Love that screenshot. ’nuff said.

One of the many deathnugget’s I’ve played around with, trying to find the right race-Death Knight-combo for me.  This particular character has long since gone the way of the Dodo, but the screenshot will preserve! I love the orc gals. But, let’s just say, there’s a reason the first thing I send any DK is a dark t-shirt made by my AH mule. Seriously Blizzard. Belly free plate mail?!

PS: Can you guess where it is?

Or at least a cross-server friendlist with the ability to whisper.

My friends just started playing WoW this weekend – and unfortionally on a different server than me.  They’ve got lowbies on my home server, I’ve got one on theirs and if we want to play together we just do. No problem, right?

But I want to chat with them while I on my main! Alt-tabbing out of WoW to type in AIM is annoying and often enough deadly, and my current connection would break down under ventrilo.

And while we are at “Wünsch dir was”, I also want a mentor system: The ability to temporary downgrade a character while grouping/mentoring a bunch of lowbies. Seriously, I want to take my main! That’s more fun than having to make yet another alt in order to join friends.

I’m not often complaining about WoW, it’s currently my favourite game, but Blizzard’s dropped the ball here. Mentoring is implementable, see City of Heros; Blizzard already can downgrade gear according to level, see heirlooms; we already can whisper and communicate cross-server, see the dungeon finder; cross-server ignore WORKS – So why we don’t we have neither a cross-server friendlists nor a mentoring system?

Blizzard, get cracking.

After some kerfluffle regarding blogging and his old guild, Tamarind over at Righteous Orbs made blogger-and-blog-reader guild called  < Single Abstract Noun >, which is pretty much open invite for everyone interested in blogging or reading blogs. Mainly a social guild, it accepts alts and stuff.

Long Story short, I rolled yet another belf pally alt (this time called Siendes) and joined. Having a guild chat full of nice and chatty people is *fun*¹. Like Tamarind himself I’m not sure if it’s going to be a stable guild or will eventually taper off, but I like it and I’ve met a whole bunch of people; bloggers I admire (like Tamarind! *swoon) and other incredible folk.

If you’d like to join, get the guild’s Horde on Argent Dawn, EU; the guild rules are as follows:

Anybody with even the vaguest passing interest in the blogging community is welcome – which is why it’s a blogging communities guild, not a bloggers’ guild.

Single Abstract Noun is a pantocracy – which means, not only that pants are encouraged, but it’s rule by all. The guild belongs to all who belong to it.

Use the guild however you like, as a meeting place, for conversation, for running the occasional dungeon, have a million alts, have a single character, whatever you like.

There are no rules about respecting other people because GODDAMN IT I’M TAKING THAT AS READ.

Leave your wowcock in the stand by the door.

So, if you want, join us! Every member of < Single Abstract Noun > can invite. :)

But it’s kind of unavoidable, so prepare for it.

At least we seems to outnumber those smelly Alliance on my home realm, so I’m not getting the worst of it. I wouldn’t have chosen a PvP server on my own, but my leveling buddy is there, and well… You go where your friends are. At least I do.

It taught me alot, too, even if I’d prefered to not learn in this way.

1. Keep mana and health always topped off.
   People jump you when you’re the weakest. On that note – those stacks of water and food? You’ll need alot of them.
2. Don’t sit down!
   If you’re sitting on your arse and someone attacks you, the attacks will autocrit. Pay attention when you eat/drink.
3. Avoid going AFK in plain view.
   Hide in a cranny or nook if you can, or better yet,  log out or hearth when possible. Or find a place where the NPC guards are strong enough to keep those griefing level 80s away.
4. If the area allows flight, look up regulary!
   Swooping down and just smashing you is a beloved tactic by all kinds of people out for a fight. I’ve done it too.
5. Pay attention to the world around you!
   You can move the camera without moving your character and thus give the impression of being harmless prey while actually watching your surrounding. ¹
6. Keep a buddy close to you.
   Doesn’t keep those the giggling 80s from laying waste to you, but there’s something to be said for safety in numbers. First, four eyes see more than two and second you can aid each other against same-level enemies. Bonus points if your buddy can rez you. And a cookie if you have two rez-capable toons.
7. World PvP can be fun.
   ROFLstomping the guy who overestimated himself and attacked me? That makes me giggle. And the thrill of finally killing an enemy player after he attacked me and delivered a long hard fight? It’s exhilerating. And hunting down the ideot who dared to kill your buddy is… Satisfying. Even if I lose, having put up a fight feels good.  ²
8. For THE HORDE!
   Funny how that goes. I always thought faction loyality was pretty stupid, but that changed quickly – I just got burned too often when I ignored an enemy player, went on with my own goals  and got attacked from behind. There’s no communication behind horde and alliance and banking on the goodwill of other players is stupid.
   On a plus side, I now finally understand why people get so riled up over sports teams or operation systems.
9. If it’s red it’s dead.
   My “aw, don’t hurt them! They’re people too!” approach to players of the other faction withstood three (3) incidents of ganking and corpse camping.
   The result is that I, too,  go after alliance players while giggling like a madwoman³.  I still don’t like picking off enemy players of a much lower level than me, there’s no honour in it (literally); but if I want that mining node  s/he is going after? Tough luck. It’s MINE.
10. Corpse Camping is evil.
    Speaking of which, don’t do it, please. But if you get corpse camped, that’s what alts are for. My auction house mule always has stuff to do, so I just go and do something else for a bit. Or call in friends if I can. Still, it PISSES ME OFF, and that’s most likely the intent behind this behavior.
11. Shaman reincarnation? FTW.
12. Pally-bubble? FTW. I love bubble hearth!
13. Avenger’s shield? FTW! WHACK!
14. I suck at hunter pvp.

To summarize:

There’s not much you or me can do against skull-level gankers besides transfering to a pve realm or keeping a level 80 bodyguard around. But still, it’s worth to pay attention and learn how to do some basic pvp just to be able put up a fight against an equal or even superior foe.

And sometimes? Sometimes putting up a fight instead of dying while helpless flailing around can cause wanna-be gankers to commit suicide by stupidity.  My baby-pally and her pocket healer got their first honor kill on a Dumb Drenai Deathknight when they were a little bit over level 40. Hilarity ensued.

On that note: City Guards are great.