Guest Posts

Guest posts written by friends of Matticus.

To Each Our Own

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This is a guest post from Softi.

I guess you could say Matt and I are pretty much opposites when it comes to, well, everything! He’s a guy, I’m a girl. He’s Canadian, I’m Scottish. He’s raiding high-end instances, I have about a million alts and I’m unable to put the time in for much raiding at all. But I can’t help but really enjoy chatting to the guy, even if he does insist on calling me ‘Mom’ all the bloody time!

So I thought I’d see if I can help him out with a guest post while he’s busy with his studies. There’s another difference – Matt’s at university with a great sense of self discipline, I’m a stay at home mum who can’t stick to any sort of structure or routine to save myself, and oh I have tried!

Matt told us a couple of months ago why he plays WoW, so I thought I’d tell you how I came to find the game, although you might want to go get a cup of coffee first, or hot chocolate… diet coke maybe?

The hubby, who will be herein known as J, started playing the game not long after the EU release, around March 05. We’d just got married, I was heaving around a bun in the oven, and as you can imagine,didn’t have much money to do, well…. anything, and evenings were oh so long and oh so boring. I was a MMORPG widow you see. Before he got WoW J would spend hours playing Star Wars Galaxies (I still shudder when he talks about it), and I would sit watching TV being bored out of my head.

Anyhoo, one night he was working late and I figured after I’d watched some TV (again) that I’d have a try of that stupid game of his and see what it was all about. He’d told me that druids changed into animals. Great! I thought, I love animals, that will be so cool. So I rolled a Night Elf Druid, and after about 5 painstaking minutes of trying to come up with a name, I figured hey, why not try my own, so Marylin (now known as Softthistle) was born.

Almost 5 hours later when J came home, I was still playing. He asked where his dinner was and I think I probably grunted at him that he could do it himself cause I was busy (oh the shame!).

A few weeks later my character had overtaken his in levels and I was playing more than ever. J was not amused at me playing on his account all the time and stopped playing. Typical of course – I was better at levelling so he gave up *sigh*. So I took over his account completely, he had deleted his character and claimed he’d not be playing again, the tables had turned. He was now the WoW Widower, and I was the gamer.

GAMER… me? I have turned into a gamer. Over 3 years ago I started this game having never dabbled in more than playing The Sims every now and then. Now I even blog about WoW, well… I attempt to anyway. J eventually gave in and came back to WoW, of course I had to buy him a new account as by this time we wanted to play the game together. He’s still playing now, not *quite* as enthusiastically as I do, but we will play together once in a while, and at least when he’s talking about the game I now actually know what he’s on about!

I guess when it comes down to it, maybe Matt and I aren’t so different after all. We both play WoW, we both love writing, and we both blog about Warcraft. Who’d have thought that a game could offer the chance of meeting so many new people? Not me, or not until now anyway!

20 Questions with Fimlys

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Every week, Matt gets a chance to sit down with a WoW Blogger chosen this week by Wolpertinger in a mug. Find out a little more about your favourite bloggers as he tries to get to know them a little more!

This week, Fimlys of Asleep at the WoW has been forced graciously agreed to be my blogger of choice this week.

Tell us a bit more about the blogger behind the blog:

My "real" name is Michael. I live in Orlando, FL (Mickeyworld). I am a computer programmer by day and a crime-fighter by night… Well, not so much the crime-fighter, but I really am a programmer.

I am over 30, male, married and have 2 "smallish" kids. I like mana coladas, getting caught in the raid.  I’m not much into strength food.. I am into the campaign. I like killing mobs at midnight, in the vaults of SH.

I understand that your alias is Fimlys (which is also the name of your main character). Is there a particular history behind that name?

First off, yes, you can call me Al.  You can also call me Fim. In addition, it is pronounced Fim-liss (maybe with a bit of a lihss sound…).. Ok, that out of the way.  I really don’t care how you pronounce it.
I think I have a post about this too, but for you who are too darn lazy to go find it on my site (hint hint).. I really have no clue. Wait, something is coming to me. You mind if I just make something up?  No? Cool.. Ok.. Here it goes:
In college somehow I was saddled with the nickname Fizz (don’t ask..).  When I started playing WoW, I create a character named Fizz.  He was a human mage. I quickly grew bored of him and wanted to create another character. I had read that Hunters were pretty easy to solo, so I rolled one.  For some reason I got in my head that I should have this shtick that all my characters start with F. I was also trying to come up with a name that fit a night elf.. Not really knowing what that entailed, I came up with Fimlys. I wanted something a little difficult to pronounce so I could correct people all the time and harass them for messing up my name.

