A Lone Orc In The Mountains

25 Achievements

2011-06-09T11:51:00.004+01:00

On 8th June 1986, at 11.33pm, Susan Harrison gave birth to her fifth and final child. She and her husband, Stephen Harrison, were delighted with the latest bundle of joy, and couldn't wait to take him home and introduce him to the rest of the family.

There was just one problem. They couldn't agree on a name.

Stephen had always thought Edward would make a fine name for a son. The child already hated and would continue to hate the name Edward for the next 25 years (though could not communicate this on the day of his birth). His mother, always with his best interests at heart (as she would continue to remind him for the next 25 years) called him David, and that was that.

They continued to argue over the name for 6 weeks, but Susan had been calling him David the entire time, and he had clearly been a David all along. As a begrudging compromise, they settled on the name David Edward Harrison.

That was 25 years ago.

And so, in the spirit of a quarter-century celebration of life, here are 25 achievements of 25 years:

1986 - I was born. Pretty miraculous if you ask me.

1987 - I learned to walk. Hmmm... perhaps "escape" is a better way to put it?

1988 - I learned to talk. Biggest mistake of my parents lives. They would say I learned to "answer back".

1989 - I learned to control my bladder. It's an achievement and I'm sticking to it!

1990 - I learned how to read. A lot of learning going on. Damn that developmental psychology.

1991 - I learned how to write. And how I loved to write. :)

1992 - I survived my parents' divorce. It wasn't that difficult for me - I was distracted by gifts and treats and days out. It was actually an awesome time to be a 6 year old.

1993 - I moved to Warwick. The uprooting could have been traumatic, but again, being so young I think I adjusted pretty well.

1994 - I was Baptised and Confirmed into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by my father. Some people might wonder why I'm putting this here. At the time, it was really important to me, and to this day I'm still grateful I did it. I wouldn't be the person I am today without my upbringing in the church, no matter how awfully it ended.

1995 - I was the lead in my school's production of The Gingerbread Man. In my memory, I rocked it. In reality, I'm sure it's a train-wreck.

1996 - I took the 11+ exam to attend a local grammar school, and passed.

1997 - I started secondary school at King Edward VI Grammar, Stratford. God, what a shitty time that was... The achievement here was enduring.

1998 - I was given the Aaronic Priesthood by my step-father, and passed the Sacrament for the first time. It meant a lot to me and my family at the time.

Not much happened in 1999 / 2000, but the years that follow more than make up for it in events!

2001 - I realised that I'm gay. It probably should have been obvious long before this point, but oh well!

2002 (I) - I left K.E.S. forever and started sixth form at Myton School!

2002 (II) - I was in the cast of the school's production of Les Miserables, in Thenardier's gang - and also in the chorus.

2003 - I came out to my parents. It was not brave, it was stupidity. I should have waited until I left home, and had a safe place where I could retreat. I got through it, though.

2004 (I) - I passed my A levels, got into Middlesex University, and left home.

2004 (II) - I helped raise money for The Joshua Foundation, and went to Australia where we completed a conservation project.

2005 - I lost my virginity. Proud moment.

2006 - I started kickboxing and worked my way up to Green Belt. I also received an award for "Most Improved Student" during my yellow belt grading.

2007 - I graduated from Middlesex University with BSc (Honours) Psychology 2:1. Self-proclaimed Show Off.

2008 - I got my first graduate job at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability as an Occupational Therapy Assistant.

2009 - I applied and was successfully accepted onto the MA Professional Writing course at London Metropolitan University.

2010 - I graduated from London Met with MA Professional Writing (Pass with Merit). One of the best years of my life. I learned so much and gained so many skills and enjoyed every second of it.

I still can't believe so much has happened and so much time has passed. I'm so grateful for everyone who has supported me and believed in me. Thank you all so much.

Here's to the next 25 years!

The Reef, The Eye, and The Forum

2011-06-06T13:42:00.008+01:00

For Kristina.


From Left to Right: Jeanie, Tony, Rachael, Chris, Kristina, Me and Kat

Middlesex University was an experience that only those who were there can truly appreciate. It had quirk, charm and very entertaining characters, for no other reason than we found it very entertaining to make fun of them.

To this day I remember the shrill cries of the Essex-born shop assistant screaming "HAM AND CHEESE PANINI!!!!" at the top of her lungs; the fact that the building was previously occupied by a mental health hospital; and the fact that the university housed lecturers who were often more drunk than the students.

Between classes, students and lecturers alike would congregate in The Forum, a large open space room with a bar, a "newsagent" style shop and a sandwich shop. This also happened to be the venue for social events at the campus, including the weekly "nightclub" event, Half-Time.

There are no words that can adequately describe this evening, but I shall make an attempt.

Girls who wore nothing but belts at their waist and their chest were somehow completely immune to the cold and guys would dress up in schoolboy outfits when no one had declared "school disco" attire. The music was a selection of the most dire cheese imaginable and for some reason, old-school film and television theme tunes (the favourite of course being The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). Snakebite (Beer and Blackcurrant) was the drink of choice as it was always the cheapest, and always on offer, and the bathrooms were usually splattered with tinges of red for various reasons...

The "Dance" students would push people aside to complete choreographed routines that nobody cared about. Honestly, they thought they were from Fame, we thought they were from Uranus. Choosing to ignore or mimic them behind their backs became a sport. It was like they were auditioning for invisible talent scouts who never arrived. It was a sight to behold.

All this taken into account, it was actually a really fun night out. Enjoying it for what it was, the "it's so bad it's good" philosophy fit it perfectly.

The last night of my first year was bittersweet. We were going to Half-Time, all of us together - but after that we would be going our separate ways for the summer. No one was staying behind, as we had all been in halls of residence, and were planning to return in September for our house shares.

As such, Half-Time became a huuuuge deal. Birthday celebrations were falling before and after the event, so combining all this together, the night needed to be Epic. Being typical students, the plan was to get completely wasted on cheap alcohol before even attending the event, as student loans were running low at the end of the year.

I, at the time, was obsessed with Reef. I loved it. I would drink nothing but the brightly coloured alco-pop, my favourite flavours being Red and Green. It is never advisable to select a drink where the flavour is a colour. I bought a 12-pack of Red Reef cheap from Tescos, planning to down as many as I could before we left. I think I got through three-quarters of the pack myself, handing out two or three to friends who had asked for one.

Being a total lightweight - I was nothing short of completely trollied. Swaying as I walked, I'm surprised I was able to get to Half-Time, let alone allowed in. The night is a complete blur to me now, I cannot remember what happened while I was there. The aftermath, however, is fresh in my memory.

We arrived back at halls together, saying our good-nights in the hallway and going to our separate flats. However, instead of going into my flat, I decided it would be an awesome idea to lie outside the door and have a nap. Truly Awesome. I awoke half an hour later (perfectly accepting of the fact that I had chosen to sleep 10 feet away from my bed as though it had been a good idea) to the sound of noise coming from downstairs.

Someone had come home.

I bolted into my flat and shut the door, attempting to pretend that I wasn't still far too drunk for my own good, and that I was perfectly capable of maintaining a semblance of control over my actions. I resolved to take out my contact lenses, and go to bed.

Now, I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but after I took out my contact lenses, my memory of taking out my contact lenses was completely wiped. Putting the lenses case in the wall cabinet, I immediately took the case back out again.

This is where my logic failed me, because everything that I did made perfect, rational sense, except for the fact that I had already taken out my lenses. A fact I had completely forgotten. I began the process of removing my lenses again. I pinched my eyeball several times, very sharply, in an attempt to grip a lens that wasn't there.

I was horrified. I wasn't feeling any pain whatsoever. In my head, that meant the lens was still in my eye. There was no way I could grab my eye the way I was grabbing it without feeling incredible pain if I was touching my eye directly. Of course, I didn't consider the fact that I was so drunk that I literally felt no pain.

My lens is still in my eye.

I then looked in the mirror, and realised that I couldn't see.

My lenses are still in my eyes, and I can't see.

It all made sense, even though it made no sense at all. If I was wearing my contact lenses, but couldn't see, and couldn't take them out, then...

"I'M BLIND!!!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"I'M BLIND! I'M BLIND! I'M BLIND!"

I had already removed most of my clothes, but with a total disregard for my pride or dignity, I bolting into the hallway, still screaming "I'M BLIND!" and slamming against the doors of my flatmates.

It took three people to calm me down. Running into the hallway to see what the fuss was about, one of them grabbed me to stop me from hitting the doors and the walls, and I settled onto the floor, my hands over my eyes, and started rambling.

"Are my lenses in the case? Are they there? Where are they?"

My flatmates, highly skilled in deducing drunken inaccuracies, were in 2 minutes able to clarify that I was in fact not blind, just short-sighted, and very, very drunk. I was guided back to bed where I was literally tucked in by my housemates, and fell instantly asleep.

This, apparently, was not enough of a punishment for my drunkenness, oh no. Half way through the night, the contents of my binge-a-thon decided they were not at all happy to remain in my system. I was still dizzy, and still drunk, and still unable to completely control my actions. As I ran haphazardly to my bathroom, I threw myself down at the toilet. As I went to be sick, my head collided with the rim of the toilet, which had the unfortunate reaction of making me recoil onto my back, where I was spectacularly sick all over myself.

I woke up in the morning on my bathroom floor, covered in vomit and nursing an ugly red dent in my forehead.

It was safe to say that I would never again drink Reef, from that point onwards...

My Story: The Spider

2011-04-09T22:30:00.001+01:00

This post was originally written for "My Story" on 22/07/2010.

I just tortured a spider to death.

I didn't just squash it into a pain-minimising instant toilet-paper ball of death, I tortured it. I don't know how it happened... but it was traumatising.

Now, before you get all "YOU KILLED ONE OF GOD'S CREATURES" on me, I would like to point out that God did not create the spider. Nowhere in the Bible does it mention the spider and it mentions the cow, the serpent and all the other animals that Noah transported on his Arc.

I think God made the Earth and all the animals and plants, turned his back for five minutes and then things like spiders just materialised fully formed to mess everything up. By the time God came back from his Seventh Day Siesta, Adam and Eve were already off gallivanting in the woods.

So then God was like, "Oh crap... guess I can't do anything about it now!"

And that was the birth of the spider.

Anyway... back to reality...

So I woke up randomly and walked into the bathroom. I sat down (why do people even bother standing up?), and scuttling across the bath was an enormous, ugly, disgusting, venomous spider of doom.

I am not exaggerating.

I almost screamed in horror, clasping my hands over my mouth like a safety mechanism. The spider was vile - but, I saw an opportunity. Instead of going to hassle of balling up some toilet-paper, and attempting to hunt down and get within inches of this evil force of reckoning, and pounce on it like it was a prized tiger in the wild - I decided to use the elements against it.

I drowned it.

Pushing the bath taps to full velocity, the spider was overwhelmed by waves of water. He fought bravely against the tide, but the current was too strong. He crumpled up under the water (ew), and swirled down the drain.

Problem solved... or so I thought.

Getting up several hours later, I decided to wake up properly with a nice shower. So I walked into the bathroom, and what did I find?

That's right - the spider; exactly where I had left it, as though the previous incident had never even happened. The spider leered at me; taunting me with its superior survivability skills. I mean seriously - if I had been trampled by that scale of water I would not have survived.

This is greater evidence to the fact that spiders are evil.

I don't know where the thought came from... but at that moment - I snapped. I turned to the sink to see what greater force I could use to destroy this foul beast.

What I did next was possibly the most cruel thing I have ever done to another living thing in my life, because as I turned to the sink, I happened upon a giant bottle of Listerine.

Listerine, for those who don't know, is a dental mouthwash with the acidity of... something really REALLY acidic. To hold it in your mouth for more than 30 seconds is to do permanent damage to the inside of your mouth.

I poured it over the spider.

I wasn't in a sound frame of mind at this point, I had just got up, and the spider had it coming! It TAUNTED me for God's sake. But I hadn't really thought about what would happen if I did this...

The spider put up a good fight at first, not realising the difference between water and pure acid, knowing only that "liquid = bad". But as the effects of the Listerine began to set in, it was clear that the spider was not prepared for this alien substance.

At first he tried to skate against the surface of the pool of blue liquid, but with eight legs who did he think he was kidding? He fell body-first into the mouthwash, and did not completely emerge. His legs kicked furiously against it, willing himself to get away from the hell I was inflicting on him. And then the only movement I could see were from two legs, still above the Listerine, twitching madly. The spider was having a fit.

It was actually disturbing.

And it still wasn't dead.

I began to realise how much I was torturing this fiend even though he totally deserved it. I also realised that if I had just been strong enough to man-up, and kill him with a ball of toilet-paper, that this whole event would have been over with.

The situation I had put myself in to avoid the brutal kill was in fact much worse.

The damned spider refused to give up. Seriously. He had more lust for life and will to survive than a country full of emo teenagers.

Finally, I gave in. I had to put him out of his misery.

I drowned him again, but this time there was no surviving.

I had won.

Choice of Toppings

2011-03-26T22:01:00.000Z

Having recently gained full-time employment, I am once again becoming aware of all the positive aspects of a regular routine.

The weekend, for one thing, has an actual meaning now. It means a chance to catch up on sleep; not be at work; do whatever the hell I want. I got so used to being able to do whatever I wanted every single day that the meaning of each day became irrelevant. And of course, I couldn't do anything I wanted because I didn't have the money to pay for it.

Friday is now eagerly anticipated, and comes around surprisingly quickly when you have a busy schedule. Pay-day is the best day of the month, with funds already earmarked for the purchases you can finally justify and afford. Bank holidays are a gift; a free pass to shorten a work week and lengthen the gloriousness of the weekend.

And today, after four weeks of employment, I have made a delightful discovery:

Choosing what to have on my pizza is currently the most difficult decision I have in my life.

I have a job in a really good team, working to make a difference in people's lives. I have a flat in London, that I can afford, where I am able to support myself. I have friends who I love and who care about me in return.

I am so incredibly lucky to have all that.

This is a reminder that in spite of the things I have been through, and all the things that I have overcome to get to this point - it is okay to be happy, it is okay to be selfish (sometimes), and it is a really great thing when your only care in the world is what to put on your pizza.

The Kindness of Strangers

2011-02-26T00:56:00.001Z

A couple of weeks ago, I travelled to London to sign my new job contract.

I was excited, ecstatic even, that everything was finally happening, and I couldn't wait to get everything sorted out so I could start my "new" life.

As I boarded the Underground to reach my destination, I realised that I was early. So early, that if I went directly to the Human Resources department, I would have to hang around for 45 minutes before my appointment.

