If you liked it, then you should have rolled Need on it.
Yep, I’m posting a lot of videos and a lot of MMO-related stuff right now. That’s in part because I’m too overwhelmed with life at the moment (sometimes positively, sometimes not) to be very deep.
So: if you’re familiar with the politics of loot distribution in high-level World of Warcraft raiding, you might find this as funny as I did. Otherwise, probably not.
Level 80
Mirandala hit the level cap. I barely know what to do with her now, she didn’t manage that at 60 in original WoW or at 70 in Burning Crusade.
Also, she made a pair of X-Ray Specs: a gadget which, from her perspective, strips all the other player characters in the game down to their underwear. But what else would you expect from me?
More Tales of the Plumbing
I’m startled to see that I didn’t post here about the surgery. Sometimes I have trouble remembering which sites have current updates and which ones don’t.
Anyway, I went in on Wednesday morning and sat in pre-op for about an hour, getting more and more nervous. Thankfully, they gave me a bit of anti-anxiety in my IV drip, which helped; we also had a medical student stop by to tell me that she’d be observing the procedure, which Starr said was a good sign; they usually assign students to observe the simple, straightforward, textbook cases.
I don’t even remember them starting the anaesthetic. All I remember is waking up in post-op, and feeling utterly lousy; soon, they put me in a private room, and Starr joined me. The surgery went like clockwork, and removing the organ clearly had been the right decision, as it was discolored and had unusually-placed stones.
They’d intended to keep me overnight for observation, but the cafeteria accidentally sent up a solid-food dinner instead of the intended liquid diet, and not knowing better, I ate it. When the doctor discovered that I’d kept down solid food, and that my wife was an RN, they decided there wasn’t any real reason to keep me, and home I went Wednesday night.
Thursday I spent weak and in pain, accomplishing nothing besides leveling Mirandala to level 74. Friday, while still tired and hurting, I was able to fold some clothes and move up and down the stairs a couple of times. Saturday, we’d intended to participate in an overnight camp-out with a couple dozen friends; after much debate, Starr and I attended, but on the condition that I sit on my ass (or optionally lie on it) the whole time. I accepted, and had a great time, but I was still utterly wiped out by Sunday afternoon.
Life doesn’t wait up, though. The fuel filter replacement I’d done on Tuesday hadn’t done the trick, and Sunday I prepared to grit my teeth and fork over the $300 for a new pump assembly – only to find that all the local parts stores could order the assembly, but they didn’t actually have one in stock. They did have the actual pump part of the pump assembly, though; so while I didn’t have the super-clear instructions I did for the filter, I nevertheless worked out how to replace the pump part, and with the help of a friend for the heavy labor, managed to do it. The Hyundai took me to work this morning without a hiccup; we’ll see how it does this afternoon, but I’m optimistic.
So today I’m here at work, and tomorrow I have the MRI for my upcoming kidney surgery. I’m sure glad I don’t have a boring life like some people.
Ahhwoooooo!
Here’s my little bit of happy for the evening, and it goes out to all my lichen lycan friends out there. It’s a WoW video, yes, but I suspect it works pretty well even if one’s not steeped in the lore of Azeroth.
RPG character quiz
Taken from funwithrage, since it looked entertaining.
—–
Out of all of your characters from any game, who would you…
Take to lunch?
I can’t remember his name off the top of my head, but my Deadlands character was a cross between Abraham Van Helsing and Egon Spengler. I think he’d have some fascinating stories and insights, and the fact that he’s slightly mad wouldn’t hurt a bit.
Want to rescue you?
“Professor K”, the mysterious mentalist I played in some Shadowrun sessions. He’s appeared in lots of fic written by our crowd, and he’s pretty good at the whole rescuing thing – plus he has some interesting resources at his disposal.
Never want to meet in a dark alley?
I don’t really play many scary or disturbing characters, but after thinking about it, I’m not sure I’d want to meet “Circy”, my World of Warcraft warlock. She looks pretty friendly most of the time, but even when they’re the “good guys”, warlocks in this game are not nice people. Besides, she’d be backed up by a Voidwalker demon or something.
Hug?
“Mirandala”, the gnome mage I play in WoW. She’s adorable, and I think of her as pretty sweet, if a little butch at the same time.
Be for a day?
“Professor K”, definitely. Knowing his backstory info that never made it into the game, I’d love the chance to play with some of his tech toys and visit some of the places he had access to… such as Federation starships. (Yeah, our Shadowrun games could get weird.)
Steal powers/skills from?
I’ve played “Nebula” in several game systems and worlds, and she’s almost always an accomplished musician, generally as a singer and keyboardist. I’d love to have those abilities gifted to me.
Take to an amusement park?
In the post-apocalyptic Deadlands: Hell on Earth, I played a powerful Wiccan whose personality and look I created by trying to imagine a very angry, bitter tzel. I think a trip to Disney World, or even Busch Gardens, would have done her a lot of good. At least she’d have some good memories to help bolster her the next time she fought techno-zombies.
See their story made into a movie?
“Professor K” and “Nebula” would require their own high-budget series, with possibly several spin-offs. Actually, I think the flying armored “Eclipse” from ptownhiker‘s Marvel Super Heroes game would be a fun movie subject, especially once the “ancient astronauts” part of his backstory came back into his life.
