A Farewell to Arms and Arthas
JD Kenada is leaving WoW. He has excellent reasons for his departure and I’m happy because he’ll still be blogging. But there is a PROBLEM. As a farewell to Azeroth he wants to storm Icecrown Citadel and kick Arthas’ butt. What a great idea JD, that’s excellent, good luck, I think … WHAT … me? Huh?
I have never been in a raid, well, I have but only with me. I recently had an epiphany of sorts about me and raiding which made me happy, and I don’t know why it took me five and a half years to have it, but thanks to Navimie I now know my place in WoW. But that’s another story for another time.
I commented on JD’s post saying he really wouldn’t want me along as I’d be no help dead, and his response was:
We could wipe for an hour on the first pull and I wouldn’t care so long as you come with us.
Oh man. I mean IT IS prophetic, but so damn nice of him to say. So yeah. Druid doesn’t even really know where it is so she thought she’d ask Tirion Fordring. She’s not that good with directions. But I think she found it, there seemed to be lots of people rushing in with great urgency.
So anyway, I thought I should tell JD he could count on me but I must WARN him what he’d be getting into, really, it’s only fair.
My excuses are legion, but I’ll try to keep it brief, just hit the highlights.
1. My performance would be strictly bush league, if that. I have never raided and I’m easily distracted by pretty colors and effects. I’ve noticed when I watch videos of raids I rarely notice bosses or anything, I’m just kinda groovin’ on the light show and sounds and the pretty colored puddles on the floor. Just saying.
2. I fall off things … a lot. From viewing a video this looks like a potential problem in this fight.
3. I run off things a lot. Yes, there’s a theme emerging here, I’ll get to it.
4. I get lost ALL THE TIME. Don’t know if that’d be an issue here but if I die the likelihood of you ever seeing me again is pretty low cause I’ll never be able to find you.
5. I only kitty Druid moderately well. As I’m usually alone, I tend to forget I can heal or bring the dead back to life, you have to poke me and yell at me to remind me, and then I think I only have about 52 mana.
Okay, this could go on and on, crappy gear, yada, yada, but I’ll get to the big one that’s the cause of a lot of the above.
6. At some point in the evening I can no longer SEE. This is part of why I fall and run off things, that and being a nitwit. I have very bad allergies so certain times of the year my contacts become unbearably painful to keep in. This can happen anytime between 5:00 and 8:00pm eastern depending on pollen count. And then you’ll be stuck with a blind raid noob Druid probably running about willy nilly, bumping into everything in there shouting, “Yay! Am I helping guys, huh, am I, is this the waaaaaaayyyyy … oops.”
A little off topic but this is also why I have an aversion to talking in vent. I sound like a Worgen … sniff, sniff … sniff … excessive throat clearing if I need to speak, sigh … charming.
So yeah, I got your back JD, just wanted to let you know what a dangerous position that is for you. So email will be incoming but again, seriously, I don’t mind being the last kid on the playground picked. If you find you have to use me to fill the last spot … pray for rain on the east coast!
Tome of the Ancient 
April 20, 2012 at 10:56 am
This made me want to hug you, so /hug!
Don’t think of it as raiding, think of it as a night out with friends and have fun. So what if you fall off a sneakily positioned edge, falling off the gunship is a rite of passage (or something). If people weren’t intended to die in dungeons, we wouldn’t have res spells after all.
Also there is no such thing as “getting lost” in a instance, it’s merely exploring off the beaten path. Robert Frost would approve.
April 20, 2012 at 11:49 am
Thank you Erinys! Oh! I should have a badge or something by now for the amount of exploring I’ve done in Mara!
I watched a video of the Arthas fight and there was all this talk about when you have this on you run that way, when you have that on you run the other way, I was never clear on when you actually attacked anything, lol. I could just see me sitting there mesmerized by the whole thing doing squat all!
April 20, 2012 at 11:57 am
I’m sure in some world, these are all valid points. But I’m a laid back kinda guy. As Erinys said, it’s a night out with friends. It’s not like we’re trying Heroic Ultraxxion or anything like that.
Remember, I’ve never done some of the fights either…and I’m the healer that fell in the old hole in Atal-Hakkar by backing up into it. Heck, I’ve run BRD where someone gets stuck behind the gates during the Ring of Law.
It’s all about the gits and shiggles and having a good time far as I’m concerned. 😉
April 20, 2012 at 12:12 pm
“Heck, I’ve run BRD where someone gets stuck behind the gates during the Ring of Law.”
