Forty-Beats #10

Heard about her from an interview on NPR yesterday:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/altlatino/2014/03/14/289854512/live-from-sxsw-ana-tijoux-we-are-crazy-as-a-species

Which Way, My Role Play?

From a Motorola Ad: Guidance Needed

Open your eyes, Sajja, and read!

I have a few minutes before I have to dash off to a workshop day - lots of sitting around, lots of listening, and lots of fidgeting, trying to focus on the tasks at hand instead of my pretty monk Sajja (which means "truth"). I think I can sneak my phone in and read the Icy Veins guide on Monk healing, and her off-spec Windwalker. I know there has been a lot of upset tummies over Blizzard's providng us these 90 boosts -- but I can honestly say -- there really isn't any difference. The fact is: players who need to learn their classes have always existed (looks at self), and re-learning classes with changes, nuances in stats, gear acquisitions, etc., ensures there is always something to learn. If a player has freshly leveled a 90 alt, it has never been a guarantee that they have gear, knowledge or skill. The instant boost did not change that. It didn't. And, for the record, most of the asshats are leveled players with great gear who troll the server or an LFR.

Thank you Blizzard, for this monk. I love her. She's floppy, failing, dying, rolling, and goofy. But I love her. I could not stomach another leveling session from 85 to 90 (she was level 66, and my Deathknight lingers at level 86…just….can't…..do….it….).

Another boost is I am going to sketch out some character studies for My Role Play. That add-on has been on my list for a long time now, and I'm overdue for some character sketches.  I know I can do that while pretending to be in deep concentration in the meetings today. We writers -- we're a sneaky lot. Always saying things. But this morning I am saying "thank you." Truth.

Forty-Beats #9

OLRG: Follow the Frog Edition

A true hero does what he/she can: (Stick with this post - I'm getting to it.)

)

Where do I start?

Hmmm….

Okay - here. The other day Tome posted a tale of a troll, and I thought to myself, "Well, gee, haven't seen one of those in awhile! I've run hundreds of LFR, I glance at Trade Chat, and maybe it was an off-day."

No - the rumors of troll extinction are just that - rumors.

Take little Sajja into an LFR. First, all the undergeared players ('undergeared' being a relative term since her gear level was more than adequate for that LFR) were called 'welfare players' because of the 90 boost. Several players shared that yes indeed, this was their level 90 boost, but they had several level 90s, and had years of experience in Azeroth. So, there's the "poverty shaming." Nice. And then red flag: a Dwarf shaman (SHAME ON YOU! You are a disgrace to both Dwarfs and Shamans, you asshat) says, "I am the only one healing?" Sure enough, his numbers were over 190-200K HPS. I remember something Navi said in her recent post about healing being more like a pie that everyone shares - healing is not like DPS. I looked over his gear and sure enough, heroic and normal level gear through and through. (And very ugly mogging efforts, or no effort, too I might add.):

See my comment: I thank him for joining us and bringing his great heals. Hey, kill them with kindness is always my first tactic! It seems to disoriented trolls with the Misdirection skill. Alas, it was only temporary - he was determined to troll us, and show off his great skills, and chide us for how shitty we all were. After the third boss, and several "LOOK AT ME AND MY BIG HEALING STICK" I finally just said the comment below:

And then he said this to me:

Now, I could be classy like Tome and not name-names. But this expectation of privacy is a double-edged sword, Good Sir Lindriss. You may be a 13-year old boy who was just seeking some innocent troll fun. You may be a shy 28-year-old who's socially awkward. You may even be a sweet grandma by day, baking cookies and taking in stray cats, and want to live in a complete 180-fantasy world. I don't know. But the thing is, if you're going to be a troll, do it right. An early LFR is low-hanging fruit, and not worth your trolling expertise! Oh wait, maybe that's it!! Maybe these sorts of venues are Proving Grounds for Trolling!! Oh my God why didn't I think of that before?!?!  They're honing their retorts and bait to groups who couldn't care less, just to feel that tingly sensation of typing asshattery on the Internet! (Happy 25th Birthday, WWW, btw!) I wonder if Bob and Tim had any idea about folks like Lind…anyway, no matter.

There is a word for folks like Lind:

SO - the Frog.

Please watch the above commercial. It says so humorously, so charmingly, what I would like to say about Azeroth: there are some things I am not going to do. I am not going to live out the Gringo fantasy and save the natives. (I might live out the Draenei fantasy, but that's acceptable.) But I am going to keep doing Old Ladies Raiding Guild, and we are going to see some new things together, or share recent things together. Saturday we'll start a 10-man in Mogu'shan Vaults - if I need to tank I will (ugh) but otherwise maybe I can get a volunteer. If it turns out we have more than ten folks who want to go, we'll see if we can get to 25 man or do this as an LFR. It really doesn't matter - because when we're together:

See you on Saturday!

Forty-Beats 7
Armando/Locos por Juana in a Zumba class:

)

Big Blue

In my excitement, I accidentally abandoned my plan to level my Horde DK Kellanyx to 90 when the boost showed up--I hit the Account #1 button by mistake, instead of Account #2. Now, I could have been patient, started a new DK on Dentarg and leveled it to 60 to get the professions, or I could just hit the BUTTON NOW- MUST must MUST puSh BuTToNs!

