Last night was a blast! I entered Karazhan for real for the first time and boy was I excited! Well, let me rephrase that, I was initially hesitant, but later excited!
I logged on and immediately got a whisper from a friend whose guild is apparently short on healers as he asked me to join. I was told two hours max, which I should have dismissed, but I really wanted to go. It took almost an hour before we were finally ready to go and had everyone invited.
While we were waiting I started reading up on the first boss and mentally preparing. Lo and behold! This was a saved instance and they were on Nightbane and Prince Mel. I tried reading up on Nightbane quickly, but didn’t get any really good information to prepare. He took a few tries, but we managed to get him down. He dropped Stonebough Jerkin and as there were two priest healers and myself, I had the option of taking it. It’s definitely an upgrade from what I’m currently wearing based on the healing bonus, but because it was leather I opted not to take it. I also didn’t want to appear greedy, so the tankadin ended up with it. I did get 2 Badges of Justice out of it though, so I'm happy.
Prince Malchezaar was a bear! I believe we wiped three times when I told the raid leader that I appreciated the invite, but that I really needed to go. It was already 1:00am and I had work in the morning. He convinced me to go one more time as another member of the raid had to leave too. Thank God he did too! We were able to get him down relatively easy on that last try. He dropped Jade Ring of the Everliving and I was the only one that rolled on the item and won it! It’s been a long time since I’ve upgraded any equipment and it’s a good feeling to have that again. Prince Mal also dropped 3 Badges of Justice which I was very pleased about.
I’m hoping to get invited back with these guys as my own guild is not yet prepared to go. I think we’re still waiting on a few others to gear up, although we have at least 10 players keyed.
Continue reading 'Kyrilean's Journal: First Night in Karazhan'
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Recommended Blog Site: The Pugnacious Priest
Although I have a few recommended blog websites listed, I've never actually recommended one in a blog. Granted, my blog site is fairly new and so I haven't necessarily taken the opportunity.
Today I stumbled upon a blogsite that I believe to be fairly new, at least I couldn't find a huge archive cache of posts. http://pugnaciouspriest.wordpress.com/
So far this is a great read and I look forward to reading more. Continue reading 'Recommended Blog Site: The Pugnacious Priest'
Today I stumbled upon a blogsite that I believe to be fairly new, at least I couldn't find a huge archive cache of posts. http://pugnaciouspriest.wordpress.com/
So far this is a great read and I look forward to reading more. Continue reading 'Recommended Blog Site: The Pugnacious Priest'
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Definition of a Casual Gamer
Znodis over at Blog Azeroth listed four suggested topics for blogs. I don’t think anyone has actually answered any of these over there, but maybe I’m not looking close enough. I’ve been mulling over my answer to the first three questions for some time now. The fourth answer is easy:
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines casual as; 1) feeling or showing little concern, 2) lacking a high degree of interest or devotion, or 3) done without serious intent or commitment.
Everyone out there is going to have a different definition of “casual” gamers. Anyone willing to shell out the bucks that it takes to play WoW, I wouldn't necessarily classify as lacking concern, interest, devotion, serious intent, or commitment. Quite to the contrary! But there are still casual WoW gamers out there and I consider myself one of them.
I know a few people who love experiencing the thrill of leveling. Once they reach level 70, they’re on to the next toon. They don’t completely abandon their 70s because of all the end game stuff available to them, but they also aren’t dedicated enough to seriously tackle raiding and the like. Does this make them casual? In the eyes of a raider? Definitely. Personally, I think it’s still pretty hardcore to make the attempt to level another character to 70. Sure it’s a little easier, especially if you rely on your 70 to help out in gear, gold, etc. but there is still a time investment that cannot be avoided.
I consider myself a casual gamer. I spent quite a bit of time getting to level 70, but then again I soloed as a protection paladin almost up to 70. I consider myself a little anti-social and don’t spend a lot of time trying to make a bunch of friends online, but primarily I hate asking for help. I’m a guy! What can I say? I don’t ask for directions either. LOL!
Once I finally got to level 70, I started trying to upgrade armor by working on the instances in Outland and upgrading my professions that I hadn’t bothered with for a while. I spent time working on the dailies and am still saving up for an epic flying mount. Because I don’t focus on it and grind for the gold, and spend what I do have frankly, I’ll probably get that mount sometime when the 3rd as-yet untitled expansion comes out. I’ve also spent time working on rep with the Aldor, Ogri-La, and the Shattari Skyguard. I’ve gotten the Skyguard rep to exalted and Ogri-La should happen today, as I’m only 800 points or so away. I’ll concentrate on Aldor next and then move to the next probably, but I keep jumping around on what I’m doing and never stay focused on any one thing. I get bored otherwise. Let me give you an example.
During the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, I spent a lot of time in the battlegrounds working to attain my Ornamented Gladiator armor set. Initially it was fun, but because I had time off from work, I was spending 10-16 hours on any given day to get enough honor points and tokens to buy the stuff. It was exciting as I purchased each new piece and added it to my toon. But I overdid it and quickly became burned out. Now I have a couple of rings and trinkets I’d like to get, but it’ll take forever because I can’t stomaching the battlegrounds more than two or possibly three times a night.
I haven’t tried the Arena yet and I hear the gear is worth it, but I also hear it is extremely time consuming and I am not that fond of PvP. So why did I spend so much time in the battlegrounds? Frankly, I needed upgraded armor. The battlegrounds provided an avenue to get some fairly simply, cheaply, and quickly (although quickly is somewhat relative). It only provided a stepping stone to getting into instances in Outland. The gear I had at the time was inferior and I kept dying in the instances. I also wasn’t healing as well as I needed to and the PvP gear gives a nice boost.
I’ve read the arguments between PvE and PvP gear and how they don’t work well in the other setting. Now I agree that in general it’s better to have the appropriate gear designed for the appropriate forum, but I disagree with just about everyone arguing the importance of gear because as important as gear is, and I think it’s very important, I think party dynamics, including class make-up and the individual players play a more important role overall, but that’s an argument for another blog.
So I’ve spent a lot of time jumping between daily quests, battlegrounds, reputation advancement, profession advancement, helping out lower level guildmates, helping guildmates get keyed for Karazhan, etc. I’ve been trying for three or four weeks to get into heroics, but I haven’t dedicated the time to doing it every night. Dyna’s been wanting me and Yec to join up with him as he’d prefer the three of us to do these with a couple of others, but Yec and I haven’t made the time. Dyna’s really gotten into it and has 47+ badges where I only have 6 and I think Yec has 2.