Never trade places with, ever?
In a Technicon LARP, I played the Prince of Russia in an alternate 19th century of Imperial expansion and high-stakes diplomacy. Given the constant backstabbing, betrayal, and threats of war, I’m not sure how he ever got any sleep.
Get stuck on an island with?
Well, the flying mage “Bombardier” from Shadowrun and “Eclipse” would each be useful, as they could fly us home. “Mirandala” could teleport us out, and “Professor K’s” friends have hi-tech ways to find us and retrieve us. If I’m really seriously stuck, though, I think “Nebula” would be a pretty charming companion.
A Pirate Must Live A Pirate’s Life
I’m slowly returning to the Internet after the wonderful madness of the last few weeks. There’s plenty about those days to talk about, too, but I’m warming up with something especially trivial: WoW faction transfers.
When you make a World of Warcraft character, you choose one of two factions, and then one of five races within each. Once you’ve done that, you can’t talk to the people on the other side, help them very much with their adventuring – in fact, the main thing you can do is attack and kill them. There are various game design reasons for this setup, though I think some of them might have had alternate solutions.
But, of course, everyone who plays Alliance has some friends who signed up for the Horde, and vice-versa. So, Blizzard is now offering to let you switch your character from one side to the other for a fee: many restrictions will of course apply, to keep metagamers from abusing the ability. Whatever race you were in your faction will be changed to a race from the new one.
Frankly, I’d have liked to see them do it a little different: allow you to change faction while keeping your own race. Outcast gnomes in the mesa of Thunder Bluff! Acerbic Blood Elves in the forests of Darnassus! Humans attacked on sight should they dare to attempt to return to Stormwind! Now, that would be some fun.
I’m sure that Blizzard thought about that, and had what they consider very good reasons for doing it the way they have. But from a role-playing standpoint, at least, I think it would have been extremely cool.
Very short vacations
Just to show you what a iron grip WoW holds on my life:
Thursday night, Starr and I signed on together, for the first time in what seems like a couple of months, to attend shrewlet‘s in-game wedding to another player. We didn’t stay long, but another player did us the favor of teleporting us to Dalaran, a city that we’d normally have trouble reaching until we’d gained several more experience levels. We signed right off afterwards, as it was late.
Last night, we signed on again to make the death run from that high-level area to (heh) Star’s Rest, from where we could catch a flying griffon to our regular questing zone. We knocked out a quest chain involving crashed pilots and the recovery of some microfilm from a very unpleasant place, and signed off again for sleep.
So, yeah, counting the couple of hours I spent chasing Nobelgarden eggs, we’re talking maybe six hours of play in the last six-to-eight weeks. Call the deprogrammers. Kinda frustrating, really, ’cause I enjoy the game and wish I could play more. But real life comes first (if you can call my life real), and there’s just been an abundance of reality lately. I’m not exactly complaining, but I kinda miss the old days when I could slack for days on end and get away with it.
The Hunt for Red Hyundai
The first folks I asked for transport to Roanoke had other commitments, and that’s completely understandable: this all happened on pretty short notice. I was getting a little panicky about finding someone.
Then, by the sheerest coincidence, I was talking to a friend on Thursday night who’s a woodworker. He had an appointment in Staunton on Friday, and casually volunteered to drive me the rest of the way down I-81. I couldn’t say no! The trip turned into quite the adventure, as his delivery truck has no stereo, no AC, windows which must be wrestled into place by hand, and (it turned out) a bad left turn signal. But, while the whole excursion was draining, the conversation was great. I have no complaints.
Thanks to missed connections and three separate car-accident highway backups, the trip took nine hours, and I reached Mom’s place around 11 or so. We chatted briefly, but I had to beg off because my energy levels were almost non-existent. When I came back in the morning, we talked for quite a while, and I fixed her air conditioning set up, the new shower sprayer, and her computer’s Internet connection. When it came time to leave, I took her red Hyundai back to Chesapeake as promised. The five-hour drive on Rt. 460 stayed pleasant, and I got home in time to surprise Starr with a scallop dinner after her workday.
Today, I have done nothing useful. I am exhausted, and the house needs a lot of work still, but I have managed little. I will need to make up for it this week. And now to whine about something trivial: today, the ‘not-Easter’ celebration starts in WoW, and it begins with a ‘not-Easter’ Egg hunt. This is a lovely idea, except there’s some nice rewards for collecting large numbers of eggs, and you can’t get to any of the places where they appear; the micro-second an egg spawns, someone else has already clicked on it, and it fades right back out. People are ‘camped’ at all the spawning points, collecting eggs. Perhaps they’ll get bored, or finish, and I’ll have the chance to pick up a few after work later this week. 🙁
Brief updates
- 08:30 Talking about comic strips at work. Anyone who recognizes the reference to “Uchuu Sensuikan Rabendaa” has known me for quite a long time. #
- 11:35 Cannot reach any JPop radio station on iTunes today. Found a vocal trance station which at least kinda reminds me of Yoko Kanno. #
- 12:49 @DontPanicJasz Well, I don’t even have an epic flying mount. yet… and the moment I earned my regular one at 68, I headed for Northrend 🙁 #
Sent subspace radio by LoudTwitter
