Every so often I come up with this idea that seems really amazing in theory, but incredibly dorky in practice. Like the Gnomish Mage’s Mana Pie.
This image by me is free for you to reuse under CC-BY-SA 3.0
Yes, I know, I need professional help…
Tag: silly
Coming Back To Haunt Me
So, where to begin with this one. About three years ago I agreed to build a realm website for Earthen Ring, the roleplay realm I was on at the time. It was one of those things where I put it together, handed it over and pretty much left people to it. Needless to say the forum didn’t get maintained, the software didn’t get updated and it’s now a sprawling mess.
About a month ago, I was asked to give it a bit of a kick-start again. After taking backups and performing checks, I’ve moved everything over to a new architecture. And while Earthenring.EU currently looks fugly as hell, at least it has a solid foundation now on which I can build things. I’m currently tinkering with a number of things here and there in order to get things working right, but I’m learning a lot as I go so it’s a slow process.
This means that I’ve been getting cross and frustrated with web software, while Curio (my mage on the server) sits on the Cathedral steps and responds to questions in whispers etc. It also means that some of the blogposts I’ve got queueing up are having to wait a little until I can finish them off. I just hope you can be patient with me while I’m working on other things.
Luckily there have been several things to make me smile as I’ve been working away. So here’s a little link love to those great people who have helped make this whole thing slightly more bearable.
- A guest post over at The ‘mental Shaman describes the three different types of shaman
- Nhani over at Thoughts for Food has some awesome renders of two of her characters, along with a touching story
- Anna at Too Many Annas talks about the differing species of healers
- Tamarind has some great screenshot funnies that made me drink Pepsi through my nose
- Spinks makes me insanely jealous of the guild housing in LOTRO
- A guest post over at The Lazy Sniper reminds me why I hate playing a tank. In a good way, ‘course.
Enjoy!
The Jigsaw Man
Every so often, I see a concept or idea spread across the Warcraft blogsphere that just makes me smile. A great example of this is Sven’s Greater Internet Romantic Hero Theory. If you haven’t read it, go there now! Don’t worry about me, I’ll still be here when you get back. Sven’s idea was itself inspired by Pilfkin’s own theories about the Virtual Me, which is also a great read.
For me though the story doesn’t end here. Although I have a main character who I love playing, I also have an army of alts to care for and nurture. Each of them started off as an idea to explore a different idea, a different personality. I’ve got the traditional family man who still goes off adventuring occasionally, just to prove to himself he’s still alive. I’ve got the genius engineer who struggles to live in a world that doesn’t understand or respect him. I’ve got the suave young rapscallion who has a girl in every port and has trouble choosing whether to think with his brain or his balls. I have the bitter, lonely old man who’s angry with the world and everything in it, who would give anything just to see it all consumed in an inferno.
The MMO genre doesn’t just mean that I have one character that I explore and empathise with, it means I have a pile of jigsaw pieces. It’s like someone has taken a hammer to my mind and taken each shattered piece of personality to make a character out of. I don’t think that I’m unique in all of this – I reckon it happens to a great number of people. As soon as we’re presented with choices, we choose them all!
Just like Sven and Pilfkin suggest though, a character is a two-way street and it’s no different with a collection of alts. Sometimes I don’t feel in the mood to play a character. It’s not a case of “oh no, not the Warlock again” but more something like “I’ve had a crap day at work and want to tell people to go die in a fire”. There are other times when I want to cheer myself up, so I’ll log on as the mad as a trouser full of ferrets Roffles and randomly roleplay at people. Being silly and making other people laugh makes me laugh as well. It’s weird and I guess highlights a ton of approval seeking personality flaws in me, but you play the cards you’re dealt with.
I think that the characters we play tend to affect our feelings more than we give them credit for. Even if it’s just a case of feeling that the character you’re playing is cool and interesting, those feelings tend to reflect back on you. If you feel that a character is dull, plain or boring he’ll probably get relegated to the sock drawer of obscurity.
