20 Questions with Ratshag

 

We’re back from the hiatus that is post secondary finals! Every week, Matt gets a chance to sit down with a WoW Blogger chosen this week by TJ’s HAPPY FUN ROCK. Find out a little more about your favourite bloggers as he tries to get to know them a little more!

This week, Ratshag of Need More Rage gets to sit on the hot seat!

Your name consists of two words: "Rat" and "Shag". When the are looked at independently, they bring two completely different images. What are the origins of "Ratshag"?

Me mum were a fan of the great orc warrior Shagrat, who were the captain of the troops at the tower of Cirith Ungol. If ya reads Tolkiens The Two Towers you’ll come across him. Unfortunatelies, Tolkien were a bigot who done wrote the orcs up ta be lowlife thievin’ buggers bent on starting wars and whatnot. So don’t believe a lotta what ya read. Anywho, ma just took the two syllables of Shagrat’s name and reversified’em.

Dreams provide an internal metaphysical portal to another dimension. People frequently refer to it as "real life". It is said that when you sleep in the game you’re busy doing something else in "real life". Can you tell us about what your "real life" is like and what you do?

Bleh. Real life dreams. Yeah, I gots this recurrifying dream where I’s this geeky bugger what be nearly 40 years old. And he be stuck at a desk all day doing some sorta engineering work, but he don’t got no epic goggles or fly a ROFLcopter or nuthin’. He don’t even drive a train. It’s just lots of mathifications, and those make me head hurt, I tell ya. He ain’t all amazingly virile like me; when he walks down the street, wimmens don’t cry out "I waaaaa-aaa-aa-ant!" And he’s a wimp, too. Drop 200 pounds of hardened adamantite plate armor on him and put a fifty pound felsteel/khorium axe in his hands, he’d just make some sorta squeaky sound and collapse. Pffft.

But I guess he ain’t a total loser. He’s got hisself a pleasant enough house in someplace called Texas, where it be pleasantly warm. And he’s got a wife he loves and a beautiful daughter. Sometimes Ellspeth’s hunter friend dreams she’s the kid, which is all a little strange, but there it is.

What has been your most glorious campaign thus far? Or at least, most interesting story.

Well, me date with Jaina were certainly me most interesting story. But I already done told that one.

Dunno about glorious. Is always been about helping out the good guys by killing the bad guys (ya can tell the differences by which is the buggers what be paying ya), and bein’ satisifed with yerself at the end of the day. I did a lot ta bring peace and stability to places like the Barrens, where quillboars and centaurs had been running amok. Grinding me up to exalted with the Consortium as a prot warrior were an accomplishments I felt pretty good about. And I’s pleased with meself fer having rallied my small guild when our two tanks retired, leaving everyone all dazed and confusified. We did pretty good fer a while there, me learning ta tank proper while we cleared out places like Mesh and Steamvault.In the end the guild broke up anyways, but fer a while we was able ta do a proper job. And in the end, that’s enough glory fer me. Being able ta look back and say, "Self? Ya did a proper job."

What advice would you offer to young, lumbering Ratshaggian wannabes (in terms of writing style)?

Great googly moogly, don’t imitate me. Yer brain’ll explodify.
Ya gots to write fer yerself. It’s gotta be about you wanting to tell stories or get the facts down or whatevers be fun fer you, but not because ya wanna be popular. Find yer own style, even if ya gots ta try a few on fer size first. Practice helps a bunch, so keeps writing. Meself, I takes a lot of pictures when I’s adventuring, and go look through them afters. Sometimes a story just jumps out at me when I do that, what I hadn’t realized was there at the time.

Words like "numperlugger" seem to be scattered throughout your blog. Where does this… "Ratcabulary" come from and what other examples are there? Is there a Ratshag dictionary somewhere?

Hmmm. A dictionary be about details, and I can’t be bothered ta keep track of the details. But I would say that if there were such a thing, it would come from a blending of Bill Mauldin’s Up Front cartoons, some of the more colorful citizens of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, a bit of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and a smidgeon from the movie Tremors. All held together by me own special enthusiasm fer languagifying.

How did your origins into the World of Warcraft begin?

Were me friends Tarsius and Ungarosh. I known them buggers fer about 25 years, and they’d been begging me ta come adventure with’em. We’s trying ta do timed Dead Strat and Dire Maul Tribute runs, and we needs somebody with yer awesome virility ta helps us out. So I picked up an axe and started down the road, killin’ boars. Course a few weeks after that the Dark Portal done opened, so by the time I caught up with’em a few months later we was all in Outland.

I understand that you’ve deviated from your brute force, gnome handling ways and embraced the dark arts of a Shadow Priest. What exactly happened here? Last time I checked, you were cleaving bodies left and right. Now you just burn them.

What happened? Is a good question. Still ain’t entirely sure what all happened meself.

