Carry the torch...

Amateur Azerothian's Mogolympics have come to an end...please go visit his final celebration!

Shamans got talent...

Still have that "deer in the headlights" look---but it'll get better

There were a few posts back, Tzufit from the fantastic Tree Heals Go Woosh (I am not joking - you want to read some amazing, articulate writing, just click over there. I'll wait. Just remember to come back) wrote about the new talent trees. I am still feeling a little shaky about making poor choices depending on the "situational environment." But -- my bigger concern was not being able to have more in-depth conversations about what's what. I was a lonely shaman.

But--I am not worried about that any more.

I logged on and my GM was back, poking around on his restoration shaman, and he and I had an in-depth, and in no way nerdy, conversation about some of our choices. I tabbed to read his recommendation from IcyVeins, and though it was mostly what I knew, I am of the belief that reading and re-reading information is best. I am sham-sorbant, and need time to soak it all in.

It is those conversations--those friendships, those discussions, that are wonderful to me, and what keeps me loyal and engaged. I didn't agree with all of the choices Icy Veins suggested for my enhancement shaman, but since all it's going to cost my play performance is some time on the dummies and some dust of disappearance.

So--in that--I leave you to go drop a totem or two.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

For you Harry Potter fans, that quote is probably tattooed on your chest somewhere. I know mine is, albeit it's backwards, on my forehead, and invisible to everyone else but me.

So what my totems don't also serve as beer kegs? So what? I know a few Dwarfs who'll buy me a round or two. I have friends in high, and more importantly, low places.

Take my friend Chap for instance.

Yesterday I told him I need to go shopping for socks. I hate shopping. He said, "That socks."

He was attired in that creepy rogue mask thing, and I told him he looked great. He told me I should try it. Since Ceniza was on deck, I could, and did!

This IS a good look for me! 

Being a mage is grand fun, that exceeds all expectations. One cannot possibly take oneself seriously as a mage. Think about it - our main abilities include fire: skaboom! Ice: when the frost minion is on downtime, he mixes one helluva martini, shaken with his own ice cubes, not stirred, of course, and arcane, which is the essence of magic and light. Arcane works kind of like magnets and Thermos- you don't know how, but it does.

Now Zep was trying her wand at some battlegrounds yesterday, and it is commonly known that Shadow Priests enjoy a grand skirmage or two. She noticed this guild recruitment advertisement in Trade:

(I think I've noticed this one before -but like any good advertising campaign, needs repeating.)

Now, since she is the official jefa of her guild, and Kellda is in a friend's guild, and Mataoka is on a 10-man team, no one is running off with Aegon and his funny crew, but damn - THAT is a guild ad!

So if you're feeling down because Voldemort is after you, or Arthas won't return your calls, or whatever, remember - keep making mischief, and all will be well.

Unsung Heroes (or the Shaman Blues)

Mataoka surveys the lay of the land...and finds it all uphill.

The patch has been live almost a week now. Most of my writer/blogger cohort have weighed in on the changes, the delights, happy surprises, and the not-so-good ones, and being the Johnny-Come-Lately I am, here are a few of my thoughts, too. I may say what you expect, and I may not.

Working on my new "concrete/sequential" self, try to go in some sort of order.

One's "Main":

I never really understood this fully, but now I do, at least a bit more. For those of you who have been playing since the beginning or near beginning of the game, you have a very different sense of avatarial identity. You have "mains." Being oblivious to this, not only did I level Mataoka as an enhancement shaman blithely and with a heavy dose of "noob-norance," I started many other characters as I sunk deeper into time in Azeroth. That first real character went from zero to hero (aka Level 80) in four months. And that whole time, I really learned nothing, and the next two years have been spent learning and unlearning what I do or don't know.

I did not understand the traditional healer/tank dynamic duo. I did not understand the "end game" objectives. I did not understand that battlegrounds can be serious business. I did not understand servers, or sides, or gear scores. It took almost two full years before I really absorbed what Elitist Jerks was trying to tell me, and rotations, and stats. I am no where near a theorycrafter, but now I can at least balance the character's statistical checking account, and put a few coins of gold in a guild bank for a rainy day.

And for my shaman, it is a rainy day.