Meanwhile I’m not going to even try and put together the jigsaw in my head. Besides, I’m probably missing a few pieces anyway.
Blizzcon? I’m Virtually There
The date for this year’s Blizzcon has been known for a while, but we’ve all been wondering when we’ll be able to lay our hands on some tickets. The great news is that tickets go on sale on June 2nd and 5th at $150 each. There’s more information about what you get for your bucks on the official Blizzcon site.
I’ll be watching it myself through the DirectTV feed. This year it’ll be multi-channel, so I can skip the PVP yawnathon and focus on the panels instead. Yay for choice!
As always though, the big question is what the in-game pet will be? In previous years the ‘con attendees and livestream subscribers have been given a small present, with last year’s being Grunty. Already the interwebs are rife with speculation on what this year’s will be.
Fortunately I can exclusively reveal that those of us attending Blizzcon (either in-person or virtually) will receive a Mini-Deathwing! As is traditional in these situations, there’s the obligatory screenshot below.
I think you’ll agree this is definitely a pet worth getting, and easily beats any panel or new announcement that might come out during the weekend.
The Business with Bank Alts
We love our bank alts. We give them funny names and place them in vanity guilds. We kit them out in fine clothing, almost treating them as digital dolls. But have you ever wondered what it would be like if your bank alt took on a personality? It’s something I decided to try out with mine, with unexpected results. I introduce to you Sir Roffles Roundshield!
Yes, I am sure that you have travelled a terribly long way today. I appreciate that my Secret underground Lair here in the Swamp of Sorrows can be ghastly to get to, despite the signposts I’ve arranged to be erected outside. You see, good business is hard to come by these days. What with the ooze shortage and every local dinghy commandeered we seem to be in quite a pickle these days.
Quite a pickle.
Anyhow, allow me to introduce myself. I am Sir Roffles Roundshield, erstwhile proprietor of the Roundshield Fiscal Management Service, Murloc Express Delivery (We deliver before you can say Glaargblarrgblargh) and the long-term storage business My Big Box Is Holy. Quite a portfolio, don’t you think? I agree, being a Paladin in Lord Uther’s service was quite something, but after the terrible accident and medical discharge, the call of industry was too strong to ignore!
What, you’re not here for this? Well, let’s see what else I can interest you in…
How about the hire of my Private Murloc Army? A team of highly skilled Murlocs, trained in everything from high-impact parcel ballistics through to cave excavations and management. I even have a platoon kitted out in the latest Goblin steam-armours and weapons. I’m promised they’ll be able to hit a target from ten paces any week now!
Not the Murloc Army? Hrm…
How about my Cheese Sculpting Correspondence Course? It’ll train you how to carve everything from the humblest of truckles up to a scale model of Dalaran itself! If you’ve ever fancied yourself as a bit of an Archimonde just pull on your boots and jump right in! Of course, I can’t guarantee that you’ll have any effect on the fair city itself, but the momentary delusion can be quite satisfying. Yours in monthly installments for only fifty gold pieces.
Not the Cheese either? Well, what else could it be?
Wait… you’re not here about the Marmalade… are you?
You mean you haven’t heard?
Well, you my friend are in luck! A chance to invest at the ground floor, so to speak!
You see, I’d sent my team of Surveying Murlocs out to investigate nearby Elwyn for resources. Running a Private Murloc Army isn’t cheap you know, so we were looking for ways to supplement our income. I remember that it was just after breakfast when Lurky came up to me with a map of Stormwind. The information that he showed me was startling. A seam of Marmalade, running right under the Cathedral! Of course I need to secure a few mining permits, but I’m sure that the Archbishop will be only to happy to let me dig a few holes underneath. Besides, it could provide a surplus of catacombs!
You’re not interested? Sure I can’t tempt you?
So what did bring you here, exactly?
You wanted directions to Nethergarde Keep? Really, my good man, you waste my precious time! Holding me to account, only to squander my company like this! Good day, SIR!
