All Work and No Play...

Update:

I apologize for taking so long to write anything at all. I’ve been dealing with a heavy course load at work as well as personal health issues. It seems that I am suffering from sleep apnea. This would explain a lot of symptoms I’ve been dealing with lately. If you’re not sure what that is, it’s when the body stops breathing for several seconds while sleeping. At least, that’s one of the types of sleep apnea one can suffer from. Typically it lasts for about 10 seconds but it can last as long as a minute. I’ve recently visited a sleep study clinic so that my sleep could be monitored and analyzed. It turns out that I’ve been averaging just over one instance of sleep apnea per minute of my sleep time. I’ve been fitted with a breathing machine called a CPAP (technically a BiPAP) and I’m adjusting nicely to it. It’s taken awhile to get some of my energy back, and I’m still not 100%, but hopefully, I’ll get back to my old self again. Anyways, I haven’t forgotten about the articles I want to write about. But, just to make sure folks don’t forget about the epic Blackbear, I decided to post a short article along with some epic screen shots. However, I will warn you, gracious reader; it does turn into a bit of a rant towards the end.

Wait, how come everybody's so much taller than me all of a sudden?

Oh crap! I forgot the keys! Someone's going to have to go all the way back out the front door and pick up the keys!

BB literally flying off into the sunset. Or, sunrise, I can't remember which.

Epic "high noon" shot. Kind of makes me think of a good Clint Eastwood western.

So, here it is...

4.0 is finally here. I’ve taken my main character, the one I enjoy playing nearly every aspect of the game with, and I’ve made it nearly to the literal end of the road. My main character, for those that didn’t know, Blackbear, is a warrior – currently, fury main spec and pve tank off spec. While it could be argued that I still have some gear from 25 man ICC or even 25 man ICC hard modes that could improve my character, I honestly think that it won’t make that much of a difference, certainly not much towards my dps. Ideally, I think it would be best to focus on pve tank gear, but the gear I have now is “leet” enough that I shouldn’t really need it. I’ve gemmed and chanted my fury gear to the point where there isn’t anything I can do, except get better gear, to improve my dps. And the only “better” gear I can really get that would be an improvement would be 25 man ICC hard modes. Indeed, there have been drops in the regular 25 man ICC that I’ve passed on. Not because I may or may not already have it, but because I already have level 264 gear with the epic Heroic description attached to the tooltip (/ego-flex.) I know and understand my character’s rotation, best application in various situations, and weaknesses. No amount of practice with my rotation will improve my game, at least not for dps. I’ll admit I could probably practice a bit with my pve tanking rotation which is definitely different than the pvp prot rotation. But, no new gaming gear (i.e. Razer Naga gaming mouse) will improve my dps and, by the way, I have the Razer Naga and it is awesome! And, I plan to show that in a future article. No new special instance/gear drop/gems/chants/etc. will make much of a real difference in my character or in how I play the game, although I really wouldn’t mind at all winning the ICC achievements for a really cool mount. In fact, there’s not much of anything I can do with Blackbear that would improve my game on that character.

So, where to now? Where do I go from here?

Well, some have already figured this out and are doing great with the solution. I’ll explain. For me, I first started playing Wow somewhere in the middle of the Burning Crusade expansion (I think.) And when I made my first character, which just happens to be Blackbear, I also made additional classes because I had no idea what those classes were like. I practically had one of every single class except for death knights, which didn’t exist yet. I have my hunter, originally a dwarf, appropriately named: Rugernine. I made a human priest and named him after a colleague at work. I made a mage, rogue, warlock, and a druid and later a shaman (I think at the time shaman weren’t available to alliance, but I may be wrong about that.) I’ve tried all classes at some point and learned whether or not I had any desire to continue playing. In fact, I learned from my druid that I’m really not at all interested in the “night elf” side of Wow.

Now before a particular friend of mine starts calling me a night elf/druid hater let me explain. At the time, leveling was so much more tedious and boring than it is now (oh yeah, that’s definitely possible.) So much has changed since then. For example, leveling at one point, didn’t involve a super-duper-uber-handy function called LFG (looking for group.) Leveling meant grinding away hours of one’s time to reach a particular goal before setting a new goal (either the next level or piece of gear, amount of gold needed, etc.) Now, once your character reaches a certain level, he/she can join others that aren’t even on the same server to hit an instance. Now you can go anywhere in Azeroth, Outlands, etc. yet instantly join in on a BG/instance to pwn or get pwned at your heart’s content. Most players in Wow are now more than familiar with these options and the advantages and disadvantages with this. But I’m getting off track. The point I was making was simply that I needed to remind myself why I rolled practically every class as soon as I created my main, which is, to enjoy as many aspects of the game that I can.

Turns out, I really am interested in playing a druid now and leveling that class. Mainly thanks to the many changes Blizzard implemented to help new players. Now, a lot of classes get helpful abilities at an earlier time than before. Warriors now get the ability Victory Rush at level 6; much, much sooner than previously available at level 62. Rage power leveling! Druids can now learn travel form at level 16. In fact, apprentice riding is available to everyone at level 20 with just a bit of gold. Thank goodness Blizzard did that. No more endless walking/running to the next zone/quest hub/town etc. Now, I’ve got so much that I want to do in Wow and not nearly enough time to accomplish a fraction of it. Because I no longer have to deal with such long, boring leveling grinds, I really do want to roll a druid and experience that class. I want a gnome mage with engineering and possibly jewel crafting so that I can be “leet” in raids as well as BGs (can’t give up one of my biggest laughs in game.) I want to level an undead warlock with tailoring and enchanting – if only to see the opposing faction content. I want to take an orc death knight and level/gear him for ICC content. And I can’t wait until Cataclysm comes out so that I can follow along with everyone else and make a worgen rogue or druid. I was thinking about maybe a troll shaman (available in Cata) to see the new troll starting area. And who isn’t curious about the new goblin race? And with the new rated battlegrounds soon to be implemented, I’m really interested in a possible “BG team” to learn that experience.

