Posts Tagged 'WOW'

Dating on WOW by Class – A perfect Match.

Published February 17, 2021 World Of Warcraft Closed
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Repost of an old post – Just because of the Valentine spirit

‘Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to this evening’s presentation tonight we plumb the depths of the human soul as we join a lost, lonely girl trying desperately to find love. See for yourself what tragedy lies ahead when the paths of star-crossed lovers meet. Will she survive? Will she prevail?  Only time will tell ( Ok so I stole those lines from the Opera Event… )

Who would be your Perfect partner?

index The Demon Hunter

In hopeless campaigns, and bitterest strife,  Demon Hunters feel like they have been at the front all the days of their lives. *  Your object of affection has overcome  the thrall of a charming and illustrious  ( and green and yellow glowing ) leader, and still faces  the doubt of his new allies when fighting at their side,  expect your family and friends to not invite you both to events for a little while.   When threatened, or someone leaves the toilet seat up,   they  may lose themselves in a uncontrollable rage, that causes a terrible metamorphosis. A kitten may sooth the savage beast, but please see a a good blacksmith for appropriate caging options in the event of overnight stays.  They may also jump your bones,  the bed,  and the roof  of any dwelling if surprised.

Dislikes:  Suprise birthday parties & mirrors  Hobbies: Paragliding  and Parkour.

Looking for: A lover not a demon

Ui-charactercreate-classes_deathknight Death Knight

Not since Angel on Buffy have we seen such a brooding and dark creature, wracked by eternal guilt. The Death Knight has long avoided intimate contact with loved ones. You will really need to grab and pull this one out of their shell. Persistence and a lot of love and tender care required to nurse a Death Knights heart back to normalcy and once you have done, you will find a devoted partner – who given that you are their first love in a long time may get a touch obsessive.
You may find the Death Knight watching the moon rise wistfully in the cool night,  their glowing eyes, a jeweled beacon,  illuminating their pale pallor in the  darkness. They don’t  like talking much,  their voices crackle back at them, and they get mistaken for a mechanical  being. Ignore their awkward  attempts at the Bus stop   or water cooler  humor when it comes to  small talk.  They are still adjusting. They really are great people.

Dislikes: Unfocused, erratic individuals Mushy emo stuff, and Pink.

Looking for – nothing. They don’t need anything they say. They have fought the bounds of the prince of darkness what could you ever offer them in comparison. What they really need is a slap on the head to knock them out of their melancholy  . Go on. Do it. It will shock them into taking your pursuits seriously.

Druid}The Druid

The Druids heart belongs to no one,  they are free spirited  and love to love everything.  Often Vegetarian ,  they are also active environmentalists, the druid is an outdoorsy type, loves long runs/swims/flights in the nude.  Loves to garden and uses natural therapies  and rolls in piles of leaves. To catch a druid you must be playful and joyful, and run very fast agilely through the woods,  they like all shapes and sizes but be prepared to share. They may drool when petted and stroked.

Dislikes: Being used as a scratching post, or peed on by Worgens,  being kept indoors or being tied down to one person,  Pollution.

Looking for: Multiple someones who don’t mind a little bit of fur or feathers around the house, doesn’t eat deer or bear meat and loves the outdoors.

Hunter}Hunter

They love the thrill of the hunt being experts in tracking and laying traps, and the challenge that each new beast presents.  A patient person they will wait for the perfect opportunity to take their target, and  will only go after partners that present a challenge. Often a loner, its hard to get close to the Hunter’s heart,  but if you do you will have to be constantly interesting and hunter worthy or your hunter will move on to another conquest.   Likes playing games in the bedroom so be prepared to get a little adventurous.  They get along with household Pets of all types, but be prepared to have an indoor tiger or bear as a pet, and when you break up  don’t be surprised if your Cat or dog went with them. You will find your hunter out Camping and game shooting.  Its advisory to wear bright colours and make lots of noise so as not to be mistaken for an animal on first contact.

Dislikes: Vegetarians, and Sit down dinner parties that don’t allow pets under the table.

Looking for: A Partner that understands that sometimes you just need to be alone, and will  knows how to cook what ever they have brought to the table, and have a warm mug of ale waiting at home for them after  a long hunt.

