The first contest prize is complete. Plastic Rat’s trusty, crazy boar.

For those who were following Tayt’s newest adventure, the end is available on my writing website.

Enjoy!

Barnacles and Pineapples Part 2

As some of you may have noticed, there have been some rather large empty spaces on Ego post days lately.

I’m burnt out.

There’s a point where you think you might be getting burnt out, and then the point where you’re pretty sure you’re burnt out, and then somewhere down the line, you look back and admit that you’ve been burnt out for a while and have been playing the game on fumes and for the sole purpose of spending time with friends, rather than because of any interest in the game itself.

Which, while not necessarily an innoble motivation, it does lead one to something of a crisis.

Namely, I’m taking a break from the game, and here I have this blog which revolves around said game.

So I’m taking a break from the blog, as well.

A few obvious questions, answered.

Does This Mean Ego is Finished?

Not yet, but maybe. I want to give myself about a two month break before I make a decision like that – burnout leads just as easily back into love of the game as it does a decision never to play again, and this is hardly the first time I’ve felt burnout.

IF I come back from my break and I have no desire to play WoW, I will close Ego at that time, and I promise an appropriately sappy farewell post then.

What About the Contest?

The contest is STILL ON. I did the contest partially so that the blog wasn’t completely dead while I took my break.

The only difference is that NOW I actually see some of your entries, and I’m going to have to enlist extra help judging the thing because you guys are just too good. Egads, have you guys read the entries yet? Stellar lineup.

When Will I Be Back?

I will be back for the end of the contest at the latest, and I’ll be posting the winners and prizes for those at that time.

If, by that time, I haven’t recharged my warcraft batteries, I imagine I will also be posting my farewell.

*lovemuffins*
~Ego

Whee!

Everybody loves contests, right? Right.

I am hosting TWO (count ‘em, TWO) contests. Both contests will end on July 1. That means you’ve got almost two whole months to submit your entries.

July 1.

Don’t forget.

So, what are the contests?

Rules

I’m putting the rules up first because nobody reads them if I put them on the bottom.

Ownership

You have to be the one who wrote the story. Seems a little silly to have a rule for it, but I don’t want anyone posting an excerpt from a WoW novel or anything like that. Use your own work.

Entry Submission

You must either paste your entry into a comment -OR- supply a link to your entry in the comments. I recommend pasting the link, because it’s a great way to generate traffic to your blog. Feel free to include a teaser in the comments to encourage more people to go read your entry.

Do NOT email me entries. Do NOT comment your entries on other blog posts here – I can’t possibly keep track of them all if they’re scattered throughout random posts.

I do this for my own sanity – when the time comes to judge this puppy, I want to scroll through the comments on THIS blog post and read them all. I don’t want to remember that I was sent eleven emails, or that some of them were entered on a blog post written two months from now.

Please. I beg you. Entries or links to entries go HERE.

I will disqualify any entry which does not appear in these comments. I will do it with love. Loving disqualification.

Number of Entries

Enter either or both contests as many times as you like.

Length

• Contest 1 – no more than 140 characters (including spaces).
• Contest 2 – No more than 1,500 words.

Grammar and Punctuation

Not graded, although it may impact the way I view the piece. I do not intend for this to be a writing skill contest – those for whom English is a second language, and those who misspell, forget punctuation, and can’t quite wrangle an apostrophe are encouraged to enter. Again, I will not grade directly on grammar, but it CAN have an impact if you send me something that doesn’t even have spaces in it. I’m forgiving, but I’m still human.

Content

Both contests are “writing” contests. I put that in doublequotes because you don’t have to be a professional writer to win, you just have to move me in some way. Make me smile, make me laugh, make me go “D’awwwww”, make me cry – whatever emotion you want to evoke in your reader.

The stories/fiction/writing need to be about ANIMALS IN WARCRAFT.

