Yes you can laugh... I named the new brain for the computer Abby, while the computer's new designation overall is Wing Zero (going with the pattern of naming my electronics after Gundams). I got her up and running and she's doing fine... I even got my addons to work again... just in time for the invites to begin flying.
Started a few days after I got back online, a friend from the was calling me in to fill a spot in a 25 Naxx group. I hadn't been raiding seriously for months, stopped sometime around August last year due to the wonders of RL and hadn't been in the saddle since... but you never forget how to ride that horse do you?
That was just the start... a guildie has been getting me into heroics and working on gear, going to BT every once and a while for the hell of it... all that's left on the Outland Raider achievement is the damn Sun Well... and one of my guild mates put together a 10 Naxx man run for us and well... I can't say no to guild runs, and I wanted to see what it looked like slightly less insane (and where I didn't feel like some scrub my gear blows) run of Naxx.
Well I'm beyond proud to say that has managed to do some serious work in Naxx and for our first trip in we nailed the following... in ONE SHOT! Anub'Rekhan Grand Widdow Faerilna Maexxna Gothik the Harvester The Four Horsemen
Instructor Razuvious gave us hell and 3 attempts later the bastard was dead.
Our second night yielded the following one shots Noth the Plaguebringer Heigan the Unclean ( 4/9 survived the attempt) Loatheb Patchwerk (after watching him NAIL our Guild Leader in one hit - Battle Rezed and he went right back in swingin, managed to recover and get him down with 2 min to spare)
and our 3 shot for the night was that damn bastard Grobbulus... we'll get you next time ya bastard!
Last night we began run two, clearing Spider Wing in 1 shot, no deaths and some sadly DE-ed rogue gear... actually we got a lot of one hander sweet dps items and if they drop next time I might give up my staff of trickery for some pointy objects and hit enchants. Plague wing gave us some issues but we again 1 shot each boss for a clear, 4/10 survived the dance. And we 1 shot Patchwerk with no deaths and barely avoided the rage timer.
I mention all of this because its terrably exciting to me and I am so proud of my guild. We're very laid back, open and goofy bunch of people who really rather have fun than be serious and remember its a game not a job... a lot of us are burnt out raiders actually but when the bug bites it bites hard and in this case widely.
We're hoping to hit up MC after mother's day as a guild and two nights ago cleared Kara as a guild after a meeting which was a lot of fun. We've been slowly training people who are used to one aspect of the game, or new to instancing and group work, to things they are unfamiliar with. I think I'll be working on my DK tanking (as I ended up Off tanking and actually tanking a few Kara bosses.... its weird standing up front) so if anyone has suggestions on builds and gear Irulain of Moon Guard is all ears.
Also working on my rep and cash... Aliha is broke again and in need of her epic flying skill. The DK and Pally are both in need of cold weather, epic flying and dual spec set ups... and my Warlock Horde side just hit Outlands, as my mini hunter alliance side prepares to travel back to his home land. Both need epic riding...
And then there's the Holiday events too... Aliha has her Noble title and stars in heaven I'm never doing this holiday again... 3 hours camping a bush as a pink rabbit with a towering red ravenger hissing and spitting at any passers by to camp 4 spawn points was silly and dumb but... sadly fun. She doesn't even want to look at another piece of chocolate or an egg and one more set of bunny ears and she'll tweak out. Bad enough the sound of rabbits laying eggs makes her twitch. She did though finally see that bastard Zul'jin eat dirt as a rabbit for a few seconds after nailing Kara, Gruul's, Mag's and finally ZA in one night, followed of course last night with Naxx. The last time she was in there she beat him with her sonic spear down to 3% health with a shadow priest healing in the hope the two could down him as the rest of the raid lay dead at his feet... its good to see a foe dead, though bitter since she's far more powerful than she was then...
Goals for the next two weeks:
Children's Week with Aliha, Irulain, Jadira, Oboro and Dawnqui (never did this horde side)
Try and set up more training runs and maybe see if I can get a group of folks who want to knock out the Outland normal and Heroic dungeon acheivements.
