is it behind the fridge or beneath the sofa cushions?
First of all: Snottydin! Snotty’s words have kindly transcribed by our wonderful Vorla today. I think I need to flag up somewhere on the site that Snotty is, uh, *lowers voice so she won’t hear* a work of parody since she gets the occasional stunned comment by some traumatised member of the public. Also she needs to answer her (many) fans.
Secondly. Ho hum. I think I’m going to have to face up the fact that I’ve (hopefully temporarily) mislaid my WoW mojo. It’s a combination of factors – not the least of which is discovering I am not def-capped for Michaelmas term. Ouch. Busy life is busy, and although you can ‘pick up and play’ WoW, it’s a game that rewards a certain degree of commitment. Essentially I think you get out of WoW what you put into it, be it time, energy, imagination, enthusiasm. And I don’t have masses of those to spare at the moment. The loss my WoW mojo might also be connected to that that lax, lack-lustre period that always comes before a patch. When you know changes are coming, it’s hard to invest what you do before they hit with any sort of meaning or value. I’m not sure if there’s an extent to which the announcement of Cataclysm – even though it won’t be out for ages and ages – is having a baseline but still relevant impact on this.
But I also think I’ve rather lost my way at endgame. It might just be that the novelty of having a character at 80 has finally worn off. I suppose it’s because when you’re levelling, your character, and the world around you, is always changing. But at 80, unless you’re really serious about gear progression, you kind of stagnate unless you pretty committed to action. I had a shopping list of things I wanted to do, just for kicks and personal satisfaction: get exalted with all the Horde races, check out raiding, nurture a baby venomhide (best typo ever: venomhomie!) raptor and get a dragonhawk mount because I’m a bloodelf and I think that’s what a patriotic bloodelf would ride. I’ve checked out raiding, I’ve nurtured my venom-homie (I’m never going to be able to think of it as anything else now), I have – after many, many painful jousts – the dragonhawk. And I’m exalted with everybody except the Trolls, mon.
I also have a few goals which I was hoping to accomplish to enhance my usefulness as a resource for my guild: learn to fish, and cook what I have finished, and suck Hodir’s horn for shoulder enchants. I have, err, foundered a bit on these, truthfully, I did take an extended fishing holiday in Azshara which was actually pretty relaxing. I watched a whole host of Sunday-afternoon black and white movies while I fiddled around in the water with winter squid. Fishing & Films – heartily recommended, especially if you want to nostalgia trip through the Sunday afternoons of your childhood. But Hodir’s horn and I … well … we don’t get on. It’s a long, dark road to exalted. A long long dark dark road. And I have about as far to go down it as I have traversed already. I know if I just sucked it up, so to speak, and committed to bending over for Hodir for about … hmmm … two weeks, I’d be able to take their top level shoulder enchants, give them the finger and tell them where to stuff their bloody horn, or rather not to stuff their bloody horn. But every time I log on, I’d rather log off again than man up and do it.