So does that mean focus determines whether someone is a casual gamer or not? It can, I suppose, but I don’t think so. I focused on battlegrounds, but still consider myself a casual gamer. Dyna’s really focused on heroics, but I still think of him as a casual gamer. I think there’s more to it.
The biggest reason why I consider myself a casual gamer is attitude. A couple of weeks ago I had a blast in a heroic ramparts although we continued to wipe multiple times and only came out with one badge. It cost me 47+ gold in repairs, but I had a blast! It was a learning experience, I was with friends, and I couldn’t have cared less. There are so many people out there that would have given up after the second wipe because to them it’s just not worth it.
Don't get me wrong! I'm all about upgrading my toons and being the best that I can, but I also want to just spend time with the people that I like and having fun.
Q: If you could tell a newbieHere’s my attempt at answering the first question, “What does casual WoW gamer mean to you?”one thing what would it be?
A: Run for the hills!!! There’s a reason why people compare WoW to crack!
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines casual as; 1) feeling or showing little concern, 2) lacking a high degree of interest or devotion, or 3) done without serious intent or commitment.
Everyone out there is going to have a different definition of “casual” gamers. Anyone willing to shell out the bucks that it takes to play WoW, I wouldn't necessarily classify as lacking concern, interest, devotion, serious intent, or commitment. Quite to the contrary! But there are still casual WoW gamers out there and I consider myself one of them.
I know a few people who love experiencing the thrill of leveling. Once they reach level 70, they’re on to the next toon. They don’t completely abandon their 70s because of all the end game stuff available to them, but they also aren’t dedicated enough to seriously tackle raiding and the like. Does this make them casual? In the eyes of a raider? Definitely. Personally, I think it’s still pretty hardcore to make the attempt to level another character to 70. Sure it’s a little easier, especially if you rely on your 70 to help out in gear, gold, etc. but there is still a time investment that cannot be avoided.
I consider myself a casual gamer. I spent quite a bit of time getting to level 70, but then again I soloed as a protection paladin almost up to 70. I consider myself a little anti-social and don’t spend a lot of time trying to make a bunch of friends online, but primarily I hate asking for help. I’m a guy! What can I say? I don’t ask for directions either. LOL!
Once I finally got to level 70, I started trying to upgrade armor by working on the instances in Outland and upgrading my professions that I hadn’t bothered with for a while. I spent time working on the dailies and am still saving up for an epic flying mount. Because I don’t focus on it and grind for the gold, and spend what I do have frankly, I’ll probably get that mount sometime when the 3rd as-yet untitled expansion comes out. I’ve also spent time working on rep with the Aldor, Ogri-La, and the Shattari Skyguard. I’ve gotten the Skyguard rep to exalted and Ogri-La should happen today, as I’m only 800 points or so away. I’ll concentrate on Aldor next and then move to the next probably, but I keep jumping around on what I’m doing and never stay focused on any one thing. I get bored otherwise. Let me give you an example.
During the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, I spent a lot of time in the battlegrounds working to attain my Ornamented Gladiator armor set. Initially it was fun, but because I had time off from work, I was spending 10-16 hours on any given day to get enough honor points and tokens to buy the stuff. It was exciting as I purchased each new piece and added it to my toon. But I overdid it and quickly became burned out. Now I have a couple of rings and trinkets I’d like to get, but it’ll take forever because I can’t stomaching the battlegrounds more than two or possibly three times a night.
I haven’t tried the Arena yet and I hear the gear is worth it, but I also hear it is extremely time consuming and I am not that fond of PvP. So why did I spend so much time in the battlegrounds? Frankly, I needed upgraded armor. The battlegrounds provided an avenue to get some fairly simply, cheaply, and quickly (although quickly is somewhat relative). It only provided a stepping stone to getting into instances in Outland. The gear I had at the time was inferior and I kept dying in the instances. I also wasn’t healing as well as I needed to and the PvP gear gives a nice boost.
I’ve read the arguments between PvE and PvP gear and how they don’t work well in the other setting. Now I agree that in general it’s better to have the appropriate gear designed for the appropriate forum, but I disagree with just about everyone arguing the importance of gear because as important as gear is, and I think it’s very important, I think party dynamics, including class make-up and the individual players play a more important role overall, but that’s an argument for another blog.
So I’ve spent a lot of time jumping between daily quests, battlegrounds, reputation advancement, profession advancement, helping out lower level guildmates, helping guildmates get keyed for Karazhan, etc. I’ve been trying for three or four weeks to get into heroics, but I haven’t dedicated the time to doing it every night. Dyna’s been wanting me and Yec to join up with him as he’d prefer the three of us to do these with a couple of others, but Yec and I haven’t made the time. Dyna’s really gotten into it and has 47+ badges where I only have 6 and I think Yec has 2.
So does that mean focus determines whether someone is a casual gamer or not? It can, I suppose, but I don’t think so. I focused on battlegrounds, but still consider myself a casual gamer. Dyna’s really focused on heroics, but I still think of him as a casual gamer. I think there’s more to it.
The biggest reason why I consider myself a casual gamer is attitude. A couple of weeks ago I had a blast in a heroic ramparts although we continued to wipe multiple times and only came out with one badge. It cost me 47+ gold in repairs, but I had a blast! It was a learning experience, I was with friends, and I couldn’t have cared less. There are so many people out there that would have given up after the second wipe because to them it’s just not worth it.
Don't get me wrong! I'm all about upgrading my toons and being the best that I can, but I also want to just spend time with the people that I like and having fun.
Q: What does casual WoW gamer mean to you?Continue reading 'Definition of a Casual Gamer'
A: Bottom line, the definition of a casual gamer is someone who just plays the game to enjoy the game.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Character Name Creation
Author's Note: Bunnyfer over at Blog Azeroth suggested two questions for blogs. I'm going to address the first one, "How do you come up with your character names?"
Kyrilean. Funny thing is I invented this name, but evidently so have many others. If you do a Google search for Kyrilean, the first item in the list is my blog page. Currently the third item down is a link to Allakhazam for Dark Age of Camelot. There’s a few more so you’ll have to take my word for it that I came up with it on my own. Ironically, I also read Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. Absolutely love them. In one of the books, there’s a character named Kyril. I use this a lot as a nickname, but I’ll explain that as well.
Back in high school I used to play D&D, back when it was still owned by TSR, Inc. I was still playing a little by the time Wizards of the Coast bought them, but not as much. Because of this I used to spend time inventing names for characters. It was during this time that I invented Kyrileanthos Silverblade.