I decided, with considerable and uncharacteristic spontaneity, to go to a local arcade that I knew at Embankment. This arcade is amazing. They have bumper cars, bowling, pool tables and a bar, as well as a host of my favourite arcade video games.

One thing you may or may not know about me, is that I used to be quite a talented Dance Dance Revolution player. It's true. I was brilliant. I did songs on expert mode just because I could. One time, I was doing one of my favourite tracks directly next to one of those "strong man" machines where you have to punch a big target as hard as you can. A man intent on impressing a group of impressionable girls who had just walked by smacked it as hard as he could and attempted to massage his bicep in a very macho way. Of course, the group of girls immediately flocked to me, strutting my stuff on the Dance Mat. It may have been a wasted victory, but it still tasted pretty sweet.

Anyway, knowing full well I hadn't done it in years, and also knowing that my fitness is not quite on par with what it had been in the past, I decided - for sentimental nostalgia - to have a go on the Dance Machine.

It was quite possibly the most humiliating and humbling display of crap I have ever performed. My legs just couldn't move like they used to. I was out of breath, I couldn't keep up, I was a total mess. By the time I had finished, I failed on my favourite song, and I could barely stand up. My knees kept buckling under me, I was covered in sweat, and getting air into my lungs felt like a challenge. I couldn't see.

The worst part is - I'm not exaggerating.

I left the arcade feeling deflated and sat my pathetic self down on the first bench I found. I didn't notice anyone around me, I couldn't focus on anything except breathing in and out, and keeping my eyes open. I honestly thought I was going to faint right there on that bench.

Although I wasn't paying attention to anyone else, someone had been paying attention to me. I had sat down next to an elderly Indian lady, and I can only imagine what she saw. A young man, sweating, pale, struggling to breathe as much as keep his eyes open, dressed in baggy clothes (I had wanted to travel comfortably) and wearing a massive trench coat. That's right, I was wearing the trench coat I got from Australia.

I must have looked like a homeless person.

And that is exactly how she treated me. As I tried to regain a level of sentient consciousness from the puddle I had turned myself into, I kept catching her looking at me with pitying eyes. After several minutes, she apparently couldn't take it anymore, and tapped me on the shoulder.

I looked over at her, to see her holding out a £5 note and gesturing that I should take it from her. The woman was literally giving me a handout.

I wasn't offended for even one moment. It was like a gift from a higher power. I didn't take the money. I kindly refused, laughed and explained that I wasn't in fact homeless, that it was very kind of her to offer, but it really wasn't necessary. I smiled politely and walked away.

But it was like - the kind of event that can restore your faith in humanity. A random act of kindness for a perceived need for no other reason than "you look like you really need this."

And all the anxiety, all the stress, and all the legitimate concerns about the path I am on, the choices I have made, and the life I am living - melted away. It was like a sign. I am being taken care of, it's all going to work out okay.

And I am forever grateful for that.

Think of the Fragments

2011-01-27T18:38:00.011Z

Once upon a time, in the far away land known as Azeroth, a Death Knight named Sigil strode into Stormwind wielding a beautiful sword. It was the most beautiful sword that any of the townsfolk had ever seen. The Death Knight was proud, striding through the streets as if she was pretending she didn't have The Epic Sword of Epicness on her back.

"Where did you find that amazing sword?!" asked one of the onlookers.

Sigil stopped and looked at the man who had questioned her, with a smug pride that could not be hidden on her face. A hushed silence fell over the followers who had gathered to stare in awe at the awesomeness.

"Archaeology," was all she said.

And thus the craze was started. Word spread quickly through Stormwind, and once it reached the docks, the whole of Azeroth, and even the dying world of Draenor, began scouring the faces of their worlds for their own epic finds.

But the Titans were angry that the inhabitants of Azeroth were defiling their creations with mining picks and survey equipment, and did everything in their power to hide the loot from the Azerothians. In secret, they removed the magical properties of Archaeology that could lead heroes to a sacred "Path of the Titans," that would allow the heroes to access a direct conduit to a Titan's power.

It became clear that epic loot would not be as easy to find as it has been for Sigil, and the Azerothians turned on her. They sent her angry whispers and demanded to know how many artifacts she had uncovered before this find. They began to jealously resent her and The Epic Sword of Epicness, and all she had ever really wanted was a staff for her Shaman companion, anyway...

Heroes found nothing more than Dwarf baby booties and Troll teeth with dirty gold fillings, they began to give up hope, and blame fell onto the Titans for hiding their creations so craftily. The Azerothians began to write a proposal, to make it clear to the Titans that they had gone one step too far to protect Azeroth.

As Sigil had The Epic Sword of Epicness, she was charged with delivering the proposal to Algalon, the Observer.

Walking cautiously through Ulduar, Sigil could feel the eyes of all the heroes burning into the back of her head as she approached the Celestial Planetarium. Algalon was stood where he had always been stood, frozen in place by the coding imprinted on him by the Titans. He did not move as Sigil approached him, but his eyes followed her as she stood in front of him and his globe.

"A-A... Algalon?" she called out to him, weakly.

He could sense her intimidation, but could not react.

"Stand back mortal. I am not here to fight you".

"Algalon..." she started again. "By order of the... uh, Azerothian Committee for the Repurposement of Archaeology for the Prosperity of the Azerothian Community, or... ACRAPAC, we hereby order you to deliver this proposal to the Titans."

"Your actions are illogical. All possible results for this encounter have been calculated. The Pantheon will receive the Observer's message regardless of outcome."

"Uh... yeah. So, you'll do it?"

She held up the paper to his frozen face and watched his eyes scan the lines.

"I do what I must".

Relieved, Sigil carefully placed the proposal on top of the globe, and slowly backed out of the room.

"Farewell, mortal. Your bravery is admirable, for such a flawed creature."

And with that - the proposal was sent to the Titans for review.

ACRAPAC Proposal

Titans, think of the fragments.

There are fragments everywhere being found and not being put to any use because there is nothing productive to use them for.

Archaeology does not follow the same logic as any of the other Secondary Professions you have created for Azeroth.

Cooking

Cooking allows you to make consumable items that restore health and mana, and provide temporary buffs, such as increase to Intellect and Stamina. It could probably most closely be compared to Alchemy.

The materials required for Cooking come from killing monsters, or fishing. This means that the profession can be a grind, but it leads to potential uses in all forms of endgame play and even while soloing and levelling.

Fishing

Fishing provides you with the skill to gather fish and other materials that can be used by other tradeskills. It is most closely compared to a gathering profession such as Skinning or Herbalism.

Fishing is a grind, but you can choose exactly where you want to go. The fish gained can be used in Cooking and Alchemy, whilst at higher levels you can also fish up Elemental items such as Primal, Crystallised and Volatile Water, which can be used by most tradeskills.

First Aid

First Aid gives you the ability to create bandages that you can use to heal yourself. The bandages can only be used once-per-minute, and are interrupted by any damage caused to you while you are using them.

The material required to make bandages is cloth, gained from killing monsters. Generally this can easily be levelled whilst you are levelling a character from the start of the game, but it can also be power-levelled by buying cloth on the Auction House, or grinding enemies of a level that drop the appropriate cloth.

All of these professions provide sustainable uses that can be utilised while soloing or in a group, whilst levelling or at endgame level.

Archaeology

Archaeology gives you the ability to survey digsites to find artifact fragments. All artifacts provide some kind of background information or "lore", whilst some can be used as high level gear, or vanity items such as pets and mounts.

Archaeology can provide a buff in specific dungeons if you have the correct Runestone to hand. Other than that, it is a grind across all the continents currently available in World of Warcraft in the hopes of discovering a handful of items that are potentially useful.

Archaeology is the only secondary profession that doesn't provide a sustainable use through levelling and endgame content for PvE and PvP players.

Suggestion

We at ACRAPAC happen to be lore lovers. We find some of the lore fascinating, particularly for dragons (- still waiting on a development in the Nozdormu storyline, just FYI). We want Archaeology to provide some good juicy lore that you can't get from anywhere else. We want it to be making "shocking" discoveries about things in the past we know nothing about, or things about stuff we thought we knew, or even potential hints to future events that have yet to happen.

We think Archaeology has the potential to do that, if you shift the focus of the profession so that it has two modes.

Survey Mode - This would be the "story" mode of Archaeology. The common artifacts you find are in a set order, or at least, in a more linear direction, and revolve around making a lore discovery related to the race you are working on.

Excavation Mode - This would be the "crafting" or buff mode of Archaeology. Using fragments that you have discovered, you can make scrolls that provide temporary buffs similar to cooking*. Or that provide one-time-use utility like teleportation*.

*ACRAPAC realises that these ideas are very similar to items already in game made by cooking or inscription. These are merely examples to illustrate how the system could work, and not expectations of a finished product.

TL;DR for Titans

There is nothing to do with common artifacts other than sell them for gold. Whilst this is being improved in the patch, there are many other more lucrative methods of making gold. These days, gold is very easy to get.

Once we've found all the artifacts available:

- We are not going to continue doing Archaeology.
- We are not going to follow the logic "let's do Archaeology for that extra 10 gold."
- We are not going to care that Dwarf babies wore booties.

So please, guys. Think of the fragments. Won't someone please think of the fragments?

We Need to Talk About Rocky

2010-12-19T20:34:00.004Z

Therazane scratched the stones cracked along the edge of her giant form, and sighed in irritation. A lesser Earth elemental was charging towards her at an urgent pace, and she immediately recognised it as one from the Surface world. She leered down at him as he propelled himself in front of her, bowing his rocky hands to the ground.

Without a word, he lifted his small stone hand and Therazane noticed a piece of paper attached to it. Ripping it from him in a swiftness unexpected for her size, the Elemental messenger was relieved of his task, and promptly burst apart and fell to the ground.

As she stared at the paper, Therazane's expression changed into a rock-toothed grin of delight.

The piece of paper was in fact a letter from Nadala the Shaman.

A champion of the Earthen Ring, Nadala had led Therazane's forces to victory against the cultists of the Twilight's Hammer, and saved Deepholm, the Elemental Realm of Earth, from destruction. She was one of the only beings from the Surface world who was still welcome in Deepholm.

The Stonemother read the letter several times.

My dearest voluptuous Therazane,

I hope my messenger finds you well, I am sorry that I am not there to attend to you in person but I have pressing matters to deal with on the Surface.

I have followed the activities of the Twilight's Hammer to a Surface area known as Twilight Highlands. I'm not sure why I didn't think to look there sooner, considering the name, but I'm here now. I'm sure you have been able to feel Azeroth's pain as Alexstrazsa and Deathwing have clashed against it.

I am writing to you to request your aid.

I fear that Deathwing's escape from Deepholm had a greater effect on the earth than we first anticipated. Even after the World Pillar was restored, a corruption of Earth still runs deep in the heart of the Elementals.

I need your help with Rocky, the Greater Earth Elemental that I can summon to aid me with my Totem. Fighting along side him, I can see how the Cataclysm has affected his heart. Whilst my experiences have made me stronger - he is weakened, slowed in spirit, and failing at his duties. I feel that he has not kept up with my strength and increased power as a Shaman.

He feels the pain of Azeroth, and I fear it is corrupting his heart.

I took him to see Nobundo, a wise and revered Shaman on the Surface, and after inspecting his stone core, he told me that Rocky needs a rock-marrow transplant. If he doesn't get one soon, the corruption will spread to his rock-blood and we'll never be able to save Rocky. He is my hero in dungeons when our own human protector is slain. He shields me from enemies that appear in groups as if from nowhere when I am lost and alone. He is my helper, my friend, my Rocky.

The way of the Shaman is not as lucrative as you might think. We're always being undercut for our talents by Magi who use their powers to generate flashy teleportation portals, or juicy delicious mana cakes that melt in your mouth when you... I've lost my train of thought.

We need help. A donation of £8.99 a month to the Blizzard Foundation for Earth Elemental Research would greatly improve Rocky's chances of getting treated.

I beseech you, great Stonemother, to do whatever you can to help poor Rocky.

Good health, long life.

Nadala of the Earthen Ring

Ripping a fragment of stone from her side, Therazane began to carve her response...

The Journey

2010-11-30T15:16:00.006Z

I've taken a break from writing, which is a shame in a way - because I have a lot I want to write. There are currently four or five new blog posts circling around in my head that are waiting to be written. They keep pecking away at my brain like ravens, but I have needed a break.

The job market is shit.

There is no other word that adequately describes the dire situation that graduates are now in. There is no hope and there is no comfort. I've been using the time to job hunt as best I can, but I've also mastered my procrastination skills. There isn't a DVD box set I haven't watched, a computer game I haven't played, a room I haven't tidied unnecessarily.

I've also used the time to think about my future.

On Thursday, I have a job interview. The job is for an Occupational Therapy Assistant position at a Forensic Mental Health facility. Before I did my Masters in Professional Writing, I was working in the same role on a Brain Injury Unit at a Neuro-Rehabilitation Hospital. It was a very challenging role in an emotionally demanding environment, and when I left to pursue writing it was with the intention to never go back to Occupational Therapy.

So, the question everyone has been asking me, and the question I am expecting to be asked in my interview is:

"Why are you applying to work in Occupational Therapy when you've just done a Masters in Professional Writing?"

When I was 14 years old, I did work experience at a local primary school. During my time there, I was told by my colleagues that I was a natural teacher. When I was 16, I became fascinated with Psychology and studied it at A-level and for my Undergradate degree. My tutors encouraged me to pursue a career as a Clinical Psychologist. Working at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability as an Occupational Therapy Assistant, my supervisor and my team believed I could be an excellent Occupational Therapist.

I have been good at a lot of the things I have tried to do. There are many things I would not be good at, but I have been lucky enough to find several things where I could be successful.

While I was working at the hospital, I had counselling for work-related stress. I wasn't coping with what I was doing and what was happening around me, and I needed help. One of the things I learnt from this experience was that I did not have a healthy work / life balance. I was working at the hospital, but I was also living there. I hadn't pushed myself to move out, or to make time for my friends, and basically everything revolved around me working at the hospital and being at the hospital all the time. In trying to take care of other people, and taking on the burden of their injuries on myself, I was not looking after myself.

I decided that even though I was good at my job, that it was not what I wanted for myself. I would have been doing it just to be good at something.

So I made a change.

I decided to do something I really enjoyed, just for the fun of it. Something that I never thought I could do realistically and make a career out of it.

I applied to do a Masters in Professional Writing.

