Thursday, June 30, 2011

Not a WoW Post, but somethin I respect, a Hero

I love Wow. I play it almost every day when I'm not on the road being a soldier. For a moment though I thought I'd share whom I figure is an American hero and icon. This one goes out to a country singer. He embodied everything I love about what a real singer should be, and that's singing about his own life as he understood. So, my hero for the day is Chris LeDoux. Now Chris was a rodeo rider back in the 60's and 70's. He decided to write and sing about the things he saw and did on the rodeo circuit. Interesting thing is, he really never gave into the big recording contract drama/rat race. He kept his own way and probably didn't make a ton of money like a lot of singers. Thing is, his music was honest and I guess a bit old fashioned.

I draw a lot of inspiration from his music for a couple of reasons. See, when I was growing up, I raised and trained horses. Not for rodeos, but the life on a farm was still much the same. It was hard work, early mornings and a crap load of travel. Secondly, a lot of his music as a cowboy drifter sets to mind what it feels like as a soldier goin' from place to place. This hits a cord pretty deep. See, for 14 years now I been a soldier and workin' hard every day. I've been sent all over the nation and across the world. Somehow, my wife still sticks with me through it. She knows it's the only thing I am pretty damned good at and deals with the crazy schedules and crazy stuff I do.

Well, a lot of Chris' music speaks to me and even though he's passed on back in 05' he still echoes a lot of peoples thoughts if they'd take the time to listen. His accounts of being on the road, dealing with his love of the circuit, and the trials he and his wife went through mean a lot because my wife and I go through it too.

For all of this, after he passed, he was given a ton of honors from country music and rodeo culture. I don't think he did it for the glory, but just for the ride. He seemed to be an honest man and without guile. I respect that a lot. When my career is finished, I'd like to settle down in the country as he did with his wife Peggy and their children. Anyways. here's a hoist of a good brew and thoughts of a good ride Chris. Below are a couple of pics, enjoy if you wish. You don't have to agree with the rodeo scene, there are parts of it I don't like, but Chris had a lot of spirit and he never wanted folks to feel sorry for him, just to see what he saw.


So how has this to do with WoW? Well, not much but we all got heroes, some won't admit it but others may take a bit and see what or whom inspires them. When I think of my hunter Grimnhak, I think of that free spirit out for the wild ride and goin for the fight not for glory but because he could. Mr. LeDoux speaks to me like that. If you have read this far, thank you for letting me share with you a part of my life away from WoW and I gotta ask you, who inspres you and why?

WoW Girls Gone Wild....but there is a point to it.

I've brought it up before on the psychology of male and female interaction within the MMO community. This had to do with sexism in the WoW community and how it can be umm chaotic in nature. Let's face it, by and large mmo's were designed with young males as the primary demographic. Hot plate armor (you know like plate armor bikini's that mitigate more damage than an M1A1 Abram's tank), bouncy umm peices parts and cutes looks. Bu guys, what if the tables were turned. So, check out this link on If Women ruled WoW .

 First and foremost it was hilarious. But on an interesting note, everything that was dramatized here, I've seen happen time and time again only the guys were the perpatrators of poor, patronizing attitudes. Either women are met with straight up offers of umm relations, or they were thrown all kinds of goodies based solely on their gender, or they were looked at with outright derision. What if the tables were turned? Based upon a lot of the thin skins I've seen throughout my gaming time, I doubt males could even handle being treated this way without totally nerd raging out.

My point here is bottom line, sexism still exists on many servers. Like, well, females are ok at dps or good at healing but god forbid if we let them tank...that sort of thing. Now, I'm not saying this happens all the time. I know several very competent female raiders of every class that would put most guys to shame. Time to face it, the nerd mancave of the mmo is now being equalized with a more and more game savvy female population. It behooves the gamer population to step back a little and respect the player, not the gender. Anyways, the idea here was supposed to be humorous, but it brings up some interesting points.

Have a fun day in Azeroth folks, hope most are enjoying the new 4.2 series, I know I am, though getting those damned tokens to get into the Firelands has been kinda a pain in the ass lol.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Elemental Bonds Questline - Good Story and a small pro tip for questers

Well, I'm always a sucker for a good storyline and the one you go into the Firelands and help rescue Thrall is a fine set of story quests. I finished this morning after the initial masive battles in pvp that were happening at the Firelands quest point had died down. There were some minor skirmishes but nothing to write home about after the initial blast of last night's ragefest. At the end of the questline once finished, Thrall will hook you up with a decent blue cloak that you choose based upon your class. Nice little reward for those fresh into the 85 zone. Those who have to leave the questline by the way can get back and here is how:

Easiest way is to roll back into Deepholm, talk to aggra just south of the Twilight Precepace where you fought the eaeth elementals in the initial phases of the quest. Aggra will then port you to your last known quest point. I only got a couple of screenies of the fireland finish and then the final outcome with Thrall and Aggra. I'm jealous as an orc though, Thrall gets to stand up all the way, I'm still a hunchback forever...
Just as I was freeing Thrall and hot footing it out..

                                           Thrall and Aggra make da luv vows forever...nice ending but the cloak is what I was looking for lol...

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

What I like about 4.2

Well, first, Grimnhak hit 85 this afternoon after the patch was finished. So far I am enjoying the hell out of 4.2! The quest line story is really pretty awesome. Only downside is on a pvp server its also total war. I got all the way to the firelands. Unfortunately the final portion is in a total lock down right now. See, in the final portion when you hit the firelands you have to kill fire elementals in a small basin on a hill. Problem, only one way in and one way out. You can't fly in the firelands (my only gripe). Well on a pvp server this causes serious issues. It is literally a stronghold for any large force to hold and bottleneck any incoming force. Makes it pure hell trying to finish the quest. But, it's about the most pvp in open world that I have seen since pre BC so even though my poor Horde brothers and sisters got completely facerolled, it was still a blast giving the massive siege. (For what its worth, Kings of the East Alliance side dominated the area. They so worked like a team and facerolled everything the Horde threw at them.) Ok, that was rough but still it was a total blast doing the storyline and all the war front that was fought. I am sure the Horde will come back swinging in the near future.

Anyways, the Dungeon Journal is sooo CHOICE! I love it! All the dungeons, the drops, the bosses and their abilities. It's like having Deadly Bossmods without the hassle of updating the addons. This was an excellent move on Blizz's part in my opinion. Those who nay say, well all I can tell you is after having the access, I can at least have a chance at new dungeons without having to sift through a ton of crap to figure stuff out. I love it.

Ok, that's my quick take so far. And for a freshly dropped patch, I saw no technical issues so far. The game has added new facets that I really do enjoy. I'm still not hip on the PuG LFG tool but, hey overall the experience has been pretty positive. PvP servers add a whole new dimension to the questing etc as well.

Folks, hope you are all enjoying the new stuff, I am gonna head out myself. Take care one and all!