Stories from the Nether

And so it begins...

2009-10-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

I mean, really. How excited am I for new soul shard system?
Pretty damn much.

How nervous am I that it makes me not enjoy Warlock?
not at all. As long as I get to fry brains practice dark magic and kick people I don't mind. Now what about your class? Worried, nervous? I don't blame you- doesn't mean your unloyal to your class for being worried, but sometimes I do get very attached to my class, sometimes I totally ignore all the other classes and only look at the warlock changes.

Sometimes, Only Sometimes;

But it happens none the less. And Then I think-- Is this classes as RP'ing? Surely not, because "I'm not talking like Medieval riff-raff, dear reader of the nether. Now then, Would you care to help me sly a dragon oh noble warrior?". But yet sometimes I get touchy about my class as if it was family, me, my profession- and I rejoice when things go right for my class.

What is this?

Who needs Content to Walk a Dog.

2009-08-16T17:51:00.001-07:00

Who needs content to walk a dog. And by dog I mean doggy, and by doggy I mean Anachronos.

Anachronos you say? Big dragon outside of Caverns of Time(Tanaris)? Why- he'd bite your head off given the chance......2 Expansions ago. But now we're bigger then him and we bullied him out of his resting place all the way to....Orgrimmar. Orgrimmar in Durotar, and whats more amazing is why we did it.

Me and a few friends were about to engulf in a Heroic CoT: Stratholme run (my first as a Restoration Shaman, ding 80 btw!) when we went to the summoning stone to summon our 0ther comrades! As we finished summoning everybody my friends had the awesome idea (it was not my idea, I was worried about healing). They wanted to attack Anachronos! but why not, would be a 'but of fun' before the heroic. But it didn't end there. Out of impulse, we decided to kite it all the way to Gadgetzan, and it worked. But again, it didn't stop there.

We decided, again out of fun, madness and impulse to kite it ALL the way to Orgrimmar. Its amazing. All the content in the world and we're kiting a level 60(?? specifically) dragon to Orgrimmar, another reason why I love WoW- and if you're intrested in the video, here it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMhmizWpn9E

Of course, we're not the only muppets who've done it, but it just felt so fun. And yet so unproductive in terms of WoW. Great fun, please share anything live this you've done :).

Impending Vanity.

2009-07-10T05:19:00.001-07:00

So- here we are. Ulduar has been out quite a long time now- considering, and Naxxaramas is almost considered deceased, so how has my armoured evolved since? Quite simply, patchy.

My DPS, in my honest opinion is fantastic considering the lack of Ulduar epics I've had- I'm still coming 2nd or 3rd at least on DPS, but the only thing that troubles me is that now I'm starting to get Tier 8, I'm also becoming a battle of the ages.

I'm half Naxx tier, Half Ulduar. It looks OK, but at the same time strange. Its like two era's fighting for recognition- its bizarre. Having said that i quite like the look, it shows I'm seasoned in both places, like a warrior carrying the barrier of the decease yet still fighting in the new scenarios brought to him.

I also love the set bonus on both, but I've now lost the (4) set bonus on the tier 7, which grants 300 spirit (which is lovely if you've also got the lifetap glyph, I recommend to every warlock).

So, all i want now is some tier 8 shoulder to compleate my evil dracula look, and will rid me of tier 7 for all it seems, but will remain in my bank, as it looks fantastic when your killing people. :).

Long live warlocks.
Kromus.

P.s Yogg-saron is getting better, 40% so far!

Yoggy Yogurt Pot.

2009-06-30T05:05:00.000-07:00

I'm excited-- again. No way. Its been a while, whats causing all this excitement?

The possibility of a wipefest.

Ever since Wrath of the Lich King, there have been very few places for wipefests for us, and for that reason my passion to play lowered...But only very slightly, im still hooked, always will. Whats causing the excitement again is what was caused when we first faced Gruul, Kael'thalas, Illidan, Malygos, Sarth 3D. Possiblity,

Possibility to be victorious in our efforts against Yogg-saron. We managed to down every boss first time last raid, and because of this- we have a full 3 hours and 30 minutes on Yogg-Saron- and i really think we can do it. I'm not being cocky, I'm not being arrogant, I'm being realistic. We had a forum post telling us something was wrong in the raid and we need to fix it- and i think we did.

With out new raid team persona intact- I'm confident we can get Yogg-Saron to his final phase at least, but only time will tell. I'm excited that tonight, I shall be raiding, wiping, and feeling like the days in TBC.

For me this is good, and the challenge is what makes the nectar all that more sweeter.

Throwing Stones Across Forbidden Waters

2009-06-25T18:20:00.000-07:00

We've been hit. We've been hit! Man the harpoons, lower the anchor, Midsummer is here!

And what do I think to the fire festival? Well, what I truly feel is within the element, fire.
A Lamenting Flame. A truly bolstering blaze blackening skies and darkening days to truly roar with crackles and snaps and truly destined to do just that.

But then,

It begins to lament, and the material fueling the fire begins to clog up the bottom of the pile, clog up my mind, clog me up completely.

The Lamenting Flame is exactly how I feel, when I enjoy getting gold from the Horde and Alliance fires (I mean, 5-13g per fire, fantastic!). But then, the flame laments when I get attacked by Horde when i left them alone. When I have to go a long way, when I have to do insane things because I murdered a few goblins(OK, I lied, I'm Bloodsail Admiral, but they looked at me funny!)