It was so much fun, I met so many great people, I accomplished amazing things and I learnt a lot about myself. It was almost therapeutic. One of my tutors told me that I was one of the most promising writers he had seen in years. Another said that I was a "natural broadcaster," and a delight to teach. This positive reinforcement made me realise that I can have both. I can do something that I enjoy, and something that I am good at. I still have a lot to learn, and in the grand scheme of things I'm still very much a novice. But I can have both.

My manager at the hospital already knew this, and I believe she understood my path and my journey much better than I did then. Before I left she gave me a list of books, with one circled:

The Therapeutic Potential of Creative Writing.

And she told me that she believed I had the potential to do whatever I wanted.

I'm not going to even try to claim that I have that much self belief, but what she said has always stuck with me.

I am naturally good at working in an environment where I help others, because the idea of helping others is one that comes naturally to me. If someone asks me for help, I am the kind of person who does it without question. At university my best friend used to find it funny that people always seemed to come up to me and ask me for help, and that I would do it.

She would ask "Do you know that person?"

Shrugging, I would reply "No" as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

But that is the kind of person I am. And even though I chose to do something for myself, I don't want to give that up. I still want to write, but I still want to work in a job where I help people.

And I can do both.

So this is my answer:

I'm applying for an Occupational Therapy Assistant job at a Forensic Mental Health Facility because I believe it will give me the opportunity to work in an environment where I can use my creativity to help others.

Thank you for reading.

Altaholics Anonymous

2010-11-01T18:19:00.004Z

My name is David, and I'm an altaholic.

They say the first step to recovery is to admit that you have a problem. In this case, I deny the existence of a problem. In fact, being an altaholic is freakin' awesome... in a very geeky and introverted way, of course.

You see, I'm a perfectionist. I like having things set out in a certain order and in a certain way. There is a sense and purpose in total completion - and this has very much affected the way I play video games. All playable characters need to achieve the maximum level, gain all their skills, unlock all their unlockables, and... it can take quite a long time.

So when you consider this necessity within a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, such as World of Warcraft, the problem becomes having too much to do.

But I love it.

Currently, I have 5 characters (or "alts") on my main server that are all level 80 (the current maximum level). They have been levelled with the intention of having as many class, race and roll combinations as possible.

(Seriously, I'm just easing you into it - there are multiple levels of crazy under here).

The Roles

There are three primary roles in World of Warcraft (and typically in MMORPGs):

Damage Dealer

Healer

Tank

So Many Choices...

Atta is a Priest

Priests can be damage dealers by casting Shadow magic, or healers by embracing their Holy or Disciple characteristics.

Nadala is a Shaman

Shaman use the power of the elements to deal Elemental spell damage, Enhancement melee damage, or Restorative healing.

Dyrim is a Warlock

Warlocks deal Afflictions, summon Demons, and employ fire and shadow damage to rain Destruction on their enemies.

Yraen is a Druid

Druids use the Balance of nature to deal spell damage, can shape shift into Feral animal forms to deal melee damage as a cat or defend allies as a bear, and use Restorative healing magic.

Sigil is a Death Knight

Death Knights protect their allies by empowering their Blood, and can deal damage using Frost spells, or summoning Unholy ghouls to do their bidding.

So, in all that, I have the possibility to have two tanks, three healers and five damage dealers.

When someone asks "Want to come to a raid?" - my response is now always "What do you need?"

That's not to say I'm perfect in each role, and I do favour damage dealing overall - but the point is I have the choice.

"Glory to the-!" ...Wait. Who's side am I on?

In total, there are currently 10 playable classes. With the release of Cataclysm there will be a total of 12 playable races, across two factions. Both factions have different levelling and slightly varying endgame situations based on lore. The battles are the same - but the reasons for them, and the way they are approached, can be very different.

These five characters are all in the Alliance. But, I also have a level 80 Horde character:

Rydian is a Paladin

Paladins can cast Holy magic to heal allies, they can also Protect their group with a shield, and deal Retribution to their enemies.

But the main point of having this character is to experience gameplay that other people don't.

Recently, Blizzard introduced two in-game events - one for each faction - that involved taking back an important location. The Gnomes wanted Gnomeregan back, and the Trolls wanted to retake the Echo Isles. Most of my friends on the Alliance don't have Horde characters, and missed the entire Echo Isles event. This actually annoyed me in a way - because the Echo Isles quest line was actually superior to the Gnomeregan event. Both have now been removed from the game as the content moves closer to the Cataclysm - and so they will never have been able to see or be a part of the epic story.

I told you there was more crazy! But this is what being an altaholic is like.

Enter the Gatherer

Each character can have two primary professions. These allow you to craft useful items, gear, enchantments, but you are limited in what you can have on each character, and most professions require at least one "gathering" profession - that is - of the materials you need to craft the items.

With the Cataclysm expansion over a month away and Wrath of the Lich King basically over - many players are using World of Warcraft as a glorified MSN Messenger between them and their online friends. There is nothing to do.

So, ever the altaholic, I have used the opportunity to sort out my characters once and for all. I used to give each character complimentary professions. A Jewelcrafter needs mining materials, so I would give them mining. An Alchemist needs herbs to create potions, so I give them herbalism.

I recently realised that I had double the number of gatherers I needed, and was missing two or three other professions entirely as a result. I went to work.

Yraen - the druid - can use an ability called Flight Form. Turning into a bird, he can still use other abilities such as herbalism, without breaking the form. It also increases movement speed. Because of this, I have given him both Mining and Herbalism - the two main gathering professions.

Without over dramatising - it has totally changed my life.

I used to hate gathering. I saw it as a nuisance. We give nuisance names to the tasks, like grinding or farming - laborious terms that fit the annoyance of having to do something that doesnt' feel like play - and feels a lot more like work.

Having one character with both professions is such a time saver. I can track both mining nodes and herb plots on my minimap, see where everything can spawn, and I can take it all in half the time. It's satisfying, because there are so many nodes near to each other, but of mining and herbalism materials, I spend more time farming than I do searching.

And because of this, I have been able to completely streamline my other professions.

Sigil has Jewelcrafting and Engineering - both mining related - so I just send all mining materials to Sigil.

Dyrim has Alchemy and Inscription - both herbing related - so I just send all herbalism materials his way.

Atta has Tailoring and Enchanting. Cloth is gathered from all characters so I just send it all to Atta, and then the gear that I make can be disenchanted into enchanting materials. In essence - tailoring is the gathering profession for enchanting.

This has left me room to have two other professions on Nadala. Previously, she had Mining and Jewelcrafting, which meant I had no room for Leatherworking, Skinning or Blacksmithing - and would have had to level another character altogether if I wanted these professions.

This goes totally against The Master Plan (revealed shortly), and was very unproductive. As a Mail wearer, Leatherworking and Skinning seemed like the right choice.

The only profession currently in game that I do not have to the maximum level is Blacksmithing. Sigil is the only character I have who would get use from this, and as he gets all the mining materials anyway, I can simply get what I need crafted from other members of my guild.

By making this change - in my own mind at least - I am completely self sufficient.

And you have no idea how much money you can make. Not only can you craft things to sell to other players, you also spend next to nothing because you don't need to buy things for yourself. All my characters have the flasks, enchants, gems and gear that they need, at no cost through the Auction House.

Some people find that aspect of play boring. Others use business sense to play the auction house. But that's the element of play that *I* find boring. So, each to their own.

The Master Plan

To have one character of each class at maximum level.

(10).

To have each character be a different race.

(10 of 12 - five on each faction).

To be self sufficient in all primary, gathering and secondary professions.

(Blacksmithing / Engineering optional).

People think I'm crazy. I've been told that I must have some kind of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, because I've deleted high level characters that I made if they didn't stick to this plan. It is totally understandable that people don't get it. In some ways, I don't get it myself.

But this is it. This is me. This is how I play computer games, and this is how I choose to engage my World of Warcraft addiction.

Thank you for reading.

David

My Story: The Interview

2010-10-12T14:30:00.003+01:00

This post was originally written for "My Story" on 12/07/2010.

Going back into full time education can be a balance of costs and rewards.

Obtaining a new qualification, learning a new skill, networking with potential future employers, and in my case - having a really good time - are all possible benefits.

Poverty, starvation, stress, and in my case - the prospect of the worst interview experience ever - are all possible side effects.

I am about to finish an MA in Professional Writing. While this may seem like a flowery, artsy-fartsy, doss of a way to spend a year, there are actually a lot more opportunities for a career as a writer than you might think.

It is surprising how many professions require contracted writers.

So I did what any other student would do, I started looking around, posting my CV on job websites, sending out my CV to prospective employers, and I also spent a lot of time waiting.

One morning, while I was vegging around as we students do, I received a phone call.

The phone call was just the beginning.

"Hello?".

"Hello, I am looking for a Mr Harrison?". The first thing I noticed was the very strong European accent. The second thing I noticed was that I could barely understand a word of it.

"This is David Harrison speaking". I rock at professional voicing.

"Hello there, I am calling on behalf of-" - and this part I did not hear clearly at all. I had no idea which company he was calling from. On top of that, he really stumbled through his attempt at English.

"I'd like to have interview very soon - Saturday, or Monday".

Saturday was in fact the next day - and there was no way I could get everything I needed sorted out by then. I put him off till Monday.

"Ok, Monday it is". Bless him.

I was about to ask him to repeat the name of the company, when he said "I send you all details in e-mail".

Perfect. I'd find out everything I needed to know and I wouldn't have to look like an idiot.

We ended the call.

At this point I was jumping up and down screaming. "I HAVE AN INTERVIEW!!!! OH MY GOD, AN INTERVIEW!!!" - like it was a gift of the Gods.

So naturally I wanted to tell everyone I knew about this amazing opportunity I knew nothing about.

"Hey Mum, guess what?".

"What?".

"I HAVE AN INTERVIEW!".

"Oh well done David, that's FANTASTIC! What's it for?".

"I HAVE NO IDEA!!!".

I had this conversation almost twenty times that weekend, while I anticipated the arrival of the magic e-mail that would explain it all.

The e-mail never arrived.

On the morning of the interview I was a tornado of panic. Running around trying to get dressed ("Oh, that outfit is very black, David" - thanks Mum) and I still had no idea about what the hell I was even interviewing for.

When you're desperately searching for a job it's only natural to put in multiple applications in the hope of just getting one interview out of the pack, so it really could have been any job for any company.

I arrived at the train station to take me to London, this was about four hours before the actual interview, and I could not decide whether or not to get in the train. If this interview was in fact not going to happen - as I had received no confirmation or denial of the meeting - I was about to waste £30 I didn't really have on a useless train journey.

I tried calling the number that had been saved to my phone when the caller offered me the interview - but it went straight to voice-mail. Panicked, I left a "professionally voiced" message, but it was still no comfort.

In the end I decided to get on the train and just go for it. If nothing else I could go into Uni and try and get some work done. Thankfully, I received a phone call on the train down that set my mind completely at ease.

"Hello David, this is Andrei".

A name! I had a name to call the caller, and his name was Andrei. Waves of relief washed over me as he told me about the company, and the interview, and the meeting place.

It was all sorted.

That is, until I got there.

"We'll meet at Oxford Circus at 2-o'clock", he had said.

Oxford Circus tube station has four exits. Fair enough, they all lead onto the same street, but still - it was a really stupid place to organise a meeting.

He arrived late. I was there 15 minutes early to make sure that I was definitely in the right place at the right time. He arrived 10 minutes late and made no apology for the delay.

I had been looking around expecting someone in their 40s, in a full suit, to be my prospective interviewer. Several times a man walked out of the exit, and immediately made a call on his phone and I held mine in my hand expecting it to ring.

The man it turned out to be was not at all like my assumed description. He was young, really young. I've always been told I have a young face. If it is possible, this man looked younger than me. I was not amused. More like, mortified. I was about to be interviewed by a foetus in a position of power. He was also wearing jeans and a t-shirt, when I had turned up in a smart trousers, with a shirt and tie.

We walked down the road as he tried to decide where he would like to sit for the interview, but didn't feel the need to wait until we sat down before he began peppering me with questions about my work experience, my degree, and why I wanted the job. It was not an interview with just this one person; I was suddenly being interviewed by every tourist and commuter at Oxford Circus on a sunny afternoon in July, as I had to shout my answers over the din of construction workers repaving the path.

We got to a cafe that he finally deemed appropriate (after passing 6 equally appropriate venues on the way), and finally sat down to talk. The interview itself wasn't horrible, if a bit strange. It was more like a conversation. He asked me a couple of questions, fell silent for far too long, so I filled in the gaps with questions of my own.

I wasn't really interested in the job, but it did sound like an opportunity. The man-child owned an advertising agency for Russian companies that wanted to expand their products into the UK markets, and he was hiring a senior and junior copywriter to help cover their increasing workload.

I had reached a point where I didn't really want the job, and I didn't really think I had a chance of getting it.

"How old are you? If you don't mind me asking". I know that this is a question that you should never ask in an interview - but I had to; I knew I wouldn't get another opportunity to find out.

"I'm 23".

I had to redirect all my energy to my face to make sure that it didn't move. I was flabbergasted. Not only was this infant the owner of a successful company for seemingly no apparent reason - he was also younger than me.

At the age of 24 I became a person who has had to suffer the humiliation of being interviewed by someone younger than me in a senior position. I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen until at least 40, right in time for the mid-life crisis.

Oh, but wait. There's more.

"Okay, I am glad we met face-to-face. I would be happy to offer job to you once I see some writing".

I braced myself.

"I give you assignment, you finish ASAP. If yours is best, you have the job".

He handed me a sheet of A4 paper of an extremely poor print out.

The first line, and I am quoting this word-for-word, was as follows:

"You are the owner of a secret sex club".

Seriously? Seriously?! A 23 year old owner of an advertising agency wants me to sell "secret sex" on a website for "high profile" clientele. If I had been mortified from just finding out how old this idiot was, then there are no words to describe my feelings for this assignment.

I kept my cool for the rest of the interview as he went through the process of explaining to me in detail how a secret sex club works, and what he wanted to see on 5 pages of copy that I was supposed to write. I was a puddle of mortification. I didn't even know places like this existed - I honestly didn't. I'm that naive, and unworldly, and inexperienced, that a 23 year old Russian business owner was telling me about secret sex clubs.

"Is this the kind of work I can expect to be doing if I'm successful?".

He was shocked at the question, as if it was obvious.

"No no no! We do nothing like this. My creative director gets invites all the time - he hates them. If you can sell this to him, you have the job".

I was defeated at this point. He paid for our drinks, I thanked him for his time, and the interview ended.

I tried not to think about it on the journey home, it was a nightmare I didn't want to relive. I decided in the end that if hypothetically I had been offered this job, that I would decline this kind of assignment if it ever came up. I replied to the e-mail that had finally arrived (after the interview had already taken place!) to that effect.

