WoW vs IRL....or maybe the other way around...

/mourn

2009-03-31T08:42:00.000-07:00

This makes me sad, but also more inspired.

IRL wins, as it should.

BRK ftw!

/cast [BRK] Blessing of Wisdom, Blessing of Kings, Blessing of Protection, Blessing of Might, Blessing of Freedom

-L-

When Worlds Collide

2009-03-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

Foreward
I have always been a social person. Consequently I also place a lot of value in the quantity and quality of relationships I've been blessed to have established throughout my life thus far. Growing up an Army Brat made developing friendships early in life a difficult and frustrating process. Standard procedure was move to new a place (ususally opposite side of the world), settle down for a couple years, begin to grow roots, get ripped away from it all. By the time I was 12 I had moved 6 times (at least) and had grown weary of the constant turbulence. Getting into my teen years I was ready to start making some lasting relationships. At this time my dad retired from the military and he decided to settle us down in good ol' Texas. This is where the story begins.

Chapter 1
My 7th grade year I met some guys that would begin to help shape who I am today. We shared the same values, faith, interests, and humor, and life with them was really fun. REALLY FUN. After high school we started a band and that was REALLY FUN (for 4 years then life happened). As fate/God (take your pick, i pick Big G) would have it, life with them is STILL REALLY FUN . We've all grown up (wives might say otherwise and be mostly right), most have married, some have had kids and we're all doing our part to be productive in life. We are doing our best to be good men/husbands/fathers. A few have joined the military, done/doing tours in Iraq (we're all proud of you guys!!! I hope you know that even if we aren't always good at communicating it) while others are having their dreams realized (youth ministry/missions). We try to get together when we can (several of us still live in town) but there's always that blasted "life" to work around. Life hasn't stopped and time continues to take its toll, but life has also provided opportunity.

Chapter 2
Some years ago some of these guys started really getting into online games. Some guys did Starcraft, some did Warcraft, and some did Star Wars Galaxies. I'm sure there were some Diablo fans in there as well and likely others more than that. We all grew up playing consoles together so gaming has been a constant in our lives (Golden Eye FTW!!! [for the win]). About two years ago I was finally persuaded to do the 10 day World of Warcraft (WoW) free trial. And that's where the story really picks up. I did a trial, got a toon to level 13 then time ran out. So I did another trial. And another. And anoth...just kidding. I finally bought in at this point. At the time I was such a noob and didn't understand anything about "realms" or any of the technicalities of online gaming. I started the account, was suggested a realm and took it. A little while later I find out my friends were on another realm. Whoops. Not wanting to pay the fee to transfer I was just content to let it be. Eventually my wife started playing as well (one of many marriage highlights for me). We joined a guild, leveled, bought the expansions. And that's the way it's been. I've tried for awhile (not fanatically but made attempts) to get some of the other guys to join the fun and was met with no success. Until now.

Chapter 3
A few weeks ago one of the guys finally took the plunge. Free trial > purchased account. This eventually led to another guy taking the plunge. Free trial > purchased account. Now we're working on one more...your time's coming man, your time's coming. We're on the same realm, our accounts are linked and we're getting 3x more XP than normal (thank you "recruit-a-friend"). The other guys who've been playing heard about this and are now wanting in on the fun as well. A few of them have started toons on the realm and will be transferring some toons over soon. Even one of the dads is coming over. It's an exciting time in WoW life (heck who am i kidding, its a fun time IRL as well). You see, being the social guy that I am I really enjoy spending time with the people I love. As we've grown up and continue to walk our separate paths in life I'm always looking for ways to get us back together. Not for "the good ol' days" (though they were fun), but for the the "good ol' NOW days". Time will march on, so will our lives, but it's nice to have a commonality to share again. We did school. We did the band. We continue to do life. And now we have something new to add to the repertoire.

Look out Azeroth..."beware the 'Ides of March'!"

- L -

The Broken Steed, a tale of Epic proportions...kind of.

2009-03-03T22:43:00.000-08:00

The following is a true story. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

This past weekend I set forth on a journey with my faithful squire "Noll". Our goal was to cheer on a local Arena team to victory. Midway through our journey to the Arena I noticed our Epic Steed was suffering from a limp. Through mastery of skill and deft handling I quickly reigned the beast off the main road and into the safest place I could find (this happened to be a small patch of earth nestled between the main thoroughfare and entrance to said thoroughfare). With other riders and their respective mounts flying by us at untold speeds we dismounted to observe the cause for our glorious Steed's distress. What we saw made us cringe. Our loyal Stallion had suffered quite a traumatic wound to one of its hind legs. It appeared to have somehow badly warped the shoe and it was now an entangled mess of iron and flesh. Luckily my BlackSmithing is almost maxed and i posses the skill and tools to repair the damage, or so i thought. After "Noll" and i retrieved the spare shoe from our bags i set to work on removing the old and now ravaged piece of scrap from my mount. And then...oh no...it can't be...REQUIRES BLACKSMITHING 450. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Apparantly the last smith to have worked on it enlisted the help of an enigneer who replaced the normal anti-rogue locknut with a different one, and they didn't see fit to give me the key, "thanks"...i shoulda rolled a mage. /2 ... "LF MAGE TO PORT!!! WILL TIP NICELY!!!"...le sigh*.

