Recently, someone left a rather offensive note in my guild profile. It’s weird because I can’t think of any reason someone would harbor enough resentment toward me (or any for that matter) to warrant such a hostile attack. I’m normally friendly and I help whenever I can, so why would someone do this? I alerted the guild master and he said he’d fix it so it couldn’t happen again. I was appreciative and tried to move on even though the thought that someone sort of hates me lingered.

Some days passed and I looked in my profile again. Yet another note. This one just as mean. Suffice to say, I quit Guild of Thousand Truths and was accepted into Sisters of War. There’s no comparison between the two. Sisters is very active, supportive and friendly.  I look forward to exploring, learning and leveling alongside them in the coming weeks.

So I thought I was pretty badass until today. I agrod two lvl 33 jungle fighters in SV and I died. I’m lvl 35 now and as this was happening there was a lvl 34 gnome something or other also fighting two jungle fighters. She didn’t die. My friend “Alotmore”(also a human warrior) happened to be online so I asked her if I should be able to take two lvl 33s. She said, “Oh ya.” Turns out I’m lame.

Yesterday someone in my guild suggested I travel to Hilsbrad to quest. I thought it was higher level, and as you get into Alterac it is, but it’s really perfect for my current level (33). I’ve been kinda lonely there as hardly anyone seems to quest in this area. What’s weird is that I keep seeing no threat Horde players questing in the same spots as me. You can’t communicate with them when you’re Alliance which makes me a little sad since connecting is one of my favorite parts of playing.

Anyway, just as I thought I couldn’t stand the solitude of Hilsbrad quests, I stumbled upon a male warrior called “Masonjar.” Trippy name but cool player. We ended up making short work of a whole camp of ogres in the Alterac Ruins.  It was fun working with a warrior as I hardly ever do. I seem to always hook up with hunters and priests. (What no rogues?) I like priests for obvious reasons: healing, but I’d love to work with a human rogue, they’re by far my favorite. (An exception to that rule is Eyes, Mutha’s good friend who’s an elf hunter).  So, while we were grinding these ogres, I noticed that Masonjar, a level 40, was losing life much faster than I. I inspected his armor and it seemed maybe a wee low for his level but not dramatically so. But, we were killing lvl 36 Elites and he had to drink a potion after almost every one. A couple times, his health got down to almost zero. Meanwhile, my health stayed high the whole time. I guess what I’m trying to say is that Muthalode is badass.

So, I haven’t posted for maybe a week, but I feel no pressure as hardly anyone’s reading. So much has happened I can’t remember everything. I guess I’ve leveled a few times since my last post, spent way too much time in Duskwood and the Auction House. Now that I’m low in the battlegrounds again, everyone’s disappointed when I join the group. Tonight I decided, screw it; I want to improve my BG skills so people will have to get over it. Plus, I often score more damage/killing blows then higher lvl players.

I think one of my increasingly favorite aspects of game play is the people I’ve met. Alotmore continues to be a source of wisdom and female camaraderie in an immature, male-dominated environment. My guild (Guild of 1000 Truths) is great too. Friendly, down-to-earth people who fiercely love the game. I also became friends with a level 68 Night Elf Hunter (see screenshot) this week and that’s been interesting. Initially he was attracted to my character—and who wouldn’t be, she’s hot—so he said, “Hi,” and we danced and laughed etc… typical WoW social behavior. He’s very sweet and we’ve got a little WoW character romance going. Today, I couldn’t find anyone to help with Morbent Fel so he traveled a continent to help me. Then he followed me to Stranglethorn Vale where we piled up raptors. A really fun session. I think relationship is what separates MMORPGs from, say, video games. Sure, you might get addicted to a video game but once you’ve burnt out on it there’s nothing to bring you back. With WoW, you actually develop friendships which makes it far less boring and tedious.

A couple days ago I entered the Warsong Gulch battleground fully equipped with my…fishing pole.

Yesterday I bought Muthalode a chain mail hood. It looks amazing. She is quite lovely. I know it’s totally gay (I’m a woman, whatever) but I love dressing her. Technically, I should be choosing armor for her by its protection value. Some armor also comes with boosts to strength and stamina etc. While I do outift her as high as I possibly can for her level (28 now) I am definitely particular about the gear being complimentary. Today I inspected a level 26 male warrior and saw that his weapons were far inferior to mine. I kinda like that. Muthalode’s friend, Alotmore (a human warrior like me) might be making her some swank armor with her blacksmithing skills. I’ll be sure to post some screen shots soon. (For my nonexistent readers)

This is Muthalode. She is a human warrior, currently at lvl 26. Her professions are skinning/leatherworking plus cooking and first aid. She’s wearing various armor “of the bear,” and carries a few different weapons but mainly uses her two-handed axe. Muthalode is badass.