I never heard from him again.

I may have been too naive to know about the kind of world we live in, where "high profile" individuals feel the need to engage in secret sex organisations, but I do understand that there are very few opportunities in life, and that we should take advantage where we can.

If I had done the assignment I wouldn't have just compromised my beliefs, I would have compromised who I am. It was unprofessional of him to ask that of me - and for me personally it was just one step too far.

I understand that there are always aspects of any job that are not enjoyable, but we have to do them. I understand that if I do pursue a career in writing that I will be expected to write about certain things that I may have no interest in. But that? It would have been a waste of my talents.

I'm better than that.

Thank you for reading,

David

Dissidia Final Fantasy

2010-10-12T14:28:00.002+01:00

Dissidia Final Fantasy is a real-time combat game by Square Enix. Square have never been very adept at making fighting games. Most gamers try to forget the tragic entry “Bouncer” on the PS2 that bombed, and bombed hard.

Luckily Dissidia isn't like that.

The game could be compared more closely to Super Smash Bros, or Powerstone – only in this title your choice of fighters are the main heroes and villains from Final Fantasy 1 to 10. The main plot of any Final Fantasy game is usually something to do with world domination and destruction. So imagine the sheer intensity of this theme, in a game where characters from every single Final Fantasy world (from 1-10) are actively engaged in battle.

That's right – it's a complete mess.

The protagonists (Cloud, Squall, Terra, etc.) represent the goddess Cosmos in the eternal struggle against Chaos, the god of the antagonists (Sephiroth, Ultimecia, Kefka, etc.). Putting his evil schemes into action, Choas is attempting to defeat Cosmos once and for all.

As a game, what emerges is 10 separate story modes where each character needs to find their light and defeat their darkness. Each suffers from their own struggles as they fight against Chaos. Terra isn't confident in her powers of magic, and worries that she will be used for evil. Cloud can't find a reason to fight, and Squall feels duty bound to fight alone. It's all very emo.

Each story is split into levels where a selection of battles take place, along with segments of story. A level is like a chess board, with enemy pieces blocking your path. You move your piece to an enemy and engage in a battle. As you defeat pieces, the board clears and you complete the level to obtain rewards. The process seems strange at first but once you get into it you almost forget about it. There is strategy involved, as your standing at the end of each board determines what rewards you get.

The battles are the main focus of the game. You are placed in an arena with a Final Fantasy theme, to engage in a one-on-one fight with another character. The worlds will give Final Fantasy fanatics a twinge of nostalgia, as they even follow the appropriate battle music relating to the game they originate from. The goal of each fight is to bring the enemies Health Points down to 0 using HP attacks. In order to deal HP damage, you need to stack Bravery Points. BP basically equal your attack power, so you begin by casting BP Attacks, that deal no damage but increase your attack power, and then decimate your target with a hard hitting HP attack. You can also use the environments against your foes to deal more damage.

The characters have traditional attacks from the Final Fantasy series, and just to add another pinch of nostalgia, they even get limit breaks. The battles are ridiculously fast paced, and can switch between victory and defeat in a single attack. It's volatile, unpredictable... and totally addictive. If you wanted – you could stage a battle between Sephiroth and Cloud Strife in which Sephiroth actually wins. Shocking stuff.

The justification for all these characters coming together may be completely ridiculous and confusing, but the pay off is the awesomely fun battle system, over-the-top visual combat, and a nostalgic return of some of our favourite characters from Final Fantasy's past.

My Story: Cycling 101

2010-10-07T08:23:00.003+01:00

"Cycling 101" was originally written for "My Story" on 10/07/2010.

Moving back home to live with your parents after several years freedom can really hit a person's Pride Factor quite hard. There are however, certain benefits.

The main one that comes to mind is regular meals.

I haven't eaten so well since... well, since I moved out in the first place! As a typical student the jacket potato has been the biggest staple of my diet.

But at home, meal times actually exist. There's this one - it's called Breakfast - never happened when I lived away - but now, almost every day I'm having some cereal or toast. Breakfast - it's a magical notion.

The dinners are phenomenal. I've had a roast dinner every Sunday, and they are always covered in all the trimmings, and swimming in gravy. They also serve meals with these fantastic things called Vegetables! Marvelous things - they give you energy you didn't realise you had, and make you sleep better too.

And so with this improved regularity, I've dropped about a stone since I moved home. (That's 14lbs to the Americans of the audience, and just over 6 Kilos to the Metrics). Confidence and energy soaring, I decided to do the unthinkable - I went cycling.

Now, if moving home to live with your parents is a hit to your pride - there is nothing worse than having the memory of being in good physical fitness - as demonstrated by this:

And then losing said fitness over time, so that 45 minutes of cycling makes you look like this:

It was really fun though.

I live in a small village called Long Itchington, which crosses the River Avon. The canals go all the way to Stratford...Upon Avon, and there's a footpath for walkers and cyclists.

The views are beautiful,

and the varying terrain makes for good exercise.

I also learned a lot:

Cycling Rules

PART 1 - Preparation

One of the first things I did wrong was get up, raring to go, and forget to eat or drink anything. I don't know what possessed me to just jump on my bike, but 15 minutes into the cycle I was completely drained. I pushed through on this occassion, but I won't be making that mistake again. The banana and bottle of water I had after I returned from my cycle will now be what I have before I go.

Going for a bike ride doesn't need to be like prepping for a space mission, but I'm sure there are similarities.

So, here are the rules:

- Make sure you've had something to eat and drink before you go. Maybe wait for 15-30 minutes before getting on your bike after eating, but either way just make sure you're topped up on fluids, and that you have some energy to use.

- Apply sunscreen. Obviously, this is more of a summer thing, but stay safe.

- Always wear a helmet. If you haven't got a helmet you shouldn't be getting on a bike. When I see people not wearing helmets I want to yell at them for it, but I worry that the shock of being yelled at would cause some people to actually have accidents. I cannot stress this enough - it may not look cool - in fact it may make your head look like a giant mushroom. I'd rather look like a mushroom for half an hour than spend the rest of my life as a vegetable. Your choice.

- Make sure your bike is in good working order before you set off. Ride it around the block or just down the street and back again, testing the brakes, the gears, and - if appropriate - the suspension.

- Carry a water bottle with you. This was another mistake I made on my first trip, and in some ways I honestly do not know how I got back okay, because I was about ready to faint by the time I was done having had no fluids all day!

- Plan your route. I knew that I wanted to go down to the canal but I had no idea how far I would be able to go or how far I would want to go. I also hadn't considered the prospect of coming back again. For a first time go, plan a simple route that should only take you 15 minutes. See how you get on. If it's beyond easy - plan a longer route the second time. Websites like Cycle Routes UK can help you with this and provide more advice.

This is how far I got. You can't tell from the picture but at this point there was quite a steep drop, and I decided that if I went down it I would have to come back up and I was absolutely shattered! So I turned back here. Knowing your limits can also help with route planning.

PART 2 - Riding

I don't know why bike seats are so deliberately uncomfortable, but I'm going to have to look online to see if there's anything I can do about mine. The ride was fun though, it was nice to be out on a sunny day, feeling like I was doing some semblance of productive exercise. It was also nice to watch other people go by, and look out at the countryside.

Rules:

- Safety first. Be careful on roads and make sure you know where you're supposed to be riding. If you can, stay on the pavement and off the road, but either way be very mindful of your surroundings, cars or pedestrians as appropriate. Also be aware of environmental hazards like uneven ground, or the river!

- Test your gears. This is something I discovered while I was riding. It's good to know how different gears will help or hinder you while you're cycling. A low gear is great for uphill cycling, which can be tough, but if you're going downhill to a flat surface if you take your gears up you can really reach some high speeds and the effort is still fairly low - as long as you continue to go fast in that gear.

- Take regular breaks. When I got to the slope where I decided to turn around, I stopped and sat down for a minute. While it was important to keep going as long as I could, I also knew that I needed to stop. I was then able to get back on my bike and cycle back. This links in a lot with the next rule.

- Know your limits. If you get to a point where you are completely worn out, it isn't really safe to keep cycling. Find a path, get off your bike, and either stop - or walk your bike the rest of the way. There is no shame in walking with your bike. There is shame in fainting, falling off your bike and landing head first in a river. Never happened... (No, really, it didn't!).

PART 3 - Recovery

I need a person on call, who I can just ring and say "I need a massage, NOW!". I realised this after I got home. I could barely move. I was exhausted, exhilirated, completely worn out, and barely able to keep my eyes open. The water and banana provided me with enough sustanance to climb the stairs to bed and collapse on it for 10 minutes. I got up, had a cold shower, and felt immediately much more refreshed.

There is only really one rule about the aftermath of any exercise:

- Take care of yourself. Do whatever you need to do to feel better, whether its stretching, having a cold shower, getting some water or a bite to eat, taking a nap, or even a massage from a willing loved one. Rest, recover, and start planning your next trip!

This post was really for myself, to remind me of what I learned, and how I want to keep going. I hope I can continue to improve so that one day I can ride all the way into town - though that's a long way off just yet.

I decided to write this down so that if anyone else was considering taking up cycling - they could see that it's a lot of fun, but just be a bit more prepared than I was!

Thanks for reading,

David

Merge!

2010-10-07T08:19:00.002+01:00

So for some reason I thought separating a gaming blog from a life blog was a good idea? I'm not entire sure why anymore - I mean, as sad as it might sound to some people gaming is a big part of my life.

It is definitely not the only part.

So, I've decided to merge "A Lone Orc" with my other blog, "My Story". The few posts I've made on it will be re-posted here. And this will be my one and only blog - as it should have been in the first place.

Sorry for the confusion, and thank you for watching!

David

Dissertation

2010-09-30T15:37:00.001+01:00

I took a break from writing.

It wasn't difficult to stop. August was just a month of constant writing, editing, re-editing, proofreading, editing again, proofing again, writing again, cutting, editing, writing even more again, proofing, editing... It just didn't stop. And so after the deadline I decided to take a break.

I've been doing a Masters in Professional Writing, and Friday 3rd September 2010 marked the end of my studies. That week was physically and emotionally draining, as I poured my creativity into a single project. I only remember it in bits and pieces, I was so tired and stressed and focused on that one thing that everything is a blur. I tend to be overdramatic.

The part I remember most vividly is having my project printed and bound. On the morning of the deadline, at approximately 10 o'clock, I was ready to have it printed. I walked down the road, with the sunlight in my face, and tried to think of anything but my writing. I didn't want to think of anything else I could have included or changed. I didn't want to take anything back.

My hands were shaking as I pulled open the door to the printers. There were no indicators to associate the door with a business. It was bright red, with no windows - it looked more like a back door to nowhere.

Politeness took over.

I said please or thank you at the end of every sentence, whichever was most relevant. My voice became posh beyond my control. They checked everything over, made sure I was satisfied, and began printing.

Time slowed down.

It felt like forever before it was finally ready. They placed the copies in a small cardboard box and handed it to me carefully. I looked up at them trying to hide my panic. It was finished, I had actually finished it, and the ordeal was almost over.

As I walked across the street to the binders, it felt like I was moving in slow motion. I was holding a bomb in my hands, as clichéd as it sounds, and the slightest wrong move would make it explode. I stopped at a set of traffic lights, and the bomb exploded in my head. Every single thing I had meant to include but forgotten flashed through my mind.

In a rare moment of confidence, I stepped across the road and continued my path. It didn't matter. I had read my work as many times as I could, gone over every single word and put as much effort as I could in the time I had been given. I had pushed through a block that rendered my writing unworkable and managed to produce 10,000 words of coherent fiction. It was done, and almost over, and there was nothing else I could possibly do in the time that I had.

I pushed into the binders, behind a queue of five other panicked looking students all there for the same reason. A stern older woman who had been helpful but very unfriendly on the phone several hours earlier snatched my box off me like it was made of an indestructable material and barked my order at me. Politeness took over again, but this time I was sure it worked in my favour. Saying please and thank you constantly seemed to be a breathe of fresh air to the battleaxe, and I noticed she warmed to me - we even managed a brief conversation about how busy they were and how much money they make from last minute individuals like myself.

I watched her take the box and my order form to a back room. She returned and gave me my copy of the order, told me to come back two hours later (and not one minute earlier), and gave me an encouraging smile. It didn't reach her eyes.

I walked out of the door to leave, heard it close behind me, and retched.

It was over, I was done.

The past month, I've been trying hard not to think about it. I've logged into the University computers a couple of times to see if the grade had been posted, but generally I've just been job hunting.

This week, during a crisis of confidence, I opened my e-mail to see that my tutor had sent me a message. I didn't want to read it. It was not a good day for this information. But the information was good.

I passed.

I now have a Masters Degree in Professional Writing!

Cataclysm Preview - Archeology

2010-09-10T22:49:00.009+01:00

The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion should be shipped in the next few months, and players around the (real) world are eagerly anticipating the newest content.

In the latest Beta build, the secondary profession "Archeology" was added to the game.

While other websites can give you a comprehensive list of information pulled from tracking game files, all I can offer is a personal player experience of the system as it currently stands.

The profession gives a whole new meaning to the term "data-mining". Archeology is the study of ancient relics, found by surveying land in certain hot spots or "dig locations". These relics provide information about the history of Azeroth and its inhabitants.

As a prospective archaeologist, your first task will be to find Harrison Jones in the Stormwind City Library (in Stormwind Keep), and train as an apprentice. Like so:

Learning this profession will grant you an interface:

And a new ability called "Survey".

In order to find relics, you can't just dig anywhere. Once you've learnt the profession, dig sites will appear on your world map. These are the locations you need to visit in order to use your new skill. Once you've reached a location, you can start your dig.

The skill is basically levelled in the form of a "Hot or Cold" game. When you first land in the area and use Survey, your equipment will appear in front of you. The colour of the light indicates how close you are to an artifact fragment, while the scope indicates the direction you need to travel to find it. Like so:

So Red says to me, he says "Good luck finding anything around here..."

Then Yellow is like "What's this? Is there something nearby maybe?"

And Green is all "ZOMG, LOLZ you're SOOOOO close!!!!!

You keep using survey as you get closer, until your survey finds a relic.

Taadaa!

...It is actually quite addictive.

Each relic you find links to the area where you find it. You will find Troll relics in Troll themed locations, Dwarf relics in Dwarf locations, and so on...

Once you have found the total number of relics, the "Solve" icon becomes available on your Archeology interface, and you create an item based on what you have found...

I should probably point out that these images technically don't relate to the same thing...

