Dearest All,

I will keep this short and simple, as I do not know how to put it otherwise.

The relationship i have been involved in for almost a decade has ended.

For now, there is no WoW for me simply because I am homeless and have things I need to sort out, but I suspect that I will not be back once things have settled either. As much as I have enjoyed the game, it has always in a way been something we did together, something we had together. Having left an entire life behind me, I can’t see how I could keep this part of it, nor am I sure I would want to.

So this is my goodbye, as much as I hate having to say so.

I want to thank all who have inspired me – Phaelia, Larisa, Gnomie, Euripedes, Ratters, Aleathea and many many more; all of you who have read the blog, commented, been here for this journey.

A special thank you to you, Avonar, for introducing me to the world of blogging. I am hook and will most probably go on writing in some form.

Thank you all and may your WoWing and blogging days be many, happy and rich with experiences!

Love,

Diana

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Priestess of the Holy Light

I have several times mentioned that though I now play a Horde druid, I spent my first three years in WoW as a human holy priest. She was my first real character, as well as the character in whose company I got to explore the word, meet new people, take on the role of a classleader and officer in two guilds and lead raids against the bosses of Azeroth and Outland.

Her name is Loriana.

As much as I enjoy playing my druid, Lori will always hold a special place in my heart. Her name reminds me of all the wonderful people I’ve met and all the good times we’ve had together.

There is one person in particular from my time as Lori that has come to mean a lot to me. She has a blog of her own.

We met in Outland and went through a lot together. So much so, that we stayed in touch even after I left the Alliance. So much so, that she has become one of my closest friends.

And today, she surprised me, by honoring Loriana with a roleplaying post. I loved every word of it, as I am sure many of you will do too! It deals with the inner struggle of a holy priest who has to call upon the powers of shadow in order to serve Elune. From a role-playing perspective this is a very interesting issue, that has been presented well.

Thank you, Av! You brought many fond memories back to mind and put a smile on my face today.

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Blog Spring Cleaning

It being Easter and all, I thought this was a great opportunity to update the static information on the blog. The page about me, my characters, my blogroll as well as the side bar widgets have all been updated!

So with a clear contience and a “clean” blog, I now wish all my readers

Happy Easter!

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Maiara Pin Cushion

Opening my Achievement window and being met by half-full bars annoys me to no end! Some say I am a bit of a perfectionist, others that I have a mild case of O.C.D. but either way one thing is true: I hate seeing this summary.

I have a very hard time seeing half-full bars, that is usually what makes me push on to dinging and also what makes me want to stop right after I have dinged. And it is what pushes me to complete achievements (except for the ones that award titles, which I would complete anyway).

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Achievements Compared to other Games

My knowledge of MMO-games is restricted to WoW and Warhammer Online. The latter I only know a little about, having played a character up to level 13. But by having seen more then WoW I have something to compare with.

The Warhammer Online Achievement System differs somewhat from the World of Warcraft one:

In Warhammer Online Achievements are hidden, you don’t know an Achievement exists until it pops up on your screen as completed. My initial reaction was that I prefer the Warcraft approach of seeing what Achievements are available, but there is an advantage with the Warhammer Online System: it does not put you under stress to the same degree as the Warcraft one. As mentioned above, having to see the half-empty bars annoys me. Though I like knowing things in advance, I would prefer not having to see exactly how many things I haven’t done yet. Instead of Achievements being fun little things, it puts me in mind of a list of chores and I am faced with exactly how many I have not completed yet.

The other big difference is the amount of titles available through Achievements:

Warhammer Online is littered with titles. And I really mean littered – by the time you reach your tenth level (out of forty) you already have about twenty titles to choose from, which are most probably not even the same ones as those your friends have. Of course there are titles that are extremely rare and can only be obtained by long, hard work and lots of cooperation with other people, but in Warhammer Online titles not only have the function of indicating hard work (as the Warcraft titles do, or at least used to do in TBC), they also have the function of character customization – kind of like haircuts obtainable at the barbershop in Warcaft. And by offering such a great variety of titles to even the lowliest player, the designers have ensured that titles do not have to be overly common.