At the time I was reading a lot of the Dragonlance novels. In fact, I read them over and over constantly. I was intrigued by the characters Tanis and Laurana. Tanis and Laurana are shortened names for Tanthalas (if memory serves) and Lauralanthalasa. The long names and shortened versions intrigued me and I wanted to create a name that had similar characteristics.
This is where my memory gets a little hazy. I don’t remember exactly if the correlation came before or after I created the name. For Star Wars geeks, we all know that the Millenium Falcon was a Corellian freighter. Corellian and Kyrilean have very distinct similarities. I cannot remember to this day if I thought of the name first and noticed the similarity or if Corellian was an influence. Anyway, I attached the “thos” at the end of the name. Looking at it later, I unintentionally had created a name that could also be shortened to Kyril, adding another nickname. I thought that was pretty cool. It wasn’t until creating Kyrilean, Kyrileanthos didn’t fit, and adventuring in Azeroth that it was even shortened further to Ky by guildmates. I accomplished what I wanted with this name and have been proud of it ever since.
That was probably the only name I created using that method. Most of the names I’ve created involved picking a letter that I wanted the name to start with and then picking random letters to start filling in spaces within the name. As soon as you get a few letters together with a sound, begin substituting letters until you get a name that works well with the character you’re inventing.
Another technique I use is to take a name I like and change it. I’ve always liked the name Jason and I once modified it to Jasyn and created a character named Jasyn Blackhawk. That’s a simple example, but you can take it much farther. Take my character Luthe from Ultima IV—if you’ve never had the chance to play this game, it’s been widely said that this became the template for all future role-playing games, so give thanks to Lord British. I believe I started with something close to Legolas from Lord of the Rings, substituted and removed letters until I got to Luthos, which became Luther and finally just removed the ‘r’.
Other techniques just involve envisioning your character in your head and then having that determine the letters and sounds that will ultimately become your character’s name. Remember I mentioned I was reading Dragonlance? Quite possibly my favorite character in the entire Dragonlance series is Tasslehoff Burrfoot. I wanted to create a similar character and envisioned a Halfling. From there I decided I would use the letter ‘K’. For whatever reason the letter ‘u’ seemed like it would fit perfectly so it became “Ku”. After that I cannot remember where it went, but eventually it settled on Kupix. The name itself does not evoke a sense of dread, so it wouldn’t necessarily work well with a warrior. However, for a semi-innocent Hafling thief? It worked and the name stuck.
One final technique to use is foreign words. This becomes harder for those that cannot speak another language, but for those of us that do it can be a great help. I recently created a Human Female Priest character named Maedchen. For anyone that knows German, “das Maedchen” is “girl”. Kinda corny I know, but the average person won’t know and it’s a good looking name. I also created a Shaman named Erdkrieg, which is using the German words for “earth” and “war”.
Whatever technique you use to create your own character names, have fun with it. As long as you like the name, that’s all that really matters. Try to create something that you won’t regret later. I’ve seen some fairly silly names online that I can’t imagine anyone would want to live with all the way through level 70. At least Blizzard gives us the chance to change those names now. Continue reading 'Character Name Creation'
Kyrilean. Funny thing is I invented this name, but evidently so have many others. If you do a Google search for Kyrilean, the first item in the list is my blog page. Currently the third item down is a link to Allakhazam for Dark Age of Camelot. There’s a few more so you’ll have to take my word for it that I came up with it on my own. Ironically, I also read Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. Absolutely love them. In one of the books, there’s a character named Kyril. I use this a lot as a nickname, but I’ll explain that as well.
Back in high school I used to play D&D, back when it was still owned by TSR, Inc. I was still playing a little by the time Wizards of the Coast bought them, but not as much. Because of this I used to spend time inventing names for characters. It was during this time that I invented Kyrileanthos Silverblade.
At the time I was reading a lot of the Dragonlance novels. In fact, I read them over and over constantly. I was intrigued by the characters Tanis and Laurana. Tanis and Laurana are shortened names for Tanthalas (if memory serves) and Lauralanthalasa. The long names and shortened versions intrigued me and I wanted to create a name that had similar characteristics.
This is where my memory gets a little hazy. I don’t remember exactly if the correlation came before or after I created the name. For Star Wars geeks, we all know that the Millenium Falcon was a Corellian freighter. Corellian and Kyrilean have very distinct similarities. I cannot remember to this day if I thought of the name first and noticed the similarity or if Corellian was an influence. Anyway, I attached the “thos” at the end of the name. Looking at it later, I unintentionally had created a name that could also be shortened to Kyril, adding another nickname. I thought that was pretty cool. It wasn’t until creating Kyrilean, Kyrileanthos didn’t fit, and adventuring in Azeroth that it was even shortened further to Ky by guildmates. I accomplished what I wanted with this name and have been proud of it ever since.
That was probably the only name I created using that method. Most of the names I’ve created involved picking a letter that I wanted the name to start with and then picking random letters to start filling in spaces within the name. As soon as you get a few letters together with a sound, begin substituting letters until you get a name that works well with the character you’re inventing.
Another technique I use is to take a name I like and change it. I’ve always liked the name Jason and I once modified it to Jasyn and created a character named Jasyn Blackhawk. That’s a simple example, but you can take it much farther. Take my character Luthe from Ultima IV—if you’ve never had the chance to play this game, it’s been widely said that this became the template for all future role-playing games, so give thanks to Lord British. I believe I started with something close to Legolas from Lord of the Rings, substituted and removed letters until I got to Luthos, which became Luther and finally just removed the ‘r’.
Other techniques just involve envisioning your character in your head and then having that determine the letters and sounds that will ultimately become your character’s name. Remember I mentioned I was reading Dragonlance? Quite possibly my favorite character in the entire Dragonlance series is Tasslehoff Burrfoot. I wanted to create a similar character and envisioned a Halfling. From there I decided I would use the letter ‘K’. For whatever reason the letter ‘u’ seemed like it would fit perfectly so it became “Ku”. After that I cannot remember where it went, but eventually it settled on Kupix. The name itself does not evoke a sense of dread, so it wouldn’t necessarily work well with a warrior. However, for a semi-innocent Hafling thief? It worked and the name stuck.
One final technique to use is foreign words. This becomes harder for those that cannot speak another language, but for those of us that do it can be a great help. I recently created a Human Female Priest character named Maedchen. For anyone that knows German, “das Maedchen” is “girl”. Kinda corny I know, but the average person won’t know and it’s a good looking name. I also created a Shaman named Erdkrieg, which is using the German words for “earth” and “war”.
