Mulgore.
The Final Frontier.
These are the continuing voyages of Larísa. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms and new civilizations, to boldly go where... ahem, actually quite a few players have gone before. But not Larísa.
Welcome to the second chapter in the story about my recent expedition to Argent Dawn. The last few days my world has been turned upside down:
1. I’ve gone horde
Ever since I rolled at AD, I’ve been more or less constantly lost, involuntarily exploring every corner of Thunder Bluff without really finding what I was looking for. The NPC directions don’t cut it in a multi-level city. Basically I guess it’s a defense mechanism to keep allies from stealing our fires. I just wonder if I’ll ever learn. Since I still fail to find my way out of Exodar, I’m quite pessimistic.
2. I've found that I'm a tauren at heart
I’m a cow! Or maybe I should rather say: tauren. Cow sounds a tad pejorative, and that’s the least I want to be. It’s odd how quick your perspective can change; I used to consider tauren just huge and ugly, something I’d never consider to roll myself. But then I put the blood elf I first rolled at AD on rest and got myself a mighty tauren druid, and now I’m on the other side of the fence. Tauren are at the same level of awesomeness as gnomes. Whatever they lack in sexiness, they make up for in soulfulness and personality. Without knowing it, I’ve always had a tauren inside me, just waiting to be let out in full freedom. This is a homecoming.
3. I’ve been confronted with RP
I knew it was an RP server I rolled to, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to me that people actually are roleplaying around me. Yet I’m fascinated but also quite intimidated by it. It isn't going on constantly in every corner (players are complaining about the lack of it in /general, longing back for the good old days), but sometimes I see players talking in character, using /say right in front of me.
I've never experienced anything like it before and it makes me nervous. What if they expect me to do something in character? What if I fail? What if I offend someone by saying something that doesn’t match with the general agreement on lore, or that doesn’t follow the role playing guidelines? I don’t feel confident enough to start acting like me. Is it OK to silently watch what other players are doing? I’m the butterfly on the wall, invisible, observing, thinking. Does that make me a leech and a slacker in the eyes of the true RP:ers? I enjoy the efforts of other players, not adding anything to it myself. I might do it one day though. Just give a beginner some time, OK?
4. I've realized that a bit of slacking makes me good
I know this probably sounds a bit weird, but every since I started to raid, some 2.5 years ago, my playing has always been extremely goal oriented. Everything has always been about the next goal to reach, the next challenge to beat, how to improve myself and my character.
And I still love it! My gaming heart will always beat for high-end raiding. I’ve got a competitive mindset and I’m addicted to the thrills, to feel the adrenaline flowing in my veins, to see the team come together and make it happen. I love to bang my head against a wall, then pull myself together and just do it. It’s not the loot that is the reward; it’s the sense of accomplishment and reaching your goals.
But for all my love of this side of Warcraft, there’s also another side of the game that I’ve been neglecting ever since I started raiding, namely slacking. The hanging-around, talking to interesting, witty and geeky people, just because they're there and for some reason seem to not mind your presence - chances are that they even like you a bit. The activity of doing nothing particular, exploring or trying out silly stuff for giggles.
I never realized how much I’ve missed this until I set my foot on Argent Dawn. As the insight dawned upon me (no pun intended), it was so strong and sudden that my eyes flooded. Here’s the story:
Larísa's tears
The Larísa-starts-crying incident took place a late Saturday night, my normal out-of-scheduled-raids gaming time, when the rest of the family either are going to sleep or doing things on their own. The night is free, at my own disposal.
Any ordinary Saturday you would probably have found Larísa hanging around in Ironforge, eagerly following the /trade chat to see if there was any 10-man raid going on that she could tag along. She would see the time pass, adding up to hours, and slowly she would become more and more frustrated and disappointed. Eventually she would give up and run a couple of 5-man pugs, just to comfort herself. She would get yet another few frost emblems she didn’t need anymore. And that would be it. She wouldn’t giggle once.