Let’s face it: every other person you see in Dalaran nowadays is a Jenkins, but I think that if we had more titles to choose from, there would be more diversity.

The fact that so many run around with the Jenkins title, even if it means they have to be associated with “that other guy on the server, that is a real noob” proves to me that people really want titles (or family names).

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What it Boils Down to

Of course no system is perfect and the WoW Achievemt System never will be either, but there is certainly room for improvement.

If I were to change something, it would most probably be the way in which achievements are displayed: I would prefer to hide the achievements I have not completed yet and only look at them when I choose to. This could be done by an option in the Interface Menu, or by only showing uncompleted achievements on the Armory for example.

And of course, if I could have my way, I would implement many, many, many more titles into the game. I mean who would not want to be: Soandso the Vain, or Emperor Whatsyourname?

Myself, I could picture myself as:

Maiara Pin Cushion

a titles obtained after having died 10 times.

Is there any title you would like to see beside your name?

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For a full list of the titles available in Warhammer Online, visit this link.

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Gotta Get Them While They’re Young!

Meet David.

He’s one and a half years old and hard at work at grasping the mechanics of WoW. So far, he’s managed to find the box to type in your user name on the login screen. He’s still working on remembering the login name though.

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OOC: Good Tidings

Yesterday was a good day. A very very good day even. Rather then tell you what happened I’d like to show you:

Ok, so can you spot the difference?

That’s right! Maiara is no longer a member of the Voodoo Puppets. Oh don’t get me wrong, she’s still the tool of the Voodoo Queen herself, but she is now a tree on a mission!

About a week ago I applied to the best PvE guild on the server and yesterday (by the time I had given up all hope I might add) I was contacted about my application. “We’ve decided we want to give you a chance.” Hurray!

Now this of course doesn’t mean it’s all in the bag, on the contrary:

• I’m only level 63, since I was planning on waiting on my boyfriend to start his Death Knight tank so we could level together. Of course the new guild would rather see I’m 70 and ready to burst thought the new content the day the expansion hits, so what I though would be two very calm and uneventful weeks have now turned into a race to 70, at the same time that I’m trying to sort everything IRL to get some more free time for the next few weeks.
• This will mean really working to get to 80 fast! Which is no little feat as a healer and considering I actually do have 2 or 3 RL things to deal with during the first week, but all in all, this should really not be a problem. I just hope I still get to play with my family, which brings me to my next point
• Less time playing with the family. I know they’ve all expressed loose wishes to apply to this guild and they are all good enough to get in, that’s for sure. The two best dpsers I’ve experienced so far and an amazing tank, there might be room for them too, who knows. But this is an assumption I’m not making. I will have to assume that none of them will get in (if they even apply) and that I will have to put some extra work in to be able to keep playing with them.
• I have to explain this to the few other people in my old guild, four real life friends who, when they heard we had rerolled Horde, immediatley switched to our server to be able to play with us. They sort of invited themselves in and I’ve been honest with them from the start: I’m glad they’re here and I’m looking forward to playing with them, but what I want is hardcore raiding, that’s my passion, that’s my goal.

And that’s the current situation in a nutshell 🙂 Overall – I’m extatic. I realize this means hard work and there’s no guarantee I’ll make it into their raidingteam, but that’s tomorrow’s problem.

Today, I get to dream big!

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OOC: Blog Updated

Tada!

I bet you people doubted me! I bet you thought I would never actually go through with updating my Blogroll and my character profile links and such like I said I would! Of course you did, I did too.

But then I realized that the Wrath of the Dude With Very Cool Frosty Blue Armour is soon upon us, and with it, the change of my mains. Meaning: it was time for Maiara to make this blog her own and for Aendi to take a step back (don’t worry, the explanatory in character blogpost is coming).

