Suggestions and Holiday Salutations!!

One of the things I do when I write one of these things, generally is sit back, start typing and let the blog Gods take it where they may.  From all of the bits and pieces I try to pick whatever is the most coherent (that being extremely relative in my case) and try to run with it.  I try to think about the kinds of things I would like to read about (cuz, after all, it is ALL about me!!!), and try to present them in a way that is helpful and or entertaining to those who may choose the read them.  I do get a little gun shy a lot of the time, as I know there are some really good bloggers out there and I wonder just how I rate?

I know I have something of a target audience, mostly folks from the most awesome Clan of Darkness guild, and a few others here and there, and I am so grateful for everyone who come to read what I post.

All of this hoo-ha being said, I would like to open things up to you all.  If there is anything you would like me to tackle, please please let me know.  Or I am happy to go with my usual rabble!!

I wish you all the best, happiest, and safest of holidays!!

XOXOX
Kurly

Kicked by an add-on?!?!?!?!

So last night I am doing LFR last night with my raid buddies....the first time on my litte lady Dwarf DK.  We had made it all the way to Garrosh one shotting all the bosses until the first attempt on him.  I got up to have a wazzer and get a glass of soda, and came back to start the second attempt only to see her in Stormwind with a message in my chat box that stated "You were away during a ready  check and have been removed from the party"

None of my friends in the party saw a vote to kick box.

THIS IS BULLSHIT!!!!

Anyone know this add-on?

I want to submit a post to have the add on banned.

Oh...MERRY CHRISTMAS.

XOXO
Kurly

Fracking addon!

Just how many guilds I am in and why.

Guilds, guilds, guilds!!   (Am I even spelling that correctly?)

Back in '08 while running around the human starting area on my then human Paladin, Annamia (she's a Dwarf now), I was asked by a stranger to sign a guild charter for a whooping five gold.  I had no idea what I was being asked to do, and I feared that said stranger was some kind of reprobate that was after my private information, or some kind of sickie that would expect me to compromise my morals....wait....I had morals back then?

Regardless of the fact that she and I became friends and I have since met her and her family, as of right now I am part of five different guilds.  (ITS JUST SO SAD!!!)  Two are mine.  One is one of the three largest guilds in WOW, and its not AIE!  Its Taint on Proudmore.....cuz I am proud gay wow playing dude and I loved the idea of joining a huge guild where we discuss some of the most amazing things in guild chat! Not that AIE is not fantastic, but I just didn't feel very welcome there, no offense, just not a good fit.

Taint is a lot of fun, but as I am not on those toons with any degree of frequency, the few people I met there have gone off to do there own things, but the good thing is that there are almost always people on who want to do the same thing I want to do...talking trash in guild chat is one of them!!!!

The other mass guild is The Clan of Darkness on Earthen Ring.  Something of an off shoot of AIE, but created and run by Ctrl-Alt-Wow, is a podcast fan guild with a lot of people who love to play wow, and goof around in in large groups usually on friday nights!!   So many wonderful people in that guild, alas, this is not where I spend a majority of my time either, which is TOTALLY my loss.

The last two are my own creations!!  Rabid Kittens....a name that came up as a joke, and has been me and my long time friends' guild.  A very nice level 25 guild we leveled up all on our own...(all seven of us at the time), and my little level 2 Horde guild on Ysondre called Living Dead Gurls...so um...if anyone is up for leveling a guild....FEMALE TOONS ONLY!!!

Peace...and thank you for listening!  XOXOX

Flex raids

Here we have more of an admission then any kind of commentary or anything like that.

Raiding has always scared the BLEEP out of me...and frankly still does.

There are several different reasons for this.

First: I should stop listening to podcasts like Convert to Raid, My Epic Heals.  Not that these are bad podcasts, in fact they are both very good, informative, and entertaining shows, but if you are someone that has any self doubt OR worry about falling prey to mechanics OR worry about putting out as much as you can, these shows and others like them can be a little daunting.  Listening to these wonderfully intelligent folks go on about...well...math, and maximum this and that can, for me, suck the joy out of Christmas.

