other professions include: Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Enchanting, Engineering, Herbalism, Inscription, Jewelcrafting, Leatherworking, Mining, Skinning). Another key fact you should remember is that there is no one right way to do things in WOW; meaning you can pick any two professions you wish. Some will benefit you and your guild/friends, others can be more of a cash-cow. Just remember, always remember, this is a game and pick any professions you like or don't pick one up if you don't believe you need it to make gold or make yourself items.
Some professions may be learned in the starting zones or you may have to go to the capital cities, such as: Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, Silvermoon City, and The Undercity on the Horde side. Oh yes there is an Alliance side to this game, yes yes I am more on the Horde side but I will be fair on this post, the Alliance major towns are: Stormwind, Ironforge, Darnassus, and Exodar. Remember to visit the profession supply vendor after you learn the profession for the initial minor materials to make items.
Tailoring is a cloth centered profession, which means if you are a priest, mage, or warlock class you will most benefit from this profession. However, other classes will have uses for it as well. For this session we will not get into those specific details but concentrate on the initial uses of Tailoring, such as making clothing and bags. As you start tailoring you will be able to make low level items that you will be able to use for yourself such as cloaks, pants, chest items and shirts. You may walk around the world of Azeroth saying Thrall took the shirt off of your back but you also want to me fashionable in your Blue Linen Shirt or Simple Dress.
As you are leveling you will receive cloth from the different mobs you kill in every zone.
In the early zones up to about level 15 you will be receiving linen cloth and using that to make different items that tailoring will allow you to at your skill.
I did forget to mention, when you first train to learn tailoring, hit the C button than you will see your character screen with some tabs; click on the skills tab to see your characters skills. As you make tailoring items you will see your skill rise and you will need to go back to your trainer to learn higher levels of tailoring (or your other professions). Also you want to hit the P button to open up your spell book screen which will show you your tailoring skill action button. This is important as it will allow you to click it, drag it onto your action bars so you are able to open your tailoring screen whenever you want to.
As you are initially leveling up your tailoring skill, at tailoring level 70 you will learn from your trainer how to make linen bags which have 6 slots. To some wow veterans this is a joke, well it is a joke to most players. However, if you are new to WOW or just starting a new character on a new server you will need these small bags to be able to quest with. Another key important thing to remember is to visit different vendors in all the cities as many times they all have different special recipes for your to buy and learn to make.In the beginning you may need to wait until you have make some more copper and silver but you will need to remember that.
Before we go too much into tailoring, as I mentioned, you will be able to learn two main professions. Most people like to learn Enchanting with Tailoring. Without talking too much about Enchanting, basically it is a profession, as it is names, which will allow you to enchant an item you or someone else is wearing (or a profession crafter item) so a certain stat is improved, such as: +3 stamina, which of course will increase your stamina.
I believe it is important to get back down to the basics for, well, many reasons but the key once being that most of the time we forget what all these stats mean. Without getting too technical, anyone can learn the basics of the game so they can better enjoy their experience and playing style. We will deliver for most playing style or I should say majority of the playing styles.
Well the benefits of having tailoring and enchanting are that you will be able to disenchant the items that are green from your tailoring profession which than provides materials to enchant items. As I mentioned earlier, pick what ever you like to that is the great thing about tailoring, any profession goes with it.
I will leave it off there for now and we can get continue tailoring by Mo at another time.
Thank you,
Mo
Friday, June 12
In the Rain… Original Fiction by Xan
Through the rain a sodden knight trudges down the muddy road. Each step made more difficult with the added weight of mud sticking to his no longer polished plate boots. He holds his traveling hood up just enough to allow for him to see, the rest of the hooded cloak clings to his plate armor. The wanderer shivers in the wind as he drips in the torrent but he presses forward unwilling to stop as evil doesn’t stop for a little rain.
Upon the horizon, a crack of lightning bolts through the darkness. The knight spots a couple of wagons slowly pushing along, the large draft horses pulling the heavily weighed down wagons through the rutted and muddy road. It seems to be sliding slowly towards him. Not moving to the side, he continues to press forward on the road his eyes fixed on the slowly moving wagons. Upon further examination with illumination from another crack of lightning, he notices the wagons are not filled with the normal goods covered in sackcloth to be sold at market, but are filled with wet, shivering, and sick people.
The paladin scowls and mutters to himself, “No one should be treated that way. Those people are suffering; they are sick and possibly dying… for what? Slavery?” He removes his hood from his head. His eyes reflect the same fury as another lightning bolt crashes in the distance. “Slavery is evil and evil must be destroyed.” He draws his sword from the scabbard and slings his shield from off his shoulder. The rain soaked knight takes a defensive stance and yells to the slave train. “Where are you taking these poor people?”
“None of your concern pilgrim.” The wagon driver yells from the seat on top the wagon. “The road is wet and I am cold. Out of our way!”
The knight tightens his grip on his sword; the leather from his gauntlet creaked and ached beneath his grip on the hilt. “I will not step aside! I demand you release these people from your captivity and swear an oath to turn away from your evil ways.”
Laughter erupts from guards who slowly begin to appear at the wagons flanks. Riding horses and guards wearing light leather armor and hooded cloaks appear around the wagon, three to each side. They hop from their steeds and begin to draw their weapons. The knight begins to assess his situation and swallows as he realizes he is outnumbered six to one.
“I don’t know if I like these odds,” he whispers under his breath. He continues with his air of confidence hoping that his demeanor will shake the opposition. “There is no justification for such an evil act. By Saint Cuthbert, judgment must be rendered. I assume this is to come to the crossing of blades?”
Again, laughter erupts just slightly before another flash of lightning and a crash of thunder. If not for the slight illumination of the lightning the paladin might have not seen the wagon driver loose an arrow from his short bow. The arrow screams past the paladin as he sidesteps to the left of the road and onto more solid ground. The grassy knoll squished beneath his feet as he tries to gain the upper had. The six guards rush towards him despite being slowed by the muddy road shrinking them a good three to four inches in the rain. The paladin, standing his ground on the small rise, adjusts his feet and prepares for the onslaught. “Judgment must be meted out!” He shouted in him most intimidating voice. “No quarter shall be given.”
“Nor none asked.” Came a reply to the knights’ right side. One of the leather-bound guards had remained in the dark and surprised the knight nearly in a blind spot.
The clash of swords echoes between the crashed of lightning and thunder. The knight finds himself hopelessly outnumbered by his assailants. He manages to knock a guard off the hill and face first into the mud. Another guard was driven to the ground, nearly breaking his guards’ nose as he was slammed with the edge of the knight’s shield.
