iHasRP

Gone Fishin'

2008-05-03T07:58:00.004-04:00

Ah, life. Hectic and unpredictable. Although I was going to post something yesterday, life threw a curveball. Today, I only have a short period of time to write, and then won't get a chance (more than likely) until next Tuesday.

So, I wondered, what's a topic that can take up both a great amount of time or hardly any at all?

Fishing!

Fishing, both in WoW and real life, is a topic that can make for great conversation. All of those fishing stories, the Fishcrafting* and even discussion about clothing and gear choices.

I'd love to spend a while writing about ingame fishing, but I've not the time. However, with the weekly Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza being held tomorrow on a server near you, I thought I'd share a gem of a website you may've not heard about.

It's run by a Gnome, but do not let that fact sway your decision to click the link!

El's Extreme Anglin' is a wonderful site, covering all sorts of fishing topics from gear to garb and even tactics. This crafty little Gnome has a compendium of knowledge to share. Check out her Fishing Gear section - it's a proven fact that alcohol, in this case, Captain Rumsey's Lager, and fishing go hand in hand.

Currently, I'm using a Strong Fishing Pole and Aquadynamic Fish Attractors, but I can't wait to get my hands on a Big Iron Fishing Pole and then one day, hopefully an Arcanite Fishing Pole!

Now get out there and have some fun!

*Fishcrafting - does such a term exist? There's theorycrafting, jumpcrafting and even lorecrafting, so I'd not be surprised if the answer is "yes"!

It's Children's Week!

2008-05-01T23:12:00.002-04:00

Today kicks off Children's Week, where denziens of Azeroth can put down their weapons for a few hours (or days) to care for an orphan. Whistles used to summon the orphans have an expiration, so while some people (like me) try to finish their quest and return the whistle quickly, other people prefer to run around with an orphan for as long as the whistle is still valid. Originally, the whistles had no timer, but this was changed to keep individuals from having a "pet" orphan.

WarcraftPets.com has a wonderful guide for quests offered during Children's Week - both Azeroth and Outland chains for Horde and Alliance. I found the Azeroth/Horde guide to be very helpful as I had missed out on the event the past few years.

In being a packrat, I'm attempting to complete the Azeroth quest series for all of my characters. Yet, I don't want to roll a character later on in the year and regret missing Children's Week. So, I've been contemplating what other classes and characters I'd like to play, now or in the future. My goal is to have each character hit level 10 and finish their quest before the event ends.

Companions - Not of the Sihnon variety.

2008-04-22T19:10:00.000-04:00

Companions in World of Warcraft go by many other names: vanity pets, minipets and even non-combat pets. To some folks, a companion may even be called "friend". A companion can exist alongside a hunter's pet or warlock's minion, but companions do not engage in combat. Although engineers can craft combat pets, such pets are separate from companions. Some roleplayers create some form of relationship between their character and their companion(s). A player can improvise emotes to flesh out the companion, such as:

/em chuckles, watching her prairie chicken squawk at you.
/s I don't think Dawn likes you, very much. Try giving her some chicken feed.

A companion can also play a part in a character's background history, or affect their life in current. For example, perhaps a Troll character has a black kingsnake as a companion. When asked, the Troll could say that they captured their kingsnake as per family or clan tradition. This could actually be expanded to an ingame Clan (guild), where members are given a snake companion upon reaching some sort of milestone - this would play into the character's history. Perhaps the snake acts as a familiar, which would then continue to hold a role in the character's developing life.

I had been thinking about companion pets, and whether or not I thought Avanina should have one (or more.) I decided that she has an itch for collecting pets, spurred on by her ability to master and summon various demons as she becomes a more powerful warlock. I visited WarcraftPets.com and browsed around through their database of companions. It's a great reference site where you can also register to keep log of all the pets you've collected.

After searching through the list, I decided that I'd make the White Kitten my first goal for Avanina, because cats do roam around Eversong and Silvermoon City, yet a white kitten seems more of a rarity. A white kitten would surely catch Avanina's eye and win her over with ease. In honest, I'm surprised that no additional cat companions were added in the expansion, considering how they seem native to the region of Eversong. Some sort of fel-inflicted kitty with rather big fangs, perhaps... With the vendor being chased by a cat... Screaming and bloodied... Just imagine!

