It took me 15 years to come back to the fear of school after I dropped out all together. I like to think that with some encouragement and the right guidance my choices would have been different, but then I feel that I am just lying to myself.

My eyes were opened that I couldn’t live in the existence that I was when I met Jokes(my prince charming). He believed in me when I couldn’t believe in myself. Over and over again I have proven that I am well worth the challenge. I got my GED. I excelled in college with only one B since the beginning of my associates degree. Yet, lingering in the background is this dread that I am not good enough or wise enough to continue. What if I fail? Run. Run and forget about it. Get away from the challenge then you can’t fail. Then, I remember why I am fighting this battle. Jokes, my family, my friends they all believe in me even when I can not believe in myself.

I face a challenge this semester that has my blood screaming for release. It makes me ill to think about what I face. Though with each passing moment I feel failure setting in. I want to succeed but I drag my feet so that things become so difficult that I can barely face them. I must continue.. if not for my sake, for them.

Back when I was playing my hunter as my main character I had a goal of obtaining 50 mounts for the Leading the Calvary achievement. I really liked the albino drake that came with gaining that achievement. After gaining all the big city reputations and working Netherwing rep I still had not made the achievement. Then, I left game for a much needed hiatus to straighten out some real life issues.

Just recently I have been reacquainted with my old goal. This time I am playing my priest instead. She has had the advantage of having the Argent Tournament to help her with reputation issues as well as a few new mounts to obtain. This made getting to my goal that much easier. With a little patience and a purse filled with gold I was able to finally get my mount count to my goal of 50 mounts. I could not wait to get to my mailbox to pick up my new Albino Drake, pictured below.

Does this end the madness? Of course not! I am now setting the higher goal of achieving the Mountain o’ Mounts achievement. To complete this I will need 100 mounts. It is certainly doable, but will require a lot more work on my part. I also think I will jump on my hunter to check out how many more mounts (shouldn’t be many) for her to get the Albino Drake. This is all kind of exciting to me since my game play hit a short brick wall. I was running out of things I could do while playing with out a crew of people to tag along with.

On a brief side note: I have been invited on a few occasions now to run Northrend raids along with weekly randoms and adventuring into older places like Karazhan. Many thanks to those that have reached out to me. It is much appreciated.

Back to the mounts topic.. Here is a photo of my favorite flying mount in game that I have acquired. I look forward to trying to top it in the future. I might need a hand or two along the way.. just a warning. /smile

If you are lucky you can run into some highly coveted loot cards like the Spectral Tiger mount. These loot cards bridge the connection between the World of Warcraft online game and the Trading Card game. The code on your loot card is entered into the loot retrieval system which in turn gives you a code to use in game to recover your prize. You must make sure that you have room in your pack or else you will be forever screwed.

The loot card the guy gave me was probably left overs from another event they hosted. It was still very nice of them to share. I got the Tiny Ivory Raptor mount which comes with a slight penalty. You can only use it 50 times and then it poofs. Some of the loot cards have those restrictions while there are others that remain permanent.

Loot Cards range from companion pets, mounts, to other fun things such as the Ogre Pinata that gives out bubble gum for your character to chew and blow bubbles with. If you decided not to use a loot card it could be a very valuable trading card or even a means to some monetary profit.

With my recent purchase of a Class Starter Deck I received the Sandbox Tiger loot card. It is a toy ride that resembles a spring loaded kiddie park ride. I thought it was hilarious and couldn’t wait to give it to my character. It is kinda like a mini spectral tiger. Although I didn’t get a mount card, I am happy with the learning experience along with the new adventures that still await.

]]> http://laraeven.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=430 0 http://laraeven.com/blog/?p=413 http://laraeven.com/blog/?p=413#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:43:36 +0000 Laraeven http://laraeven.com/blog/?p=413

Through the grapevine (Twitter) I heard that the WoW TCG game was going to give out Spectral Tiger mounts through a Spectral Safari tournament. After researching it for a short bit I noticed that there was a location within 10 mins of my house that was going to host a Safari. That set the wheels into motion that led me to be at the local gaming shop yesterday 3 hours before the tournament. I have been intrigued with the WoW TCG game, but never really had an “in” to explore that option. The guys down at the gaming shop were doing demos before the tournament. I wasn’t sure what to expect or if it would turn out to be a dead end.

Although we were not openly welcomed upon arrival (only girls around), my daughter and I entered the shop and found where they were doing the demo. Two gentlemen were in the middle of a game so I watched intent on picking up what it was about. It looked like it was all in a foreign language. I totally didn’t have a clue what they were talking about or even who was winning. It did look very intriguing and .. hard! I thought instantly that I should probably just go home and try to strike up a random pug group for the weekly. That in itself would be challenge enough on a Saturday. Even though I wanted to scream and run my feet would not move from their planted location. The guys finished there game. After I was told to have a seat, I decided that I might as well be open about my stupidity and get it over with.

