Self portrait

Lol. I made this. I hate those stupid lolcats things normally, but I took this photo at the zoo a few months ago and this saying just stuck in my head when I looked at it.

End game

That's my hunter. He's sleeping. That is what "end game" is for my level 80s. Reaching the pinnacle for me, as a completely solo player, means "the end". When I climb a mountain, I don't stay up there to throw parties, I look for another mountain to climb. So my version of "end game" is clearly different than most World of Wacraft players. I might actually climb the same mountain again, but I'll be looking for another trail to get there. No two trips are ever the same. And I don't need anyone to help me climb that mountain.

That's what my level 80s achievements look like for the Northrend group stuff. And I'm sort of proud of that actually. It's not so much a "badge of honor" as it is a "badge of 'look how much I really suck'" kinda thing. That's sorta how I feel about it anyway.

With that said, I think I'm gonna let this lie like my hunter now. End game. Until those darn earthquakes wake me up.

I'd like you to like me

I am stuck in a conundrum. I don't like people, but I want them to like me. I know, I'm weird. It's the same way in-game.
I hate seeing 'yellow names'. 'Yellow names' mean one of two things:

1. These NPCs don't hate me, but they don't really like me yet
2. An opposing player who is flagged for PvP and I am not.
   

The first thing, NPCs. I just hate seeing the yellow names. I usually do what I can to get 'Friendly' with factions as soon as possible when it can be done. Seeing 'yellow' in Dalaran inns until I can get to the Argent Tournament at level 77 in order to gain their favor drives me up a wall. I have so many characters that have come through Shat since Wrath came out, that it is literally a sea of yellow when I go there for some reason. I just have to do something about it.

The second thing, players. It's no secret that I can't stand PvP. And when I see a 'yellow name' on a player it usually means one thing-that player is probably killing NPCs that I need to use. Wasting MY time. I don't care if you think this is fun, because ruining someone else's game time should not be "fun". That is sadistic. To get pleasure from someone else's pain. And I just don't get it. And there is NO chance of turning that 'yellow name' to red to do something about it-those players almost always outlevel my character by too many to count. Although seeing that Dwarf Hunter get pwned by Sergra Darkthorn recently was quite amusing, I still had to sit and wait to turn in a quest for quite awhile because the idiot just stood there and killed them as soon as they spawned.

So to the conundrum. I generally, as a rule, hate all people. I've been overtly shy since I was a kid. I also grew up being blamed for everything. I actually had a tshirt as a 12 year old that said "Go ahead, blame it on me, everyone else does". Now mind you, I was an extremely good kid. I never once, ever got sent to the Principals Office. I made straight A's throughout school. I was always "Teacher's Pet". The thought of doing something "wrong" was abhorrent to me. I aimed to please. And still got blamed for so many things.

And then, once I got to High School, I became the "Invisible Girl". I had no friends, never talked to anyone, but I STILL did not lose sight of "always doing the right thing". I did make one friend. And when we were 17, we were walking across the street and she was hit by a car and killed. It could have been me, so easily. I've never made a friend since then. And that was 25 years ago. Oh I had 'acquaintances', so-called 'friends', roommates. When I moved out of state 12 years ago, guess who never once bothered to keep in contact with me? Of course not, I always knew they hated me. I do thank God every day for my husband, I still don't know how I managed that one!

But I am really a really, really nice person! I always let others go ahead of me, I smile a LOT at other people, I hold doors open, I always say "please" and "thank you" and "yes sir" and "no ma'am". I obey all rules(including road rules, I come to a complete stop and use turn signals in an empty parking lot!). I'm not like "House"(on the tv show), in that he is a misanthrope who hates people AND enjoys making their lives miserable. I hate people because I know they will not really like me and will disappoint me at some point. Because they always have.

I see 'yellow names' all around me, every day. The idiot on the road who wants to tailgate me because I won't drive over the speed limit is just like the PvP jerk. The people at the store are like the people in Shattrath. I want people to like me, but I'm just not sure why I should bother most of the time. In my mind, I am doing everyone in WoW a FAVOR by remaining solo, because I am giving them one less person to blame everything on or one less person to ruin their game time. Just the thought of someone yelling at me or being mad at me for any reason makes me sick to my stomach. Really, I'm getting ill right now just thinking about it. I'm no philosopher though, but there is an excellent blog out there about WoW and philosophy. I wonder what they'd think of me? Never mind, I don't want to know.

So maybe I have a gene that makes me too sensitive. I cry at everything from country music songs to Hallmark commercials. Everything reminds me of my only friend and that is making me tear up now just thinking about that. I take everything said as an personal insult even if it isn't directly said to or about me. When nobody bothers to comment on the photos I post to Flickr, I take that as "my photos suck, everyone hates them". And then I talk to myself. I have 4 blogs: this one, a photo blog, a travel blog and a cemetery blog. And I rarely get comments. And I've gotten used to that. I've said it before, this isn't more of a "I've got something important to say so I hope millions of people read it", it's more of a 'travel journal'. Something that's fun to look back on and see where I've been and what I've done. Maybe others won't mind reading it, because maybe sometimes I do have something important to say. Or maybe it's just a cry for help. And yes, I said "cemetery blog", because I like to photograph cemeteries(notice the one in my header?). At least the dead people won't judge me.