A few days ago, I ran Mahinva all the way from the Exodar to Stormwind City. I could've asked around for a teleport, but then I'd of missed out on collecting a few flight paths. She stood around in Stormwind, fishing and waiting. It took about 1 1/2 hours before Lil Timmy decided to appear which was fine by me! Lil Timmy has a rather long timer from what I've read, and he doesn't seem to spawn on a set schedule. Quickly, Mahinva purchased a white kitten, a female as revealed from Timmy's ramblings. It seems Timmy's father let him keep one white kitten, but not the kitten's sister.

Mahinva then made the long journey to Stranglethorn Vale and listed the white kitten up for auction. She was quickly purchased by a warlock named Gaian, who then ran off to meet Avanina and gave her the cat carrier.

But, who's Gaian?! You may exclaim to yourself.

Gaian would be my husband's warlock. He decided that he enjoyed the warlock class (I knew he would!)

But, what happened to Krant?! Isn't Avanina married to Krant?! You my sharply observe.

Well, they were wed, but that's a whole different story altogether!

For now, Avanina only has a white kitten, who will keep Avanina company. Although there are many, many companions in World of Warcraft, I only have my heart set on one more: the Firefly. Any more that Avanina finds will be fine and dandy, but I've got grabby hands for that little glowing bug. When I was playing Sec, I ran across a Bogflare Needler and dismounted. I knew that particular Needler would drop a Firefly, and it did. It was the second Needler I'd killed in Zangarmarsh, and I am sad that it is soulbound to Sec, as I am no longer playing her.

One day, that little Firefly will be mine again but until then, Avanina's got an affectionate little kitten to stay by her side.

(Oh, and if you caught the Firefly reference in the title, you earn a cookie! *Dispenses cookie.*)

Wake Up!

2008-04-16T17:09:00.005-04:00

By Elune's Grace, my head is throbbing... What the... Why am I covered in cobwebs!? I must've spent a bit too much time dreaming, ugh... That may explain my voracious appetite.

A figure, hidden in the dim cave's ambiance, slowly stands. Only the golden glow of two eyes reveals a single fact about this individual; it is on the short side, compared to most of the races of Azeroth and the Outlands. The brisk sound of bones popping in series is amplified and echoes throughout the cave. The light shuffling of feet and rustling of cloth state that this individual is on the move, headed towards increasingly warm and fresh-smelling air. The musty smell of stale air is cut by a sudden gust of breeze, hailing in the sweet smell of flora.

"ACHOO!" A feminine sounding tone is echoed down the cave's interior.

Ugh, damned nose... I've been awake for a few moments and already it's giving me grief.

The feminine-sounding creature with golden glowing eyes sniffles and stumbles onwards, kicking a few pebbles as it turns a corner to exit the cave.

"What the fel, that's bright!" Curses the creature to nobody in particular; clearly pained by the sunlight's tender rays of blazing light.

There stands a Kaldorei. It's a female, though being draped in an entirely too baggy robe makes this fact not so evident. Her hair falls down to the female's waist; it is white and holds an opalesce sheen. Her skin is pale and falls somewhere between a gray and blueish tint; this elf has been out of the sun for a long, long while. A purplish, thin line crossing the bridge of her nose breaks out into several diagonal streaks that cross over both of her cheeks in a mirrored pattern. Glowing eyes are also surrounded by sweeping purplish marks.

Damnit, my... Head feels heavy.

Quickly, the elf reaches into her robe and draws out a small dagger made of bone. Hurriedly, the elf grabs at sections of her hair and cuts the length down, repeating the process until her hair ends at chin-level, albeit in a very ragged fashion.

"Much, much better!" The elf proclaims aloud, with perhaps too much glee in her voice.

"I really should go back to Teldrassil, I bet old, er... Mardant is still standing around, wondering where I've been for the past..." the elf glances up at the sky to sight the sun, then down to the shadows cast by trees, clicking her tongue as she ponders, "Hmm... Has it already been a year? Wow! Well, I'd better get going before he starts up on his 'Taeminas, be good!' lecture..."

She shrugs off her large robe to reveal summer apparel, and bounds off in search of her shan'do - her honored teacher.

______________________________________
Apologies for the lack of posts, I hope to be posting more frequently again.

To the left is Taeminas, the Kaldorei (Night Elf) druid I created and finally have gotten to level 10. She's unaffiliated with anyone, nor have I picked a talent spec just yet. For now, she's been wandering around quietly on her own, still very sleepy from a long, long nap.

i has eyebrows!