So I asked a friend to help me figure out a new banner for the blog and after putting our heads together, me having an idea and my friend doing her magic, this is what we ended up with.

I have to say I am in love with it! It is pretty (oh so pretty!), druidrelated (tree, get it? haha) and fits the style of the blog perfectly.

And of course, with such a beautiful new banner that will no doubt attract the masses, I has simply forced to update my blogroll and repolish my links, so I would not end up looking totally unprofessional.

So then, without further ado:

Enjoy! 🙂

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OOC: Times is Hard

In the words of Helena Bonham Carter: Times is hard!

As some of you know, I am a one and a half full time student (studying full time English and part time Dramacommunication) as well as a part time teacher (teaching night classes in German). This combined with the fact that I am also needed as moral support to my better half (who is recovering from a long-time sick-leave) in his studies, has led to me actually not having any time over for World of Warcraft or blogging.

Gnomeaggeddon was talking about real life and WoW balance, and at the time I read his post, I fully agreed: I spend a lot of my time thinking about WoW. But the way things are looking right now, I am so preoccupied with work and studies, that there actually is no time left for me to even think about WoW.

As much as this saddens me, it simply is as it is, and I have to accept it, because I just can’t think of anything to cut out of my schedual and make some extra time for WoW.

So: this is basically me saying I’m sorry, but don’t expect any posts from me in the near future. If I have time, I’ll write for sure. If I have time, I’ll finish leveling up my character to at least 55 before Wrath, so I can join my friends in the expansion. If I have time…

If I don’t have time, then I at least will not have to feel guilty for not leveling and not blogging. That’s why I felt I had to go out and say it: I just don’t think I have the time at the moment.

I hope that when I will have time to write on a regular basis again, there will still be people out there willing to read and react, to bring their comments and make their contribution, and that the blogging-community will still be willing to have me.

Until then, may your posts be brilliant and your epics shiny!

Regards

Aendi and her Voodoo Puppets

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OOC: Blogs Need Vacations Too

Well at least the authors do. And by vacation I actually mean that I have to take a rain-check this particular week, because there simply is too much happening at the moment for me to have time to produce any kind of serious blog posts.

1. Lots and lots and lots of school assignments that need to be handed in by Thursday and Friday
   
2. Saturday is my little sisters birthday. Yay her for finally dinging the oh so important level 20!
3. Saturday is also the day she is scheduled to give birth to her daughter, whom we all can’t wait to meet and greet. This means you’ll be calling me Auntie Aendi very soon 🙂 Of course it’s possible (and actually probable) that this won’t happen on Saturday, but it’s very possible it will happen some time this week.

This means that until Sunday, there won’t be any major posts, unless something very brilliant comes to mind and simply can’t way. Just don’t hold your breath 🙂

Until the, I leave you with a pretty Wordle, to have something pretty to look at 🙂

And a list of things that need to be done, but won’t get done right now:

• “Well I never…” page needs to be updated
• Blogroll needs to be updated
• Lists of Podcasts needs to be updated
• Level Cowwithbark to at least level 55 before the expansion
• Write lots and lots of witty, remarkable posts you all will love! 😛 (one can always dream)

WoW safe and don’t do too much I would not do myself! 😉

Regards

Aendi

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OOC: the end of an era

I sit here, staring at the keyboard and don’t know what to write. With read, swollen eyes, but no tears left. I’ve cried them all. An era has ended. My beloved grandfather is no longer amongst us.

I apologize for writing something so personal and not WoW-related here. My intention was really to write about my characters. I had it all planned out last night as I fell asleep.

But then the telephone rang and my world got turned up side down. The man who raised me, of whom I have the most fond and happiest memories of my childhood is no more.

So I sit here, staring at the keyboard, typing – backslashing, typing – backslashing and the only thing I can formulate into words is this. My mind keeps coming back to this and my need to cry out about my loss. I’ve lost one of the most beloved people in my life. Life will never be the same again.

May he rest in peace.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

~ W. H. Auden, Funeral Blues

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