Ideas Make My Thinking Box Hurt

I have been contemplating various ideas with this blog, given my limited playtime and rather obscure feeling towards it and its players. But it's late, I'm tired, and I have a splitting headache. Perhaps I will take some time to gather my thoughts.

Edit: If you would take a moment to add a comment to this post, I would find it very helpful. It doesn't have to be anything relevant; leave a comment mentioning the weather in your neck of the woods would be fine. Let's just call this a social experiment, shall we?

Eyes Wide Open

Recent events have prompted me to share this story with you. There's a good lesson to be had, and one that many gamers need to be reminded of.

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning.

He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.

He collected $32.

When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

My additional thoughts would only be that so many people do things because they are "fashionable" that they forget to look at things with their own eyes, listen with their own ears, and appreciate anything with their own hearts.

Source: WashingtonPost.com

Be your own person, and take that person for a walk today. Spring is just around the corner. Step away from Raids and Dailies and take a look at the World around you. You could be overlooking something, or someone, very important.

Blizzcon 2010: Coming Soon?

It's getting to be that time again.

Last year, people were questioning if there was going to be another Blizzcon so soon. After all, Blizzcon '09 had just wrapped up and Cataclysm had been announced. The player base was in a tizzy as they left the convention with visions of New Barrens and Grunties dancing in their heads. Would Blizzard have another convention right on the heels of the announcement of WoW's big expansion?

That question appeared to be answered in November when a Las Vegas hotel mistakenly posted that they would be hosting Blizzcon in July of '10. The posting was quickly yanked, but it was enough to get people vibrating. It might have been a mistake, but at least it meant Blizzard had been toying with the idea of another convention.

Fast forward to February. Another posting, this time back in Blizzcon's old stomping grounds of Anaheim. Word of a October 22 Blizzcon emerged, but much like the Las Vegas posting it was quickly taken down. However, the venue still shows that weekend as "open" when every other weekend around it is booked. Seems strange, unless they have something booked and just don't want to tell folks about it.

That, and Jay Mohr tweeted that he was hosting Blizzcon - a tweet that was quickly removed.



I bring this up because it was around this time last year that Blizzcon was announced for 2009. As I said at the beginning of the post, it's getting to be that time again. Will we get a Blizzcon announcement, an official one this time, within the next month or so?

The Main Man

I have a problem.

I'm a Main-a-holic.

I know what you're thinking. Most likely, it's something along the lines of "He's done gone crazy. He must mean he's an Altoholic."

I posed the question to the Twitter-verse: If you two-box characters, would you consider both characters to be your Main? Granted, I didn't get a single reply but it's still a good question.

People have "Mains" and they have "Alts." Alts are the toons that get played when the Main gets a little stale, or when they "just need a break." The mistress they court when they tire of the "ball and chain." The Mains are the characters that get first crack at the good gear, have more /played time, and are the characters that the player associates with as "their own".

It turns out I have three characters like that. All of them enjoy killing - a Hunter, a Death Knight, and an Arms/Fury Warrior. Each of them have different tools, different methods to get the job done. Each of them, special in their own way. I have tried to designate one of them as my central focus, my "Main". Hasn't happened yet.

This is not as cool as you might think.

Playtime is tricky, especially with the LFG Tool in full effect. That's three characters that need to run dungeons to get their Frost Emblems. Three characters who need their T9 gear. Just getting that done can take a couple of hours, depending on the queue time to get into the dungeon.

The wait time is not always in vain. One might run their Tournament Dailies, while another fishes to earn gold and round up mats for stat food. Another might take that earned gold and use it to level up professions.

At any one time, one of the three is working on a profession. What a gold sink. When you have three Mains, you want to make sure they have the best gear they can get their hands on. That means buying epics, or mats to make epics. Those are the kinds of purchases that doesn't leave much leftover change to throw at a profession. Is it really that important to max out a profession? You want the best for your Main, right? When you've got two DSP Plate class, those extra sockets help out for gemming. Every little bit helps.

Only the best for the Mains.