Mage}Mage

With a slight touch of neuroses Mages find themselves driven to the perfection of their chosen talents and can become quite narrow minded in their pursuit, they enjoy reading non fiction books on topics that include science  & astronomy, and enjoy intellectual debate. Seasoned  travelers in far off and mystical places they are constantly searching for answers. As they prefer the pursuits of the mind as apposed to exploration of the body. Role playing and a fierce intellect in a potential partner is a must . If you want to keep a mages mind engaged, steel their heart by knowing as much as they do

Dislikes: Dumb People, and working out at the Gym. Loves watching Reruns of captain planet  for the moments  where the elements are called into power.  EARTH,  WATER, FIRE and thick dusty tombs.

Looking for: Someone who will support their ambition with lots of book shelves, and who can   keep up intellectual debate.

Paladin}Paladin

Is very social and compassionate, likes talking but is a great listener. An early riser they are practical and courageous, they like getting their hands dirty and are self sacrificing. A practical high achiever they want to make their mark on the world.  If you want to catch a paladins eye tell them about your charitable work down at the local orphanage.  Paladins are loyal partners, and devoted fathers. You will never fear taking a Pally home to meet your parents, but beware their Martyrdom.

Dislikes: Money and Large corporations

Looking for: A partner who will be at their side helping them make the world a better place.

Priest}Priest

The priest doesn’t have much room in their life but for their one true god.  Often respectable figureheads in their local community they are stoic and steadfast in their beliefs, often to the point of  stubbornly. Some priests enjoy Ghost Hunting and Public speaking.  Dependable and reliable,  once committed to a cause or person they remain so.  To catch a Priest you need to share their devotion,  coming to them for advice and showing your commitment to the faith is a good start, Often found in medical facilities, they make good surgeons & nurses, able to heal or hurt they wield their powers with benevolence. They struggle with the temptations that shadow allows them,  the pressure to heal while others enjoy themselves a ongoing battle.

Dislikes: Unfaithfulness people, and waste.

Looking for: Someone who understands there is the dark and there is the light and there is what must be done for the good of all.

Rogue}Rogue

Are often misunderstood People who were frail or weak in childhood, they learn often deviously that their strengths lie in depriving people of things and  stealth – theory.   While not necessarily aligned with evil, or  bad, their unsocial like behavior does not encourage many friends.  Collectors of rare and valuable things they are often wealthy and smart. Look for your rogue at Auction houses, or in Museums.  Catching their eye is not difficult if you are a pretty thing,  they will feel the urge to possess you.  Once however their interest is caught they will shower you with gifts and affection,   just make sure those gifts don’t have someones name engraved on it.

Dislikes: Being the center of attention, Loud parties, and noise.

Looking for: A shiny bauble to possess.

Shaman}Shaman

The Shaman is a supportive type,  non judgmental,  and slow to anger, But will defend their love ones with all the powers at their call.   They are are romantics, looking for their one true life partner.   They like cuddling and have a great sense of humor.  Creative people who love Music and screen- shoting and storytelling.   You will find your Shaman at the Inn sharing a beer with the locals, they don’t do one night stands,  so be prepared to show your true inner beauty to make the shaman fall for you. Shamans will turn any sedate gathering to the party of the raid calendar year,  and  always bring their own disco balls and strobe lights to any party.

Dislikes: Rudeness, and Bigotry

Looking for:  The one that the moons rises in their eyes, and smiles sparkles with the brightest stars

Warlock}Warlock

Is a studious character and also somewhat unsociable.  A Hoarder of knowledge they can be often found chanting demonological languages under their breath at local formal wine bars.  Appreciators of fine music and wines they like their entertainment on the exclusive side.   Watchers rather then participators they appear vague and aloof. To win what is left of their heart be prepared to demonstrate your extensive knowledge on the culinary delights of various cultures. If you can impress them with your class and style they will be yours.  Meeting their minions for the 1st time can be quite a shock, and their loyalty to their partner  is often questioned when their mistress appears.

Dislikes: Drunks and Gaudy people.

Looking for: Dark and Sultry

Warrior}Warrior

A rather down to earth character. who loves watching and participating in all sorts of sports.  Can get hot tempered when he has been drinking with the Shamans in the pub, and likes a good ‘trying to balance on logs’ while drunk challenge.   Be Prepared for Bruises and breaks that are not work related.  The Warrior trains hard but likes to party hard too.  To catch a Warriors eye,  be on the dance floor doing the latest dancing fad.   Do not be taken back by his slurred one liners, he really is a romantic at heart,  just has trouble expressing himself with all the drills pounded into his head.   A Fierce defender of what is his, and  is great with his hands  but be aware,  his loyalty lies with his Commanding officer,

Dislikes: Middle management, and sewing.