2008-04-10T18:46:00.015-04:00

Isn't facial hair a pain?

I mean, it's not like I can even do anything about the fact that my eyebrows are horrific looking. Sometimes, I try to remain as expressionless as possible, so that maybe, just maybe, nobody will notice. Of course, with at least one person looking at me for great lengths of time on a regular basis, they're bound to notice. Plus, I can't keep still; I'm always smiling, bouncing in place, or, well, being full of life.

Yet, what can I do? I'm polygonal - there are no tweezers for me.

/sigh

Oh, the woes of the female Night Elf named Taeminas. In Blizzard's art, Night Elves like Taeminas are portrayed one way, but if you catch a glimpse of Taeminas, you can't help but wonder what the heck is wrong with her eyebrows!? Or, maybe that's just me.

... Are you confused yet? They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. So then, let me provide two pictures, for further clarity. Or rather, two sets of screenshots.

This screenshot was created using WoWModelViewer. The model is of my Night Elf, Taeminas (more on her tomorrow.)

Both figures are doing the /shy emote. The model has been rotated so you can better see the face.

On the left figure, you can see the "lower" set of eyebrows - they're very fuzzy. Yet, you can see a second set of eyebrows... Isn't that... odd!

On the right figure, you can see the result of my 5-minute editing job using the smudge tool. Basically, I took out the fuzzy, annoying eyebrows.

Now, I do admit that both the before and after look kind of odd based on the rotation I chose, so let's look at a second, more natural pose.

Here is Taeminas from a very normal resting pose. Again, we have a before and after created simply by removing the fuzzy eyebrows. The difference, to me at least, is not just "el oh el, no more fuzzies!" but the oddly aloof expression is gone. To me, the "after" model better matches the illustrations we see often produced by Blizzard.

The fuzzy eyebrows, I think, were some sort of placement guide. They're drawn onto the skin of the model, while the second set of eyebrows are, for lack of a better term, a separate layer.

(Can you tell that I'm not an expert?)

I think that the fuzzy set of eyebrows aren't necessary. If anything, perhaps they should be thinned down so that they still act as a guide, but do not overstep boundaries to produce an image that is different than much of what Blizzard portrays, as seen [here] for example.

The fuzzy eyebrows is one reason why the Night Elf model started to irk me. With Taeminas, I intentionally picked a skin tone and hair color that I hoped would blend better, making the fuzzies less prominent. Taeminas' appearance is the result of my desire to make a Night Elf model that didn't bug me. Aside from her skin and hair blending, I chose a short hairstyle to avoid clipping; long hairstyles can cut through the cloak model, which seems silly. The face and markings were chosen because I thought they worked well together.

Now, Taeminas' fuzzies are still around ingame of course, but with the help of my trusty FlagRSP description, anyone who reads about Taeminas will learn that her eyebrows have been *gasp* manicured! They're not long and bushy, but look more like humans' eyebrows - they're shorter and thinner. This is the beauty of roleplaying with FlagRSP (or even MyRolePlay).

Blizzards' character creation is rather limited - certainly nowhere compared to Oblivion for example. However, roleplayers don't let the limited choices get them down, no, roleplayers provide a description to bring new life to an otherwise cookie-cutter model.

Blizzard can make improvements to their models and add more choices - as they will in WotLK for hairstyles. Blizzard may even revamp character models entirely one day, allowing for more customization; height, girth, and other such features. Yet in the end, a person's imagination will always be there to break the game's parameters of what a character looks like and make things more interesting.

RP ≠ Really Powerful

2008-04-09T21:59:00.001-04:00

Last night, I was about to log out in Dolanaar* when a Night Elf male ran up to me and said something I just had to screenshot. Take a look...

Finished looking? Okay.

I could've replied in character, over /say, but I wanted to give the fellow what I felt would be a more helpful reply, without confusing them. So, I wrote him up the whisper you see in the screenshot.

Unfortunately, the other player got bored of waiting for a reply and had a fit of the "awaa's" before running off. Now, I know the player claimed to be a noob, so it's possible that they had no idea how whispers worked, though they could've at least attempted some sort of response in /say or even /yell.

What irked and amused me at the same time was:

"Noob" refers to a person who in short, doesn't take the time to learn about something, or acts in a way that annoys others, without caring.

