A Moment of Reflection

Yesterday was a sad day in news for one of the more troubled athletes in sports today. Mike Tyson is a monster of a fighter and a man and has left his mark of the sport I love with his highs and lows and he has left his mark on our popular culture for better or worse. My heart goes out to the man however in his time of lose. I don't have any children but I couldn't imagine the pain a parent feels at the loss of a child especially one as young as Tyson's daughter and in such a freak accident. I just wanna take a moment to honor a young light blown out too soon. Its the times like this that make you realize how unimportant those kinds of things are in the grand scheme of things.
My heart and thoughts go out to the Tyson family.

Groove Tree

It's very very rare that the alliance have something that I want. Lucky for me they are mostly things I can have on my horde hunter (though that stupid Zulian Tiger eludes me to no end). Yesterday I got one of those things in the form of the Teldrassil Sprouting and by god if it isn't the coolest small pet I have. He sleeps and dances (but mostly sleeps) and is probably the cutest pet I have seen in this game. Like I said before its the little things in this game that make it worth all the work for me. This little guy definately fits that definition for Edy to a Tee.

Also mini Eus makes a great addition to the cute.

Random 25 Mans: Fun for Da Ed

Usually Tuesday down time leaves me with nothing to do but my dailies when I log on. This past Tuesday I was actually under the weather as well so I was really not expecting what happens. Logged on and in the middle of my cooking daily and old guildy gets me in a speed run of 25 man Naxx. I was so not expecting that and since for once I didn't have to watch for my nephew to get home I figured what the hell and went. I don't think I have ever been in such a smooth run in this game. We roll in and clear everything and apparently at the fasted time the PuG had ever done it, 2 hours and about 30 minutes or so. I was the only hunter as well and that woulda been great if something dropped for hunters but only some boots did and ever piece of tier 7.5 that I already have and refuse to use due to spec. Also saw Fool's Trial drop for the first to times ever and lucky me I won the second drop.

Great as that was and sick as I was starting to feel I run into my favorite druid and he managed to snake me in a Maly 25 (mind you I've never downed Maly 10 but I know the fight) and we one shot his blue scales off. Nothing dropped (God knows wanted Boots of Renewed Flight and Blue Aspect Helm ) but I got my title finally and got to see the Queen of the Dragons in all her beautiful red glory.

Top all this off I got my sewer rat Monday and my Argent Hippogryph right before Naxx so all and all a fabulous Tuesday for your currently black Ed. Lets hope it keeps up.

This Feeling.....I Want More.....

I've put this post off a week for numerous reasons. Lack of sleep and drive being the top reasons as I have been doing nothing else except babysitting this week. Anyway last week I had my ups and downs (not that this week has been any better for my raiding but thems the breaks sometimes) and I got my first crack at doing Ulduar 10 man with my extended family. Did we get far? No, mostly a wipe fest but it was a damn fun wipe fest. Ulduar is a feeling completely new to me so i do just see the wipes as a fail but more like a stepping stone. As I have only been playing a little over a year now Ulduar is really the first time I have ever been in a challanging raid atmosphere with people that knew little more or exactly nill about what we were walking into other than it was gonna hurt and that feeling is something I wouldn't trade for the world. Since I started playing I have always had a feeling of playing catch up with everybody else and honestly I think this is the first time I haven't felt that. I'm not speaking guildwise with this emotion. As far as it stands with them I am in general one of the few that have done what others are trying to get to but still its not quite the same. When I ran Karazhan at 70 for the first time it was in a pug with people farming the instance. I was the odd one out the one worried anything I did with my lack of knowledge would kill us by some off chance, that my dps wasn't good enough, or my mere being there was going to kill us all. It didn't, but thats the anxiety i constantly battle with things I have never done before when I go with people who have. Its not rational but its part of who the real Ed is. With Ulduar for the first time since I started in Azeroth instancing I didn't feel that not once. I was analizing our situations as they came just like everybody else was and having to flex hunter muscles I haven't had to use since Blizz decided to tone for more casual players.

