The WoW Year in Review

What's this crap, Jaedia, I don't update often enough?! Fine. Every other day, if I can help it, there will be a post, even tiny ones without the cool screenshots. Just because I don't understand Twitter doesn't mean I don't think about WoW constantly; you just don't know about it. So The Lazy Sniper tagged me, and I think I might have to tag some people too, but I have no idea who is following me. So for those of whom I do know that follow me, I'm tagging Hydra at Almost Evil and Saresa at Destructive Reach. Anyone else can post as well, and should, and tag some more people too!

What did you do in the World of Warcraft in 2009 that you’d never done before?

RPing. Never thought I'd get into it, but I do thoroughly enjoy it. While you'll never see me RP on my home server, you'll very more than likely see it happen on other RP servers I've recently become part of. There will be posts in the future about all my adventures, mostly concentrating on my hunter, Kosei.

What was your favorite new place that you visited?

I really enjoyed a lot of the activities with the Argent Tournament. I dig the rewards, the dailies offer a lot of variety, the jousting is really cool, the instance is quick and fun, and the raid is really challenging. Although, from a lore standpoint, I have a severely hard time justifying its presence soundly, but that's a completely different concern entirely.

What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

Sound conflict. I'm a lore geek, and not once this entire year have I seen anything that makes sense. I have yet to post about my disagreements with the game's story since I started this blog, and the recent problems on the class forums with Ghostcrawler and the community are keeping me from doing so as of late; it'll feel as though I'm just griping if I speak passionately and without thought, so when I've gathered my faculties without seeming like a QQ-tard, then I'll be replying on the subject. For now, in response to this part of the meme, I'd like to see things make sense within the lore and the story. Currently, there isn't a lot of assured steps being taken, things feel thrown together, and I'd very much like to see something written well. I'll elaborate on this topic soon. Or you can just invite me to your vent and I'll go on a long tirade about all the shit I have problems with.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Actually getting off my ass to do Loremaster, and I'm so damn close, too. Before the New Year, the damn achievement is going to be finished.
Also, my Violet Proto-Drake. Big scores on that as well.

What was your biggest failure?

Letting drama get to me. On occasions, you can't help be part of shit going down, but thankfully, all that mess has blown over. Less stress in the game, and honestly, there really shouldn't be any. It's a damn game. Too many people get hung up on silly things.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Lore debates. When someone on a vent somewhere would be like, “Hey, random-statement-on-lore-base-shit-that-isn't-accurate-at-all,” I'd jump on their ass. We'd have at it, especially the whole Garrosh v. Thrall or Thrall v. Varian debate. It's funny how there are contemporary stereotypes in the community on factions and faction leaders, backgrounds and stories, and people really don't know about the story they play in.

What do you wish you’d done less of?
Stressing about gear. While this game is very driven towards what you've got and what it looks like, it's also what you can do and how you do it. People tend to forget that. Even I did. I was swepted up in that bullshit of “hey man, Ulduar's coming and you gotta run Naxx out the ass to get ready for it,” or “Dammit! Didn't even get all of my T8 and now the Tournament raid is coming? We gotta hurry!” Fuck that noise. I'd rather just get it when I can, no rush, so I'm not pressured. I'd like to roll with the homies, yeah, but you shouldn't be gauged by what you're wearing, just what you can push yourself to do with what you've got.

What was your favorite WoW blog or podcast?
My favorite WoW blog is actually a WoW-themed comic, Looking For Group. I really like to laugh, and while there is a good amount of blogs that make me chuckle on occasion, most of the time it's srsbiz. I like to get on my reader or check out sites about the game and know that people have a sense of humor.

Tell us a valuable WoW lesson you learned in 2009.

Class balancing debates are moot; quit QQing about how you're nerf'd or someone else is buffed, it's a roller coaster of extremely complex mechanics. How long has D&D been going on and it's still imbalanced? Roll with the punches. Stop whining. The fact that you can't adapt means that Darwin was right and you'll be the first to go, still crying as the strongest eats you alive. There is no status quo. Change is the only constant.