...I got too excited about making my first artifact to remember to take progressive screenshots.

My First Artifact!

Yeah, okay... I know... so my first item was an old foot. But still. It gives you an idea of what you're looking for, and obviously the higher your skill goes, the more uncommon and valuable the items will become. I've heard rumors of rare vanity items such as pets and mounts being available through this profession.

Once you have located a certain number of relics in any area (at my current Archeology skill level of 25 I can complete three "digs" that give between 2-4 relics each), you can't dig in that area anymore. But once this happens, new areas open up for you to go to. The travel time can be a bit of a bitch - I'm not sure how low level players are supposed to level this as they go... but yeah.

The profession is your own personal journey. Other people may be digging in the same location as you, but if you use Survey they can't see your equipment or any fragments that spawn. This is really helpful in terms of "competition", a concern that was raised when Archeology was first announced.

When you first start searching for fragments, you gain 1 skill point per find. You also gain 5 skill points for successfully creating an artifact when you use "Solve". When you reach Journeyman Archaeologist, your finds wont provide as many skill points so your only method of levelling will be to solve and create artifacts.

All of this information is subject to change as the Beta progresses. This is just an introduction to how it currently plays on the Beta servers.

I will update this post when I have more to share, but for now - welcome to Archeology!

Thanks for reading,

Nadala

Been Waiting A Long Time For This...

2010-09-09T22:24:00.009+01:00

I was required to name my Frost Drake. Meet "Fudge".

Wrath of the Lich King is officially over.

The Icecrown Citadel raid was the last in this expansion, and with it many guilds formed, many disbanded, and many have pushed through all the bosses and achievements and hard modes to come out at the end with a cool title and an awesome mount to match.

Nadala the Kingslayer, (that's me), was one such character.

It's been a really weird journey with lots of ups and downs. But yeah, after about 8 months of raiding a few nights a week, I have finally earned a mount that 10 million people want to get their hands on. (It's a rush flying around the major cities).

When Soulbound first formed it was 10 people who all wanted the same thing. We were driven by a common purpose and came together to kill the Lich King, and earn Frost Drakes. It hasn't been easy. We all come from very different raiding experiences and have different expectations of ourselves and others. People have joined us along the way, and unfortunately we've lost a couple of people as well, which is just something that happens in a game as volatile as Warcraft.

When Soulbound first earned their drakes, I wasn't there. I had a really important deadline for my Masters degree, and was unable to raid in order to get the work finished. If there had been a choice, I made the right one. I arrived home, shattered, worn out, and very emotional. I turned on my computer, loaded up Facebook, and the first thing I saw was my Guild Master's picture of her riding her drake. They had done it without me.

I was gutted.

But this week, we went back into Icecrown Citadel with the single purpose of getting me the achievements I needed to get my drake. I was touched that they were going back because of me (other people too, but this is all about ME!!!). When the Lich King dropped dead, and the achievement popped up on the screen, all the screaming and cheering on vent was mine. I felt nothing but relief and gratitude for everyone who had helped me get this far.

So, I'd just like to thank all the people who were involved.

Beth, Bert, Tel and the other raiders in Recall / Faithful who were kind enough to let me raid with them when I was considering quitting the game altogether - and for reminding me why I love it so much.

Jen, Valli, Sy and the other raiders in Soulbound who helped me earn my drake, and allowed me to join their raiding team.

Thanks so much guys. I really appreciate it.

Love,

Nadala

PC Games

2010-08-19T23:54:00.010+01:00

I have always been a console gamer at heart.

I think it has something to do with my introduction to video games. I was six years old, it was Christmas day, and the four of us (I'm 4th of 4) were presented with a brand spanking new Sega Mega Drive.

I don't mean to overstate the truth or anything, but it was the best present ever. The Sega Mega Drive to this day is still one of the greatest consoles ever made.

Putting the controller in my hand and loading Sonic The Hedgehog felt right.

I was complete.

And so began my journey into geekdom.

So as I grew up I became even more absorbed in console games. The Final Fantasy series played a big part in that, as I developed an addiction for epic stories intertwined in turn-based action. But I couldn't avoid it forever; eventually I started playing PC games.

PC gaming can be very different to its console counterpart. Although you can get controllers for PCs, a lot of games use the keyboard and mouse functionality.

I have recently realised that in order to play PC games in the best possible way, my two hands are not enough.

I wish I had four arms.

The Arm of Movement (Left Hand 1)

The first thing to worry about is character movement. This can sometimes involve the arrow keys on the right side of the keyboard, but a lot of games use the WASD keys on the left side.

The Camera Arm (Right Hand 1)

A lot of PC games allow for camera control. This is generally controlled by clicking on the mouse and turning in the desired direction.

This is where we start running into problems. I can move my character, and I can move my camera, but what do I do when an enemy approaches?

The Ability Arm (Left Hand 2)

An enemy is running at me from behind. The game alerts me that I'm about to enter combat. I use my Movement Arm to turn my character towards them, and my Camera Arm so I can see them.

Then, out of nowhere, my Ability Arm reaches over and presses the action keys that cause my character to punch the enemy in the face. Mwahaha.

The Arm of Conversation (Right Hand 2)

So on my own, three arms are pretty sufficient. But then - another player cross my path and flirts with me. I'm hot, so you know - it's bound to happen.

We join up as a party so we can kick some enemy butt together. So I'm using my movement arm to run up to enemies, I'm punching them in the face with my ability arm, my camera arm turns around to look at the people in my party, and they're slacking.

My Chat Arm jumps into action to type "/charge!" to inspire my group to attack.

Any situation, any time, with four arms I'd be an unstoppable gaming force. A superhero of the online community; impressing gamers everywhere with my amazing reflexes, and oddly freakish physique.

And that is why four arms would be awesome for playing PC Games.

Streaming

2010-08-19T17:22:00.002+01:00

The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion beta is well under way. After days of dedicated downloading I was excited to have a look at some of the new features, as well as the new quests and races. (I'm a big fan of starting areas).

This dream was shattered quite early on when Blizzard announced that after all the downloading and patching and waiting... and more waiting... that every participant of the beta would need to completely uninstall the beta client and download it again.

Are you freaking kidding me?!

You see, Blizzard wanted to test a new feature that they've added to the game launcher. Any patch or content data (from Cataclysm launch onwards) will be given a download priority based on how important it is to game functioning.

Setup - Core data necessary to play the game.

Available - Players can enter the game world; but might experience errors or delays.
Playable - Major content has been downloaded; minor delays may occur.

Once the core data has been downloaded, players can load the game, and stream the data they need for the area that they are in, while the game continues to download in the background.

My computer was weeping as I uninstalled the client that had taken days to download, only to have to put itself through the whole process again.

What was the point of all this? Why would people want to play a game that was only partially complete, only to experience delays when trying to do anything. Also, most patches either have pre-released data (if they're enormous) or they're easily downloadable during the maintenance down-time.

This was my thought process before I started downloading the new client. So imagine my surprise when I'm forced to take back every word.

My internet connection is awful - I live in the countryside where technology is about 10 years behind, and honestly - it is the worst connection (except maybe dial-up) that is still available. With only 50% of the entire Cataclysm client downloaded, I am able to play Cataclysm with only minor delays. Anything that hasn't been fully downloaded is blocked off by blue walls, that open when the data is ready. The streaming download prioritises where you are in the game and downloads this content before moving on to the rest of the patch.

I wouldn't recommend trying to do a raid or a battleground in this condition, as latency will be pushed to the limits with the extra load - but you could do daily quests, level an alt, and even a 5-man dungeon. People with superior internet connections will probably hardly notice the streaming in effect at all.

You can still download the entire patch before playing if you experience errors or delays. It just provides the truly addicted players with more options.

It was a pain in the arse to test this feature, but I have to say - I'm impressed.

Patch Day

2010-07-21T20:33:00.002+01:00

There is a day for every player of an MMORPG that is anticipated with equal measures of excitement and dread.

That day, is Patch Day.

A patch is an addition or a change that overwrites whatever version of the game you are currently playing. When World of Warcraft applies a patch to the game, you can guarantee what will happen.

Here is how it works.

Blizzard announce that they're going to make changes to the game.

The forums groan with angry players.

The complaints are endless.

They might generate a Public Test Realm so that players can try out new features before they're "shipped".

But finally, after weeks and weeks and weeks of waiting, hoping, and dreading, you'll log in to World of Warcraft and see this:

And, you'll react like this:

You'll start foaming at the mouth, shaking uncontrollably, and struggling to breathe as withdrawal sets in, knowing that for 12 hours when you were supposed to be asleep anyway, you won't be able to satisfy your online gaming addiction.

Hmph. May as well sleep then...

You'll wake up fresher than you've ever been before having actually had a proper night's sleep. If you're really beyond help, you will have left your computer on overnight to download the new patch while you were asleep. Or you'll do it first thing in the morning. Either way, you'll probably notice one of the following:

The only rational thought stopping you from throwing your computer out the window will be the knowledge that without your computer you wouldn't be able to play the game at all.

So you take it out on something else.

Finally, millimetre by millimetre, the patch will finish downloading and you'll get to log in!

Oh, but wait. It's not over yet, oh no.

You'll log into the game, to see this:

All the players on that server (which must be like 100,000 people) will take their frustration out on any servers that have already been activated. Level 1 alts spring up everywhere, taking over the cities and spamming the Trade Chat Channel with filth.

Making everyone insane zombie freaks.

And then, to add insult to injury, the new features will have unforeseen cataclysmic consequences on other aspects of the game.

It is all a big mess. The servers groan in overload, Blizzard employees initiate their Panic Buttons, and most importantly, the game is completely unplayable for the entire day.

So, players of World of Warcraft, with this knowledge, there really is only one thing you can do.

Take the day off:

That's right ladies and gentlemen, let's make Patch Day the new international World of Warcraft holiday!

...It was worth a shot.

Thanks for reading,

Nadala

New Super Mario Bros Wii

2010-06-30T14:29:00.002+01:00

In a word - Disappointing.

I don't know why I should expect anything new from a platformer series that is as old as console gaming, but I really was expecting more of the New Super Mario Bros Wii version than a "slightly more polished" version of the Nintendo DS equivalent.

Because that is seriously all it is. The game has the same graphics and format on the Wii as it does on the DS, with slightly more depth and a few different powers.

That's not to say it isn't fun. It is. It's challenging, and the new powers (like Ice Mario, and Penguin Mario) created some quite interesting levels.

But "New" is in the title, and this game really isn't new at all. Super Mario on the NES had more new-ness than this. (Of course it did, it was original, but still...).

The game also refuses to let go of it's original roots, and refuses to let you save the game unless you have just completed a Castle level. This means that if you actually want to make progress, you have to complete up to the next Castle level, or you may as well not bother. To add insult to injury, once you have completed the game it allows you to save anywhere you like. So it's not even that the game "can't" let you save the game at any other time, it's that the game "won't" let you save the game at any other time.

Another frustration from my perspective is that I actually prefer playing as Luigi rather than Mario. In the DS game, there is a way to play as Luigi whenever you like. In New Super Mario Bros Wii, unless you are playing multiplayer, Luigi is not available.

The multiplayer looks like a fun feature, but it is not one that I've been able to assess. I generally play games individually, and yet again Nintendo are shoving "socially interactive" gaming down our throats in what used to be a single player game! If it's anything like the co-operative play in LittleBigPlanet then I'm sure it's a blast, but not everyone will be playing the game with this feature, and it isn't one that the game should be based around.

This review appears to be a total rant, and in some ways it is. Nintendo have churned out another title that forces interaction in a game that never needed it; a feature that doesn't inject the necessary "originality" to make this game worthy of "New".

If you have the Nintendo DS Super Mario Bros game, do not bother purchasing this title.

Very disappointing indeed.

Okami

2010-06-23T17:45:00.002+01:00

As a poor, out-of-work, student, I have been forced to embrace the fact that I cannot maintain an up-to-date gaming lifestyle. I cannot afford a PS3 or an XBox 360.

Sometimes the pain of this realisation is too much to bare... but I manage.

Anyway, I still want to write about games, and my experiences as a player, so I'm taking a stand to write about games long since released on primitive consoles that no one else is forced to play anymore... I'm really not bitter at all!

The first game on my list is Okami.

Okami was given a re-release on the Wii, but was originally released on the PS2, and was unfortunately the victim of the ICO phenomenon.

The ICO phenomenon is my new way of describing any game that is truly fantastic to play, with stunning graphics, engaging characters/story, and epic gameplay... that is a complete commercial failure...

It is a mystery how it happens. I guess some games just don't appeal to wide audiences. But ICO and Okami alike just didn't sell. Maybe it was a marketing blunder, or the games weren't publicised enough. I do know that reviewers went crazy over the games, giving them really high scores and telling everyone "YOU MUST BUY THESE GAMES". But people still didn't.

Okami is the story of a Wolf God that overcomes an evil force, and binds it to a cave. The binding is released however, so the Wolf God, Okami Amaterasu must return to defeat it once and for all. You are Okami.

The game takes place in Nippon, a world rendered in stunning cell-shaded graphics that look like the work of a watercolour artist. Everything is finished with the same style. The colours are bright, and bold, which at first can seem a bit garish, or hard to adjust to, but once you have the game flows like a brush.

Speaking of brushes, the artistic motif portrayed in the graphics is an equally important aspect of the gameplay. The Celestial Brush is a tool that allows players to draw on the game screen for different effects. Okami's goal is to obtain all 13 brush techniques, that allow you to progress through the story. The Power Slash technique can cut through enemies, as well as cutting through barriers that block your path. Rejuvenation grows flowers in it's path, restoring the corrupted earth that is cursed with evil.

The game has often been compared to titles in the Zelda series.

The Celestial Brush is the main reason why this game really was made for the Wii. Whoever thought "Hey! This would be GREAT on the Wii!" and made it happen is a genius. The control system works really well, and once you're used to the commands the controls feel like they work automatically.

The lore is very in-keeping with what seems like traditional Japanese mythology. The stories and missions provided by the characters that Okami meets on her journey not only provide challenges but also entertainment. There is a comic edge to the way the story is told, and the eccentric characters just add to the enjoyment.

There is only one frustrating aspect of this title, and that is when the drawing fails. You can draw the correct technique perfectly, and the game for some reason just doesn't register it and you fail the task. Or you can be drawing and for some reason the brush will run off on its own accord and mess up your technique.

Once failed, the task can sometimes take up to a full minute before you can try again, and if you fail a second time it just goes round in circles. Rejuvenation is particularly annoying when it comes to blossoming trees, as this involves drawing a circle around the tree. You can draw circle after circle after circle and sometimes it still doesn't recognise the technique you're doing.

