Raiding Again - ToC to ICC

I haven't been raiding for quite some time. Last night I made up for lost time! Recently I joined a new guild and it's really turned out to be a fantastic bunch of players. I really like the guild and enjoy raiding with them. It's nice being in a guild like this again. Plus, they only raid twice a week which is more than enough for me.

We started out with VoA headed on to ToC as planned and then we decided to head into ICC and see how we would fare. I was very excited because I've really wanted to head in here. It was a bit later in the evening when we headed in so we ended with couple attempts at Saurfang. We did a lot better than I thought we would. I had a lot of fun, the gunship, which I've seen my brother and Dire do, was pretty fun! We plan on going back Friday- Exciting!

I ended up getting a few upgrades in ToC and then later on that night, with Dire, I got another nice upgrade in one of the new heroics. So, all in all it was a really good day in Azeroth for me. I am thrilled I found this guild. I had filled out an application for another guild (I wasn't even very impressed with them) and was turned down for my (LOL) gear score. But hey I didn't have any trouble nor did my guild with taking me. I range from 1-3 in DPS depending on the fight so I was proud of myself. Their loss I suppose (other guild). Lots of small minded people out there.

Speaking of asshats... Dire got into a VoA raid last night and was kicked because of his gearscore (Mage Alt). It is a tad lower than mine, nothing wrong with it for VoA. Ya know, VoA is serious business.. right?!! I just couldn't fathom the stupidity in doing that. Those people lost out, he pulls fantastic damage on his Mage, heck any char he plays. He is always top dps in groups blowing my mind how he pulls it off. Skill > GS. I really wish he could find a good guild that raided on the weekends. I think it may take a toll on him, so I am going to try look around for him some. Too bad my guild raids while he is at work.

He also was told his GS was too low for Ahune. Seriously WTF... Ahune can be done at 78. I throw up just a little when I think of the stupid people running around spewing out bull like this. Ugh... He has been playing his Mage some on the alliance and I told him not to pug- but he wants to as he works late hours. I'd rather not play the game than pug raid. I only pug raid with him or I may pug the weekly raid andVoA once in a blue moon but I feel a bit more sane refraining from pugging raids.

On another note, one of my friends is an alt-o-holic and he uses Real ID and got me to finally add him. It's not like he doesn't know my name lol, he's on my Facebook friends too. I didn't even know it was simply just adding people by email to the friends list. I have a couple of friends on there since they play several alts and it is nice to be able to talk to them. I don't like how it uses my name. Let me change it, I don't go by my first name!!! I go by Jen, a shortened nickname, and have for years. So yeah... it irks me. It feels like playing a messenger program with avatars lol. For children adding people, teens and tweens in particular I think this could be potentially dangerous. Personally though me using it....Who would want to stalk a crazy person like me? I'm not worried!

Anyhow, have a great day!

Is WoW Too Competitive?

Is WoW too competitive?
Even though I haven't wrote about WoW much lately I still play. I suppose just like everyone else I get bored sometimes. I also get tired of the ongoing competition, sometimes I just want to relax and play something laid back.

Gear score, dps meters and the new armory even has a RSS! 'This customization tool allows you to tailor up to five characters' activity feeds to create a custom RSS/Atom feed, and export it to your RSS reader of choice.' You can see what the character has done with achievements, boss kills and what loot they have gotten. A bit personal if you ask me. Not a big deal, but what is the need for this, stalking?

Somedays it just feels like a job. There is a less personal feel to the game anymore. While I still think it's a wonderful game offering so much, it is starting to become a competition in all aspects of the game. Whether it be PvE- Gear score or PvP- Arena Ratings.

What does this do for a community?
While WoW is still a massive game when it comes to population, there is already the anonymity problem. There are so many people, who cares if you're a jerk to a few, right? There are so many people, players are expendable? I have caught myself judging people on gear and meters. Then I catch myself. It's not fair or right to judge people on these. These tools can be used for good but they can also be abused. This can erode an already 'not so hot' community even further.

Idle minds..
This leads to my thoughts on why people are always racing on the current content. I want to get done with this heroic asap- this raid finished asap. I've done it a million times, I just want loot and emblems. People become bored. Expansions are few and far between. It just becomes a race to the finish line after awhile. It's not just in the raiding scene anymore, it's spread across the game as a whole.


Thoughts?
Do you enjoy some good competition or do you tire of it? Just some thoughts as a long time MMO gamer. Personally, I am not soured by it to the point where I won't play, I just sometimes need a break.

-kaozz