What has WoW taught me?

Hello all. This is a week late but I really wanted to get in on this Blog Azeroth Shared Topic.

Prologue:
It seems that my life and WoW have been kinda moving along the same direction. As I have moved up in my guild I have moved up in my job. Strange but true. Coincidental? I don't think so. So, here's the list of things I learned from WoW. In no particular order.

1) How to manage people and still be friends with them.

2) How to let things go. People and ideas come and go. The ones that stick around are important. The ones that don't needed to go their own way.

3) Weighing the one vs the many is freakin tough!

4) All girl toons are not girls. I still mess this one up.

5) Time management. Real Life can really get in the way sometimes. : /

6) I am really happy I rediscovered my gamer side.

7) I have met some wonderful terrific friends that I never would have met any other way.

8) You can make your own place in the world with a little grinding and farming.

9) Time is as much a commodity as anything else. I have found that the time I have invested in game is priceless to me. I don't think I could ever delete my toons, even if I stopped playing.

10) Leet-speak. I remember the first time I heard someone say "respawn". I thought that was the weirdest term I'd ever heard. Now it seems I can't speak anything else. ;)

11) A new way to spend time with my husband. Where else can you enjoy each others company and kill things. A couple that slays together stays together.

12) I have discovered a whole new group of interesting people that came out of WoW via podcasts, twitter and blogging. I love this community, they all really support each other and have fun.

13) Anonymity can allow someone to be really stupid, weird, annoying, and generally an asshat. Actually I already knew this, but I can't believe the number people that act like total jerks some days.

14) Just because something didn't work doesn't mean that I have failed.

What Type Are You? Guilds in WoW and Finding the Right Fit.

The type and style of guilds have changed as the game has changed. I remember when the difference between a hard-core guild and a casual guild were miles and miles apart. These days you can have guilds that are a combination of both and everything in between. Definitions of what is "hard-core" vs what is "casual" have changed as well. I've seen descriptions of guilds ranging from raiding casual to social non-stress. What does that mean these days? Depends on you and what you think they mean. Everyone has a different idea of what all these different definitions are. I'm sure that if I polled my guild I would get several different answers depending on the person, how long they've been playing WoW, what level they are, and how long they've been in the guild.

Raiding is EVIL!!

As mentioned in a previous post I have been working long and hard to get my guild raiding. Today my guild is raiding without me and I'm pissed off! I have spent years working and pushing and trying to find the right officers while not alienating others in the guild. I worked long and hard fighting to make sure that the guild is great all around, not just a raiding superstore. Where we can do it all. Have fun, quest, pvp, be social and fit in raiding on a regular basis. Much easier done now in the days of Wrath then at any other time in WoW history. I am not raiding tonight because I can't stay up that late and continue to stay sane and awake and functional at work. It's my choice and a choice that I had to make but I am not happy with it.

When should a healer let someone die?

This is from the shared topic on Blog Azeroth. If you are a blogger and interested in joining this wonderful community please stop by.

When should a healer not heal?
I have a holy pally and my newb take on this is I heal everyone as long as I can. I have not been healing long enough to be able to discern if you're an idiot and let you die. Which by the way I agree with. I don't yet have the balls to do it. If you are the dumb-ass dps standing in the crap or pulling aggro you deserve to die. In most cases I have found that if they're doing that I can't get them healed in time anyways. They are not my first priority.
I have nearly let tanks die that have decided that running waaaay ahead of the group and pulling mobs is ok. Especially while their healer is either A) looting or B) drinking. Extremely annoying.

When should I, as a dps, not be healed?
This is more up my alley. Being a crit happy lock I have a tendency to pull aggro. Just a tad. ;) I have learned how to monitor and control it. Occasionally I get out of control or don't pay attention. As I have told my friend and guildmate who is a healer, if the choice is between me or anyone else, save the anyone else first. I have ways of getting myself out of a mess and getting back some health. I also think that, as a dps, I am expendable in a group, particularly 5-mans. A healer's priority has to be themselves and the tank. If things get hinky that is what I expect them to be focusing on.
Second to that, I'm a bit lazy. If the healer survives I get a rez. If they don't I have to run my behind back to the instance. Let me couch that by adding that I think everyone should have to run back. If the healers have to run then by god so should the rest of you idiots. It's only fair. To lay there licking the floor and wait for someone to come get you is just downright disrespectful.

RealID and Me

So I guess its time to weigh in on the RealID thing. First let me set myself up here.

1) I use Twitter
2) I use facebook
3) I have a blog, obviously, and do strive to have some sort of internet "presence"
4) I have only mildly been concerned with internet security as far as how much I am "out there"

I have had some concerns. I'm not ignorant, and have tried to safeguard myself against identity theft and other associated on-line evils.