“Can’t we talk about this?” The paladin tries to hold off the other four guards. “The scales of justice can be balanced without swords.”
“And you said no quarter would be asked for or given.” The guard came up from the muddy road, his face covered in a thin sheen of mud and rainwater. He spit some blood from his mouth. “Take him down, he aught to make a strong house slave.” He smiled as the circle of four guards closed in on the paladin and forced him to his knees. Finding himself on his knees; the paladin looked to the ground and examined his much dented shield lying only a couple feet away.
Suddenly there was an unfamiliar flash of light, unlike the continual lightning, thundered through the group. The paladin realized that the two guards that were once holding his arms as well as the other two guards were instantly reduced to mere ashes. The rain dripping off of his nose, the sting of blood in his eyes he tried to focus in the direction of the bolt. He looked up to behold, what he would have described as a magnificent and dark figure clothed in a robe that seemed devoid of the water pouring down in the rain. After the figure approached he noticed that the rain was not even touching the figure, in fact it was a good six inches away from his saviors body. The figure in white robes bent over to help the paladin to his feet, a smile curled on his face.
“Are you going to be OK?” The figure states with a small hint of concern. “You don’t condone slavery either.” The wizard bends over and offers the paladin his hand. “I like that,” the wizard paused for a moment. “Philomar will like that of you too.” With that small sidetrack of thought, the figure began to walk away. A few steps away and the rain began to fall on the paladin once again. “Keep up if you want to stay dry, Solcloud.”
A little shocked and apprehensive that this figure not only was willing to help him but he knew his name. Solcloud shot to his feet quickly gathered his belongings and followed a small distance behind the figure. Solcloud said a quick prayer to Saint Cuthbert for guidance in knowing if this ‘dark figure’ could be trusted. The answer came to him in the form of a small glow around the figure, unseen by anyone but Solcloud. He shrugged his shoulders and followed closer to the figure, the rain seemed to magically stop around him. Solcloud reaches up and touches the figures shoulder, a small jolt tingled his fingers.
“Who are you?” Solcloud said as he rubbed his hands from the jolt.
The wizard smiled under the hood of his white rode but continued to walk, seemingly unnerved by the question or the small shock his companion received. The figure approaches the wagons, waives his hands, and the door of the wagon came free of its hinges and fell to the mud. The soggy people inside cheered and began to make their way out of the wagon. Various “thank yous” in all languages and accents were heard as the people scattered in various directions.
Not even turning his head to the paladin the figure began to speak once again. “Philomar will explain everything to you later, but we must leave now.” He then began to speak in some archaic dialect and waive his hands in the air, tracing runes and such in mid-air. The smell of ozone, a small light began to appear and slowly enlarges. Stones seem to gather from all around and form a perfect arch including mortar. Within the arch was a swirling pool of liquid lightning.
“Please, come with me,” the wizard beckoned. “You’ll be able to ‘mete out justice.” With a curl of his lip in a silly immature grin, the wizard steps through the archway and into the rippling lightning.
Solcloud hesitates for a moment but realizes the storm is not letting up and he could at least get dried off and perhaps get a nice hot meal. He quickly jumps through the doorway with an even bigger curl to his grin.
Upon the horizon, a crack of lightning bolts through the darkness. The knight spots a couple of wagons slowly pushing along, the large draft horses pulling the heavily weighed down wagons through the rutted and muddy road. It seems to be sliding slowly towards him. Not moving to the side, he continues to press forward on the road his eyes fixed on the slowly moving wagons. Upon further examination with illumination from another crack of lightning, he notices the wagons are not filled with the normal goods covered in sackcloth to be sold at market, but are filled with wet, shivering, and sick people.
The paladin scowls and mutters to himself, “No one should be treated that way. Those people are suffering; they are sick and possibly dying… for what? Slavery?” He removes his hood from his head. His eyes reflect the same fury as another lightning bolt crashes in the distance. “Slavery is evil and evil must be destroyed.” He draws his sword from the scabbard and slings his shield from off his shoulder. The rain soaked knight takes a defensive stance and yells to the slave train. “Where are you taking these poor people?”
“None of your concern pilgrim.” The wagon driver yells from the seat on top the wagon. “The road is wet and I am cold. Out of our way!”
The knight tightens his grip on his sword; the leather from his gauntlet creaked and ached beneath his grip on the hilt. “I will not step aside! I demand you release these people from your captivity and swear an oath to turn away from your evil ways.”
Laughter erupts from guards who slowly begin to appear at the wagons flanks. Riding horses and guards wearing light leather armor and hooded cloaks appear around the wagon, three to each side. They hop from their steeds and begin to draw their weapons. The knight begins to assess his situation and swallows as he realizes he is outnumbered six to one.
“I don’t know if I like these odds,” he whispers under his breath. He continues with his air of confidence hoping that his demeanor will shake the opposition. “There is no justification for such an evil act. By Saint Cuthbert, judgment must be rendered. I assume this is to come to the crossing of blades?”
Again, laughter erupts just slightly before another flash of lightning and a crash of thunder. If not for the slight illumination of the lightning the paladin might have not seen the wagon driver loose an arrow from his short bow. The arrow screams past the paladin as he sidesteps to the left of the road and onto more solid ground. The grassy knoll squished beneath his feet as he tries to gain the upper had. The six guards rush towards him despite being slowed by the muddy road shrinking them a good three to four inches in the rain. The paladin, standing his ground on the small rise, adjusts his feet and prepares for the onslaught. “Judgment must be meted out!” He shouted in him most intimidating voice. “No quarter shall be given.”
“Nor none asked.” Came a reply to the knights’ right side. One of the leather-bound guards had remained in the dark and surprised the knight nearly in a blind spot.
The clash of swords echoes between the crashed of lightning and thunder. The knight finds himself hopelessly outnumbered by his assailants. He manages to knock a guard off the hill and face first into the mud. Another guard was driven to the ground, nearly breaking his guards’ nose as he was slammed with the edge of the knight’s shield.
“Can’t we talk about this?” The paladin tries to hold off the other four guards. “The scales of justice can be balanced without swords.”
“And you said no quarter would be asked for or given.” The guard came up from the muddy road, his face covered in a thin sheen of mud and rainwater. He spit some blood from his mouth. “Take him down, he aught to make a strong house slave.” He smiled as the circle of four guards closed in on the paladin and forced him to his knees. Finding himself on his knees; the paladin looked to the ground and examined his much dented shield lying only a couple feet away.
