Told you Dela just barely passed hers…

These days, if you’d tell me I’d delete every character but one, I’d choose Samus without hesitation. Okay, not-having a bank alt might be a little bit annoying, but between my upgraded slave and my way-too-expensive-but-incredible-useful-dalaran-teleport I could make work, even if I’d had to splurge for the next step of bigger bags.

I’d actually be relieved if I were forced to make such a choice – but that’s just an artifact of how my mind works.

A pattern.

I really enjoy trying new things and starting over fresh, which neatly explains my flottillia of alts – and all the other projects and strange things I started working at. But no matter whant it is, eventually the new-thing-smell wears off and then I either find out it’s not that interesting – which is absolutly fine – or I get the urge attain mastery¹ in the new thing.

Then I have a important decision to make.

Either I commit my ressources (the time, attention and money I’m currently spending on ther projects) to make this shiny thing grand as it can be or I stop and destroy the current progress, so that I can go back to my other projects without baggage.

There’s no middleground, because the middleground means twaddling around and being undecided, which means I pay attention to something I’m not fully willing to do, which just adds stress to my life and that’s just fracking stupid. If it’s not a clear “yes” it has to be a “no”, simply because I’ve got too much on my plate to deal with maybes².

It’s just how things work for me and since it got me ToC and my art and my job, my university degree and my collection of Terry Pratchett books this system is making me really happy – at least now that I figured out how it works and stopped hating myself for not being able to do everything that caught my fancy.

And neglected alts are, at least for me, the sign of that important decision delayed.

This is why having an neglected alt³ around is driving me batty. An unplayed alt is stressing the into the same part of my brain that insists on a totally empty email inbox, punctually paid bills, decisions neatly made and a desktop that only contains screen, mouse and keyboard, a phone and maybe a potted plant for decoration⁴. Everything else needs to be either in use right now or to be hidden in a drawer.

Half-done stuff is setting my alarmbells off.

Keeping a char raid-ready takes time, just like keeping up-to-date with all the changes to your choosen spec. I enjoy doing it for exactly one character, it’s fun to prod specs and gearing choices, but heavens above, I do not want to repeat that stuff.

It’s not necessary to choose “nuke them from orbit”, though. It would be relieving, but all I’d accomplish is that I reroll yet another batch of alts. Besides, between bankers and additional profession slots, having a small army of alts has definite advantages – I do want to keep them around, but I will not continue to handle them like I currently do.

Decisions made.

First:

I decided against going for a level capped toon of every class on my server – it would be an interesting thing to do, but there are classes I just do not enjoy to play. I’d rather master those classes I enjoy instead of playing those that bore me.

Second:

Barring a main-switch, only Samus will be purposefully brought to level cap. If hitting the cap happens on my alts, fine, but I won’t chase after that number. I enjoy leveling too much to just barge through it.

Third:

I’m gonna stop obsessing about achivements. Because a) getting all off them is nigh impossible, especially there’s little interest in achie hunting in my guild and b) . I’m still going to pick them up whenever I see an oppertunity to do so – hey, collecting things is fun and achies won’t clutter my flat! – but I won’t definitivly not be tethered to a certain toon just because she’s got the achies.

Fourth:

I’ll chose a main for cata. I do not know yet if it will be my paladin, my deathknight or my warrior (who’d most likely turn into an orc for this). I love the pally skill-graphics – shiny! – but I vastly prefer  playing orc over playing bloodelf  and while the tauren gals are kinda cute, playing one tends drives me up to the wall simply because they feel so slow.

Which toon’ll be most fun to play?

I cannot answer that until patch 4.0 hits. The paladin class alone has been gutted and patched together again and I won’t know if I like the new paladin until I try it. And if the tight twitchyness of the DK’s goes away, the fun of playing an orc will outweigh the fun of playing a pally.

Interestingly, a fourth option regarding mains has opened vor me yesterday: Some of my friends plan a raiding group alliance side, and concentrating on that might be worthwhile, too. I’d get to raid with people I actually regulary see! And I like the more serene feel of the Alliance, even if I hate the soulless stares of the human toons.

There we go.

Angst averted.

In the end it’s just a “keep things mostly as they are”, but I turned my attitude from “I don’t have enough time to do all off it” into “I decided to do these things exactly that way”. Maybe a miniscule change, but enough to switch my attitude from stressed by not-enough-time bug into happy and in control.

And if I’ve learned one thing in the last five years it’s that attitude matters. WoW was just the latest instance I encountered that particular life-lesson.

Now if Blizzard would just finally give us the oppertunity to sort characters on the log in screen…

So… There’s that butt-ugly fountain in Dalaran in which you can fish. It’s probably just there to entertain people waiting for their raids to start, but you have a chance to fish up coins with wishes of major and minor lore-characters of WoW.  I like reading those coins. Many are funny, some are injokes and others are heartbreaking, especially if you know a little about the lore of the games¹.

And since catching all those also give achivements, Samus has found herself fishing in that damn fountain more than she’d like – So much that I actually started to thinking about what my own characters² would write on their coins, were they able to throw one in.

And what’s a blog for if not for sharing random brain-farts?

Samus, tankadin:
May Silvermoon be restored to all its glory one day.

Chally the bow-pewpew:
For the autumn woods and my loyal companions: May we have a long, good hunt.

Rhii the tanking cow:
I wish people would stop staring at me.

Dela the Deathnugget:
Learn, move and never forget. I WILL find peace.

Desie the banker:
Money, my dear! MWAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH!

Nette the lock:
I want a better pony. NOAW.

Dandra the troll-priestie:
By the Loas, stop STANDING IN FIRE, DAMNIT!

Cass the druid:
Does Malfurion Stormrage lose his antlers when the winter comes?

Aulell, the spacegoat:
I’d like our pilots to get better at piloting. I’m still dizzy from that crash.

What would you write on a wish-coin?