Damn those kids of Hodir – maybe they depleted my WoW mojo with their constant innuendos and inappropriate requests. It’s not the quests themselves, they’re quite well designed and you can bash through them fairly efficiently, I think it’s the fact that Tam clearly loathes and despise them with every fibre of his sissy robe. If he was a burly dwarvish warrior or a needs-must orcish rogue or even a super-dutiful ‘the light prevails’ squid-goat type I could imagine him buckling under, but, as it is, I think he just considers it a perpetual assault on his dignity. He’s a priest and a healer, and I’ve always suspected, from his glower, that he takes both of those callings very seriously indeed. And then having some jolly green giant bounce up to him and demand he take a wrym in hand and beat it into submission … well … he doesn’t like it much. “My good, Sir, I am a priest. I do … not … *sneer* … wrestle. And I certainly do not publicly handle spears, wyrms, horns or anything else even remotely phallic. *glower*”
I think I’ve kind of lost the plot with raiding as well. Everywhere I turn TotC is waving its, err, horn of hodir, in my face. And I could, in fact, do with both the gear and the practice (I healed VoA the other night and the guy I was meant to be keeping alive died because I was so rusty) but it’s pretty damn churlish to sign up to go somewhere that doesn’t exactly inspire you when there are other people who genuinely do want to be there champing at the bit. The more I think about it, the more I have come to realise that raiding is a succession of inescapable vicious cycles. I mean, I’m never going to spend a raid whining like a small child at a stately home about how rubbish it is and how I should have been allowed to stay at home but ultimately I still don’t want to visit my lack of enthusiasm on others – it’s just plain bad manners. But if I don’t go, then I’m falling ever further behind on gear, making me ever less functional as a resource for the guild. Also every time a piece of gear drops in TotC, I look at it and think grudgingly to myself “well, yeah, I suppose it’s an upgrade” and then I remember that it’s from TotC and, therefore, has the lurgy. And then you encounter another vicious cycle because there’s invariably someone else jumping up and down at their keyboard, punching the air and going “YES! YES! YES!” at the sight of the Boots of Cootie Infested Awesome. And then you think to yourself: “well, I can’t take some boots I barely want from someone who has practically come over his computer at the prospect of owning them … and besides it’s not like I’m raiding this place regularly as it is so the player and the guild would probably get more use out of them than I will…” So we cycle round and round and round again.
Of course, I could just hang around for patch 3.3. And then I could just farm heroics for the stuff, right?
A sudden thought strikes your humble narrator! I think part of what might also be eroding my WoW mojo is that being a part-time, not very srs raider has also – accidentally – deprived me of one of the aspects of the game I enjoy the most. Don’t get me wrong, I love raiding. It’s exciting and challenging. When it isn’t TotC. But even though I’m lackadaisical about loot, it has geared me past heroics. It’s got to the stage when I can pretty much heal anyone through any 5-man. Snottydin would be so proud, lol. I’m not boasting, it’s not about skill, it’s about gear. But it takes a real and concentrated effort of ineptitude from pretty much all sides to break me. The upshot of this is that 5-mans – one of the parts of the game I have always particularly enjoyed – are now boring. I know this probably sounds pathetic. Oh woe is me, my gear is too good for heroics! Alas the day! I’m not complaining, I’m delighted and grateful to have cool stuff, but I have to admit that standing at the back in a sissy robe occasionally casting renew is not … y’know … the most fun in the world. I suppose, crazy as it sounds, I could always put together a decent set of blues…
The weirdest thing about this loss of WoW mojo is that it only seems to hit when I play the game itself. When I’m writing about it, or reading other people’s blogs, I do feel the not-entirely-banked embers of my WoW passion stirring. But when I log-in I think a sense of being tired and directionless takes over and I don’t stick around. Okay, Tam, focus:
In Game Goals (to make me a better resource): fishing, Hodir
(I think until I have a personality transplant and become more self-disciplined those two are going to stay there for, well, ever)
In Game Goals (for meeeee!):
…
Uh. Well, I should probably get exalted with the trolls, right?
Hmmm. But I think that there’s my problem. Doesn’t help that M’Pocket Tank is off writing a novel… what’s a holy priest to do on his own without a meatshield, apart from pout?
Well, I’ll think of something. There’s a lot of Azeroth out there to experience before Cataclysm hits.
I know you don’t like to part with precious… but there is always the option of skipping most of the grind associated with the horn by just buying lots and lots of Relics of Ulduar or flying in circles and collecting Everfrost Chips.
You could probably pretend you are actually looking for herbs in the area … helps if you have no herbalism, then you won’t be distracted *nodnod*
The thing is, on Tam I farmed my way to most of his accomplishments. I’m a maxed out enchanter who didn’t buy a single long mat. I don’t want Hodir’s kids to be my breaking point. Damn them.
But I might actually buy some relics. To salvage what is left of my sanity…
Funny you should post on this. I’ve been having exactly the same problem for the last few weeks, myself.