Will I have that feeling again? Maybe, I mean we only downed Flame Laviathan and tried razorscale and Ignis and if we do it again chances are the majority of us wont have a clue whats going on but its not gonna be quite the same. I know 2 of the guys are doing the 25 mans when they can (one with his guild the other in pugs as heals) so they know or at least have an idea of whats going on so that kinda taints the purity of that WTF emotion and glee of seeing a boss as one for the first time. And thats cool. They aren't the kinds of folks to get panties in a bunch cause people never been before or seen something before or just cant figure out how to get of something right of the back. Its part of the fun. Just like its fun to show people this stuff for the first time in its own way. I like not feeling like a screw up waiting to happen and I look forward to more moments like that as I continue my journey in Azeroth.

On a side note today I also got my first down of Emalon on my second raid group and I have to say he was alot easier than I was expecting with all the trouble the first group I tried with had (tank was not so bright and dropped like a brick every pull) and all the chatter and demands of the achievement in trade. I mean I understand it to a point with all the social idiots that play this game and pug but its really not a hard fight to figure out at all. If you have a working brain you can do it. Yes I had the anxiety I usually have my first time in but 3rd in dps quickly helped me get over that after I saw I was doing everything right. Anyway thats all for now. Happy Raiding.

Anchors Away

My tiger might be just out of reach but until that damn troll gives me what I want I know Turbo and Speedy love me. Things like this make a crap weekend of fail and disappointment all the better for sure.

Too Much Too Fast?

Have we the gaming community of World of Warcraft come to expect too many grand things in too short a time? This is a question I have found myself asking a lot since even before Lich hit the shelves. For me it became a bit of a concern (well concern is probably not the right word for it but its the best I got right now) when I found out about Recruit a Friend. Now I will never be among the cane swinging elder WoWers yelling at the whippersnappers frolicking through my Azeroth but I did see a bit of a problem with the sheer speed that could be allowed for a person to level up in the game. Then came the DK and all of a sudden all the learning one would recieve just learning to group and things from lower levels don't really get learned anymore. Now I'm not saying its not cool to get to the top to see your friends and do stuff with them. Not in the least. I know I worked my butt off leveling Edy to 70 so I could actually be of help to my friends that got me playing and was very happy when I did. I was also fortunate enough to belong to a guild and have friends in that guild that got me into running instances well before I was ready for outland even if it was just to play tag-a-long. I learned by watching and as soon as I could move and not die I learned through trial by fire what was good for me to do in a party and what wasn't.

I dont really see alot of that anymore (even in guild which is partly my fault as well cause I have a hard time wanting to run lowbies through things these days) as its all about getting the big 8 0 and getting all the pretty purples you can find, even if some are crap (when you see somebody in something like the crap resistance gear you can craft you know its simply cause they see EPIC and start drooling on themselves). Now even that doesn't bother me so much as the entitlement new players that have been able to race to 80 seem to feel about the end game goodness before them. True its not a huge step to go straight into Naxx if you are only in blues (pain the ass for others yes but thats a topic for another time) simply skipping heroics all together. Personally I think heroics are just a primer to get one metally ready for the fact what you do in a reg is nothing like what you do in a heroic/raid setting. You won't have the same dps. Stuff hits harder and you may actually be required to somewhat know what you are doing. Now is it like walking into something like what Kara once was in terms of being on your game? Not really, well not till the bosses anyway. Trash in general is all about how much AoE can you serve up on X amount of baddies but "oh shit" moments still happen and thats where you can tell who has actually learned something about the game.