I know--the changes are good. I know. I know I will learn to get back on the metaphorical horse again, but I am feeling what so many players have felt in the past over changes, and I realize these emotions are purely that - emotions. The developers at Blizzard were not trying to personally insult me, or anyone else who plays an enhancement shaman (the dedicated few of us -- warlocks in trouble? Don't believe it. They were just lying low until their big debut: The numbers may have been there that the warlock population was low, but damn, enhancement shamans felt more rare than Westfall chicken's teeth).

I looked over her numbers, and over 3K of agility was wiped out in one fell swoop. The action bar I had carefully memorized like piano keys were wonky- the sharps and the flats ran off with the hammers and strings.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch:

And while Mataoka is struggling with jealousy over her sisters' charming and delightful new spells--Murder of Crows for Haanta, and ravens for Zeptepi (see a theme here?), and gorgeous, rich spells for Kellda the Warlock, amazing animal forms for Momokawa the Druid, and oh - mages. Ceniza is laughing all the way to the guild bank in delight over her many options of spells and mischief-making abilities. Rogues can pick-pocket not only loose change, but fun spells, too. Everyone seems to be laughing and rejoicing at the party, except for Mataoka, and...Luperci. To me, the shamans and the paladins are going to be the ones who clean up the mess, throw out the empty beer bottles, sweep up the ashes and cigarette butts and rats-who-look-like cats.

Being a shaman is serious business.

But then again, it always was. Shamans are the go-to class after a raid group has filled the top rogue spot and the top caster spot, the second-class citizens, an afterthought it seems. For those of you who play shamans, you may disagree with me, and howl in indignation, but I only say this from my original perspective: I started a shaman because someone suggested it to me who knows me better than anyone, and it was a perfect fit. And, I have no regrets. But all the other classes, save perhaps protection paladins, got some really fun stuff, and they always do. And dammit, I want some fun, too! I don't mind the change in the totems, but now I'm so worried about what and where they are, and how much they're helping or hurting, I can't seem to focus on much else. Couldn't the totems still come out in powerful groups? (Guess I have to make a macro now to compensate...) Couldn't I fight in my ghost wolf form? Couldn't I hit a spell and draw down the elements from the earth and sky instead of a "plonk/thud" sound? Blizzard: why, why oh why can't shamans have cool tricks, too? And gear?! Don't get me started. I'm sorry, but most mail gear is designed well for hunters, and the helms and gear for shamans are sometimes damn dorky. Can't I haz wings too? 

(Wipes away a tiny, self-pitying tear. Again.)

Well, hell. Now what?

This heartened me this morning: http://frostwolves.blogspot.com/2012/09/superheroes-and-what-classes-they-are.html ---hey, maybe my missing mojo with a Thor fantasy!

And it reminded me of this: https://tomeoftheancient.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/unexpected-archeology-find/

(And I know I wasn't the only one who was feeling a bit wonky: http://frostwolves.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-day-of-crazy-healing.html )

I feel like I need to make a case for myself, and any readers out there, for why they should still play a shaman, be it elemental, enhancement, or restoration.

I entered Azeroth for light and magic. Perhaps it's gaming fatigue, and facing the harsh fact that she may not be that much fun for me right now. I'm digging deep, folks, so if you have some offering of hope for this somewhat broken shaman, feel free. I'm going to go log into my priest or mage now, while Matty goes scrub totem toilets.


Postscript: I don't know who these folks are/were, but I am going to find out. Bet they were paladins or shamans:

http://www.wowwiki.com/Turalyon
http://www.wowwiki.com/Alleria_Windrunner

Theme Song: The Biggest Lie I Ever Told/The Beautiful Girls

Update: I had this bookmarked for awhile, and though it is for restoration, it makes sense for other specs, too: http://lifeingroup5.com/?p=2923&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=resto-shaman-pocket-guide-5-0-4

Horse of a different color...

...the Equestrian Event for Mogolympics is ready at the Blog of the Treant site!

Sick...sick...sick....

I can see why you all like Tome's blog so much - she is so much nicer, so much sweeter, and doesn't have this sick sense of humor. I mean, who wants to visit a blog with horrible movie allusions all the time? No, I do not own this Godfather-inspired pillow cozy, but I do own a tauntaun sleeping bag from ThinkGeek.com:

Yes. I really do own this. Child not included.