Something else that caught my eye for the first time;
Shadowprey Village, Its so beautiful. Off the West coast of Desolace, such a forsaken place, and suddenly a delightful dock of which the Horde bestow their finest fishing industrie. How odd. I never saw this place, so i sat on the dock proud as punch' despite clearly being in forbidden grounds, looking across forbidden waters, throwing stones, alarming guards.

For this reason alone', I admire the travelling of this bonfire task.

To be Quite Honest, I think the midsummer festival is a metaphor wrapped in a metaphor wrapped in juicy bacon. Its vibrant and busy, pretty fun, dancing Draenai fire and torch juggling is all fine and dandy, but after doing the elders' I've seen quite enough of Kalimdor for my liking. But Kromus, Kromus! Don't quit, you've done all the world events so far, and your half a year away from your violet proto-drake! These thoughts echoe my mind like the tortured screams of Arthas' victims amongst Icecrown.

I'm ever growing impatient with these bonfires, yet I love doing it. Such a double edge sword, would you agree? I can't help but feel mixed feelings about such an event. And as a off-note, what are we desecrating the horde bonfires with, I dare ask.

Argent Hippogriff

2009-06-05T06:08:00.000-07:00

I've been saving for the Argent Hippogriff, why? because im going for a achivement. The mountain o' mounts is a cool achievement- its really hard- but possible. It mostly requires grinding and money, but mostly grinding, because you have to grind the money, haha! Anyway, why do i bother with this achivement?;

-The mount; The Blue Dragonhawk. It looks cool :D and its very rare!
-The fun; I dont know why - but i love the aspect of a good grind with hefty reward

Do you ever feel this way? whenever i seen something rare thats worth grinding for and hard to do, its my incentive to go for it. I already have the Swift White Hawkstrider the 2nd day of The Isle of Quel'danas patch (i was the first allaince on stormrage to get it :O) and i have 2 warlock mounts at my advantage, the only thing i need is a lot more rare mounts and to buy all of the netherdrakes, and im currently at 65 mounts.

I also got the Red Quarji Battletank from Ahn'Quaraj recently, which was fun :D and got a feat of strength for it.

I love this grind and im here to let you know i think you would to.

Zangarmarsh In My Backgarden?

2009-05-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

Well - its strange you see, England has been having some pretty damn awful weather, it doesn't take a meteorologist to tell you that' -- but I will anyway, the weather sucked. But these last couple of days has been pretty paradise, especially today(technically yesterday as I'm writing this at 2 o clock in the morning). So, I did what I rarely do; I enjoyed the sun. Can of Pepsi. Back garden swing, observed my sun flowers (hey, us Warlocks have green fingers too!).

--On a side note Chelsea Flower show must of been great with the weather how it is!

Whilst drinking my Pepsi and admiring the view of the garden life-- WoW came into my mind. I was thinking "what looks better, my back garden or WoW?". An unusual question, hell I couldn't answer it at first-- but then I came to the conclusion of my back garden- comparing two places, my back garden and Zangarmarsh*my favorite WoW zone for beauty*. What would cause

such a question, comparison, spark of the imagination. Well, I'm not sure really- but here is my reasons: World of Warcraft is programmable, its a pretty as the creator wants it to be, and its done that way on purpose. Real life is random. No blue print- just a load of atoms poured into a everlasting vessel of void and valid. The accidental creation of my back garden by the local real estates deciding to build there, and the solar input, and percipitiation of the rain to cause growth is a lot more inspiring then a 3d Model Emulator that would be used for Zangarmarsh.

Imagine your back garden, hey it may not be up to scratch, but its yours. Possibly. Zangarmarsh, besides the fact Mushrooms of that size live in a fairy tale as oppose to England, is programmed. Purposely placed. When reading this, I want you to make the same comparison I did, think of how it became how it did, and compare it to your favorite WoW zone beauty wise.

You don't have to post what thoughts were provoked, but it'll provoke something that is for sure.

Fire and Brimstone

2009-05-20T04:05:00.000-07:00

As you know, fellow Warlocks - - we had been been nerfed in PvE - if you were destruction. Granted it was a small nerf, but a nerf none the less- but Blizzard have done the right thing *ok so my Felguard may of helped a little convincing them* and have buffed us in PvE but kept our PvP nice and balanced. (hooray!).

Fire and Brimstone no longer requires 5 seconds remaining on Imolate to grant Conflagorate 25% extra critical, its all the time now - - and chaos bolt and incinerate now gain a bonus of 15%.
This is good - - this is very good.

However, im not sure if it will stay this way -- and im worried about the conflagorate glyph getting changed to something totally different- which then suggests there going to make conflagarate not consume imolate anymore regardless - - but im not sure. I need some mroe warlock inspiration, calling back up!

Help a warlock reduce his carbon emisions by not needing to spam incinerate and emit carbon rottingpveboss-ide into the atomsphere, just let us one shot it ;). haha.

On a offnote im starting to find Affliction fun :)

[KKBP] Kurinaxx

2009-05-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

This Was made by me,based on similar posters done in this fashion about different classes in Team Fortress 2, and apart from the TF2 Logo, everything was drawn, would of been too hard to edit over it, was fun to do :). Team Fortress 2 rocks btw.

[KKBP]: "Kromus Kaption Boss Profile"
"Kromus has provided us with vital useless yet necessary information about insignificant bosses since the discovery of the Rosseta Stone"- Albert Einstein

I never met Albert Einstien, but if i did, I'm sure he'd appreciate Kurinaxx just as much as we all should! No- this is not just a pointless Boss Profile, this is the first of the many I intend to do. But we must ask the question-- why? To scream tactics and say your a n00b if you don't do it exactly the same?-- no. Memories. Fun. Memories. For fun!