Aside from this minor frustration, Okami is definitely a title worth picking up. The epic story is told with wit, and humour, the characters are engaging and eccentric, the gameplay is innovative and generally really fun, and the world environments are rich and beautifully rendered.

So break the ICO phenomenon, and go get yourself a copy!

Thank you for reading.

Totems

2010-06-11T08:42:00.006+01:00

Meet Nadala

Hello everyone, this is Nadala.

Nadala is an Elemental Shaman. She lives on Azeroth, the planet in Blizzard's wildly successful MMORPG - World of Warcraft.

As a Shaman, Nadala can do a lot of cool things.

She casts a lot of EXPLOSIVE spells!

She can heal wounded party members.

And, most importantly, she can use Totems!

Don't they all look happy together?!

Totems

Totems can do a lot of different things.

Some provide buffs for people who stand close to them.

Some deal damage to enemy targets.

Some heal players that are close to them.

And some provide utility.

Totems are an important aspect of the Shaman class. They need to be placed tactically during fights so that the the correct benefits reach the correct players.

The two most significant factors in Totem mechanics are Range, and Choice.

If a Totem has a short range, Nadala must move close to the players or enemies she wishes to inflict the Totem's effect on.

If Nadala places a Totem that provides a buff someone else in the raid can give, then she can place a different Totem to compliment the raid setup.

Totems are generally on a 5 minute duration (with a few exceptions), and only 1 totem of each Element can be placed at one time, matching Earth, Air, Fire and Water. With the fairly recent addition of "Totembar", it is now possible to place a predetermined set of 4 Totems simultaneously. This, along with the duration increase to five minutes - has substantially improved Shaman gameplay with regards to Totems.

However, they are still not perfect, and there are still several difficulties associated with Totems and how they work.

Some of the buffs provided by Totems are provided by other classes. Blizzard justifies this because not all raids can include the number of Shaman needed to provide every single Totem buff - and that is a fair point that makes sense. However, some of the buffs provided by other classes are superior, or at least superior in how they are applied.

Blessing of Wisdom and Horn of Winter are examples of buffs that other classes provide that are similar to Totems. However, once these buffs are correctly applied, the players in question no longer have to worry about where they stand, and can generally move around freely until the buff needs to be reapplied.

I'll come back to this point later.

Some Totems are required by different player roles at different times. As an Elemental Shaman, Nadala provides a Spellpower buff that helps ranged classes and healers. Generally, spellcasters are at maximum range from the enemies in order to avoid possible damage or threat issues. But then something like this happens:

Sure, I can put the Totem down again so that it's closer to me, but that's another global cooldown lost in sorting out where a buff is supposed to go. The same is true of Totems that deal damage, and how they need to be in close range of the enemies.

And some Totems are just plain useless.

I've got to say, this is causing some resentment between Nadala and her Totems.

Whenever I see a complaint about Totems on the forums, I can now almost guarentee what the Blizzard response will be:

"BLUE POST - Totems are a:

If you don't like Totems we suggest you switch classes because they aren't going anywhere!".

Now, this is the first thing I would like to make clear as a Shaman player. I do not want Totems to go away. I've never said that I want to get rid of Totems, or that I will stop using them. I like the lore behind them, I like the idea of them - I just think that there are ways that they could be improved - and I don't think answering every complaint with "SORRY! CORE CLASS MECHANIC!!" is solving anything.

My Suggestion

I applaud you for getting this far into my post, I will try my best to be consise from this point.

If you really want Totems to be a "Core Class Mechanic", then my suggestion is as follows:

REMOVE the buff element of Totems from gameplay. Just remove it.

Other classes in the game may have to be aware of where they stand when they provide buffs and where they give auras, but no other class in the game has to put static stationary buffs that they themselves may have to move away from, and expect other players to get full use out of them.

Generally speaking, ignoring provisions from other classes, a Shaman actually has 4 "ideal" totems that will benefit them most in the style that they play.

Elemental: Stoneskin, Totem of Wrath, Mana Spring / Healing Stream, Wrath of Air

Enhancement: Strength of Earth, Searing, Healing Stream, Windfury

Restoration: Stoneskin, Flametongue Totem, Mana Spring / Healing Stream, Wrath of Air

I propose that you consolodate these buffs and assign a set to each element.

Elemental Infusions

Off the top of my head this was the only name I could think of that wasn't "Gift", "Blessing", Aura" or "Stance". It's not the best name, but it's the one I'm going to use to get my point across.

Each Element has 1 Infusion. An Infusion is a buff that lasts 30 minutes and acts as an Aura on the caster. Anyone stood within 30/40 yards of the caster will receive the benefit of the Infusion. This allows Shaman to still provide meaningful buffs, but focus less on the location of the buff, as it will follow them where they go. They will still need to worry about where they themselves stand, but not where the buffs are stood statically, in relation to themselves.

Infusion of Earth - This would be a utility / PvP Infusion that all three Shaman roles may need to consider using on a situational basis. Increases armor by X amount (Stoneskin Totem) and provides a 3% damage reduction to all party/raid members for 1 minute after the Shaman critically hits with any spell (Renewed Hope).

Infusion of Air - The Enhancement Infusion. Increases Strength and Agility by X amount (Strength of Earth Totem), and increases melee attack speed by 16%/20% (Windfury Totem).

Infusion of Fire - The Elemental Infusion. Increases Spellpower by 10% (Totem of Wrath), and increases spell haste by 5% (Wrath of Air Totem).

Infusion of Water - The Restoration Infusion. Restores X mana per 5 Seconds to party/raid members within 30/40 yards (Mana Spring Totem) and restores X health per 5 Seconds to party members with 20 yards (Healing Stream Totem).

In my experience, these are the buffs that the Shaman has been invested in placing for themselves where possible. If more than one Shaman is present then more than one Infusion is available to the raid.

Free the Core Class Mechanic!

With buffs on a different mechanic, Totems can then be free to be the "Core Class Mechanic" of Blizzard's dreams by providing "fun" and "cool" effects... that are yet to be determined.

The only analogy I could think of was to consider making Totems work similarly to Warlock "Shards" in Cataclysm. Each Totem still provides a choice of effects, but only 1 effect per element can be unleashed during 1 period of combat. When combat ends, the Totems become available again fairly quickly. There could obviously be incentives for each role to use each element during combat.

This is just a suggestion, and please don't think for a second that I don't love playing my Shaman, because it is my main class and I love it to bits. There are just aspects of gameplay that I feel could be improved, and the stonewall "This is a core class mechanic, bugger off" argument just doesn't seem to cut it.

Thank you for reading.

Nadala

Hacked

2010-05-14T12:14:00.002+01:00

It may appear reductionistic, but the scales of balance in my life can be narrowed down into two main categories. World of Warcraft is on one side, the rest of my life is on the other.

That is how much time has been invested in an online computer game. It is very difficult to stop. Addictive, even. There have been times when retreating to the fantasy world of Azeroth has been a necessary counter measure to negative thought spirals. Warcraft in some ways has been my very own method of avoidance therapy. And then, as if by fate, two events occured that completely shocked me out of my Warcraft addiction.

Leaving Recall

Recall (EU-Alonsus) is a strict 10-man raiding guild. I joined them just before Christmas, just as Icecrown Citadel was deployed on the live servers. I had just left a 25-man raiding guild, realising that I don't particularly enjoy 25-man raiding. Too many egos in a small space, too many voices, and too many people to manage. Also, I didn't appreciate having to carry people who weren't willing to pull their own weight, and worst of all - the loot wars...

...Anyway. They invited me to join their raid team after I was recommended by a friend who was already in the guild. I really enjoyed raiding with them. It wasn't always easy, there were players in Recall too who weren't really invested in the raiding, and it showed in their performance. Since playing the game through Wrath of the Lich King, I've become a harsher critic on poor performance, and lost that realisation that "It's Only A Game". But generally we were doing well. We were the first guild on the server to kill Festergut on 10-man. Unfortunately it took us a lot longer to kill Rotface, which put us a little bit behind, but we caught up on the other bosses, and managed to kill Sindragosa a few weeks ago.

After killing Sindragosa, the raid team started to crumble. A Tank turned his attitude from casual to elitist (though im pretty sure the elitist element was always bubbling under the surface), and he decided he was too good to put up with casual players. A DPS went AWOL, and we still don't know if he is coming back to play, and a Healer started a new job, and so he couldn't attend the raid times for the guild.

During that time, I received an offer from a friend to join a new guild. I swear to God it was like Sophie's Choice, without the death. I really wanted to raid. It is the main reason why I play the game and I really want to kill the Lich King before the new expansion is released. However, I had become really close with my guildies in Recall, so much so we were planning a real-life event at Alton Towers!

My raid leader and I would chat about raid strategies and upcoming game changes, fully embracing our inner geek. I would banter back and forth with the healing leader, hurling insults at her only to receive sharp and witty comebacks (you still smell, Tel). The main tank and I would simultaneously drool over our shared tastes in food, as we were food-related kindred spirits. I knew that I was really going to miss the connections I had forged from being part of Recall.

However, I made the decision to make a change, and if I'm being completely honest I'm glad I did. It was selfish, but necessary. I'm now in a guild where I get to raid regularly, and we're already up to the same point in Icecrown Citadel, attempting to kill the Lich King once and for all. It's a game, one that I have to pay a subscription for, and so I have to play it my way.

This event shocked me out of my addiction because I was no longer as attached to people as I previously was. I still enjoy raiding, and playing the game with my new guild (EU-Soulbound), but I've realised that it is just one game, and there are many other games that I want to play, and many other things that I want to do. I also want to step away from my computer more often, and I've been playing Warcraft a lot less as a result.

Hacked

I had a missed-call, a text and a Facebook message. "Sorry to have to tell you this, but I think you've been hacked", was the general theme. At first I thought it might be a joke. "Haha, gotcha!".

But as I logged into the game to check my characters, I knew it was no joke. On the character selection screen, all my characters were practically naked, stripped of all their gear. I logged in to my main character, and everything was gone. No gear, no items, no money. Everything that could be sold had been vendored, leaving my Shaman dressed in only her tiered gear, which cannot be sold. They had even traded in any Emblems that I had on my characters.

I was crushed. All the work I had put into the game had been destroyed over-night. To be completely honest I nearly quit the game then and there. I had always said that if I got hacked I wouldn't go back to playing. However, I rationalised that I had put a lot of effort into the game, and if I hadn't been hacked I would have wanted to keep going.

I pretty much lost that day to sorting out my account, and my computer. I ran several virus scans to make sure that there were no keyloggers on my computer. I then changed my account password, and then created a new e-mail address solely for the purpose of my Warcraft account. I changed every password that was similar to the one I had used for my Warcraft log-in, and made them all unique.

I contacted Blizzard in game, and luckily my petition was answered in less than an hour. As the events had happened the night before, everything that had happened on my account had been logged. I received in-game mails from Blizzard, returning ALL my lost gear, items, and money. I was very lucky. My account wasn't suspended, and I was able to get mostly back to normal by the end of the day. The fact that my account hasn't been hacked again since has reassured me that it wasn't a keylogger. The person who hacked into my account even tried to put an authenticator onto my account - which would have meant I would never be able to access the game again from it. It was crafty, vindictive, and malicious.

The main issue was trust. I stopped trusting myself and my computer - because clearly I had done something that allowed me to be hacked. From all the people I spoke to, it seemed as though a dodgy website script had tricked me into giving my account details, but only those account details. The attack on the account was such that it appeared to be focussed purely on my Warcraft stock. I think it may have happened from a Warcraft-related forum I had recently signed up to, but I'm still not sure exactly what happened.

The point is - use my experience as a cautionary tale. If you play an online game where businesses try to take advantage of players, you have every likelihood of being hacked yourself. Take every security precaution recommended to you.

Buy an authenticator.
Don't share your account details with anyone.
Make sure your account details are unique to every other e-mail and password combination.
Be careful which web-sites you visit.
Don't download any addons that contain ".exe" files.
Don't use gold-buying or power-levelling services.

As far as I was aware, other than having an authenticator (which I now have) I was following my own advice, and I still got hacked. I'm generally a careful internet browser, but obviously I still made a mistake somewhere because it still happened to me.

When I got all my items back it hit me just how much time I was investing in one very addictive game. I still want to play, but I now feel much more able to cut back and do other things, which is as it should be.

Enjoy your game, but don't think that you're safe. It is only a matter of time.

Not "if", but "when".

First Impressions: Pokémon: SoulSilver

2010-04-15T14:36:00.005+01:00

It should be a fact universally acknowledged that if you have a perfectionist or compulsive personality - you should not purchase one of the new Pokémon games.

Pokémon SoulSilver and HeartGold are the latest titles in the series of monster collection, monster battles and monster competitions, and in one word can only be described as addictive.

These new games are not original. You wake up in a small town in the middle of nowhere, to be told that the random Pokémon professor who lives in the town is just dying to give you a rare Pokémon of your very own. Add in a rival, a love interest, an evil corporation (hello Team Rocket), and the "destiny" to become a great Pokémon trainer, and you've got yourself SoulSilver.

That being said, the game is still a lot of fun. The characters are quirkier than they've been in previous titles, and while they have maintained their traditional battle system, the collection and evolution of Pokémon seems to be endlessly rewarding.

The graphics have been tweaked slightly to give a more polished experience than in previous titles, but the developers, Game Freak, have focussed a lot of their improvements to the control system of the game. The touch-screen now contains all the menu options so you don't have to trudge through command windows just to see your Pokémon or save your progress. You can now also have multiple key items to select on the screen, which is a helpful shortcut if you want to do some fishing and ride your bike at the same time.

New mini-games and contests can keep even the most focussed player busy for several hours, and they can become just as addictive as the main arc of the game!

Although I am going to continue playing the game, and enjoy playing it a lot - I can't help but feel slightly disappointed. The battle and capture of Pokémon in SoulSilver and HeartGold has not changed since the original Pokémon titles, which is a primitive and occasionally dull process. Pokémon take it in turns to select single actions which they then play out against each other. Occasionally you will have dual-battles where two Pokémon fight together against two others, and this seems like something closer to what I had in mind, but still not quite there.

With titles like Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy pushing the limits of the console's graphical abilities, why are Game Freak hell bent on pushing for 2D graphical renderings? We have reached a point in technology where proper Pokémon battles could actually take place. Each button on the control pad (A, B, X and Y) could represent an attack, and in a 3D environment, you could control the Pokémon's actions and make it a proper encounter.