This Saturday however, I logged in at my home realm just for a couple of minutes, saying “hi” and “good luck” to a group of guildies who were currently working on downing Algalon. But instead of hanging around, waiting for something to happen, a brilliant pug miraculously appearing out of nowhere, I decided to switch to my tauren alter ego at Argent Dawn.
I took her up where I had left her, in some smallish village and I set out to do some questing, as I tried to keep up with the guild chat (which indeed is busy, to say the least, bloggers and blog readers are a rather talkative sort of people, just so you know.)
Suddenly I got a whisper from nowhere. It turned out to be huge tauren druid, wondering if I wanted a ride on his mammoth to Thunder Bluff, an offer I declined, sinde my plan was to keep questing.
This guy didn’t take a “no” for an answer though, so he ended up as my private driver. This ride didn’t only go to every spot I needed for completing my quests, but he also took me on a sightseeing, showing me all of his favorite spots in the zone, places where you could just sit down, relax, enjoying the landscape. Every now and then he stopped to let out a warcry. “Sometimes there are others around who will answer it”, he explained to me.
The mighty tauren (dressed too look cool rather than to kill stuff efficiently), became the first of the non-SAN guilded inhabitants of Argent Dawn to enter my friends list. And as I added him, I cried silently, as I realized that it had been about 2.5 years since the last time I made friends with a player I randomly had run into. I suppose there were opportunities on the way, I just didn’t have time to notice them, blindly rushing to grind the next tier piece.
Taking the day as it comes
I’ve walked this road for so long now. I've killed so many creatures - 163 499 to be exact, since they added the statistics feature. I've downed so many raid bosses (566, only counting WotLK.) I've seen so many players come and go.
Somewhere on the way I lost the curious glimpse in my eyes. I lost the ability to just let things happen to me, taking the day as it comes, rather than optimizing it, using every available gaming minute to improve my character.
Don’t read me wrong: I still love the themepark. But no matter how cool and exciting the roller coaster is - sometimes you need to get out of the wagon. Azeroth isn't just a bunch of set scripts, reacting to your key pressings. It's also a stage where anything can happen.
The Final Frontier.
These are the continuing voyages of Larísa. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms and new civilizations, to boldly go where... ahem, actually quite a few players have gone before. But not Larísa.
Welcome to the second chapter in the story about my recent expedition to Argent Dawn. The last few days my world has been turned upside down:
1. I’ve gone horde
Ever since I rolled at AD, I’ve been more or less constantly lost, involuntarily exploring every corner of Thunder Bluff without really finding what I was looking for. The NPC directions don’t cut it in a multi-level city. Basically I guess it’s a defense mechanism to keep allies from stealing our fires. I just wonder if I’ll ever learn. Since I still fail to find my way out of Exodar, I’m quite pessimistic.
2. I've found that I'm a tauren at heart
I’m a cow! Or maybe I should rather say: tauren. Cow sounds a tad pejorative, and that’s the least I want to be. It’s odd how quick your perspective can change; I used to consider tauren just huge and ugly, something I’d never consider to roll myself. But then I put the blood elf I first rolled at AD on rest and got myself a mighty tauren druid, and now I’m on the other side of the fence. Tauren are at the same level of awesomeness as gnomes. Whatever they lack in sexiness, they make up for in soulfulness and personality. Without knowing it, I’ve always had a tauren inside me, just waiting to be let out in full freedom. This is a homecoming.
3. I’ve been confronted with RP
I knew it was an RP server I rolled to, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to me that people actually are roleplaying around me. Yet I’m fascinated but also quite intimidated by it. It isn't going on constantly in every corner (players are complaining about the lack of it in /general, longing back for the good old days), but sometimes I see players talking in character, using /say right in front of me.