That’s all caps because it’s important. The animal can be a beast encountered in the game, or a hunter’s pet, a critter, or even a non-combat pet.

This is a WoW blog, so it has to be warcraft-related.

Update : Moving answers to questions upward :

• The animal does NOT have to be the main character in the story.
• Druid forms and dragons count as animals.

Judging

I and a hand-selected group of friends will vote on the winners. I get two votes, because I said so. Everyone else will only get one. I may even let Hanners have a vote, unless she decides to enter.

I promise only that the judging will be utterly arbitrary and based on personal preference rather than quantifiable, measurable things.

It will not be based on skill or length. It will only be based on which stories had the biggest IMPACT on us as readers. Which stories do we go back to? Which ones do we read over and over again? Which ones make us smile every time we read them? Which ones do we link to our friends so they can read them as well?

Those are the ones that are going to win.

Contest 1

World of Twittercraft. For those of you living in caves, Twitter is a messaging platform, a bit like a blog, only with a 140 character limit.

You do NOT have to have a Twitter account in order to enter this contest. I recommend using the Twitter client so that you can be 100% certain that you’re within the 140 character limit before you post your entry, but it’s certainly not a requirement. You can post the “twitterfic” directly in the comments, twitter it (and post a link to that specific twitter entry), or blog it and post a link to your blog.

This contest especially, grammar will be VERY leniently graded. When you only have 140 characters to work with, sometimes extraneous letters get in the way. You want to make sure the meaning still comes across, of course.

The idea behind THIS contest is that not everyone is a writer. It can be hard to compete with people who ARE. Twitter is short enough that anyone can enter without spending too much time on each entry. “I really like bunnies. <3″ is a valid entry. No writing experience needed.

Contest 2

World of Writecraft is for those of you who (like me) really want to stretch your ideas through a longer bit of fiction.

Entries for this contest can be anywhere from 1 paragraph long to 1,500 words long. 1,500 words is actually quite a lot. For a silly contest like this, I’d think it’s longer than most people will actually need, but you’re free to go all the way to the limit if it makes you happy.

Contest Prizes

And, of course, what you were all waiting for. The prizes.

Both contests will have two winners. There will be a Grand Prize Winner and a Runner up for EACH contest. I reserve the right to reward honorable mentions if I so choose.

Grand Prize is a fully-colored hand-drawn illustration of the warcraft animal depicted in your story. Alternately, if you’d prefer me to write a short story (up to 1,500 words) for a character of yours, I will do that instead.

Example : Ravager

Runner Up Prize is a hand-drawn and colored bookmark of the warcraft animal depicted in your story -OR- a short story (again, up to 1,500 words) for one of your characters.

Example : Character Bookmarks

Bear in mind that if you win and choose an art prize, I’ll want some kind of mailing address from you so that I can mail the art to you.

Summary

Contests! Two of them! Enter in the comments here before July 1!

Any questions? Ask away!

Images

I will be adding images to mark those comments which are entries.

The kittyface is for the World of Twittercraft entries.

The buckteeth are for the World of Writecraft entries.

Not Quite The Same Shared Topic

There’s a shared topic that’s been floating around the blogosphere for a while – What Class Would You Be In RL?

I’d like to modify that slightly and take off the “in RL” portion of the question.

Maybe it’s just the storyteller in me, but I love to insert myself into the books I read, the tv shows I watch, and (of course) the games I play.

If Azeroth were real – I mean, really real, with deaths that stuck and blood and gore and truly suffering people who needed your help, and the “quests” you did truly changed their lives for the better – what class would you be?

Which of the Warcraft classes suits your personality?

Would you be a plate wearing warrior, feeling the blood lust as you charge headlong into rampaging monsters with only your shield and sword to ward you?

Would you be a rogue, stealthily darting through the shadows and lightening the pockets of your enemies before slitting their screamless throats?

Would you feel the rush of fire and ice in your veins as you collected a frostfire bolt in the palm of your hands, ready to be hurled at the nearest villain?

