tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post3734192468826417006..comments2024-03-26T09:53:50.263-06:00Comments on Eight Years in Azeroth: 3.41. Lady Prestor Never LearnsShawn Holmeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05110605868875966328noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-32225607046260722192024-03-23T09:25:33.426-06:002024-03-23T09:25:33.426-06:00I leave these comments headed for the next install...I leave these comments headed for the next installment wondering if Kai was an NE warrior from Shadowmoon...Helzyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12639554549851236828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-631343194327476782023-07-23T15:16:29.506-06:002023-07-23T15:16:29.506-06:00All these years later, I think it's funny that...All these years later, I think it's funny that the comment that formed in my head while reading the first part of this post somewhat mirrors the criticism by Kai.<br /><br />As someone who has been forced to start over from scratch many times in both my work and personal life, it's easy to understand why a lot of people might look to themselves rather than the group...especially when they're at or near the bottom of the totem pole. People like Ater are exceedingly rare, and the ability to just write off the bad things that happen as a chance for a new opportunity and approach the next situation with optimism is far more difficult for the rest of us.<br /><br />It's easy to extol the virtues of being a "team player" when you're already part of a successful team within a trusted group of friends, but it's much harder to feel like you have any real shot at moving up the ladder when you're joining something that's been established and you're basically an outsider. It's not something that can't be overcome with enough time and effort, but it's certainly a mountain many will struggle to even start climbing, much less actually do it.<br /><br />I'm sure there were plenty of people who were as irredeemable you suggest, but it's also certainly possible that many WANTED to be selfless but just couldn't get over that nagging doubt that their efforts would be wasted if they took the risk of putting the guild before their own interests, spending hours of their precious time participating in guild progression only to walk away with empty hands. Just like the problem you mentioned regarding Blizzard using the same gear models for PVE and PVP and how it was a huge mistake, the reality is that it's hard not to measure success by the shiny baubles that everyone wants. "Guild progression" is difficult to wear like a badge on your chest...as you so clearly stated yourself in said post.<br /><br />Still probably not the people you want to be part of an elite group of raiders, since the end result is the same as the greedy players, but hopefully this adds a deeper level of understanding aside from greed being the sole motivator.Gunthreknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-21507930143468134452016-08-26T14:31:09.523-06:002016-08-26T14:31:09.523-06:00@Anonymous,
I'm certain a professional editor...@Anonymous,<br /><br />I'm certain a professional editor will set me straight.Shawn Holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05110605868875966328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-37074838154610717062016-08-26T13:15:31.403-06:002016-08-26T13:15:31.403-06:00If he does a book version, here's hoping he le...If he does a book version, here's hoping he learns the difference between "vice" and "vise", not to mention "who" and "whom" ;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-72960175414054074012016-07-08T15:58:56.948-06:002016-07-08T15:58:56.948-06:00I cannot express how reading this has affected me....I cannot express how reading this has affected me. I, like other readers, have observed that it's not simply that we are enjoying your story so much, but how viscerally your specific and personal retelling of WoW's history slams our own memories of similar, if not identical, experiences to the front of our brains. Many of these things I had long since forgotten with all of life competing for my consciousness. Even so, your recounting has brought them all back vividly, dredging up the emotions along with them. I thank you personally for that, if nothing else. While my own memory continues to archive the past, your blog will forever provide me a carriage to instantly revisit and enjoy one of the greatest episodes of my gaming life. Strike that: My life.<br /><br /><br />Now, for the critique/consideration.<br /> <br /> "No matter how noble the cause of the guild they called home, their allegiance was always to themselves first." <br /><br />This is a point you bring up frequently in almost every post here. It's not an entirely invalid point but a bit myopic. I still have a few posts to go and you may cover it later but; one of the things you never give recognition to (unless I missed it) is that you are EXACTLY THE SAME AS THEM. <br /><br />Yes, you never demanded loot first, legendary or not. You played a class/roll you didn't prefer for the good of the guild. You did everything above and beyond that you could to further the guild including programmatic, financial and emotional efforts.