Speaking of opposing factions, I’ve noticed something lately in Wow (at least on my server) that I have to say I really dislike. Yes, here comes the obligatory rant. It concerns people and their attitudes and I’m not just talking about those annoying pug runs or the elitist jerk trade chat trolls, although I’ll admit, trade chat has provided me with some of the greatest guffaws within the game thus far. I’m talking about the dogma that exists within or between some people in the game towards opposing factions. I’ve noticed the occasional player say things like, “I hate all horde (or alliance)” and “If you play both factions then you’re a traitor.” While I freely admit, when I first started playing Wow, I was not immune to experiencing similar hostile feelings; but I quickly identified those feelings as irrational. And I’m not afraid to point out to people how unreasonable those same feelings are. I’ve had a few people I play Wow with try to convince me that their opinions towards an opposing faction are justified. And a few of these individuals are not the stereotypical “teen” player, these are adults. I try to explain to them that it’s just a game and that’s the current game mechanic – two opposing factions.

For example, if I’m in a BG and I’m guarding a particular capture point, I fully expect opposing players to attack me in an attempt to capture that point, even if I happen to know those players. Why not? I’ve done the exact same thing. I didn’t deliberately seek out that player and continually harass them (although some have done that to me) just because I could. But what do some players honestly think will happen if they come across someone that they know in a pvp situation from an opposing faction? It’s silly to think that I would expect that individual to treat me any different than any other player in my faction. I saw a recent YouTube video of a channel owner I subscribe to where he had attended the latest BlizzCon 2010. In the video, he was asking random people what their main character was. Some would reply their main such as warrior, paladin, mage, etc. Then others would specify which faction they play on first, then their main, as if the faction alone somehow made their character that much more "elite." Now I’ve no problem with some friendly ribbing between players, particularly those that know each other. And I have no problem with people that may identify with one faction more over the other. And most players I know aren’t dogmatic about playing an opposing faction. But there are some players that really just go too far with this mindset and have tried to convince me that playing both factions is somehow "selfish" or "mean-spirited." Which is ironic considering it's selfish that a person could think that others should play the way he/she wants them to rather than how they want to and mean-spirited to carry some useless dogma in game.

Everyone has their own playing style. In many ways, each player’s gaming style is similar to other player’s style. But due to experience, latency, computer performance, add-ons, etc. everyone has an adjusted playing style that can be called their own – and that’s the whole point. What one individual player has experienced in the game can be considered in some ways unique to them and no one else. So, what one player chooses to enjoy in game is that individual’s decision to make. I want to enjoy as many aspects of this game as I can. This is partially because, like all things, eventually, world of warcraft will come to an end, but mainly because, the game that I play is my game. I pay my subscription fee and I play my game as I want; not the way someone else wants. This means that if I choose to play a different character in an opposing faction, just to see the content, then so be it. If I decide to faction change that character because of “grind-y” leveling experiences, or perhaps because I want the character to benefit from a particular racial bonus, then I will do so. If I have been harassed by experienced players in pvp, I could choose to remember those experiences with bitterness and ignore that particular aspect of the game, or I could laugh my ass off at how petty some folks are and marvel at the lengths some individuals go in order to feel better about themselves. Personally, I think I’ll choose the latter and not the former. My experiences in game are my own and I’ll make them out (remember them) to be whatever I want them to be. As far as I’m concerned, I’m going to put forth my best effort to make those experiences as enjoyable as possible. I guess that this is just something that some players will find impossible to understand.

So, to all of the elitist snobs out there that can’t seem to understand why I want to play both horde and alliance, in both pve and pvp, in either full raids or 5-man heroics, and spend so much time and effort trying to convince me why I shouldn’t, I’ve really only got one thing I can think of to say…

Cool story bro.

The Echo Rate

Nearly every trade I’m familiar with has some sort of “initiation” rites or procedures or activities associated with it. For example, an inexperienced carpenter may be asked by his lead technician to go fetch a nonexistent tool such as a 3 ft. meter stick, a board stretcher, or even a glass mallet. The two trades I’ve been involved in for most of my life: vehicle mechanic and machinist are no different. Well, to lighten the mood of my blog I decided to walk a reader through just a small handful of such activities as if he/she were just beginning their career in that trade. These activities I have participated in either as willing co-conspirator or as an unknowing victim.

So, as a new mechanic/machinist/technician/etc. you may be asked to start your day with a search for a can of P.E. psi fluid. This is highly valuable stuff and is normally refrigerated to keep its shelf life extended as much as possible (spell out P.E. psi with no periods and no capital letters). After you’ve been redirected from several shops and finally picked up the ice-cold fluid, it’s very important to return it immediately to your lead tech, who will then promptly open up the can and drink it.

Your next task will be to prepare the stall or work area for equipment, proper tools, or materials needed to complete the work. So, be sure to go to the supply section and order up several yards of flight line. This will allow you a solid working surface area to work on. Can’t have our creepers roll around underneath vehicles in mud now can we? It’s also crucial to make sure any fluids, materials, etc. are the proper weight for the current season. You’ll need to ensure that the air within a tire is proper winter-weight or summer-weight air depending on the season. Headlight fluid is also helpful to have handy should you need to make any adjustments to the lights; along with the more costly blinker fluid. Additionally, you may have to modify the job you are working on. Along with the normal tools expected to do a job, bring with you a standard bolt-stretcher because sometimes, you just may need a longer bolt when you don’t have one. Metric bolt-stretchers can be very hard to come by so you may have to sign a contract on penalty of death agreeing to return it to the tool room if you need it.

Now, let’s move onto “the meat” of the work. Being unfamiliar with the job may require flexibility. This can be helped with flexible tooling such as the ever-helpful metric adjustable wrench. Being able to work in both “standard” and “metric” can greatly increase one’s skill level. For the lefties out there, a little bit of searching will help you find the left-handed version of the metric adjustable wrench. Most shops do carry a line of left-handed hammers for the lefties in these trades. But do not expect to find a left-handed version of the any-sixteenths adjustable wrench. This is the U.S. we’re talking about and damn it we have standards that we adhere to.