I've never experienced anything like it before and it makes me nervous. What if they expect me to do something in character? What if I fail? What if I offend someone by saying something that doesn’t match with the general agreement on lore, or that doesn’t follow the role playing guidelines? I don’t feel confident enough to start acting like me. Is it OK to silently watch what other players are doing? I’m the butterfly on the wall, invisible, observing, thinking. Does that make me a leech and a slacker in the eyes of the true RP:ers? I enjoy the efforts of other players, not adding anything to it myself. I might do it one day though. Just give a beginner some time, OK?
4. I've realized that a bit of slacking makes me good
I know this probably sounds a bit weird, but every since I started to raid, some 2.5 years ago, my playing has always been extremely goal oriented. Everything has always been about the next goal to reach, the next challenge to beat, how to improve myself and my character.
And I still love it! My gaming heart will always beat for high-end raiding. I’ve got a competitive mindset and I’m addicted to the thrills, to feel the adrenaline flowing in my veins, to see the team come together and make it happen. I love to bang my head against a wall, then pull myself together and just do it. It’s not the loot that is the reward; it’s the sense of accomplishment and reaching your goals.
But for all my love of this side of Warcraft, there’s also another side of the game that I’ve been neglecting ever since I started raiding, namely slacking. The hanging-around, talking to interesting, witty and geeky people, just because they're there and for some reason seem to not mind your presence - chances are that they even like you a bit. The activity of doing nothing particular, exploring or trying out silly stuff for giggles.
I never realized how much I’ve missed this until I set my foot on Argent Dawn. As the insight dawned upon me (no pun intended), it was so strong and sudden that my eyes flooded. Here’s the story:
Larísa's tears
The Larísa-starts-crying incident took place a late Saturday night, my normal out-of-scheduled-raids gaming time, when the rest of the family either are going to sleep or doing things on their own. The night is free, at my own disposal.
Any ordinary Saturday you would probably have found Larísa hanging around in Ironforge, eagerly following the /trade chat to see if there was any 10-man raid going on that she could tag along. She would see the time pass, adding up to hours, and slowly she would become more and more frustrated and disappointed. Eventually she would give up and run a couple of 5-man pugs, just to comfort herself. She would get yet another few frost emblems she didn’t need anymore. And that would be it. She wouldn’t giggle once.
This Saturday however, I logged in at my home realm just for a couple of minutes, saying “hi” and “good luck” to a group of guildies who were currently working on downing Algalon. But instead of hanging around, waiting for something to happen, a brilliant pug miraculously appearing out of nowhere, I decided to switch to my tauren alter ego at Argent Dawn.
I took her up where I had left her, in some smallish village and I set out to do some questing, as I tried to keep up with the guild chat (which indeed is busy, to say the least, bloggers and blog readers are a rather talkative sort of people, just so you know.)
Suddenly I got a whisper from nowhere. It turned out to be huge tauren druid, wondering if I wanted a ride on his mammoth to Thunder Bluff, an offer I declined, sinde my plan was to keep questing.
This guy didn’t take a “no” for an answer though, so he ended up as my private driver. This ride didn’t only go to every spot I needed for completing my quests, but he also took me on a sightseeing, showing me all of his favorite spots in the zone, places where you could just sit down, relax, enjoying the landscape. Every now and then he stopped to let out a warcry. “Sometimes there are others around who will answer it”, he explained to me.
The mighty tauren (dressed too look cool rather than to kill stuff efficiently), became the first of the non-SAN guilded inhabitants of Argent Dawn to enter my friends list. And as I added him, I cried silently, as I realized that it had been about 2.5 years since the last time I made friends with a player I randomly had run into. I suppose there were opportunities on the way, I just didn’t have time to notice them, blindly rushing to grind the next tier piece.
Taking the day as it comes
I’ve walked this road for so long now. I've killed so many creatures - 163 499 to be exact, since they added the statistics feature. I've downed so many raid bosses (566, only counting WotLK.) I've seen so many players come and go.
Somewhere on the way I lost the curious glimpse in my eyes. I lost the ability to just let things happen to me, taking the day as it comes, rather than optimizing it, using every available gaming minute to improve my character.