"Newb" refers to a player who is new at something, whether it be a game, sport or even career.

Does this mean that they just admitted they were asking a question to be a pain, or were they not aware of what "noob" actually means? Did they realize they were on a roleplaying server, and that /say is one of those "in character" channels? Why didn't they try looking at WoW's site first? Isn't that the logical thing to do?

WoW is a game, sure, but don't people usually try learn about the game a bit, before they try it? To, you know, make sure they'll enjoy it and even be a bit prepared? Ask people who play, read a review, watch a trailer...?

I want to go around in life, saying, "oh, I didn't know bills had to be paid in a timely manner and yes I'm a noob!" and then not be hit with penalty fees. Delusions of grandeur...? No no... well, yes.

Back to WoW!

Now, yes, the person could've taken a minute to do a search on WoW's site for "mount". However, the impression I got from this player is that they aren't interested in roleplaying. They just wanted their answer, quickly. This player probably doesn't know what (RP) stands for, and I've the hunch they don't care.

As such, I realize that there are several ways that Blizzard tries to distinguish and even explain the what a Roleplaying server actually is, but...

On WoW's front page, under the Game Guide section, we have the Getting Started -> Realm Types links. Very straight-forward, but not everyone browses the Game Guide section before rolling their first character, so the Realm Types page doesn't always get noticed.

Alright, what about the Roleplaying Policy page? It's even more obscure; the easiest way to stumble on this page is to actually view the Realm Types page and skim/read through to the Role-Playing Realms section.

What about the WoW Game Manual? Well, I've looked through the manual packaged with the "standard" WoW, and there is no section mentioning roleplaying to any extent. Chapter 11 of the manual does discuss server types, but it states that there are only 2 kinds: PvP or Normal. I think that the manual should have briefly made note of what the various appellations are, just as the Realm Types page does. In short: explain what "RP", "RP-PvP", "PvP" and "PvE" means. Simple?

TBC Game Manual? It only addresses what's in the expansion, which makes sense: You can't play WoW by only installing TBC. Why would the TBC manual explain how the basic features of the game work?

When you load WoW, sometimes the game will try to suggest a realm for you - usually this occurs when you try and pick a server even though all servers are down. When you choose your country, you can also choose the server type and this is where you get a snippit of a description. Most of the time, this part goes unnoticed, or doesn't even occur.

In most cases, a new player logging in for the first time will be greeted with a very long list of realm names. Each realm is tagged (RP)/(PvP)/et cetera. Now, this should be a dead giveaway for anyone who has heard of such acronyms before. Maybe, just maybe, they haven't.

In which case, my grand conclusion is that some people think that (RP) stands for "Really Powerful" and therefore they roll their first character on a (RP) server, thinking that they will surely be "Really Powerful" in no time at all!

Or, you know, I could just be trying to think up ways to avoid accepting the fact that some people don't care about gaming, aside from their desire to rush in and wtfpwn?

In the end, I'll keep trying to be helpful. Sometimes it works and whenever someone actually takes a moment to /whisper back "What's RP?", I can't help but smile and hope that they may get a bit interested in playing the game from a different perspective.

*I was in Dolanaar because I made a Night Elf, gasp!

P.S: The GM ticket generated by NameViolation was to report some advertising toons. Take that, you evil bots!

P.P.S: I respect people who don't roleplay, so long as they are not intentionally trying to ruin others' fun. This may have sounded like a rant, but the purpose of this entry was to organize my thoughts on why people seemingly roll on the wrong server for them. I thought of the phrase "RP ≠ Really Powerful" a while back, and this situation fit the glove in my opinion.

Currently used addons.

2008-04-08T09:32:00.005-04:00

Ever since I realized that the game's default User Interface (UI) could be altered through addons, I was hooked. I refuse to play on the default UI; it is too clunky for my liking. My quest for finding addons is ongoing, so the following list may become dated, with addons being replaced or removed completely. This is a very long list, but many of these addons are small in size. Right now, I am running at 23mb in addon memory, with Blizzard's client taking up roughly half of that.

Align: This addon places a (sizable) grid on your screen so you can align your UI components.

AzCastBar: My alternative to Quartz. ACB provides various bars so you can keep track of cast times including a flight bar.

Baud Auction: Provides improvements to the Auction House frame. Makes the frame movable, view "price per", et cetera.