So, first thing is first. Kurinaxx. Lets get jiggy! You properly know him already, but if you don't, consider this an education you can't afford to miss! I won't be making this a factual preach, but a informal informative post of my opinion on such a beautiful creature.

Location: Ahn'Quraj 20 man -- Silithus (Level 60 Boss)
Loot: Various tier 0.5 equivalent gear, level 60 Blues.
Ability of the Day: Sand Traps: Sand traps will silence you for a long time if you don't move. Very bad. Kurinaxx is one big fat silencing machine, which can prove costly- its almost 20 seconds!

What makes Kurinaxx special? to me-- its in the name. Kurinaxx-a-ramas. But not just that, hes cool. Hes not stupid- like Archimonde- he uses his fingers(or claws, in this case) of doom straight away, rather then doing what Archimonde does and wait till the end. Kurinaxx is just a bug. A big fat bug.

Hide and Seek

2009-05-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

What do I love about WoW? The option.
If you like PvP, go PvP. If you don't. don't. Fishing..etc....Its endless.
So when it comes to out of game content, stuff not really advertised with the game, I get excited.

The Scenario:
Zyalia: "I'm leaving group a moment-"
Kromus: "Why? :O"
Zyalia:"...."

Zyalia:"I'm in Stormwind, good luck. 10 minutes tops :D haha"

The Solution:
I LOVE HIDE AND SEEK. Even at 17 I sometimes hide from friends and family to scare them, and this concept made me think- imagine something like this on a much larger scale. "Hey, I'm in Azeroth"..."Hey im in Outland"....."I'm somewhere, come find me". Its a big world, with lots of hiding spots, lots of places perhaps unseen to the naked eye-- but seriously, if somebody said "Find me and I'll give you 1000g" where would you look first?

Would you do it chronologically? "Top to bottom".
Randomly? Would you even be interested?

In the Scenario I mentioned above, she was in an alleyway in Stormwind. Quite clever but i already thought to look there as i thought "Where would i hide" and let me nose do the sniffin'.
WoW is one big playground, so hide and seek is definitely a game we can do without repair bills :D

Hiding:
Anxiety and Patience withhold. Is that them? you stare at the clock until the hands melt with heat from your eyes. I love hiding, but i also enjoying seeking, but only if i find them :P.

Although, i do accept losing pretty gracefully.

Seeking:
This also links to an achievement/title; "The Seeker" when you complete 3000 quests. I don't understand, hows doing all those quests seeking something? I'm not convinced. "Crusader" or "Adventurer" or "toomuchsparetime" would be more relevant in my opinion.

Pre-TBC, TBC and WOTLK.

2009-05-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

Oh dear, looks like we are up to our eyeballs in acronyms! (shortened words). Well, after reading a post by Mister K about content skipping by new 80s', which can be found here, I asked myself a question.

Does everybody enjoy going to 'old-school' raids? I came up with "No". My assumption of "No" being because we all certianly have different levels of memories-- and I know some people may not want to drag them up. Karazhan for example;

I loved, love, loving Karazhan-- i don't know why, is it the design? it certainly isn't the host, hes a bit angry. No, no, its the memories. The wipes. Being a raid leader there and looking like i knew what i was doing to 9 others, when really i was as lost as them-- but as a leader you act as somebody to be the first to explore uncharted waters. Although many bad things happened, the good over threw it.

Pre-TBC naxx, however, gives me horrible memories from wipes and bad sportsmanship, so i wouldn't want to go there again (although New Naxx is the same, its not.)

Baring this in mind, people may not want to do old stuff altogether, "out with the old and in with the new"-- but i treasure some of those memories, and this leaves me thinking weather level 60-80 should involve the same process we had to. But I'm not so sure. Even after writing this blog post I'm still not sure how i feel about the situation.

Titles, Stormwind- Flooded WoW

2009-05-05T15:35:00.000-07:00

Guys- we've been hit by a serious flood;
Titles, Stormwind and Jaina, oh my!

Jaina and Fordragon:
Jaina: Oh my god-- hide me! *hides behind Fordragon's shield.
Fordragon: What? evil has approached? i shall van- wait..is that...a title?
Jaina: Stop staring! *in a embarrased tone*
Fordragon: Oh god- hes headed this way...
Kromus Hands in quest to Fordragon
Reward: Nothing

Quest Text: OH MY GOD ITS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU....Kromus, of the Shattered Sun, if i batted for the other team I'd--never mind. Have a good day.

Jaina: Wow , i can't believe we got to meet him.
Fordragon: Yeah, I hope he comes back soon...

That was in TBC.
"Kromus of Stormwind":
Just recently i obtained the "of Stormwind" Title.

That conversation may of made no sense- no humour- no point, but there was. Ain't' titles common nowadays- and you know what- I'm confused. Somebody help me,

help me decide weather its a good thing or not.
Well, its good that you can get amazing titles "Salty", "Magic Seeker" -- but the more common they get the less they seem a cosmetic impact, because that's all they are- or are they? I think a title should be a judgement of your character-- if you have a raiding title on, your a raider. If you have "Bloodsail Admiral" of which I'm a proud owner, your playful. However, the problem is if you want people to know your a serious raider, but want a funny name, what do you do?

So were flooded with titles. I want to use them all. I cant. This is annoying- Jaina know longer bats her eyelashes at me, and Fordragon is dead. Lol. Somebody throw me

A life jacket!

WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU

2009-05-02T05:36:00.000-07:00

Caps. I love caps'- in certain situations. Emphaisise, jokes, the whole collection. But why must we use it as a method of grabbing attention.

Yes, it works- but for the wrong reason. Kiss goodbye to your request, your going to get flammed. Its rude. Its like speaking child to a foreigner, there not stupid, just not as literate at your language, dont be rude.

"I HAVE A QUESTION K WAI CNT I HD I N QUEST"
Please spell it right at least, too.

"LFG NEED TANKS AND HEALERS"
Group requests in caps are annoying, but at least make sense.

Does it only annoy me? IT REALLY annoys me (haha i used caps, but in the right context, no?).
Not only does it get under my skin, it brings out a ferocious side of me thats lurked in the Nether for all too long- when im angry, im angry, and when my felguards angry he hurts more. Demonic Empowerment or not.

Dont do drugs, dont do caps.

My Feelings On Ulduar..

2009-04-26T16:47:00.000-07:00

OK so here it is; Ulduar.

In a previous post I mentioned a large amount of excitement for this patch- but even then I wondered if my Notorious Nether Needs would be satisfied, and in my opinion they were. Firstly we'll get down to buiness. Ulduar itself. The raid instance. The mostly highly anticipated part of the patch on par with Dual Spec. What does Kromus think to this new labyrinth. I think that

its red hot. First time I walked inside, i graced the field of Mechnical beings and thought- maybe im out of my depth. I took a while to contemplate the amount of tactics there may be for it, this place looks intense, but there wasn't too much. Mostly common sense *and a lack of it now days*. By now im excited but my palms are sweating, even my Imp is claiming he left the oven on, my head says "Run" but my Incinerate says "Lets get cookin".

Thus far, I am overally impressed with Ulduar, its got range all the way- all the bosses are different, and today I found a boss i may well propose to- and I call him "The Hand Man". This fight is amazing, you have to DPS not just the boss, but a choice of three body parts to weaken him- but they respawn. This is very intresting. And to make it better he fires lasors out his eyes. Im hooked. I want to wipe- I want to do it more, but unfornatly, Kologarn went down- and we then progressed to Iron Council- but thats another story.

What makes me like Ulduar? I think its the diversity. Some fights maybe be super hard and fun at first but tidious after- these fights however, wont ever get tidious. Outcomes change. Several ways you can do a boss *and several amounts of controversy, who should do what job?* and this is how a game should be, not just WoW.

Hard, but, fun.

Warlocks:
Destruction is still amazing. Blue posts suggests it got nerfed' but if anything it just stayed the same but a little less intresting, but still great- I like being able to PvP with the same spec i can kick Ulduar's ass with.

I've Also been toying with Affliction, and its pretty good. I've always hated it until now, but its quite good- but for you Warlock's out there, if your going to try new specs, make sure you buy the lower rank spells from your trainer! Id be rich if i got a gold for every time i forgot :P.

As for Dual Spec, im not sure on my opinion yet...but i'll keep you updated!

Work Critted Me For Over 9000!

2009-04-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

OK, so its a bit of a exaggeration- but it still hurt!

Work and play.
Ying and Yang.
Fire and Brimstone.
Sun and moon.

Work and play doesn't fit in that list to me. Equal value is something I believe in; if no good then no evil, no dark no light, etc. I'm a believer in chain reactions too, so yes, i do not believe in Physical time travel, but i believe you can do it mentally. -(On a side note I don't believe time exists).

Do you ever feel like playing WoW instead of work? but when you get to WoW- it makes you feel so unproductive, even when you've finished for the day- you just wanna scream? cos' i do.
Whenever I'm revising hard for exams i lose my will to play for too long, as i feel like I'm committing a seven deadly sin- I can't handle the relaxed pace.

This is why i think work and play does not fit, like Ying and Yang- but more so work blinds play and oppresses it to believe it is sinful, when it truly is not- but feels like it until you realise it.

Although i do not believe in time (In terms of philosophy, i still use watches and stuff don't worry, but that's not time as we know it), i would still like to practically have a time machine so i can do all my work then play for a small eternity- but not too long- as I'll miss the responsibility.

Raiding feels more productive though- so i can do that for long periods of time. I'm achieving something.

Gone Fishing'

2009-04-19T06:43:00.000-07:00

Recently we had a post on the guild forum; and it pretty much stated that were were running low on fish feasts, and if we were to continue using them, we would need a bit more fishing from everybody rather than lots from just two or three people. This is when i thought to myself.

Slacker.

My Fishing was low- i think it was 45, if that. I couldn't stand fishing. Having to change fishing spots to correspond with the level- i loved fishing at Stormwind, but it can only last so long.
Until patch 3.1. Fishing can now occur everywhere, but your fishing has to match the level of that area to fish anything of use- instead of driftwood. You heard correct. You can fish and level up in Northrend even if your fishing is level 1. But is fishing boring? Most people say yes. They call it a burden, but for some reason, I'm in love.

I love fishing. I'm hypnotized by the feathers on that bobber. I love the brief excitement of catch or crap when you loot. I enjoyed leveling up- i enjoyed fishing up old Ironjaw (in 5 casts). It keeps me calm. I've found a pre-bedtime past time. It helps me relax.

This weekend alone I've got my fishing skill to 300, caught 100 nettlefish for the guild bank, and successfully found myself a new past-time in WoW- and whats even better is the possibility of the Turtle Aqua mount, adding even more excitement to each cast.
(Remember, you can only have a chance of catching the turtle by fishing from Northrend fish schools).