Don’t read me wrong: I still love the themepark. But no matter how cool and exciting the roller coaster is - sometimes you need to get out of the wagon. Azeroth isn't just a bunch of set scripts, reacting to your key pressings. It's also a stage where anything can happen.
My exploration of those strange new worlds has only begun.
32 comments:
omg !! no friends in 2.5 yrs ? what about me !!!
cacknoob (the forgotten already king of IF)
"Suddenly I got a whisper from nowhere. It turend out to be huge tauren druid, wondering if I wanted a ride on his mammoth to Thunder Bluff, an offer I declined, sinde my plan was to keep questing.
This guy didn’t take a “no” for an answer though, "
Sounds like you are getting courted by him. You didn't realise that riding his mammoth was a euphemism?
Then again on an RP server such actions are part of the fun.
Your friend the Tauren made me think of Equinox, as did your own adventure in trying to figure out Thunder Bluff. If by some miracle you are unfamiliar with the adventures of Equinox, I am referring particularly to this one:
http://www.martianwarmachine.ca/nifty1/07-kodo.html
Where Equinox runs circles around Thunder Bluff.
I'd say I told you so if I had actually told you so.
Only started reading recently, and just wanted to say I really liked this post.
The bit about friends particularly got me. I have been playing for just over 4 years, and been an officer/GM in 3 different guilds, but rarely have contact with anyone outside raid time these days. So many people have moved on from the game. Suddenly you realise that while many may "know of" you, hardly anyone knows you.
I think you have to put work into your friendships in game, and remember they are an "achievement" of sorts too.
Interesting....
I began WoW as a Cow and went Gnome...
You started as a Gnome and may be going Cow...
It's a wierd experience to appear on a new realm and immediately have ppl talking to you, like they know you, like they have known you for 2 years... Ohhh they have!
I may not be the most practical RPer... But I know where Gnomeaggedon has come from, what went wrong, and who to blame (bloody Goblin engineers!)
I just need to stop:
1) jumping out of my skin when someone, anyone talks to me, and
2) grinding... I dare say if I am level 3 in 2 years time it won't be for lack of fun... Just lack of grinding.
Actually... Maybe I need to set my hearth to Dal, then use those ports like a high and mighty Mage. The rest of the time just RP... (rather than RiP, my usually levelling strategy
: You deserted your post and deserves no recognition. Nah, just kidding. I hope your going cold turkey project goes well. Anyway, I didn't accidently bump into you - I stalked you with blog posts. So you're not that kind of random encounter.
@Michael: Haha, I never thought of it that way. I've still got a lot to learn I think. Although we never played in character, just had a nice little chat. And btw it turned out that he was 18 and I 42, which didn't stop him from keep showing a newcomer the place. I think he was just a friendly guy tbh.
: Actually I'm not familiar with that. Better check it out.
: haha I bet.
: the sad thing is that friends are so rare spawns. At least for me. I don't know why, but that's how it is. Maybe they're more frequent on a server like this since people are more into socializing.
: well, now don't jump into conclusions. I'm not deserting Larísa the gnome, going tauren full-time. I'm way to addicted to raiding and gnomes to do such a thing. But it's really nice to have a side project. Or I shouldn't say project, because the word implies that there's some sort of goal for it. Let's call it existence. My alternative life.
Levelling at AD is every so slow. I'm lvl 13 and actually I'm fine with it. Pace is definitely different here, in every aspect. Have you ever tried walking instead of running? Not something I advise for long distance journeys in Barrens, but actually pretty OK in the cities. You get time to notice the details.
'Have you ever tried walking instead of running? Not something I advise for long distance journeys in Barrens, but actually pretty OK in the cities. You get time to notice the details.'