Abuse the heck out of the new addon: Bookworm... it saves any books you read so you can actually read them later or whenever you want! It makes long flights interesting at least.
Also in the process of getting Aliha and Jadira the [Well Read] achievements. Irulain got it this morning...early morning... because she is a book worm behind that icy exterior...
Gather mats for Naxx raiding on Saturday, poke Lemmings to see if they need me for 25 man
Do Dailies..... at some point
Sleep... maybe
Today's post is really more of an in game update I guess, or a rant. Haven't been sleeping well so I'm a bit jittery. Having a lot of fun though and proud of the things I've done so far. We have some events to plan for the guild (we being the officer team) and hope to spend Sundays and Tuesdays offering the 80's help and expertiese to the lower level members of the guild.
I also intend to get an interview done with Irulain or Jadira soon... so I hope you look forward to that.
So the new patch is out... patch 3.1.0... introducing us to shiny new things like the Argent Tournament and Duel Specs and the BEAUTEOUS thing that is...the following clip.
EDIT - Oh it breaks the format!... *shrug*
This is so SEXY!!... and may I mention King Wrynn is still an asshole?
So here I am working on my new specs for each of my characters... and the patch is installing with no trouble up to 70% then...
"This Volume does not have enough space. Patch 3.1.0 requires 3 Gigs of space. This volume only has 2.12 gigs of free space. Remove some documents from this volume to continue."
The hell?
So good ol Zero - Named after Wing Zero Gundam... is having its hardware upgraded at the cost of a full day in the laundromat and cooking dinner for a week...because the roomie gets a discount at an electronics shop and knows how to do it....
But I find myself cut off now from the game... becuase the gorram game takes up all the gorram space! I calculated all the possible things to remove and well now I'm down to the absolute minimum... even took out media players and vent and stuff... but even with that done I don't have the remaining .8 gigs to remove to allow me to play wow.
Some of me realizes I may be a junkie - but I do have a lot of social contacts in the game (not to mention I wanna see the changes done and such) and now I'm cut off from those... and a very good way to pass a few hours having fun after a long day of job hunting and work.
So don't be suprised if this place gets spammed because well till the hardware gets here and installed... its all I got ta do.
I’ve been wracking my brain on how to do a profile of my characters, you know so folks could know who they were, and where they came from and about who they are now. But I wanted it to be interesting… so I decided I’ll just ask them…you know the characters… in their own words what they want to share about themselves. This is an experiment so lemme know what you think. SY will stand for me – Shin Yuy (aka Farstrider). Also apologies for the length...
Our intrepid interviewer finds herself first in the home of one Alihandra Farstrider. Having taken up residence in Ironforge, and dropping a fair amount of cash and pulling many favors to get the rather stately home carved into the side of the mountain, I find myself rather warmly welcomed. While the home on the outside seems to be of dwarven make the interior resembles more of the old stone pavilions and temple-like design of the High-elves of Eldre’thalas (Dire Maul). The room is full of trophies: dragon bones, beautiful weapons and armor, trinkets and bobbles found in the depths of places I would never dare to go alone. One wall is covered in Tabards, most of the factions but two that stand out : A black tabard with a red dagger and a blue and white tabard with streaks of lightning. Above the mantle, newly placed, the magics of the Bow of the Betrayer glow just below a blackened wing-like bow.
Sitting in what amounts to a trophy room on imported Darnassian lounges before a warm fire and a setting of tea and snacks, I regard my companions as I try and gain my wits.
