Day 09 – Your first blog post
Um, not really sure what we’re supposed to do with this one.
My first blog post was my introduction post: https://clearcasting.wordpress.com/2009/01/19/why/
It’s the only blog post I’ve gone back and updated information on. Continue reading
Day 08 – 10 things we don’t know about you
Uggg…
I’m not sure which is harder, coming up with 10 things you don’t know about me, or coming up with ONLY 10 things you don’t know about me.
Day 05 – Favourite item(s) in game
I did tell you back when this started that they were in no particular order…
So my favorite items in game?
Derrr….
Um…..
Stuff?
I’m a collector – possibly even a hoarder – in WoW so my bags and banks are full of trinkets and toys that I’ve collected over the years, not to mention all the pets and mounts that thankfully no longer take up valuable space. (C’mon, Blizz, tabard rack, gogogogo!)
Mounts and pets are probably my favorite items. Once obtained, they can be used just about anywhere without fear of lowering your DPS and they are easy to view. The Swift Spectral Tiger is one of my favorite mounts. I am also a big fan of the hippogryph models and would like to have them all in my stable.
So many of the pets are awesome it’s hard to pick my favorites, but I think my top two are probably the Windrider Cub and the Winged Guardian Cub. Both are from the Blizzard store and both are so adorable it’s almost sickening.
I love my Horde T9 mage set with my Frostscythe transmog. Continue reading
Day 07 – The reason behind your blog’s name
(I’ll go back to day 5, I swear.)
When I started the blog, I was really getting in to playing a mage and playing it well.
Blink was actually my favorite spell for a very long time, and I tried to come up with a title that used it, but “blink” was already taken and I couldn’t think of anything that sounded good utilizing the word.
So I was going through my spellbook and poking at WoWwiki and mulling it over. Continue reading
Day 06 – Your workplace/desk (photo and/or description)
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’re skipping Day 5 for now.)
A picture is worth a thousand words, so here you go! Continue reading
Day 04 – Your best WoW memory
An oldie but for me, a goodie.
When my tabletop D&D group was breaking up we discovered that we were all playing WoW; ranging the experience gamut from only a handful of hours played to seriously raiding Sunwell.
The idea was born to replace our Wednesday night D&D shenanigans with a WoW night where we would all meet up and run instances together and do quests and such.
This was back before you could turn XP off so it was very challenging to keep a group of people within an acceptable level range while they still wanted to level professions and collect gear the rest of the week. So we would generally set a level cap for the week, try to be between 25 and 28 by next Wednesday so we can move on to X instance.
This was also back before you were automatically given access to level-appropriate flight path destinations – you had to run to each flight master to earn that destination.
And this was back when you didn’t get your first ground mount until 40. Continue reading
Day 03 – Your first day playing WoW
I started playing WoW in a cold month. I remember this very distinctly because, in a way, it’s why I started playing in the first place.
The index finger on my right hand decided to mutiny one particularly frigid day. Theories abounded about the cause: it was gout, it was arthritis, it was tissue damage, it was aliens.
The cause has never been identified, but the result was the same: I couldn’t move the finger without incredible fucking pain. I’ve put a knife in my hand, busted my nose, broken an arm, all sorts of stupid things that hurt like hell but nothing really compared to this unidentifiable pain.
At the time, I was playing a Korean MMORPG called Rappelz. Movement in Rappelz was all point and click. Targeting was clicking. Interacting with anything was clicking. Combat was hotkeyed to the function keys (Alt+F4 was a real hotkey in that game). But if you weren’t standing perfectly still in battle, you were clicking. I also had an office job that required a lot of clicking and typing. Continue reading
Day 02 – Why you decided to start a blog
Honestly?
I was bored and lonely.
People either have no interest in WoW or can only stand listening for so long to you babble about the really cool thing you just got or did. (Or more accurately, listen to me bitch and moan and whine about that awful that that just happened.)
To preserve what little sanity and few friends I have, I decided it would be fun to start a blog. This is as close as I can get to talking to myself and still fall near the boundary of a socially accepted norm. Continue reading
Warning! It has come to my attention that this sort of post is utterly shameless and potentially damaging to the blogging community! If you are considering writing a blog of your own and may be threatened instead of inspired by my *awesome* stats then please, save yourself and flee before it is too late!
With that out of the way, we can move on to the recap of the past Februarys (Februaries? wow, spellcheck likes that one) that I have been writing. See here for the recap of Januarys (Januaries?) past.
6 posts and 50 views! That’s double what I had in January. I knew I would start out very slowly. I didn’t advertise my site or join any blog communities right away. I was curious about how a blog following would grow organically. I just continued to comment on the blogs that I followed, but included my link. (This is probably one of the best ways to get readers that are interested in you and what you have to say. Just saying, “hey, I have a blog!” may get you hits, but it probably won’t lead to worthwhile conversations.)
2 of which were about arena… man I was trying hard to do something right, anything right, in the arena. Failed miserably at it, but we had some fun.
Remember when you could get saved to a completed raid? The GM attempted to sympathize with a smilie face. I just lost out on my only chance at tier for the week and you smile at me? /rage
But that’s OK, because I got my pants the next week.
This is also when I really got to see firsthand how gear does not equal skill.
19 posts with a little over 11,000 page views.
I opened with a little post about the meaning of names in games.
Highlights include:
One single, solitary post about difficulty in games. For that month I either had 1500 dedicated readers or a handful of you spammed the refresh each day looking for more content. Sorry for the bad spot I was in there!
We are no longer in a bad place and are back in action! I didn’t make a resolution or anything this year to get back into the community here, but it certainly seems to have worked out that way. Last month I put out 20 posts and I see another 4 drafts that I started. (Never fails, all the ideas come running at once.) While I’m no where near my previous viewership, I am rebuilding with a new circle of people, many of whom are also bloggers, and we’re growing together.
There were a handful of posts introducing my new banner art (which should be hopefully cycling through each day you visit. Unless you read via a feedreader and then you’re missing out on the random art work!)
Top posts for the month were Pussy Plate (yes, I did start getting some more… interesting search queries) and my participation in the Sixth meme.
As I’m getting back in to the enjoyment of the game I’ve shared my obsession with obtaining Swift Lovebirds, trials with my paladin, failure on my hunter, progress on my warrior.
As my enjoyment increases, so does my ability to nail down things that are bothering me, like my lack of interest in heroic raiding. (I’m not bothered that I don’t want to raid heroics, I’m bothered that the people around me assume that we should be raiding heroics.)
I also introduced a blog filler series – and now I have too much content to use it!
So to all my long-time readers – thank you. Your comments and discussions (even when we don’t agree) are what make this worth publishing in a public venue instead of storing my rants and dreams in a dusty corner of my computer.
To all my new readers – thank you. I hope that you join in the conversations and get to know all of us here.
For those that are considering making the leap to joining our elite ranks as a blogger (bahahahaha! OK, I couldn’t say that with a straight face), jump right in – the more, the merrier and we look forward to meeting you.
Or the 20 Day WoW Blogging Challenge… or Wow! 20 days of blogging challenge?
So I’ve seen this pop up in a few places, but it looks like the official start is over here.
And just what is it?
It’s a list!
And I love lists!
It’s also sort of a meme, but I don’t think we have to tag anyone, just play along at home if you want.
So in no particular order (except the order they were listed in), here are our topics for the 20 days: Continue reading
clearcasting 