Second: When I'm the first to die on the fourth pull, the issue is mine and mine alone.

Third:  Its a little scary when you and everyone else knows the wipe was totally your fault.

Fourth:  Um, I don't always watch the fights on you tube, read up on them, OR look at the dungeon journal.  OKAY I SAID IT!  JEEZ.

There seems to be no easy slide into raiding.  LFR, is not all that hard...and if you do fuck up, who cares.  Not that I am suggesting you go into an LFR not caring about it, but learning curve errors that we ALL experience can be hidden in all the LFR trolling that go on when a wipe does happen, or you can blame the dude next to you who is probably going to drop anyway.   The jump in difficulity level gets to me more because I fear failure, letting down the folks who have been waiting a week to raid down, and making me wonder if I am actually a good player, and should I be raiding at all...sniff.

Its on me, I know this, I understand this, and I hope that I am able to grow from this...isnt this kind of what a blog be for?

Thanks for hearing my confession.

COME ON.....LIKE YOU NEVER FUCKED UP!!

:-)

Peace all and thanks for listening.

Kurly

Some PVP Rage

Anyone who knows me knows that one of my favorite features of WOW is PVP.   From my first shaking tour of Warsong Gultch and Arathi Basin, all the way up to whatever was/is the max level BG's, there I shall be.  And there shall I be, getting my ass handed to me over and over again.

Now, to be fair, I am not the best PVP'er.  I don't min/max, I don't always fully gem or enchant my gear, and there are many times when I loose sight of any kind of strat and just want to kill, kill, kill.

So, here is what I have noticed, and here is what I think: I think Blizzard stacks the deck in favor of one side.  In part so that the loosing side's resolve to come back burns ever brighter with each loss.  Does this sound like the theory of a ranting crazy person?  Sure!  Could I be totally wrong?  Totally!

However, take into consideration the following pieces of info!

Over last week I did I total of 30 BG's, 15 on the Horde, and 15 on Alliance.  Out of that 30 I won 9, five on the Horde, four on Alliance.  During each BG I checked the number of toons from the same server on each team, how much health team members had and my observation of team work or cooperation.  I played on toons of all levels.

Whenever I won we simply mowed over the other team, each time it was a shut out and on three occasions were able to pen up the opposing team.  (which I think sucks even when I am the pen-ner).  There were no close calls, no 2/3 type losses at all.  We either won totally or were used to mop the floor.  The winning team almost always had 50 to 75k more heath then the loosing team, and teams with no one in a party were pit against groups of people CLEARLY working together in a party.

There I said it!!

My intention here is not to troll.  If I am correct, it is a valid and working way to rope me in and keep me coming back.  Obviously I don't hate what happening as BG's are near and dear to my soul, but I do wish we could all go into a fair fight is all.

Best......Kurly,

Some things to come:

So along with some personal yuck yuck coinciding with Blizzcon I laid off for a week or so, but now I am getting back into the swing of things and are hoping to pump out some blogs on the following topics over the next few weeks!

PVP Woes
Flex raids
Tanking/Healing
Leveling
Just how many guilds I am in and why?
Melee V Ranged
Another Orc expans...um er, Warlords or Draenor.

Light be with you!

K

Where did "Kurly" come from, some good friends, and we still cant get past Pride!

Hello fellow WOW'ers!! 

Before I go blathering on...I want to thank anyone who's reading this!!

Anyone who has ever asked me why I call myself Kurly has heard the story of how some "weird" lady named Jessica whispered me one day offering me five gold (HOLY SHIT!!! FIVE GOLD!! ) to sign her guild charter.  Her and her boyfriend, Jeff, were starting a guild called Mana is a Myth.  I was having cyber fear over telling these people my real name and the only nick name I had ever been called was Curly-Q, so that's what I had them call me.  This would have been in the spring of 2007, and the three of us are still friends to this day!!

