This is a video NPR reposted this "crowboarding"-the cure for the 'winter blahs.' This immediately made me think of Tome. She and I have had a few conversations about what 'fun' means, and this crow definitely has the right idea.
Now, a lot has been on my mind lately; a lot is on everyone's mind. We all feel like we're playing Whack-A-Mole constantly in real life. One thing gets done, two problems pop up. One place I do not want to feel anxiety is Azeroth. Stress, however, or a sense of competition, or achievement, now those things are not so bad. It may seem odd to include stress in that mix, but there exists a place for this emotion. It gets us going, gets us moving and shaking. Anxiety, however, not so much. One recurring personal theme of mine is that not everyone 'gets me.' It's like an invisible unicorn horn on my forehead that remains unseen until poor communication draws it out, into the light, so everyone can see it and laugh. This metaphorical appendage is something I've learned to cope with, by and large. I don't think too much about it until I have an exchange with someone and it's clear my invisible unicorn horn is showing.
Tuesday night I asked my GM if he had a preference about which character to bring to a 25-man. I have gotten the feeling from him I am a sub-standard enhancement and restoration shaman, (which I am) and there are a lot of good shamans in the guild so far. I think he misunderstood my question has having him make the decision for me, as opposed to try to help balance the group. I was told when WoD hits there was no place for 'alt-hopping' and he didn't know why I didn't like playing my shaman.
Unicorn horn growing.
When it got down to it, since I'd never done SoO on my stupid-butt-die-and-die-again melee shaman, why not? Sure, sure my DPS/damage hovered near the #10-#15 slots. Sure. I was on time, and waited for about three other players, but they are key members of the guild and raid team, so of course we waited. One of our tanks, Hawt, is amazing. But we didn't get through all that they wanted to. I kept thinking to myself damn that I don't have my cloak yet on Zep or Momo--I have much more fun healing on Momokawa especially, but alas…no cloak. Now why Blizzard can't f*cking make it one main, cloaks for all..anyway.
So last night the gulid was talking about challenge modes. Again, me and my big horn. I said I wanted to try them because they sounded like fun, and I was quickly told they are not "fun" and while I tried to combat what I felt was negativity I made some jokes:
Sure enough, someone said the line - (being funny)
And I said something about how challenge modes had caused some issues in some guilds, but not for me and my attitude, and this next line cracked me up:
Obviously, I need to get to know Cevere and and Kazzta better! They seem like my kind of folks! (Note to self: next guild name, Bunny Bum Nibblers.)
Moving on, was told "would sit back and eat popcorn" while I presumably failed if I tried challenge modes. Yup. I am going to fail. Over and over and over again. Just like the big kids. Just like Michael Jordan:
"I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying."
I was then told I misunderstood the popcorn comment. UNICORN HORN ACTIVATED.
Oh well. Fuck it dude. Let's go bowling.
In other news: TOME IS AWESOME.
Just sayin.
She knows I have an invisible unicorn horn, and loves me anyway.
PS F stands for FUN
You know, all I could think while watching that crow was I think we humans might be a little arrogant in thinking we know how smart other species are, lol.
ReplyDeleteI know it's hard to find other unicorn-equipped people since most of the time they're invisible but when you do it's wonderful! I can't help it, I'm not an achiever I'm a ... I don't know ... funner. Achieving is for that other world for me and even there I'm pretty out there, lol.
Matty,
ReplyDeleteI am not sure where the disconnect is comming from, but I hope we can communicate better in the future.
To quote you " I have gotten the feeling from him I am a sub-standard enhancement and restoration shaman, (which I am) and there are a lot of good shamans in the guild so far."
That is pretty inaccurate assesment of what I am thinking. I hope my actions show different as well. I have told you more than once that you are an above average player and with the exception of standing on Garrosh's way in flex over and over one night I would not consider you (or anyone in the guild, sub-standard.)
If anything we pride ourselves on being very welcoming to others. So even though I have been very plain with my assessment of your play level you continue to put yourself down and then somehow arrive at the conclusion that others think that way about you. We really don't. I really don't.
I am one that thinks that actions speak louder than words, do you think if I found you sub-standard would I put a 25 man together on normal modes? In fact is a direct result of you and other players wanting to raid more.
That is the reason I have added a night of normal raiding to my schedule to make sure you and others have that opportunity and it is not just our 10 man team that does it. My reply to you was simple, bring your best geared toon, the one that contributes the most to the goal that you want (progression at your level of play.)
Now about the whole misunderstanding about challenge modes. Not sure if you arrived at the conversation late or not, and most of my comments were directed at another guildie that had started the conversation. The biggest challenge to them is consistency and getting 5 people willing to do it together.
One of the most interesting things about WoW to me is what people find challenging and also what people find fun. I personally don't find an activity fun if others don't take it seriously. Reason I don't do heroic raiding. Just one person not taking it seriously takes the fun out of it for me.
That is why I raid normal modes, no pressure for people to play at 1000% or log in every second to have the best numbers ever. That said we do have players that do well and want to do well, but we don't place that pressure in others. Challenge modes are a lot easier now that there are guides and strats outlined, but when you went in there without knowing what to do even getting a bronze was challenging.
To me constantly whipping to trash is not fun, that is all I was trying to say. And btw, you do know Cevere... you actually have met her in person.
I like having you in the guild, I am trying to be as accommodating as possible, but reading this makes me feel like somehow there is a disconnection between what I try to do and how you are perceiving things. It is something I am going to give some thought to. I certainly have other things to do with my time if the effort that I put forward is being lost by the message not coming through.
Great blog post, and I am glad you are able to share your feelings. That said, I don't think you will be too hard to get if you just said what you mean (or ask others if what you are thinking they are thinking is accurate.) Happy hunting!
I like being in the guild too - there is a lot going on in real life, and this has been true since my teens, I say the wrong things. I just do. I know from real life experience, too, chat, whispers, and quick questions are too prone to be misunderstood, and I need to take this all more with a grain of salt. My boss told me that very afternoon in a meeting to ten other people how she doesn't "get me," and others joked about how I need a "translator." I am a 'thinker-out-loud" person, which for many is annoying as hell (my spouse included). So, I write, process, and think on paper.
DeleteI KNOW CEVERE? Let me guess… and yes, I think she ROCKS! You guys are fun, very sweet, and now that you've read this: I keep all my alts fairly on par with my main - I kind of don't believe in the main system, but that's between me and Blizzard -- so if you need another healer I'm there. With the changes that are happening with casting, not sure how this is all going to play out.
One last caveat: I /bow to your leadership: you and the guild are good folks, and that is worth gold.
DeleteI've been working on challenge modes with a group of folks. It's been a ton of fun, mostly cause I play with some pretty awesome people :) I hope you get a chance to try some. Also hope I can see you in the OLRG but with the challenge modes going away eventually there's been a push to get them done on alts now.
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