Lurky, show this ruffian out! And don’t roll your eyes at me like that!
Starting the Engine
I finally managed to get the Mekgineer’s Chopper made on Curio. I’m really pleased with it – he finally has the mount that suits him. It’s taken a while, but it’s definitely worth it. So to celebrate, I’ve been doing laps round Ironforge, laps round Dalaran, even laps round Mirage Raceway.
Thing is, doing laps round anything gets a bit mundane. I needed something more extreme. Something more dangerous. Something… with Dinosaurs. Like some grotesque hybrid of Mad Max and Jurrasic Park, I went to Un’Goro.
To make it even more interesting, I brought along a friend of mine called Theo. She’s been roleplaying a gnome locked at level 1 in anticipation of Gnome priests becoming available in Cataclysm. She was interested in getting the Noblegarden achievement Hard Boiled, so I figure it’s an ideal time. Besides, with a level 1 character in a jungle full of raptors what could possibly go wrong…
First, it was the raptors that spotted us…
Then the dimetetrons and these fiery elementals start trying to gang up on us. They think that they can corner us, but I manage to slip around them with inches to spare.
We finally made it to the hot springs and pick up the achievements. The area seems quiet. Almost a little too quiet…
With moments to spare, we realise why the area’s devoid of life – there’s a devilsaur roaming around! There’s nothing I can do but drive!
Luckily we made it back to the flight point unscathed, with only a few minor scratches on the bike. Theo seemed to enjoy the trip too, although I’m not sure she’ll be heading back there in a hurry.
It’s The People That Make It
I get up to some silly things in-game. Usually it’s just messing around with strange game mechanics like using Slow Fall then jumping from the Temple of Storms. Once in a while though, it’s something that’s shared around that’s equally silly, and makes the game even better.
I’m going to kick off with something that happened on Curio, one of my mages. I got asked if I’d help out a couple of people with making a portal to Dalaran so that they could set their hearthstones there and find it easier to get around the world. Heading over to Ironforge I picked up that this was a roleplay group, so I thought that I’d best be ready for some impromptu roleplay.
Since last year’s Children’s Week, Curio has constantly had a Gorloc pet with him. Affectionately named Ernie-fu, there’s a dialogue between them as Curio says something, then watches as Ernie emotes a response. As a result, Ernie doesn’t say very much but he does an awful lot. And one of those things is eat.
So when one of the portal-seeking roleplayers throws Ernie a hunk of bread to eat, Curio pulls out a tube (don’t ask) of jam in order to sweeten it a little. This then leads to questions being asked about why Curio has jam in a tube, which went to experiments in jam delivery systems. This then went to discussions around jam explosives, jam mortars and jam limpet mines. Curio then pipes up that he’s scared the Horde may have stolen his research, so he’s working on ways to protect Stormwind from a jam-based attack. The session finished with Curio suggesting that baking a large crumpet to cover the city may be the only way to protect it from jam-based artillery.
They couldn’t use the portal in the end – they didn’t have the Wrath expansion on their accounts.
Another one is mentioned by Ercles in his blogpost about Single Abstract Noun. Bear in mind that I’m Juplaar in the screenshot he’s included. My response was based on the question “Are hippopotamuses really hip, or are they just really cool potamuses?”
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that I do some crazy stuff in-game, from random roleplay encounters to campaigns for cheese-sculpting to be added as a profession. I get some immense fun from these moments of randomness, some real pleasure from being silly. But I couldn’t do it at all without other people to play alongside. A good set of guildmates or friends in the game are fantastic to have, and worth seeking out.
Although great game mechanics and cool effects can help to pull people into a game, it’s the people that you play alongside that will keep you hooked and eager to return. It doesn’t matter if it’s a close knit community or just some people you bump into for a while, the important thing is to have fun with others regularly.
When I’ve unlocked my last achievement and killed the last boss, I’ll still be around. As long as there’s silliness to be shared, I’m in.