Baud Bag: Customizable bag combining options, rarity colorization and more.

Baud Error Frame: Keeps addon, XML and taint errors from popping up in the middle of your screen. Errors go to a movable minimap button; great for reporting addon errors to authors.

Bongos2: One of many, many action bar addons. Will allow you to customize, hide or show action bars and certain UI elements. I will eventually switch to Bongos3.

Bookworm: Will automatically record pages from books and other readable objects you may view in the game. You can then view saved information whenever you'd like.

Butsu: Simple replacement loot frame. It is less bulky than the default loot frame. Movable by holding alt+dragging the frame.

Cala copypasta: A simple addon that gives you a copy and paste option when using color pickers in addons.

Cellular: Displays whispers in an IM-style window, including tabbed conversations. Simpler than WIM.

CloseUp: Allows you to zoom and rotate character models in such frames as the tabard designer and auction house dressing room.

Contemplate: Toggles enemy nameplate based on combat status. I got tired of hitting "v" and stumbled upon this gem.

CyCircled: Will allow you to skin buttons. This works with several addons, including Bongos2. Additional skins can be downloaded separately.

eePanels2: Allows you to import images or create frames. I've used this to create panels behind various UI elements; these panels act as backgrounds and borders. kgPanels is the successor to this addon.

Examiner: Lets you inspect users and cache the results. Also allows you to view/zoom/rotate models that you are inspecting, such as monsters, players and NPCs. I have Examiner keybound to "I" for easy usage.

Fane: Changes the appearance of the chat tabs. This is only customizable through .lua altering.

Fizzwidget AdSpace: Good ol' Fizzwidget! Always looking out for us. AdSpace will tell you if a pattern/recipe/etc can be purchased from a vendor. Great for avoiding overpriced patterns in the auction house.

Fizzwidget Hunter's Helper: With 2.4, Hunter's Helper provides the user with a window that lists pet abilities and the animals required to tame them. This also replaces the default pet training window. Very handy, in my opinion.

FlagRSP2: My roleplaying addon of choice. I won't compare this to MRP in this post, because I think the topic deserves its own. This can also be found on Curse.com if WoWAce isn't loading.

FluidFrames: Allows you to move or size frames ingame. I use this to make my minimap frame a bit larger, instead of setting the entire UI to a larger scale.

GatherMate: Similar to Cartographer, this addon will collect node locations for treasure, ore, herbs, fish and gas clouds. You can also import node locations by installing and importing GatherMateData. This addon works with Mapster.

Hat Trick: Allows you to check/uncheck (in the character frame!) whether or not you want to hide or show your cape and helm. Blizzard should have gone this route.

IgnoreDuel: Er... automatically ignores duels. You can still initiate a duel without problem. No more "lawl, im lvl 6 but i wnat to duel u cuz ur liek 20 lvls higher!"

LightHeaded: Tired of alt-tabbing to view quest details in WoWhead? Get LightHeaded!

Lithe Tooltip Doctor: Lets you reposition the tooltip. Does not customize the tooltip.

Lore: Allows you to speak in predefined languages. A roleplaying gem. One can also make their own languages and apply speech impediments (such as s-stuttering or hissssing.)

LynStats: Displays fps, time, latency, mail, experience and addon memory usage in a simple line of text. Can be edited through .lua. Very easy to remove elements (like mail indicator.)

Mapster: Similar to Cartographer. Allows for world map customization, removes the fog of war (blacked out zones) and works with GatherMate.

NameViolation: Great addon if you want to take an active role in maintaining your roleplay server's environment, or just for reporting names that are offensive. This creates an appropriate ticket for you to send to a GM very easily, and allows you to store multiple names. Play WoW, add names to the list, and before you log, send in a ticket.

NefRadar: Changes the minimap blips to nice little squares.

NeonChat: Colorized the chat frame and/or chatbox depending on what channel you will be speaking in. Also works for custom channel colors. Helps to avoid /yelling /say for example.

nSpam: No longer will I be frustrated by those "you can't do that yet" type messages on my screen in mean red.

oGlow: Adds rarity coloring to item icons.

Omen: A must for raiders, useful for those who actually care about not pulling threat from the tank and ending up as a smear on the ground. Omen... It's a threat meter.

OmniCC: Adds cooldown counter text over items and spells.