For those really “tricky” jobs, specialized tooling is often necessary due to the complexity of the work. Having a sky hook can help with those really heavy duty jobs and can greatly lessen the stress on the back from heavy lifting. It can be so frustrating to drop a part or tool while focused on a particularly challenging operation of a job. Therefore, having a brass magnet will help the “clumsy” technician when he/she needs it. And for the highly intelligent beginner technicians, make sure you bring with you a cup of radon. To help ease on preventive maintenance, installing a tachometer filter will reduce the number of times you need to replace the RPMs, not to mention reducing the number of times the RPM oil will need servicing.

Replacing a component or reworking a component of a job can be tedious. Take the armored vehicle the M113; a principle armored troop carrier for the U.S. military. Replacing the armored valve stem for the wheels of this tracked vehicle can be extremely time-consuming. For this type of difficult job, it’s always beneficial to bring with you a box of pre-drilled holes for the valve stems.

A highly technical skill you may develop is the ability to check the echo rate. This is very complex and involves a great deal of coordination. First, remove the valve cover from the engine and crank it manually until the number 1 piston intake valve(s) is open. Next, lean in close to the engine head. Finally, yell your name into the open intake valve and very quickly run to the end of the vehicle and place your ear up to the tailpipe. If you can hear your name yelled back, then the echo rate is good. For vehicles with two tailpipes, you may need to perform this twice, once on each tailpipe, to determine the echo rate.

Well, by now your day will probably draw to a close. Keeping your work area clean will help you to do a good job tomorrow so go out behind your facility and gather up a full bucket of prop wash. But be sure to fill a bucket of dehydrated water to go with your prop wash. Never mix chemicals you’re not familiar with! You may also need to pick up some camouflage paint, just in case you needed to do any body work that you’ll have to touch up. Note: make certain the vehicle doesn’t require infra-red, camouflage paint. That would be disastrous! Also, this would be a good time to swing by the supply section and order the parts, materials, etc. needed to complete the unfinished jobs tomorrow. Things like muffler bearings, alternator hoses, and glove box filters should be ordered today so that they’ll be ready to install the next work day.

Usually about this time is when the customer comes around asking questions regarding the completion of the work. Now is the best time for you to brush up on your people skills. Be sure to let them know how difficult it was replacing the radiator filters. For the left-handed customer with a straight drive, let them know that you’ve placed an order through supply for a left-handed shifter handle and it won’t arrive until tomorrow. For customers wanting exhaust work, let them know that they could’ve sped up the time needed for service if only they had first collected an exhaust sample. This can be done by having the customer stand at the tailpipe with a trash bag and “gather” exhaust as the vehicle is running. Make sure the customer ties off the bag quickly. Don’t want to give the EPA or OSHA reason to perform a surprise inspection on the facility. If the customer simply wanted preventive maintenance, inform them that the windshield wiper lube hasn’t arrived yet and that you should be receiving it the next day. Never let a vehicle leave your care without all of its fluids topped off and ready to go! Make the customer feel like you’re working extra hard just for them by performing the 60,000 mile service to the cigarette lighter unit. Or that you’ve just replaced the snipe sensor for free and it needs to sit overnight in order for it to be properly calibrated. And if that doesn’t convince them, just tell them that you can’t complete the work because there is too much gas in the fuel lines.

Happy mechanic-ing!

BB

A Random Post - OR IS IT???

Wow. Has it really been that long since my last post? Hard to believe. But, the fact is, I've been working hard and playing hard. As an instructor, my work often keeps me late at school, although I try hard not to bring too much work home with me. And, as the dept. head and the only full-time faculty in my department, I often stay late just trying to catch up on paperwork. My time at school is thinned even more so as I am on our graduation committee. The great part about the graduation committee is that nearly all of the work we do is at the end of the school year. The bad part about the graduation committee is that nearly all of the work we do is at the end of the school year. And graduation is coming up in about another 5 weeks. And since we just happen to have started early registration for the upcoming fall semester, my time is stretched even further. This, naturally, has very strong effects on one's stress levels and in order to prevent myself from taking out that stress on student via hammer or some other blunt object, I direct it towards other things. As I said, I've been playing hard too, meaning our guild has completed 10-man ICC and we're starting heroic 10-man. Yay for hard modes! This means more wipes. This means more practice. And basically, more time needed to stay with the progression. But, I haven't forgotten about the great Blackbear's Cave. In fact, I intend to provide a (hopefully) decent article about warriors in the game. Am I an expert? Nope. Not by a long shot. But I can provide some ideas towards spec, gear, and professions for the leveling warrior. Also, I will either add or create another article about arms pvp spec. That article I simply intend to document my experiences with the spec and pvp. I don't intend for that particular article to be used as a guide for arms pvp as I will most likely include a number of expletives. I'll probably include the reasons why I decided to put tanking on hold for awhile. This means, be ready for more ranting. So, just bear with me (pun intended) and hopefully I'll get that underway soon. The end of the summer semester is approaching and I could really use some free time.

Now, onto the other reason I decided to post. A project I've really been wanting to complete for a long time. A simple video with a slide show of a set of photos I took while on my vacation last year in Alaska. Yes. It's finally time to post that up. I'll actually post it on 3 (hopefully) websites.

It's Been A Long Time Coming

It’s been a long time coming. Yes. It’s taken me a long time to finally complete this project. Some of my online friends will understand what that means. But, I simply could not post this video without the “perfect” accompaniment. While the music in this video is not technically Native Alaskan, primarily Native Americans perform it. I felt that this was important not only in principle, but also for aesthetic reasons. The music I was going to use with this video had to reflect the silent awe and the oddly, calming effect I felt seeing and photographing this great landscape for the first time.

