It has been 2 years since I have seriously played World of Warcraft. I (before then) had been playing obsessively for 2 years as a diversion to my falling interest in my work and a failing relationship. I, as of late, have been thinking of my time "in game" and what to finally make and write of it. I don't regret any of my time spent. Surprisingly, a good part of the person I have become and come to like has come from my experience "in game".
There are definitely people I do have to thank who have made my journey in this virtual life interesting and memorable and so to begin this blog I am going to honor them in no particular order:
Freyrr: Some guy who is in real life an IT somewhere warm. I remember him for his meticulousness in game mechanics, his Spock-like delivery of his doubts of any crazy idea we had, and his love for the paladin class, playing female characters, and Blood Elves.
Vevis: My virtual best-buddy. We constantly hung out odd hours of the night exploring the strangest corners of Azeroth, dancing in major cities, and how paper bags made random women look better. Maybe some day I'll come to Aruba and and have a beer with my right hand priest. I'll remember him for our common appreciation for dark humor, for being a priest of many colors, for his love of PVP, and how he always made me smile in the darkest of times.
Suna: The richest huntard I know and you don't get more (pardon the expression) "Chinese" than this hunter. Suna was always playing the auction house for raw gems and cut gem sales, constantly leveling his trade skills, and farming with the tenacity of an 11 year old Korean in a gold sweat shop. Opinionated, weary of women though still a victim to their charms (especially if they were from Eastern Europe) we still keep in touch over MSN since we both work in the IT field. If anything he constantly demonstrates to me the virtue of being industrious and tenacious for the things you want. I also note him for his high sense of loyalty to the guilds he's joined and leaders he follows.
Mysa: The quintessential "mother" and healer, I pity those who have seen her darker shade of white as I have. As dual as her passion is to her compassion she leads and supports her comrades and leaders with air of wisdom and a dedication to common goals. She made healing look magical on execution but technically achievable when she ran through the stats after a raid. We shared a common background in engineering. I have had the honor to called her as leader, comrade, confidant, and foe during my time in Azeroth.
Scrios: As common to all the successful leaderships I have followed, Scrios shared with all these people his passion to progress above all else. That alone for me justified the hard terrible decisions I have seen him make and orders I have had to follow. Scrios was fierce in all aspects we define our leaders. His almost "Wayne Rogers"-like deliver of his iron fist made my compliance entertaining. Probably the only person I'll ever call "Chief" to this day.
Sebanu: My first ever World of Warcraft friend and padawan to life. Been my honor to have seen you grow up a little in a couple of years.
Mysticow: Goofy but the most earnest guy I have ever met - his charm somewhat grew on me. Our common choice of character class allowed me some insight to the fun side of being a Tauren druid.
Kajira: To paraphrase something I heard that sums her up: "She's like fire, and ice, and rage. She's like the night, and a storm in the heart of the sun... And she's wonderful."
Ex (and Family): The military man and patriarch of a whole family of World of War craft players. I think we shared our finest of moments in game when our tandem dance of healer and tank paid off on our first "server first" kill of a raid boss called "Vashj".
Naevus: He reminded me of my ex-roommate, Doug, which I suppose is no reference to most of my readers. He delivered his seemingly convincing "know-it-all" demeanor non-nonchalantly in the cartoon voice of Garfield (or Bill Murray apparently). His love of the Rogue class is well noted as well as his "Cliff Claven"-like break down of why he got "pwned" by "some noob".
Optical: When I think "warlock" I think of "Optical". He was constantly getting chewed out for DPSing his "aggro" to the top of the raid list and then dying not too long after that. We met as guildmates and got a chance to co-lead the remnants of a failed "pre-roled" guild and parted ways when we closed our guild down. To "Joshua" my "emo" but always professional comrade, my respect.
Gzakhull: Responsible for getting me into "massive, multi-player, on-line games", my ex-roommate whose passion for defeating his opponents was as intense as finding an equivalent adversary to beat made his love for PVP entertaining. I can watch him do battle grounds for hours. His giggles of glee when he gave his prey the "once over" were contagious. Thank you for starting me on my journey.
Unmage: When I started I had no guild. I had "me boyz" - Gzakhull, Naevus, and Unmage. Always one short a full party we spent a good part of our "growing up" in Azeroth together and eventually getting in on our first raiding guild together. Unmage was the fiery upstart of the gang but somehow any collaboration with him was either a good time or a profitable venture. I miss hearing Unmage and Naevus arguing PVP strategies over "Ventrilo".
Nathanos: A physicist and grad student who got me interested in fish tacos. I have yet to try them.
Evilwolf: What Optical (see above) was to warlocks, Evilwolf was to Tauren Shamans. He lives to DPS and dies alot because of it. I was often assigned to keeping him alive especially since he would always pulled aggro from our tanks. One of the gang of crazy Arubians that have made me smile "in game".
Lubu: Lubu was from Quebec somewhere between my home town of Montreal and Quebec City. Lubu played an Orc warlock when I first met him but excelled at every aspect of DPS in any class he played. His deadpan demeanor was deceiving of his deadly skills "in game" and there was always an entertaining "evil" streak about him when it came to executing anyone he found picking on him or any of his guildmates he would come and help out.
There are other crazy wonderful people I probably should mention and very sorry if I haven't. Maybe one day I'll have to blog about them. To them and the other I have mentioned my thanks again, respect, and love.
Handofinfinity
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