So here she is, in all her monk glory (mustache not included):

Her gear is already being replaced with Timeless and other goodies, and she is a ball of fun. You had better believe I would love to stay home today (instead of going to an all-day meeting) and get her all spiffied up. For some reason, instead of feeling like some may have thought, that this is cheating, I have renewed energy again for play. There was something about not going through that leveling process for the umpteenth time that gave me an Azerothian equivalent of a vitamin B shot. But off to work I must: I will be accepting any advice on monk healing you'd like to offer/thanks

Forty-Beats #7 and #8

Today I thought I would grab the first random plays off of Pandora:


) )

All in the 'stache, bro

It hasn't even been a day, and we all know the pre-expansion and Level 90 boost came out today. (Great day to decide I wouldn't play on the Mondays during Lent, but hey, my timing has never been great.)

But--I wanted to point out something you may have missed. Looking at approximately the 50-second mark, and notice how this handsome little gnome gets even more amazing with the FACIAL HAIR BUFF OF A MAGNIFICENT MUSTACHE!

See? It's not just the gear, and murlocs know it ain't the big ears...it's got to be that mustache that gives him those boosting powers!

Think about it - so many great heroes sport 'staches:

Rogue

Mage

Warrior

Priest

Paladin

Added a few more:

THIS is a warlock...

Shaman

I know that gnome will be glorious--as will I (whenever I figure out which new character I want...)

Forty-Beats #5

Today, for something off-beat, features the work of Michael Hearst, whose written a suite of music for "Unusual Creatures." Listen to Episode #6: Blobfish. Yup, just about right.

Professional Time Wasting and Chicken and Waffles Debuff

Got a text from an east coast friend who must be lurking on Facebook, and noticed a mutual acquaintance ran 27 miles today. I told her I sat on my fanny for hours playing a game. She gave me permission. CD Rogue came downstairs to tell me his cold is a flu, and my snoring kept  him up. The sound of Pikmin 2 is trilling from the next room. My tummy still hurts, (yes, I have another doctor appointment…yes yes yes) and, oh yes, did I tell you my best achievement buddy Kaylyne went Horde  to be with her main squeeze? And all quiet, (too quiet) in the Drunken Fish, and, did I mention my tummy still hurts?

And it's Daylight Savings time ending? Beginning? Whatever. Lost an hour.

Pffft.

So, while I'm getting some rested XP on Sajja, who used to be a gnome monk named LuckyCricket, who became a Night Elf monk, and is now comfortable in her own blue skin as a Draenei monk (I spend tiny bits of money when I am bored), did the orange contest while still a Night Elf for Thela:

March: Orange

And the other day, my friend Turk drank some potion of illusion, and unintentionally I got to see how beautiful Zep would look with her cloak:

This is what she would look like with cloak...

Zep in a bubble, without cloak

Why does my tummy hurt? I don't know. I really don't.  Maybe it's sad. Sad it doesn't have any Girl Scout cookies. Or maybe because I tried a few of these yesterday:

That would make any tummy confused.

Or maybe it's sad because it knows things are changing. The times, the hours, the friendships, all change and transform. Seasons come and go, and we wax and wane 'round and round.

No, it's the the potato chips.


And sometimes we all feel like this:

Yup, in Azeroth, feeling kind of orange.

OLRG: Missing Tome!

Lost without you, Tome!

Tome of the Ancient had a personal issue yesterday, and sent me an email that she couldn't make it. Before any of you worry, she's fine, her dogs are fine, her husband's fine, but send her good thoughts nonetheless. We really missed you! Dragonray from Azerothian Life  joined us, and I told her CD Rogue has a rule that one must do a shot every time we hear an Aussie accent, and she does have a lovely voice! Speaking of lovely voices, we heard Helke too, and day-umm woman, she has a very sexshee voice! We did our usual rounds in Firelands, and Dragonray was kind enough to put her bear on and tank for us, and of course, no Penitent achievement, and no kitty staff. Fandral, you ass, you're starting to piss me off! No matter--we really do enjoy each other. Prinnie was there and sharing some of her…um…concerns…about….um….MATTY SHUT UP! You see, I am prone to blabbermouthery, so, Prinnie, whenever this thing you're working on works out, will you please let us know? Sending you good thoughts on laundry management and good impressions. Although, I say, be yourself. Your quirky awesomesauce is worthy of worship. Don't forget that.

Speaking of blabbermouthery, Ironyca posted one of her articulate, insightful posts not too long ago (nice to read you again, Ironyca!). It concerns privacy, or lack thereof, and the Internet. I wished again recently that we had an invisible mode in WoW, and I'm sure my friend Señor does too, because he was trying to play battlegrounds again yesterday and I kept bugging him. I admit, I was bored. CD Rogue had a cold and was working in his office, the cubs were doing their own things, and most of my WoW buddies were otherwise occupied. Unfortunately, WoW Insider reported that Blizzard will not be able to accommodate those of us who want to hide for a bit. However, I know the worst time to bug any of our friends in game is when we ourselves are bored. It's infectious. Boredom spreads like a bad cold, and unless we wash our hands and cover our coughs, we can do some real damage. I'll try to remember that next time a friend has another goal or project that doesn't include me--rather--try to remember my own goals and inner motivations.

I was thinking the other day it's not easy being an ambivert. (It's not easy being green, either, but that's another story altogether.) Who knows when I want to be alone, and when I want company? It means my personal whims and moods dictate to those around me, making abritary rules of when I can mentally play, and when it's a comfortable silence? Oh we silly humans. We'll never get it right, will we? /shrugs and gets more coffee

So my Lent list is going two-thirds well: I have the music, I won't play tomorrow (Monday), but the writing an hour on stuff other than WoW…no can do.


Forty-Beats 5: Wasted Sunday Morning - Sneaker Pimps (I hate Spring Forward)