You mean that doesn’t always happen? 😀
My very first venture into BRD lasted six hours and by then we still hadn’t found the bar. This was before Blizzard kindly provided maps but even so, it’s not as there were infinite possibilities. It was however a very memorable run.
April 20, 2012 at 12:32 pm
It’s still one of my favourites, and I’ve never used the map in there. I remember getting attuned for Onyxia in there…oh man did that take a while. That Marshall was so bloody slow and seem to think he had to go EVERYHERE.
April 20, 2012 at 1:58 pm
That’s how it should be JD! I hear the weather for the weekend may be rainy here so that’s looking up for my being able to see for at least a little while!
April 20, 2012 at 2:08 pm
And oh, that guy in your guild who won’t do instances unless it’s a guild group but PvPs, I totally understand that, lol!
April 20, 2012 at 8:15 pm
Heh.
April 20, 2012 at 12:27 pm
This game is many things to many people.
There are those who play Hardball, those who simply log to AH the herbs they gathered, and there is EVERY POINT in between. Knowing where you live is as important in the scheme of things as everything else, and frankly it does not matter one iota how good or bad you may think you are. Raids like this aren’t about how you perform, they’re about the people you go with. Your friends.
I really REALLY wish I was on the US Servers because I would love to spend one night raiding with you guys on whatever terms I could get my hands on. Not because of the characters you play, but because of the wonderful people you are.
Go have fun, because I guarantee you will 😀
April 20, 2012 at 2:04 pm
I wish you could too! I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get on EU servers once but now Ironyca comes over here and puts on wonderful fashion shows!
It’s sad that my experience of groups or guilds has been a negative one but I think that’s because I’m playing when the grownups are at work not because there aren’t any on my poor server. I play with the kids skipping school, I have found that I’m enjoying killing them in PvP so it’s finally worked out!
April 20, 2012 at 12:44 pm
OMG, your post made me LOL.
I agree with the others… go to have fun and try something new. Rading can be a lot of fun with the right people, even if you don’t know where you’re going or quite what you’re doing.
There’s usually someone with a guiding hand on pst to help. I don’t normally chit chat on mumble during raids unless it’s relevant to the fight but I’m sure they wouldn’t mind you talking, even if you did sound like a worgen suffering from allergies 🙂
April 20, 2012 at 2:07 pm
Thanks Cym! I really do, if we watch a movie depending on the season my poor husband has to turn the sound up so high to hear it above the sniffing the dogs give us dirty looks and leave the room!
April 20, 2012 at 8:53 pm
Ditto all of the above.
So, two stories
1. I was running some dungeons with my buddy, and the tank entered the scene foul-mouthed, bragging and annoying. Yuck. Be gone ye Punk!
2. Ran a Zul last night with another buddy, and fell off of every cliff, precipice, bridge, and eaten by fish, pushed by trolls, mean things, ripped my dressed, bruised my shin and got a very high repair bill. But I made my friend laugh, all caps ROTFL’ing laugh, and all was well.
If I had a gold piece for every time I derped, I’d be the richest shaman in Azeroth, but alas, I just have fun.
Little secret –all that raid stuff? There is a man behind the curtain and he’s not that bad.
April 21, 2012 at 6:52 am
I think if my Druid had just one running buddy, I could take the potential abuse but alone I just don’t want to deal and husband still resists!
Oddly I do have a running buddy Horde side for PvP but I’ve found it’s not necessary for me to join BGs, have NO idea why there’s a difference for me.
When I see Navi’s diagrams on raids I can’t help but think that man behind the curtain is one sadistic wizard!
April 20, 2012 at 11:13 pm
LOL Ancient, you make me laugh! This post is so hilarious and your excuses so epic that I can’t help but want to reach out and /hug you across the screen!
Now if JD says he wants to do it with you because of the company then think of it as something more like a dungeon or something, but with friends! Really, it’s a social thing where you and your friends can kill stuff together, so that’s all nice and good 🙂
Oh I wish I was alliance, so I could come too! And if I could play a druid it would be even better. And of course you don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. After all, I want to say bye to JD as well 🙂 Gosh, maybe I have to do what I did for Matty, make a toon on his server to send a message and then quest so i have enough coppers to actually SEND the message LOL.
April 21, 2012 at 6:58 am
I’m glad Navi, that is my intent!
Oh, oh, that is a good idea, if you came to the Horde side one I have a badly dressed 85 Warlock who could come to that one!
We could say goodbye to JD there, just have to figure out if the time is good for you, it will take me until then to figure it out, lol!
April 21, 2012 at 8:36 am
You bring the little dog, I’ll bring the water bucket, and all will end well.