Finding any music indigenous to Native Alaska is challenging enough. While I did manage to find some Alaskan singers/groups that were capable of performing very contemporary style of music, it did not carry the reverence I wanted to accompany this photo gallery. Sadly, a great deal of traditional Native Alaskan music has been lost to history via “modernization” of the Alaskan peoples. Some traditional music still exists. But, the meaning of some of that music is no longer understood. While this was a bit disappointing, I continued looking elsewhere for music I felt was appropriate. I also felt that, if contemporary music would better reflect the mood I wanted for the video, then so be it. The music I’ve chosen to accompany the photos seems to “fit” the mood I was trying to create. And, as I stated before, if I couldn’t find just the “right” music, then I wasn’t going to complete this project.

I’ve heard of the performers Verdell Primeaux and Johnny Mike. I’ve also heard of Robbie Roberston. However, my search for the best music to my video didn’t initially lead me to these performers. But I remembered hearing awhile back a song that I would later learn was called Peyote Healing and tried to track down its authors/performers. It wasn’t easy, as I had no idea, at the time, what the name of the song was or even the artists’ names. Finally, after a bit of online searching, and listening to A LOT of samples, I managed to come across the album: Contact from the Underworld of Red Boy by Robbie Roberston. The other album I drew from was: Dancing Into Silence. The first song in the video is: The Way Home from Dancing Into Silence by R. Carlos Nakai, the second song is Amazing Grace in Sioux from Walk in Beauty by Verdell Primeaux and Johnny Mike. Finally, the last song is: Peyote Healing from Robbie Robertson’s Contact from the Underworld of Redboy feat. Verdell Primeaux and Johnny Mike.

This small video only represents a small section of the best photos I took while in Alaska during my vacation in 2009. The few photos I’ve placed in this video are the ones that made the final cut so-to-speak. Some of the photos include: a small plane trip to the Chickamin Glacier, a Misty Fjords National Monument boat trip, as well as hiking photos around Revillagigedo Island, Ward Creek Trail and Lake Harriet Hunt. Overall, I took nearly 750 total photos. I had to trim a lot of photos out. This trip cost me a bit financially. But, the experience was well worth every penny. The trip has had such a profound impact on me that, I decided almost immediately upon returning home, I should go back again the following year. And, I am! Hopefully, by the time I return from that trip, I’ll be a little better at Windows Movie Maker. Yes, I am a WMM newb! Enjoy the pictures.

Blackbear (Bear5177)

Aka BB

I sure hope this works.

The King is Dead! Long not-live the King! In fact, stay dead this time!

The following post was true yesterday when it was partially completed and now only partially true when it was completed today.

It started out like it normally would. I got on my main character: Blackbear, with the intention of doing a few dailies (daily quests) so I could earn a bit of spending money on flasks, potions, etc. I’m all about pushing my DPS as much as I possibly can so I use a few different flask-potion combinations. And seeing as I only have one other level 80 toon at the moment, I have to purchase my flasks. It adds up. All of the questing, putting items on the auction house, clearing items to vendors, it really adds up to a lot of gold. Unfortunately, with no other support from my alt toons (alchemy, enchanting, leatherworking, etc.) all of the items I need for pushing my DPS costs a lot of gold. Therefore, I do a lot of dailies. I prefer dailies that don’t take up a lot of time to get them done. It’s not unusual for me to max out my “completed daily” list to 25. Anyways, I hooked up early in the day to do a few dailies with my friends Mat and Hedwig, along with Mibs, another guildie. Maybe I had some sort of sense of foreboding. Or, perhaps I was getting edgy, knowing the headaches and aggravation that were coming soon. But, I started drinking a bit early that day. In fact, I started out with vodka, cranberry juice, and a healthy splash of pineapple juice. After I completed my dailies, I realized I had a bit of time to play around with one of my lower level alts: Wellborn. I even asked Hedwig a few questions regarding a possible instance leveling spec. But I knew, it was eventually coming. I knew, that sooner or later, I would be getting back on Blackbear to hit the Lich King again. We are at the 10% buff for the Lich King and we were just trying to work out our game. Yesterday went as expected. We wiped fairly consistently in phase 2 or 3, even managing a wipe at 16%. For those that don’t know, that would be a 6% wipe because the fight is essentially over at 10% (thank God!) But, I knew that we would be heading back inside today, even going so far as to cancel the 25-man raid. I sincerely hope that all who didn’t make it to raid today will forgive our sudden schedule change, but 6% away from a Lich King kill is just too close to pass up. Well, we finally made it! It was epic. In fact, I don’t know of any word that can accurately sum up the experience. Epic might not be good enough. As I am not a literary genius, I’m sometimes at a loss for a good description or phrase whenever I write. But, if there were a word in the English language, that can describe a higher level of “epic ness” than epic, I would use it. We were slowly getting the strategy down. Consistently getting to phase 2 and later to phase 3. The occasional “oopsies” make it difficult to see if we were wiping consistently to phase 3. Phase 3 is, in my opinion, the most challenging and the most chaotic. You have to stay away from each other at certain times to avoid leaving a defile spot on the ground that can grow to a massive size in seconds. Vile spirits spawn at regular intervals and must be off-tanked or destroyed away from the raid to avoid killing raid members as the spirits explode near their targets. And, to top it all off, one must deal with the soul harvesting of their character. I assume the player is teleported inside Frostmourne, although I admit, I’m not that familiar with the context of the fight, just the mechanics. But, wipe after wipe, it was beginning to look like maybe it wasn’t going to be our night. Time constraints were approaching on some raid members who couldn’t continue for much longer. We even experienced the fairly common Band of Misfits “1%” wipe. So…damn…frustrating. But, we finally made it! Blackbear the Kingslayer! I love it! So let me just give a shout-out to my fellow Kingslayers!

Matheo, bear druid and probably losing hair thanks to my threat levels. He’s an at-large (or is it a large?) forehead-tank that’s been wonderful enough to endure my swearing and my occasional aggro spike.

Randomski, the unusually named paladin well worth his weight in gold if you’re a threat generating fury spec warrior like myself. I’m so not going to attempt to earn ICC 25 level tank gear. I’ll leave the damage sponging to this guy and Matheo.

Shadowson, probably one of the best, if not the best, priests in the game. Now a Kingslayer, along with probably dozens of other titles he already has. His name seems that much more epic with the Kingslayer title.