Although we don't see Jess as much as we used to Jeff is part of my Friday night Flex team, my biggest Tank cheerleader, chief encounter research specialist and honestly a great all-a-round guy.  He is singularly responsible for my progression and growth as a tank, and I am truly blessed that he is a friend in my life!

So the week before last our Flex raid (A combination of two small guilds from the Norgannon server) team made it to The Sha of Pride.  I was healing on my Disc. Priest, Sir Jeff was tanking on his Bear.  We'd one shot the three bosses up until the Sha of Pride and could not get the sucker down.  After about half a dozen attempts we called it quits.  In an attempt best the damn Sha we decided that I would be the off Tank, primarily since Jeff and I have communication down to a science and to allow the previous off tank to bring his uber dps.

So did we get past the Sha of Pride? NO!!!!  I think we did very well, but again, after five attempts we cant seem to get past the fourth of fifth cycle and most of the DPS get killed by adds that are popping up!  Sigh.  Next week we shall get him!!!

And yes, I am now Tanking Flex raid!  YAY ME!

Thanks for comming!!
Best,
Kurly! 

Some things I have learned....kind of.

Over my six plus years playing WOW here is some of what I have learned:

Its the tanks fault.
Announcing to the random BG group that you are listening to "Little Girls" from Annie is bad.
What the difference is between a nerd and a geek. (at least I think I have)
The rogue is going to kill you, over and over and over.
Female gamers find time to get some sun...why cant the dudes?
Is the healers fault.
The secretary spread can happen to you, too!
Its the DPS fault.
Ja makin me crazy 'mon!
Announcing to your LFR group that you are listening to the theme song from Grease can get you kicked.
There is no such thing as a Peacebloom pipe, but there should be!!
BG's in the early AM, on the Alliance equals utter gankage!
What utter gankage is.
Do Tauren have a utter?
RNG= Really, No Gear.
Its the tanks fault
The rogue is going to sap you, then kill you.
Jaina Proudmore has become a very angry woman.
The bosses we have to kill will just watch you while you stand in front of them plotting to kill them.
Fishing sucks.
Pet Battles...PSH..no way..um. well, they are kinda...NO NO WAY.
Its the healers fault.
Female Humans like to fart in the tub.
Female Worgen are nasty nasty ladies.
Its the tanks fault.
FRACKING ROGUES.
Rogues don't wear rouge, but they still kill you.
Goblin and Gnome tanks???....okay if you say so.
I'm a wigwam, i'm a tee-pee, i'm a wigwam, i'm a tee-pee....man I am 2 tense.
That warrior wants to put his sword where?
You actually want people to bring flasks to the party.

Oh the fun!!  Peace....K

Note to self:

Proof read and SPELL CHECK!!! 

Jeez!!!

:-)

Wimping over wiping.

I want to say that I'm a born "support" player.  My underlying goal in WOW (and in the rest of my life for that matter) is to provide assistance.  As long as there is a defined goal and someone else taking the lead I am happy as hell to do what ever I can to assist in the completion of the purpose at hand.

So why is it these days the idea of tanking a raid has me running off in a corner "Yipe, yipeing" like the proverbial bitch?

Tanking these days in five man heroics is kind of a joke.  You always have at least one DPS pulling over 100k in damage and one other poor schmuck doing just over 40k.  Heroics play more like scenarios as it is as.  All the healers have some kind of "Drop it and forget it" heal that leaves them free to add their own DPS to the mix, ending any heroic in about five minutes with barely any fuss and, as per usual, barley any conversation by the participants.

Any tank with a taunt can manage a five man herioc, even with the huge amounts of DPS going out.  By the time the target turns around to face its attacker its likely to be dead.

For some reason I tremble in my little combat boots at the thought of taking the latest raids.  I have read strats, over and over but still, all of this concern is there.

Maybe I'm over thinking, maybe I should try to not care like all the other folk in LFR.

Jeez!!

Ill keep you posted.

Thanks for coming!!