In your opinion, how could the Aldor and Scryer forces (once mortal enemies) come to terms with each other AND start cooperating? Would you say that is almost as surprising as US forces working with the Russians on joint exercises after the Cold War?

I can’t believe it! How could they do this to me? They have completely jacked up everything I hold sacred and dear! I’m quitting… /wowquit.   (Seriously… not all that sure I care, but it could be as surprising as that)

How on EARTH did you end up playing a game like this?

1) I have been gaming all my life.. Well, most..
b) I am a HUGE RPG nut (First computer RPG game was Ultima III, I think)
III) I played FFXI for a while since I am also a FF nut (see a pattern here?)
*) I migrated to WoW when it came out because it was just more FUN than FFXI and I was much more into "solo" play than grouping and FFXI has required grouping in the mid game. (I also had played and liked the Warcraft games in the past)
This "solo" pay mindset I had is very interesting because I have recently professed that what KEEPS me in WoW is the social aspects now.  I get bored quickly if I have nobody to chat with.  I love running instances and going on raids

The 2.4 patch has JUST been released. The next thing on the horizon is Wrath of the Lich King. What are you looking forward to the most?

"Noobzone Chat"…  "Where is BLAH?".  "Why can’t I fly?"..  "How do you get the frizzlemadizzle?"…. I LOVE THAT STUFF!!!!

Well, I am really looking forward to the new content. I really got energized by the release of TBC and I can’t wait for the interesting changes that are in store for WotLK. 

Your epic Gryphon is flying over the seas of Azeroth somewhere only to get shot down by Horde insurgents and by sheer luck and skill (you are a hunter, after all), you manage to make it to a deserted island. You lose your possessions and all of your gold in the process. You think to yourself that a stereotypical deserted island HAS to have a lamp of some kind. After hours of searching and digging, you manage to find a rusty old lamp which you activate and out pops a genie who grants you 1 wish. What will it be?

A can of Frobozz Magic Grue Repellent.

How’s your Hunter loaded and specced? Any significant reason as to why that path?

He is a bit different.  He is currently specced BM (which I am sure will make BRK smile) and I am loving it.  However, to be a bit different, I have most of my gear still chosen/gemmed/enchanted for AP from when I was MM.  I have a large amount of AP and a nice wittle shot speed.. My crit isn’t as high as some, and neither is my dodge, but I get by.  Kenny usually is picking up 1/3 of the damage I do at this point, so I don’t think that is so bad.

Your Priest is Holy (and receives an official Matticus seal of approval) and you have a Hunter. Which do you enjoy playing the most?

I’m not really sure.  I think that I actually feel like I have less to worry about as a Priest. It is almost a relief not to have to send in/out the pet of ultimate destruction, trap, kite, misdirect, time the shots, etc… I DO love me my hunter though.  He was my first, and you know how it is with your first…

So why did you level a Priest instead of a Paladin, a Druid, or a Shaman?

The guild had a couple of healing Paladins and a couple of healing Druids and a healing Shaman.  All of our priests had switched specs to SP or Disc and there was need for a Holy Priest. Soooo.. being the oh so good Guild Samaratin that I am (cough, cough), I leveled my priest.
Actually, to buck the trend when TBC came out, I rolled a Draenei Priest.  Everyone was rolling Draenei Shaman and I wanted to be different. He was really just for me to play with and have fun, thus his name, Fhuun…
I am actually leveling a Druid also right now, she is level 61 (yeah.. SHE). Right now she is a Boooooomkin and I’m enjoying it.  Might eventually go Feral tank, might eventually go tree.. Who knows! That is the beauty of da Drood.

How has 2008 been so far for you and your blog? Any upcoming features or highlights that your audience can look forward to?

2008 has been super-dee-duper.  Having joined up with the Blog Azeroth community has been a blast! I have also moved my blog to a "self-hosted" environment and that has sucked all my time down the drain..
I have gotten a lot of new readers from the community and I’ve loved that people (you guys!) have started to leave comments.. It is pretty satisfying when you ask a question and get answers!
Upcoming features?  Well, I really would like to get more into the "Addon Reviews".  I am an Addon Whore..  I don’t have as many as some, but generally I’m the one everyone in my guild comes to with addon questions. I try to keep up with the latest styles and trends and I’d love to share that with my readers.