OptionHouse: Lists all addons, lets you view their efficiency, and disable/enable via load on demand ability or reloading the UI.

pBuff: Skins Blizzard's buff buttons and allows you to move them. Also adds time remaining. Seems the link is down.

PetEmote: Lets your pet speak! (Well, kind of.) Read my "Su's Su" post for more information.

PhanxChat: Various tweaks for your chatting experience; shorten channel names, change font size, etc. A new version is in beta testing.

PitBull: Heavily customizable unitframes. Unitframes being those frames that display your health, the target's health, etc...

Postal: Gives you more control over your inbox. Can automatically fill in guild members' names for example.

QButtons: Hate having to look through your bag to find that quest item you've got to use before 10 mobs smack the daylight out of you? QButtons will automatically pop that item onto your screen, where you can reposition it and use it quickly. Great for saving action bar slots, as the icon won't stick around when the item is used or turned in.

QuestIon: Quest tracker that's customizable and movable. Also adds information on the tooltip so when you hover of X mob, you can easily see how many more of them you must smite before you're done.

Rawr!: Did you know that all of the "old-world" (pre-TBC) races have an audio clip for the /roar emote? Of course you didn't - Blizzard got lazy and didn't code the audio clips to fire whenever you did the emote! Well, download Rawr! and /roar to your heart's content! Seems Blizzard got cheap/lazy/forgetful and didn't ask the Sin'dorei and Draenei voice actors to roar, so this addon won't work if you're trying to use it as a Sin'dorei (BE) or Draenei. :(

RecipeBook: Keeps track of what alts know what recipes, and what recipes you have stored in banks or bags.

SimpleGold: Displays your gold in a bar with changeable background color. Mousing over this will display total gold for all characters, with gold breakdown.

tekJunkSeller: Automatically sells gray items when you visit a vendor.

TekKompare: Lets you easily compare 2 items' tooltips (equipped and whatever you're mousing over).

TeksLoot: Replaces the bulky loot roll frame with something sleek and movable. Very simple.

TomTom: Works alongside LightHeaded to let you map coordinates and have them appear as blips on your map. Also provides an arrow, for GPS-like navigation.

Toons: Log into all of your alts after installing this addon, and it will now be able to display all sorts of information, including how much gold they have, what their professions are, what guild they're in, etc.

Tracksw: Works alongside GatherMate to automatically switch your tracking depending on how close you are to a node. Toggle tracking herbs and minerals with ease. Customizable, of course.

TradeTabs: Finally have tabbed browsing between cooking, first aid, and all of your other professions.

Valuation: Displays an item's monetary worth in the tooltip.

Another...? Sure!

2008-04-07T21:12:00.006-04:00

Yesterday, I mentioned an alt, but did not introduce her. Today, behold!

Her name is Mahinva, her cat is named Wicket, and if you're very observant, you'd realize that she's a hunter. Which means I've got 2 hunters now!

Mahinva, the hunter, is a character over a year in the making. For this tale, we must think back to the day when The Burning Crusade was released, or rather, a few months before.

[[Initiate Flashback.]]

I remember viewing TBC's "trailer" website daily, waiting to see if any new screenshots or concept art was released. Most of the screenshots were of scenery, and a couple were of characters. This was all well and good, until I saw a screenshot of a female character, sitting down very quaintly by the water's edge. This was the first time a screenshot of a female Draenei was released, and I was impressed!

Instantly, I wished that Blizzard would hand out "race change" tokens or some such, just so I could transform Sec into a Draenei. Of course, Blizzard would never do such a thing, and I wasn't about to roll yet another hunter, when I was already busy with Sec!

My husband and I purchased TBC the night it came out and rolled a couple of Draenei, just to see how things were. Do you remember the bustling zone of Azurmyst Isle? Oh, the lag, the crappy fps, the horror! I think I rolled a shaman, while my husband rolled a paladin (if not mistaken.) My memory of these details is vague because we only ended up playing the game for a week after the expansion came out. It was not a leave we wanted to take, but life sometimes calls for such decisions.

When we returned to WoW, roughly 9 months later, we rerolled Draenei characters in the hopes of getting a bit further than we did before.

Mahinva the shaman was deleted and became Mahinva the paladin. I had never played a paladin before, and I thought that it would compliment my husband's Draenei hunter. Things were good until we decided to return to our mains, meaning I picked up Sec again. Mahinva mainly sat idle. She still sits on Sentinels, to this day.