Would you be a shaman, feeling the call of the elements and gaining your strength from earth, lightning, fire, and water?

A mighty paladin, perhaps, hammer crushing your foes even as you heal and strengthen your comrades?

A hunter, with your trusted beast by your side, teamwork mowing down all those who dare cross your path?

Or perhaps a Warlock, steeped in shadow and fire, binding demons to your will?

Priest – either upholding the light and bolstering your companions, or twisted and dark, wielding the power of shadows against your foes?

The possibilities are as endless as the talent trees and races to choose from.

Me?

I would be a tauren druid.

Surprised?

The peacable, earth-loving tauren have always appealed to me. I sometimes spend time in their starting zone just to be there. To hear the deep voices bless me “May the eternal sun shine upon thee.” and “Walk with the Earth mother.”

Beyond that, the druid class itself is one that appeals to me. I’ve always been fascinated with shapeshifting, and animals particularly. To transform into a lithe cat or a soaring crow – these would be wondrous things indeed.

In addition, the role of the druid is versatile – I could heal, but I could just as easily turn feral and cause significant damage. No helpless healer, this.

Why not a Priest, or a Hunter?

It’s true that my favorite classes to play are priest and hunter. But in real life, I would be uncomfortable with the squishiness of the priest, and the dependence upon the Light.

I would enjoy the bond shared between hunter and pet, and I love archery – but it does not suit my personality to be only a fighter. If Azeroth were real, I believe I would be more likely found on the sidelines, healing the wounded than at the front lines, mowing down  Scourge.

And you?

What would YOU be? What path would you choose?

The Adventures of Tayt continue in Barnacles and Pineapples, Part 1.

Let’s take a look at one of the the Discipline priest’s most beloved of all spells, Power Word: Shield. For brevity’s sake, we’re going to affectionately call it “Bubble”.

What with the newfangled patch coming out and twiddling with our talent trees just in time for Ulduar, I thought it might be a good idea to take a step back and revisit our good friend, the Bubble.

What happens when you cast bubble?

• 1) The Target of the spell is placed in a protective bubble, preventing X amount of damage.
• 2) The Target gets a debuff called “Weakened Soul” which prevents you from casting another bubble on them for a short time.
• 3) The Target is immune to pushback effects while casting (a handy trick to use when, for example, your druid friend begins to cast Tranquility – he might just get the whole of the channeled spell off even if he attracts the attention of a few mobs).

That’s all pretty tame, right? Everyone gets those goodies, Discipline priest or no.

Still, OUR bubble is a smidge shinier than most.

Let’s see what goodies we get. Talents are italicized.

• 4) If our Bubble is completely absorbed or dispelled, we get mana back AND we give mana/rage/energy/runic power. Booya. – Rapture
• 5) We get a 25% boost to spell haste on our next spell after using the Bubble, AND the amount absorbed is increased based on our spellpower (that’s 40%, folks) – Borrowed Time
• 6) Our crit chance is increased on any target with the Weakened Soul debuff – Renewed Hope
• 7) Our shields absorb more damage – Twin Disciplines and Improved Power Word: Shield and Focused Power and Improved Inner Fire and ANY other talent that boosts spellpower.
• We can use our Bubble more often, and it’s cheaper - Soul Warding
  
• 8 ) Mana cost of the shield is lowered – Mental Agility
• 9) Decreased possibility of dispell (this talent has other uses that make it viable – not just for pvp) – Pain Suppression
• 10) Threat Gain from the shield is lowered and it is less likely to be be dispelled (Bubble already has a natural low threat associated with it, and the only mobs that are going to dispell it are other players – PVP or skip this talent as a recommendation ) – Silent Resolve
• 11) Reflects some of the absorbed damage back to the attacker (only works if you cast it on yourself. Again, PVP or skip as a recommendation) – Reflective Shield

Oh, and let us not forget, we can Glyph it to make it even stronger.