Speed Questions

Favorite Quote

I’m pretty partial to the double quote ("), but on occasion I use a single quote (‘) when necessary.

Most used spell:

Well, on my Priest it has to be Heal.. Hunter? Does Scatter Shot count? (Hmm.. maybe it is Rez Pet…)

Favourite song:

Serenity by Godsmack (for the moment, I am a fickle pickle)

Warcraft is like ______:

Heroin (but kinda in a good way… maybe.. maybe… can I go back to playing now?  please? please? please? please?… hey! give me back my keyboard! HEY!!!! I can’t play without that! WHAT IS THE !*@$!&@$ VENT INFO????  AAAAAGHAGHGHAGHGHAGHHGAHAG)

Worse class to play against 

Slicka the Wonderdrone… What? That’s not an answer?  Well.. When I HAVE done PvP, I really have come to hate Rogues.  Stupid stunlock… mumble mumble..

Aside from WoW, do you play any sports or engage in any hobbies?

Sports, ok… Watching Football on TV.  Watching Baseball on TV.  Watching my son play Baseball.
Hobbies, well… Other than the obvious computer gaming, I also am into console gaming (SURPRISE!) and I like to read books (which are those big rectangular things that look like a bound stack of paper). But I try to spend most of my free time (well, when I am not playing WoW) with my family

I’m bad at managing my schedule and time. Any ideas to help a poor sap?

Um… Sleep is for the weak?  I went to a school where sleep was considered a nuisance. Make sure you have fun in school!  All nighters are fun!  I didn’t have something like WoW while I was in school, but I did spend most of my time NOT doing my school work. 

Ehhh… I’m really not a good role model when it comes to time management.. 😛

Your 3 favourite shows on TV:

American Idol… uh, no…  Don’t watch too much TV.. Here is what I get to watch:
1) Scooby Doo
2) Ben 10
3) Dora the Explorer

(I also like CSI [NY and Vegas mostly] and Eureka and old episodes of SG1)

One thing you would say to others who have a desire to blog:

Have fun and write for you. You can’t always please everyone, but you SHOULD always be able to please yourself. If people see you enjoy what you write about, you will get an audience. 

But then again, what do I know?

Shout outs to:

I like to give a shout out to my awesome guild.  They keep me in this masochistic game. Also to the Blog Azeroth community, especially the stupendous BAChat peeps.. Too many to name, but you know whom you is. I really must thank you for throwing me under this bus… Don’t think the favor won’t be returned.. MUAHAHA HAHAAHA!  … *cough*.. Ahem… Sorry…

Thanks again to Fimlys for agreeing to do the interview! Don’t forget to subscribe to his blog!

20 Questions with Temerity-Jane

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Every week, Matt gets a chance to sit down with a WoW Blogger chosen this week by Haris Pilton. Find out a little more about your favourite bloggers as he tries to get to know them a little more!

This week, TJ of her self titled blog Temerity-Jane dot com somehow miraculously found enough time to answer a few questions.

So how did temerity-jane.com come into being anyway and what motivated you behind it?

I’ve been blogging on and off for about 10 years now – the first site was one of those site builder AOL jobbers back in 1998 or something, followed by pitas, livejournal, and eventually a self-hosted site. I kept up with the self-hosted site for a long time, until the demands of writing, responding to comments, answering emails, IMs, and even hate mail, just became way too much and I quit in a fit of rage. Ok, actually I just stopped writing it. Between my last self-hosted site and this one, I still found myself blogging – on my myspace page, or even just emails to friends, and when the whole graduating college-getting a job-becoming a real live adult thing had settled, I figured, "Well, I guess I might as well do this again." I never really stopped, through the whole 10 years. Even at points where I didn’t have a blog online, there are notebooks full of stuff that I wrote – and oddly, none of it is personal – I mean like, personal diary entries about my feelings. (Haha, feelings.) Even when I was writing stuff that only I would see, I would write like I was trying to amuse someone. Why waste me on just me! Seriously, though, I have mentioned once or twice on my own site that I have a disorder, and because of that, I find it a lot easier to communicate through text than I do in my day to day real live life, and blogging, for me, is mostly selfish. It’s kind of a validation that I can be interesting, smart and funny, when I don’t really feel like I come off that way at all on a day to day basis.

tj-2

Think the Druids are going to be mad at you for killing so many trees?