The “goals” I’ve set for myself include: Insane in the Membrane (which almost looks possible, now that the goblins are willing to stop jabbing at me with their swords and shooting me off their docks), repping up with the Cenarion Circle, finishing of the Loremaster Achievement (70 quests to go?), hoping to find that one magical vanity pet on the AH for a stupidly low amount, trading Alliance Argent Tournament pets for Horde Argent Tournament pets, nabbing up more mounts.
Hrm. Quite a lot, actually. And none of them what might be called scintillating entertainment (sp?). Mostly grindy. Though I will say that trying to heal a 5 man Heroic ToC with a new tank who’s only got the Heroic Def Cap to their name helps spice things up a bit. Especially if they manage to disconnect just as they pull.
Most of my in game entertainment these days comes from attempting hard modes. Sadly, my guild only does those on 10 man, and randomly. We’re still working on Yogg-25 and I think I might cry over it soon. No one has the interest in finishing the thing off, having leap-frogged through TotC with irritating ease in comparison.
Hello, welcome, and thanks for the link to your blog which I am just discovering and reading with pleasure.
My God, Insane in the Membrane?! That’s one helluva goal – my membranes are, quite frankly, just too sorted to even attempt it. I’m working very very half-heartedly in Loremaster. I don’t really like the title, truthfully, because doing quests isn’t quite the same as engaging with them but I do want to make the most of Azeroth before cataclysm hits.
Heroic ToC still makes me twitch – even though I can heal it pretty comfortably these days. There are a couple of drops in there that would probably be good for me – some caster trousers, I think, but there’s only so much I’m willing to do for pants =P
I don’t think I’m experienced enough for hard modes, sadly… so I’m a little bit stuck all things considered. Besides, I’d kind of like to, err, do the normal modes at least once
But although most people agree that ToC is boring as arse, as you say, there doesn’t seem to be much energy in other directions. Of course, speaking of arses, I should just get off mine and try to organise something but I’m not quite confident enough to try. Yet. Mwahaha.
Perhaps learn to heal as discipline. After so much time as holy, it did indeed bring the challenge back to heroics.
Oooh, don’t tempt me – I’ve been secretly fancying discipline for, well, ever actually. But being a dual-spec holy/disc priest strikes me as slightly insane. I’ve got too used to shadow for grinding.
woop I’m totally published and linked and stuff woop
Anyway, get back soon! We miss you, and most of us are a bit bored of raiding too I suspect so we’re up for whatever wankery. I for one want to see Zul’Aman again soon.
Yes, thank you for the Snotty post – it was fantastic
I’ll be nosing about in WoW again soon, it’s more life getting in the way that ToC having destroyed my pleasure in the game. As soon as things calm down, I’ll be hanging around, demanding to be taken places…
It’s usually us demanding you come (horrible and very hard) places and you going “MY EPEEN IS NOT LARGE ENOUGH *keel over*” and then us proving you wrong.
You demanding to go places will be a fresh gust of air.
Well, well, well, I never knew you were paying such close attention to my epeen…
The snottydin comments are what makes that blog pure gold, don’t ever let on that erhm [its fake].
Hodir,; just suck it up (pun, sort of intended) and go to the AH and buy your way out of it, if you hate them dailies.
And there is a brilliant blog post about how you can still enjoy dungeon crawls and improve as a healer (ill try and find the link). Basically you un-equip 1 item of gear per run you do, thus forcing you to think about your mana, heals and timing. Great fun !
Hehehe, it bewilders me that people can’t recognise it’s a work of parody – it’s called Snottydin for heaven’s sake! Who would call their own blog Snottydin? Unless they had an amazingly pronounced sense of self irony. Also it’s written by a bunch of different people!
I will do my best to, err, suck up Hodir and stop whinging about it
And I can always try to heal more with my fishing rod if I want excitement!
I’ve ground Hodir twice now, it’s not fun. It’s even less fun if you do that stupid drake quest. I skip that one, as well as the ghost wolf one – I just do the forge, horn, the helm, and the frosty dude up top. Takes all of 30 minutes and I’m off to other things.