<br /><br />But, the one thing you haven't seemed to touch on is the fact that you were more selfish then all others. This is not an insult, just a reality. Because it was YOUR guild. Everything you did for the guild was because it was YOUR guild. From the VERY first, you refused to take any other moniker, refused to be merged into others. That was ALWAYS your ONE hard line. DoD must remain. Because it was YOURS. <br /><br />You could have easily merged/joined others and done EVERYTHING in your power to selflessly further that guild above singular personal gain. But you didn't. I shouldn't matter who started the guild. But it did. I should be about keeping a great group of friends together to play and socialize online. But it wasn't. You recognize that obviously. Progression took that top slot early on and never loosened it's grip. And you used the veil of FOR THE GUILD to justify almost every decision, good and bad, that you made.<br /><br />Now, I'm not saying this is a bad thing. It just bothered me the way that anyone that didn't live up to the expectations you set were dealt with because you had decided IT WAS JUST BUSINESS. <br /><br />Easy for someone who OWNS the business. And. I'm not saying it should be any other way. Hell, anyone who doesn't realize that it was the ONLY way to to be a progressive raiding guild is misguided, though I admit there could be exceptions to this. <br /><br />So, not critiquing how you handled things. If anything, in my experience you were an EXEMPLARY MODEL guild leader. <br /><br />But, in the end, anytime you expected people to consider the guild before themselves, you were really asking them to consider YOU before THEM.<br /><br />Now, if you cover this later in the blogs I will feel stupid. But, that is ok. I have plenty of experience with that. <br /><br />Kai<br /><br />PS. WHERE IS THE BOOK VERSION !!!?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09802426836552274372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-15695717629715190842013-12-06T17:34:40.190-07:002013-12-06T17:34:40.190-07:00Yeah, my question was if he got it from Brony cult...Yeah, my question was if he got it from Brony culture, or elsewhere as the timeframe was originally 2 years prior to the new series.<br /><br />Which made me wonder if there was something they were mutually referencing, which I would enjoy watching/ready if so. :)<br /><br />Thanks for the clarification guys. :)<br /><br />Thought the question would never be answered without him showing up.<br /><br />-CatelinaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-55187043152629267602013-12-05T23:08:16.763-07:002013-12-05T23:08:16.763-07:00@Catelina,
Mangetsu had a healthy repetoire of ma...@Catelina,<br /><br />Mangetsu had a healthy repetoire of macros and silly phrases from both anime and brony culture that he tossed in.Shawn Holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05110605868875966328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-47068753421754161382013-12-05T19:49:30.920-07:002013-12-05T19:49:30.920-07:00@Dalans from the Anon "Catelina"
Yeah, ...@Dalans from the Anon "Catelina"<br /><br />Yeah, I know which cartoon character it was from :P<br /><br />I just didn't want to specify more than I had to to prevent possible comment section jacking.<br /><br />"To clarify, just because it was posted here doesn't mean the timing is exact. Shawn could have posted this comment because Mang used it a lot but not necessarily at that point. I'm fairly certain the genesis of the comment is the MLP show."<br /><br />I thought that was a possibility, but the difference in timing was huge (Nearly 2 years), and the makers of that show do love to throw in references to outside sources. I figured the greatest possibility was that it was a reference to something obscure that I hadn't heard of. Thank you though. :)<br /><br />-CatelinaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-80087102062542689582013-11-28T22:24:34.186-07:002013-11-28T22:24:34.186-07:00To clarify, just because it was posted here doesn&...To clarify, just because it was posted here doesn't mean the timing is exact. Shawn could have posted this comment because Mang used it a lot but not necessarily at that point. I'm fairly certain the genesis of the comment is the MLP show.Dalansnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-85329284649578514542013-11-28T21:59:30.524-07:002013-11-28T21:59:30.524-07:00Took 2 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p...Took 2 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pFvWJ89Tgg<br /><br /><3 Anon.Dalansnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-77383819813790259382013-11-15T15:15:49.123-07:002013-11-15T15:15:49.123-07:00Also Shawn, I find it funny how similar our pics a...Also Shawn, I find it funny how similar our pics are on Google and that Kadrok once referred to me as "Hanzo minus 10 years".Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13547172117866304859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-86032898859556549442013-11-15T15:09:45.908-07:002013-11-15T15:09:45.908-07:00I love reading this from Shawn's point of view...I love reading this from Shawn's point of view. I know the story in my head, but seeing the other perspective is awesome. If sometimes humbling.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13547172117866304859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-28443129325089018102013-11-15T12:33:01.565-07:002013-11-15T12:33:01.565-07:00@Catelina,