I’ve been trying to lay low in Aetherial Circle, otherwise known as "Druidial Circle." A raid in our guild is not complete unless it’s 42% druid. Now I’m probably going to have nightmares of being beaten to death by the limbs of a heard of trees, like those mean ones in the Wizard of Oz, remember those?

Which came first in terms of WoW? BRK or TJ?

In terms of WoW? I believe I’ve been playing longer than BRK, but his blog has existed longer than TJ.com has existed.

Speaking of WoW, what’s a clear officeholic like you playing that highly addicting game anyway?

A few years ago, in the fall of 2005, I got really sick. Not like, the flu – I mean really, long term, in bad shape overall kind of sick. Even when I started to recover, I was too tired to leave my house and dealing with bad pain in my legs that made it so that once I got up to my attic bedroom (where I lived with my cats, no joke), I wasn’t coming back down until I had to. So, for the most part, I was pretty much homebound for a few months there. I’m not a hugely social person in general, but anyone will go a little nuts confined to their home long term. I was playing a lot of StarCraft at the time, but the people I played with weren’t always available – mostly college students who had to do crap like "class" and "studying" and "drinking lots of beer" and couldn’t always be around to keep me entertained. Someone suggested World of Warcraft as an alternative to keep me busy until I was up and about again, and said "But look out, it’s addictive." I rolled my eyes like, "Yeah, right," – like anything was going to take me away from my StarCraft addiction. I did pick up the game, though, and installed it on a Saturday afternoon, and the next time I looked up, it was dark. Whoops. Guess they were right, huh?

What is the history of the demonic ponytail? Has it been holy at one point?

The demonic ponytail is actually a Fio creation. We were chatting on gtalk one day, and, having seen the Mr. T commercial and been unreasonably tickled by it, I demanded Fio make a guild rank, just for me – Night Elf Mohawk. Fio, being the reasonable and logical type, said, "But you’re neither a night elf, nor a mohawk." NOT THE POINT, I told him, and continued to insist. Must be NIGHT ELF MOHAWK! "Human afro?," he suggested? NO! MOHAWK! "Demonic ponytail?" "NO! It– oooh! Demonic ponytail! YESSSS!"

Ever thought about writing a book?

Kakalaki asked me the same question a couple of days ago, to which I replied "Ha!" No, not at all. What would I even write about? And could anyone really tolerate me for a few hundred pages? Highly unlikely.

You mentioned to me earlier that you were entering a temporary hiatus from WoW due to work issues. Any plans on when you will be returning to Azeroth and the Outlands?

Work is keeping me pretty busy. It’s not even that the hours have been so long this year, thanks to some great part time help (not including Saturdays and the occasional Sundays) but the pace is so stepped up and the stress is running so high that I’m just exhausted all the time when I get home. My main, a 70 lock that I had been raiding with, has pretty much been shelved for the time being. I just can’t muster up the energy I need to not only last a whole raid, but actually, you know, contribute. However, I haven’t been completely absent from WoW – I picked up work on my priest alt, he just hit 61. Leveling is all right – I can log in and play for a couple of hours, or for 15 minutes if I’m just too worn out. I’ve also been playing with the Pox Arcanum people, though my schedule has lead to me dipping out on them twice in a row now and I feel like a total buttface. But that’s also been a lot of fun and a pretty cool experiment, and I’ve enjoyed a couple of hours with them here and there as we plan it. As far as raiding goes, you can see from the blogs of Doom, BRK, Brigin and more that AC has been plowing through the bosses, and I’ve not been there. My main is also sorely lacking in badges for any kind of badgey gear, so I’m just falling behind and falling behind. Busy season is over in a month, and after that, I’ll have to see where the guild stands and where my toon stands to know what’s going to happen from that point on.

Have you thought about taking any pre-emptive measures to minimize meeting random guys in traffic intersections from happening? I hear the KGB has some great tips like randomizing your route to work.