I think the lore of Pokémon makes this difficult, because they want to emphasise the fact that the trainer commands the Pokémon, and that you are the trainer. That being said, they could even do it so that you are still the trainer, and pressing an action button issues a command that is queued until it can be performed. I feel like a lot of action is missed in the simplistic turn-based action and reaction.

Also, when a Pokémon is low on health the game starts making an incessant bing-bong noise that is supposed to act as a warning. With respect, I'm only controlling one Pokémon at a time, two maximum. I already know that my Pokémon is at low health because I can see it on the screen and there's nothing else to distract my attention from it. Game Freak, for my sanity - get rid of the bing-bong in future instalments.

Thanks to my perfectionist nature, however, I still can't stop playing!

Enjoy!

David

How To Train Your Dragon

2010-04-11T17:21:00.009+01:00

How To Train Your Dragon is the lastest computer-animated film by Dreamworks (Shrek, Madagaskar). It tells the story of Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), a fledgling Viking hoping to bring pride to his family and tribe by killing the rare and elusive dragon - Night Fury. He doesn't have the prowess of a typical Viking, and being called Hiccup is as much descriptive as it is defining. So, he uses his apprentice skills as a blacksmith to create a cannon capable of bringing down a dragon.

Read the full review here.

Shaman Appreciation Day!

2010-04-08T11:58:00.012+01:00

April 7th 2010 marked the release of the class change previews for the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion. Like with previous expansions, changes are being made across the board to deliver new content, features and experiences.

The first class to be examined, to my joy, was that of my main character:

Shaman!

Yay!

The philosophy of Wrath of the Lich King was to provide viable specs from all three talent trees of each class, and so for the first time Elemental Combat Shaman were included in end-game content raids.

Elemental is my main spec.

Ancestral Progress

It hasn't been the easiest journey. When WotLK first shipped, although we were given a new spell (Lava Burst), and an actual - albeit simple - spell rotation, our talent tree did not lend itself to scaling with gear. As raiding guilds began to progress and obtain the high-end gear available, Elemental Shaman were left behind. Although our gear was just as good, we couldn't reach the damage numbers that other classses were bringing to the raids.

For this, we were given Shamanism. A deep talent in the Elemental Combat tree that allowed the increasing values of spell damage on our gear to further increase the damage of our hardest hitting spells.

Unfortunately, in the progress of the expansion this has proven not to be enough. In every content patch of WotLK, the Elemental spec has had to be tweaked in order for us to keep up:

Naxxramas - The introduction of Shamanism.
Ulduar - Increasing the % chance of Lightning Overload.
Trial of the Crusader - Increasing the % value of Shamanism.
Icecrown Citadel - Changing the spell mechanics of Lava Burst and Flame Shock.

These changes have been welcomed because they have allowed us to keep up with other classes to provide competitive damage output. One of the biggest changes for all Shaman in WotLK is the Totem Bar.

Totem Bar is an interface action bar that stores combinations of the different totems dropped by Shaman. With the Call of the Elements spell, it became possible for four totems to be dropped simultaneosly, saving Shaman a lot of time and effort in placing buffs we provide for raids.

Me and My Totems - We Got Issues, Issues, Issues

As a spell-casting class, Shaman have had difficulties putting out damage in fights where there is a lot of movement. This has also been criticised heavily in Player-Vs.-Player (PvP) content, as movement is necessary in order to avoid and escape certain abilities. Because of this, Elemental Shaman are commenly referred to as "Turrets", meaning that we can put out massive damage, as long as we can stand still long enough to cast the spells.

We've also had conflicting choices to make regarding Totems. Totems provide raid buffs, party buffs, affliction dispells, and additional damage - depending on which ones you choose to place.

A Shaman can place one totem of each element at a time - Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

Totem of Wrath is a Fire totem unique to the Elemental spec that provides addition spellpower to all party and raid members within its range. Although this is a very useful raid buff, it actually lowers the potential damage of the Shaman, because they can no longer place a Fire damage totem to attack the enemies. Also, the same buff is provided by Demonology Warlocks, and the mechanic for them is superior, so it has been an issue for Elemental Shaman for quite some time.

The Winds of Change

The Cataclysm preview has announced some really exciting changes for Elemental Shaman.

Unleash Weapon (level 81): Unleashes the power of your weapon enchants for additional effects (see below). A dual-wielding Enhancement shaman will activate the effects of both of their weapon enchants. Instant cast. 30-yard range. 15-second cooldown. Undispellable.

Flametongue Weapon – Deals instant Fire damage and buffs the shaman's next Fire attack by 20%

Spiritwalker's Grace (level 85): When this self-targeted buff is active, your spells are no longer interrupted by movement and possibly even by your own attacks. This will give shaman of all three specs another way to heal or do damage when it’s necessary to move in both PvE and PvP. Instant cast. 10-second duration. 2-minute cooldown.

In addition to adding new spells, we're planning to make changes to some of the other abilities and mechanics you're familiar with.

Totem of Wrath now will replace Flametongue Totem for all shaman, and dropping this totem will buff the group's spell power by 4%. Elemental shaman will have a talent that lets all Fire totems provide +10% spell power, allowing them to drop Searing, Magma, or Fire Elemental Totems without losing their spell-damage buff. The 4% and 10% buffs will be exclusive with each other and with the warlock's Demonic Pact, so you can't benefit from all of them at once. We're also considering letting Elemental drop Searing Totem at range.

Elemental Reach will be simplified so shaman have a more consistent spell range.

We plan to add Earthquake as a deep Elemental talent for targeted and persistent AoE.

Elemental will have a deep talent that allows Spirit (which will appear on the gear they share with Restoration shaman) to boost their Hit rating.

Ancestral Knowledge will boost mana pool size, not Intellect.

With the Mastery system, we're also considering removing a number of talents that grant passive bonuses, such as Mental Quickness, Improved Windfury Totem, Mental Dexterity, Call of Thunder, Tidal Mastery, Purification, Nature's Blessing, and others, to allow players more freedom to choose more interesting talents.

Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses

Elemental
Spell damage
Spell Crit
Elemental Overload

Elemental Overload: Your direct-damage spells have a chance to proc a less powerful 'bonus" version of the spell. This will work much like the current Lightning Overload talent, but would also apply to Lava Burst.

I'm focussing purely on the Elemental changes for this post, the changes to Enhancement and Restoration sound brilliant as well - but these I'm just really impressed with.

The change to Totem of Wrath has been a long time coming, and the new Unleash Weapon and Spiritwalker's Grace abilities not only address the issues that Elemental Shaman have been dealing with through WotLK, the also sound in-keeping with Shaman philosophy and lore.

I officially cannot wait until World of Warcraft: Cataclysm!

Thank you for reading,

Nadala

We Are The Faceless

2010-04-06T16:54:00.008+01:00

The greatest blessing and curse of the online computer game community can be summed up by one attribute:

Anonymity.

For people who struggle with social situations, the online community is a great way of engaging in social interactions with the safety barrier of being behind a screen.

You are unknown, so regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation, political view, religious affirmation or even disability, anyone that you come across can only know as much as you are willing to tell them.

The curse of this is that the format can become a platform to express controvertial views without fear of retribution. If a person is racist, sexist, homophobic, or insensitive to minority groups, they are much more able to express these opinions. The facelessness of this type of interaction greatly reduces the inhibitions of a person's social conscience.

I really wanted to write something smart and rational about this issue. I don't want to come across as a whiney minority with a chip on my shoulder, nor pummel a supposed political agenda of my own.

The problem is that this issue affects me personally, because I am gay.

I play World of Warcraft (far, far too much) with a group of friends that I made whilst playing the game. I'm very open, and most of the members of the guild I'm in are over 18, so we talk about things like sex quite a lot. They all know that I'm gay, and it isn't an issue at all.

They often ask me how I feel about the perceived homophobic behaviour of players, particularly in Pick-Up-Groups (PUGs), Battlegrounds and the Trade chat channel. I'm going to do my best to explain my feelings about this.

Instant Reaction

ANNOUNCEMENT: The Horde have captured Wintergrasp!

[General Chat] PlayerX: "That is so gay".

Gay = bad, stupid, idiotic, annoying, upsetting, negative.

The Horde capturing Wintergrasp is bad, stupid, idiotic, annoying, upsetting, negative.

Being gay is comparable to the Horde capturing Wintergrasp. Being gay is bad, stupid, idiotic, annoying, upsetting, negative.

That is what PlayerX thinks about gay people.

That is the most honest assessment I can make of what goes on inside my head in the second after a comment like this is made. It happens much faster than you can read what I've typed; it is almost instantaneous.

I see these comments at least once a day, definitely more so if the Alliance are having a bad day in the Battlegrounds.

It is a bit upsetting. My eyes can't roll high enough for the idiocy of the ignorant. I often agree with the X-Men quote "people fear what they do not understand", but at the same time - there are a lot of things about the world that I don't understand - I personally do not use those things as a verbal punching-bag for my frustrations.

Just Ignore It

Seemingly sound advice. There is a word that I absolutely dispise above all other words. It's a word I won't even use because I think it is so hateful. I once told a friend who used this word how much I hated it, and he said to me:

"Never tell anyone what makes you the most angry. You're just giving out ammunition to push your buttons".

This is a very true statement.

However, on the other end of the scale, if people are actually ignorant about how insulting their behaviour is, they will never change if you don't call them out on it. You run the risk of having them become more relentless in their actions, but if nothing else it is a test of character.

If I tell someone that something upsets me, and then they do that more with the intention of continuing to upset me - that tells me a lot about the type of person they are.

Confrontation

There are several reactions to being told that your behaviour is homophobic, and they are surprisingly similar online as they are in real life.

[Whisper] PlayerX: "I didn't mean it like that".

When something negative that happens is attributed to any word associated with gay people, is there more than one way to mean it?

[Whisper] PlayerX: "Stop being so sensitive, you're overreacting".

This is ignorant, plain and simple. To have overcome the difficulties I have had to go through to get to where I am now means that I will always react emotionally to this kind of prejudice.

Also, I'm not sure how people think they are going to defuse the situation this way. It adds insult on top of insult, and just escalates the anger of the offended person.

[Whisper] PlayerX: "Oh, sorry - I'll try and not say it around you in future".

An apology is always appreciated, and being sensitive to the feelings of others is an admirable character trait. However, I actually find that this statement is almost proof that people don't realise their behaviour is homophobic.

I appreciate the gesture but - why do you have to try? If it is something that you have to TRY to stop doing, what you're actually saying is "I'm not doing this because it is the right thing to do, I'm doing this only because it has hurt your feelings". It's a nice gesture for the person in question but it doesn't resolve the issue.

Phobia

"I use the word "gay" all the time, but I don't have a problem with gay people".

This is the gay version any sentence that starts "I'm not racist, but - ". Regardless of whether or not you have a problem with gay people, if you use "gay" as a synonym for "negative", you are fueling homophobic attitudes whether you mean to or not.

I don't expect the behaviour of people to change. Instead, all I can do is modify my own. The thing that I've learnt from being part of the online community is to express my opinion and then let everything go.

If you are on my server and you use "gay" as a negative - I WILL tell you that you are wrong for doing so. After that, I'm not going to hold a grudge. I'm not going to maintain a debate. I'm not even going to react to any continued negative behaviour.

I've said what I need to say, and moved on.

First Impressions: Final Fantasy XII

2010-03-26T14:01:00.007Z

I fell behind. I was spending more time travelling/studying, so handhelds became my gaming tool of choice, and the mainstream console titles fell from my radar. So, with the release of Final Fantasy XIII looming over me, I decided to take a look back at one of the titles in the series I had given my least attention.

Apparently, I had unconsciously made a wise decision. There is only one way to describe this game in the hours I have spent playing it so far - Final Fantasy XII is the weakest game in the series' history of epic storytelling, advanced graphics, and innovative gameplay.

The gameplay element is the only part I am currently enjoying. The battle system is very different from traditional turn-based Role-Playing Games. Battles take place in the world environment, rather than on a separate battle screen, and although turns are taken - characters can be set up to complete actions without direct player input using the Gambit System. It removes the monotony of pressing repetitive actions like "Attack", and allows the player to look at the battles more strategically. The player can pay more attention to which weapons and magic will best defeat the enemies.

The versatility of this system is the game's biggest strength.

For their flagship series, one of Square Enix's biggest talents has always been the ability to build empathy and concern for the central character. In this installment, Vaan - an orphan, shouldn't even be the central character. He is a "tag-along", the story seems to happen around him rather than to him, and his general demeanor is so bland and irritating that as soon as I could I removed him from my main battle party.

The story itself is mainly about war and power. While this in itself is enough to cause disinterest, it also means that the story doesn't really happen to any of the playable characters. All the while, everyone speaks in a weird attempt at "ye olde" English that only adds to the confusion. The twists in the plot are handled so poorly they may as well have programmed virtual "tumbleweeds" into game.

"The princess didn't kill herself?!"

*Tumbleweed*

"The guest in our party for the last two dungeons is a traitor?!"

*Tumbleweed*

I can only hope that the game improves as I progress. To complete this title will be a test of my perseverance...

Some Things Are Better Left Alone...

2010-03-24T00:46:00.018Z

Anger doesn't begin to cover it. I mean, seriously? Seriously?!

Alan Titchmarsh recently had a panel on his television show about the BAFTA Games Awards. Alan was the main interviewer of the group, and on the show were Ian Ingham, Julie Peasgood and Calvin Mackenzie. The only way to describe the show would be to compare it to the Salem Witch Trials. Regardless of evidence, it was proven that Ian Ingham was wrong and that the other three ladies and gentlemen of the jury were right. Computer games are guilty of influencing violence in children!

How I love to drip my words in sarcasm...

It's bad enough that three old fools gang up on the one person who can actually enlighten them about the true facts of the computer games industry. But on top of that, in attempting to argue that violence in computer games is linked to violence in real life - I'm feeling more anger and violence towards those three individuals than I ever have in playing a computer game.

The gaming industry has a hard enough time convincing the masses that it is an artform without the ignorance of novices adding fuel to the fire. The BAFTA Game Awards are one of the only celebrations that shows the achievements of what can only be described as a successful, recession-proof industry. So instead of actually looking at the awards as a positive step in computer game acceptance, the old farts decide that it's yet another opportunity to open the "Violent Video Games = Aggression" debate.

Apparently, an American study of 130,000 monitired children measured behavioural patterns. While finding no links to Gender, Age, or Culture, a miraculous discovery was that computer games are the prime cause of all aggressive and negative behaviour in children. I'm sorry - how can a study that found no links whatsoever to ANY other environmental factors find that video games are a consistent influence in negative behaviour? Did it consider family issues? Did it consider school issues like bullying? Did it consider other forms of media such as films, literature or art? Well, apparently those things don't matter as long as people are playing COMPUTER GAMES!!!!