Looking for: A practical person to learn to cook sew, mow the lawn, and patch the roof.

 

*paraphrased from  The Vanguard a Poem by Henry Lawson

Durumu: The test of patience & the Maze of doom

Published July 22, 2013 raid , World Of Warcraft 1 Comment
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DurumuOur poor bones.

I like this fight because I hate it.  It has an intricate ‘dance’ and a purple maze of doom. It requires the whole raid to pay attention, and beam roles are randomised,  and with lingering gaze, life drain,  the delicate balances of movement, and action and reaction. No one every gets to stand still and just face roll.

I know it’s not even considered challenging content to most 10 man guilds now, and it’s even supposed to be farm for us because we have killed him a few times, and been working on extended lock outs for some of the bosses further on. But it is an intricate fight, and so I hate to love it,  whether I heal it or dps it and always hate to love it the most when we fail at it.

The maze though is what I find the most fascinating part of it in that it is a test of patience.   Once you understand the Purple lightening on the floor to indicate the side where it is safe from the disintegration beam  you are then balancing the urge to run too far past the cleared space against getting near to that beam that is edging closer and closer. The path is very random, and we get ‘good’ and
‘bad’ paths,  the good ones, are easy enough to follow,  don’t hug the boss too close, and create enough space to allow better for our lag. The bad paths are the ones that create very little space to shuffle round the Eyes bulbous body and great beam of destruction.  Its also one thing to watch where you going, but then another to then be dpsing or healing at the same time.  Beam, Floor, Health bars, need to watch them all.

We had a bad run of it tonight.  We were pugging two, and running one under-geared because some of our normal raid people couldn’t make it, and one of our healers had thought we wouldn’t get enough for raid, so cleared it with someone else.   😦 and we lost too many people to silly things,  add bad internet connections,  unexplained lag, and just general bad.

Of course LFR has  much better survivability and I will admit that in the very early days in LFR I would ball up in my dispersion and bounce around until I found the beginnings of the safe path. 10 man is much more organised and I know what I am doing now  ( most of the time )

Every time I am in the maze, even in LFR there is a voice in my head ( and sometimes in vent.. ) saying Wait..  Wait…  now move….. wait… wait…  now move.

 

Millie Watt – Brawlers Guild

Published December 30, 2012 World Of Warcraft 2 Comments
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Millie Watt yells: You really shouldn’t play with this stuff. Someone could get hurt.

I got to play with Millie in the wee hours of the morning when there was less of a queue.  I had lots of frustration as I was having difficulty getting her down past 1000k Health.

Millie Watt yells:  Look at you! HAH!

So I tweaked a little,  Healed a LFR and got  483  Dagger, paid 6.5k for the Jade Spirit Enchant,  and got the best Bracer enchant.  Was getting her to 600k

Tweaked some more,  Reforged more of my Mastery to  Haste, replaced the gem in helm to the +crit effect ( was using helm for heals and dps so had the +mana) and reforged some spirit into haste as I didn’t need the extra hit.

I committed my gear to a dps spec.  Rather I did all the stuff I should have done if I had been raiding as pure dps instead of the Heals switching I am doing with the casual guild I occasionally raid with.

I kept hitting the timer with 200-400k health left.  I was getting close,  and it’s so easy to panic.  I finally killed her.   The things that helped me was shuffling enough of a distance as soon as dynamite was thrown, and so taking less damage.  resisting the urge to shield or disperse when she casts Discombobumorphanator  as this only absorbs the damage your meant to take to break the stun., and trying to use my insta casts while standing in the field rather than just standing there waiting for it to happen and then moving quickly out of it.

Fears when your standing close to help reduce some of the constant damage she does,  but even then,  it doesn’t really interrupt her casting too much, and you run the risk of moving too far away from the lightning fields repositioning yourself.

***********

I’ve done a fair bit of upgrading and tweaking since starting the Brawlers guild,  and my Ilevel is now 483 I had to really think about ways of optimizing when I could dps. ( and hope for  good Crits )  I think so far that there has been plenty of  opportunity to put out the DPS required, it’s just a matter of optimizing the time you have, even if it means not stopping and healing your self, and reducing your movement too much.

