Traveller's Tales

I’ve just been accused by one of my more colorful, honest and direct friends of spending way too much time playing that nasty online game (World of Warcrack, in case anyone who doesn’t know me stumbles over this blog at some point) and not enough writing! Sadly, even feigned indignation was impossible in response, because at the time I was reading that email, I had just tabbed out of the game client because I was flying somewhere…

Well! The NERVE of exposing my weaknesses! The GALL, the CHUTZPAH! ZOMGLOLWTF!!!11111one.

Yeah, she’s right. So now that I’ve been properly shamed, I think I have a plan to find that lovely middle ground between playing too much and going cold turkey. The simple fact is, I do like the silly game, I enjoy the time I spend with actual, real life friends there, and will still play it… but… yeah… balance.

Off to work. Posting my evil plan when I get there.

Just watch.

This.

Nuff said.

I really do want to get the marketing stuff finished, but some weekends you owe it to yourself to slack a bit. Now, I didn’t totally slack — I got various errands done amidst recovering from some not-wellness or other — but for the most part, I slacked.

For what it’s worth, I slacked well. Me and my band of intrepid ne’er-do-wells (including my wife and several colleagues) spent some quality time in World of Warcraft, getting our first look at Hellfire Citadel’s Ramparts and kicking various arses along the way. We made it a point not to look up any online strategies for our first go-round, and though we did manage to die a couple of times as we learned the last two boss encounters, we tinkered with strategies and wound up victorious, demons and dragons alike dead at our feet.

Everyone needs to slack now and then. I’ll just have to steal some time from work to make up for the slacking this weekend!

(Sorry, no loot/victory shots this time, completely forgot, though we did Furbolg the place properly. Will get ‘em next time! Links to loot: Redjed, our warlock, got the Sorcerer’s Band; Sparklezook picked up her Tome of Arcane Brilliance 2, Ablepete got a lovely Garotte-String Necklace, and the rest of us scored some other various vendor trash.)

Despite my best efforts, I purchased the Burning Crusade expansion to World of Warcraft last night.

Well, okay, my best efforts weren’t exactly strenuous. I seem to recall hemming and hawing a bit. Perhaps dragging my feet. For what it’s worth, I wasn’t particularly tempted by my local game store’s offer to open at midnight specifically so I could pick up my copy and participate in the insanity the VERY FIRST MOMENT I POSSIBLY COULD.

I shall take that as a sign that I’m improving.

That said, I did stay up too late playing it. It’s fun; the new low-level stuff is pretty, engaging and well-enough written to read the first time through. The high-level stuff is definitely amped up in difficulty from the “old world,” and the challenge is enjoyable.

But the standout feature of the expansion is the sheer quantity of new content — and its typical Blizzard high-polish quality. There’s so much more Stuff it’s like a brand new game — where Stuff is land to explore, creatures to kill (and/or be killed by), objects to lust after and objectives to surmount. I was skeptical about the price tag, I’ll admit (though it didn’t stop me from slapping down the cash), but after playing for a night, I gotta say — if you’re into this sort of thing, it’s actually worth the outlay.

Time to get back to stealing writing time on the train; the missus is anxious to play, and if I don’t keep up she’ll be leaving me in the dust…

Just, lol.

From the upcoming WoW card game.

Say what you will… but this is hilarious. Go here.
Read the third and fifth post, and see how the modern nuclear family is managed.

The family that plays together… er, yeah.

Apparently, whenever we finally beat a tough mission in World of Warcraft, we need to have a Weee party.

The Scarlet Monks are rolling in their graves as a result of this. Literally, as we appear to be jumping on their tombs…

They’re just so frustrating sometimes.

Aren’t they?