It’s definitely that time of year for everyone to make their New Year’s resolutions and make the “attempt” to keep them. I read somewhere that you need to do something for five weeks in order to make it habit. So, regardless of what you’re trying to do, stick with it for at least that long if you plan to make it a part of your routine!
Wanna know mine? Click for more!
One simple answer: No.
Through my WoW experience, I’ve enjoyed Brigwyn’s place in the community. He’s had some pretty interesting things to say, and I respect the hell out of him. However, this caught my eye via Twitter:
A very interesting thread on the official
#SWTOR forums. Seems I’m not alone in feeling Single Player RPG w/ Coop play
Wouldn’t it be apropos for me to make this post into something about the Galactic Empire annihilating Azeroth. The Death Star killed Deathwing! (See what I did there?) I’ve seen so many people looking to call each new MMO on the market the “WoW killer”. I think maybe at some point I shared that mindset, but then I stepped back and looked at what was going on. Everyone is going to have their “niche”. Every MMO out there has it’s own fanbase…even Star Wars Galaxies did until the end. Sure, some have a more cult following than the mainstream ones, but the point remains the same: to each his/her own.
You gotta give credit where credit is due, right? Pozo, the co-GM of my guild Respected and Despised, put together a little primer for all of us. It’s things for MMO veterans, as well as rookies. I’ve tweaked it a little bit, but it’s a great starting point! Without further ado…hit the jump for more!
Yup, it’s a pain.
The dreaded queue time! 30 minutes, 50 minutes, an hour, two hours, four hours, 6+ hours!!!! Oh my god the agony! The world’s going to end!!!
I’m a stickler for communication. I like to know what’s going on. I hate making assumptions. I can be creative, by all means. However, when it comes to group activities (work, school, social, etc.), I like to know what to expect. In real life, this means knowing what’s expected of me. Why? I can make sure all my tasks are covered; it’s also so I know where the benchmark is so I can go past it! 😉 In gaming, that’s pretty much the same thing.
Finally! After a while of hammering out as many 6/7 clears as we could, we finally downed the elemental beast! It was a long few days of attempts (every Thursday was “Rag night”…not to be confused with a female ailment), but Ragnaros died on a warm Thursday night. We ended up two-healing it with Rykga, our Holy Paladin, and me, a Resto Shaman. It basically came down to a fight of keeping yourself alive. I kept reminding everyone that because it was being two-healed, there was little to no room for mistake. Our DPS isn’t by any means through the roof, but it’s solid enough that we needed to have everyone alive to get the job done. Rykga and I were definitely pushed to our max limits, but aside from our other main healer (Discotheque, a Resto Druid), I couldn’t imagine any one else in there healing.
We’re still working on one of our raiders and getting him up to the level of the rest of the raiders. This person has done a great job in terms of enthusiasm and interest, but he’s lacking throughput right now. He really is a great team player, but we just have to work on his output in the roles that he’s fulfilling. Now, don’t get me wrong: if he was an asshat, he’d be out the door. I don’t ever overlook a player’s personality. They have to bring a positive attitude to the table, in addition to everything else. It’s just the “everything else” that we’re working on. I have no problem teaching, but it’s just taking longer than I originally anticipated. More on that to come. You can also check out Rykga’s blog, where she talked about Holy Paladin throughput.
Coming up, I’ll be on the Double O Podcast with Rykga (Ophelie) and Oestrus. I’m definitely excited to talk casual raiding with them on Wednesday the 19th. Check it out!
Ahh, the famous words before an epic boss pull. Everyone’s got food and flask (ideally), knowledge of the fight has been studied and reiterated, now it’s time to get the attempt underway.
I decided to start my own blogging adventure, but on my terms. I wanted a venue where I could write what I felt like, when I felt like it. I may go through phases of multiple posts for you to devour. Othertimes, I’ll go through a bit of a writer’s drought. It happens. What does that mean? It means that if you see a new post from me pop up in your reader or email, you know that it’s because I felt inspired to write, and not because I had to write.
I’m not going to go through and write every single game I’ve ever played, why I played it, or what it meant to me. These are things that I hope you’ll come to know over time. In regard to blogging or being a part of the “online community”, I’ve blogged, podcasted, and even been a “reporter” for a fansite.
For some odd reason, Matticus over at World of Matticus decided he wanted to let me be a part of his blogging team for a while. I loved it. To a certain degree, I miss it. I liked having that access to a community of people who wanted to read what I had to write about. It opened up some great conversations, and also subjected me to some behavior about myself that I’m not really proud of. I decided to step down because I need a venue where I can write on my own schedule. A sincere thanks to Matt and Lodur for the time I got to spend with them.
I also co-host the Raid Warning Podcast. I get to spend a couple hours a week with some of the coolest people I’ve ever met. Seven, Lodur, and Nads. We can kick back a few beers, laugh a bit about dick and fart jokes, and talk about WoW (and the WoW TCG–a game that I sadly don’t think I’ll have the schedule to be able to play regularly…sad panda). We’re definitely an ill-humored podcast that sometimes has some meaningful things to say. Please check it out. We don’t bite. I also had a small stint helping get Guild Wars Insider on its feet, circa PAX East 2011.
I plan on writing what I feel about the MMO world (specifically pertaining to WoW and SWTOR), as well as the life I have that goes with it. Am I WoW-specific? No. Will I be TOR-specific? No. Will there be some posts that may not pertain to your interests? Perhaps. I plan to have a very organic blogging experience, peppered with some good information for those that share the same interests as me.
I started writing a “guide” for World of Matticus that was called “Raid Leading 101”, chronicling my attempt to form and maintain a 10man raiding team in WoW. Look for that experience, struggle, and triumph to make its way into my blog. I’m not perfect, but who really is? I hope anyone looking to start or run a raid team can use some of the experience that I have; I also hope to gain insight to some my own struggles through the dialogue that we will have.
I’ve also initially joined up with a really promising SWTOR Imperial guild that I hope goes places. I’m not “hardcore”, but I do put my all behind my endgame playing. “RaD” echoes a lot of the values and qualities that “Team Sport” has in WoW. I’m excited to see what happens. I’ve got a few of my friends, as well as my brother, with me.
I’ll also just put my two cents in here and there about things that are going on in my life and how that ties into my gaming life. You’ll learn about my quest for my Master’s degree, my personal life, etc. I won’t bore you with every little detail; however, I do feel that for you to understand where I’m coming from with respect to gaming, you’ll have to see where I come from in real life. I welcome your personal experiences as well.
I also welcome your input with regard to what you want to see. I don’t ever want this site to be me on a soapbox (although it may be that from time to time), so please let me know what you want to talk about. Something you’re struggling with or a thought you’ve had.
Bear with me as I get settled in. You’ll see the theme of this blog change here and there while I find out what I want HBN to look like. It’ll get there, don’t worry. I’ll also be adding people to my blogroll, so you can also see my friends and who I’m reading regularly.
So, welcome to Healer by Nature. Grab a seat, and simply enjoy.
Healer by Nature 