Dps I will use to explain what I mean since I understand our role much better than that of tanking and healing. Dps should constantly be aware of where they are in position to tank and heals and most importantly how much threat they generate. "But why should I worry about threat? Shouldn't the tank do that?" Yes and no. Yes the tank should be aware of how much threat he is putting out. But in contrast how can the tank get you start dpsing the enemy before he even gets to it, if you start dpsing a mob the tank didn't have marked for primary dps (yes if the tank doesnt mark this doesn't count), or you face roll your keyboard hitting every high powered thing you have on the bar and pull aggro off the tank? I'm sorry sir or madam that is all your fault and if you understood your role and class that would not happen in the first place. You do that in a raid you either kill yourself, the healer if you happen to be next to them and by proxy everybody in the raid, or a variable number of other dps due to the tank having to chase down what you just brought on yourself and thus losing more aggro on other mobs.

Getting back to the topic of too much too fast is the content itself. Blizzard has been spinning the gears trying to pump out new stuff as fast as their lil' slaves can program but lets get real here. How long can they keep this pace up befoer everything starts to suffer? We are use to the many bugs from patch to patch and have even come to expect it. Part of the deal with the devil I suppose. Anyway with the lastest patch it ended up being a bit rougher than usual and what sucks is if Blizz had just broken it down into smaller patches over time most of the problems wouldn't have happened at all cause they would have found and fixed them (well we hope so anyway) but even that isnt the thing that bugs me. Bugs are a pain in the ass but livable. Its the whining I get tired of. "I am so bored with the new content Blizzard WAAAAAAH!!!" I see this so much it makes me ill. "I dont have anything to do?" Um what about the dailies and instances? You blew through those/don't do them? Hmm must suck to be you. Guess you wait like the rest of us for something new or go do something else. There are other games. Nobody is making you play if you really are that bored you would find something better to do with your time. Blizz gave us plenty to do. Some you will like others you wont but thats part of a game this vast to please so many there is no way to make everything something everybody will like to do. Why dont you actually take the time to look at what you have in front of you instead of crying to Blizzard to make you something new to get bored with in a few days. Actually take your time and admire all the work that went into making what you have before you. Maybe I am strange and actually value quality over quanity. Of course I also like to read which might I add is how I pass my time when I feel bored with the game.

Cue the Music, and Where is Mr. Sterling With My Intro?

Its been quite the interesting few weeks for the Ed, both in game and out. In game I have managed to pick up a few new achievements from my extended guild relations with the Wasted Rock Rangers, and got the 1 drake in Sarth (specially heroic which made me very happy from my horribly pissy week).


Managed to get another couple of steps closer to my violet proto-drake as I battled my hatred of my battle group and braved the battlegrounds getting to be Matron Edyion after spending a few days as a bunny for noble garden.


Also got my much longed after Egbert and I have to admit the lil' guy was well worth the year wait as I was a lowly 40something when it first rolled around.

That aside my weirdness levels did spike as a came across bear getting "friendly" with a human in one of the Dalaran bank which was a bit like walking into a Fear and Loathing moment but entertaining none the less.

That being said my week really peaked when I found myself without power for about 20 hours between Sunday and Monday as some genious working for the power company decided to flip the transformer off to the street WITH power after a huge storm and then conveniently forget we existed untill the next afternoon leaving me hungry (we were cooking), highly pissed (I was removing myself from my mother's way with a bg for my title when the power went bye bye), and somewhat depressed over the dinner we never got to eat cause we couldnt finish making it. The mere thought of the lost mac and cheese that wasn't done baking and I was craving STILL brings a tear to my eye. The fact we got no warning or reason why they even did it in the first place wasnt helped by the fact the storms continued and of course since this is tornado country we had no way to know if there was anything to worry about at the time and when they finally DID get bitched at enough to turn it back on it took them all of 3 minutes to park, extend the pole, flip the breaker, put up said pole and drive off to turn the damn power back on. I was and am still not a terribly happy Edy but at least they turned it back on before everything other than our dinner went bad.

So thats whats been up of late. So as I watch Night Gallery and what for my headache to decide to leave I cant help but think my weekend should have been narrated by Rod Sterling. Would be a fitting wrap up don't you think?