Saturday, August 27, 2011

Fortune Fri...Sa...uh, Sundays?

They're quirky, they're fun, they're random Azerothian fortunes! Every Friday you will see a different fortune (either from our beloved Darkmoon Faire or the new fortune cards) featured here at World of Saz. Enjoy!

Fortune Card: Many raid wipes are in your immediate future.

(This image/fortune combination is a complete lie, we rocked that raid.)

Thursday, August 25, 2011

20 Days of...My Favourite Spot (Day 17)

Someday soon I shall finish with Saga's 20 Days of challenge, but until that day comes you will all have to sit through a few more posts of it before I go back to whatever it was that I wrote prior to finding these delightful little filler posts.


It's becoming rather difficult these days to say where my favorite spot in Azeroth is. I've been playing alts and doing so many dailies lately that I haven't taken a whole lot of time to just hang out in a singular spot. Sure I have my favorite hangout spots, there are places where I'd like to live, and spots that I would vacation to, but out of all the areas that are available in Azeroth/Outland, I have a hard time deciding which is my favorite. I suppose that after being in so many different places over the years it has become difficult to decide which of the many amazing little nooks in WoW could be considered my most favorite place to be. I've always loved the alien and odd look of Eversong Woods, the homey feel of the bridge in Ironforge; often I find myself marveling at various instances (take a walk through Wrath of the Lich King's Caverns of Time, there's neat houses in there!).

Hmm...you know, I think I may like the deserts of Tanaris best. I can recall the first time I road through the area on my Darnassian Nightsaber late one night. I'm not sure what it is about riding on a cat mount through the desert, but it just feels so calm and fluid. I also loved running through that zone on my druid (as kitty, naturally). Running through the sands while pouncing hyenas was just too much fun while I was leveling. Yes, I think it's safe to say that the deserts of Tanaris would qualify for one of my more favorite spots.


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Is This Thing On?

What is up everyone, happy Tuesday to you all! I know it's been a while since I've done any sort of update, so please allow me to toss a little post your way to let you know that I'm still very much alive and that all is more or less well.

For the past week or two I've been a complete space case as far as updating both World of Saz and Feral By Nature is concerned. Allow me to explain my neglect!

Last week I ended up actually going home for a bit (recall that I've been helping out and staying with my grandparents while my grandmother recovers from some health issues), and naturally that after a year and a half of living at that house, that week was the one that I decided I needed to try and finally start organizing all of my crap. Yeah, it takes me almost two years to settle into a place, what of it? It's no where near finished, by the way.

On top of that craziness I was also expecting company. What kind of company? Well, originally it was supposed to be my WoW crew. That's right, a little Battle of Serenity leftovers meet up at my place out here in the sticks. I was expecting to have four or so people show up on my door step, but alas it was not to be so. Instead I ended up with only one showing up; it was an absolute blast. I'd share pictures but we were far too preoccupied the whole time to get any decent ones. Maybe next time! Anyways, it's a bit weird to be able to /pet someone in real life after having known them for five years but have never known them face to face, but at the same time it's ten shades of awesome. I hope to see him again very soon in person, as well as somehow manage to wiggle my way over to see the rest of my crew in the next year or so.

I'm resisting the urge to gush again. Next topic.

So all in all I am exhausted, both physically and emotionally. I've had quite a bit going on both in real life and in game (Saz is once again in a new guild, trying to kind of get acclimated but as always I'm slow, plus I've been leveling two other characters), so unfortunately I'm somewhat tapped out right this moment and both of my blogs have seen some neglect because of it. I aim to at least get a semi interesting post or two out for WoS later this week though and another chapter done for FBN very soon. Maybe it's high time for another Hoarders post, it's only been a month or so...

Keep your eyes peeled, I haven't abandoned yee yet, mateys!

Friday, August 5, 2011

Fortune Fridays!

They're quirky, they're fun, they're random Azerothian fortunes! Every Friday you will see a different fortune (either from our beloved Darkmoon Faire or the new fortune cards) featured here at World of Saz. Enjoy!

Fortune Card: The beginning of wisdom is to desire it. The end of wisdom is to theorycraft.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Identity

Pick up a topic of interest, pass it around. Ponder, discuss, share. That's right folks, it's time for another shared topic from Blog Azeroth. This time around it's Akabeko who gives us the topic of which we are to ponder on.

Straight from my eventual post on the matter:

How does your character define themself? What part of their identity is most important to their personality and self-presentation?

In meatspace, we have so many affiliations, it's anyone's guess whether we consider ourselves a tuba player first, or a student, a Gators fan, a New Yorker, a mother, a nerd, a liberal. Our identities are comprised of so many different aspects of life that it's hard to tell which parts different people will choose to define themselves.

