There is Always Hope

So... I got an interesting little email last evening...

Uh....

I guess they're letting every Tom, Dick, and Harry into the Wrath Classic Beta if they let me in. Especially since I didn't try to get a beta key either.

"Unforgiving cold of Northrend"?
Haven't you ever heard of Hoth?

Anyway, my questing buddy was already knee deep in the Beta, so she actually squealed with delight when I shared the screencap with her on Discord.

"Want to play on the Beta tonight??"

I couldn't say no to that, so I downloaded the Wrath Beta and started it up: 

This was what I saw when I started playing WoW,
so I got all the feels. I have no idea if that
was what some of my friends who started in
BC or Vanilla felt when they saw their loading
screen, but I now finally feel like I'm home.

And that Wrath intro soundtrack piece...

Instead of porting a toon over, I created yet another Cardwyn.

I swear those shoulders look like
they're made of metal. But I like the
look of her robes.

Yes, I've kind of gotten used to doing that.

I logged in, putzed around in Stormwind while I waited for my questing buddy, and realized that Beta Card was missing the Portal/Teleport spell for The Exodar.

"Oh, that won't do at all!" And away to Azuremist I went.

On the way up there, by questing buddy logged in, and I told her that I was getting the Portal for Exodar.

"You didn't import your original Card???"

"Yeah, I figured it's not a big deal. And one bonus is that Blizz gave me more gold than what Card 1.0 actually has!"*

"LOL!"

I got to the Exodar and grabbed the spells, then I headed for Alterac.

"Where are you going now?"

"Alterac."

"Why?"

"Because I've always wanted to do this:"

...and have it be relevant, too.

Once I was finished, the next couple of hours were spent putzing around and questing around Northred with my questing buddy. I thought I got more screenshots in than I actually did, but when I got off the ship to Valiance Keep, it felt like I was coming home. I can't wait to take the zeppelin from Orgrimmar to Warsong Hold, because when the zeppelin flies into the hold.... Wow. Just wow.

But even though Card 1.0 took TBC Classic off, and (story wise) she spent her time at the farm dealing with her PTSD, it actually hit home when the early quests were happy to see you because you're considered a known entity. This first time, in Wrath, it feels good. Card defeated Onyxia and Nefarian. She was there when C'thun was defeated.

And she's back to finish the job with Kel'Thuzad.

This acknowledgement by NPCs that you're pretty damn good at what you do doesn't feel so old like it does by the time you reach Mists. 

I'll be poking around a bit more with my questing buddy, but I wanted to leave you with this screenshot:

Ah... My old friend.

Remember this? The beginning seed quest for the entire Coldarra questline, which also leads into The Nexus, The Oculus, the Malygos raid, and Dalaran.

I wonder what Haleh would have thought of this?

*1.0 has about 150 gold, while Blizz gave Beta Card about 950-ish gold.

EtA: Corrected a grammar error.

And That's That

The other day I logged in to Briganaa to putz around for a few before my slate of morning meetings, and the discussion among a few of us that were on in guild was whether the patch for TBC Classic was going in this week or next week. Then, naturally, the downtime alerts showed up.

Well, crap, I thought.

"Hang on a sec," I replied in gchat, and hopped onto Cardwyn.

"Done," I said in gchat.

"Huh?" asked my old Mage Lead.

"Finished."

Before anybody asks, yes, I did say "thanks".

Probably was over four weeks, but I wasn't about to go fact check when the server was being shut down.

After a few more congrats, I dropped and hopped on Neve.

Because Mages stick together.

There was nobody on my Horde guild at the time (I think), so there was no reason to say anything, but the morning crew was well aware of my long grind to L70 on Card. Their congrats were very much worth it. 

And now I get to train, use the Tomes I've acquired (on Card; Neve doesn't have any), and start figuring out what lingering old quests are out there that need finishing.

EtA: I can't believe I missed the "to" ON THE FIRST SENTENCE. /sigh

And Just Like That...

 ...the Monday raid came to an end.

After last night's raid, where they failed to down Kalecgos, there was an announcement in Team Loki's chat that the raid leadership had made the difficult decision to shutter the Monday raid. It was becoming too difficult to recruit given that Alliance players were abandoning Myzrael-US in droves, and while there was an option floated about moving the Monday raid entirely to Atiesh-US for next week, apparently enough people didn't want to move that it would be difficult to replace them on the fly. 

I know that things were difficult in keeping a single day/week raid going --I mean, I was in the Monday raid up through Phase 2, so I know this personally-- but I also know that the grind as well as the perception that the Monday raid team was somehow "less than" hardcore enough that it became mentally taxing to a lot of people. 