Pumpken, shaman healer that looks kind of like Nerytiri from Avatar. I have to admit, when I first thought about it, I didn’t think that Pumpken the Kingslayer was all that good. But I really like it! However, I feel her name would be more epic if she were to change it to Pumpkenpie the Kingslayer! Sounds like some sort of cartoon character from a children’s show.

Lierthes, grumpy paladin healer (LOL, no not really.) I kind of think of him as a healer-in-plate. Lierthes the Kingslayer sounds like a ripped off name of a play someone wrote by plagiarizing Shakespeare. But it’s still epic! J

Glyndon the dwarf hunter! Always epic! Always with an epic beard, as no self-respecting dwarf would ever be without! Too bad pets don’t have titles. Fleabag, his pet, is deserving of the title Kingslayer.

Shocktotem, the shaman dps. Although I don’t know this person well, he’s still a great player. And I think this is another good name to go with the Kingslayer title. Shocktotem the Kingslayer just feels epic to me.

Chrondeath the arcane mage. This is the guy I intend to emulate when on my mage. Sometimes his dps is insane. Not real sure what his name implies but still becomes epic with the Kingslayer title.

And Kawdor the paladin that sometimes needs an adult to help him manage aggro. Of course, that’s probably because he’s now equipped with Shadow’s Edge and will hopefully get the epic Shadowmourne someday. Although I wonder what that will do to his threat generation.

So, there you have it, folks. Towards the end, which was probably going to be our last attempt, it was touch-and-go there for a bit. I believe we were down one dps at some point in phase 3 and we were just pushing as hard as we could. My fingers and the muscles in my hands were hurting by the time we made it to 10%. I wasn’t even really sure if we had actually made it to the final part because there is a pause where the Lich King will just stand there silently. I thought at first that maybe we didn’t get it and that he had glitched for a moment. But, then he started speaking in his distinctive belching voice. After a long bit of waiting through dialogue, you get treated to one of the best cinematic cut sequences ever! Plus, it turns out that we had an “audience.” Some of our guild mates decided to jump into vent and listen to our epic struggle. Although I’m pretty sure that I may have expanded their vocabulary with a few colorful expletives of my own. Hey, I’m ex-military, folks. I know my profanity!

This experience was great. The challenge was great and could be irritating at times, but all in all, it was well worth the effort. However, I feel I should point out something. Despite the headaches from this challenging raid, nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, is worse than beating the Lich King, and receiving two measly little 258 item level crossbows that practically no one uses. Seriously. I was hoping for at least the epic mace. Yay. Crossbows that no one really needs. Way to go there, Arthas. You dumbass!

/RAGE

Well, at least we now have an epic title! Enjoy the pics!

No fair! We should, at least, be allowed to pick it up and swing it around a few times!

Our mighty heroes, triumphant over evil!

The (Lich) King and I

The Lich King

Based on the evidence provided, the following post is mostly true but not definite.

Well! Here we are at long last! Our group has finally made it to the Lich King in 10-man ICC. Yeah, I know there are some “epic” guilds out there that have finished the WotLK content – blah, blah, frickin’ blah. We tried for one night and had several wipes but that’s just the initial encounter. Wiping should be expected when dealing with progression raiding. Although I will admit, wiping constantly on a 10-man ICC progression raid, and then trying to do the same in a 25-man ICC raid, can get very old, very quickly. Hopefully, our 10-man will progress enough so that we can clear it and then focus on the 25. Near the end of the 25-man, I was very tired of ICC and I just didn’t want to see anymore. I hope I don’t burn out on it too much. But, since we made it all the way to the Lich King I felt that I needed to add to my online photo hobby collection. So, in keeping with tying my older hobbies with my newer hobbies, I took a few screenshots to show off. Enjoy. While you’re at it, head over to my friend Matheo’s blog and check out some of his.

When I am talking about the king and I, of course, I’m referring to the Lich King and I! With Yul Brynner as the oft – imitated, never duplicated, me! The great Blackbear! Ok well maybe there wasn’t exactly a “Blackbear” character in that film but no one can deny the similarities between our epic baldness!

With Deborah Kerr as Neytiri as the draenei shamman Pumpken! Took me awhile to figure out how to make that reference.

I love this one. The Lich King’s just sitting there all epic-like as if to say very coolly, “Hey guys. Sup. How ya doin? I’m just going to sit right here and be all epic while you have to endure one-minute dialogue over and over again every time you wipe. MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

No, I don’t have a close-up picture of the spread-eagled guy chained up with his crotch right over…tell ya what, go over to Matheo’s blog, you’ll see it.

The calm before the raging storm…

Anyways, Matheo was forehead-tanking the Lich King and we found out that he sure is a fidgety fella’. This guy can’t stand still for more than two seconds. Quite, irritating. But we seemed to at least get to the transition to 2nd phase. I have to say, if you get knocked off of the platform, and you should expect to, the fall alone is worth it. EPIC! Hopefully soon the great Blackbear will be known as Blackbear the Kingslayer! I have to admit, I feel that my character’s name, out of our entire raid group, except for maybe Shadow’s, would seem just so much more epic with that title than the other raiders’ names. I’m not saying that the other raiders wouldn’t be “epic” too! But I’ve often thought about what influences someone to choose a particular name. In our guild we have a priest named: Shadowson. Now, if he gets the title, he’ll be known as Shadowson the Kingslayer. That’s got a great tone to it, don’t you think? But, what about a name that’s supposed to be funny? Take for example, cowbell. Cowbell’s a tauren (how could one possibly guess?) that plays on a server in the same battlegroup as the Azuremyst server. Obviously, that name was chosen for comedic value. But what if the person playing that character decides to do some progression raiding? Cowbell, Conqueror of Ulduar just doesn’t seem at all epic to me anymore, not even for comedic value. Or how about the troll shaman named: Solobutt? Yes, you read that right. Take the word “solo” and capitalize it, then attach the word “butt” appropriately on the end. Then of course there’s the draenei mage named Pudmuffin. Seriously, could it get any funnier than Gotmilkmoo – a tauren warrior? I believe it can. So, I’ve decided that I’m going to start jotting down some of the more bizarre names I come across in this game. I might also post them periodically with a title that I think would be appropriate. Hopefully, I’ll have a couple of good ones to start out. Anyone that sees the article is more than welcome to participate and add their own experiences.