Kurly

Timeless and already forgotten?

Ah the Timeless Isle.  Let it be known that the first few weeks after the patch I was not at all quiet about my thoughts about the TI , and frankly I thought it sucked!  What possible fun could there be in running around getting pounced on by four or five kitties a time, one shot by pythons, gang ganked by spectral mistweavers, or face melted by some very irritable Yangoul. (but wouldn't you be irritated if you were attacked all the time, every day, over and over with no end in sight?)

There was, however, gear.  High level gear.  Lots and lots of high level gear.  In some cases said gear was a 75 point slot level increase.  This kind of upgrade is enough to force a change of opinion in my not so easily swayed mind.

What once sucked, started to get easy, and death was happening less and less.  There was a unusual sense of community when it came to downing the Celestial Guardians (what was with all that positive reinforcement whilst nuking them?!), finding rares, and treasure chest whereabouts.

How long did we expect all of that to last?  I ask this because I realized the other night that I had not spent any significant amount of time on the Isle for nearly two weeks, and when I went there there was nowhere near the population of folks there as had been before.

As I have been hearing on the net and various podcasts, people who play only one toon (something personally I will never understand.) the isle is only good for a short time as the upgraded gear comes fairly quickly and there is no real reason to keep going back.  Then there is also the "been there, done that." factor.    Having done the Isle on one tank, two dps and three heals (yes, I did it on three healers), I have to say that variety was sorely lacking and that maybe I was just getting bored with it, maybe, kind of, a little.

I will say again that over all I think the Timeless Isle was a good idea.  There is a lot of fun to had there as well as dandy upgrades, and some great WOWing with folks on your server.  Hopefully Blizzard is able to take what they have learned from it and use that information to craft an experience that endures a little longer.

All the best!!
Kurly

Thoughts on LFR

Raiding!  There was a super fantastic discussion on the WOW insider show about LFR, and I wanted to throw out some thoughts.

I remember back when I first started playing wow something like 8% of the overall WOW population actually participated in raids.

The number was low for a lot of reasons:  

1.  They were hard.

2. It was rumored that people who raided were, um, difficult, and expected a lot.

3. They were hard.

4. It was not always easy to figure out and learn strats.

I was asked to help a friends guild get past the first bug boss in Naxx., during the Lich King Expansion.  Being I was a fill in there was not a lot expected of me...essentially just point and shoot.  The boss mechanic was not very complicated but the politics I observed while I was there was pretty much a turn off, and the repetitive nature of raids has me bored senseless after the fourth or fifth attempt. Not to mention that I was told I was not allowed to roll on any gear. 

I know that I am not the picture of a good raider.  I don't really focus on getting any one toon up to optimum output, more often that not I rely on a friends explanation of the fight, and I really do start to zone out after each attempt. 

My experience with LFR has not been entirely positive.  I may not be the best participant but I am certainly not the worst.  There have been groups that did create an odd degree of camaraderie, and were actually fun, but on the whole they tend to be tiresome and bring out the worst in some folks.

Improving my overall contribution to LFR is something of a personal goal.  I like being a participant that knows whats going on.

Is it me or does LFR seem like five man heroics used to be?

All the best!!
Kurly

Names and Hair Styles!!!!

Since I am not sure what I want this blog to be I am going to go with a bit of a fluff piece here.

I am not into a vanity names.  The names of my toons are important to me.  So important that I have deleted toons after the name I gave them went bad in my mind.  Its about as close as I get to RP.  Some of the names I use do reflect some things are are important to me:

Mhetzo, Mezzaneen: Music and the theatre
Klowd: My love of Nature
Nhetta: I was watching The Color Purple
Pherramona: Um, well…sex. (Pheromones and stuff)
Zyphllyz: A little PG-13 joke name for an undead unholy DK. (Not a funny topic I know, but still.)
Labryz: I nod to my Lesbian friends.
Mowtandoo: Does it need an explanation
Bootlika (the one male toon): Um, I, er…plead the 5th.
Mizzezdanverz – From the movie Rebecca, cuz Mrs. Danvers was just spooky!