I do agree with TotC, and after a pretty traumatic experience in there, I’m writing it off as the same category as Magister’s Terrace, except MT had a point to it and THIS place … is pointless.
If the entire tourney falls into the ocean when the Cataclysm comes, I will have no tears for it. Fordring can learn to swim.
I hate the drake wrestling quest – it’s jus the punishment for it (death! a repair bill!) is *insane*. It’s like, this quest will cost you about 30-60g to complete it. Thanks Hodir. You bastard.
I loved MagT, I have to say – it’s one of my favourite instances in the entire game, even though I never reallly got to do it “properly” as it were. But I managed to get a degree of challenge out of it by approaching it in various ways.
As far as I’m concerned, mad Tirion and his stupid pit can *drown* when Cataclysm comes. Or DIAF
You’re not the only one who feels this way. There seem to be a real lull before the patch. As expect, CC10 and 25 got old really, really fast.
I’m still finding stuff to do though. As Vorla mentioned, seeing old raids again is fun. I’ve even started soloing old world instances for the Classig Dungeonmaster achievement.
And I’d always be up for more 3-manning of heroics, but we’d miss Chas…
Anyhoo, hope to see you back in game soon!
Hmmm… You have the blues. Do something different for a while. Give up the I should, and go with the I want. Because too much I should leads to burnout blue (sound familiar?) and no more Tam.
Roll a baby toon and level a new class and profession. Try healing every instance in the game at level. Or try your hand at nummy dps for a change of pace.
Don’t make yourself raid if you hate it. Yes, your gear will fall behind, and yes, it’ll be a pain to catch up. Offer to play stand-by in case of sudden vacancies, and go do something you think is fun.
There are 3 new 5 mans coming out… Gear then.
TOC is evil. And I’m not just saying that because the last time I went in we wiped on the beasts for 3 hours and never made it past them. I hate all versions of that place. Grumble, why can’t Ulduar drop the best shinies, grumble….
Go level an alt. I’ve been in a funk with my main for a while now (I log on to transmute a gem and maybe run the fishing daily for that stupid crab) but I hop on my priest or my druid and it’s a completely different game. I get to see stuff I’ve never seen before, and it does bring some of the mojo back.
Heck, try switching sides for a bit, experience the Alliance side of things. It’s pretty different. So yeah, my hunter is now in a weird mix of Naxx 10, Onyxia and badge gear. Big deal. It’s a game, go have fun! Maybe try some PVP with various classes or try twinking or heck, go run all the dungeons in Outlands on heroic just for the fun of it.
It’s a game. Remember that. If it isn’t fun, why are you doing it?
Yup, it’s a common malaise, but one that will be cured in time.
If I have any more time today, I’ll be spending time at MMO-Champ looking at the loot and instances beyond T9 – and it’s exciting!
You needs your tank back, you needs to be less grindy! I agree with Koch, spend the gold to get Hodir rep. And I’m sure you (and your readers) are aware that after you get exalted on that first toon, you can now buy the shoulder stuffs for the rest (woe is me for my third completed exalted grind and one more on revered).
But don’t listen to those other guys about cutting back. We need your blog entertainments! >.>
(that’s joking – mostly anyway)
Relics of Ulduar, Tam! For less than 1,000 gold and a lot of your sanity, you too, could be exalted with Hodir! Screw polishing his horn and thrusting his spear (thrust is such a dirty word, isn’t it?).
I think I get from nuetral to friendly or revered for less than 200 gold. After Beru, none of my alts will ever do those quests again. I have bought my way to shoulder enchants on all of them
Of course, it might belittle the achievement of, you know, doing it the proper way…but those quests blow.
Lol, why does everyone hate the Sons of Hodir? I’m exalted on four different characters and actually feel kind of miffed that the next patch will make doing it on my next 80 obsolete… <.<
But I can only concur that a lot of people are stuck in the WoW doldrums, it's a normal state to be in once you've exhausted all the interesting options in the current patch but the next one isn't out yet.