There is a thread on the EU wow forums about the disappointment that the Brawlers guild is a gear check mainly because there is a timer – 2 min for each fight, and Pvp geared people, and non top geared raiders will have difficulty beating it. ( except Proboskus which is only 60 sec ) and it does get to a point where gear is required to beat the timer. I am struggling at Rank 5 with the gear I have with some of the DPS timers,  no tier, and bits I’ve upgraded or crafted & LFR stuff, but  that has made me work smarter.  Currently up to the 4th Gladiator at level 5 which are 5 little gnomes ( currently only killing 4 of them )

Some fights are easier for some classes, I got stumped for what would be considered an interrupt on Proboskus – Silence Durrr…  I’m not used to thinking in terms of interrupts outside my fears, and they don’t form part of my normal rotation – and silence is pretty much useless on any raid boss, so it’s more of a PVP use mentality,  whereas a melee class may have several interrupts to choose from,

My self-heal abilities as a shadow priest means I can worry a little less about taking some damage,  and some Gladiators like Millie do a constant stream of damage,  we have  Devouring Plague, Vampiric Embrace,  Renew, Praying of Mending  Halo, that will give self-healing back with little interruption to dps

Best resources so far for any of the fights have been

Twitter ( thanks Marathal) pointed me to Sorella’s Guide for Shadow Priests on How to Priest

Icy Veins Brawlers Guild Guide  ( has vids for all the fights – class specific information is missing though for a lot of fights – and needs collaborators)

Dancing with Deeken – Brawlers Guild Rank 4

Published December 27, 2012 World Of Warcraft 1 Comment
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Deeken Yells: DIE QUICKLY — I HAVE LUNCH PLANS!

Every Brawl is a dance, some are easier than others.  Some you learn to stand there and take the damage,  others you need to learn when to move.

I learned  to dance Deeken style.  He is the last Gladiator of Rank 4 and I had some issues trying to stand still long enough to do damage, while jumping around enough to avoid the static that does random patterns on the floor.  So I was going along with trying to increase the time where I didn’t have to avoid the field.  So I kept him locked up on spawn as much as possible

Prepot Potion of Brawlers Cunning the Intell + 4k for 25 sec pot  ( get it from Quackenbush – The Brawlers Guild Quartermaster)

Run to centre where he spawns. Fear him on spawn,

SWP MB – Psychic Horror before he can do a push back.

MF MF ….

Then it becomes a massive mess of static electricity and a stupid robot pushing you back into that static electricity at the worst of times. Some attempts went really bad.  He would push back and interrupt my spells at the worst time.

You can jump over the fields,  but I found that It worked better if I danced around them,   moved between their ups and downs, and sideways.

The Static hits you for around 90k damage each wave. Some waves  overlap each other and can smash you down quickly and thus ended a couple of attempts. I even tried taking a wave or two to get more dps out.  Running around, avoiding the static electricity with only  SWP and SWD on insta cast hoping to get lucky mindspike procs won’t get him down in enough time.

I found he got immune to my fears  eventually,  or he resisted them,  when I did try to CC it was more to reduce his push backs then reduce the damage he would do in melee,  which wasnt much, you spend more time worrying about the waves then him.

Towards the end of the timer there is a pause where it seems that all the Static resets and the floor clears,  when I finally killed him I did that then,  free space to breath and smash him as hard as you can.  By that time,  if you haven’t already used a Brawlers Healing Potion, you should be able to use another Cunning pot.

Bizmo’s Brawlpub & The Brawlers Guild

Published December 16, 2012 World Of Warcraft 6 Comments
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You are next in Line

Your heart races.

You have been watching a few of the fights,  seen some people die,  seen them win.

Sold your soul on the Black Market Auction house to get an invite.   ( Actually it was only 6.9k gold for me and some BMAH camping for my outbids)

Now it’s your turn.  In front a crowd of your peers,  fellow players from your realm  and  some from others, guilds big and small are here watching or waiting  for their own turns. You can hear the hecklers cheering on the mobs. “GO BRUCE”  they yell. Bizmo laughing at each contestants deaths

So much blood

But it all fades away when your standing the centre. Facing the grey paneled metal wall, waiting for your opponent to appear,  deep in the depths of the Deep Run Tram.

You can smell the rust, metal,  or blood you’re not sure.

Just breath

Bizmo Yells: Put your hands together for Zahraah! Zahraah is a Rank 3 priest.

You told the Bouncer at the door you were here to fight, not die – what happens if you lose?

*********

Well if you lose, your body lays near the bouncer,  until you either release,  or someone nice rezzes you.

There was a buff group going, and people were quite friendly, and encouraging,  buffing, healing and rezzing. You keep all your buffs going in,  flasks, food and other class buffs. It all helps.