What does the glyph do?

• 12) Glyph of Power Word: Shield – Target gets a crittable heal for 20% of the amount that the shield can absorb.

There you have it, folks! Ten(ish) incredible reasons to cast Bubble. I probably missed something – feel free to chime in with a comment!

Remember: Cast early. Cast often.

As you all know, I tend to keep as much of my real life off this blog as possible, but a recent change in my life was made easier by the application of Warcraft terminology and thinking, so I decided to share.

So what is this life change?

It’s a workout regimen called P90X, which includes a large section on a specific diet just for the program.

My husband and I are theorycrafting it.

Fitness Raiders

If life is “playing the game” and restricting your diet and getting in some exercise from time to time is “instancing” then workout regimens are definitely the “raiding” portions of health and fitness.

That makes my husband and I newbie hardcore fitness raiders.

There’s a LOT to learn. The general sense of “sugar is bad, vegetables are good” got us from playing the game to instancing, but it’s not enough for the raiding we’re doing now.

Now, we need details. We need rotations, we need specific information about when and where to use which types of food. We need to know about supplements and shakes and powders (buffs).

We need to buy the gear  (weights, bands, pull up bars).

Examples of Food Theorycrafting

Did you know that you get a buff after a hard workout? Lasts only an hour, but during that time period, your body will process nutrients more efficiently. That’s a great time to have a recovery drink – high in carbs, liquid, easily digested nutrition.

Did you know that your body will work harder if you wait three hours after your last meal before you get started? Wait to use Heroism for the boss fight instead of blowing it on trash.

Do you know that the “perfect” amount of protein for a portion is 100 calories and 20 grams of protein? Did you know that six egg whites is one protein portion? To me, this is akin to how much hit rating do you need to get hit capped.

Did you know that any meal with protein is digested more slowly by your body – so if you pair a protein with a carb, for example, the carb will be digested more slowly. Much like if you use a trinket at the same time that you use one of your long-cooldown abilities, it will increase your output moreso than if you used them both independently.

Start each day with 8 hours of sleep – or don’t jump into a bossfight until your healer is at full mana.

Summary

So, what’s the point of all this?

The point of this is that we turned learning about nutrition into a game.

Warcraft is a game, and yet many of us spend a lot of time learning about it and maximizing our performance.

Some people think spending that much time and energy on a game i’s a waste, but I think it’s great practice. You spend time on the things you enjoy. You learn to research. You learn to dig up information, you learn to test and to question, and to compile data.

Whether you’re learning about a shot rotation or weighing slices of turkey – it’s all the same. It’s all theorycrafting. If you can find a way to take the things you enjoy about Warcraft and apply them to your daily life, then you’re winning.

It’s a game. It’s a game that I take very seriously, but it’s a game that I enjoy.

It’s also not the first time I’ve applied theorycrafting to non-warcraft subjects. Not the first time that I’ve used Warcraft terminology to help me understand something (ever go to the store for mats to make cookies? I rest my case!)  or to amuse me when doing otherwise mundane tasks.

Does that make me a geek? Hell yeah, and proud of it. I’m also winning the fitness game.

Query

What about you? Do you find yourself applying Warcraft to real life? Not just in fitness, but in other aspects as well? Does anyone else treat a grocery list like a quest? Does anyone else wait at a red light and imagine the RingDing! of the boat bells when it turns green? Do you research all of the details of something, anything, and enjoy it as much as you do theorycrafting in WoW?

This is the companion post to Tuesday’s “Frivolity and Fun” post.

Where that one was lighthearted and not game-altering, THIS post asks the same question but with a more serious turn.

If you could sit down with a Blizzard developer for an hour over coffee, what things would you bring to their attention as being broken or needing attention? And taking that a step further, how would you recommend they be fixed? Lets have some fun with this shall we?!