Whatever technique you use to create your own character names, have fun with it. As long as you like the name, that’s all that really matters. Try to create something that you won’t regret later. I’ve seen some fairly silly names online that I can’t imagine anyone would want to live with all the way through level 70. At least Blizzard gives us the chance to change those names now. Continue reading 'Character Name Creation'
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Kyrilean's Journal: Slave Pens (An Heroic Adventure) and Finding Friends
Yesterday was a long day in Azeroth, but a great one!
The first thing I did was spend a lot of time getting my cooking skill up. It had been around 125 for more than 30 levels and I've been level 70 for smoe time now. It's just a skill that I neglected, primarily because I didn't have recipes that would allow me to upgrade the skill. Most of the recipes I knew were green. I keep hearing about this daily cooking quest and heard that you can also make good money with the higher level recipes.
Eventually a couple of guild members came online and I was asked to help with the quest chain leading to the Ogri'La daily quests. It surprised me that we were able to accomplish these quests with five people in just over an hour. When I did them it took a group of 10-12 over three hours! I don't know what we were doing wrong back then, but OMG! LOL!!! And it isn't the gear, although Yec, Dyna, and I were part of the large group and have upgraded a little since then, we haven't upgraded that much.
I was initially supposed to go to Karazhan for the first time tonight. A friend of Yec's needed a healer and actually wanted one the night before, but I was questing with Yec and others and wasn't all that excited to go with a bunch of people I didn't know. I hadn't seen the guy on and the time was getting close. I was invited to go with a Dyna and Zeza to finish a heroic Ramparts instance. They had tried earlier in the day and had only taken the first boss down. I felt bad about leaving Yec to herself, although she said I shouldn't. Later on, Dyna and I were talking about getting Yec to go and I told Yec I decided she had to come on the next one, since she was giving me maybes.
We spent just over an hour getting to the second boss only to find he wasn't there! LOL! The other guys not in our group had come back and finished the instance! We ran over to see if the main boss was there and he was gone too! LOL! Well chalk this one up to practice.
Zeza, Dyna, and I looked for others to go to Slave Pens and get some badges there. This time we ended up with a mage to help and it went really quick. I think we were through the entire instance in about an hour or less. I wasn't even fully mana'd up before they were off running attacking the next group. I don't know if it was the other two we ended up with, but Slave Pens was much easier than Ramparts. I got 3 Badges of Justice out of the thing which doubles the number I have. It's also the first heroic instance that I completed from beginning to end, having only ever been in three others. One time I got two badges and another time only one. The third time I didn't get anything.
Although the heroic instance was great when it comes to advancing in the game, the part that really made the day a great one was the time I spent helping out a friend finish a lot of quests and leveling. It was a lot of fun and with it being just the two of us somehow the talk drifted towards a personal level. We have similar problems in our real lives and have similar views on life. I've made a "new" friend. Continue reading 'Kyrilean's Journal: Slave Pens (An Heroic Adventure) and Finding Friends'
The first thing I did was spend a lot of time getting my cooking skill up. It had been around 125 for more than 30 levels and I've been level 70 for smoe time now. It's just a skill that I neglected, primarily because I didn't have recipes that would allow me to upgrade the skill. Most of the recipes I knew were green. I keep hearing about this daily cooking quest and heard that you can also make good money with the higher level recipes.
Eventually a couple of guild members came online and I was asked to help with the quest chain leading to the Ogri'La daily quests. It surprised me that we were able to accomplish these quests with five people in just over an hour. When I did them it took a group of 10-12 over three hours! I don't know what we were doing wrong back then, but OMG! LOL!!! And it isn't the gear, although Yec, Dyna, and I were part of the large group and have upgraded a little since then, we haven't upgraded that much.
I was initially supposed to go to Karazhan for the first time tonight. A friend of Yec's needed a healer and actually wanted one the night before, but I was questing with Yec and others and wasn't all that excited to go with a bunch of people I didn't know. I hadn't seen the guy on and the time was getting close. I was invited to go with a Dyna and Zeza to finish a heroic Ramparts instance. They had tried earlier in the day and had only taken the first boss down. I felt bad about leaving Yec to herself, although she said I shouldn't. Later on, Dyna and I were talking about getting Yec to go and I told Yec I decided she had to come on the next one, since she was giving me maybes.
We spent just over an hour getting to the second boss only to find he wasn't there! LOL! The other guys not in our group had come back and finished the instance! We ran over to see if the main boss was there and he was gone too! LOL! Well chalk this one up to practice.
Zeza, Dyna, and I looked for others to go to Slave Pens and get some badges there. This time we ended up with a mage to help and it went really quick. I think we were through the entire instance in about an hour or less. I wasn't even fully mana'd up before they were off running attacking the next group. I don't know if it was the other two we ended up with, but Slave Pens was much easier than Ramparts. I got 3 Badges of Justice out of the thing which doubles the number I have. It's also the first heroic instance that I completed from beginning to end, having only ever been in three others. One time I got two badges and another time only one. The third time I didn't get anything.
Although the heroic instance was great when it comes to advancing in the game, the part that really made the day a great one was the time I spent helping out a friend finish a lot of quests and leveling. It was a lot of fun and with it being just the two of us somehow the talk drifted towards a personal level. We have similar problems in our real lives and have similar views on life. I've made a "new" friend. Continue reading 'Kyrilean's Journal: Slave Pens (An Heroic Adventure) and Finding Friends'
Friday, February 8, 2008
Kyrilean's Journal: Leaving FIELD OF HONOR
So funny thing happened last night! I quit my guild. Yeah, I know it makes FIELD OF HONOR – A World of Warcraft Guild; Friends in the Making a little ironic now. But that said FIELD OF HONOR was only as good as the people that were in it. Now there are still some good people there and I added them to my friends list before leaving, but some things happened that lead up to this decision.
When I logged on last night, Dyna told me that Yecarteiram had left the guild today. So I whispered her alt and called her a liar since she said she wasn’t leaving. She felt really bad, but couldn’t take it anymore. I’m not sure of the details and I won’t go into what I either suspect or what little I do know. Suffice it to say that we’ve had several people come and go because of drama issues and it has affected pretty much everyone the same way.
The three of us started talking and I told Dyna that if he stayed that I would stay. I also said that if he was unhappy with the way things were that I recommended leaving if it would help him enjoy the game more. So it was decided that we were going to leave and make the move to Ambrosia.
While we waited for Lillika, the GM for Ambrosia, to come online I pushed for starting a Heroic Ramparts run. It was fun, but we were so unprepared. A lot of people will argue that we were undergeared and we probably are, but I don’t believe gear plays as large a part as most people believe. Don’t get me wrong, it is very important! Our biggest issue was maintaining crowd control. We must have wiped at least 6 times on the group around the corner from the bridge because of the spellcasters there. I lost track of how many wipes we had after about ten.