***

Yes, I was aware of how mentally taxing the perception that the Monday raid was a bunch of "casuals" was. I kept my mouth shut about it in general, both here and in guild, because it wasn't my place to say anything as I was no longer progression raiding*, but I knew it really became a thing when we were unable to get people to come to our Saturday afternoon/evening Zul'Aman runs.

That becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, of course. If you avoid running with people because they're "not hardcore enough" then they have to backfill with undergeared alts who can't clear content quickly enough, so the perception is reinforced that "they're too casual" or "they're not good enough". Rinse and repeat.

Sure, there were other issues with the Saturday ZA raids, such as other raids happening that would suck away personnel and we were caught in the crossfire, but perceptions are hard to shake.

***

Now that the Monday raid is well and truly dead, I guess I'll have to come to grips with the small(ish) fantasy I had that somehow I could get back into progression raiding before Wrath Classic dropped. 

I mean, I now have the time on Monday nights to be able to raid again, but I am so far behind --both in gear and more importantly in understanding the fights-- that there's little chance of me catching up in time. As my questing buddy put it the other day, by the time the Shamans were really needed in progression raiding (in Mount Hyjal), there were so few left of the original group of leveling shamans that it was essentially worthless to make them run through the gauntlet at the beginning of TBC Classic. All it did was burn them out and cause them to quit.

Gear drops --or a lack thereof-- also hurt the Monday raid. For most of Phase 2, we got so few decent drops out of SSC and TK that it really hurt our DPS and Tank output. When your Pally tanks and Warlocks are both competing for the same tier gear, and both need the same drops off of Vashj and Kael'Thas, then that's going to hurt your raiding quite a bit. Chasing the BiS gear --and not getting it-- was mentally taxing on my questing buddy too. I did my best to try to support her and the others with the Friday Karazhan raids (badges, you know), but I was pretty limited in what I could do without burning her out further.

***

At times like this, I just wish I could have done more to help out and keep the raid running. Even though I know intellectually that you can only do so much, that doesn't stop those feelings from coming. You never really stop caring, and when you say you've stopped caring that's probably when you actually care the most.

Yes, there's a selfish element to all this, because I'd love to be able to stick it to the doubters, and even more than that I'd love to finish my personal goals in TBC Classic. But part of being an adult is that while I can keep my dreams, I can also acknowledge reality. 

*It was brought up with raid leadership as well.

A Collection of Guild Names

While I've been roaming around Atiesh-US --and on the Horde side of Myzrael-US-- I've come across, well, a lot of creative guild names. While I was out questing, I was inspired by Njessi's Hawtpants of the Old Republic and her periodic posts on Bad Fashion and her Hall of Shame to take screenshots of some of these guilds.

Yes, a lot of them are walking Dad Jokes...

I always wondered what a group
of Karens was called.

And others skirt the edge of PG-13...

I guess I know what wands their casters use...

I think I found the guild the people in those
Viagra commercials are members of...

There are those that shrug off any whiff of cynicism with their positivity...

"And top o' the mornin' to ye!"

Uh... thanks?

"...because I learned it from you, Dad!!"

But there are those that provide a bit of entertainment simply by being a fictional part of the game...

I can get behind this.

And finally there are those guilds that bring up their status in game...

Boy, do I. Thanks a LOT for reminding me.

What if you're TWO tiers behind?

At least it's well identified.

"I think I can... I think I can..."

I've met plenty of happy or crazy
or loopy gnomes, but sad ones?

Shinies for everyone!!

EtA: Corrected a grammatical error.

Cardwyn vs. Nevelanthana

Given that I have a pair of Mages --okay, more than a pair, but I count Deuce as merely an extension of Cardwyn 1.0-- I'm at that point in their respective careers that I'd like to do something that I call...

Who wore it better?

After a certain point, my Mages run through the same gear because, well, you're not always going to get BiS gear all the time while leveling. I mean, if you wanted to you could try to run Shadowfang Keep a lot, but there's absolutely no guarantee you won't outlevel the place by the time you do get into enough runs to pick the keep clean of Mage gear. The same goes for Scarlet Monastery's Library and Cathedral wings; the original Cardwyn needed well over a half dozen runs of SM:Cath to finally obtain the often sought after Whitemane's Chapeau, and since Blizz tweaked leveling in the TBC Classic prepatch to speed up the L30s through to the L50s, you'll shoot right on past the Scarlet Monastery wings before you know it.

I have a definite preference for Frost Mages, especially when questing out in the field, so both Neve and Card have sewed together clothing with spellpower --and frost bonuses-- built in. The frost bonuses tend to show up in crafted gear in the Mageweave and Runecloth clothing, but the Azure Silk pieces do provide a lot of bang for the buck in terms of spellpower.

The first thing that pops into my head
is "Halloween Sexy Pirate costume"...

...and the second thing is
"that sunburn would suck."