I randomly discovered that I am in love with the troll walk, and actually decided to walk to my quests in the Barrens... it was definitely an interesting experience, and the Barrens are strangely beautiful at night. Funnily enough I picked up the attention of a mighty Troll warrior who followed me for a while and came to my rescue when I inadvertently walked into a pack of Lions, and then helped me find my way to the camp of gnolls I was looking for. My first attempts at RP in troll lingo probably made him snicker a bit inside but he didn't show it bless him :)
Usually when I get an RP urge to walk around and see the sights it lasts for about 3 minutes before I get bored, but there's something about AD, and probably the guild keeping me occupied, that encourages me :)
on #3: As long as you do not go "did you see 16 and pregnant on MTV the other night?" in front of the roleplayers, you will be fine.
They roleplay because they like an audience. And if they roleplay your way just ask yourself 'what would beefy mcdrood do?' (thats your inner queen, I've named her for you). And just answer whatever you think would suffice.
There is nothing to be scared of. Good roleplaying would never ever ever demand that you play in a certain way, as long as you *play* and try.
Most of the time a /w to whoever is roleplaying in your generel direction that "hi, im new at RP, is it okay that I just watch?" or "uhm i'm not sure i know about it, could you explain [x-event] and i'll gladly play along".
Unless they are douches they will gladly help you along the way. Basically roleplaying is (and this is comming from a non-wow roleplayer) 5 year olds playing house.
And it's damned good fun. (even though I mocked it last night- more on that on my next post)
There is one more world to discover: PvP. Azeroth is full of childish idiots who you rant about many times. KILL THEM ALL!
Yes, that must have been the same person that took me from Bloodhoof Village to TB on their mammoth on Sunday. Glad you added him to your friends list (I was too dumbfounded to think of it). I'll ask you for his name tonight. I'm so going to send him a nice "Thank you!" letter and some flowers.
Grzimek/Kaiphas Argent Dawn (EU)
Larísa, I was amazed when reading this post.
Firstly, that you shed a tear. It's touching to read that, an insight into the kind of person you are. Glad you wrote about it.
Secondly, how much your writings mirrored my thoughts after joining SAN (US) the other night. I've been thinking about it all day. It's been an absolute blast to roll a faction I've never experienced before, and to muck about in strange places.
The guild chat window is *huge* now, with the speed at which it scrolls past, and it frequently makes me laugh out loud. That hasn't happened in a long time. I so wish we could all play on the one realm/faction and experience some of those great moments together, and a bit of human kindness and humour that we all need.
I'm only level 10 (dwarf hunter), and excitingly just tamed a rare silver wolf pet (now named Luna). This happened after spending waaayyyy too long just wandering around inside Ironforge admiring the architecture, getting a new luxuriant fire-engine red twirly moustache at the barber shop, and chatting to smart articulate guildies.
This is Mr. Goal-Oriented speaking...it's a real jolt to the system and I'm enjoying it immensely. It just takes the (self-imposed) pressure off, and you really do take the time to smell the roses.
Something of a lesson to take over to real life?
P.S. Tauren druids rule, main is a bear tank.
Is it OK to silently watch what other players are doing?
Yes.
Does that make me a leech and a slacker in the eyes of the true RP:ers?
No.
There are two sorts of RPers: those who do it for the fun and those who do it for the spotlight. Neither group minds silent bystanders. Just don't park your kodo on top of them ;)
*thought jump*
Arguably, random friendships have influenced the course of my MMORPG experience more than anything so far.
Oh, I saw that druid offering his taxi services to lowbies too when I was levelling my cow through Mulgore, but I shied away from taking him up on it. Glad you had such a good experience with him! :)
A wonderful story, thank you!
As someone who played very competively (other games) in the past, I wholeheartedly agree that sometimes changing the playstyle completely and getting that sense of wonder and exploration back is desperately needed. It puts more enjoyment back into the game just being able to dress for looks instead specs, like your sightseeing guide.
I wish more high end raiders took the time to experience this side of the game.