Who Likes Steak!

The following post could be completely true.

Well, in response to Matheo’s article: The Best Thing I Ever Ate, I decided to go along but only after I pushed him to allow me to reference regional chain restaurants as well as national chain restaurants. But, to be fair, I’ll start with a national chain that I’m sure everyone is familiar with. Let’s talk about Outback Steakhouse! There are three locations near where I live all about a half-hour to forty-five minute drive. But I do have a particular favorite in Greensboro, near Battleground Ave. And, instead of naming a single dish, I’ll walk through an entire meal that’s typical for me whenever I wind up at Outback.

So, let’s start with the appetizers. I’m sure we’re all familiar with the Outback signature Bloomin’ Onion, supposedly hand-carved by what the menu describes as a “bloomologist” – LOL. But it’s deep-fried and comes with a spicy dipping sauce (tastes kind of like 1000 island dressing with some hot sauce.) But, instead of that, I would recommend the Aussie Cheese Fries. They come with melted Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese…mmmm, lovely. And, to top it off, have some chopped bacon bits for that extra bit of flavor and don’t forget the spicy ranch dip. The regular is a decent size so I would recommend the small if you’re not sure about your abdominal capacity.

For the main course, there are a variety of steaks available. Yes, I said steaks, not chicken. Chicken is available if desired but I see no point to it. I don’t go to KFC to order a bacon cheeseburger, therefore I see no reason to go to a steakhouse and order a meal that isn’t steak! Anyway, the two choices I’m most interested in are the rib eye and the NY strip. Both are 14 oz. and are about the same price. My preference is the NY strip. Now, I know all the steak connoisseurs out there are probably thinking, “But, but, but, the rib eye is better! Every steak-lover knows that!” Yeah, whatever. I like the NY strip over the rib eye because I think it has a better flavor. Also, if the butcher did his/her job properly, the NY strip is a leaner cut of beef than the rib eye. That’s not saying that one should eliminate fat from a steak. Good heavens no! The fat in the cut is an important part of the flavor of a steak. But, back to Outback. I believe that the steaks are flavored with spicy seasoned salt, and I think a bit of garlic, however, I’m not 100% positive on that. I use seasoned salt on my own steaks as well and it’s a personal favorite seasoning I use when I'm cooking. For sides, I like the garlic mashed potatoes and whatever happens to be the seasonal veggie. Ah, buttery mashed potatoes and a thick, hearty steak!

Are your arteries hardening yet?

If you think you can handle the extra food, how about dessert? I’m a big guy and I likes mah food! For dessert, I suggest the cheesecake with either raspberry or chocolate sauce. Yummy!

All of these items are delicious but I have another reason I like Outback, or rather, why I prefer a particular Outback nearby. I’m talking about the bar of course. Because I have a taste for rum, I enjoy Outback’s variety of daiquiris. My favorites are the strawberry or banana daiquiris, depending on my mood. And the reason I have a preference of one restaurant over another restaurant is that my favorite restaurant treats bartending as more of an art form rather than a regimented procedure. Yes, that’s right folks. At this particular restaurant, I can request a daiquiri that’s “heavy on the rum” and actually get it the way I want instead of having to put up with modern devices that strictly regulate a “shot” (peg, jigger, etc.) of liquor. Some places don’t allow “flexible” tastes and therefore, if you order a daiquiri, you’ll get a drink that is precise in all of its parts, and exact, every single time. Boring! I prefer a bartender that doesn’t mind giving me a just a bit extra in my drinks and asks for feedback on how I want that drink the next time. Oh, by the way, if you intend to enjoy the bar as well as the food, be sure to have someone with you to drive you home. :-)





The Chop House Grille

Now, onto the real reason I wanted to write this article. My current, absolute favorite steakhouse, EVAH! That would be the Chop House Grille. Please do not confuse this chain with a similar one called The Chop House. Those restaurants are a different chain and most are in Tennessee or Kentucky. I actually came across the Chop House Grille by mistake. I was taking someone out to dinner at a “fancy” restaurant. This was a different restaurant that I had heard a lot about and I was interested in trying it out. I called ahead of time to find out the restaurant hours and what would be the best time to arrive. I even asked if I would need a reservation for the day in particular and I was told that it wasn’t necessary. Well, it turns out, a reservation was unnecessary because there were no available tables on that day! I show up, at the restaurant, with my dinner guest and was told that the restaurant had already been booked solid and that no table would be available for at least another hour and a half! Good thing someone told me this when I called, huh?! I was furious! Anyways, we left and wandered around Greensboro a bit thinking of our next move and I happen to drive by the Chop House Grille. So, we decided to give it a shot.

Please understand, the Chop House Grille is expensive. I think they spelled Grille with an “e” to indicate “Extra.” Meaning, you’re going to pay extra money when you eat here. But, trust me, the food is unbelievable. And I have no problems paying extra for damned good food. So, I’ll just walk through what is my typical meal at a place like Chop House Grille.

The appetizers are quite varied. There’s chicken, crab, shrimp, even calamari. But, being the steak-lover that I am, I had to try out the tenderloin beef medallions. You get three, small (I think they’re 3 oz.) grilled beef tenderloins with their Grand Marnier Orange Sauce. Now, I’ve heard of several versions of this recipe. Some call for egg yolks, some may include heavy cream, but all of them included that particular brand of orange liqueur. These medallions were just amazing! And that tangy orange sauce was definitely a first for me. Now, I know you’re probably thinking, “Three ounces? That’s hardly enough for a couple of bites!” Well, actually for me it was just one bite each. One, tender, juicy, tangy bite of steak-lover goodness on a plate.