Suddenly there was an unfamiliar flash of light, unlike the continual lightning, thundered through the group. The paladin realized that the two guards that were once holding his arms as well as the other two guards were instantly reduced to mere ashes. The rain dripping off of his nose, the sting of blood in his eyes he tried to focus in the direction of the bolt. He looked up to behold, what he would have described as a magnificent and dark figure clothed in a robe that seemed devoid of the water pouring down in the rain. After the figure approached he noticed that the rain was not even touching the figure, in fact it was a good six inches away from his saviors body. The figure in white robes bent over to help the paladin to his feet, a smile curled on his face.
“Are you going to be OK?” The figure states with a small hint of concern. “You don’t condone slavery either.” The wizard bends over and offers the paladin his hand. “I like that,” the wizard paused for a moment. “Philomar will like that of you too.” With that small sidetrack of thought, the figure began to walk away. A few steps away and the rain began to fall on the paladin once again. “Keep up if you want to stay dry, Solcloud.”
A little shocked and apprehensive that this figure not only was willing to help him but he knew his name. Solcloud shot to his feet quickly gathered his belongings and followed a small distance behind the figure. Solcloud said a quick prayer to Saint Cuthbert for guidance in knowing if this ‘dark figure’ could be trusted. The answer came to him in the form of a small glow around the figure, unseen by anyone but Solcloud. He shrugged his shoulders and followed closer to the figure, the rain seemed to magically stop around him. Solcloud reaches up and touches the figures shoulder, a small jolt tingled his fingers.
“Who are you?” Solcloud said as he rubbed his hands from the jolt.
The wizard smiled under the hood of his white rode but continued to walk, seemingly unnerved by the question or the small shock his companion received. The figure approaches the wagons, waives his hands, and the door of the wagon came free of its hinges and fell to the mud. The soggy people inside cheered and began to make their way out of the wagon. Various “thank yous” in all languages and accents were heard as the people scattered in various directions.
Not even turning his head to the paladin the figure began to speak once again. “Philomar will explain everything to you later, but we must leave now.” He then began to speak in some archaic dialect and waive his hands in the air, tracing runes and such in mid-air. The smell of ozone, a small light began to appear and slowly enlarges. Stones seem to gather from all around and form a perfect arch including mortar. Within the arch was a swirling pool of liquid lightning.
“Please, come with me,” the wizard beckoned. “You’ll be able to ‘mete out justice.” With a curl of his lip in a silly immature grin, the wizard steps through the archway and into the rippling lightning.
Solcloud hesitates for a moment but realizes the storm is not letting up and he could at least get dried off and perhaps get a nice hot meal. He quickly jumps through the doorway with an even bigger curl to his grin.
Thursday, June 11
A Word of Advice... "Choosing a Guild"
This is a subject that has been near and dear to Xan for a long time. And it is something that I think everyone who has played the game may have an issue with or they might not quite understand the dynamic involved with choosing your guild.
A little history:
Xan started off as an alt of mine. So lets go back to my original toon, Nkaala. This poor girl hasn't seen playtime since 3.1 I think. Well The first guild I was a part of was Addiction. This was Bela's guild that she was a part of with her (now ex) husband and his WoW friends. This was a great guild and I basically joined because I didn't know the reason for guilds other than the social aspect. This guild was far superior to me and were running "end game" content while I was still in Darnassus. When Nkaala grew up, BC had been out for a while and Karazhan was the big issue. I was taught by a few members of the guild how to be a feral off-tank and I thank them for their efforts. But when Wrath came out they were off and running and I wasn't able to keep up with their speed. So I packed my bags and left the guild.
Xan bounced around like a vagabond with Kilzar. We even created our own guild which flourished for a while, but GM responsibilities made the game a chore. That guild dissolved and we continued to look.
Eventually we came back to Addiction hoping we had leveled and progressed enough to be a member and contribute as well as getting the support of the guild. Unfortunately they had progressed and were raiding again and focused on that rather than the heroics. Sadly we parted ways again.
Kilz and I decided to take a rest and try the horde with the Epic Dolls guild. FINALLY, a social guild! Heck, they even had "guild welcome wagoners" who gave you bags if you needed them as well as help if you needed it. My tauren hunter, Chilie, found a home for a while.
Kilz wanted to get back to his main and he left the server. I stayed and continued to level my hunter. Kilz searched for guilds and found one that he thought was progressing as he was. After a lot of ncouragement her got Xan out of retirement. Although I am still grateful to the Epic Dolls guild for their love and support. In fact, the guild leader Lealah got me thinking about podcasting and I thank her for allowing me (Chilie) into sampling podcasting on the Epic Dolls Guild Update podcast.
So Kilz and I were in a great guild as you all know from reading past blog posts. Until the GM of the guild was hacked. Unfortunately the guild was abandoned... well everyone was booted from the guild and the bank was wiped out. The guild never seemed to recover.
So again, as vagabonds, we searched for a guild. And we found former friends of Xan's who made a huge impression on him and we solicited our services to the guild.
I am currently a member of the guild known as with former members of Apocalypse. You remember them from my post "How do you do Instances?" Well they have reformed a smaller guild focused more on Heroics than Raids. The guild is known as All the Way to Uranus. They are small, but I would have to say.... VERY mighty! And I am happy with finally finding a guild with the same goals as ol' Xan.
A little history:
Xan started off as an alt of mine. So lets go back to my original toon, Nkaala. This poor girl hasn't seen playtime since 3.1 I think. Well The first guild I was a part of was Addiction. This was Bela's guild that she was a part of with her (now ex) husband and his WoW friends. This was a great guild and I basically joined because I didn't know the reason for guilds other than the social aspect. This guild was far superior to me and were running "end game" content while I was still in Darnassus. When Nkaala grew up, BC had been out for a while and Karazhan was the big issue. I was taught by a few members of the guild how to be a feral off-tank and I thank them for their efforts. But when Wrath came out they were off and running and I wasn't able to keep up with their speed. So I packed my bags and left the guild.
Xan bounced around like a vagabond with Kilzar. We even created our own guild which flourished for a while, but GM responsibilities made the game a chore. That guild dissolved and we continued to look.
Eventually we came back to Addiction hoping we had leveled and progressed enough to be a member and contribute as well as getting the support of the guild. Unfortunately they had progressed and were raiding again and focused on that rather than the heroics. Sadly we parted ways again.