So there you have it. A new hobby that i love inspired by a Guild bank request. Lets see what happens next, and if i get the turtle mount, ill sure be posting it on here :)

First Time.

2009-04-15T04:18:00.000-07:00

Today I'm going to give blood. Its my first time- don't look away, this isn't unrelated to WoW.

I'm going to give blood for the first time, and last night, i was slightly nervous.
A pint(or close to) of blood is going to leave my body- it seems such a big thing, it helps many people- and i know by doing it I'll feel better for it knowing I've saved somebody.

Its that first Step; and after reading Larisa's post (Here) about her daughter wanting to snowboard, first times, etc- It reminded me of all the "First times" we all face, in and out of WoW.

My first time in Karazhan. Magical. What a beautiful doorway. Look at the carvings on the wall, whats that door for? whats that one? better not ask- I'll seem a noob. Back then it was still KTM threat meter, and i hadn't got a recount like addon- i was doing naff all DPS and i knew it. I dare not over-aggro- i dare not falter- i dare not die.

Today i feel like I'm re-living that Karazhan scenario. Whats the reactions to giving blood? why does it help? should i be nervous- better not admit it.

I've seen people heroically deal with their first times without sweat or second thought- but i do not envy them. The first time nervous experience is something to look back on- when today(hopefully) goes ahead, ill know it wasn't such a big deal(in terms of sacrifice, it makes a huge deal for the patient). It was the same with Karazhan, Malygos.....Even three drakes, we killed for the second time last night, calmly.

The first time can be something to look back on- a memoir of how scared you were.
Buck up ol' kromie. Its for the greater good. Maybe ill meet Atunmen the Huntsman at the donation hall.

We'll see.

Leveling, Wanting a Goal as Much as I Dont.

2009-04-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

We'll take a mage portal back to my time in TBC(which, atm, I wish I could do back to)- Ignore the swirls and hurls, loops and all'. You'll get over the sickness- no tip required this mage owes me a favour. I loved playing my priest on the days i wasn't raiding or instancing on Kromus-

It was new. Any DPS only class will understand me here. Ever felt useless? i have, will, do.
I've watched the tank's impending doom in the form of a crit-- i've cried out wanting to give an offheal in the chance of an avoided wipe- i cant. But a priest- oh but a priest. Priests dont just heal- they heal and dps, dps and heal- buff the raid- they are deemed as light bearers, soulflayers and judgement holders all in one bundle of robes. I level as holy, the best frickin' spec. Good dps, high demand in instances. I was in love,

but don't tell my girlfriend ;). Even at level 2,4,6 the heal- it wasn't a matter of power, heck my heals sucked- it was something even in the real world people cry for. The choice. The decision.
Free will.

12,14,16, hey hey, new spells today! i was getting more excited- but what drove me more?
-Day 1; Raid Canceled- Healers needed
-Day 2; Raid Canceled- Healers needed

My guild at that time screamed for healers, but i was too far off to make a difference, but id of loved that- knight in shining armour- grace the raid with heals- and once more it wouldn't be a burden, i want to heal. I want to. The choice.

20, 22,24.

30

40

50

57...
57. 57. 57. Still 57?

is it 58 yet? no. Come on. No more Azeroth- i wanna relive Outland. 57. 57. The thought raced around. 57. 50--7. 58. 58? 58!

58. This is where it became a dream- everything i did on Kromus is about to relived. All of a sudden my alt doesn't seem an alt. It seems important- "Gz on 58 Kromus"- Don't call me Kromus. Theres a new cowboy in town- Im Arkanite by name, Kromus by nature- get it the right way around!

As the adventure unfolded my destiny to become a healer became stronger- people constantly complimented me on my healing abilities- more so then my warlock abilities. Was this healer appreciation? or genuine fact? I don't know, and right now- i don't care.

69...
I'm in a instance, 1 bar from ding- i know by the end of this run I'm guaranteed eternal glory- but how long? i can't bear it. I'm looking at skipped groups screaming "Please pull them- PLEASE".
and it happened.

70. You can guess the rest, Karazhan, Pakistan, you name it. I raid it. It was wondrous- i loved it, we wiped, boy we wiped. But i healed, boy i healed. Kromus was still important, heck his DPS was unmatched- Things were unbalanced, shadow bolt spam wins medals. But heals- boy did i heal. The dream would never die. The dream would never die. The dream would never die.

It did;
but not by choice.
Wrath of the lich king.
Suddenly, 10 more levels. After doing it on Kromus, i dont want to do it again.
I hate it.
I cant wait.
I want to heal instances.
I don't want to level.
I need to. I cant.

I want to heal again. I've seen groups pleading for a healer, Ive wanted to go, but i cant. An unworthy apprentice. Will i ever muster the strength to level again? only time will tell.

What Horde Race Dominates Stormrage?

2009-04-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

This post is Continued from "What Race Dominates Stormrage?"; and i left the post on a bit of a loose end, which horde race would dominate? Heres my Pre-Thought.

Personally, one thing that drew me to play the horde for the first time was the thought of being a Blood Elf; an attractive yet sinister race, addicted to magic in a way people who deem unimaginable- just look at Kael'Thalas. I also feel that Undead are in with a chance, as they are my 2nd favorite race- i love being Undead; i love the story of the forsaken, i love how dense the storie lines can be in that direction, and the metaphor of life(human) and death(forsaken) fighting for a place in this world.