So, to sum up, WoW is a lot like life. Well, my life anyway. And maybe I'm just a weirdo loner with far too much to say and yet always saying nothing. Geez Louis, when is Diablo 3 gonna get here?????

Wyndampryce turns 36

It's been awhile since I posted about my Rogue Demon Hunter, Wyndampryce, since it's been awhile since I actually played him. In the last week I've gotten him to level 35 and then 36. Still fighting only Demons! The last few levels have taken him to Desolace and the Satyrs there. At 36, the ones near Nijel's Point are all green to him so I will be moving across Desolace to the Mannoroc Coven. The demons there range from 37 to 40, so I'll need to watch my path. Almost died on first test there yesterday by aggroing a level 40 Warlock and his imp pet while fighting two Succubi! Thank goodness for Vanish and Sprint!

I'd like to do some more exploring with him to gain a few XP from that, but most of the areas I have left to explore are going to be difficult at his level. I think I will wait 4 more levels and that epic mount!

What to do when bored

Run around all of Azeroth finishing off your To All the Squirrels I've Loved Before, To All the Squirrels that Shared My Life, and Pest Control achievements. Easy cheap achievement points. May be done while working on Explorer achievements.

Yeah. I'm bored. I'd write up a guide on the easiest way to get these 3 achievements done-but I'm even too bored to do that. Sorry.

If you are bored, you could look through my photo blog. That's what I do when I'm not playing WoW.

I admit...

I still have a can of Horde Mt Dew sitting in the back of the fridge. Can't bear to drink the last one!

Maybe I'm a cheapskate...

But I would never pay this much for a green level 26 item!After my recent trip through Scarlet Monastery, I had a few things left over to sell. My little Priest is an enchanter, and even when being run through, it was a nice addition to be able to just hit "Disenchant" on most items and skip the whole open the bags and figure out what to disenchant. I do know there are some things that will sell on the Auction House. I just didn't realize for how much!
This item was the Emblazoned Hat. There was already one on the AH for 250g, which made me nearly spit out my soda. I figured what the heck and posted mine for 150g and it sold within an hour! Another leather helm, Insignia Cap, sold for 15g, probably because it is level 30, just above the "twink" level.
I suppose "twinks" haven't gone away, or the economy has gotten really, really out of whack because people have so much money these days. While this is good for lower level players to MAKE money, if you are in serious need of an upgrade and all the items are 50g, well it's just ridiculous.
While I am not bad at making money, it may be because I am a cheapskate and refuse to spend this kind of money on items at the Auction House. In fact, I recently leveled up Jewelcrafting from 1 to 350 and didn't spend a dime on the Auction House, I farmed every single item I needed. And then sold the items I made and extra mats on the AH for gobs of money. Of course, I had the time to do that. I suppose some people just don't have the time-and I'm there for them, supplying them with what they need, and netting the profits!
Time is indeed money, my friend. :)

New Year's Resolutions

It's that time of the year again, time to set the big goals. I have all the personal ones of course, including making a friend. I'm not sure how I'll be able to afford the parts for it, but I'm working on that. As for WoW, my resolution is pretty much the same as it was last year...play less. That was my resolution last year, but I didn't really meet that one. I think-at least for awhile-I may be able to meet this one. At least until Cataclysm comes out.

Another resolution is to continue to play MY way. That is only solo-completely solo. No group quests, no dungeons. I still duo a few characters with my husband, and trio a few with husband and kid, but the majority of my characters are 'me' only. And I like it that way. Truly solo. Completely alone. It's no accident that I have characters on several realms named Eremit, which means "hermit". It's how I live, it's how I play.

When I do 'play less', what will I do with my time? I've thought about going back to my Lord of the Rings Online character. I need to work more on my personal photographs website. I can clean house more often(HA!not!). Maybe read some books-I do miss the library.

Will I be quitting? Oh no, of course not. Like I said, I still have characters that my husband wants to play alongside with me. And there are always holidays that can be fun to log in and see how much you can get done. And besides, I got a 20" widescreen monitor for my birthday, and WoW looks AWESOME on it!

When is it too much WoW?

I've been wanting to start answering WoW.com's "Breakfast Topic" on here lately, but lately most of the questions have been in regards to the new dungeon system and frankly I don't really care about that.

But today I will start. The question is "When is it too much WoW?" And I think I may be at that point. They really want to know how much time you take off when you've had too much. My answer in the past would have been maybe a few days at most. But things are different right now.

I woke up early this morning and couldn't find a character that I really wanted to play. My 80s are done until the next expansion. I don't care if they get any better gear than the iLevel 187ish gear that they have now. If that puts me way behind the curve, then so be it. I don't really care how my characters look or how they perform, as long as I'm having fun with them. Right now I'm not having fun. Part of me feels forced into a section of the game that I can't stand(grouping) and I hate that I avoid logging into characters if I feel like I'm going to be harassed into doing that.

And I think a big part is just burn out. I recently got my 16th character to at least level 70. That's a LOT of levels and quests. And while the ones who are leveling are the only ones I want to play, right now I just don't want to play them. Or maybe it's just the Winter "Blues", because really, I don't want to do much of anything else either.

I don't mind logging in and playing alongside my husband and daughter, but other than that I just can't figure out what to do. I think I'll go back to working on my photography website. Or I'll read some books that I've been meaning to read. I miss the library. And the treadmill is just screaming my name now that it's January again. We'll see.