Given that the ideal levels for wearing this gear would put you right in the middle of in more temperate and tropical areas, such as Stranglethorn Vale, Hillsbrad Foothills, Thousand Needles, and Arathi Highlands, it kind of makes sense to wear something suited for the weather. And without the robes, a potential enemy could quite easily underestimate who they're dealing with. 

Fiction wise, a clever Mage (or two) could take advantage of that to blend in with the crowd at Menethil Harbor, Booty Bay, or other seaports. While a Warlock could as well, their reliance on demons would kind of make them stand out unless they go to great lengths to hide their "pets".

Does the Warchief need someone to investigate the fire at Shady Rest Inn without causing a stir among the Tauren clans? Send a "traveler" capable of blending in with the surrounding swamp. 

Would the few Alliance soldiers who rebelled against Colonel Kurzan's insane ramblings send a fully armored Paladin to infiltrate Kurzan's camp? Oh HELL no; they'd send someone clothed for the jungle and looks like a "companion" of one of the troops. Someone who'd call down fire and ice in a pinch.

Admittedly, a Rogue or a feral Druid would do the job as well for either situation, but if you want a wielder of the arcane who can blink their way out of trouble or turn an enemy into a block of ice, you send someone who looks. like. this.

***

The other piece of gear Deuce and Neve share at the moment is what I'd describe as a "flex" piece, the Robe of Power. 

It takes some effort to amass the material for the Robe, typically spending an evening farming elementals in Arathi Highlands for the additional materials, but you're rewarded with a robe that is better than that found in Shadowfang Keep or Scarlet Monastery's Library wing, and is the equal of anything found in Uldaman. As it's a bind on pickup piece, you have to be a Tailor to make it for yourself.

The look is totally worth it as well.

The difference in attitude between the two
are pretty striking, even though they're
wearing the same robe. Card has that
earnest look...

...while Neve's is more haughty. 
It's kind of safe to say that most
Queldorei and Sindorei give off that
slightly arrogant look, but that's
strictly outward appearances.

If a Mage or Warlock ever needed a piece of formal wear before presenting themselves before Society, this would be it. While the Robe of Power is, well, a very powerful piece that holds up well until Runecloth gear comes into play, it emanates that "I don't get my hands dirty dealing with the peons" 80s Yuppie attitude. You could look at this robe and think that the wearer is a part of upper class society and not be that far off in your observation. 

You don't have to be from Dalaran or Quel'Thalas to be thought of as a mover and shaker while wearing the Robe of Power. 

***

So... Who really did wear it better?

Eh... Six of one, half dozen of the other. 

Neve's attitude fits more effortlessly into both outfits, but Card just has that Everywoman look about her that you can't help but like. As a Sindorei, Neve has what I'd call a "runner's build", but her attitude does make her stand out in a crowd. She is very much a leader, and it shows. Cardwyn, on the other hand, is someone who is, well, "normal", but also somewhat naive in her outlook. That naivete can be endearing as well.

When I created both toons I had these ideas in my head for what I wanted out of them, and as time has gone on I've been surprised at how well they've been borne out. The one thing I will say is that you can't judge a book by its cover, and certainly these two do fit that in spades.

I'm actually quite curious how these two will compare in higher level gear going forward.

EtA: corrected a grammatical error.

WTF, Atiesh?

I've been putzing around with Deuce a bit on the Atiesh-US TBC Classic server, getting a feel for the place, when I saw this the other day:

Oh yes. You read that right.

Here, let me highlight it for you:

I can confidently say that I never saw ANYTHING like that on Myzrael-US. I saw some shit there, but NOTHING like this. 

At least some people called it out, but I hoped for a bit more condemnation than what I saw.

Stay classy, Atiesh-US.

A Quick Pressing of the Pause Button

I wanted to get this out there, so no matter what happens going forward, there was this little bit of serendipity:

Cardwyn is 778584 / 779700...

...and Nevelanthana is 776327 / 779700.

They've both been sitting at these numbers for over a week now, and I have been strangely reluctant to finish it.* I suppose that's mainly due to Card and the knowledge that the Guild Roster Manager add-on will trigger an alert among the dozen or two people in guild who have it installed when she makes it to L70, and in my usual way of not wanting to garner any attention I know it will generate some interest. 

Just as I'm heading out the door, naturally.

But you know, I'm kind of happy about this achievement on both factions. Neve can start doing some more Tailoring, just because she can, and I'll finally see what the hell this whole Spellcloth and Soulcloth (and whatever) crap that people were going gaga a year ago is all about. At this point I'd just like to know how she looks in any Tailored gear, just because she needs that stylish look, and Card is already set for a trip to Northrend.

*It does feel kind of weird seeing a Holy Pally that Neve grouped with about 3-4 weeks ago passing her while Neve kind of putzed around, but that's fine. I knew she wanted to get into some raids before Wrath dropped.