And that's a true story.

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/12/world-of-warcraft-catastrophes/?pid=717&viewall=true

What's in a (guild) name?

Would a guild by any other name smell as sweet?

Do not be fooled by the stubbornness that a set of horns may conjure: I can be as indecisive as a spring breeze. For instance, consider our guild name: Ever Thus To Deadbeats.

We in the guild did not make this decision lightly: it speaks to both our human and super-human interests. Azeroth is full of tyrants and deadbeats, and its demanding, exhaustive, endless grinding of truth and justice seeking blah blah blah never ends. There is always one more oppressor to strip, one more monster to slay, and one more rug to, well, you know. Micturate on.

We are a small but hearty guild. We are loyal and true. Our mission is to enjoy the world, gain favor, achieve success, and have fun while doing so. We cannot begin to compete with some of the mega-guilds such as Alea Lacta Est or some of these others.

Guilds, large and small, and every shade in between, have a story behind their name. Though we have our own little story, I have driven guildies to distraction by thinking out loud what it would be like to have a different one. Some of the ones I have considered are:

• Loyalist Scum: a hordie friend liked this idea so much they used the patent.
• Revenant: Revenant means back, especially from the dead. Here is a quaint Visual Thesaurus definition:

He's Back! Word of the Day:

Three hundred and fifty years ago today, Oliver Cromwell, one-time Lord Protector of England, was executed. This was not so unusual for the time, except that he had already been dead more than two years; his corpse was disinterred and subjected to various humiliations by political enemies. In honor thereof, we salute revenant, a noun and adjective pertaining to those who return after some time, especially from the dead.

We were Misunderestimated for years, until one day, while walking in the pre-Cata sunshine of downtown Stormwind, I spotted some young jackanape-hooligan sporting OUR SAME GUILD NAME but with typographical accents! The audacity! Flattery is one thing, but way to spoil the mood.

I keep a running list and every so often burst out, "Hey, that would be a funny guild name!" and then am reminded of the little engines who could who have spent their time and energy leveling up the new guild to its current cozy state. I have personally been whispered several compliments on the name, which brightens my weary day.

So, now we are thumping Deadbeats. And proud of it. And obviously you are not a golfer. (And I can imagine if you Wordle'd this website what the largest word would be.)


Some of the guild names that spark curiosity (?) are:

No Chicks Allowed: Is this akin to the old-school "He Man Woman Haters Club?" Wonder what prompted that outburst. And, how do they really check? Are they going to look under players' robes? What if that draenei stuff her chestpiece with wool? Doesn't DADT work in Azeroth?

Rocket Surgery: Very, very clever. Because this is neither rocket science nor brain surgery, is it?

Sleepless Knights: That's just cute.

We Know Girls: With their charm and creativity, I am certain they do. Check out their website.


Specifically on Whisperwind: http://www.wowprogress.com/pve/us/whisperwind


http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2113741


Ever thus: http://ask.metafilter.com/42582/Ever-thus-to-deadbeats-Lebowski


Very interesting Patch Notes: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2011384
Pop Culture references in WoW: http://www.wowwiki.com/List_of_pop_culture_references_in_Warcraft

My own little pie chart: http://www.wowprogress.com/character/us/whisperwind/mataoka

Duck, Duck, Goose

As a tiny Draenei child in Azuremyst, I played a game called Duck, Duck, Goose...we would sit in a circle, and one would be "It," and It would walk around the circle, lightly tapping the other players on the head (if one was a little girl, or a bit more aggressive if one was a boy) saying with each hit "duck." At some spontaneous moment, It would decide who would be "Goose," thump them, and run away to Goose's spot before Goose could catch them. If It was not caught, Goose would become It, and the cycle would repeat itself. The skill lay in Its ability to run with a great deal of lean and centrifugal force, and Goose's skills were simply being ready to go.

Whoa. Never had to explain a game of Duck, Duck, Goose before. 

And while my personal skills in D-D-G were never equalled, (having retired champion of the Chronakai Kristo Day School for D-D-G and bloody games of Red Rover, Red Rover) my language skills sometimes cause confusion and misdirection -- but not intentionally.

Two of my favorite friends in the World speak the human language Spanish. While in a dusty old dungeon the other day, I asked one of them if we were going to go kill the next "dos patrons," thinking I'd be clever. 

I typed "dos patos." Yes, we were going to kill two more ducks. 

This is NOT a duck:

However - in the future, when I am feeling intimidated by the big, bad patrons, I am just going to imagine them like this:

And serve them with a nice orange sauce. 



Side notes:
And while there is an aviary: turkeys, chickens, parrots, etc., there are no ducks as far as anyone can tell in Azeroth. 

In the human world, there are an estimated over 6,000 spoken languages: http://anthro.palomar.edu/language/language_1.htm.

Consider this does not take into account codes, symbols, icons, computer language, animal communication, music, art, dance, or body language (one of the most powerful languages of all - perhaps the most powerful and understood). 

And what the heck does Chronakai Kristo mean anyway? Some things just can't be translated: http://www.wowwiki.com/NPC_quotes

But I carry light within me. Naturally.

Drinks with Dwarves

See those little gas bubbles coming out of my mouth? In about ten minutes I'm going to ruin the upholstery on my drake from spewing Wildhammer ale when the buff runs out. This is one of my new favorite dailies; much more entertaining than killing poor restless souls or perhaps even Polishing the Helm (which is a fun title, but not really a fun daily- pretty sticky). Okay, That's Abominable! was damn fun, too, even if I did get formaldehyde on my boots.

If you want to play a fighting and drinking game in the World, check out Fight Like a Wildhammer. Bring a baggie.