My host lounges rather comfortably in a simple pair of twill pants and stylish black shirt, her violet hair pulled into a tail, bangs framing her face. She is short for a Quel’dorei, maybe only about 5’6” and very lithe. Many use the word but it fits, I could wrap both hands easily around each limb – she seems thin but watching her when I arrived she moves like a cat, full of powerful mussels honed for very specific styles of combat and movement. She holds a mug of tea with both hands, regarding me with a cool silver-blue gaze as I try not to stare openly at the marks I can see on her violet tinged skin. The magenta markings on her face are typical of her kind, three claw marks over each side… but it’s the other marks that draw the eye. Most of her right ear is missing, leaving it short and disfigured where it suddenly ends, like it had been bitten off. Around her wrists and ankles, for she has no shoes on, are thick bands of darker skin – scars from being bound. I can see what looks like whip marks, almost like stripes, down the back of her legs and wonder where else they cover. Despite all this she is at ease, in her territory and has agreed to answer my questions honestly.
SY: Thank you for having me and agreeing to this interview Lady Farstrider
Aliha: You’re welcome in my home as a guest and no problem about the interview. Frankly knew one of these was coming around at some point. Just call me Aliha… Lady Farstrider sounds like I should be in a dress sitting at some fancy table in Silvermoon. *Her voice is deep for a woman’s, and she has a soft accent but its very hard to place.*
SY: *soft laugh* All right Aliha it is then. Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself?
Aliha: *pauses to sip at her tea and consider the question* Well I’ve been a Hunter, Marksman specifically, for oh… two and a half years. Since November ‘06. Tried a few of the other paths and well I guess you could say I’m a creature of habit. Currently Level 80, in your terms not mine, and working out of Northrend. Ferren and I have been lots of places, former raiders who dabble in it from time to time but it’s so stressful. Much happier helping folks and factions around the worlds and exploring or finding a good fishin’ spot. I’m a leatherworker by trade, skinner too obviously, but I specialize in Dragonscale work. Rather proud of that actually. I’ve earned the titles of Explorer, Ambassador, ‘Jinkins’, and ‘Dragon’s Bane’. *she smirks at that, eyes going to some of the dragon bones on the wall* Currently with the guild Maelstrom, an officer and while it drives me batty sometimes they’re like family and I just can’t seem to get mad at them for long. I was born the third child to a rather stuffy traditional clan of Priests and Druids… rebelled against the grain and ended up on the wrong side of the argument. Spent a long time on my own making a name for myself. Find myself without much of my family so I kinda built a clan for myself.
SY: You’re an officer in your guild? What made you decide to do that?
Aliha: Well people wanted to do things, you know hit up old raid instances, more gatherings and events and well… no one was stepping forward to try and put them together. I guess you could say I enjoy grabbing what needs to be done and running with it. When it was offered I wasn’t totally sure what it meant but I have a good idea now. *She pauses, rolling her mug in her hands* I am both a member and a guardian of my guild, ensuring the enjoyment and stability of all under our colors. *she gestures to the room* I would have had you in my office upstairs but there’s papers and stuff everywhere.
SY: That’s all right. I like this room. Can you tell me about some of the things here?
Aliha: Sure. The bows above the mantle piece are both from ShadowmoonValley. The place for a long time intimidated me and working there was very difficult. The Bow of the Betrayer is a new addition and I was rather elated to receive it, even with the fight I just finished considered. * she gestures to another wall, several pieces of armor set on the wall along with weapons and trinkets* I’ve been to Hijal and got that hideous wandering eye helmet. Serpent Shrine Cavern and Tempest Keep – Rift Stalker pieces are the blue ones, though its not complete. Most of my trophies come from Karazhan and Zul’Aman. The two I’m most proud of are the Sunfury bow and Legacy. *she gestures to a massive skull propped up in a corner* That belonged to my first Devilsaur kill. *she grins* I kind of used them as a standard for hunting, if I could outsmart the largest and stealthiest beast in the savage wilds of Un’Goro, I could hunt down anything. To date I’ve made over 100 Devilsaur kills…sometimes go down there just to track them for a bit, you know for the hell of it. *her gaze lingers on a blue crystalline spear* The other show of patience I have is that infernal thing. I spent the better part of a month running into the Shadow Labyrinth for that stupid thing…*she sighs and pours herself more tea* 87 runs of that place, three levels, and a lot of reputation with Lower City later I got that thing. Ran with it for a long while too.
SY: So you like to collect things?