Kilz and I decided to take a rest and try the horde with the Epic Dolls guild. FINALLY, a social guild! Heck, they even had "guild welcome wagoners" who gave you bags if you needed them as well as help if you needed it. My tauren hunter, Chilie, found a home for a while.
Kilz wanted to get back to his main and he left the server. I stayed and continued to level my hunter. Kilz searched for guilds and found one that he thought was progressing as he was. After a lot of ncouragement her got Xan out of retirement. Although I am still grateful to the Epic Dolls guild for their love and support. In fact, the guild leader Lealah got me thinking about podcasting and I thank her for allowing me (Chilie) into sampling podcasting on the Epic Dolls Guild Update podcast.
So Kilz and I were in a great guild as you all know from reading past blog posts. Until the GM of the guild was hacked. Unfortunately the guild was abandoned... well everyone was booted from the guild and the bank was wiped out. The guild never seemed to recover.
So again, as vagabonds, we searched for a guild. And we found former friends of Xan's who made a huge impression on him and we solicited our services to the guild.
I am currently a member of the guild known as with former members of Apocalypse. You remember them from my post "How do you do Instances?" Well they have reformed a smaller guild focused more on Heroics than Raids. The guild is known as All the Way to Uranus. They are small, but I would have to say.... VERY mighty! And I am happy with finally finding a guild with the same goals as ol' Xan.
Wednesday, June 10
Where is your Bait and Tackle?
Now no one is better than good ol' Nat Pagle when it comes to fishing. Everyone knows that this guy knows where it's at when it comes to fishing. In fact J!NX went so far as to pay homage to the legendary angler with his own shirt! But this article isn't going to be talking about this fisherman extraordinairre, we are going to be talking about fishing and what it means to you!
I am not going to go into as much information as a good short friend of mine has done with her website. I will let you visit that site on your own at http://www.elsanglin.com/. This little gnome has it all!
But what I am going to talk about is how important this kind of stuff is for new folks or people levelling alts to focus on as they are doing the quests and gaining the XP needed to advance in levels.
El has a great page dedicated to leveling fishing from 1 - 450. Both for the Alliance and the Horde. In those two links this shows you not only how to level your fishing but also how to level your cooking as well. After all, why just fish when you can fry it up too!
Now the reason I decided to make sure all your Noobs out there are leveling your fishing and cooking as you level your toon is because poor ol' Xan here has been stuck fishing at level 80 in places like STV. (Stranglethorn Vale) This is all fine and good, but gosh darn it, I could have already been 450 in fishing and cooking and received the Skills to Pay the Bills achievement. Why, oh why, didn't someone tell ol' Xan that I would need this sort of stuff while I was levelling?
I didn't have the help or the foreknowledge to think it would be nessecary. That is why ol' Xan is giving you Noobs the chance to avoid making the same mistake he did. Remember Kilzar talking about his profession experience on a similar topic? So don't miss out. Make sure you pick up your bait and tackle and get out there and see the beautiful bodies... of water that WoW has to offer. Who knows you could even find yourself fishing up a new mount!
I am not going to go into as much information as a good short friend of mine has done with her website. I will let you visit that site on your own at http://www.elsanglin.com/. This little gnome has it all!
But what I am going to talk about is how important this kind of stuff is for new folks or people levelling alts to focus on as they are doing the quests and gaining the XP needed to advance in levels.
El has a great page dedicated to leveling fishing from 1 - 450. Both for the Alliance and the Horde. In those two links this shows you not only how to level your fishing but also how to level your cooking as well. After all, why just fish when you can fry it up too!
Now the reason I decided to make sure all your Noobs out there are leveling your fishing and cooking as you level your toon is because poor ol' Xan here has been stuck fishing at level 80 in places like STV. (Stranglethorn Vale) This is all fine and good, but gosh darn it, I could have already been 450 in fishing and cooking and received the Skills to Pay the Bills achievement. Why, oh why, didn't someone tell ol' Xan that I would need this sort of stuff while I was levelling?
I didn't have the help or the foreknowledge to think it would be nessecary. That is why ol' Xan is giving you Noobs the chance to avoid making the same mistake he did. Remember Kilzar talking about his profession experience on a similar topic? So don't miss out. Make sure you pick up your bait and tackle and get out there and see the beautiful bodies... of water that WoW has to offer. Who knows you could even find yourself fishing up a new mount!
Tuesday, June 9
MoMoments #5 - Know Your Limit
Just at Blizzard says, take all things in moderation, even WoW.
Well knowing your limit is along the same lines. What do I mean? Well knowing your limit I am thinking mainly of when you are grouping up for instances, not just at 80, and not just a PUG. My examples are for my 80 holy priest. I leveled him holy pretty much the entire way with about 4 levels with shadow. At 78, I was an ok healer I would say. I had healed most instances up to level 78 including Kara at 70 and I would rate myself at about average = still room for improvement.
Well, leave it to a nice regular instance to bring this troll, "Moheal" back down from the soap box mahn! Healing Halls of Lightning with a couple of 80s; pretty much a good group. Only bad seed was, ME! Yes ME, the Thrall forsaken Healer!!!! What was my problem? Yes I know what my problem was: LINE OF SIGHT!!!! Just like in real life, in game there is a line of sight at which point, in this example, where you cannot heal your tank or your group. This poor Ret Pally died about 5-6 times because I could not heal him in time. Than it started to get to me I guess as I caused a few wipes. All I had to do is just move with the group but for some reason I was not able to "multi-task" :( Thankfully this group was so cool and patient with me and we finished.
Well lets fast forward to level 80 and I get invited to Heroic AN. (Azjol-Nerub) Don't make me spell it out as it is hard enough to do this instance! Well OK, I'll tell you anyway, this was beyond my limit! I of course died on the trash, then caused a wipe, not all my fault but....yes I had another issue at this point = MANA MANAGEMENT!!! Unbelievable!!! What was I thinking? Joining this group thinking I can heal Heroic AN with no level 80 gear.
Now many of the hardcore players will say this is a problem with WoW, players do not know their limit and others will say we all need to do instances to gear up. I of course agree with both...no no I am not chickening out, both views are right. I should have known my limit and either tried another instance or completed some quests or worked on rep. Also, yes I could have been a winner of a nice pair of shiney boots but I let the 'Lock "need" it as my view at that point was that 'Lock has better gear than me anyway and I need to get my troll to another instance other than Heroic AN or even HOL.