Thats my prediction, in a nutshell, Undead Or Blood elf, now heres the results;

Right on the bill; Blood Elfs. Its hardly suprising but still nice to see a correct prediciton :).
In second place however, although only 1% Difference, is Tauren > Undead. Tauren can be just as cool, but i still expected more Undead, but again this is why i love statistics, seeing my opinions and predictions counter by hard facts. Was this surprising for you?

So Humans and Blood Elves Dominate the server; and the Blood Elves being rather charming and relatively human, this makes perfect sense. I prefer being a human in a fantasy world, but there is nothing wrong in wanting it the other way around.

Hope you enjoyed this two part-post blog :)

Kromus.

What Race Dominates Stormrage?

2009-04-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

Not from Stormrage?

No matter, this is a popular trend(but not 100%, some servers are unusual)- I'd like to look why.

Statistics:

Surprised? Not Surprised? either way its interesting. This graph is taken from a census of alliance stormrage, and EU server of world of warcraft. (The census is not my own, its completely taken off of warcraftrealms.com, and there is no guarantee in its solidarity).

34% are humans- i can relate to this. I love fantasy games, but i prefer being myself, or as close as, in a fantasy environment. (so if you dropped me into world of warcraft id prefer that over being a gnoll of some sort). I don't know why- i just know and prefer it- So i can understand why this is. Second at 28% is Night Elf- a popular wow race and not too far off human. Again, any relation? at 3rd is Dranai, but i would relate this to its freshness and shaman links- i myself own an Enhancement Shaman, but hate Dranai, so its safe to say i wear a blindfold whilst playing.

Now, here's my surprise; Dwarves and Gnomes.
I, personally, own neither. I love them, but i hate being one. However, I'm surprised at this result, i know a lot of gnomes, but this is why statistics can be interesting.

So, if Humans dominate Stormrage Alliance- what dominates the horde of stormrage? My guess is bloodelf- humanish and because freshness and paladin links- buts that's my guess, whats yours?

Three Drakes Down, Shepperd.

2009-04-05T05:18:00.000-07:00

Just recently, , downed Sartherion with three drakes up for the first time- nothing left but 10 man 3d now.

Such Glory,
Such Achievement,
but have i been given a poison chalice?

I wasn't there for that fight. Id recently attended plenty of wipe-fests, but not the kill (due to my recent part-time absence). For me i feel, kind of strange really. I know i have contributed, we all have in the guild for being in the guild- but feel that my soul can not truly be at rest with this.

I was like a Shepperd, peering down at my meadow of satisfied sheep grazing to full growth and potential, but doing none of the grazing myself. It's a strange feeling- i could be wrong, but i don't know weather to put the kill under my belt or not-

Can anybody else relate to this? or maybe I'm alone in my nether of thoughts.

Even so, its a fantastic kill- im proud to be in my guild for doing such a hard task in a casual way.
We've truly got a great guild going on'.

You say Ulduar, I say...

2009-03-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

BRING IT ON!
Im very- very excited now: Theres big things happening, maybe things i shouldn't be excited about, but why am i so excited?- Warlock trainer? be my guide- why?

I think i know why.
Big changes, bad or good- cycles will be ruined, chaos shall return- theory crafters will get their teeth into lush lambs of lavish meat and publish their theories everywhere for people to sigh!

Does this make me an Anarchist?- no.
I love the chaos- its exciting- i shouldnt- i wouldnt but i will- i do.
Were all going to be in the same position- what do i do now? and i like that.
Equal footing, an opourtunity for all to shine- every instance for the first week shall be laborities- testing shall take place. We shall race. Race to find out the best rotation.

Ulduar;
Its new- it sounds hard- it looks hard- i-cant-wait!
Bring on the wipes, new content- no more early raid night endings-
I cannot wait!

You say Ulduar, I say...
Bring it on.

Pink Pigtail Inn

2009-03-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

(unfortunatly due to strange and misspelt circumstances,
you'll have to click the image to view properly.)

I'm sure you've all stopped a night at Larisa's Inn, read a spell-book in bed and enjoy hot healthstones and mana-biscuits by the fire, and if you haven't- its more than worth a look.
This post is about how i enjoy reading about other peoples experiences in WoW and comparing them to my own- not just an excuse to explain how well written Larisa's posts are- although you'll see me mention that more then enough.

The Name:
Pink Pigtail Inn; Honour- i chose this name because of a post recently come to mention on her Blog- which can be found here.
Its linked to a special "Blog Award" that goes around, with certain rules to go with it- its not just a chain, its an interesting way to freely mention other peoples blogs that are worthy of mention, and a change to express some of your personal facts.

The Description:
I regularly read her blog- has its very creative and like i said, isn't it nice to have somebody elses eyes for a change? perspective- as i emphasise in my posts- and as she has replied;
I see a boring spam rotation, Larisa sees a relaxing rotation which allows her to concentrate on other important outlets(mana, etc).

I enjoy somebody to oppose my views; but only constructively. She ticks this box ten times over.

The Points:
In that post I've linked above, Larisa mentioned me as a "honoury award" and for this i think 40 points is the minimum i would give for that achievement. I didn't get on the list of awards specifically, but an honoury mention from a writer of her expertise and grace is enough for me.

Just a mini-poll, you don't have to reply an answer, however;
Glass half-empty, or half -full?

I Just Cannot

2009-03-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

I WILL NOT- CANNOT- SPAM.