After a brief explanation of the cards and some of the rules involved I refused to play. Instead I offered that they should play again and I watch with a better understanding. I knew then it was something I wanted to learn how to do. The problem was that my social phobia was gaining the best of me. My fight or flight reaction was swallowing me whole. I told the demo guy after the match that I wanted to buy my own starter class set to take home. I knew that once I got home to chill my nerves I could look up the game and learn more on my own. The demo guy had a few loot cards that he let me chose one from. I wasn’t sure if he was supposed to do that so I quickly shoved the card in my pocket being careful not to hurt it. I was then directed to the front counter where I purchased my first set. I told the guys hanging about that either I would get it and come back or they would just never see me again. I was amazed that the demo guy didn’t run off after showing me to the counter. He told me that they play on Thursdays and that I was welcome to join them any time. I explained that I have classes on Thursdays so he then said that I could come on a Saturday to play him.

I have come a long way with my priest. She is now geared up ready to rock n’ roll with raiding groups. I love playing her and have come to think of her as my main character. My husband and I roll randoms with a few friends every night. I have become a pretty well oiled killing machine with my priest. It really does feel like wow’s version of Guitar Hero. I have pretty good timing to execute my damage with very little clipping of active spells, even as a clicker.

Since I am ready for raiding why the heck am I wasting my time with heroic randoms. There is a very easy explanation for that. Heroics are my comfort blanket. I know the fights and where to stand. Even dealing with pugs does not bother me too much. If I were to jump into a random weekly I would feel completely lost and like I was drowning. I haven’t had the opportunity to see nax or any of the NR raiding dungeons past the front entrances. The unknown people surrounding me rushing with no time to do a run down or care if you are new scares the shit out of me. I really would like to find a group of people willing to raid on a regular basis with out being too hard core, however, being socially inept really makes that hard to do. I thought about applying to a raiding guild, but honestly it would have to be a group that needs my husband as well. He would have an easier time getting into a group since he is great as a druid tree. Then I realized .. Shadow isn’t everything.

After a brief moment of time to think it over I dual specced my priest into a bubble master disc. I have already collected a second set of gear, that is actually better then my shadow set. Next, I will need to find some addons to play around with to set up for a bit of practice. What little time I have spent as disc already wets my appetite for more. Pretty soon I will start running my husband’s level 70 pally through some normal NR dungeons for practice. No, I am not turning my back on being a shadow priest. I am just extending my resume. If I don’t get in on the raiding scene this go around I have faith that with Cataclysm there will be a new wave to catch. I really feel like I missed the boat this time. Now to make some new friends to embarrass myself in front of *cough* .. er I mean play with. .

For me, my only argument is that I can’t fix the name attached to my account to go by my name I use in real life. Instead, it says that I am Ruth Smith. That may be the case on legal docs, but honestly no one knows me by that name at all. So, when I do show up on someone’s RealID they see Ruth. I have been avoiding this name my whole life. Ruth was my grandmother. I have been known as Rae for years now. I went in to my account to see if I could change it to read Rae. The system won’t let me change it. /sigh I will just have to keep explaining that I am not Ruth. Could be worse .. my account could be in my husband’s name.

As far RealID .. what a pain in the ass! Let it be a choice for those that want to use it. For those that don’t .. they just won’t have the same credibility in my eyes. This is a wave towards the future. If you don’t want to ride it there are other gaming companies to go with. I think Blizzard would get a big hint if they lost a bunch of subscribers because of RealID. I just don’t see that happening though.

Edit: Thought I would share that Blizzard has retracted their idea to mandate Real ID on the forums. The idea really did stir the pot.

When you meet someone in real do you shake their hand and say hi, I can’t tell you my name because it is a security risk? No. I find it almost annoying when I run across people that are so guarded online that they can’t even say Hi, my name is Bob. I can understand security and protecting your identity. I can understand not wanting to get hacked. I can also understand that you like to go by a screen name or nick name. I will call you Whodoneit if that is what you want, it really doesn’t matter if that is really your birthname. I think that the name itself isn’t what bugs me the most. It is the whole cloak and daggers routine that I see over and over because of ill informed people that think that everyone on the internet is out to get them to a point that they can’t even let their guard down to make friends.

If I have known you for over 6 months and talk to you on a daily basis I start to consider you a friend. With the new RealID network I can share with you my email and keep intouch with you on multiple servers or even if you are connected to another game. I personally don’t have any issues with the RealID network. If I don’t want to be bothered I will put that I am busy or whatever. IF you are my friend you will understand that. I think this is a great feature because over the last few years I have changed my “character/screenname” so much that it is hard to keep up with even who I am at times. I think that is why I started putting my name in almost all my alternative aliases. Ok so anywho I am getting off track. What is really in a name anyway? As long as I know who it is I am talking to the name doesn’t really matter.

The name game with whos alts match with whos mains is pretty much cleared up using RealID. It lets you know that your friend is on and that is truly what matters. If sharing your name online really bothers you to the point that you don’t want to keep in touch with your friends maybe you should re-evaluate why you have friends. For me maybe this hits a nerve because I play the person I am in game and out. I am a real person with feelings and not just some pixel dust that plays with you. If you want that then maybe staying offline and playing single player video games would suite your needs better. For those reading this that are real people too I applaud you for it. It is ok to RP, but when the mask comes off don’t be afraid to let the credits roll.

