Taking A Slam

I have played World of Warcraft for several years now and have enjoyed it at many different levels. At first, I was obsessive. Never having played anything like this before, I wanted to be at it 24/7. I could see why they called it World of Warcrack.

As I became used to working with the game, I entered what I called the documentation phase. I journaled each day's activities. Part of my theatre teacher "thing" I guess. I had a log for each of my toons and wrote down quests completed, the names of anyone with whom I raided etc. This became an all new form of obsession.

After more than a year in the journal phase, I became more neutral about it all. I didn't play as often and in fact could go days without even logging in to see how auctions were going or which of my friends were on.

And then I got cancer. For four montshs, I couldn't play. Just sitting up was an effort and there is just no way to play a game other than a point and click type while lying flat in a chaise. Instead, I began to write. Using the logs I had kept and characters I developed, I wrote stories about my main and they eventually became my blog--The Adventures of Shalimara.

Thinking that other WoW people would enjoy the work, I posted it on my guild's web page and on one of the off-topic forums in the WoW game. SLAM! Was I ever wrong! I got criticized for everything--for blogging, for not being original (although the stories don't follow a WoW plot line but one I created). I got annihilated for posting it at all. And I was told that people don't want to read "cool stories" and that just the word "blog" turned people off.

Well, getting hammered like that makes you think. I should be writing, not playing a game, just as much as they should be reading, not playing a game. This is one of the problems with society. We play too many games. I don't mean just online stuff, but games with each others' emotions and with each others' lives. We have become to comfortable just downing someone else's creativity. Shouldn't all creativity be recognized and applauded, even in this mind-numbing society in which most social interaction comes in the form of electronic print? Yikes.

Discoveries of a Level 80 Noob--Gear Score

You would think at level 80, one would know the game inside and out but hey, I am a 55 year old woman who wants to have a little fun. I don't take myself or the game too seriously and I am having a blast, even though my corpse is currently lost in Icecrown.

Notes on Being A Hunter--Gear Score

Okay, so nobody would have expected me to enjoy playing a hunter. First of all, I am almost a vegetarian in real life and second, I am against sport hunter. Soooooo...being the hypocrite that I am...I started my hunter, Shalimara about the same time I started my mage, Rexena.

Now in every other game I had played, I was a caster. It seemed that this was the norm for me, however a month into my playing (thanks to a game card provide by my wonderful nephew, Jimmy) my brother joined in the fun and rolled a mage. I didn't want to play the same toon as Rick, so I practically abandoned Rexy (called Sexy Rexy by other gnome friends) and began playing Shali as my main. It has been self love ever since and the only one even close is Rienquemort (French for Remember the Death), my Death Knight.

Recently I have made some discoveries about playing a Night Elf Hunter. Yes, even though I reached 80 ages ago, there is still a lot to learn about play in this expansive game.

First of all, the all important Gear Score--or GS in the game world. Gear is the aim of the game. I have had countless conversations with other players about which gear is best and what stats you should look for in each class. I had never even looked at my GS, so to discover I had only a little over 3000 was a shock and a realization. I had to get better stuff. Right now I am at 4383. This allows me into some of the better dungeons, where I can get more good stuff to raise my score. HOWEVER, just because something has a higher gs, doesn't mean that it is appropriate for your toon.

One of the things I have discovered about some of the younger (okay so everybody pretty much is younger, what I mean is the children) players is that they don't pay attention to stats. They think a "purple" is better than a "blue" simply because it is epic. However, a spell casting buff is wasted on a hunter. Spirit and Intellect are not all that important either. A piece of epic armor with these buffs is relative useless, even though it might be an epic piece. A blue that has a strong stamina, crit, attack power or strength boost would be much better. (Considering my views on sport hunting, the intellect thing is irony at its finest.)

Some runs require a high gs. For example, at 4383 I can't get into HoR* on the heroic setting. (*This means Halls of Reflection.) I can't do some of the high end raids. There are thousands, literally, of web pages that talk about gear and make suggestions for which items are best.

So, I could sit here and talk all day but I have to rescue Shalimara from the Pit of Sauron and I need five more Emblems of Valor to get that new belt that will raise my gs to over 4400. Next time? Rotations and builds for the hunter toons.