Thanks for sharing your story! Being r...@Catelina,<br /><br />Thanks for sharing your story! Being relegated to a feeder guild sucks, and was constantly plaguing me through much of TBC (as you know).<br /><br />That was one thing I always felt by playing a healer: the need for good ones was always tremendous. So, it's a good role for people who want to fill a void and be depended on. So long as they step up.Shawn Holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05110605868875966328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-68422920455726837592013-11-15T11:41:37.817-07:002013-11-15T11:41:37.817-07:00(Same Anon) Thank ye :)
Probably should leave som...(Same Anon) Thank ye :)<br /><br />Probably should leave something constructive >_><br /><br />Reading your blog so far has been interesting. I only started wow 3 months before BC, I hit 60 two days after BC was released. I played a holy Priest that I leveled AS holy (From day 1), and when my friends weren't around to help... smitesmitesmitesmite... Ugh, loved the changes they made later in BC with Spell damage, and later Power.<br /><br />When we were in BC, we made a bit of headway into Content beyond Kara, but we kept getting our members poached from us, we ended up a Feeder guild, and it drove us nuts. We ended up with more friends in other guilds, than in our own (And they wondered why we didn't want to talk to them after a while...). In Wrath, we actually were periodically top on our server for 10-man progression throughout the expansion. Well, I say we, but I was just one of the guilds founders, and long time friends with the Guild Leaders. I never really did much. They'd periodically drag me off onto raids, I was a good healer, but I couldn't stand wiping continuously. It felt like I was failing, it was my job to keep people alive, and I was failing at that job. I grew to hate raiding, and avoided it whenever possible. But... I was one healer they KNEW would never jump ship, so they never stopped trying. Life started making it harder to play, and I didn't resist. Starting in BC, I'd sometimes be gone for a few weeks, and in wrath that changed to months. When Cata came out, I was gone for almost half the expansion, really only returning towards the end. By then, I wasn't the only guild member doing that, everyone was, and the guild faded. We're all still there, and friends, but no more progression, just fun, when we see each other. :)<br /><br />The addition of LFR actually allowed me to try raiding in an environment where failure... was pretty damn hard to achieve honestly. I actually ended Cata with the second best gear set in the guild. Proof that everyone else had given up XD<br /><br />I loved Pandaria's quests, look, feel, everything. It felt like I was back in BC, like I was home. And there was so much to do! And so little of it was interesting.<br /><br />I'd comment more, but it's un-needed. As for why I did comment as much as I did...<br /><br />I was always on the outside of the raid group, even when they abducted me, I wasn't one of them. And while I was the guild's "Counselor" and heard ALL the drama and details and helped the guild and it's members work through things, I still never had to actually go through it like they did. Reading this blog is showing me what the difference is, and allowing me to finally have a more complete understanding of everything they went through, and I thank you for sharing like you are. :)<br /><br />Currently on Hiatus (Again, for good reasons, I swear!)<br />Catelina - Kel'Thuzad (90 Holy Priest) (Server Transferred from Drk'Thul to Kel'Thuzad, Name Changed from Tsiar to Catelina, Faction changed from Troll to Human, race changed to Panderan (Blizzard certainly got money from me...))Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-51861249621634791352013-11-15T06:59:33.094-07:002013-11-15T06:59:33.094-07:00@Anonymous,
I lifted the quote directly from a fo...@Anonymous,<br /><br />I lifted the quote directly from a forum post he made, which I'm certain alludes to an anime.<br /><br />If he ever gets around to commenting here, I'm certain he'll clarify it.Shawn Holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05110605868875966328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6556575758010903163.post-39585921658879611562013-11-14T23:26:10.406-07:002013-11-14T23:26:10.406-07:00Patch 3.2.2 (2009)[Yell From: Mangetsu] UNGRATEFUL...Patch 3.2.2 (2009)[Yell From: Mangetsu] UNGRATEFUL WHELPS, THY BACKSIDE IS WHOLE AND UNGOBBLED<br /><br />A cartoon character in 2011:<br />"Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"<br /><br />Okay, they both must have got the reference from someplace, but where?<br /><br />Anyone know? Don't bother Googling, you'll just get references to the second person.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com