Aliha: Maybe it’s a Hunter thing, you know to keep trophies. Won’t say I’m bragging, though it sounds like I am, but all this ‘stuff’ marks achievements and changes in my life. I have an issue with memory sometimes and well… physical reminders make me stop to focus and remember. *she fiddles with a necklace that looks like it was of Sin’dorei make.*
SY: I see. Have any ‘trophies’ you’re working on now?
Aliha: Well in the process of trying to get a Green Proto-Drake from the Oracles, a mean fishing pole from the Kalu’ak, and slowly looking for some faction related rewards worth my time. Not really striving to ‘gear up’ more enjoying my time in Northrend. I can say though I’m trying to save money to finally get a Hippogryph from Outlands. First time I saw one, you know a taxi ‘gryph… I wanted one. Just having an issue with gold is all, and I always have I guess.
SY: What’s the one thing you have you could say you are most proud of faction wise?
Aliha: Easy – My Silver War Talbuk Silverbolt. I never want to fight Ogres again but it was worth it.
SY: I’ve noticed two things that really call attention. First off : All this Dragon stuff… and second the Scars on your legs… can you tell me about them?
Aliha: That’s a very personal question really. *she pauses for a while, regarding some things in the room. Standing she goes to a glass case and pulls out what looks like a knife, though when she brings it closer it appears to be a tooth of some kind.* You see, way back when, I ended up under the not so tender mercies of the Twilight Hammer. Was kept, tortured for information, and held as a ‘pet’ for a while. Went out of my mind, retreated back to the beast inside my head. All hunters have one, Beast Masters use it more than most, and Survivalists use its instincts. I left the ‘elf’ in me behind so I could survive and the ‘beast’ took over. * she raises the back of her shirt, showing more stripes across her back.* My entire backside is covered in these marks, they’ve faded but when they first healed up – I looked striped like a Saber. I ended up getting loose and reuniting with Ferren on the outside, got lost for a very long time and frankly if you had asked me a year ago I couldn’t rightly remember most of this. *she twirls the dagger in her fingers as she speaks, tea forgotten on the table.* Ran into a man, a Blood Elf scout with the Farstriders who was sent to observe the Horde, see if it was worth making an alliance with them. I’ll admit to stalking him like prey, never seen an elf like him before. Well eventually he helped patch me back together, I protected him even though I couldn’t talk – wasn’t sane enough. * she smiles wistfully * made him my mate, bore my only child and for a very long time we were happy. *she sighs and leans back into the arm of the lounge* When we tried to cross into the Eastern Kingdoms we ran into serious troubles. Our daughter became plagued by the Scourge and died, barely a teen. I was devastated, so was he. He was trying to find a way to bring me back to my senses while running from the Horde and his own people… so we decided to try and make it to the Dark Portal, maybe even escape through it and start over…This knife is made from the tooth of the Dragon that killed him, in Swamp of Sorrows. * she’s speaking at the knife now* Its funny, Auren wanted to bring me back to my senses, you know so we could talk and be like normal people – not a Blood Elf Rogue with a Hunter as a pet…it was his Death that brought me back to my senses…and left me utterly alone. The ear was also the result of that attack, barely missed being eaten. Since then I vowed revenge on Dragon Kind and began hunting them. I’ve killed a lot of dragons…and I mean a lot. Onyxia’s been in my cross hairs many times and her brood is probably the one I hunt the most. While it was greens that killed him… I knew they were connected to my past and when I found out why we were attacked… well I couldn’t blame them, just doing their job.
SY: I know that in Northrend there’s a faction of dragons, lead by the Dragon Queen Alexstraza.
Aliha: Nice lady too, and it has taken a lot to earn their trust while still following my chosen profession. The Black Flight’s representative knew who I was the moment I stepped on the dais…frankly I was amazed I didn’t try to skin her on sight. *she laughs a bit then seems to sober up.* Itharius was there too, pissed me off the moment I saw him. He looks just like Auren, well more scowl-y than my former mate, but on the outside they look very similar. Auren was a charmer and a rogue to the core. Would have made a great pirate honestly.