Basically, facts is, last fall me guild died when everybody done retired. Weren’t planned, weren’t announced, weren’t expected. We’d cleared Black Morass and saved the Universe, and I’d got me my Kara key, and then we took a bit of a break. And then it were SayThankYou Day, and the break got longer. And then it got longer still fer Winter Veil, and I realized they just wasn’t coming back. So all this time I’d been messing around, keeping busy, waiting, and I realized I knew I hads ta do something or retire too.

‘Bout this time teh Squeeky and BRK dropped a few hints about how awesome it’d be if I could raid with’em. Some of these hints were pretty fuhggin’ explicit, but they’s classified I’s afeared, so I can’t talk abouts’em. Anywho, it became clear ta me what if I got me arse in gear and up ta 70 I might have opportunities a lot sooner than I expected. So I did. Since what I’d been messin’ with in me dwarf disguise were a priest, is what I were stuck with. Didn’t wanna waste time rerollings a warrior.

I misses swingin’ the big axe, sometimes. And it do be fun knowin’ yer the toughest dubberpunker in the room. But in the end, what counts is puttin’ the fuhgger’s arse down, and I finds doin’ that as a priest is just as fun as doing it as me regular self.

A personal question I’d like to ask, if you will. Which girls are hotter? The ones on the Alliance or on the Horde?

They’s all damn fine attractive wimmens, I tell ya. And since many of thems want theyselves a piece of Ratterflesh, who is I to deny? Horde wimmens, Alliance wimmens, Aldork wimmens, Scrybaby wimmens, goblin wimmens, naga wimmens, even them six-armed demon chicks, they’s all hot. Only exceptions is deader chicks ’cause, well, they’s creepy, and fer a long time I weren’t inta treeform druidesses, but me friend Bellwether‘s been helping me ta understands and appreciates the unique charms the veggie kingdom gots to offer.

Have you found it difficult to adapt to the short stature of a Dwarf versus your Orc? And why a Dwarf anyway?

Worst part be cramming me feet inta them tiny shoes.
Me dwarfish self were never intended ta amount ta nuthins. Just wanted ta be able ta walk inta Ironforge withouts the guards gettin’ violents and say "howdies" to all them cool bloggers on Drenden. So it didn’t really matter what I were. It were only after I got invited inta Aetherial Circle and I started thinkings about getting to 70 and being in on the ground floor when them fine buggers headed off ta Wrath up the Itch King what the dworc became important ta me plans, and then it were too late ta think about anything different.

What future plans might you have?

I’s hoping to reach a point where I can go on the 25-man raids Aetherial Circle does. They’s getting real close ta killing Lady Vashj and Prince Kael’thas, and I would really like ta at least be good enough to be a backup raider before they puts Illidan’s arse down. The facts what I writes an amusing blog and is damn pleasant company ain’t gonna get me a slot, so I’s working hard to improve meself as best I can, and I’ll see where that takes me. Once it be time ta invade Northrend, I’s planning ta stick with these buggers as long as they’ll have me.

As me regular orcish self, I just don’t have that many plans. Me friends is all retired, and there ain’t much soloable work left ta do. But I’s keeping me gear in good order, and meself in good shape, and I’s hopefuls what they’ll come outta retirement when the invasion of Northrend starts up.

Not real clear at the moment where the rest of the team is going. Ellspeth is still slowly working her way through STV, and Pali’s having fun hanging out in BBB’s new guild. DangerMouse is nearly done earning 19th season doodads from the Whore’s Thong Gulch ninnies, so at some point she’ll start adventuring again. Don’t know if any of them’ll ever make it ta Outland or not. And Galertruby’s doing a bang-up job running items from the bank to the mailbox and back gain, so he ain’t likely ta ever goes anywhere.

Speed questions

When you’re out doing your Orcish things, do you listen to any tunes?

Yeah, I likes ta listen to a mishmash of stuff, mostly older tunes. Fer example, the next five songs in me library is … ummm …. lessee here … Cyndi Lauper’s Time after Time, Judas Priest Love Bites, Styx The Grand Illusion, Minas Morgul theme from the LotR movies, and the suite from the Buffy episode Restless.

What is the official beverage of Ratshag?

Uncle Bonechompers Day-Old Piss

So uh, how was Jaina?

Damn, she were good. She could time her Frost Nova ta hit at juuuust the right moment, ya know?

Who is next on your list?

I never has a list. Is justa take things as they happen process. But I has noticed what Lady Liadrin been checkin’ me out as I get me daily quest assignments…

Sexiest bloggette:

Heh. They all is.

Night Elves taste great with ______ :

-out hardly having ta work at it.

Axe, Sword, or Mace?

Axe. Always.

Silk or leather?

Yup.

Cookies, cake, pie, or brownies?

Pie.

Shoutouts to:

Hydra, who were the first friend I made through blogging.
TJ, who encouraged me ta take me blogging to a higher level.
BRK, who opened me eyes to the idea what adventuring can be a science as well as good, bloody fun.
Fio and Cay, fer running a guild what I’s most happy to be a part of.
Sonvar, who always got something worth saying. Even when he’s bein’ a smart-ass.

Thanks again to Ratshag for participating this week! Don’t forget to subscribe to his blog!