My entire evening can be spent jumping between those three. It takes management skills I really don't want to have to use when I'm playing a video game. Each of them needs their Frost Emblems. Two need to work on making gold for the third, who happens to be burning it up with getting his Blacksmithing off the ground. Oh, but he also has to work on his Argent Tournament dailies to get weapon upgrades. Then again, Tournament dailies are good gold so one of the other ones should be working on that as well. But how many times can you joust before you just want to gouge your eyes out?

I've put serious effort into each of the three. I've put in time, gold, research. I get them what they need. I get them the best things I can, with what I have. They're like my kids.

Now I just want my kids to lock themselves in a room and fight until there's only one survivor. He will be my Main.

Since I cannot find a way to make that happen (damn it), my only other hope is that one of them really needs to get my attention. One of them needs to break away from the other two in some form. Maybe a huge weapon upgrade puts one of them head and shoulders above the rest. Something. Anything.

This is how burnout happens. Right now, I can't let my kids down.

... sounds like I've already reached "full scorched" status between my ears.

Fighting the Social in Social Gaming

The "DK" stands for Death Knight. Wonder what faction she is?

I don't like the Alliance.

When I think of the Alliance, I envision some hawtness lying atop a mountain of gold and clan in nothing but purple epics. So, they're like me... only with Blizzard's favor.

C'mon, we all know there's little nods throughout the game that gives the edge to the Alliance. Off the top of my head - the Lorekeeper achievement, for example, which had the Alliance needing fewer quests completed to get the title. The second most obvious fact has to be Alterac Valley. Really, the Horde get a log cabin fort while the Alliance gets a Keep with - wait for it - A BRIDGE THAT CAN BE DEFENDED?!

The most obvious fact, though, is that the Alliance is good-looking. You've got ruggedly handsome Dwarves, the sleek Night Elves with glowing eyes and a somersault jump, Humans (hey look, my toon looks just like me, no wonder they're the most popular!), and the cute-but-annoying Gnomes.

Oh yeah, and the Space Goats. Guess every family has that fugly relative.

Horde? You've got the green and angry Orcs, the Tauren-cows, Zombie-folk, and the Rasta/Dennis Rodman Trolls. The Blood Elves are the best-looking of the bunch (and the most widely played Horde race... coincidence?), but their personality leaves much to be desired.

Maybe that's why I prefer the Horde. They're always a bit of the underdog, fewer in numbers and less-preferred for more superficial reasons. Hell, even their leveling zones are dismal and ugly! People, carrying their vanity over from the Real World, want to play the cute characters. Any wonder the top three races played are Humans, Blood Elves, and Night Elves?

Screw you, Society. I spit on your lust for the pretty, and your disdain toward those who don't meet your eye-candy standards. Let's worship Megan Fox, flock to see her in sweat and grunt in Transformers, despite the fact that she can't act. The flop that was "Jennifer's Body" gives me a slight hope in humanity. Very slight.

All this leads me to a dilemma. I (me, the man behind the keyboard) have been offered a spot in a Guild on another server. They're a progressive raiding guild, smaller but a good bunch from what I've been told. I was invited by one of my wife's co-workers. Real Life contact. People, plain and smelly and wonderful. He told me they'd run me through some five-man content, get my feet wet, and go from there.

I'm currently a member of the biggest guild in North America. The guild has multiple raid teams. But it's easy to get lost in a crowd of five thousand, and for the most part I don't really care. I do my own thing, do guild runs when I'm able. If I were to disappear, I'm quite sure I wouldn't be noticed. That is, of course, until I submit my segment for the AIE Podcast (coming soon!)

However, I'm at the point where I've done pretty much all the solo content there is to do. Sure there's quests and such, grind out some achievements, but there's no point. It doesn't advance my game at all. Playing the auction house was a nice distraction, as was leveling up various professions. Rokk now has two pieces of Deadly Gladiator PVP gear, and with the gemming I've been doing I notice he's melting face like never before. It'd be nice to put all that power to better use than just killing the same daily mobs over and over again.

I have a Warrior that I might consider sending over, though. He's almost 80, and Rokk could gear him up so that he'd be less of a liability. Maybe run a few WG's to get some honor gear. He's a mighty Tauren slab of killing-meat, and I've grown quite attached to him.

The guild on the other server is Alliance.

Son. Of. A. Bitch.