The Chop House Grille is a high-end restaurant, so I’m not sure why they would create a menu that would include sandwiches and burgers. Nevertheless, if you’re not into steaks (sacrilege!) there are several high-end sandwiches you can choose from. Of course, after that wonderful appetizer, I wasn’t about to turn down a chance to sample their best cuts of beef.

For the main course, I chose a NY strip (12 oz.) cooked medium rare, at least according to the restaurant’s description. Yes, I like my meat a bit bloody. They offer Bearnaise, bleu cheese, or more orange sauce, but I was asked if I wanted something different. I requested chopped onions and mushrooms grilled on the side with a bit of melted butter thrown in. Much to my surprise, they agreed. I’ve done similar sauces like that on my own steaks, using the remaining grease and drippings from the steak I just cooked. Often, I’ll add a small amount of chopped garlic in with my onions and mushrooms to give it a bit more kick. No more need for steak sauce! Believe it or not, I actually hate the taste of raw, or undercooked onions. It makes me sick to my stomach. But, oddly enough, I love the taste cooked onions bring to a dish. Go figure.

For the side (yes, one side) I chose Au gratin cheddar potatoes. What they brought back to my table is best described as heavenly. The steak was just as tender and juicy as the medallions were in the appetizer. In fact, the steak was so tender, I literally did not need a steak knife to cut it. A simple dinner knife pressed down onto the meat, stabbing my fork into a portion, and lightly pulling the two away from each other was all that I needed to pull a bite off of my steak. And, just as I requested, the steak had grilled chopped onions and mushrooms with a buttery taste to them added as a garnish. The Au gratin cheddar potatoes had just enough actual melted cheese in them to be “stringy” to pull a bite away from the plate. Exquisite!

(Drool)
(Drool)
(Drool)

Now, if you think your esophagus can handle it, and I’m not ashamed to point out that mine can, I strongly suggest that you try one of their luscious desserts. There are three, yes – three, absolutely scrumptious desserts for us chocolate lovers out there. Oh, did I say chocolate? I meant CHOCOLATE! Of course the restaurant has other desserts like the typical key lime pie (meh) or the vanilla ice cream sundae (yawn), but might I recommend the quite-aptly named: Five layer chocolate mousse cake (for two.) Yes, even I couldn’t handle eating this thing all by myself. It’s made of devil’s food chocolate cake with chocolate mousse and they even add some heated chocolate sauce with some sprinkles of shaved white chocolate.

(Dies)

I hate to disappoint anyone that is not capable of traveling, but this restaurant is currently only available in North Carolina. I haven’t seen it anywhere outside of NC, and believe me, I look every time I travel outside of the state. I think their website is currently undergoing some updating because it doesn’t list all of their locations. I know of at least two restaurant locations that are missing. Also, I did say that it was expensive. But, for a special occasion, or a once in awhile event, it is definitely worth every penny. No other restaurant I’ve been to (ever) has food that good. And, I honestly don’t think that I’m doing the food at Chop House Grille justice with my article.

ZOMFGWTF – Two Articles???

The following post is exactly 95.6% true.

Yes. I’ve been especially creative with my time and can now probably produce no less than two articles per week. Ok, well not really. Actually, I’ve already managed to complete part of this article so adding another article wasn’t too difficult. I will probably still only just manage an article every week or every other week or whenever.

Hello from Ulduar!

I’m a bit of an amateur photographer. I enjoy nature photography and I’ve been working on a project for sometime to display some of my best photos from a vacation I took in Alaska. The project is taking much longer to complete than anticipated. So, I decided to apply my favorite hobby to my favorite other hobby, and follow in the footsteps of Matheo and start taking a few screenshots of my experiences in WoW. Yeah, I’ll admit, not very original but I still enjoy it. Recently, I filled in for someone on an Ulduar attempt to earn the Starcaller achievement.

Ulduar is special to me. Despite many “facepalm” memories of wipes, character deaths, and lost loot rolls, I’ve always loved going into Ulduar. The design of nearly every section of the raid appeals to me. Because I started well after Burning Crusade content had been out, I didn’t get to hit some of the raids like Karazhan or Zul’Aman or some of the bigger epic raids like Sunwell Plateau. By the time Wrath of the Lich King was released, I was a newbie level 70 and I skipped a lot of the BC content to go onto Northrend. Please understand that I have completed Naxxramas and I enjoyed it too. But I’ve never cared for the overall look of Naxxramas. An epic raid, I’ll admit, but I just don’t see it as aesthetically pleasing as Ulduar and I feel that the look and beauty of a raid is just as important as its challenge to players.

Nexus: Eye of Eternity? That’s a single room. Meh. Onyxia’s Lair? Yay, a dreary old cave. The Obsidian Sanctum? Too much damned orange/red (personal preference.) Vault of Archavon has a good look to it, but the scale of that raid is nothing compared to Ulduar. I’ll be the first to admit that Ulduar is a long drawn-out raid. It really could have been shortened to make progression through it a bit less painful. But, then again, it probably would not have been as epic, would it? Initially, I thought that the “machines” at the start of the raid were a bit silly. Isn’t this supposed to be a world of warriors, shamans, magi, paladins, hunters, and healers? Wasn’t this supposed to be a world of epic weapons, mighty armor, and wondrous spell craft items? Oh well. Progressing further into the raid opened up areas that still thrill me with their look. There’s the area for Ignis the Furnace Master with its large columns, massive fireplace and a lot of potential adds. The conservatory where Freya waits is a deceptively serene forest. Thorim’s lair is an epic arena/coliseum complete with an “audience” so-to-speak. The antechamber of Ulduar with large scale images of constellations is one of my particular favorites. This time, when I went into Ulduar, I had the opportunity to wander throughout the raid a bit and visit my favorite areas – add free. Still impressive. Still beautiful. Enjoy the pics.

Hi mom!

Our mighty heroes ready to challenge the great Algalon.



Oh the humanity! BB in a moment of prayer for his fallen comrades.



Another moment of quiet prayer.



This one in particular seems very profound to me for some reason.