There is no shame in doing what you need to survive that fight,  and that means I have stopped and healed myself,

I will admit to looking up the Strat for Dippy. When he killed me.   My recount showed massive damage,  and basically  the guides said don’t let him cast Peck So I ran around like a mad woman, dotting him up, and Shadow Word deathing him to death.  The cast bar for Peck is quick and I figured I’d rather it take longer then slow down to add more dots, or even try to  Mind Spike him.

I also had some issues with the Ooze dude. Blat,  the first ‘Gladiator’ in Rank 3 I was able to keep away from him,  dot flay, run, dot flay run kinda thing,  but then I went over the timer for the fight and got the massive AOE so I had to take some more smack damage from the main Blat to get him down fast enough.

The Brawl Queues  got better the later it was,  I also noticed that we started getting more people from other realms as it became a shared zone. so there was always an audience.

I love that it does have this secret, grity underground club exclusivity to it.  I wish I had gotten into it a little earlier.  It’s been a few weeks now since the Patch and these were the stats on the brawls and if you chat to the dude called ‘Numbers’ he will tell you how bad or good its been so far.

The First number is the times the Gladiator has killed the Player, and the second number is how many times they have been killed.  Apparently its server wide stats. The fights get hard, and they look really interesting.

Brawlstats

Deeken yells: YOU ARE BAD AND SHOULD FEEL BAD!

I stayed in the pit way too long,   ( am on holidays – no bed time ) and I am writing this in between fights.  Currently stuck on Ixx. 3rd fight on rank 3   I can’t run between his legs fast enough – getting better though.  Using Inner Will for the 10% run speed.  Standing in his hit box to escape from the AOE he casts.  Tried to range it but he is too fast,  and its a wide cone.  Need to learn not to panic, and move too much so I stay in position, and also stop casting straight away and MOVE.   I am tired though which isn’t helping.

Haven’t seen many level 5-7 fights but there has been lots of people round my level tonight, and a few 8’s.  Those rank 8  fights look complicated, and I will need to read up on them,  have winged it mostly so far.

Will I go all the way to level 8?  Will I hand over for free the Brawlers Pass I will earn at level 7.  ( friends..  what friends… ) I can make a decent chunk of gold if I do it soon ( 20k the invite was for on the normal AH when I checked today) It’s been fun so far,  even if I am looking like a complete knob on this boss.   Finally killed it. i Did it by running between his legs and hooking – so not straight out the back as his AOE comes under his legs too. (  I wasn’t hitting publish post till it was dead)

My new Fav Song at the moment is Radioactive by Imagine Dragons, and their song, as well as the clip played through my head during the brawls.  Teddy bear Brawls. Did I say Teddy Bear Brawls. Oh yeah and Lazers!   ( give it just past 1 min for what a real brawl is )

Welcome to the new age, to the new age

The daily Grind – when it’s not the good coffee

Published December 6, 2012 World Of Warcraft 3 Comments
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So we know that playing is sometimes hard work and sometimes we complete tasks that in themselves are not fun but the end goal is.

But it shouldn’t be hard work, or boring as often as doing dailys have been for me.   We should be enjoying our recreational time,  cavorting  through fields of flowers giggling gleefully.  That’s what my gaming experiences are like,  aren’t yours? Either way I don’t want to come home from work, and feel like I have to do more work.

The rep grind for dailys has not been a gleeful giggle and this is the advantage to no longer seriously raiding.  I don’t need to care that I haven’t maxed out my reps, and have maxed my character out as much as possible.

Klaxxi – who?  Shado- Pan – Who?

Sure I have managed to now find the time to level 3 90’s, do a heap of pvp, run dungeons and even raid once a week, but the idea of spending my precious time doing the same thing, day in day out,  cross multiple factions,  I could have spent my play time for weeks just doing dailys and that would have made me not want to log in.  Sure there is some variety in some of the quests  and I will need to do Operation Shieldwall for the Trinkets , but it’s not its not how I want to play and I don’t feel the pressure that I HAVE to do them.   So I will get there eventually,  do the factions in small doses, enjoy the game.

But I will add my voice to the argument that the way they did the reps this xp really makes dailys a chore for me.  The Tabard rep gains worked for me because I would run as heals for quicker queues,  if I needed, but sometimes people obviously didn’t like being forced to do instances to gain rep,  and I can understand why waiting around for a 1/2 hour dps queue means that chain running them to grind wasn’t such a great thing for them.