Just moments ago, Doom was helping me with knife shopping. It’s not that I think that this particular guy is a threat of any kind – he’s probably just an overly friendly guy. The thing is, these overly friendly guys don’t realize how they come off to women sometimes – if I’m alone in my car, or in a parking lot, or any place that’s not bright with lots of people around, I’m generally going to be really on guard if approached by someone. I don’t know if all women are like that, but I’m willing to bet that I’m not totally alone in that. I know the Guy in Car story is funny, I wouldn’t have told it if it wasn’t, but the truth is, I certainly didn’t enjoy the whole experience and do plan on buying a sharp object of some kind – not to defend against this specific guy, as I said, but because this kind of stuff – that is, being approached by strangers when I’m alone – happens to me and a lot of women on a reasonably regular basis. Certainly a lot more than I’d like, anyway. I don’t plan to stab anyone, but the whole Guy in Car thing made me realize I’d like to invest in a little more personal security, if you get my drift.

tj-1Several weeks ago, you suffered an attack upon your very own principles. It appeared that your belief in Pirates over Ninjas was beginning to waiver. What has transpired since then? Are you still wrestling with your own inner demons about them?

You know, I’ve really tried to be alone with my thoughts on this matter, after broadcasting my internal dilemma for the whole internet to chime in on. I still feel I strongly identify with pirates. I don’t feel as close to ninjas. However, looking at the two, pirates are starting to look less and less badass to me, and more like drunk crusty old men, whereas ninjas are the ultimate in badass. Not being very badass myself, you can see how I would be a bit intimidated by the ninja crowd. The allure is strong, though. 

I made the mistake of once asking this to BBB several weeks ago. Seeing as you’re not in the military, I think I’m in the clear this time around. Might you have a favourite WoW or a story involving BRK that no one knows about?

A favorite WoW story or a story involving BRK that no one knows about… well, my WoW life is, for the most part, pretty uneventful. As far as stories involving BRK, the only ones I can think of involve me shrieking "AND YOU CAN’T PUT THIS ON YOUR BLOG!" at the end. So I’m certainly not going to get into those.

Speed Questions

Hilary or Obama?

Heh. No comment.

Favourite drink:

Diet anything. Except Diet Dr. Pepper. Tastes too much like regular Dr. Pepper. Which I do like. But I want my diet soda to taste like diet soda.

Favourite WoW encounter:

I have a love/hate relationship with Molten Core, since the best times I had in the game were there, but gaaaah Molten Core. I did like the Magmadar fight quite a bit though, and the Baron was just a good time. I like any encounter that makes me feel confident, like I can handle it. Right now, I would say the Black Morass event right now. It’s so orderly.

When stressed, you ___:

Cling to routine.

If you could have ONE of your in game class abilities in real life what would it be and why?

The ability to summon minions. They don’t have to shoot fire at anyone, or chop someone up with their big axe. Maybe just fetch me a diet soda every now and then as needed.

tj-3 Sports? Hobbies?

I don’t play any sports, but I like to watch baseball and hockey. As for hobbies, is reading a hobby? I do a lot of that. And I work. I don’t know if work is a hobby, but if I tell myself it is, I don’t feel so soul-crushed after a 12 hour day. I also like to play poker. I am a better poker player than I have any right to be since, technically – by the book, considering odds and chances and risks and such – I suck. I’m bad. I make bad moves, risky moves, overly conservative moves, based on nothing but the whim of the moment. And I win more than I lose. 

Top 3 TV Shows

House, seaQuest DSV and… I honestly don’t watch TV much right now. I catch some episodes of things online when I remember to, and just watched all the episodes of MacGyver, Due South, Bones and Scrubs over the last few months. As far as current TV shows, I’m sadly out of the loop. And I’m not one of those snobby pseudo-intellectual types that likes to talk about how they don’t watch TV by inserting it into conversation at every possible opportunity – I love TV. I would marry TV. I am obsessed with TV. To dangerous levels, even. But I’m also lazy, as is my roommate, and we never hooked the TV in my bedroom to the cable. 

As a veteran blogger, can you share some blogging tips and ideas?