One of the constellation images inside the antechamber of Ulduar and a personal favorite of mine.

Hmm...

Another Day – Another Failed Pug Run

The following post is nearly 88% true.

Ugh. Last night was a particularly miserable run. I believe I’m actually starting to understand how some of the “less-informed” players of WoW think. The random heroic brought up the Pit of Saron instance. Ok, not too difficult. Of course, this is assuming that the people you are with know boss fights, know how threat works, know class mechanics, etc. Oh, how ignorance is pure bliss! Actually, ignorance is more like drinking just a bit too much alcohol – the initial effect is pleasing, but the aftereffects are just a really bad headache. I would have thought that, if very few in a group don’t understand a particular boss fight, or maybe they don’t understand the mechanics of some of the more challenging “trash” mobs, those individuals should, at the least, start to learn those things through trial and error. Hell, I’m even willing to sit and type out as best as I can a detailed explanation of the fight – no matter how long it would take. But, as was the case in the heroic Pit of Saron last night, it’s more like trial and keep-making-the-same errors will be the standard one should come to expect from bad pugs.

So, let me just point out that what I’ve learned has been though extensive field study. More research will be needed to confirm my findings, but I may be able to explain some of the more mysterious, bizarre behavior exhibited by pugs. What I’ve learned can be best described as a sequence. This process is a series of steps that many pugs experience when attempting a challenging instance. Starting with the first reaction, I’ll demonstrate the process that many pugs follow from first entering the LFG dungeon finder right up to the point when a pug leaves the party. First, whenever a well-geared tank leads a group through a challenging instance, pugs can become very insecure, particularly if that tank can match or outperform a pug’s dps. When faced with this performance, pugs will often lash out at anything they feel they can take one-on-one – which can be practically anything that happens to be hostile to the pug or to other party members. This is known as the “Dps E-peen effect” wherein a pug sees his/her dps lower than or matched by the tank, and thinks to himself/herself, “Oh noes! My deeps isn’t the highest in group! I must attack something else and unleash my rawr to raise it! I MUST!” This is a common trait among most anthropoids but it can lead to behavior that is harmful to the pug.

To address this, most team leaders will resort to marking targets to identify a specific “kill order” to help prevent pugs from pulling threat and possibly killing themselves. My studies have shown that this will do no good at all. The reasons for this aren’t too complex but a quick, simplified answer will be the immediate thought the pug will have once marks are introduced, “A skull! That means that it’s important! I must avoid hitting skull and probably ‘X’ so that I don’t get one-shotted and my deeps goes down! Therefore, I must hit anything that isn’t marked! I MUST!” The correct term for this is the “Unknown kill order” reaction. This is normal, and indeed, should be expected by group leaders.

A natural response by most group leaders would be to try to explain the concept of threat buildup and management. The intricacies of threat and dps will most likely be alien to the pug. One should expect statements from pugs such as, “Omen Threat Meter? Will that help my deeps?” This is known as the “Manage your threat” response and is indigenous to all competent group leaders. Despite their best efforts, even the best group leader or tank will often have difficulty helping pugs understand threat, and how not-managing it can lead to premature character death. Premature character death or PCD is a common problem among pugs. But there are resources available that can help. It’s at this point where the pug’s insecurities can become a real issue socially. This is usually the point that will make or break a pug. Pugs that are capable of learning will begin to demonstrate traits that show responsible behavior such as: keeping threat below the tank’s level, avoiding threat-building AoE abilities, and waiting patiently for a tank to generate enough threat before using hard-hitting abilities that can cause major threat buildup. Other, less-skilled pugs will continue down the process this article is describing.

The next step in that process is defined as the “Berate your teammates” action. This is where the uninformed, and un-teachable, pug lashes out again, only this time towards his/her teammates. Statements such as, “L2tank noob” and “Noob healer Y didnt U heal me” are so common during this action that one could argue that it’s deemed mandatory by the pug. Please note that the contraction in the latter statement may not be available to some pugs and the statement would be revised as, “Noob healer Y U not heal me.” It’s theorized that the pug may not even realize what he/she is saying at this point. Perhaps this is instinctual behavior. It is usually at this point that the pug will often quickly progress through the final phases in this overall process.

The “Acceptance” phase is the point where a team leader will realize and accept that the pug is beyond help. No amount of explanation, regardless of how simple the process was kept, will help the pug understand the problems he/she is facing. Additionally, it is at this point that the pug is more properly referred to as “fail pug.” This is a more accurate description of the individual’s abilities. The following “Separate” and “Search” phase can be described as two phases but in application can appear concurrently. It is the point in this process where separation occurs from either the pug(s) removing themselves from the group, or more commonly, the group removes the pug themselves, followed immediately by the searching phase. The searching can have a double meaning; one description for the pug and another description for the group. The group begins their search for a suitable replacement for the recently removed pug and the pug begins his/her search for another group, and starts this process over again.

The overall process is as follows:

1. Deeps e-peen effect
2. Unknown kill order reaction
3. Manage you threat response
4. Berate your teammates action
5. Acceptance of pug failure aftermath
6. Separate fail pug from group reflex
7. Search for new pug outcome

While this process is still being studied, it may ultimately lead to a better understanding of pug thought processes and behaviors. Again, more field study may be required and this process may become a “living” document. That is, the steps shown might not be absolute. Careful study could prove to show that each step is fluid and may lead to other steps not yet known. To help better understand this process, we can label it with an acronym that would best describe it to others. Let’s call the process – D.U.M.B.A.S.S. It is hoped that this article will be beneficial to all pugs interested in improvement as well as a benefit to all fledgling tanks or group leaders. Once one understands D.U.M.B.A.S.S. one will surely understand fail pugs. Hopefully, understanding D.U.M.B.A.S.S will give novice and maybe even experienced group leaders some ideas or techniques in handling fail pugs in future instances. Thank you.

Ok, yeah. I know I probably seem like some elitist. And I know all pugs are not that bad. This is just another attempt at some creative writing. Well, writing made to look a bit scientific. Hope you enjoyed. :-P

BB