The idea of doing dailys on a 2nd or 3rd toon, even with tokens to increase the rep gain doesn’t appeal.  I refuse to even attempt it right now,  there is still too much to play, and enjoy of the content to see the same stuff over and over. I understand why they did it that way,  couldn’t please the crowds with the Tabards,  would be unfair if they made rep buyable for gold, at least this way with questing everyone equally earns it.

Fake Gamer of the week & other things

Published July 11, 2012 World Of Warcraft 4 Comments
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1.

I  love this series done by Kotaku  Fake Gamer of the week  ( not sure if there’s a US version but that’s the .au link )   It makes a mockery of gaming stock photos, and picks on every kind of fake gamer, girls, guys, old people! cyber goths and even babies.

2.I finally updated my blogroll ( Links to bloggers that haven’t been around since 2008. It was long over due )  my rss reader is very quite, but there are some bloggers, Tobold, Blessing of Kings, Big Bear Butt, Klep,  Riv even, that just keep plugging away and writing, come hail, shine, rain, boredom, expansion, they keep writing, and that is all kinds of awesome. There are less and less bloggers who were around when I first started blogging about wow and that’s a little sad but its good to see the old timers being battle bloggers of a sort.

3. I’m not raiding in MOP,  ( hurt me if I end up raiding after all –  but I am going to try damn hard not to)  I tried to not raid in Cata.  This whole attempting to make sure I have a life, and follow other worthy pursuits didn’t quite work out,  but I did enjoy my cata raiding,   It’s very difficult to date and raid.  When you are kicking someone out because you need to get on the pc to raid,  or being non-committal  to seeing someone because you’re not sure if that’s the night your going to kill the next big boss then priorities need a little tweaking. Dating a raider didn’t  work out either.

4. I’m getting a short story published in a local anthology. Weeeeee.  They are even having a book launch! ( but not until October) I was pretty happy to get in.  They published a story of mine 2 /3 years ago, and  I was motivated this year to enter again. I  spent more time editing it ( with a friends help – who is better then I at things like grammar ) then I did writing it. But I felt it was as polished as it was going to get. I still have to go to an editing workshop which I am sure it will be polished again and made even better!

Experience may change during play

Published July 7, 2012 World Of Warcraft 3 Comments
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Everyone’s experience in gaming is different, especially when it comes to being female and gaming apparently. Some don’t see or get any of the harassment in gaming,  some see a lot. How much of that experience do we need to take our own responsibility for?

Do I put myself in positions to be harassed? – this is a dangerous question because it implies my experiences are my fault. Could I deal with situations  differently? leave at the first sign of potential problems, let 1 person of 8 others in a RBG team  ruin my fun, I could sequester myself under the protection of a man, or only ever do anything in-game with a guild.   I fly solo a fair bit, does flying solo in a gaming world expose you to more of these issues?

We know in history, and societies, past and present that lone women are considered fair game, and if you’re not under the protection of playing with guild people, or a partner, or a group of friends, and maybe you want to do RBG’s and no one else wants to, or take an alt to a GDKP because there is gold to be made, and gear to be got.  Or take along your own personal knight to protect you,  then by refusing to go out into the great unwashed masses are you missing out,  or just putting yourself behind a protective wall.

We also have to consider that maybe the bad stories about Girl gamers experiences are over represented,  we don’t get to hear the guys side – we dont seem to ask what kind of abuse they cop,  or how they deal with it, are there things that they inflict upon each other in whispers we don’t see and can’t talk about because of a Bro code, or do most of their experiences just add up to someone being a d*ck

Some commentors on my last post indicated that female leadership can  also creates a toxic playing environment, and yes Women can be petty and bitchy  but there seems to be a big difference between how the sexes deal out, and deal with harassment in-game.

Men seem likely to have their sexuality, or masculinity questioned, or have violence threatened. I don’t think I have ever heard a guy been threatened with sexual violence or submission though.  That would be ‘gay’   I also don’t think they have ever been told to ” Get in the backyard you yob and mow the lawn” in-game either, and I have never heard a female gamer threaten another with sexual violence.

Gamer guys are subjected to stereotypes though,  and I will admit to laughing along to the living at home in your mums basement stereotype. Women don’t seem to get that implied insult. However,  generation X and generation Y are taking longer and longer to move out of their parents homes – more likely to get married later. It could actually be true for  a lot of people.