[[End Flashback.]]

At present, I found myself on a new server, with a spacious roster. I had no Alliance characters, and so the decision to make my Draenei hunter was a very quick and easy one. I certainly don't mind to have another hunter, as both are on different factions and will get to experience the game in slightly different ways. I do not mind to reuse the name, as I am fond of it. The same goes for Mahinva's background. This, yes, is probably cheating, in terms of roleplay creativity. However, Mahinva's brief background never grew to involve other individuals; I had intentionally left it very open.

By intentionally having a broad and shallow background, I have avoided constricting this character. Usually, I'd much rather conjure another idea, as it's good exercise for the imagination, but as it currently stands, I've got a nice base from which to grow upon at a casual pace.

Personally, I don't like to think up a very precise background to a character, as I'd rather let the surroundings around the character help to shape, rather than have a pre-defined mold.

I'll get around to posting my characters' backgrounds, which tend to be very brief, even just a one-liner. As all of these characters on Moon Guard are new, they haven't seen too much, done too much, or interacted with too many people.

Oh yeah, tomorrow is Maintenance Tuesday. Maybe it won't be a repeat of last Tuesday.

Urge-supressor or Instigator?

2008-04-06T19:56:00.001-04:00

The culprit: WoW Model Viewer.
The crime: Aiding the imagination.

Today, I was minding my own business and leveling one of my alts (I'll introduce her on Monday), when I happened upon a male Night Elf rogue, running around and doing his thing. Turning in quests? Picking up quests? Scouting out a suitable location to engage in some /dance? I'm not really sure, though I am thankful that there was no /dance.

As I'm still getting used to the server, I sometimes reminisce about my characters on Sentinels. In seeing that Night Elf rogue, my thoughts wandered to Sec, my Night Elf hunter who I've not played in months. She is my most accomplished character, although she hasn't even hit 70. Perhaps one day I will be able to buy a ticket for her to ride the Transfer Express, but until then, she sits in limbo. I've always had a love-hate relationship with Sec, mainly because I never realized that the Night Elf models had annoying flaws until after rolling her and realizing the "kinks" many levels later. Right now, my Moon Guard roster lacks any Night Elves, because of the fact that aesthetically, I decided that they were annoying.

Yet, seeing this Night Elf rogue caused the cogs in my head to creak and turn. The grand result of my skewed thought process was that I had to load up WoW Model Viewer and see if there was a model I could produce that would avoid the "kinks" as best as possible.

Of course, before I even created my first character on Moon Guard, I decided that I would not hastily stuff my roster full. So much for that. Impulse prevails!

I load up WoW Model Viewer and start pushing buttons.

For anyone not familiar with WoW Model Viewer, it is an application that lets you view 3D models of characters, items, creatures and environments. You can not only view models, but you can also view their various animation sequences, if they have any. You can even put characters on mounts and design tabards without worrying about in-game lighting conditions. Did I mention that the mounts aren't restricted? Have you ever wanted to see a Tauren on a Mechanostrider? You can with WMV!

WMV is wonderful, unless you're trying to restrain your alt-making habits. WMV allows the user to zoom in and see characters' details in a manner that WoW's character customization screen doesn't. With WMV, I can actually, easily tell the difference from one Night Elf face to the next. Facial details are also easier to see, whether they be Blood Elf earrings or Night Elf markings. When The Burning Crusade was released, I was rather disappointed that the character customization screen wasn't improved upon, though of course, the staff already had their hands full with everything else.

I've come up with a Night Elf that looks nice and probably wouldn't irk me. I'm happy to see that I could roll a "nice" looking Night Elf, but knowing isn't satisfying enough. No.

Now I have to.

Su's Su.

2008-04-03T19:48:00.009-04:00

Say hello to Su and Sae.

Su's the tall one, Sae's the furry one.

Su's full name is "Sunadisa". "Sae" remains as is.

Sunadisa is one of the characters I have been playing as an alt to Avanina. In this screenshot, she and her Lynx are level 14. I'd be using a creative term to replace "level" but I'm talking out of character (OOC). Isn't roleplaying (or lack thereof) awesome!? Aside... While my last and most accomplished character was a Marksman hunter, Su is studying how to be strong, through her pet's strength. Or was it "Sae will become strong through Su's strength"...? Suffice to say, she's climbing the Beast Mastery tree.