Do I join the Beautiful People, in hope that I may break the anti-social cycle that is my solo WoW play? Or do I spite "The Man" and keep my Bull just the way he is, a solo engine of destruction?

Back To The Grind

Well the doctor has been good enough to allow me the limited use of my right arm again, so after about six weeks of farting around I'm back to work starting Monday. The drawback is that I will be out of town, with a satellite internet feed, and limited WoW access.

So how did I spend the last of my free time? Well, The Rokk went out and got himself an orphan. Kind soul that he is, he went ahead and took a little Oracle squirt out for a stroll. The kid liked it so much, he wanted to stay. Cute.

I was listening to Octale and Hordak vs The World during the week, and Octale made what I felt was a good point regarding tanks. During my downtime, I've often seen groups looking for a Tank to run heroics, yet quite a few DK's looking to DPS. I get the fact that many Death Knights are looking to build a tanking set. At least, that's what the story is.

Rukgut got in a few Heroic groups, DPS'ed his face off. In that time, I came to the conclusion that tanking is a mindset, not a class. Some players are tanks, wanting the responsibility of keeping the group alive and so on, and some don't. Rukgut was glad to simply sit back and pew pew. I don't think Rokk is going to be that way. I want him as a tank. Maybe the time has come for him to start puttering around and just get in there and tank. Take a chance.

There's another situation in-game that has come to my attention, but I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I'll have to investigate a little further, but it is certainly bringing certain thought processes to light.

Bent But Not Broken... Okay, Maybe a Little Broken

Sometimes it's a little embarrassing when you admit to people that you play World of Warcraft. You get a look like you just admitted to rampant buggering of livestock. In my case, the look of disbelief that I get comes from the fact that I don't look like someone who plays WoW. I'm not obese, therefore I keep myself in above average shape as far as gamers go. I practice personal hygiene; no gamer funk for this guy. Mrs Rokk was worried I'd let myself go once we got married. "I can't," I told her. "I have a stereotype to break."

Fast forward to last weekend, when I hopped on the wife's mountain bike and began my 6K trek to the gym. Knowing what little regard traffic has for pedal-pushers, I opted to take a bike path. There were signs up for this particular path, making sure both pedestrians and bikers alike knew the other was on the path.

I'm progressing down a hill at a rapid pace, knowing I have a long incline waiting for me around the blind corner ahead. So I wasn't expecting to have to slow down anytime soon. Of course, that was until I rounded that corner and came face to faces with a line of senior citizens who happened to be taking their pet grandson out for a walk.

The Rokk Says: When approaching a blind corner, always stay on the right so that people can get by you. DO NOT WALK SIDE BY SIDE LIKE YOU'RE LEADING THE PRIDE PARADE!

I knew I couldn't get by them, and there were trees on either side of the path. Oh yeah, I wasn't wearing a helmet either.

Apply front and back breaks. Hard.

Sadly, the front brakes held a little more.

Rokk-et into the dirt.

I will take partial blame for the accident. I should have slowed down a little more when approaching the corner. I had slowed down to the point where, if I could have, I would have been able to hug the right hand side of the path and whistled by the Old Train.

They were fine. I ended up with my right elbow fractured, and a few cracked ribs.

While it is possible to play WoW with one hand, I haven't tried jousting or any of the major daily quests. I'm typing this whole mess with one hand. Until I find out if I'll be in a cast or needing surgery to repair my busted wing, I know one thing for sure - I won't bitch about my situation. I won't bitch about my game play.

Once again, I'm breaking the stereotype of the average WoW player.

"QQ" my ass.

World of Warcraft Movie Just Got Awesome

According to several internet articles, (this being one of them), Sam Raimi - of Spider-Man and Evil Dead fame - will be directing the live-action version of Warcraft. WoW-Nerds have been chomping at the bit for this movie for ages. There's no word on a script, but with Raimi being firmly attached to this movie, it's only a matter of time before this thing gets off the ground in a big way.

The big question is - will this movie be more Lord of the Rings? Or will it end up simply being another Dungeons and Dragons? Personally I can't see this movie doing well. The backstory isn't as interesting or original enough to appeal to the general public, and if you want a movie to do well, that's who you market it for - the General Public. NOT WoW fans.

