Blog Azeroth Shared Topics: Catching Up!

I find myself too easily distracted from things I want to do right now. Hence, they often get done eventually, but rarely immediately. A case in point¹ is the Blog Azeroth Shared Topic, as reported by the Twisted Nether Blogcast. I’ve wanted to write on these topics as they appeared, but for one reason and another² I haven’t. Yet.

Today, we rectify that situmilation.³

Why Do We WoW? ⁴

The answer is quite simple: It keeps me off the streets and out of bars. My wife likes that.

No? Alright then, most of the kidding aside, my best friends are in WoW. I’m not an especially social person. While I can be sociable, charming, and occasionally witty, I don’t have many close friends who live nearby. Thank 20 years of moving around the world at Uncle Sam’s beck and call for that. My friends in WoW are people with whom I have a great deal in common, not the least of which is our love for the game. One of my best friends in the game, I’ve known less than three months. Another, I’ve known for…7 years? (And we’ve met "in real life" several times too.)

Several of us get together almost every evening and enjoy each others’ company, even if we aren’t chatting with each other. Most of the time, of course, we’re on Skype together, even when we’re on Ventrilo in the middle of SSC. Which brings me to the second big reason I WoW: Pure enjoyment of the game. The entertainment value of WoW, for me, is priceless.

So how can you go wrong, having fun with friends, for hours and hours each week? 

What You Need to Know About Priests ⁵

1. We heal you. We don’t necessarily save you from your own stupidity. Sometimes that happens, usually more by luck than design. Be thankful.
2. In a 5-man instance, in Karazhan or Zul’Aman, and in any 25-man raid, our priorities are always the same: Tank(s), ourselves, the rest of you, your pets. So knock it off with the "HEAL ME!" crap: You’ll get it when it’s YOUR TURN. If you’re really lucky (or not: this can vary by circumstance) you may get the benefit of [spell]Binding Heal[/spell], [spell]Prayer of Healing[/spell], or [spell]Prayer of Mending[/spell].
3. A good priest doesn’t need to "mana up" after every pull. A really good priest may not need to mana up at all while clearing trash all the way to a boss. But if I tell you I need mana, don’t start the next pull until I’m ready. If you do, be sure to run back, because I won’t be rezzing you. Call it "reinforcement training."
4. If you take a lot of damage in a very short time, I can heal you for a little, or a lot. It takes me at least 2.5 seconds to heal for a lot, plus reaction time. Solution: Get better gear.

5. I am squishy and taste good with condiments. I have a very limited arsenal for getting out of trouble ([spell]Psychic Scream[/spell] can have a LOT of unintended results, none of them favorable). All of them involve Not Healing. So if you see me under duress, it IS your job to get the bad guy(s) off me. Just do it.

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Well, I Never… ⁶

Three months ago, if you’d told me I’d be one of the most respected healers in a T5 raiding guild and already would have taken out one boss in Mount Hyjal, I’d have smiled condescendingly and said something like, "Yes, I have my dreams. Maybe I’ll see Karazhan before the expansion comes out."

If you’d told me I’d be recruited (twice) by an even more advanced T6 guild, I’d have laughed. Or I might have wondered how, exactly, you were preparing your [item]smoked sagefish[/item].

Three months ago, I never would have thought I’d be clearing Karazhan every week, and sometimes twice a week. I never would have thought I’d have ONE character in full epics, much less two.

Three months ago, if you’d told me that taking Prince down every week just a matter of "how long the fight lasts" rather than "can we do this?" I’d have simply gaped at you. (On the other hand, I do regret not having to suffer through Kara progression. But at least I’m seeing that now with SSC and TK. And loving every bit of it!)

Through all this, I’ve had one truth brought home to me time and again: Never say "Never."