In game, there are less game-related ways to identify.
You can identify as:

your class - your spec
your race - a particular subgroup (Mag'har, Wildhammer)
your faction - a faction other than Horde/Alliance

Disclaimer: I don't typically read other posts on these topics prior to writing my own opinions! So if the topic seems a bit off of it's original intent, my apologies.

While I think Akabeko had a bit more of a role playing angle in mind for this shared topic, I'm going to take a touch more personal approach to it. Think of it as a "meatbag meets pixelself" type of fusion post, and by that I mean I'm going to tackle this from the view point of a non-RP player. Sure even us non-role playing types will be identified as "that one enhancement shaman" or "that one affliction lock" or what have you, and naturally we identify to some extent with our faction (insert "FOR THE HORDE" or "FOR THE ALLIANCE" here), but often we don't bother affiliating with our races. We non-RP types tend to choose races based either stats or pure looks, rarely do we know the histories and personalities behind the races that we play, unless we happen to pick up the information over the years.

Regardless of play style though - be it RP, PvP, PvE, RPPvP, or whatever other variation there may be - all players have something in common. All players will 1) project some sort of personality when interacting with others, be this their own personality or one they had in mind for a specific story/character 2) choose to either identify with a certain guild/clan that shares a likeness in thought processes to themselves or will fill the lone wolf type role. Naturally there are all sorts of shades and variations in what you may find a player identifying themselves as, but this is the general concept that I've gathered thus far.

The fine little details though are what make a character and player one. Like Aka stated, in the real world we often identify with being the bass player, the Packer fan, the couch potato, the reader, but how about in game? For me personally, on my shaman at least, I have always seemed to gravitate towards guild mom, raid leader, the negotiator between two butting heads, the soother, the stubborn "bitch", that one dead shaman on the floor. I've always tried (keyword) to be rational and to take care of my people. I've always tried to make sure folks were happy and tried to do right by my guild. These days though? I'm the bum who spends her time farming for mounts for an obscene number of hours at a time. I started my item hoarding long ago, but the habit seems to have exploded ten fold since my departure from the official raiding scene. I'm the lost girl in between guild homes, who even though finds this frustrating and lonely at times, is quite happy to have her little crew just a chat channel away. /join [channel name] is pretty much one of the best things ever.

Now, while I say "Oh, I don't RP" I do believe I have a bit of RPer in my blood. We've been over this a few times here at WoS already I think.  I don't really have a huge story line for my shaman like I am beginning to develop for my druid, but she has been a huge part of my life for the past four years or so. Because of this she fits like a glove. She is the more confident me, the me that I was many moons ago. Her and I have been through a lot of good times and bad together, and she's very much become my online identity. That icon that I use everywhere? Yup, Saz at level 80 in Naxx 25 gear. Heck, I think I even had a picture of Saz for my Facebook page for a while (no you may not have a link!). But it isn't just I who identifies with my Saz personality, but it's my WoW friends as well. A friend of mine has dropped a few good lines that I'd like to quote "Every time I see a shaman, I do a double take and think it's you." and "Well, now I have to get used to your real face. Every time I think of you I see your shaman in my head." Kind of funny to think about how much her and i have become one in the same, or nearly so. I project myself through my pixel form, my pixel form represents who I am or who I'd more or less prefer to be. Well, maybe minus the horn and hooves, though those may be fun change.

To get back to the original question about how Saz defines herself. Essentially she and I identify as one in the same. We are aggressive when need be, protectors of our packs, we like to heal the wounds of our friends, and remove our foes from our paths. She may be a dark skinned alien with horns and I may be a pale ginger with glasses, but personality wise we are not so different. We are friendly to those whom are deserving, will ignore those who are not. We are fiercely loyal to those who show loyalty in return, though we are quick to sever ties if we feel we have been abused in some way. Always observing, always listening.


Shamans are spiritual visionaries of tribes and clans. These gifted warriors who can see into the world of spirits and communicate with creatures invisible to eyes of normal beings. They are beset by visions of the future and use their sight to guide their people through troubled times. Although the shaman may seem wise and serene at first glance, he is a formidable foe; when angered, his wrath is as fierce as those who have a connection to Eternals or nature. WoWWiki



Of course the entry doesn't even begin to cover my association with my various of alts, for yes, they all do have a somewhat individual personality, though they all do very much have an infusion of myself. If you'd like to read more about the personalities of my alts, their associations with each other, and to try to get a gleam of my personality showing through them, take a gander at this previous shared topic, Behind the Faces.