Don't worry about the RP'ers.. They are not as dangerous as they might seem. Observe them, learn their style and slowly build up your RP knowledge and confidence. Then when you are ready answer their emotes with your own. Remember that there are almost as many styles of RP than there are RPers.. This meaning you can find your own style too.
Relax, have fun and immerse your self in the wonderful stories played out.
The only thing most RPers hate is real life talk and leetspeak.. refrain from that and you'll do just fine.
Good luck!
That Tauren druid sounds fantastic! I love the fact the's just out there on his mammoth welcoming people to the came and sharing his love for all things cowish!
It is an amazing feeling isn't it to just be in game.
When I first created Cielinne to see the Horde-side, I was levelling mostly the way I normally do (apart from making sure to actually read all the quest text, as otherwise the exercise would be a bit pointless). Focused, as efficient as possible, etc
On Friday I server transferred her to AD and she has been online a fair bit, but hasn't really done a lot apart from running (walking inside buildings, trying to be respectful to the whole RP thing) around Silvermoon reading flagRSP descriptions (seriously what is the thing about scars? even when they don't have any, they mention specifically that they don't) and trying to keep up with gchat.
Not exactly productive in the normal sense, but so much fun and ever so relaxing.
Hope to catch you online one day. :-)
@Len: Oh, I’ve actually got a crush on trolls too! Before joining this project, I started a troll shaman alt at my home server. And I really liked her style. However, SAN filled to the brim with shamans, I thought I’d better roll something else. And since I enjoy healing on my ally druid a lot, I thought I could dig a bit further into the art of druidism.
And yeah, I too can only walk slowly to a certain limit, before my skin started to itch. I haven’t considered slow-walking in Barrens. But maybe I should try... Sounds like some sort of exercise in the art of zen.
@Dwism: Hm, maybe I should download that RP addon and flag me plain as a silent, willing audience for role-playing? “I promise, I won’t interrupt unless you ask me to”.
I loved the image of five-year olds playing house. Actually I never played that much with dolls when I was small. I spent most of my time reading books and comics. Maybe it’s about time I do it?’
@Gevlon: indeed there is. It’s on my list over things-to do before I quit WoW. I’d like to try out arenas for one thing. And I’ve actually considered applying to your PvP guild at Magtheridon. I like the spirit and the idea of it. I’m afraid though that my skill in PvP is so hopelessly low and that my pace of improving is so slow that it would only turn up in frustration. You’d hardly like to babysit me. So until now I’ve not even bothered to try. I’ll see if I’ll change my mind. Mind you – I don’t think it’s impossible for me to learn PvP. But I don’t think I’ve got the time needed to invest in my improvement. My lack of quick reflexes and situational awareness adds to it – it will make my progression on the learning curve annoyingly slow.
@Grzimek: might be him, might not. I don’t know. Maybe there is more than one helpful tauren out there?
@Chev: Thank you. Yeah, it’s fantastic to just let go. Smelling the roses, as you put it.
It’s funny that the guild chats on each side of the ocean seems so similar. I guess bloggers and blog readers all have a fairly communicative mindset, which probably helps. And there are definitely bloggers that I know better than my guildies, after following their innermost thoughts over a long time.
@Rem: I’m as invisible as a tauren can be. Hey, where did my shadowmeld go? I miss it!
@Shintar: He’s a nice guy! Not trying to kidnap you or anything.
: I suppose some of the high end raiders already have levelled a multitude of alts and won’t get quite the same experience of novelty as I get. In one way I’m probably a bit lucky, still having so much of the game yet to see.
@Gustav: Leetspeak is the last thing I’d perform. I’m not leet myelf, so it wouldn’t cross my mind. I’m just a silent watcher now for a while. I’ll get myself an RP addon so I can read some stories. And eventually I’ll speak up, hopefully.
@Tam: Well, everyone who’s levelling a tauren seems to bump into him, he certainly seems to be rather consistent in performing this self-imposed duty. It’s such a sweet thing to do.