We finally did it and made it to the first boss and took him down. So we got our one Badge of Justice and called it quits for the night. Total repair cost was 43g between two repairs! Everyone else was at 16-20g, the penalty for having epic armor! We’re going to try again tonight.
At this point, I left the guild and joined Ambrosia. It started a bunch of people talking evidently. I had one whisper me about why I left. About thirty minutes later, Dyna handed off the guild to another member and joined Ambrosia as well. Not that many people were on, but I’d love to be a fly on the wall when people find out! LOL! Actually, I checked the Armory online this morning and the new guild message is “wth, Dyna left too?”
Well, here’s to a fresh start with a new guild! Continue reading 'Kyrilean's Journal: Leaving FIELD OF HONOR'
When I logged on last night, Dyna told me that Yecarteiram had left the guild today. So I whispered her alt and called her a liar since she said she wasn’t leaving. She felt really bad, but couldn’t take it anymore. I’m not sure of the details and I won’t go into what I either suspect or what little I do know. Suffice it to say that we’ve had several people come and go because of drama issues and it has affected pretty much everyone the same way.
The three of us started talking and I told Dyna that if he stayed that I would stay. I also said that if he was unhappy with the way things were that I recommended leaving if it would help him enjoy the game more. So it was decided that we were going to leave and make the move to Ambrosia.
While we waited for Lillika, the GM for Ambrosia, to come online I pushed for starting a Heroic Ramparts run. It was fun, but we were so unprepared. A lot of people will argue that we were undergeared and we probably are, but I don’t believe gear plays as large a part as most people believe. Don’t get me wrong, it is very important! Our biggest issue was maintaining crowd control. We must have wiped at least 6 times on the group around the corner from the bridge because of the spellcasters there. I lost track of how many wipes we had after about ten.
We finally did it and made it to the first boss and took him down. So we got our one Badge of Justice and called it quits for the night. Total repair cost was 43g between two repairs! Everyone else was at 16-20g, the penalty for having epic armor! We’re going to try again tonight.
At this point, I left the guild and joined Ambrosia. It started a bunch of people talking evidently. I had one whisper me about why I left. About thirty minutes later, Dyna handed off the guild to another member and joined Ambrosia as well. Not that many people were on, but I’d love to be a fly on the wall when people find out! LOL! Actually, I checked the Armory online this morning and the new guild message is “wth, Dyna left too?”
Well, here’s to a fresh start with a new guild! Continue reading 'Kyrilean's Journal: Leaving FIELD OF HONOR'
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Kyrilean's Journal: Spending Time with the Alts
I've got a few alts floating around that I have spent a little time playing trying to find a class that I wanted to spend time leveling to 70. I have a priest, mage, rogue, and shaman. I guess technically I have a warrior as well that I named Esel (German for mule), but he is permanently parked in Ironforge at the auction house. I mail him pretty much everything I find that's worth selling and then post it in the AH on Friday evenings. I also scan the AH for deals with Esel. But I never spend a lot of time with any of them. Something always draws me back to Ky.
Granted Ky is my main and I've spent the most time with him. He'll always be my favorite. I've spent a lot of time in BGs trying to get PvP armor. I've spent a lot of time farming trying to upgrade professions and get to the ever-elusive epic flying mount. I think all of that is about to change.
I didn’t spend much time online as Kyrilean last night. I logged on and started the Ogri’La dailies. I ran into a friend and we grouped for the banish and bombing quests. He then came to help me with the escort quest in Skettis. He logged off after that and I contacted a few guild mates about starting the daily heroic. But while I was waiting, I decided to have a friend’s alt get Maedchen, a level 12 female human priest, invited to our so-called “sister” guild.
My friend Yec has a couple of alts in the guild Ambrosia. Our GM Dyna also moved his alt a few weeks ago into that guild. The idea of having a “sister” guild is to be able to group together for raids. We’ve been trying for some time to get raid ready, but it’s been slow going. Things kept looking up when new 70s joined the guild, but more often than not they’ve left to find a guild that’s a little further along.
Ambrosia has limited invite privileges. I don’t know what they are, but the GM, Lillika wanted to group up and hit the Stocks. Well, I don’t think Maedchen is allowed in Stocks yet, so we decided on Deadmines instead. I guess they wanted to evaluate me before blind inviting me. I wish our guild did a little more of that.
I got the party invite and we met up at DM. I felt extremely out of place as they were all in their upper 20s except Lillika who is 70 and Yec’s alt, who I believe was around 23. They all laughed when I joked about it. Obviously the evaluation wasn’t going to be on my ability to contribute on this run.
We flew through DM quickly and it was interesting to find myself passing on all blues and greeding on greens. I lost most of the greed rolls. I don’t have great gear at lvl 12 and could have probably used a lot of it, but didn’t spend the time actually looking. I guess I figure I can always buy stuff as Ky gave her 30 gold or so. I didn’t realize I was doing it until near the end when the druid in our party asked if I hadn’t needed a particular item. I probably did, but overlooked it.
A Deadmines run is never boring. I don’t know why. You would think that being as simplistic as it is that it wouldn’t be fun after a while, but even at level 70 it is. I’ve run other instances that are fairly easy and I can’t stand them, like Blackfathom Deeps.
After our run, Lillika invited Maedchen into the guild where I was quickly welcomed. At this point, she helped me get a few items for quests on our way back. And they were on their way to the Stocks. I asked if they minded having a mage tag along. So I logged in as Shalandra, a level 22 female human mage. At least this time I was closer to their levels!
After a quick run through the Stocks, Lillika asked if Shalandra wanted to join the guild, so I said why not. I told Dyna that I was moving Shal over to Ambrosia and left FIELD OF HONOR. Even though I know I’m not really leaving that guild, there was still a twinge of guilt, or maybe a sense of loss, associated with that move. LOL. Dyna did ask me about the daily heroic and if we wanted to group with Zeza, but it was late by this point and I had to get up early for work. So hopefully tonight.
So now I’ve met a few new nice people and have a couple of my alts in another guild. I didn’t think it would be quite as exciting as it is. I say that because I’m getting the chance to meet a few more people with lower level alts that can help my lower level alt advance more quickly than I’ve been doing while soloing. I haven’t spent a lot of time with my alts because it got boring and now I think it might be more fun. So here’s to starting a few new journals in my blog! Continue reading 'Kyrilean's Journal: Spending Time with the Alts'
Granted Ky is my main and I've spent the most time with him. He'll always be my favorite. I've spent a lot of time in BGs trying to get PvP armor. I've spent a lot of time farming trying to upgrade professions and get to the ever-elusive epic flying mount. I think all of that is about to change.
