I’m Bach

Actually, I’m not quite Bach. I wish though. Still working on Bach’s double and I just started looking at Bach’s Allemande (this kid was thirteen).

Let me catch you up on where I’ve been. After my previous guild disbanded, on a whim and at the request of a colleague from work, I’ve decided to play *inhale*:

The Critically Acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV with an expanded free trial which I can play through the entirety of A Realm Reborn and the award winning Heavensward expansion up to level 60 for free with no restrictions on play time.

And it was a nice change of pace!

Combat felt slower and I played a White Mage which meant I felt limitations offensively (for obvious reasons). Played through some of the raids and progressed all the way into Shadowbringers and into Endwalker. The community was a far cry from what I expected compared to other gaming communities. As an end game player, I enjoyed the raids. The mechanics were similar but also different from what I was used to. The Endwalker story was a wonderful finish to this entire saga of FF14 and I hadn’t quite felt this invested in a game’s storyline since the Mass Effect trilogy.

Although once I reached Endwalker’s end game, I didn’t feel quite as attached anymore. The raids were fun but I just didn’t feel compelled to compete and grind. Much of that may have been attributed to my inability to find a consistent raid group to party with though. I am often more motivated by the party around me as opposed to the game in front. Without a steady raid group giving me purpose, I don’t feel drawn or attached. This is a pattern that occurred throughout my WoW career since I’ve always valued stability and longevity.

Then Lost Ark came out and that took over a big chunk of my play time. I have a Bard on US West but now I’m leveling another one on US East. I don’t know why I’m doing that to myself, but partly because I have trouble finding consistent people to run with. I reached the 1300 item level bracket early on compared to others I knew which meant I didn’t have much else to do or anyone to play with for the raids or abyss dungeons.

My return to the World of Warcraft

“Matticus. We need a Priest.”
“I’m retired.”
“You’re bored. Come play with us.”

He’s right. I had been raiding on and off with <Iconic> for a while. One day a week raiding guild doesn’t quite get me back to where I was before when I was raiding 3 days in Mythic. I had just been messing around on my Ret Paladin and enjoying life as melee DPS. It’s so satisfying seeing so many DPS numbers.

But when I got the call up to get off the bench and get back to front line raiding again, I knew I couldn’t ignore it. I’m now a part of the longstanding <Death Jesters> (yeah, that one, formed in 2005 and that guild is almost old enough to drink). Picked a great time to return what with Holy Priest being both amazing and incredibly fun with the set bonuses.

Server transfers are the next step but since the guild is on Stormrage and my name is taken, I point you to the header image where I mull over some of the names I’m considering. Name selection is harder than customizing appearances, I’ll say.

We just reached Anduin on Heroic and we’re looking for more players. Managed to just barely take a look into the second intermission with the wall of walking ghosts. We’ll be able to save Anduin next week following reset (especially with the 4 piece I’m now wearing courtesy of LFR).

Still have to think of a name I’m satisfied with. Ideas?