Well I hope to get back to you all in a few weeks as I try some more Heroics.
Lesson to learn today is "Know your Limit." If you know that you have not yet mastered your level and skills, than either talk with your group or don't get into the instance that you know will cause you to /facepalm
Thank you
Mo
Well knowing your limit is along the same lines. What do I mean? Well knowing your limit I am thinking mainly of when you are grouping up for instances, not just at 80, and not just a PUG. My examples are for my 80 holy priest. I leveled him holy pretty much the entire way with about 4 levels with shadow. At 78, I was an ok healer I would say. I had healed most instances up to level 78 including Kara at 70 and I would rate myself at about average = still room for improvement.
Well, leave it to a nice regular instance to bring this troll, "Moheal" back down from the soap box mahn! Healing Halls of Lightning with a couple of 80s; pretty much a good group. Only bad seed was, ME! Yes ME, the Thrall forsaken Healer!!!! What was my problem? Yes I know what my problem was: LINE OF SIGHT!!!! Just like in real life, in game there is a line of sight at which point, in this example, where you cannot heal your tank or your group. This poor Ret Pally died about 5-6 times because I could not heal him in time. Than it started to get to me I guess as I caused a few wipes. All I had to do is just move with the group but for some reason I was not able to "multi-task" :( Thankfully this group was so cool and patient with me and we finished.
Well lets fast forward to level 80 and I get invited to Heroic AN. (Azjol-Nerub) Don't make me spell it out as it is hard enough to do this instance! Well OK, I'll tell you anyway, this was beyond my limit! I of course died on the trash, then caused a wipe, not all my fault but....yes I had another issue at this point = MANA MANAGEMENT!!! Unbelievable!!! What was I thinking? Joining this group thinking I can heal Heroic AN with no level 80 gear.
Now many of the hardcore players will say this is a problem with WoW, players do not know their limit and others will say we all need to do instances to gear up. I of course agree with both...no no I am not chickening out, both views are right. I should have known my limit and either tried another instance or completed some quests or worked on rep. Also, yes I could have been a winner of a nice pair of shiney boots but I let the 'Lock "need" it as my view at that point was that 'Lock has better gear than me anyway and I need to get my troll to another instance other than Heroic AN or even HOL.
Well I hope to get back to you all in a few weeks as I try some more Heroics.
Lesson to learn today is "Know your Limit." If you know that you have not yet mastered your level and skills, than either talk with your group or don't get into the instance that you know will cause you to /facepalm
Thank you
Mo
Friday, June 5
Wind and water to blood and wine… Original Fiction by Xan
"Cap'n on the deck!" The call came from the deck of the Red Dryad, a 21-gun sloop as it approached the port city of Ba'Frie.
"Curse you dogs, we were supposed to be docked and unloaded by yesterdee!" Captain Blackbirch barked across orders to his men.
"Father!" Jenny piped up as she swung down from one of the riggings holding the mizzen sail to the mizzenmast. She landed on the deck, planting both bare feet firmly underneath her as she stood sternly in front of her towering father. She walked over to him and patted him on his enlarged barrel chest. “You aught to be a bit kinder to the men, after all they would die for you.”
Blackbirch smiled at his beautiful red haired daughter. “Aye lass, but if I don’t be stern with the men…”
“There may be a mutiny on board.” A breathy female voice came like on the wind behind Captain Blackbirch. A woman with dark red hair and a slender body walked up from behind the wheel of the ship and stood next to the Captain.
“Too true, my Rose, too true.” Captain Blackbirch took the two women in his arms and hugged them tightly. “My Rose and my dear sweet Jennifer. What a joy it is to have my daughter and my first mate as such a beautiful pair at my left and right side.” Captain Blackbirch messed up his daughter’s hair and then turned to Rose and gave her a soft kiss. “If there be a mutiny,” He continued, looking back at Jenny. “I could lose the Dryad and more importantly, some harm could come to you.” He bent over and kissed his daughter on her forehead, his black whiskers tickling her face.
Jenny looked to Rose and shot her a look of disdain. After Jenny’s mother died it seemed all too convenient that Rose Noir had come into the picture. Jenny tried to get moments alone with her father to explain her womanly intuition to him, but it seemed every chance she got she was stifled by Rose appearing from nowhere.
“I will get my turn to tell him.” Jenny mumbled under her breath at the exotic red headed elf. “I will let him know what I think of you, and he will find a new first mate for his Dryad.”
They made their way into port later on that afternoon. The crew eagerly departed with their share of a healthy plunder from a good month or so of piracy. Captain Blackbirch made his fortune as a privateer on the high seas, under the flag of the Ashtaroth nation he was able to pillage and plunder any ship under the Rowindar colors. The two nations being at a somewhat rivalry when it came to trade on the high seas. The men could come into any town in the Ashtaroth nation and spend their fill from booty taken from Rowindian ships, but they always had to be wary of those same people stabbing them in the back. It was a hard life to live, but for the Blackbirch’s it had been a way of life for centuries.
“Father!” Jenny burst into the captain’s quarters hoping to catch him alone. She was not as lucky as Captain Blackbirch and Rose were enjoying a bit of red wine together.
“Ah, Jennifer.” Rose stood up, the wine flute still in her hand. “Care to join us in a toast?”
“Only my father calls me Jennifer.” Jenny spoke through her gritted teeth. “I suppose I could join you for a drink.” Jenny sat down on the desk in the corner. “What are we celebrating?”
“Your father has just proposed marriage to me, Jennifer.” Rose said with an evil grin on her face. “We are to be partners on the Dryad.
“WHAT!” Jenny jumped to her feet. “This ship has stayed in the family for centuries father.”
“I know, my dear, which is why I proposed marriage.” Captain Blackbirch was already showing signs of being drunk.
“Father,” Jenny smoothed her knickers and straightened her shirt. “Perhaps you should tell Ms. Noir about the Blackbirch Curse.”
“Oh!” Rose leaned back in her chair. “There is a curse on the family?”
“Rubbish!” Captain Blackbirch hopped to his feet. “It only be a story of our family.” He flopped drunkenly back into his chair.
“Let’s hear it then,” Rose leaned towards the captain and placed a hand on his knee. “I love a good story.”
Captain Blackbirch cleared his throat and almost sobered up immediately as he began to weave the tale of their family history.
“I have been a cabin boy to me grandfather, Saflorn Blackbirch, ever since I could swim.” Captain Blackbirch winked at Jenny. “And that be before I could ne’ery walk. I followed in me grandfather’s footsteps as me father couldn’t swim and chose to pursue the life of a tailor.” His face twisted almost in disgust at the thought of there being a black sheep in the Blackbirch family. But he continued weaving his tale.