Cast your eye's back to The Burning Crusade; what was argueably the most over-used an 'best' warlock spec? (-wait, there shouldnt be a best one >=[ )

-
-
Correct- ShadowDesto; and in case your not sure what that is- its speccing in Destruction for high crit and critical damage and spell power, then going down Demonology for Sacrificing Succubus for what used to be 15% shadow damage increase (stacks up a hell of a lot). Rotation? SPAM SHADOWBOLT.

I am a level 80 Warlock who is Destruction spec, which requires a decent amount of timing and it has a nice range, not having immolate on influences your damage greatly and dots can enhance your damage- via the Molten Core talent. However, blizzard are slowly creeping towards making Destruction about Spamming Incinerate, rather then shadow bolt. Same principle. I don't want a easy ride- yes Fire Destruction means Conflagorate Immolate and incinerate- but making dots so they waste global cool downs, means im stuck to one thing.

This could be me being over dramatic- but i really love the range- and cant wait to be Demonology for PvP as my Dual Spec. :D. But yes- there is my information blizzard; my two franks- Keep it interesting.

Its Me, Nature.

2009-03-24T02:24:00.000-07:00

Nature's View:
Life is the existence of creatures and living beings in constant cycles of life and death.

Some Human's Views:
Life is the birth of existence and creatures.

My View:
Unfortunately, life isn't cruel, but it is easier to say it is. Life is perfect balance of life, death and cycles of loss and gain. In Nature's eyes, if we died tomorrow, that wouldn't be a mass loss in life, as we would spark nutrition for plants and such, we would server a greater purpose in death for nature then any Eco-worker ever can- this may seem extreme, but that's how i perceive it.

Religion:
Pretend your an Alien- can you do that for me?- good.

Your an Alien- imagine it. E--e---ar--- ea-- earrth--- earth? earth. I think its called earth.
What do you see when you look at Christianity? you know nothing of it its background, remember? your an alien.

Alien's View:
What do i see? i see a community- a place of belonging- i feeling of peers and significance and understanding of each other. I see a Guild. Why does it exist here? Is it luck?- no, its the need to belong and have rules- for what is man without rules...

Human's View:
I see the lord because i must, and will, to go to heaven. The alien is stupid, hes blind he cannot see the lord.

My View:
I see a cross section of Belonging and some for control. An outside view, an Alien's view can show you that in a sense, religion is a society, community, guild.

Now Look at your guild:
Look at its rules:-
Their not life and death rules, but there rules, established for different reasons purposes and influences. Socially, in a guild we feel more belonging- but for those who do not have guild because they do not seek belonging- "Not all who wander are lost". This isn't a game pun, this is a genuine fact.

There are different views in this world and the next: opinions too. There is a lesson to be learned- sometimes use somebody else's eyes, because if you didn't know that being blind was a handicap, you would think you was normal. Maybe were ALL handicapped, take the Alien view, contrast with your own and make a diagnostic from there. Do not fall into the trap of tunnel vision.

In case you didn't already know, i was once Guild Master of an excellent guild- but we must define Excellent. My definition of an excellent guild was somewhere i could happily be socially, professionally and without doubt of my fellow guild members.

In view, my guild that wasn't past Karazhan, in the eyes of raiders could be seen as bad. Now look from my eyes that guild, all of a sudden, can be seen as excellent. Define Excellent. Use different eyes.

This post is not a preach- its a different view.
Getting the Jist ;)?

Echoes of Absence

2009-03-20T04:47:00.000-07:00

Absence:
6 days....I hadn't logged on WoW in 6 days...
I've been engulfed in a desert of work and extra curriclum; i have sorely missed raiding for the week- what an absence. I certainly gained a higher level of apprication for WoW- having time to play means i can relax, because WoW is like a different world to take control of- and when i play i know all my work for the day in the 'real' world is compleate.

So- my absence was short lived but neccasary, i enjoyed raiding again- even though it was only a week away from melting faces- we had a fantastic high sprited raid yesterday, thursday- including the one shot of Malygos and bosses afterwards- no wipes. I missed it.

Echoes:
Echoes of the grind; grinding dailies, grinding real life duties. Sustainbilty- soon i know i may have to grind work and ding A levels, but until then we just have to keep trying to preserve the balance- work and play.

Like the Nelf Druids often and rightly say;

'Balance must be preserved"

Comic Relief

2009-03-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

Hey, its Comic Relief 09'- and im going to be in London, dressed as superman, with 4 other friends doing similar in costume- raising money looking silly. Going to be great- never been London, and enjoyed this charity event, aswell as it being a free day of school.

however, this great charity event taking place tommorow was all for free :) as its for charity and in costume and were sponsered to raise money, which is great to see peoples support; but it reminded me of a saying.

"Im look stupid for charity, whats your excuse?"

Kind of reminded me how people act in trade- how they think its funny being horrible assholes, looking silly- reminding us why we we were once(or still are) animals.

At the same time people try to be funny and just discuss in trade- whcih to me is fine- its more global then general so i can understand the need for a bigger community- like a blog community, only shorter and less writing more controversy. At the same time i think trade should be for trade, but what can blizzard do?

what do you think?

Global General channel? yes or no?

Into The Eyes of Madness

2009-03-06T04:42:00.000-08:00

The Eye of Eternity:

Malygos:

I thought it would be intresting to talk about this encounter, as it is one of my favorites, just to get you to know a bit more of what i like and i dont like :).

Maylgos to me is an excellent encounter that displays both anticipation and executation in a refined form of raid boss. Malygos is commonly spilt and identified into three phases;

1: Sparks - Ground

2: Discs and Deep Breath - Ground and Air

3: Drakes - Air

Ground:

Well, by ground i mean the platform you first start on- before malygos decides to do a spring clean and takes the entire raid instance with him. I love this phase- i love big numbers, and although the fight as a whole is very beautiful- i love the Vortex spell. I would like one, but that isn't going to happen ;).