@Tufva: I really need to get that addon too! Scars you say? I haven’t paid any thought to the scar issue at all, if Llarisa has one or not. I think there is some other stuff about her that are more urgent to sort out for myself. Her personality, her background story, her family, her dreams, her fears, her good sides and bad sides, that kind of stuff. We’ll see. I hope that she somehow will start to talk to me if I play here enough.
Glad to hear your initial experiences as Tauren have been good ones! I've also been amazed at how interactive it's been with the new guild - you're absolutely right that bloggers do seem to love to chat - but it's added a ton to my enjoyment of the game. I'm wondering now how I will drag myself away from my new little gnome warlock and back to my regular leveling projects.
Great read as always Larísa! This makes me want to go check out a role playing server and see if I can find some new for of enjoyment in game.
I get so busy collecting frost emblems, keeping up on the latest hard mode strategies, stockpiling consumables and other chore like tasks that I've forgotten to relax and enjoy what's going on around me.
Hay! I'm still in Mulgore at this minute! come visit me if you want! :D
This was an interesting post, I hail from a different EU roleplaying server, namely Steamwheedle Cartel and I enjoyed the peek at what AD is like, since there was a free transfer from AD to SWC recently.
This will probably come across as rather negative at first, but bear with me. Due to this free transfer we had a few ADers jump over to SWC, and they began complaining how RP sucked on our server. I found this strange as I greatly enjoyed the RP I found on SWC.
After reading this post I think I understand their reaction better though. You say you keep running into random roleplayers pretty often, which is rare on SWC in my experience, at least on Horde side, I can't talk about Alliance since I play Horde 99% of the time. Maybe it was this they were referring to? Lack of "random RP"? You need to do a bit of work to find RP on SWC Horde, but it's worth it IMO as the RP I've found is high quality.
This is not a jab at the quality of AD RP though, I haven't been there so I can't say for myself. And as previous posters have stated, don't be afraid to jump into it, you can be coached for weeks, but you won't get truly "into it" until you stop listening only and contribute yourself.
Last, but not least, I see where you're coming from on the "slacking" part, the main reason I started RPing as a side project about a year ago was raid burnout. RP turned out to be a lot of work, but much less stressing, so I often have the dilemma of doing a raid or participating in a guild event on my RP guild. I like raiding for the "playing to the max" part and RP because it's a way for me to be creative.
/end wall-o-text
That's a wonderful story. :) Joining the guild has been such a revelation to me. I spent so many years locked into the "coming home from work every night, wolfing dinner so that I could be on time for the raid, logging in the next morning while I had my coffee so that I could re-stock, cook food, etc., for that night's raid" mentality, that it's been wonderful just puttering around listening to everyone talk, laughing so damned much and having fun. I forgot what that was like.
Larissa I found this post very touching. Between you and Tam I have a great urge to pack up my bags and move to Europe.
I'm Katlya, a BE Frosty from the US. I have been lurking and quietly enjoying your posts for awhile now.
I am glad you are enjoying your Tauren escapades and I look forwards to reading more. :)
Hi,
I wanted to leave a comment but couldn't think of anything.
Kind regards
Wishart
P's I remembered my password
They guy was just using RP as an excuse to hit on you.
Hahaha! no! I'm just a good guy! You'd say different if you were her!
I also did the switch from raiding gnome to lowbie moo-cow, though many years ago.
Mulgore is hands-down my favourite zone in the game. So many good memories from more innocent days, such good music, such a nice, open prairie ambience.
It's been a while since I've played. Maybe next time I'll have to check out an RP realm. Sounds interesting.
@Joar: yeah, you only have so many hours available for playing… But it’s a good thing that you at least can enjoy your time online so much that you find it hard to drag yourself away from it. That’s value for the subscription imo.
: Thanks! Give it a try. I don’t know what class you’re playing. If you have a hybrid I suppose it takes a bit longer to max out your frost emblem gear. Being a mage I got done with it surprisingly quick. And now I’ve got time for some less serious business. Which is a good thing.