“‘Pappy’ Blackbirch was a sailor who learned from his father and so on. But ‘Pappy’ was the first to take on a wife an’ keep ‘er aboard. Minerva Stormleaf…” He sighed for a moment, remembering his grandmother. “She was an elf from the Ashtaroth forest of Burnoak. She had lived the druidic lifestyle but had yearned to leave the forest and travel on the blue horizon for much of her life.” Captain Blackbirch began to tear up at the mention of his elven grandmother, whom he thought of as his own mother.
He cleared his throat and wiped the tear forming on his eye and continued. “When she met the human Captain, my ’Pappy,’ Saflorn Blackbirch it was a match made of star crossed lovers. The Stormleaf clan was not too happy about Minerva falling in love with a human, let alone a sailor.” He chuckled at the thought of anyone having any distaste for a sailor.
“But as the Stormleaf clan was an open clan and let the family do what they wished. The druid clans’ head shaman married Minerva and Saflorn at the next harvest moon. But a curse was put upon the Blackbirch‘s ship, any that serve, as first mate will meet an unfortunate end. The thought of a druid leaving dry land for the life at sea was like a fish sprouting legs and living in the forest. It was unnatural to the clan.” Blackbirch stood up and waved his hands as though weaving the plotted course of the ship.
“They sailed off together, not knowing of the curse placed on his ship, Saflorn made Minerva his first mate that fateful first evening at sea. They enjoyed many years sailing together as a merchant ship, trading supplies between Ashtaroth and Rowindar. But life would not be that way for long.” Blackbirch turned to the hooded lantern close by and held it beneath his bristly black beard.
“One fateful evening, on their tenth year anniversary, a ship approached bearing the black flag of the pirates… The Jolly Roger! Only this ship be different than the normal pirate ship, this ship was manned by an orcish captain and crewed by orcs, ogres, gobbos, and other fowl green skinned creatures.” Blackbirch covered his heart with his tri-pointed hat as he continued.
“The crew fought back valiantly, but most of the finest sailors were still just merchantmen and found themselves on the ends of the orcish axes. The orcs boarded the ship and took no prisoners; they slaughtered nearly half the men on board. Despite her best efforts and spell casting, even Minerva was killed; crushed by an ogre’s mace.” Blackbirch spoke in hushed tones as he continued.
“Only a handful of officers, my ’Pappy’ and me were left alive. We had been pushed overboard by a loose mast. When we came back aboard our ship had been looted and our crew, slaughtered. ‘Pappy’ found Minerva at the helm, her chest collapsed. Her last words were mention of a dream she had and about the curse. She also asked that we Blackbirch’s not take revenge on her clan, but to seek revenge on those who attacked our ship. That is why whenever we encounter an orcish ship we don’t even plunder it, but we send it down to the depths where it belongs.” Blackbirch sat down and hung his head, sobbing.
“You sure you want to be the first mate, married to my father?” Jenny looked to Rose with loathing in her voice. “You know my mother fell during a storm, she was first mate before you.”
Rose just smiled at Jenny, and took another sip of her wine.
"Curse you dogs, we were supposed to be docked and unloaded by yesterdee!" Captain Blackbirch barked across orders to his men.
"Father!" Jenny piped up as she swung down from one of the riggings holding the mizzen sail to the mizzenmast. She landed on the deck, planting both bare feet firmly underneath her as she stood sternly in front of her towering father. She walked over to him and patted him on his enlarged barrel chest. “You aught to be a bit kinder to the men, after all they would die for you.”
Blackbirch smiled at his beautiful red haired daughter. “Aye lass, but if I don’t be stern with the men…”
“There may be a mutiny on board.” A breathy female voice came like on the wind behind Captain Blackbirch. A woman with dark red hair and a slender body walked up from behind the wheel of the ship and stood next to the Captain.
“Too true, my Rose, too true.” Captain Blackbirch took the two women in his arms and hugged them tightly. “My Rose and my dear sweet Jennifer. What a joy it is to have my daughter and my first mate as such a beautiful pair at my left and right side.” Captain Blackbirch messed up his daughter’s hair and then turned to Rose and gave her a soft kiss. “If there be a mutiny,” He continued, looking back at Jenny. “I could lose the Dryad and more importantly, some harm could come to you.” He bent over and kissed his daughter on her forehead, his black whiskers tickling her face.
Jenny looked to Rose and shot her a look of disdain. After Jenny’s mother died it seemed all too convenient that Rose Noir had come into the picture. Jenny tried to get moments alone with her father to explain her womanly intuition to him, but it seemed every chance she got she was stifled by Rose appearing from nowhere.
“I will get my turn to tell him.” Jenny mumbled under her breath at the exotic red headed elf. “I will let him know what I think of you, and he will find a new first mate for his Dryad.”
They made their way into port later on that afternoon. The crew eagerly departed with their share of a healthy plunder from a good month or so of piracy. Captain Blackbirch made his fortune as a privateer on the high seas, under the flag of the Ashtaroth nation he was able to pillage and plunder any ship under the Rowindar colors. The two nations being at a somewhat rivalry when it came to trade on the high seas. The men could come into any town in the Ashtaroth nation and spend their fill from booty taken from Rowindian ships, but they always had to be wary of those same people stabbing them in the back. It was a hard life to live, but for the Blackbirch’s it had been a way of life for centuries.
“Father!” Jenny burst into the captain’s quarters hoping to catch him alone. She was not as lucky as Captain Blackbirch and Rose were enjoying a bit of red wine together.
“Ah, Jennifer.” Rose stood up, the wine flute still in her hand. “Care to join us in a toast?”
“Only my father calls me Jennifer.” Jenny spoke through her gritted teeth. “I suppose I could join you for a drink.” Jenny sat down on the desk in the corner. “What are we celebrating?”
“Your father has just proposed marriage to me, Jennifer.” Rose said with an evil grin on her face. “We are to be partners on the Dryad.
“WHAT!” Jenny jumped to her feet. “This ship has stayed in the family for centuries father.”
“I know, my dear, which is why I proposed marriage.” Captain Blackbirch was already showing signs of being drunk.
“Father,” Jenny smoothed her knickers and straightened her shirt. “Perhaps you should tell Ms. Noir about the Blackbirch Curse.”
“Oh!” Rose leaned back in her chair. “There is a curse on the family?”