This phase is vital you stun the sparks(or dps on time)- you must deal with sparks on time, but not early or late, too early meeans melee feel no benefit and too late means a higher chance of fried tank served with wipeshake with rants to go'.

Ground and Air:

Really Awesome, whilst your fighting a bubble protecting yourself and healing your allies, above you is another battlefield- killing all the Guardians and getting the Scion-discs on the floor to allow more melee to do a more useful job.

Air:

This phase is such a breath of fresh air- Skill > Gear- I'm glad blizzard are doing more of this :).

This is very fun yet frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of it, Malygos still is a nice fight because its a three-in-one combo;

Ground, Ground and Air, Air.

I love fights like this, important tactics such as spark and Malygos kiting, organising who goes on scions first, who does this; Its great- its a challenge, but not too impossible; at first its all a blue of tactics, but the feeble feeling of conquering Malygos makes you realise-

It was worth staring Into The Eyes of Madness.

The Soul Flayer

2009-03-04T03:54:00.000-08:00

'Drain Soul effect added: Each time the Drain Soul damages the target, it also has a chance to generate a Soul Shard.' -MMOChampion.

-The Soul Flayer-

Furious flames engulf the land,

and thrashing sand

a Warlock's hand?

What awaken such a wicked beast,

a monthly feast?

will such a blight cease?

Alas, the blast and turmoil follows,

thus deathly hollows,

rants soon follow.

Soulless, soul flayer, cold and hard.

no more to be charred,

he's out of shards.

This small poem i wrote represents what a warlock can experience during certain circumstances. The frustration a warlock feels in his bleeding heart when he cannot soul fire his enemy's face- cannot summon somebody- when he cannot take it! When i read the quote at the top of this post, i cheered a little :D-- its going to get a little bit easier. I can do Soul Drain earlier and increases the amount of shards i gain and decrease the downtime during trash (someones gotta' take out the trash).

Often raids are when we need to make most use of our skills- for the team, for the greater good. But what good is lack of shards? I mean, yeah its our responsibility, but dang'. Shard farming pre-raid gets repetitive i will admit- although we all share our burdens! Bag space isn't a problem, most classes have to carry some reagent or another, but shards are being looked at as we speak by Blizzard, and for good reason!

The Problem:

It is a love hate relationship for me; shards are unique. We can capture the dying breaths of our enemy's- its cool, i enjoy having something some people have experienced yet. I don't mind the shard farming....until. Until a wipe night. Malygos? Archimonde? and what is more annoying is when i got to a old instance, and cannot summon somebody there, the mobs are too low level! Sometimes trash die to soon to keep Soul Drain on long enough to register, and sometimes they stun- they feaaarrr- they counter spell.

The Diagnostic:

That's up to us- I believe shards are fundamental to a warlock's charm, and despite there technically annoyance, i want them to stay. So, anybody any ideas as to what we can do to keep them, but make them better? :). I think making shards able to be gained from monsters of any level would be a good start.

What do you think?

/Publish Post: "Error: Missing Reagent, Soul Shard".

Déjà vu

2009-03-02T04:26:00.000-08:00

Déjà vu:
Déjà vu to me sometimes feels a bit of a sensory experience, sometimes expressing out loud how you've experienced this current situation already, and the whole room with- what at least presently feels as a series of choreographed replies; "Déjà vu"."Déjà vu". The feeling you've experienced something before, or something similar. I often find it surreal. I've experienced Déjà vu on many occasions, but on one specific occasion last year, in World of Warcraft, a Déjà vu hit me- because i was stung by a Microcosm;

a smaller version of the chaos i had recently read was coming into play. 'Lord of the Flies'- a novel written by William Golding, a novel which highlighted how a group of people, young boys, with no rules, society or pre-made authority, can soon spiral into barbaric struggles for survival- from themselves.
Two potentials leaders causes a division in the group, and shows how an isolated environment making there own rules can turn a boy into little more then a prowling wolf reflecting the glare of the moon in its bottomless eyes. I was struck. Déjà vu had crit'ed me for 100k, and still had mana to spare.

The Guild:
The guild was in uproar, true colours were shown, painting out a rainbow of hidden horrors i hoped wouldn't become of my fellow guild members, even friends. Now foes? I hold no grudge, just confusion. Struggles for power, what power? Pixels? No. I didn't understand at the time, there was something worth fighting for, but what? It was almost political, a group of people, two potential leaders, one guild master, countless hidden authorities. Ranks offered as privilege soon became foreseen as a given right. Alliances were unfolded in seconds, the guild declined in numbers, a disruption was made for no reason, yet i feel some resource must of driven them. Surely the crave for power would not drive somebody to exile themselves- corrupt. I still talk to many of those today, as close players, struggles and wishes sometimes planted for their own will. Sometimes.

'Lord of the Flies'. Déjà vu. Microcosms. Society, World of Warcraft. At first glance not entirely linked, yet that day bound together by an event still un-explained today. What gain? What cost? People influence the experience, WoW is no simple game of code sealed with lore, people influence the game; Déjà vu kicked in and my higher understanding of WoW and People moved my experience bar up, i was learning. Journeyman had begun.

Maybe people are WoW?

Alexander Calder [Warlock Trainer]:
"Open your spell book at the Destruction tab, Kromus. You've much more to seek and learn..."