Coiffure!
One of the area’s I think WOW is lacking is the variety of character creation.  Aeon, GW2 and Rift have such a wonderful array of features and looks you can use to create an individual appearance.  For me, hair is a HUGE part of it.  Of all my toons, all but one are female, and I try to use hair styles to give them a specific kind of personality as I see them.

All my casters have long hair.  My favorite hair effect is the waving braids of female dwarfs, and pandaren.  It may be sexist on my part, but I love the idea of flowing, bouncing, whipping hair on my casters and hunters.

Melee must always be short or wrapped (because you don’t want your enemy to get a handful of it!)!  My tanks, rogues, and warriors all have short hair or hair that is wrapped or pinned about their heads.
How much do these do things mean to you, 'm just curious.

(PS…I shave my head)
XOXO
Kurly

PVP and me: The love/hate that is just great!!

These days apart from the Timeless Isle and LFR the majority of my time is spent in BG's.  I enjoy BG's of all levels with toons at level 10 up to 90.

Unlike the static AI you find in instances and raids (static but amazing and fun) Nothing beats the "face to face" play you find in random BG's!

I avoided them like all get out until I was maybe level 40 or so (Back in '08), but soon was totally hooked, and I have to be honest and say that Battlegrounds are THE feature of WOW keeps me coming back.

If you've never done a BG before, I totally recommend!!  I do understand that they are not for everybody, but I think trying everything in WOW at least once behooves (Yes, I used the word behoove!!) any player as it gives you a taste of what all the classes can do (spells, abilities, interrupts, escapes etc.) and pushes you to push your toon to its greatest level of output and pretty much forces you to learn how to use everything in your toons tool belt.

If its something you decide to stay with, be prepared to loose a lot!

There are times during BG's when my normal sweet and gentle demeanor devolves into a swearing, spitting, frothing at the mouth unsportsmanlike soccer mom, wishing nothing less then the most prolonged and painful death possible on my opposing team mates......whew....that actually felt good to get out.  It kind of the truth though, but its just part of the fun!  Especially for my neighbors who can see me jumping up and down on my office chair screaming "NERF ROGUES!!!!".

Lesson from above:  Try to learn from your mistakes and realize that there are going to people that are just better than you and that sometimes groups of people are going to gank you.

I repeat....PVP is seriously my favorite facet of WOW.

Thanks for listening!!
XOXO
Kurly

What can be said about me, how I came to play wow, and how its become such an important part of my life?

First: I do have a name, its Mark, but for the purposes of my WOW life and Identity I prefer to go by Kurly.  Kurly comes from being called Curly-Q when I was a kid.  This was mainly because of a fear of the internet and the worry that someone could steel my identity just from my first name. It stuck however and people still call me Kurly to this day.

WOW was suggested to me from a co-worker after he and I had a lengthy conversation about the DragonLance novels.  He was an avid WOW player and said that there was a similarity between DragonLance and the races and story.

My first character was a male night elf druid names Viran.  It was on the 10 day free trial and I spent many an hour running around the Night Elf starting area having a blast, but having no real idea how the game worked.  As happend a lot back then Viran died and his "wisp" got lost looking for his body and I eventually drove it off the edge of the life tree.....Viran was, um, never seen again.  In his place I created Viranelda (His sister), and still play her to this day.....her and dare I say, many many others.

I am a bonafide, defined to the letter, altaholic. As it stands as of now I have about 70 toons over four servers and two accounts.  I tank, heal, and dps (melee and ranged).  There are two reasons for this.  One is simply due to ADD (like who doesnt have ADD these days), the other is personal investment.  WOW was one of the first hobbies I have ever had that held my interest for so long.  I want to get as much out of it as I can as well as give as much as I can, and when do most people NOT need a tank or heals? 

All of that being said I shall put on the breaks for now, I am hope to get columns out as often as I can, but at least once a week. 

Talk to you all soon!!