“Rubbish!” Captain Blackbirch hopped to his feet. “It only be a story of our family.” He flopped drunkenly back into his chair.
“Let’s hear it then,” Rose leaned towards the captain and placed a hand on his knee. “I love a good story.”
Captain Blackbirch cleared his throat and almost sobered up immediately as he began to weave the tale of their family history.
“I have been a cabin boy to me grandfather, Saflorn Blackbirch, ever since I could swim.” Captain Blackbirch winked at Jenny. “And that be before I could ne’ery walk. I followed in me grandfather’s footsteps as me father couldn’t swim and chose to pursue the life of a tailor.” His face twisted almost in disgust at the thought of there being a black sheep in the Blackbirch family. But he continued weaving his tale.
“‘Pappy’ Blackbirch was a sailor who learned from his father and so on. But ‘Pappy’ was the first to take on a wife an’ keep ‘er aboard. Minerva Stormleaf…” He sighed for a moment, remembering his grandmother. “She was an elf from the Ashtaroth forest of Burnoak. She had lived the druidic lifestyle but had yearned to leave the forest and travel on the blue horizon for much of her life.” Captain Blackbirch began to tear up at the mention of his elven grandmother, whom he thought of as his own mother.
He cleared his throat and wiped the tear forming on his eye and continued. “When she met the human Captain, my ’Pappy,’ Saflorn Blackbirch it was a match made of star crossed lovers. The Stormleaf clan was not too happy about Minerva falling in love with a human, let alone a sailor.” He chuckled at the thought of anyone having any distaste for a sailor.
“But as the Stormleaf clan was an open clan and let the family do what they wished. The druid clans’ head shaman married Minerva and Saflorn at the next harvest moon. But a curse was put upon the Blackbirch‘s ship, any that serve, as first mate will meet an unfortunate end. The thought of a druid leaving dry land for the life at sea was like a fish sprouting legs and living in the forest. It was unnatural to the clan.” Blackbirch stood up and waved his hands as though weaving the plotted course of the ship.
“They sailed off together, not knowing of the curse placed on his ship, Saflorn made Minerva his first mate that fateful first evening at sea. They enjoyed many years sailing together as a merchant ship, trading supplies between Ashtaroth and Rowindar. But life would not be that way for long.” Blackbirch turned to the hooded lantern close by and held it beneath his bristly black beard.
“One fateful evening, on their tenth year anniversary, a ship approached bearing the black flag of the pirates… The Jolly Roger! Only this ship be different than the normal pirate ship, this ship was manned by an orcish captain and crewed by orcs, ogres, gobbos, and other fowl green skinned creatures.” Blackbirch covered his heart with his tri-pointed hat as he continued.
“The crew fought back valiantly, but most of the finest sailors were still just merchantmen and found themselves on the ends of the orcish axes. The orcs boarded the ship and took no prisoners; they slaughtered nearly half the men on board. Despite her best efforts and spell casting, even Minerva was killed; crushed by an ogre’s mace.” Blackbirch spoke in hushed tones as he continued.
“Only a handful of officers, my ’Pappy’ and me were left alive. We had been pushed overboard by a loose mast. When we came back aboard our ship had been looted and our crew, slaughtered. ‘Pappy’ found Minerva at the helm, her chest collapsed. Her last words were mention of a dream she had and about the curse. She also asked that we Blackbirch’s not take revenge on her clan, but to seek revenge on those who attacked our ship. That is why whenever we encounter an orcish ship we don’t even plunder it, but we send it down to the depths where it belongs.” Blackbirch sat down and hung his head, sobbing.
“You sure you want to be the first mate, married to my father?” Jenny looked to Rose with loathing in her voice. “You know my mother fell during a storm, she was first mate before you.”
Rose just smiled at Jenny, and took another sip of her wine.
Wednesday, June 3
T. E. N. Guild takes on RFC
WHO:
WHAT:
The experiment continues with our brave foursome tackling the first instance "at level" with their randomly generated toons
WHEN:
Friday, May 29th at 10:00 PM Pacific Time
WHERE:
Ragefire Chasm in Orgrimmar
HOW:
Amazingly enough the run went very smoothly. No wipes, not even a scare of anyone even coming close to death. Roadkil at one point mentioned how quiet we were all being in Skype because we all knew our roles enough to just run the instance.
Roadkil and Hexxan have run instances together before but in opposite capacities. Neither one of us had run with Smokinmo/Moomutter or a duel boxer at all until then.
Roadkil used his marks as group leader;
SKULL - Dies first, being hit by the tank
X - Dies next
"UNMARKED" - If there was one, they died third
DIAMOND - Sheep until other trash was dead (Because that is Xan's favorite color)
Luckily no other marks were needed as the highest pull was a four man pull.
WHY:
Because the game has a certain lure to it for new players. With "Experienced Noobs" like us on the case we can see just what is going on way back in "Vanilla" WoW that everyone has now done a million times.
WHAT'S NEXT:
VC or Deadmines - VC is the abbreviation because of the final boss "VanCleef" and because there is a harder instance later on known as Dire Maul.
This adventure will take place in two weeks time on June 12th, 2009. Due to Xan being out of town on business on Friday June 5th.
HOMEWORK:
The team will need to work individually on getting their toons to level 20. We will then have a go at Deadmines, the following week WC, then the following week SFK.
STAY TUNED OR JOIN US! WE COULD USE A FIFTH MEMBER.
Check out the guild link at the bottom of the blog to join our ranks in the "Experienced Noobs" guild!
WHAT:
The experiment continues with our brave foursome tackling the first instance "at level" with their randomly generated toons
WHEN:
Friday, May 29th at 10:00 PM Pacific Time
WHERE:
Ragefire Chasm in Orgrimmar
HOW:
Amazingly enough the run went very smoothly. No wipes, not even a scare of anyone even coming close to death. Roadkil at one point mentioned how quiet we were all being in Skype because we all knew our roles enough to just run the instance.
Roadkil and Hexxan have run instances together before but in opposite capacities. Neither one of us had run with Smokinmo/Moomutter or a duel boxer at all until then.
Roadkil used his marks as group leader;
SKULL - Dies first, being hit by the tank
X - Dies next
"UNMARKED" - If there was one, they died third
DIAMOND - Sheep until other trash was dead (Because that is Xan's favorite color)
Luckily no other marks were needed as the highest pull was a four man pull.