In a BG the other day because I notified the BG that ‘such and such’ was hiding afk in a hut  – he said ” I’m on the phone.  I have a life, not like you who don’t work and play wow all day”  It was an interesting attack, I noticed because I was trying to heal him and it was the first 30 sec on the bg, and were on the WW offensive, and he wasn’t in line of sight. But because he is afk, hiding, and was caught out, I therefore must have no job and play wow all day, and he doesn’t so he is better than me.

Kind of a lame attack.  It was Sunday  and wasn’t true, and got a good LOL from the BG when he left or was successfully kicked, but that kind of insulting, heckling even,  is gender neutral insult. Scrub, Noob, Fail.  Loser, nerd ( yes you can be called nerd in game by someone playing a  game ) it’s easier not to take that personally.

Often the Harassment directed at women threatens our personal safety or seeks to abuse us.   Maybe our reactions, how personal we take it would change if the harassment was more gender neutral,  and didn’t make us feel exposed or vulnerable, but

Sometimes reacting to gender directed Harassment makes it worse.  While waiting for it to fill a RBG another player kept standing on my character in his frog suit, and I kept moving away, and a discussion began along the lines of ” Don’t you like my frog suit..  and at this point I was on vent and said,  ‘not really’

“But bitches like frogs”

and I responded something like ” Well I’m not a bitch, and I do not like your frog suit”  Every reference to females then on was about ‘bitches’  If I had stayed silent, mounted up and flow away I  may not have had to  listen to the tirade that followed.  Bitches can’t heal,  Bitches can’t play…

One of the arguments defending bully’s in general is that people are too soft, and just need to learn how to deal and I’ve thought about how I react to some situations,  do I antagonize the offenders, could I handle it differently. Am I acting with integrity. I already think I leave and abandon places too often because I think I am doing the right thing, and  saying nothing would probably do more damage to my own psyche if I found myself being attacked.  I wasn’t brought up meek,  the rest of my life relies on my not being meek,  and I will not play meek.

However could we deal with it better than providing screen shots of the abuse, voice clips or sharing stories.  I don’t think anyone can say that it doesn’t ever happen, and we know we need to change it, and awareness seems to be the first step.

If we met cuss for cuss, insult with insult,  threatened to cut their balls off and feed them to them one at a time if they ever so much breathed another word – would the harassment stop, or would they only be encouraged with greater, more personal threats,

If you were to do a scale of experiences of good and bad in-game. The bad is just flotsam floating in a sea of goodness, as corny as it sounds.  I think as often as the risk of playing with strangers brings,  most of the time there is no issue. I don’t think Wow society has gone to the dogs. Different people do different things, and have different experiences. Maybe one of the biggest differences is I have chronicled mine, in a  blog,  much like a Wow diary where they would not be as important, or memorable if I hadn’t of recorded them.

I also don’t think I have presented many original ideas or thoughts here, but I’m writing again.

Want more Women to play: Need more Women to lead.

Published July 2, 2012 World Of Warcraft 11 Comments
Tags: ,

There has been a lot more about in the media about gamer girls in the recent weeks, so much that at least our local mainstream media has picked up on the tendency for women to be harassed online while playing games, and there are more opinion pieces which brush over the Lara debate.   ( I include console online and pc gaming online in this )

Sites like Fat, Ugly, or Slutty which I check out occasionally,  or the link mentioned in the SMH article Not in the Kitchen anymore make me feel like I have been rather lucky in the years I have been playing. I don’t get regularly harassed, or requests made to see my boobs, make them a sandwich.

Sure a lot more documented abuse seems to be from Xbox gaming, and first person shooters seem to cop the worst of it,  but F, U and S also includes wow screen shots.

Sure I have my own experiences, which  include me being  muted in vent for telling an immature player to quit repeating P*enis in vent and sat in forced silence while another female player was told to “Shut up you W*ore.” Been asked to be someones dishwasher  which had nothing to do with washing dishes.  Had someone try and sell a lap dance in trade chat on my behalf and a female player from another guild had a special chat channel named after her. I’ve also talked about Principled playing, and way back in 2008 the use of the R word

When I used to do GDKP’s in ICC days I played with more pugs, and even random groups, but in places like the QQ  premades I would see people kicked off vent and the premade for the way they treated female raid leads.  I have come across good and bad experiences with other players, but mostly good. Yes most of them were male,  most of them really just wanted to play Wow, some wanted to test waters and flirt and some have become friends.