Initially, I chose a priest for my first character as I like the idea of being a healer. The priest was a dwarf, chosen for her similarity to me in real life. While thumbing through the various races it became clear that I am dwarflike in appearance. (But, if this was LOTR, I’d rather identify as a hobbit)I’m not thrilled about it, but I need to embrace it. I noticed that elves seem to dominate Azeroth, at least on the Duskwood server. Elves are the obvious choice; they’re winnowy, sexy, mysterious and very able. In real life, supermodels are elves, so it’s no surprise that everyone wants to be one. In real life, I have no interest in being like everyone else. I thought it would be good for my psyche to choose a character that best reflects who I am on the outside. I was wrong. Dwarves are strong and gruff, which I like, but priests are frail. Strong and gruff but frail is sort of how I am in real life, at least on a physical level. But, after doing some research, (much thanks to The Weekly Murloc podcast) I discovered priests are difficult to learn and level and aren’t suited for fighting. In real life, I’m definitely a fighter.

So, I welcomed the fighter in me and created Muthalode. I love being a warrior. Warrior’s are powerful and way easier to level then priests. Also, they can wield virtually any weapon and wear pretty much all armor. In a group situation, warriors are expected to do serious damage. I love that. Muthalode is now my main woman and Mailords (the priest) is my alt. Mailords collects herbs and makes potions to send to Mutha. Mutha sends money and better gear to Mailords. It’s a good trade.

This whole process has strengthened me in that it’s helped me to accept that I am not a particularly gentle person and that’s OK. There’s a use for people like me. God has a use for everyone and if He made me this way, He wants to use it. But that’s another conversation and it’s time to play.

I love exploring the world of Azeroth. Today I took my first ride from Menethil Harbor to the other continent. Lush! Since I had a ton of questing to do in the Wetlands I kept my wandering to a minimum, but managed to make it to some weird beach littered with ruins. It was quite desolate, no one around. I mostly like the purple and green color story but after a while it wears on me. I also spent some time in Warsong Gulch mainly because I must battle a little every day. I love to fight. It’s something I’ve always suspected about myself but now I’m embracing it. I can’t wait to get to level 29 so I can actually kill some horde without dying every 20 seconds. Even at my level I’ve managed to acrue nearly 500 honor points in a week. I have nothing to compare that figure to but it seems pretty freaking good to me.  I’m 2/3 of the way through lvl 25 so tomorrow I’m planning to level in the Wetlands.

Funny thing: So, I was in Loch Modan finishing the quest where you kill orcs when I come across a couple night elfs (what else, sheesh) working on the same quest. Immediately I’m thinking “group”. So a dialogue box opens on my screen and for some reason I thought I was being invited into a group. But, no, I was being challenged to a duel and I accepted. Who duels in the midst of enemies during a quest? Bad etiquette, I say. It tells me I’m dealing with children. So, I find myself in an accidental duel and I’m losing badly cuz my health’s already down and I’m taken totally off guard. Lvl 22 kicked my butt.  I hate duels; they’re juvenile. I know, how can I love to fight but hate duels? I don’t know it’s just how I roll in WoW.

So, it’s been maybe four weeks since I asked my 12 year-old son to help me make a character on World of Warcraft. Of course, I had no idea what I was getting into. It began innocently enough. He was playing and really enjoying it so I thought, it might be a good idea to take a look at the game and make sure it’s not, you know, demonic or something. Immediately I was swept away by the gorgeous graphics. “It’s like a whole new world!” I shouted. And thus began my love affair with WoW. Yes, love affair. I mean, I dream about it, I get a vague tingling in my gut before every session. And when my day of play is done, (read: my kid kicks me off his computer so he can go to sleep) I feel like reaching for a cigarette. I’d call that love.

Yesterday I leveled to 25 while grinding on some gnolls in the Redridge Mountains, then I died. I hate dying when the cemetary is, like, 5 miles and 3 mountain ranges away from my corpse. It seems like leveling after 20 is a little slower, though I did the stockades a couple days ago and almost got an entire level of exp in that one instance.

This blog is not for anyone looking for technical advice or even tips on gameplay. I’m a noob. But I will be sharing the juicy bits of my daily sessions as well as my sage insights regarding the (cough) therapeutic effects of WoW on midlife cynicism and lethargy. I will attempt to provide links to good WoW resources, because like any worthy journalist I’ve done some research and subscribed to a handful of related podcasts. Please share your thoughts, resources, strategies and anecdotes with me and drop by once in a while.