How can this movie be saved? Thrall and Hellscream need help. They need the Rokk. And who could possible handle the daunting task of playing the sexiest Tauren this side of Awesomeville?



Groovy.

The Sky is Falling... On My Head

Somehow, amidst all the hoopla of rebuilding shelves in the basement and hauling giant sheets of wood up and down stairs more times than I care to admit, we dinged 75.

To celebrate this festive milestone, I decided it was time to go to Sholazar Basin and knock the bottom out of the Mining profession. This had a twofold purpose: One, epic flying is just around the corner, and the greatest Death Knight this side of a server crash doesn't have the muffins to pay for it. Mining will help to do that.

Okay, there's not much of another reason. Rokk needs moolah. Mining makes moolah, either by itself or through Blacksmithing. Hooray.

Did you know the southern part of the Basin is filled with neutral animals? Yeah, so did I. That's why I went there. I did a number of laps, scraping the bottom of the Basin (see what I did there?) and picked up a few stacks of Saronite Ore.

This is more difficult than you might imagine.

I have bitched about this before, but when I get my WoW on during the week, I'm doing it away from the Fortress of Rokk-itude. I'm forced to play on an internet connection that bounces off a satellite dish. That's right, I use the Internets from Outer Space.

Consequently my latency tends to jump up into the 6k range, with a Framerate of 1. Not 1 frame per second, one frame. Had I the power to grab the Internet, I would have thrown it out the window. But since it was beaming in THROUGH the window from the SKY (disliking the sky now), I'd just be sending it home while I lay on the floor in the fetal position with fudge in my shorts and foam in my mouth.

I know what you're asking. "Rokk! How could things possibly get any better!?"

The fun came in the form of every Billy badass from the Alliance side deciding to kick me in the left testicle. Why only the left? I'd blown the other one watching Rokk stutter along at Warp Factor Geriatric for almost an hour.

Oh sure, it was different people. Different guilds. But like clockwork, an ore would pop up on my mini-map and just as I rode up to it, a Human or Nelf or Space Goat would swoop out of the SKY (see a trend?) and snatch the ore from betwix my fingers. Even in the screenshot for this post, you can see a damn helicopter flying away because I won an ore race by having the thing pop under my feet during one of the freeze frames.

Somehow, through a zen-like patience built through a technique of deep breathing (beer, not air), Rokk not only capped his Mining but he managed to round up enough ore to get to his next level of recipes in Blacksmithing.

Where do I go to get the new recipes?

Dalaran.

I Hate The Sky.

The Rokk - MIA?

In case anyone's been curious (or looking at the page for that matter), I have been off getting myself married & honeymooned. A few days in Las Vegas with Mrs Rokk, a few more enjoying the beach in California, and a final day back in Vegas before heading home. I didn't even take my authenticator with me. Probably a good idea to avoid playing video games on the honeymoon when only one of the two people play at all.

Feel the Wrath

Last night I briefly contemplated picking up my copy of WotLK from EB Games. It was almost midnight, and I was driving in the cold and freezing rain hoping to buy some kind of patching goop from Wal-Mart. Seems one of the windows in the sun room decided to spring a leek at 11 at night, letting a steady stream of ice cold water piddle on the carpet.

There I am, driving around, and I see people lining up at Best Buy. I see them at Wal-Mart. I think to myself, "I'm out anyway. Why not swing by my EB and grab the game?"

That's when my inner orc spoke up. "Do you NEED it tonight?"

"Need?"

"Yes, need. Can you start a Death Knight on the server you want?"

"Well, no."

"Are you a high enough level to use the content in the expansion?"

"I guess not."

"Then buy that tube of goop, get your @ss home, and let the game wait until tomorrow. Oh, and you probably won't be in any big hurry to install it tomorrow, will you?"

"..."

Fixed the leak. Picking up the game today. Installing it when I can use the content.

That's the kicker. I'm waiting for the point where, other than being level 66 or so, I'll need Wrath content. Patch 3.0 pretty much gave me most of what I'd want (aside from zones and levels) - new talents, new professions, new pet skills.

For now, Wrath will sit on my desk as a reminder to keep grinding. Keep my eye on the ball.