I didn’t spend much time online as Kyrilean last night. I logged on and started the Ogri’La dailies. I ran into a friend and we grouped for the banish and bombing quests. He then came to help me with the escort quest in Skettis. He logged off after that and I contacted a few guild mates about starting the daily heroic. But while I was waiting, I decided to have a friend’s alt get Maedchen, a level 12 female human priest, invited to our so-called “sister” guild.
My friend Yec has a couple of alts in the guild Ambrosia. Our GM Dyna also moved his alt a few weeks ago into that guild. The idea of having a “sister” guild is to be able to group together for raids. We’ve been trying for some time to get raid ready, but it’s been slow going. Things kept looking up when new 70s joined the guild, but more often than not they’ve left to find a guild that’s a little further along.
Ambrosia has limited invite privileges. I don’t know what they are, but the GM, Lillika wanted to group up and hit the Stocks. Well, I don’t think Maedchen is allowed in Stocks yet, so we decided on Deadmines instead. I guess they wanted to evaluate me before blind inviting me. I wish our guild did a little more of that.
I got the party invite and we met up at DM. I felt extremely out of place as they were all in their upper 20s except Lillika who is 70 and Yec’s alt, who I believe was around 23. They all laughed when I joked about it. Obviously the evaluation wasn’t going to be on my ability to contribute on this run.
We flew through DM quickly and it was interesting to find myself passing on all blues and greeding on greens. I lost most of the greed rolls. I don’t have great gear at lvl 12 and could have probably used a lot of it, but didn’t spend the time actually looking. I guess I figure I can always buy stuff as Ky gave her 30 gold or so. I didn’t realize I was doing it until near the end when the druid in our party asked if I hadn’t needed a particular item. I probably did, but overlooked it.
A Deadmines run is never boring. I don’t know why. You would think that being as simplistic as it is that it wouldn’t be fun after a while, but even at level 70 it is. I’ve run other instances that are fairly easy and I can’t stand them, like Blackfathom Deeps.
After our run, Lillika invited Maedchen into the guild where I was quickly welcomed. At this point, she helped me get a few items for quests on our way back. And they were on their way to the Stocks. I asked if they minded having a mage tag along. So I logged in as Shalandra, a level 22 female human mage. At least this time I was closer to their levels!
After a quick run through the Stocks, Lillika asked if Shalandra wanted to join the guild, so I said why not. I told Dyna that I was moving Shal over to Ambrosia and left FIELD OF HONOR. Even though I know I’m not really leaving that guild, there was still a twinge of guilt, or maybe a sense of loss, associated with that move. LOL. Dyna did ask me about the daily heroic and if we wanted to group with Zeza, but it was late by this point and I had to get up early for work. So hopefully tonight.
So now I’ve met a few new nice people and have a couple of my alts in another guild. I didn’t think it would be quite as exciting as it is. I say that because I’m getting the chance to meet a few more people with lower level alts that can help my lower level alt advance more quickly than I’ve been doing while soloing. I haven’t spent a lot of time with my alts because it got boring and now I think it might be more fun. So here’s to starting a few new journals in my blog! Continue reading 'Kyrilean's Journal: Spending Time with the Alts'
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Kyrilean's Journal: Keyed for Karazhan!
On Sunday, several of us in the guild decided to get BM done and finally get our keys to Karazhan. Some of the others already have them and are waiting on us. There was another holy paladin in the guild that needed it and he did offer to step aside for me, but I could tell he didn’t want to, so I stepped aside to go second. Now I outrank the guy and probably shouldn’t have, especially since I’ve been trying longer than he, but I figure we’ll all get there and there’s no need to rush or be a jerk about it. I didn’t think about the rumor that I had heard earlier that day; evidently he’s going to go off and start his own guild. That said I shouldn’t have stepped aside because I’m in this for the guild as well as me.
Anyway, they succeeded and we started to group up for a second run. We ran into a little trouble. We had a slightly different group and the makeup wasn’t ideal. The hunter mysteriously DC’d and never got back on and one of the additional warriors decided to try and find another group. It was Super Bowl Sunday people! There was no one on that wanted to do this. We really needed a mage and although there were a lot on, none who wanted to run BM.
We kept trying to take down the bosses, but to no avail. Our last attempt consisted of 3 warriors, none of which were tanks, a druid tank, and I. I have to say the one warrior I didn’t know did extremely well with the adds.
My GM and fellow guildmate were getting very frustrated as they really wanted me to get keyed for this. They felt bad, which I appreciate, but it wasn’t their fault and I know they had tried hard. Yec was cracking me up because she started putting her foot down when I kept talking about giving up! She kept saying it was going to happen and it was going to happen today! But I finally got them to give up searching for someone and we went to BEM to kill the four dragons. Amazingly, the three of us took them all down by ourselves. It wasn’t exactly easy, but it was easier than I thought it was going to be.
The cloak created from the four dragonscales was a little disappointing. I ended up with the Deathwing Brood Cloak of the Sorcerer (+27 Stamina, +18 Intellect, +21 Spell Damage and Healing). I already have something better for me and although the cloak is really good, it just wasn't quite there. I'm definitely keeping it as a memento.
Yesterday, I logged on and my GM logged on about two minutes later. He started hunting for a party and got our former guildmate (see While I Was Gone) to tank for us, one of the tank’s mage friends, and our hunter. We set off for BM and did it! I’m finally keyed for Karazhan!! I’ve been trying to do this for months now. I can’t wait to get there. I really want that Tier 4 armor!!! I’m as a giddy as a school boy! Continue reading 'Kyrilean's Journal: Keyed for Karazhan!'
Anyway, they succeeded and we started to group up for a second run. We ran into a little trouble. We had a slightly different group and the makeup wasn’t ideal. The hunter mysteriously DC’d and never got back on and one of the additional warriors decided to try and find another group. It was Super Bowl Sunday people! There was no one on that wanted to do this. We really needed a mage and although there were a lot on, none who wanted to run BM.
We kept trying to take down the bosses, but to no avail. Our last attempt consisted of 3 warriors, none of which were tanks, a druid tank, and I. I have to say the one warrior I didn’t know did extremely well with the adds.
My GM and fellow guildmate were getting very frustrated as they really wanted me to get keyed for this. They felt bad, which I appreciate, but it wasn’t their fault and I know they had tried hard. Yec was cracking me up because she started putting her foot down when I kept talking about giving up! She kept saying it was going to happen and it was going to happen today! But I finally got them to give up searching for someone and we went to BEM to kill the four dragons. Amazingly, the three of us took them all down by ourselves. It wasn’t exactly easy, but it was easier than I thought it was going to be.