*Shock Horror*

Has nobody ever stopped to think that some children are aggressive no matter what influences you put in front of them? Do people really believe that every person is a "good" person until computer games infiltrate and corrupt brain tissue, turning them into vicious monsters? (Ooo... that sounds like a good idea for a game story...).

I think what bothers me the most is that no one was even interested in what Tim Ingham had to say in the defense of computer games. Whenever Julie Peasgood said anything about aggression or addiction the entire audience clapped along in it's old-aged-pentioner narrow-minded way. Yet whenever Tim said anything that countered it, no matter how relevant or accurate it was, the audience collectively groaned in disapproval. The poor guy was attacked from all sides when what he was saying was just as important as the other arguments.

This is a person who actually writes for the industry and sees it from the inside. What on earth does Julie freaking Peasgood think she's doing as a representative of the masses?

There are games that are violent. There are films that are violent. There are life experiences that are violent. I'm not saying that these things don't have an effect on us after we view them, but I think it's an over-reaction to blame one form of media for all the bad in the world, when there was already a lot of bad there before computer games were even developed.

I also think people are too willing to blame external factors for the things that cause negative behaviour, without looking at their own responsibilities. People choose what they watch, what they play, and what they show and play with their children. If parents actually spent time playing games with their kids, they could be part of the interaction, and part of the fun.

For Christmas last year, I asked for a Wii Console. My family are very giving, and I was lucky enough to get one. They were extremely skeptical of why I would want this gift, and before Christmas Dinner I set it up in the living room, but didn't have time to play it. After the meal was over, I went upstairs to lie down. I came down half-an-hour later to find my entire family huddled around the television, laughing and cheering playing Bowling on Wii Sports.

If you are a parent who thinks that violent games should not be played by children - then don't let your children play them, and leave the rest of us alone. There are violent computer games. I for one choose not to play them.

It is your choices and decisions that really matter.

Demonising interactive media just doesn't cut it.

Valithria Dreamwalker - 10 Man

2010-03-18T16:24:00.009Z

“You Must Heal My Wounds” - The Review

Current Warcraft content is usually compared to previous encounters. Certain fights share mechanics, so when raid leaders are going over tactics they'll say things like “there's a fire-trail like Jaraxxus” when discussing how to down Blood Queen Lana'thel.

In my experience, there is no fight in this game that is like Valithria Dreamwalker.

Chaotic, fast-paced, and completely backwards – it is the most fun I've had raiding in my entire playtime of World of Warcraft. The Lich King is attempting to corrupt Dragons into an undead flight under his command. Valithria Dreamwalker is a Green Dragon, who was unfortunately captured by the scourge. As the heroes of the Horde and the Alliance race to defeat the Frost Queen, Sindragosa, they are distracted by an experiment taking place in the Frostwing Halls.

Unlike other bosses where the goal is to damage and defeat the boss, Valithria is at half strength when you enter the room, and it is your task to heal her to maximum strength while undead minions try to stop you. In this fight the healers are on point, and the tanks and damage dealers are the back up support. It plays on opposites in the best possible way.

The chaos that ensues is part of the fun. Waves of adds of different varieties complicate the encounter. Some will lower the healing received by Valithria, others will explode doing ridiculous amounts of raid damage, and then there are more that are just annoying. The damage dealers and tank need to do their best to manage as much of the damage as possible so that the healers can focus on healing the dragon, and not the raid.

The healers' role in this fight almost makes it feel like reverse damage dealing. Valithria does her best to help you do your job by opening portals into the Emerald Nightmare. Inside “the dream”, orbs of emerald energy increase your healing potential and your mana regeneration, and the buff they provide stacks depending on how many orbs you can collect. This element takes you out of the typical MMO-RPG “ability spam” character controls, and puts you in an alternate-reality platformer. Collecting orbs is like collecting rings in Sonic the Hedgehog, and the more you get, the more power you have. (Super Sonic!).

Healers may struggle at first with the orb collecting, as it requires you to swim/fly up to get them, and the graphical qualities of the orbs makes them difficult to see clearly. Sometimes on your screen it will look like you are on top of an orb ready to collect it, when actually if you change your camera angle you'll realise you are nowhere near it. Maintaining and increasing your stack of the buff is a key component of this fight. You will not down this boss until the healers assigned to Valithria are able to consistently stack the buff through each portal phase.

It is also important for the tank / damage dealers to prioritise the waves of mobs. If enemies are left alive that lower healing on Valithria, the healers (even while stacking the buff) will not be able to get her to full strength. If the skeletons that do explosive raid damage are able to complete their spell casts, the raid will take too much damage and either wipe, or force the healers focussed on Valithria to switch targets to the raid.

The only disappointing factor of this fight is the completion. After all the hard work has paid off, she shouts “I am renewed!”, the remaining enemies explode, and she disappears. It's shamefully anti-climactic for my favourite fight in Icecrown Citadel.

Once the raid understand the mechanics of the fight, this boss is very straightforward. There are a lot of little things that need to be monitored by each role, but once these responsibilities are mastered the seemingly chaotic encounter somehow makes perfect sense.

“Your Salvation Lies Within, Heroes” - The Strategy

Encounter Goal

- Heal Valithria Dreamwalker to 100% health from a starting health pool of 50%.

- Manage waves of enemies that will attempt to stop you.

Raid Set-Up

- 1 Tank

- 4 Healers

- 6 DPS

Tanking

- You will only require one tank for this encounter, who will be focussing mainly on Blistering Zombies, Risen Archmages, and Gluttonous Abominations.

- A Paladin or Death Knight tank is advised for superior AoE tanking abilities. Our main tank is a druid, and she did fine, but even she admitted that in that fight she wished that she was a Paladin.

- Try and pull all enemies to near Valithria's head, it makes healing easier to manage, and reduces movement required for the DPS when switching targets.

DPS

- Try and balance your DPS so that you have three ranged and three melee.

- Suppressors will attack in two groups, one on either side of the boss. Assign one DPS to one side, and one to the other.

- All DPS need to switch to the Blazing Skeletons as soon as they spawn. They will begin channelling a spell called “Lay Waste” that causes a lot of raid damage if they are able to complete the cast.

- When Gluttonous Abominations die, they will spawn 7-10 Rot Worms that need to be damaged down as quickly as possible. Let the tank get threat on them before dealing AoE damage.

Healing

- Assign one healer to the raid group, and the other three enter the portals when they spawn.

Healing Valithria:

Holy Paladin: Cast Beacon of Light on Valithria and spam Holy Light on the raid, or purely on yourself if you are talented with Divinity.

Holy Priest: Guardian Spirit (glyphed) every minute, cast Renew, Flash Heal (x3) and then Greater Heal (x1) in rotation.

Discipline Priest: Power Word: Shield (for Weakened Soul debuff), Penance, and Flash Heal in rotation. This spec is not advised for healing Valithria.

Restoration Shaman: Earth Shield the main tank. Cast Riptide, Healing Wave (x2), Chain Heal (x1), Healing Wave (x2) and then repeat. It means you'll have the greatest uptime of Tidal Waves and the Chain Heal cast will be 25% more effective every time.

Restoration Druid: Maintain Rejuvenate, Regrowth, Lifebloom and Wild Growth on Valithria while casting Nourish in between. If you are specced for all the talents that improve Healing Touch, just keep up Rejuvenate and Regrowth and then spam Healing Touch.

In our group, we had one of each healing class. The Paladin, Shaman and Priest entered the portals, and the Druid stayed out and focussed on raid healing.

There are many other setups you can use for this fight, but this is the one that we found worked for us. Reading other reports and guides, it appears that Shaman and Paladin healers are considered the most appropriate portal healers, followed by Druids, then Priests. A Discipline Priest could take the place of the Druid for raid healing, allowing the Druid to enter the portals. It depends on your players and their raiding availability.

Enjoy the fight!

Nadala

The Guild

2010-03-11T20:50:00.008Z

I wrote a short review for my Arts Criticism class about "The Guild", so I thought I'd post it on here:

The Guild

As an out-of-work actor, Felicia Day spent her days playing online computer games. Feeling the need to do something productive, she channelled her addiction into writing her own webisode comedy called The Guild. She used fellow unemployed actors and a rag-tag crew of production staff (one camera man, one editor, and one producer), to create a monumental series of short episodes depicting the lives of a group of gaming addicts.

Day also stars as the main character, Syd; a basket case known as Codex in her virtual universe. She's lost her job, her therapist and any real-life interactions because of her anti-social habits. The members of her Guild - "The Knights of Good" - have never met face-to-face, but she spends every waking hour with them playing "the game".

The Guild contains many gamer stereotypes. The teens without social skills, the adults trying to avoid quality time with their children, and the obsessive-compulsive Type-As all feature in the show. The story begins when Codex's home is invaded by one of her guildies, Zaboo, and she is forced to interact with the guild in real-life. She suggests an actual meet-up, which is met with a classic "Shock! Horror!" silence. The cross-overs between the game environment and real-life situations create a lot of comedy moments. Codex ends up having to bribe the other members with in-game gold to get them to rescue her. At one point, the characters team up to fight against Zaboo's mother using "Verbal Damage" and "Motivation Buffs" to overcome her powers of "Motherly Love" and "Shameless Guilt". It's quite quirky, and the characters are eccentric - but it's very funny.

A lot of the humour is driven by the characters, and those moments are the best parts. Codex can be quite selfish; when asked by her therapist if she had actually met the people from the game, she responds "I hear them, its good enough for the blind!". The snappy comebacks and one-liners are hilarious, and make the show very entertaining.

Non-gamers might feel like they are outside a series of in-jokes; things that people wouldn't get if they didn't play these games. But this can also get people more involved. South Park featured World of Warcraft in a very memorable episode ("Make Love, Not Warcraft"), and this generated fresh interest in the game itself. A lot of players bought this title because of the episode, which has become an iconic reference to the gaming community.

The Guild does the same thing. Although the game is never revealed, the infectious humour of this series has publicised the genre.

The guild is for gamers, by a gamer.

Thank you for reading,

David Harrison

So Retro!

2010-03-09T20:55:00.006Z

Retro isn't just a design statement. It's a gaming statement.

That's right ladies and gentlemen, "retro" is back with a vengeance, and I for one couldn't be happier.

It is now easier than ever to access those old favourites from days gone by, with the current console generations bending over backwards to let you go backwards in time:

Playstation Network - Classic titles are available for download directly to your PS3 or PSP. If you're planning to use your PSP, you'll need to download Media Go in order to transfer the game files. Crash Team Racer, Final Fantasy VII, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert are a few of the choice games available for your purchase. The older PS3 models are compatible with PS2 and PS1 games, but the new slimline PS3s have no back-compatibility... probably not enough room in the new slim design...

PROS - A few choic classic titles that weren't widely available or publicised can now be downloaded without worry of missing out.

CONS - There are a limited selection of titles, and if you want games that you already own on your primitive dust-gathering consoles, you're going to have to pay for them again...

Wii Virtual Console - Step back through the history of Nintendo's gaming library with their online game database.Titles as far back as Kirby and Alex Kidd for the NES are available, moving up as far as Golden Eye and Mario Kart for the N64. Games are purchased on the Wii Shopping Channel for Nintendo Points. The Wii console is back-compatible with the GameCube console, so any games you find for the GameCube that look like they might be a laugh will play on your Wii.

PROS - A wide range of games from every previous Nintendo console are available from the online store. The company have also managed to get access to a plethora of Sega titles from the Mega Drive / Master System days. (I don't mean to play favourites but... Streets of Rage and Sonic the Hedgehog!).

CONS - In this highly greedy business world, nothing is free. The Nintendo points are purchased through online credit card transactions or in game store purchases. Prices may vary.

Xbox Game Room - A Microsoft take on Sony's "Home" design, Game Room will incoperate a social interactive environment with retro gaming. I say "will", because Microsoft haven't actually released Game Room yet. It's due for a spring release in 2010, and will develop over several years as more games are added. The Xbox 360 has a downloadable software update that allows certain classic Xbox games to be played on the newer console.

PROS - Microsoft haven't given too much away at this point, but it sounds like a good idea. The focus appears to be on old-style arcade games like Centipede, to give the old-school gaming glories the chance to shine again. Excuse me while I vomit on Bill Gates.

CONS - It isn't currently available, and not much information about the available game titles has been released.

Having a PSP, I've been sucked in a bit and downloaded Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and Vagrant Story... Ok, so I might enjoy my Square Enix RPGs...

...Anyway! I've never played Vagrant Story before, having never really heard much about it other than it is supposed to be awesome.

Keep an eye out for my review!

Thank you for reading,

David

Nadala, Master of the Elements

2010-03-09T17:30:00.008Z

Hello, welcome to my blog!

I'm a bit of a gaming addict, so this space is going to be used to provide game reviews, features and guides based on what I'm playing...

For my first post, I thought I'd talk about the main character I play in World of Warcraft. Currently there are 10 playable classes to choose from in the game, some typical for an MMORPG like Priests and Mages, and then some more interesting ones like Druids and Shaman.

My main character is called Nadala, a Draenai Shaman on the EU-Alonsus Server. I mainly focus on PvE (Player vs Enemy) content - so I do a lot of dungeons and raids with my guild. The raiding content is split into 10-player and 25-player zones, and the guild I'm in - Recall - focus mainly on 10-player content.

I've played quite a few of the classes in WoW (my guildies call me an alt-aholic), and my first serious end-game character was actually a Shadow Priest in The Burning Crusade (TBC). I loved it - the class was basically a mana-battery with crowd control, which made them invaluable in places full of undead enemies like Kara'zhan.

When Wrath of the Lich King (WotLK) first launched, a lot of changes were made across the board to all the classes in the game. Shadow Priests were given higher damage output - which was great - but their potential mana regeneration was standardised into a buff provided by many other classes, called Replenishment. The buff is still very useful, but it took away some of the unique qualities of the class that I enjoyed. I liked being the mana-battery support class.

I had another character, a Restoration Shaman, and while I was levelling it from the TBC level cap to the WotLK cap, I fell in love with the Elemental damage spec. It's really explosive, with an easy rotation, and it provided a lot of buffs to a group using totems.

And so, I decided to make this class my main character for WotLK content, and it is currently my main today.

Some of the things I'm going to post in the future will relate to the content I'm playing in World of Warcraft - being an addict, and all. I hope that I can share some good information, and if you have anything to add just leave a comment in the post relating to it.

Thank you for reading.

Nadala