” I feel so much the hypocrite though for staying in a group that can turn my stomach with their language and behavior”

I said that in “I’m not a prude”

I stayed in the GDKP where I was muted, and another female player was called a W*ore.  I’ve stayed in raid groups, guild and pug groups where I have felt uncomfortable in the way I have been treated, where they used language I wasn’t comfortable with, and where “why am I the only girl in this guild? question is answered by experience. I have also been silent when someone uses the R word,  and there have been times where I have not. Why?

The end goal was important enough to take the shit. The kill, the boss, the loot, the gold.   It was more important than anything else you could throw at me.

A guild member once felt the need to suggest I might really like to bite him sweetly and seductively in the middle of a H LK attempt, and even when the vent was silent until it exploded in response to his comment  – and the guild was called to order to refocus. I felt ashamed that I had been the cause of such a distraction when we were trying to be serious. If I wasn’t a girl it wouldn’t have happened like that.

Defense mechanisms mean I have been quieter in unfamiliar groups.  I’ve lied when asked random questions by other players – are you the girl?  Are you a girl?

“No mate” I’ve whisper back.

So in trying to find a different angle to the ongoing experiences and debate I realize,  that the places I have felt the safest.  The guilds I have not felt threatened in, the guilds I have felt most at home, and happy in have been led by a female.

I killed Heroic Deathwing with a female GM and Raid leader.  My Ulduar guild was female led.  I count these as the better guilds in my raiding career, not just for successes. This doesn’t mean that they were better GM’s or better raiders, or better leaders than a male GM,  but the type of environment that a female GM is more likely to foster is one that is more female friendly, and one you don’t have to stay silent in.

This means that when a raider keeps harassing the female players, he is kicked. His behavior is not encouraged or laughed over, and the desire for someone to play in a place where they feel safe and not harassed is respected. Where girls are encouraged, and confident enough to reveal their gender and talk on vent, or contribute to the guild and raid, and they are more likely to do that when there are other females in the guild.

I’m not suggesting we recreate Wonder Womens Paradise Island where there are only women – or even that we need to rule the world to fix all the problems, or even that female players aren’t prone to hysterics or childish behavior.  I have also raided with female players who offered special time on vent for favors, or encouraged sexualized behavior. Both genders have all sorts of people.

But I think with more female leaders we could encourage better environments where harassment  is not tolerated.

I am  not suggesting that a male led guild can’t provide a similar ‘safe’ environment. As a GM no matter the gender, you set the atmosphere of your guild, by what behavior you allow, the players you choose to allow in your guilds. I’m sure most female gamers have some negative experiences specifically related to their gender, and I don’t think girls only guilds are the answer to providing safer places to play. ( I’ll be the first to say 25 Women in a raid could get verrrry interesting ) but GM’s or leaders are more public figures in a guild.  Their gender and that they are leading is a powerful statement.

You can be a GM. You can be a raid leader.  You too can have minions guild members follow your direction and kill stuff. You can be successful, and you can also be a girl gamer.

Real beta invite V Fake one.

Published April 16, 2012 World Of Warcraft 6 Comments
Tags: , ,

Over the last week or so, I got these two emails, and I thought it would be interesting to have a look at them. One is a real invite, and the other is a fake, but what are the differences.

The from emails  are potentially believable  @blizzard.com v @email.blizzard.net

Say it’s from Blizzard and we will believe it right? The top one is the real one ( and yes did check my account)

Titles of the emails are the same, the name of the “From” is the same  but it’s only the email address that is different. ( and Sif bliz  would use a .net

Images are identical.  The Text is same font,  writing is same color. (different wording though )  but the biggest difference is that one tells you ” Play free now”  with a clickable button and the other one tells you to log into your battlenet account and get the installer.

But as they have pretty much copied the images and the text from the real beta invite,  what things give you an indication that it’s a fake?

Because of similar scams – not just wow ones,  I am now naturally suspicious of any email that asks me to log into their site via a link in their email.

The “Play free” selling point also – I guess irks me.  Of course the beta is free, but the free point of the Beta is already an assumption.  They don’t need to use that it’s free to convince me more to play it.

The .net at the end of the email instead of .com

I was expecting to get a fake one at some point.  I expect it, and therefore are  forewarned.

and of course the ultimate test to see if it is attached to my battlenet account.

 

First step I would have taken if I got the fake one first, would have been to check  my battlenet.

But caution is no longer paranoia – at least think before you click on things like this. Be suspicious, find other ways to verify stuff if you can ect….

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