Blackbear Who?

So when did it all start out? What was the reason I started playing WoW (World of Warcraft)? Well, it actually started before WoW was even created. My very first mmorpg I ever played was called: U.O. (Ultima Online). I’ve enjoyed playing video games for a long time. Actually, my very first video game was Pong! Well, I guess I’ve given away a hint about my age. I’ve never actually enjoyed rpg’s (role-playing games) that much. Most that I tried out were always boring to me. And initially, I thought that U.O. was no different. I’ve tried earlier versions of Ultima prior to the U.O. game. In my opinion, big on content, not much on actual game play. But, oddly enough, the person that convinced me to try out U.O. was an older gentleman that I worked with in a good-sized machine shop. I seriously couldn’t believe it! Here was a guy; his youngest son was away at college. He was a grandfather. And he is an avid U.O. player! How ridiculous! But, as he explained to me, I started to realize that he’s not at all interested in the content, he likes to play against other players, also known as pvp (player-vs-player.) Not knowing much about online games in general, much less the jargon, I asked him how it worked. I became intrigued as he explained to me the mechanics behind the game and how he and his “guild” pvp. I’m not a big fan of rpg’s in general, but the team-play pvp aspect of this game caught my attention. So, I decided to give it a shot. I’m fairly certain that there was a ‘free-trial run’ for a limited amount of online time; otherwise I probably would not have bothered. But, as I began to play the game a little at a time a picture of this game started to form. I realized this game has an enormous “world” to explore. There’s quite a lot that I need to learn very quickly if I want to be successful at this game. And, online geeks are still geeks. I use that term (“geek”) with no meanness. In fact, it wouldn’t bother me at all if someone else considered me the same. But, back to geek-dom; one of the first encounters I had with my player and another online player was – awkward. I was learning how to operate my character, understanding just simple game mechanics such as movement, and I was approached by another player. Not knowing what to say I typed “Hi” in chat. The player responded, “Hail, friend! And well met!” I laughed and replied, “Male, phlegm! And Snackwells!” It did occur to me that the same type of individuals that: enjoy wearing rubber “Spock” ears, know all about the practical applications of in-game spell crafting, and can verify the “technical” data of most dragons in the world, would also play this game. But, I soon found out, that U.O. had a wide range of people that enjoy playing it. There was Thaddeus, the mage, a step-father, electrician, and maintenance supervisor and one of my earliest “online friends” in the game. Also, Morbus, the warrior, with his heavy “from-da-Bronx” accent, a retail salesman and leader of one of the guilds I eventually became a part of. And of course, my co-worker, Otheo, a treasure hunter and real-life fellow machinist.

It was another co-worker, several years after I quit playing U.O. that introduced me to the World of Warcraft game. I knew just a little about this game. When the first WoW game released, I decided against trying to participate. At the time, the computer I had was low-end and probably could only barely manage to operate the game. I was familiar with the Warcraft games and thought of the mmorpg version as a phony “knock-off” of the original. I said, “That game’s only there because Blizzard wants to make money off of a monthly membership subscription fee.” Indeed, from the massive member subscription base that Blizzard now boasts (11 million + subscribers,) it would be hard to argue against that point. Additionally, by the time I stopped playing U.O., I became fed-up with the mmorpg experience. It’s important to remember that U.O. had many unexpected side effects from “in-game” mechanics. Severe exploitive problems with “bots” that gather in-game resources or duplicate them and the subsequent problems with in-game economy caused by that, issues with in-game social interaction, an aging gaming platform, and a perceived standoff-ish approach by Origin towards dealing with these problems, all of these challenges with the game eventually drove my decision to angrily call it quits after about a year and a half of playing. Basically, I did not want to go through another U.O. experience. And despite the fact that I’ve been playing WoW for just over two years (I think,) I am still cautious about the game. I actively watch closely the game patch updates to be expected from the next game patch. Although now, I can honestly say that I’m eagerly awaiting the next expansion. After some persistent persuasion by my co-worker, I agreed to try out WoW through a trial account. I will admit, initially I was floored with the graphics, the sound, and even the music for the game. I also remember the ease of interacting with the game. I remember the first flying mount ride I took from Westfall to Stormwind. I couldn’t believe how smoothly the game operated between “realms.” Granted, Stormwind could be a bit laggy but that’s to be expected. The view of the landscape was amazing, especially when flying. I even realized that the “sun” sets and the nighttime darkness will settle in while you’re playing. I quickly learned a bit about the game mechanics and decided to continue. My very first character is the one I have listed on this page with a link to the wow armory character sheet. Blackbear is my main character and a human warrior. At the time, Burning Crusade content had been out for awhile and the level cap was at 70. I really didn’t understand much about the different “specs” so I started out with protection spec. I soon realized that a prot spec warrior was painfully slow to level so I switched my spec to fury – and never looked back. I now have fury as my primary spec and prot as my secondary spec. At one point, my secondary spec was arms, mostly for pvp. While I enjoyed it some, I soon realized that prot pvp is just too much fun to pass up. At the time of this writing it has not yet taken a soon-to-be-expected nerf from the warbringer talent, so, it’s still very fun. Recently I decided to adjust BB’s secondary spec to a pve prot (player-vs-environment) spec rather than pvp prot but I still pvp as often as I can. As a fury spec warrior, I usually don’t get a lot of epic loot from raids that are meant for tanks; unless all present tanks already have a particular gear piece that drops, then I can pick it up for an off-spec. But I am fairly well geared for a fury spec warrior. And, with pve prot I can easily get into pugs (pick-up-group) for random instances either regular or heroic. And with a more robust pve spec, I have a much easier time of tanking heroic instances for those OH-SO-ENDEARING pugs.

Note: Caps can sometimes = sarcasm.