I am actually very nice to small animals and children.

Most of the time.

Stories worth reading: Elford

Ironyca has been tellling the tale of Elford--he is someone you should get to know. I may not be able to help him land any business deals, but I can be a good publicist for him:

https://ironyca.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/equal-amounts-of-stubbornness-and-desperation/

Digging up some dirt...

Be afraid, be very afraid...cause if this is what the "Freestyle" does in her/his spare time, man-oh-man are there a lot of 6' holes around. Maybe she is preparing for the upcoming doom-and-gloom events in Theramore, and if there's one sure-fire way to make gold, it's digging a grave or two (or robbing them, depending on your MO).

On a unexpectanctly chilly late summer dawn, she went about her business...

Please go haunt Tome's blog for the Freestyle results. You won't regret it.

Neri Approved, and so did you!

Guarf was not an early riser, unlike the majority of his brethren. He much preferred the night owls and more interesting creatures who lurk and prowl between the witching hour and intrusion of dawn. But this morning, he knew Matty would need some cheering up, and gave her the good news:

She had successfully represented her pride in her adopted clan--and won the Neri Approve's Faction Pride for August!

She is happily sharing the podium with Voros, Neri's choice for this month, who is a formidable Death Knight indeed.

Low man on the totem pole...

Oh, man was today a long day, and I'm not sure if it was made longer or not by trying to do Dragonsoul again tonight. We ended up getting three of the nicest players I've met in a long time to fill in missing guildmates, and the clear was fast, but...what was not so slick was how wombly I felt the entire time. I can only describe it as going from driving with the steering wheel on the left to the right - everything seemed the same, but I kept running off into the ditch. Between my work schedule hitting the same time as the patch, there was no time for me to really look at what happened to me-- and I am not ashamed to admit when young leet druid looked over my shoulder and said "Twenty K?" I felt those hot tears of frustration starting to roll. It was on Ultraxion, one where I have shone like a little superstar, but tonight, it was a implosion. The night was not a total loss, though - I did chuck myself under my chin and tell myself to put my big-girl panties on and chill. Our RL has given us a full week, and I am going to use that time to get it back together, pick up the broken pieces of my totems, and move on.

Remember when I asked what would I be taking with me? I can't find the screen shot now, but it was a totem relic I made when I first started. It has a little tiny bird icon on it, in oranges and yellows, and if remember correctly is part of the questing chains in order to become a shaman, but maybe my memory is muddled.  But it's greyed out now, and worthless. But it's in my bank, and there is shall stay, until the pixel dust fades and the stars burn out.


Oh, and someone reserved the name "Mrswhitworth."

That is so uncool.

Taking my sad-panda self to bed.

Maybe things will clear up in the morning.

http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/08/25/totem-talk-what-to-expect-when-youre-enhancing-in-5-0-4/

Conspiracy theory...

As Cymre put it, "living under a rock," I will say, yes, yes I was, and it was a lovely rock, with cool moss, and some grubs and worms, and all was happy. But someone stuck a big shovel under my rock and upturned the whole patch of dirt that I called home. The upheaval was epic. I spent the evening talking a few friends down from the ledge over lost spells, and including myself over totem changes - I'm not unhappy, it's just different, and is going to take some getting used to. But this isn't about grubs or soil - no, there is something far more sinister afoot in Azeroth!


But--did anyone else notice this? No one else seemed to--everyone, NPCS and players alike went about their business of changing key bindings and whatnot, but Luperci noticed it, and tried to alarm her fellow citizens (being the paladin that she is): The rats of Stormwind banded together and purchased shapeshifting spells and disguised themselves as CATS!

OH, the humanity! Oh, the felinity! Oh, the murinity! (No, that's not a word, and neither is 'felinity' Creative license priviliges, yo.) What the hell is going on here?!? 

With apologies to Navi, I had to kill it to uncover its disguise....

I have a sneaking suspicion somehow Mrs. Whitworth is involved in this, and Señor, I think Cat, is too.

They have also had a hand, er, paw in the missing #47 entrant photo - it was judged along with the other contestants, but the files have been misplaced...or so they claim.