Examples

• Totem Poles for shaman. Instead of littering the floor with wasted mana and cast time, let a shaman carry a totem pole (like the flag carrier in WSG) on their back. The totems would still cost the same amount of mana and still require the (imo stupid) global cooldown for each cast, but at least they can carry the totems WITH them from fight to fight.
• Consecrate(d Ground) for Holy Paladins. A deep Holy talent that would allow a a healing Paladin to “lob”  a consecration effect. Add a Glyph of Consecrated Ground that lets consecrate heal for x amount of damage it would do and presto! many happy paladins with an AOE HoT.
• Understudy for Rogues. Basically a Ninja in training, this would be a full fledged pet for rogues of all specs. Each Understudy would have skills similar to the rogue and would be propped up by whichever tree the rogue was spec’d for. For example, a combat rogue would have skill that boosted Sinister Strike – the Understudy would get that same boost. Their damage output would not be on par with say, hunter pets, but they would scale with the rogues gear and change to match the rogue in every visual aspect. Put it on a long cooldown like the Mage’s Mirror Image spell. **Kwane note: I was actually thinking this would be more like a standard pet, but with the same amount of hitpoints the rogue had, just lesser damage output…like built in multi-boxing 2 rogues***
• Absorb Demon for Warlocks. This talent makes the warlock always appear in a hybrid demon from usage until death, with the visual aspect of the warlock. changing depending on which demon was absorbed. This would negate some of the talents bolstering the pets, but absorbing the demon would give the warlock a good portion of the demons health, armor, and int – and access to the demon’s abilities.
• Master of Nature for Druids. Druids gain the ability to create or summon various creatures, dependent upon spec. Restoration druids would be capable of growing saplings that emit a constant low level HoT but cannot move, Balance druids summon Crazed Moonkin that spam moonfire until oom then melee until they randomly vanish. Feral druids summon cubs that spam bleed effects, that boost dps/threat and make waaay to much noise and are hated by the raid for it. All druids can spawn a flock of crows that boost group/raid movement speed temporarily.

And that’s just for starters!

What would YOU suggest?

Apology

First off, I’d like to apologize for the lack of a post on Thursday – work has had me in a stranglehold lately, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better, as we’re moving to a new building and I am one of the few, the proud, the ones who are authorized to unplug and plug wires.

Hopefully, the bulk of the interruption will be in June.

That being said, I’m still busy, but this isn’t entirely a cop-out post. I’m incredibly curious.

The Post

After last Tuesday’s post about hairstyles and dances drop as BoE “scrolls”, there were a few comments that really got me thinking about OTHER ways in which the game could be enhanced.

I want to say here that I currently plan on making THURSDAY’s post be for non-frivolous ideas.

TODAY’s post is all about frivolity and fun.

If you could sit down with a dev and ask for some frivolity, what would you request?

Examples

• Hairstyle and dance loot drops.
• Tattoos (credit to Ailis for the comment with the idea)
• Non-combat vanity pet BATTLES. You can initiate tiny wars between two non-combat pets much like dueling (the rock-em sock-em robots already do this if they come near each other – I’d like this to expand and be 1) voluntary and 2) involve ALL NCPs)
• More poop quests (I KID, I KID)
• Armor and tack options for the following : hunter pets, mounts, druids (I am hugely looking forward to the new druid forms blues have been hinting at), and noncombat pets.
• Rather than going the usual route and requesting armor dyes (do any of you remember Everquest? *shudder* Armor dyes are a great idea that gets implemented horribly), I want to request purchasable RP clothing slots, kinda like hunters get stable slots or banks get bag slots. I can choose whether to use one of my RP clothing slots or my actual armor to display on my character at any given time, while still retaining my armor set stats. And I don’t want to carry those RP clothes around. Maybe once I “apply” an article of clothing to the RP slot, it disappears, as though it had been disenchanted.

Request

So what about you guys? What frivolous changes or additions would you request being made to the game?