[[We interrupt this blog post for a plug. Commence Plug!]]

Either way, this decision came from reading BigRedKitty's blog. If you are a hunter, read it. If you're not a hunter, read it. BRK's blog is thoroughly educational and entertaining!

[[Conclude Plug!]]

I've had hunters in the past, and have always enjoyed roleplaying them because the pet itself can add more detail and interest to whatever is going on. Perhaps the hunter is friends with someone, but their pet doesn't like that someone and decides to growl, hiss, or even worse.... defecate on them. Oh no!

I can /em for my hunter, but also for my pet. Traditionally, emoting for one's pet might be typed as such:

/em 's pet, (PET NAME), (DOES SOME STUFF).

or perhaps,

/em watches (PET NAME) (DO MORE STUFF).

There has been a wonderful addon, aptly named "PetEmote", available to hunters and warlocks since mid-2006. I thoroughly love this addon - I've used it since it was released and never want to see it stop working. I will save further gushing about this addon for a later date, as to dispense my mind-numbing ranting in easy-to-absorb doses. Savvy!?

I have no idea why Blizzard has never added the /pet command for making a pet look like it is emoting. My guess is that Blizzard coders do not want to program something that could be misused by players to slander others. A misuse might be:

/pet is a (insert obligatory swear word here).

Where the pet is named after a guildmate the hunter may not like. Very petty, yes, but that's how some people are.

Su's not that type of girl, don't you worry. Su's biggest problem is the fact that she has a poor command of language in general. Poor girl.

Curse you!

2008-04-02T17:37:00.007-04:00

To the right, is Mrs. Avanina Sin'raine Janus.

In this screenshot, she is level (season/year/etc) 16.

She is a Warlock.

She also is a clone.

Avanina's polygonal form first took a breath of pixelated (er, sure?) life on the Sentinels RP server. I decided to roll her during a time of hiatus. While my husband took a break from WoW, I refrained from playing my main (Alliance) character because I didn't want to outlevel his character. I had a great time playing the original Avanina; got her midway through the 40's with casual play and next to no instances run.

When my husband decided to play WoW again, I brought up the idea of starting on a new server, especially since my brother decided he wanted to try out the game. I did a bit of snooping and said "hai, lets go roll on teh MG!" Or at least, that's how it sounded in my mind...

Unfortunately, there was no justification for spending $25 to transfer Avanina over to a new server. Avanina was not an acomplished character, nor would her prior roleplay existence mesh with the addition of my husband's character. I could've just ignored the bit of background I had previously made for her, but I wanted to level alongside my husband.

Avanina Version 2.0 was created on Moon Guard - and there was much rejoicing. Well, not really.

Mrs. Avanina Sin'raine Janus (surname compliments of my husband's imagination) is leveling casually; being played alongside my husband's rogue, Mr. Krant Ian Janus. Avanina is currently following the Affliction tree, just as her prototype did - though Destruction may prove more efficient for the class combination. Avanina also likes to sew, cook, fish and fling rocks about in the mad search for precious ore.

She is fluent in Orcish, Thalassian, and Demonic - the third being courtesy of an addon called Lore. More on Lore, and other roleplaying addons to come in a full and proper post.

As far as her origins and backstory goes, I'll save that for another time.

el oh el, it's April Fool's!

2008-04-01T00:21:00.002-04:00

Ah yes, the wonderful first day of April, when one is either bombarded with trickery the moment they get out of bed, or the moment one turns on their computer. Or, well, any time in between - jokes follow no schedule or boundary.

This proves true for Blizzard Entertainment. Once again, many find themselves (okay, myself included) staring at the newly posted updates at WoW's illustrious website. Bards?! Molten Core!?

Wait, bards?

"That would be... rather neat!" I say to myself.

Of course, I already know it's a trap!

With a heavy heart, I ignore delving into the information page and skip straight to the realm forums. Where I am greeted by swapped avatars and automatically-formatted lol-ness.

This must be a sign, surely it is. The thought has crossed my mind, and yet, I have refrained. Thanks to Blizzard's April Fool's prank, the concept of this blog is pulled forth from the depths of my mind, kicking and screaming and covered in brain-goo... what?

Here, I will record my thoughts on what matters to me in World of Warcraft - roleplaying. Okay, and maybe some other WoW-related things too...

Welcome.