The cloak created from the four dragonscales was a little disappointing. I ended up with the Deathwing Brood Cloak of the Sorcerer (+27 Stamina, +18 Intellect, +21 Spell Damage and Healing). I already have something better for me and although the cloak is really good, it just wasn't quite there. I'm definitely keeping it as a memento.
Yesterday, I logged on and my GM logged on about two minutes later. He started hunting for a party and got our former guildmate (see While I Was Gone) to tank for us, one of the tank’s mage friends, and our hunter. We set off for BM and did it! I’m finally keyed for Karazhan!! I’ve been trying to do this for months now. I can’t wait to get there. I really want that Tier 4 armor!!! I’m as a giddy as a school boy! Continue reading 'Kyrilean's Journal: Keyed for Karazhan!'
Monday, February 4, 2008
Guild Websites - Should I Create One?
I’d like to create a guild website. We’re a small guild that’s currently trying to get to Karazhan. We’re pretty casual and I’ve seen what some of the other sites say about being a casual raiding guild. I understand that there is a lot of time and effort needed to be a successful raiding guild. Most of us are willing to put in the time. I probably average close to 30 hours a week on WoW and a few of the other officers and GM put in more time than that.
I really like the casual feel of the guild. We help each other, let everybody do their own thing, and overall there’s no pressure to do any more than you really want to. It’s a game after all and we’re here to enjoy. Just like the hardcore raiding guilds enjoy being that, we enjoy doing our thing.
However, that said I think several things need to change. I believe a website can assist us in doing this. We need a forum in which to post rules and expectations of the guild. We’ve seen a lot of drama lately, I believe primarily due to the willy nilly recruiting. Everyone has the privilege to invite anyone they see fit into the guild. Although I don’t think we should necessarily take that right away from the members, I do think we need to communicate the guild leaders’ expectations.
Here’s what I see potentially for a guild website:
Also, I have no experience with creating a website whatsoever, unless you count this blog. I think someone in the guild has some and I have a friend that is very good at it. Also, I’ll probably be accessing Blog Azeroth for help from time to time. I learn quickly and am confident I can create a website. Continue reading 'Guild Websites - Should I Create One?'
I really like the casual feel of the guild. We help each other, let everybody do their own thing, and overall there’s no pressure to do any more than you really want to. It’s a game after all and we’re here to enjoy. Just like the hardcore raiding guilds enjoy being that, we enjoy doing our thing.
However, that said I think several things need to change. I believe a website can assist us in doing this. We need a forum in which to post rules and expectations of the guild. We’ve seen a lot of drama lately, I believe primarily due to the willy nilly recruiting. Everyone has the privilege to invite anyone they see fit into the guild. Although I don’t think we should necessarily take that right away from the members, I do think we need to communicate the guild leaders’ expectations.
Here’s what I see potentially for a guild website:
- Guild Rules, expectations, etc.
- Calendar of Events (raids, etc.)
- Communication Forum (congratulations, promotions, issues, problems, class questions, grievances, etc.)
- Raid set-up (calendar, rules, looting, participation tracking, DKP, or other form)
Also, I have no experience with creating a website whatsoever, unless you count this blog. I think someone in the guild has some and I have a friend that is very good at it. Also, I’ll probably be accessing Blog Azeroth for help from time to time. I learn quickly and am confident I can create a website. Continue reading 'Guild Websites - Should I Create One?'
Kyrilean's Journal: While I Was Gone
I was going to avoid writing too much about my actual day-to-day online experiences, but a lot of you are doing it and I figure I may as well too. Perhaps in doing so I will discover new topics to write about. So the first one is just a recap of some of the things I missed while away the past two weeks.
Last Wednesday my computer came back from the store. They had to replace the motherboard. Thankfully it was still under warranty. I really thought as soon as I got home that I would boot up and play WoW. I had even written a blog about being addicted. Although I booted up and logged in, I only stayed on for a minute to see who was there. I've been using CoD4 on Xbox Live as a crutch and still felt the urge to continue playing. I let my GM know what happened and took a look at the guild roster. It had changed quite a bit. Several people weren’t there, including one key person.
I was pretty shocked at what I saw. The key person that left was surprising, but I guess it shouldn’t have been. He had been going off with others to run instances constantly and was really starting to get into raiding. He was rarely with the rest of us unless we really needed his help on something. Our guild has slowly puttered along trying to get to Kara, so I should have seen it coming.
The roster was down about 15 people since last time I was on. That might not seem like much, but we’ve averaged around 70 members for quite some time so it’s a blow. I found out later that a couple of characters were alts sent to another guild that we’re partnering up with. So I guess at least one of my alts will be headed that way too.
Another member was evidently kicked because of ongoing drama. Before I left he got drunk one night and became extremely vulgar and antagonistic towards other members. Mainly he was goofing off and trying to be funny. Although we’re pretty laid back, we do have an age range of players in the guild. I know we have a couple of 12 year olds and I’m sure their parents wouldn’t appreciate us not doing something about it. Evidently he had continued his antics while I was gone and was finally booted permanently. The note of the day says anyone that invites him back will get booted too. LOL!
Apparently others left during this time, either to pursue advancement with other guilds due to our slow progress, the drama, or a combination of both. We also cleared out those who hadn’t been online in over a month. I have a level 5 alt that was a casualty of the cleaning. I laughed when I saw him gone and gave the GM crap for that one, although I hadn’t told him who the character belonged to. :)
Evidently the guild almost crumbled during this time. The GM felt like things were falling apart and almost gave up. Luckily he didn’t. I love this guild! Although we all would have ended up somewhere else together anyway, it just wouldn’t be the same.
Now we’re trying to fix things. I’m looking into starting up a guild website. I have no experience in doing that though. I'll post what I'm thinking about it in a separate blog. I’d appreciate any input. Continue reading 'Kyrilean's Journal: While I Was Gone'
Last Wednesday my computer came back from the store. They had to replace the motherboard. Thankfully it was still under warranty. I really thought as soon as I got home that I would boot up and play WoW. I had even written a blog about being addicted. Although I booted up and logged in, I only stayed on for a minute to see who was there. I've been using CoD4 on Xbox Live as a crutch and still felt the urge to continue playing. I let my GM know what happened and took a look at the guild roster. It had changed quite a bit. Several people weren’t there, including one key person.