@Mahoru Longhorn: /wave! I’m glad you found your way to my little place! Cheers and thanks for your taxi services!
: I’ve yet to learn the nuances of RP. I bet there’s all the scale from very casual to dead hardcore, just like there is in the raiding branch of WoW. Not necessarily better or worse, just different flavours.
@Ravven: Yeah it really brings in some fresh air to my gameplay. I have no idea how long it will last tbh. Maybe it’s just a summer flirt. Nevertheless I enjoyed it!
@Katlya: wow, moving to Europe… That’s a big step to take. I’ve heard it might be kind of laggy to play cross-ocean. And the time differences make it a bit hard as well. But join the US equivalence of SAN! They’ve got a great atmosphere as well as far as I know of.
@Wishart: long time no see.
/wave
Hope you’re having a good time in Eve or wherever you’re dwelling now.
@Eaten by a Grue: Nah, don’t quite think so. His interest in hitting on someone who could basically be his mother is probably rather limited.
@Flex: Mulgore is indeed a wonderful, peaceful place. And also naturally limited, like for instance the crater or Sholazar, which is something I appreciate since I tend to get lost in my own pocket.
Mulgore has always been my favorite place in Azeroth. After taking a few months off I recently started a Dranei instead of playing horde as usual. I don't know where I am going or what the quests are for the most part so it's sort of the same but opposite as your cow. But yeah even Elwynn Forest doesn't match up with Mulgore. The grass is not as green and the sky is not as blue.
Hey Larisa, LTNS - and it's all my fault. =p
First thing's first. Lok'tar ogar! Welcome to the Horde!
Glad you're enjoying being a Tauren. I think all my active characters are either Tauren or Blood Elves. Might have to try something new someday...
I'm glad you were able to make a new friend on the server - and from a good and truly random experience such as it was. I think that raiding, especially when with a guild that can fill the raid completely, often keeps people away from other types of social activities available in WoW. Most of the friends I have on server that aren't in my guild are raidmates from raids that my guild was unable to fill completely.
Raiders tend to talk and hang out with other raiders, it seems.
But starting over, on a new server, and trying to experience it all again, rather than just the quick push to 80, offers up experiences like yours here. I remember when I was in those shoes, and when I met the person who is now my Guild Mistress, and all the friends that I made in the guild, and how that changed the game for me. (I even wrote about it, it caused such a profound change in how I play WoW.)
But, I've also seen that those are the same people I generally hang around with. Since joining the guild and grouping for raids, the raiders are the ones I'm more social with, the ones I do things with more.
We've gained new people to our guild recently, most of whom are still getting to 80 or are fresh 80s trying to learn how to raid. However, unlike before, when I first came to the guild and everyone was chatty and willing to pick up and do whatever passing fancy one of us who said "Want to group?" asked, I'm not as familiar with these new people. It's not that I don't like them, or don't want to get to know them - it's just that raiding in a progression style takes that much time and effort. (Especially when you're part of two groups running in a single week.)
When I'm not actively raiding, I'm farming mats for raid consumables (being an Alchemist). When I'm not farming mats, I'm running chain heroics to try to grab badges. (We do bring the fresh 80s in on those, but it's harder to make time for those who aren't 80.)
And despite our tight raid schedule - there are only so many days in a week - I'm trying to talk to our officer cadre to try to figure out a good day for Naxx/Uld runs so that our newer people, or our veterans on new characters in new roles, can learn the ropes and get to Icecrown Citadel.
So, it's not that I don't want to be social, as I'm imagining it's not that you didn't want to be social. It's just that relatively focused raiding takes that much time to do, and not just on the actual raid days.
And that's why, I think that after I started raiding every new addition to my friends list has been a fellow raider. It's like making friends at work - it's bound to happen as those are people you spend so much of your active time with.
Congratulations on finding a new random and good friend, and welcome to the Horde!
My 2 yen,
Akiosama
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