WHY:
Because the game has a certain lure to it for new players. With "Experienced Noobs" like us on the case we can see just what is going on way back in "Vanilla" WoW that everyone has now done a million times.
WHAT'S NEXT:
VC or Deadmines - VC is the abbreviation because of the final boss "VanCleef" and because there is a harder instance later on known as Dire Maul.
This adventure will take place in two weeks time on June 12th, 2009. Due to Xan being out of town on business on Friday June 5th.
HOMEWORK:
The team will need to work individually on getting their toons to level 20. We will then have a go at Deadmines, the following week WC, then the following week SFK.
STAY TUNED OR JOIN US! WE COULD USE A FIFTH MEMBER.
Check out the guild link at the bottom of the blog to join our ranks in the "Experienced Noobs" guild!
Tuesday, June 2
MoMoments #4 - I See Dead People!
Have you noticed in game (hopefully you have not noticed this in real life) corpses of what I usually think are other characters that are either running back to rez or people that died and logged off.
However, I have a conspiracy theory that they are not real characters and the WoW design team is just toying with us or even worse making fun of us!
Take, "Skillkyllin," I found the corpse in Brambleblade Ravine in Mulgore. Come on that cannot be a real player, dont believe it! There were other corpses there that I believe were real players that just logged, probably were not in the mood to run back from the graveyard.
Ow wow... as I was wrting this I may have answered my own question... well partially. Some of the names I mention came to life right in front of me!
But I still beleive WoW places some gh-gh-ghosts or zombie like, fake characters in game with funny names just to toy with us.
Oh and to top it off, sometimes when I try to rez them, nothing happens!
Let me know if you are aware of this phenominon or I just need to get some more sleep.
Remember, take things in moderation, even WoW!
Mo
However, I have a conspiracy theory that they are not real characters and the WoW design team is just toying with us or even worse making fun of us!
Take, "Skillkyllin," I found the corpse in Brambleblade Ravine in Mulgore. Come on that cannot be a real player, dont believe it! There were other corpses there that I believe were real players that just logged, probably were not in the mood to run back from the graveyard.
Ow wow... as I was wrting this I may have answered my own question... well partially. Some of the names I mention came to life right in front of me!
But I still beleive WoW places some gh-gh-ghosts or zombie like, fake characters in game with funny names just to toy with us.
Oh and to top it off, sometimes when I try to rez them, nothing happens!
Let me know if you are aware of this phenominon or I just need to get some more sleep.
Remember, take things in moderation, even WoW!
Mo
Monday, June 1
Thanks Elsinne!
Speaking on Twitter today the thought came up as to whether it was a good idea to allow new toons to start at 55 on another realm. Not just DK's. It was a great Twitter discussion and the result was a near emphatic "No"
But through the discussion it helped a fellow blogger come up with a great blog posting. Check her out at http://elsinne.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/80-the-hard-way/
But through the discussion it helped a fellow blogger come up with a great blog posting. Check her out at http://elsinne.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/80-the-hard-way/
"Pimp your Noob!" - J!NX Gift Code Giveaway!
OK, it is time for the REAL McCOY! Here is a chance to REALLY get something cool for yourself. Introducing the contest for June, entitled "Pimp your Noob!"
This contest is fairly simple. There will be two ways to enter the contest:
1) Mention the blog somewhere else. Whether it be a forum, a web page, a blog, heck even another podcast... the sky is the limit. Mention us and send us the link in a reply to this blog. As well as a duplicate post in an email to TheExperiencedNoob(at)gmail.com.
2) The Experienced Noob REALLY could use some original artwork for the blog. What I am looking for is a picture of Xan, Kilzar with Bobo, & Motauren as a background for the blog. I will try to attach screenshots of Xan, Kilzar with Bobo, & Motauren to this blog posting. Email your questions & entries to TheExperiencedNoob(at)gmail.com. (Poses can vary, but I would like most of the action taking place on left and right sides so that the posts still show through) Serious or comedy, it will not matter.
On the 4th of July there will be a random drawing from all the participants emails and that person will receive a code to J!NX worth $25 to use on anything in their store.
Then there will be a "runner up" drawing for the prize not given away in my NERDTACULAR '09 contest. We had one entry and I felt it only fair to try and make it a "contest" with multiple participants.
Enter as many times as you like with different links or pictures or both! Celebrate your summer with some cool gear from J!NX!
~~IF I DO NOT HAVE MORE THAN ONE PARTICIPANT IN THE GIVEAWAY I WILL GIVE THE N'09 PRIZE TO THE ONLY ONE THAT APPLIED TO THE N'09 CONTEST - Brajana
IN ADDITION I WILL BE FORCED TO GIVE THE $25 GIFT CARD TO _JEG_ FOR BECOMING THE NEW MEMBER OF THE T.E.N. CREW AS THE TECH GUY AND FUTURE CO-HOST TO THE PODCAST~~
This contest is fairly simple. There will be two ways to enter the contest:
1) Mention the blog somewhere else. Whether it be a forum, a web page, a blog, heck even another podcast... the sky is the limit. Mention us and send us the link in a reply to this blog. As well as a duplicate post in an email to TheExperiencedNoob(at)gmail.com.
2) The Experienced Noob REALLY could use some original artwork for the blog. What I am looking for is a picture of Xan, Kilzar with Bobo, & Motauren as a background for the blog. I will try to attach screenshots of Xan, Kilzar with Bobo, & Motauren to this blog posting. Email your questions & entries to TheExperiencedNoob(at)gmail.com. (Poses can vary, but I would like most of the action taking place on left and right sides so that the posts still show through) Serious or comedy, it will not matter.
On the 4th of July there will be a random drawing from all the participants emails and that person will receive a code to J!NX worth $25 to use on anything in their store.
Then there will be a "runner up" drawing for the prize not given away in my NERDTACULAR '09 contest. We had one entry and I felt it only fair to try and make it a "contest" with multiple participants.
Enter as many times as you like with different links or pictures or both! Celebrate your summer with some cool gear from J!NX!
~~IF I DO NOT HAVE MORE THAN ONE PARTICIPANT IN THE GIVEAWAY I WILL GIVE THE N'09 PRIZE TO THE ONLY ONE THAT APPLIED TO THE N'09 CONTEST - Brajana
IN ADDITION I WILL BE FORCED TO GIVE THE $25 GIFT CARD TO _JEG_ FOR BECOMING THE NEW MEMBER OF THE T.E.N. CREW AS THE TECH GUY AND FUTURE CO-HOST TO THE PODCAST~~
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