I was pretty shocked at what I saw. The key person that left was surprising, but I guess it shouldn’t have been. He had been going off with others to run instances constantly and was really starting to get into raiding. He was rarely with the rest of us unless we really needed his help on something. Our guild has slowly puttered along trying to get to Kara, so I should have seen it coming.
The roster was down about 15 people since last time I was on. That might not seem like much, but we’ve averaged around 70 members for quite some time so it’s a blow. I found out later that a couple of characters were alts sent to another guild that we’re partnering up with. So I guess at least one of my alts will be headed that way too.
Another member was evidently kicked because of ongoing drama. Before I left he got drunk one night and became extremely vulgar and antagonistic towards other members. Mainly he was goofing off and trying to be funny. Although we’re pretty laid back, we do have an age range of players in the guild. I know we have a couple of 12 year olds and I’m sure their parents wouldn’t appreciate us not doing something about it. Evidently he had continued his antics while I was gone and was finally booted permanently. The note of the day says anyone that invites him back will get booted too. LOL!
Apparently others left during this time, either to pursue advancement with other guilds due to our slow progress, the drama, or a combination of both. We also cleared out those who hadn’t been online in over a month. I have a level 5 alt that was a casualty of the cleaning. I laughed when I saw him gone and gave the GM crap for that one, although I hadn’t told him who the character belonged to. :)
Evidently the guild almost crumbled during this time. The GM felt like things were falling apart and almost gave up. Luckily he didn’t. I love this guild! Although we all would have ended up somewhere else together anyway, it just wouldn’t be the same.
Now we’re trying to fix things. I’m looking into starting up a guild website. I have no experience in doing that though. I'll post what I'm thinking about it in a separate blog. I’d appreciate any input. Continue reading 'Kyrilean's Journal: While I Was Gone'
Struggling with Online Friendships
Author's Note: Although, I've had this idea floating about in my head for a little while now, the motivation to finally write this came from Belgarath at Blog Azeroth. It took a really long time because it became overly winded with ideas I found interesting, but were too tangential to the topic. I haven't had time to read through any new posts that may have appeared since I started. I hope that I am not just repeating what everyone else has already stated.
What is friendship? I believe we can all agree that the definition above is one way to describe friendship and that it is a very basic, bare-bone description at that. All of us have our own interpretations and additional criteria we associate with friendship. I myself disagree with the definition only because I can think of several people that I am forced to co-operate with and support in my workplace, neighborhood, and even a couple in my extended family—not talking about my in-laws :)—that I would never consider a friend. I would add that a friend is someone you care about on a personal level. I specify “care” instead of “love” because I have had people that I considered friends, but wouldn’t say I “loved” them. I cared about their personal welfare and always wished them well, but the caring didn’t extend enough to go out of my way to make sure they were taken care of; such feelings and actions I equate with “love”.
Think back as far as you can to when you were very young. If you can think back to kindergarten, try to go back to then. How did you first make friends? It’s possible that you knew a few of the kids in your grade either through parents, church, or just in your neighborhood. Either way, chances are you made friends with them because primarily you were in the same class and associated with them. You had a similar forum in which you could relate to others.
How is this different than meeting people online? It’s not. WoW gives us all a forum in which we can meet people that have similar interests as we do; the basic foundation of which is WoW. From there we get to know people by grouping up for quests and instances and an even better forum through joining guilds. Over time we may begin to feel a certain bond between those we often adventure with. And why shouldn’t we? We are spending time with these people albeit through online avatars. Does that make it any less real? No.
I think the real question is “Why do we struggle with the concept of online friendship?” Well, there are lots of reasons. Online predators come to mind. I’m a parent with two young children. As they get older, my fear of online predators will increase. Another reason is that it is very easy for people to lie online. You aren’t face to face with these people and cannot see body language or hear inflections in their voice (unless using voice chat). They can even claim to be the other sex and you’d never know. There are a million reasons, but we all get the idea.
Bottom line, if you meet someone that you like associating with online and they with you, then you’re probably friends. There are different levels of friendship online, just like in the “real world”. There are people I consider “work friends” that I wouldn’t associate with in my private life. Just like that example, just because you wouldn’t associate with the people you meet online in your normal daily life, doesn’t mean they aren’t a friend.
Continue reading 'Struggling with Online Friendships'
- By the way, I just want to point out that I looked up “friend” on Wikipedia. What I found was a definition for friendship; “Friendship is a term used to denote co-operative and supportive behavior between two or more humans.”
Given that this is true, then there are very few friends within the world of Azeroth. Sorry guys, all you elves, dwarves, gnomes, draenai, and horde players are screwed! :)
What is friendship? I believe we can all agree that the definition above is one way to describe friendship and that it is a very basic, bare-bone description at that. All of us have our own interpretations and additional criteria we associate with friendship. I myself disagree with the definition only because I can think of several people that I am forced to co-operate with and support in my workplace, neighborhood, and even a couple in my extended family—not talking about my in-laws :)—that I would never consider a friend. I would add that a friend is someone you care about on a personal level. I specify “care” instead of “love” because I have had people that I considered friends, but wouldn’t say I “loved” them. I cared about their personal welfare and always wished them well, but the caring didn’t extend enough to go out of my way to make sure they were taken care of; such feelings and actions I equate with “love”.
Think back as far as you can to when you were very young. If you can think back to kindergarten, try to go back to then. How did you first make friends? It’s possible that you knew a few of the kids in your grade either through parents, church, or just in your neighborhood. Either way, chances are you made friends with them because primarily you were in the same class and associated with them. You had a similar forum in which you could relate to others.
How is this different than meeting people online? It’s not. WoW gives us all a forum in which we can meet people that have similar interests as we do; the basic foundation of which is WoW. From there we get to know people by grouping up for quests and instances and an even better forum through joining guilds. Over time we may begin to feel a certain bond between those we often adventure with. And why shouldn’t we? We are spending time with these people albeit through online avatars. Does that make it any less real? No.
I think the real question is “Why do we struggle with the concept of online friendship?” Well, there are lots of reasons. Online predators come to mind. I’m a parent with two young children. As they get older, my fear of online predators will increase. Another reason is that it is very easy for people to lie online. You aren’t face to face with these people and cannot see body language or hear inflections in their voice (unless using voice chat). They can even claim to be the other sex and you’d never know. There are a million reasons, but we all get the idea.
Bottom line, if you meet someone that you like associating with online and they with you, then you’re probably friends. There are different levels of friendship online, just like in the “real world”. There are people I consider “work friends” that I wouldn’t associate with in my private life. Just like that example, just because you wouldn’t associate with the people you meet online in your normal daily life, doesn’t mean they aren’t a friend.
Continue reading 'Struggling with Online Friendships'
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