I really wish a lot of bloggers, in the WoW type area especially, would be more aware of what is being written around them. The WoW blog thing has really exploded lately, and it’s a pretty saturated market. When patch notes are released, I can pretty much bet on the fact that my feed reader is going to fill up with people posting the patch notes. Over and over and over. Thing is, you’ve got to look at what other blogs out there are doing – the bigger, more established ones for each class or niche are most likely going to write about these patch notes as well – a site you probably even read. Why would you duplicate that? I wish more bloggers would realize that the reason they’re not getting as many hits as they want, the reason they’re not getting the feedback they’d like to see, is because someone is already doing exactly what you’re doing and they have been doing it longer, and possibly better. In a subject area like WoW-blogs, you’ve really got to do SOMEthing to set yourself apart. The day to day leveling and questing experiences in WoW aren’t that interesting since we all do them, but Ratshag manages to make it interesting. That kind of thing – intentionally or not, most times you’re just copying the same information that’s going around and around and around. If you can’t say anything new, at least say it differently.

 

Most ridiculous fantasy ever:

Isn’t this a family blog? Aside from the usual connotations when someone asks about a fantasy, I mostly think about normal people things. Winning the lottery, maybe. And even then, my fantasies don’t get wild – I’d pay off my student loans, send my brother to college to cut my parents a break. I’m even boring in my own wildest dreams.

You were once a student. Any tips for Matt on successful time management? Or pulling all nighters. One of the two. Or both.

1. Honest and realistic priorities – for example, it’s nice to say "school work comes first, always and forever, amen" but for a WoW player, it’s not necessarily honest or realistic.
2. Don’t pull all nighters. It always ends badly. Develop good sleep habits and everything comes easier.
3. Schedule your days down to the minute until you develop a more natural habit and routine and can loosen up a bit.

Shout outs to:

All my jackals, who I am hoping will count this as a post from me for the day.

TJ’s Blog: Although it’s not entirely WoW related, she has a sharp yet entertaining wit all the same. Don’t forget to subscribe!

20 Questions with Nightravyn

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Every week, Matt gets a chance to sit down with a WoW Blogger chosen by a rare Manna Biscuit found in Alterac Valley. Find out a little more about your favourite bloggers as he tries to get to know them a little more!

This week, Nightravyn of NE Hunter LF4Mobs was awesome enough to stop mending her pet for a few minutes to answer a few questions.

I know I keep mistaking you as Nightrayne but that’s because I used to play BloodRayne when I was younger. Now I just think of you as a vampiric, dual wielding hunter. What influenced the name Nightravyn?

Nightravyn is a long-standing internet usename for me. I adore ravens, and at the time I created the name, I was spending a lot of time up in the wee hours of the morning. When I went to create a name, I tried "Nightraven" but it was taken, so "Nightravyn" it became. Cheesy, yeah, but it fits me still.

What is your real life alt?

Real Life Alt? But, but, but Nightravyn isn’t my character’s name! Hmm, well there’s my main character in WoW, Siana, who’s my hunter and the one that I write mostly about. And then there’s my real name, Amy. I can’t really consider any of those alts, though. Hmm, I guess if I could pick, I’d have to go with whichever alt of me that exists that has cabana boys waving palm fronds over my head while the IT crew finishes setting up the online gaming facility for me to lounge in. You know, the rich one. ::sighdream::

I’m absolutely hopeless when it comes to dealing damage. A hunter would be the last class I would play because I’d have to manage a pet as well. What three things about Hunters could you tell me about in order to lessen the intimidation of playing them?

I’d never been a "pet class" person before starting WoW but found it horribly easy to handle.

1. Pets make lovely meat shields, increasing your survivability. 

2. Pets increase your DPS letting you plow through mobs even faster.

3. There’s just something heartwarming about seeing a giant animal you’ve named and trained going after a mob, killing it, then coming back to you with this "Moremoremore?!" attitude. Well, heartwarming until you have to feed the twerps every two seconds cos they’re bottomless pits of starvation, or they go pathing off in the wrong direction when the raid’s still buffing. Oh and let’s not forget the… oh, um, ::cough:: "petz r gud."

 

Just for the heck of it, what’s your Hunter’s spec and why is it specced in that way?

1. Right now, Siana’s spec’d Marksman. Yes, I said it. Marks. I’ve been playing with her specs, trying MM/BM and mostly MM, with MM/Survival up next for the testing. I appreciate the DPS that a BM-centric spec has, but it’s just not my play style. I’ve tried, and it doesn’t fit me as well as the MM spec does. I’m thankful that I belong to a guild that doesn’t frown on any spec, as long as you do the job you’re there for.

What did you find most appealing about rolling a hunter instead of another class?