So while i stood there in disbelief i began to closely examine my circumstances:
Wounded mount, check.
Middle of nowhere, check.
Late for tournament, check.

It appears I had unknowingly accepted a new quest.

"The Broken Steed"
Young "Noll" would like you to escort him to the Arena Tournament so he can cheer for his favorite team. But first you must repair your mount. To the north there is a workshop where you will find an engineer named "Fernandy 'The Handy' Gonzales", give him an item of value and he will gladly assist you with your repairs. There are two tools you must find at his shop. The Skeleton Key of Eternity and The Hammer of the Gods,. Once you posses these items you may return to repair your mount. But please hurry, the tournament will be over before long. You have 30 minutes...0:29:59, 0:29:58, 0:29: 57...

So onward we ventured, both "Noll" and I. On our voyage we were faced with many hardships and bravely fought the cruel elements of nature. Though we felt the creeping fingers of despair grasping at our souls we trudged wearily on towards the north with ever the softest whisper of hope alight in our hearts. Until finally..."Ahoy! The workshop, and Fernandy!"

Receive items:
The Skeleton Key of Eternity 1/1
The Hammer of the Gods 1/1

/cheer

Upon returning to our mount I feverishly set to work repairing the shoe so as to make up for lost time. 0:12:44, 0:12:43, 0:12:42...

and then. O...M...G!!!

"The Broken Steed: Part 2"
Now that you have proven your faithfulness to complete the task at hand, you must return to Fernandy's Workshop to recieve The Wrench of a Thousand Tourques. Return here with the wrench and you will recieve:
A Gimp Steed
The Smithy's Gauntlets (+10 Blacksmithing)
14 gold

Venture...hardships...elements...despair...trudge...north..."Ahoy!"
The Wrench of a Thousand Torques 1/1

"Ahoy!"...south...trudge...despair...elements...hardships...venture.

Congratulations! You have completed "The Broken Steed" with 0:00:18 left.
You receive:
A Gimp Steed
The Smithy's Gauntlets (+10 Blacksmithing)
14 gold

.....

We arrived at the tournament for the final period...and lost.

Onto the formalities.

2009-02-24T08:41:00.000-08:00

So I guess I ought to share with everyone the purpose of this blog. It's mostly a form of therapy. Sometimes you just need to hear yourself think (my wife would suggest I do this plenty, le sigh*). So maybe it would be more appropriate to say “sometimes YOU need to hear ME think”, heh. So in this blog I will be rambling in an attempt to draw correlations between World of Warcraft and how we live In Real Life. This is not saying that we should live our lives according to WoW, please *eye-roll*. Rather, this blog will be a collection of my own observations on the affects WoW and IRL have on each other. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly…and sometimes pretty. Please feel free to let me know what you think as I take you on this guided tour…and on your left you’ll notice…

(quick poll question: Do you find your self reading this with the "comic book guy" voice? that pic is totally messing with my head)

About me: Top 5 (tribute to High Fidelity)
1. I am a person with a life. Promise. This is in no way intended to be a statement of offense to any one person or group of peoples. It is merely a statement of fact. I am married, involved in my church and community, have an array of friends and social obligations, and work 40+hr/week.

2. I am a paladin. AND. I. LOVE. IT!!! Total of 5 pallys across 3 realms. Main as of this date is Level 77 (protection). I roll other classes too, just none of them seem to make it past 20 (warrior, priest, hunter, rogue, shaman, death knight [got him to lvl 58 then stuck him in StormWind and made him a tailor]). Paladins: 77, 40, 21, 9, 5, and likely more to come. I confess to my Paladiction.

3. My faith did influence my rolling a pally. “ You mean your gonna let me wield the Wrath of God!?! SWEET!!!” Note* wielding “holy power” IRL does not entail smashing people in the face with a hammer…or a Bible. Jesus calls me to a life of faith, hope, love, service and generosity. He did NOT appoint me judge…although in game it is awesome…and colorful, yay!

4. I do my best to follow this formula when conflicts arise: IRL > WoW. Always.

5. In a group setting I will play the clown. I grew up in an erratically tense environment and feel the need to avoid/alleviate those situations as much as possible. One-on-one or by myself I am quite introspective. I like to pose the “big” questions, doesn’t mean I always like to answer them. I also like to read Dilbert.

'til next time,
- L -

How's this for an intro?

2009-02-17T07:39:00.000-08:00

morning in Lorondin's head:

"KEEPBOSSESAGGRO KEEPBOSSESAGGRO ... DON'T. LOSE. AGGRO...
...wait? am i flailing in bed, i believe i am...
AAAAGHH THE BOSS IS BACK!!! PROTECT PROTECT!!! DEFEND DEFEND!!! WE ALMOST HAVE ...
...is my body really acting this out...dude its a dream....c'mon....jeez. you gotta get up and go to...
CONSECRATE CONSECRATE!!! HAMMER HAMMER HAMMER!!! E'S GAINING AGGRO!!! HURRY HURRY HUR....
...my arm is moving pretty rapidly...huh...OH CRAP!!! THIS IS IRL!!!...maybe she won't *'OUCH!!!'*...nope she noticed."

word to the wise. it might be best to engage in some other activity for awhile before falling asleep...that or sleep alone. maybe Blizzard needs to put a *warning* on the box.

-L-