SY: Is that how you got the name Farstrider?
Aliha: *nods* Yeah. See this was the only thing I kept *she holds up her necklace* It’s a Farstrider’s signet – like dog tags. I took on the name Farstrider thinking it was his last name. Still don’t know what the real one was but considering how far I’ve traveled and how far I intend to keep going the name fits.
SY: Do you have anyone you’re close to now?
Aliha: *smiles fondly as she puts the knife away* Yes I do, though we’ve kept things quiet and subtle and you’ll pardon if I don’t mention it.
SY: No problem.
SY: You mentioned you were making your own ‘clan’ of sorts. What do you mean by that?
Aliha: Well… ran into a lot of folks over the years that just seemed out of place or in need of help and I really have issue leaving some people abandoned. So some of them I took on as wards or apprentices and have now seemed to make a rather large family for myself. Rather proud of them all too and being the head of a household is no different than being an officer. Just one big ‘mama bear’. *she chuckles*
SY: Can you tell me a bit about your clan?
Aliha: There’s so many, and I know you’re going to talk to them all eventually so I won’t go into detail. Most of them are Draenei – displaced from their people, misunderstood or flat out just trouble. My sister and my now reborn daughter count among them. All in all I have nine people in my little family, including Ferren, ten counting myself. *she counts on her fingers, listing off names* Umbram, Jadira, Oboro, Kahlith, Irulain, Meloraan, Blackhowling, Chaaran, and Ferren.
SY: What prompted you to gather so many?
Aliha: I always had a big family, and honestly planned on having a lot of kids. I guess I like taking care of people and these folks really seemed to need the help at the time. Now we’re kin, even if we’re not related by blood.
SY: Your sister knows Horde, and you were mated to one for a while… know any others?
Aliha: Two actually, blood elves both. First is a little eccentric nut ball tailor named Dawnqui… he’s a Warlock and not one to fuck with because he’s well crazy. The other is a mage, Ellinae, an engineer and pyro-maniac.
SY: I know a lot of folks fight the Horde… what’s your take on them?
Aliha: Well considering I have a Sin’dorei surname, am friends with a few horde and avoid battlefields like the Plague… *she pauses to consider her words* We’ve got a lot of things in our world to fight against, a lot of very bad things threatening to destroy everything we know and hold dear. Orcs have families too, the Tauren and my people get along rather well and understand the importance of Balance. Trolls are an ancient race and very violent without our help but in general not bad… the Forsaken are well… scary but tragic too…I guess you could say we all live on this rock together and face the same challenges – just different looking people is all. So no I don’t hate the Horde nor do I intend to actively battle them. I’ll obtain thank you.
SY: Recently the King of Stormwind returned… what do you think of the guy?
Aliha: He is a very hurt person, full of anger and grief and a hell-a-lot of rage…since the Wrathgate he’s directed it towards the Orcs, the ones who over the years treated him so badly. However they weren’t the cause of his banishment nor disappearance. His own kind were responsible at the prompting of dragons…its easy to hate something that doesn’t look like you, and to justify his anger towards them… but I have yet to see a true King out of that human. It’s why I avoid the place in all honesty. Not a fan of cities in general, prefer to be out in the wild or rural areas… quiet out there.
SY: I have a list of questions often asked on a certain show I am a huge fan of that I wanted to ask you
Aliha: *shrugs* Sure fire away.
SY: What is your favorite Word?
Aliha: Humm…. I’d have to say… Cantankerous…
SY: What is your least favorite word?
Aliha: Hate…or Plox… what the hell kind of word is that?
SY: What turns you on, creatively, spiritually, or emotionally?
Aliha Something I’ve gathered or created with my own hands, that I’ve gone after myself every step of the way.
SY: What turns you off creatively, spiritually, or emotionally?
Aliha Ignorance and blind faith
SY: What sound or noise do you love?
Aliha Wind through the trees or the sound of a house full of loved ones.
SY: What sound or noise do you hate?