The last game I’d played by Blizzard was Diablo 2. I’d loved playing a Bow-spec’d Amazon, and knew that I would love any class similar to that. Also at that time I was closing out my career as a cleric in EQ and was tired of healing, so "Hunter" was a good fit for me to try out. I promptly fell in love with the class and haven’t looked back.

Which particular class do you find yourself having trouble with killing?

I’m going to have to say the infamous "25-man raid" class. Although "Paladin Guild/Raid Leader" comes close, too (danged bubbles). In all due seriousness, since I don’t PvP or Arena, this is kind of a hard question for me. I haven’t the faintest idea! ^^

What are you going to look forward to the most in 2.4?

New 5 and 10 man instances. Oh and new dailies. Although, I still have a cooking recipe to get and need to finish out my Netherwing rep and… hmm, maybe I don’t want more dailies/rep grinds.

There are hunters in this game that can’t seem to hit the broad side of the barn. Do you think implementing tracers and laser sights would solve that?

Some of them, sure. They just need a little training. Others? Mmm not so much. Although now that you’ve mentioned tracer rounds, that would be kinda cool to see.

Any top secret and classified plans that your readers might be interested in knowing about?

Oh boy! Oh yes, yes I am! It’s going to be this… hey wait a second here. C’mere. I’ll whisper it in your ear. Don’t mind the knife in the hand behind my back. No reason to be worried…

As a Sci Fi person, would I like watching Farscape?

I’d think so! I loved Farscape. Amazing effects, fantastic plots, the Henson Creature Shop behind it which meant the aliens looked alien! It had this wonderful mix of drama, with bits of comedy thrown in at prefect times. The storyline was compelling, and you grew to really care about the characters. And then there was the eyecandy: for the girls, there were guys in leather pants. For the guys, there were girls in leather pants. It was a win/win!

Speed questions

Best pet in the game:

Cat! (but I’m biased – go kitties!)

First thing you do when you see Horde:

Tauren – Wave/hug. Everyone else – ignore.

Favourite raid encounter in the game thus far:

Old School – ZG. TBC – Karazhan.

Most creative use for feign death:

Creative? Don’t know about creative, but /kissing Mojo, turning into a toad, then feigning death sends me into giggles each and every time.

Effective way to deal with troublesome domestic animals:

Swear a lot, Feign death and apologize. Oh, you said "effective". Pets to passive, don’t target the tank’s mob til it really is pull time, and lock your real life cats in another room.

When you’re not playing WoW you are _____:

Reading, playing on the Playstation/PSP, annoying the cats, or at (gag) work. Soon to be adding "harrassing The Boyfriend to help me paint rooms in the house" to that list.

DPSing is like ___ :

Pewpew! Pewpewpewpew! ::boom:: ::giggle:: Pewpew! LEWTZ!

Dual Wielding Guns (yes or no):

Only with silencers attached to both. -.-

Favourite Sci Fi Captain:

Hmm. Captain? Brains: Captain Picard. Guts: Captain Kirk. Insanity: Captain Crais. All other ranks, including Captain and above: Honor Harrington. (David Weber ftw!)

3 things that annoy you most about other hunters:

1. Not feigning death and complaining when "the tank lets you die".

2. Not knowing how to turn the "Growl" button off on your pet.

3. Giving people any chance at all to paint all hunters with the "Huntard" brush.

Special thanks to:

To Kestral for noticing I’d snuck into existence. To Phaelia and Valenna for creating Blog Azeroth. To the Hunter bloggers for proving there are good Hunters out there and helping educate the populace. To my guildmates who are an amazing and determined crew of insane, fun people. To Aerye and Uber Pally, friends and guildmates that said "Sure!" when I poked them and asked if I post some of their tales and information. To The Boyfriend for putting up with this, and to the real life kitties who wait (mostly) patiently while I do "one more thing" on the computer before giving them their pettinz. A shoutout to all the all the people in the Blog Azeroth chat room (there’s a lot of us in there now!), with nods to Big Bear Butt, Anna, Bellwether, Siha, Matticus, Jon, Maerdred and Leafshine (and I know I left someone out! /cry)

Nightravyn’s blog: One hunter, a "teal" cat (looks blue to me) and infinite ammo cheat enabled! While you’re visiting, don’t forget to subscribe to Nightravyn’s blog!