It's the best time to level an alt.
Try a different game for a bit, there is nobody who says you should play WoW all the time.
I currently raid with my friends (I go for the social part mostly) and I fiddle around with an alt a bit, but my main doesn’t get much face time, and WoW isn’t on the screen as often.
It’ll get back
I also refused to ‘bend over’ for Hodir, and got exalted through running HoL/HoS for relics and the kind relic donations of guildies who had bothered to do the dailies
There’s always ways to spice up heroics – do it 4 man, go for achievements, heal as shadow spec, try healing only using instants (or no instants at all), see how long you can not heal people for before they notice and/or die (prolly best with friends that one…) try and beat your tanks dps while healing, the list goes on.
If you’re just not into it at the moment then try something new, or give yourself a break – WoW isn’t a job!
Priests use wands. . .
it doesnt get much more phallic than that
Hah, you should see my off-hand…
Actually currenly it’s a book. But I swear to God it was a dildo for a while.
If Hodir is a pain for you, try to make money by any mean you can imagine and buy as much Ulduar Relics as you can.
When gearing up my tree druid, no dps spec at the time, it was just “Oh noes ! No more killing in healing spec, takes hours to kill a mob…” and turning to my partner : “Please, get your warrior and come doing your Hodir dailies with me !”.
And when very very fed up with those quests, I would just log the hunter, put on BM spec, and go semi-afk killing random mobs in the area for Relics, eternals and greens, while chatting on TS or on chat. Even the grey items are worth vendoring.
I often feel like you these days, especially since my guild merged with another, I’m not in every raid anymore because of the extended roster, but I have to be online at 9pm and 11pm, and stay on TS for DKP.
So I’m there, logged and wondering what I would do tonight… and after 5 minutes of aimless flying, I’d just log off, take a book or log a level 25 alt and do some questing.
So try levelling an alt. Choose a class easy to level and with good survivability. I’m currently levelling my DK and a second hunter, horde side this time. I quite love those classes.
Or try playing the AH.
Or go for the quests achievements in every area.
Or grab a book or watch DVDs or try out some handcrafting or write stories or draw or…
If you log on and feel like “ugh I don’t know what to do” just don’t log and do something else. The game will still be there tomorrow…
You’re lucky you don’t suffer from altisis or altosis, they are damning conditions never allowing you to be “satisfied” with your mains and forever wondering “Ooo whats it like playing that class in X circumstance” being at a certain level, or bracket of pvp or for the looks of the armour…
Ahhhh…
Help… me…
I have the solution Tam! Melee Priest at Large.
You and the Melee Hunter on the Prowl (http://meleehunter.blogspot.com/) could duke it out for Uber Tank of Tankiness
But, seriously, hope your WoW-life comes back into focus. I’ve been spending a lot of time roaming the Barrens etc saying goodbye and very little time levelling recently – even though Cataclysm is months away I feel a sense of urgency to see everything everywhere before it warps/disappears completely. I really love the Barrens and its creatures…
Yes, I’m trolling your older posts, and another apropos one shines in my eyes.
I’m currently grinding Hodir (I’m on top, dammit!) and am ~ 1/3 way through from Revered->Exalted.
I tried flying that damnable drake a few times one day then walked away. I’ll thrust my own damn spear, athankuverymuch!
Ther are a couple bright spots for me grinding the other portions out:
I’m a blacksmith & miner, so I needs me my titansteel. Eternal fires are the most problematic portion, (aside from titanium) and killing the fire-dudes in/around the metal shard things is one of the best places to farm the fire.
If I loot/mine (yes mine) all of the bodies of my fallen foes, I can finish the 5 other Hodir quests about 150-200 gold richer than when I started it. And that’s vendoring everything (greens included)
I still don’t have my 4 weapon types up to 400 skill yet. Beating on hapless elementals is theraputic and a good way to earn skill points (and a bot of extra gold)