I was reminded of a personal dread in game last night. When I see someone mark in a dungeon these days I am thrilled. It is almost a lost art form for 5 mans. Anything more than skull and X marking is usually an accident. So when my eyes ran across a blue square my heart dropped. When my hunter hit level 70, right around the time Wrath of the Lich King was released, my husband and I were invited on our first raid. I had not learned how to crowd control properly, and was told that when I see that blue square that it was my target to trap. Thank God there was another hunter in the raid party because my timing and traps were all over the place. What is sad is that even as I got better at chain trapping there were a few in the guild that never trusted my traps and would often screw them up. The horrors of that night always fill my head when I see that little blue box no matter if I am on my hunter or my new S. priest.

Oddly enough, proper crowd control is a mechanic I would love to see come back to game. The only place that I am using any form of crowd control is with my S. priest in Trial of the Champion. When the black knight sends out his ghoul in the beginning I try to shackle it. Sometimes it works and other times I have to try it again. It just reminds me of how much fun it is to have a piece of the action that is mine to deal with. I don’t want things to get as bad as some of the BC mechanics where if you didn’t have a certain class you couldn’t continue through the dungeon, but to see a little bit of that old play style come back would be nice. I know that many of the newer players would have to learn things that they probably don’t even know their character is capable of. I would welcome a chance at seeing that dreaded little blue square again.

One of my biggest issues lately in my search for gear upgrades has become the accumulation of too much Hit. I am not talking about having 49 points over or something measly like that. I am swaggering closer and closer to that 500 mark. I only need to have 289 hit according to a friend’s guide at Beneath Two Skies. After setting up a gear wishlist and randomly collecting any upgrades that fell at my feet, I am drowning in hit.

My options are to calculate my gear and look at upgrades to see what I should get to trade out on the next few gear pickups to help balance my character or to continue going down the “oh this looks good” route which led me into the Hit dilemma. I agree with what Darthregis has said on one of my other posts, Gearing a Fresh 80, Min/Max’ers may say never go over hit cap if you don’t have to. Me, on the other hand, I like to have my options open.

I choose to go a route between my two options. I am going to review my upgrade wish list and see if I can pick out some balancing pieces now that I have 4 T-9 gear pieces. It is time to start playing in the big leagues finding raids to be a part of. That doesn’t go to say that I will ever turn down an upgrade if the other stats out-weigh the piece I have on as long as it doesn’t take my Hit down below cap. I am not going to be one of those that freak out just because I have a soft buffer over my Hit cap either. As Darthregis also pointed out, you never know when you are going to find an upgrade that will affect your Hit rating. ]]> http://laraeven.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=255 6 http://laraeven.com/blog/?p=298 http://laraeven.com/blog/?p=298#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:52:28 +0000 Laraeven http://laraeven.com/blog/?p=298    A few of us in the guild finally got the achievement “Looking for Multitudes.” If you have ever been in a random dungeon group you probably know that all types of people are represented. This can be a great thing or make your experience filled with horrors. Lohwa, my husband’s resto druid, has been healing for me since I got my S. priest to Northrend. We started with normal level dungeons as I climbed my way to 80. Then, we moved on to the harder Heroic mode dungeons. This has been a growing experience for both of us. When we played WoW the first time around our guild always gathered for Heroics so we never got to see other classes, other than the regular guildmates, in action. The only tank we played with was a pally and one of the officer’s wifey that was learning to be a warrior tank. I never knew how a DK or feral bear handled themselves.

  We did however pick up skills that helped in the random pugs. These are simple things that we don’t really think about these days: watch your footing, target what the tank is hitting, watch your aggro, and be careful where you stand. With the random dungeon group I have learned that not everyone has been taught these basic dungeon rules. What ever can go wrong might just happen so be on guard for that one groupie that feels the need to run in unannounced. Being that my char is a S. priest means that I have the ability to save face in the odd instance that Lohwa just can’t keep up. Sometimes this helps us avoid a complete wipe even if the other 3 groupies are unaware of what could have happened.

  The best part of running randoms is when you get that group that just gels together and you keep going after that initial run is complete. I think the most random replay I have seen is 4 dungeons in a row with almost the same line up. When that happens you just wish everyone was on your server so that you can gather again at a later date. We have made a few friends from our server via randoms. One has become a dear friend that we group with regularly. We would probably join their guild if we didn’t have our own to look out for.

  The worst randoms I have been in were when two or more members have started fighting each other. This is never a good thing and usually ends in a wipe. The bickering over gear or who did what to cause issues just ends up making me want to leave group. I hardly ever do it though. Most of the time it comes down to a vote or just plugging away to make it through the run. There have been some assholes along the way that went Jenkins on us running wildly through the whole dungeon then poofing once the party is connected with his madness. The other kind of asshole is the one that rolls need on ever single loot even when he doesn’t need it at all. Losing gear to that kind of person really sucks.

 For the most part my experience has been good. I look forward to the next 100 with my little perky pug in tow.