Aliha: Crying
SY: What is your favorite curse word?
Aliha: Son of a Bitch
SY: What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Aliha: I think I would like to attempt being a class trainer or alchemist
SY: What would you not want to attempt?
Aliha: Engineering… or being a flight path manager.
SY:If Heaven exists, what would you want God to say to you at the Pearly Gates?
Aliha: *pauses for a long moment, the hint of moisture in her eyes as she considers* I’d like him to hand me a fishing pole and say ‘He’s waiting’… and point me to a nice spot to fish beside Auren. That was our favorite thing to do together.
Well I suppose you could say I'm giving this another shot. I've tried blogging and LJ before and kinda drifted from it. So this is my personal challenge to keep up, to update and fill with well the stuff that falls out of my head in relations to that game affectionately known as world of warcrack.
So first off... HI... As a player I'm a 25 year old female humanoid living in New England. I work for my parents, I have a roomie, I have a cat named Inu (dog) and have been since about 7th grade an avid rollplayer and gamer. Things have been tapering off over time, as people move away and social groups fall appart but in general life isn't a total suckfest. I like Scifi, and fantasy, and gumshoe novels and a whole host of other things, yes including anime.
I also seem to have a terrable case of the Alt-itus.
You see, I like to learn lots of different parts of the game, from tanking as a Paladin to trying to heal as a Priest, and yes the wonders that are the Boomkin. I also write, a lot, and found moving to an RP server from a Normal PVE server... I could make characters with stories, with goals, personality quirks and intertwine them together beneath the name of the character I consider to always be my main.
But the one character you'll probably hear the most about... is my Hunter.
She was born on a PVE server and it took me nearly a month to hit 20 because, while my friends who played said they would help... they were raiders and had busy offline lives. So I trialed and errored my way through Teldrassil and Darkshore, asked questions in guild and over time got a fairly good handle of what it was to be a hunter...
Ok let me rephrase that... I learned how to be a Huntard first...then saw what huntards do to the class and how just damn stupid they are... and worked on the whole 'Hunter' bit. Got good with traps, with not pulling aggro unless it was on a healer or squishie, my pet and I became the perfect team and it was all good...
But I was bored. And when BC came out I was yet to have hit 60... so it was always a push to be 70, to get the gear, to get the rep, to catch up to everyone...and I did it. I ground rep, I ground my professions and instances.... 87 runs of Shadow Labyrinth for the Sonic Spear. I leveled from 66 to 70 in that dungeon. I am not even joking. So I got to do raids (if i got myself keyed and my pots, food, elixirs, ammo, gear etc etc) and for a while it was good...
But it felt empty, and now that I was 70 I was 'just another hunter'... so you can Imagine I was a bit pissed when folks started taking better geared hunters over me, because I was new. So I got fed up, annoyed, a bit peeved even and started wandering the internet for other servers to try out.
and then I found RP servers... dun dun DUN!
I rolled a few experimental characters, just to see what the culture was like, the economy, horde vs alliance population and of course see what this RP shit was about. And I played Hordeside for a while... got a shaman to 50 even and started a bank alt that soon would surpass my shaman and become my first Horde Main. Alliance side I was a little warlock, hanging out in stormwind looking for a guild that would fit Aliha's personality as I had seen it when I started to come up with who she was back in her 40s.
The I found them... Maelstrom... a medium rp, laid back, pve guild with a good solid number of players, good people, and of course... knowledgeable RP folks. So I talked with some officers (which was hard to do after a bit, they were rarely on), and asked my questions and dropped the dough to send Aliha from her old home to her new one... and in the process learned that I had to change her name. Annoyed right off the bat I tried a few variances and settled for using her whole full name, knowing folks would have issue pronouncing it. Alihandra. And she'd been a Farstrider since before I knew about Belves, so the rp wankers can screw off for all I care.
And so Aliha and Ferren became the newest members of the Hunter class on an RP server and the shenanigans began. And I think I'll end this one here... so welcome to the experiment and feel free to ask questions or comment and stuff...
