Merry Christmas!

I hope that everyone who happens to come upon this post today has a very Merry Christmas!

May today be filled with Good Cheer.
May Merriment be your lot.
May Mercy and Grace fill your day.
May all your loots be Phat and Hawt!

 

Z

He’s Back!!!!!

I got my lvl 85 Scardi-Tank back today!

Thank you to the GM who retrieved Caligan from the Nether for me.

Got Him Back

Scardi-Tank

There is a lot going on right now in real life, and my WoWing has taken somewhat of a back seat for the time being. However, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t playing; I just wasn’t playing very much. Instead of playing my main(s), I was dinking around a little bit on alts.

There was one particular that I enjoyed. A low level hunter that I was working Arathi Basin with. That however, is another story.

After some time of reflection, I realized that I really wanted to tank. But…there always seems to be one, doesn’t there?… I never found myself logging onto my main tanking toon, Caligan. I just never would really do it; especially not to tank something.

Well, long story short (I promise to get back to that, I really do), I came upon the reason(s) I think I wasn’t taking and I asked for some help from my guildies (and a couple of other people I respect) for advice. I endeavored to start tanking one Cata-instance per day; and it was beginning to go along nicely…

Until…

I unintentionally deleted my toon, Caligan!

I meant to delete a lvl  toon, right underneath him in the start screen.  But instead, I accidentally deleted him.

I was in utter shock. I didn’t rage. I didn’t weep. I promptly made a GM Ticket, saying what happened and begging for my toon to be restored.

Then, I told the one and only guildie on that night what happened; closed down WoW and went to bed, more than just a little depressed.

Well, I’ve not had time to get on today to see if he is back. I still have some work to do before the night is over. But, I plan on seeing if he is back later on this evening.

I’m also wondering if my scardi-tank side had me delete him from deep in my subconscious.

I might think more about that later.

Anyway, that is what’s been going on with me.

I hope you have a very Merry Xmas; and a wonderful WoW’s Winter’s Viel!

Zwingli

White Ribbon…

Because violence against women happens, and it is deplorable.

Because it happens every day, and if I remember correctly practically every minute.

Because I have friends that are survivors of rape and other physical abuse.

Because if we don’t stand for them…who will?

The Eff the Ineffable Song

In honor of Alas’ Blogging Anniversary, I had the opportunity to write a song.

Just to warn you: this was me and my guitar, all recorded on my iPad.  But, it is for Alas and AT, and the rest of the Effers.

<3 you guys!

Eff the Ineffable Song by Zwingli*

Lyrics~

The Unexplainable
The Inexpressible
The Ineffable
Eff the Ineffable

v.1
There was once a heroine
A defender of others
Flames from her fingertips
Named Alastroina

v.2
He was her shield
Her avenging wrath
Her guardian
Her Ataraxaven

v.3
They traveled our war torn world
Gathering comrades in their train
Bringing righteous fury
They were the Epitome of the Eff (the Ineffable)

________________________________________________

*I make no claims of talent, musician ship, or knowing the Eff about what I’m doing.  She threatened to eat all of my Hunter Kitty Pets if I didn’t post this!  I LOVE MY KITTIES!!!!!  /sob
j/k…  >.>

I <3 You Alas!

Thank you, Mike Morhaime.

Mike Morhaime is the CEO of Blizzard, and he got it right. He did the right thing as a leader, he did the right thing for his company, he did the right thing for the WoW community.

This is what it looks like when Leadership takes responsibility:

As someone that leads a small business, I appreciate this.  The larger the business the harder, and more necessary, it is for leadership to do this kind of thing. You set a good example for all of us.

Well done.

Zwingli

p.s. I first got wind of this via Grimmtooth and Ratshag. Thanks guys.

Why Hate Speech and Blizzard is Wrong

There are multiple reasons why Hate Speech is wrong.

I’m only going to talk about one of those reasons.

If you’re not heard, then let me fill you in. Blizzard featured a video at Blizzcon of a Horde enthusiast totally trashing Alliance players. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher is the lead singer for a death metal band, “Cannibal Corpse.” He let out a diatribe sure to have the saltiest of sailors blushing.

The use of profanity was strewn throughout it. The F-Bombs were prolific. Intertwined throughout the carpet “F” bombing were homophobic slurs as well. You can read about it here, here, and here if you want.

This was hate speech on two levels.

First off was the animosity towards Alliance players.

Really, this guy was just sad. He thinks his tirade was against Alliance (and it was). If he would have stayed to only traditional profanity we could write him off as a mature man-child. His language was the typical 13 year old fair that you hear when your local Jr. High lets out.

Immature, habitual profanity; used to belittle people that play a particular video game faction.

Sad.

Secondly, there is the hate speech geared towards homosexuals. It is inherent within his diatribe.

You have to understand something. Speech is habitual behavior by nature. The free flowing use of homophobic slurs speaks to the core of who this guy is. It speaks to his character, or lack there of.

Where I come from we have a saying: “…out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”

The guy is a hater, in the worse possible way.

He might have gay friends. He may say he isn’t a hater. The problem is, he is. His verbal diatribic actions show who he is.  Sure, he might have been trying to be funny. He thought he was in a safe place, surrounded by WoW players (especially Horde). However, when we think we are “safe,” we also tend to let our guard down. He  had less inhibitions, thus his words showed his true colors more than he knew.

Now, here is where Blizzard is Wrong.

They were wrong in highlighting his video. Even bleeped, it is pretty obvious what he is saying. You can also find the non-bleeped version easily too. Blizzard, quite literally, gave him a platform. A platform is a place of authority, presence, and by giving it to him are implicitly agreeing with his views.

Everything said about him applies to the Blizzard employess that thought it was a good idea; on up to the one who gave permission for it to happen.

That they refuse to sincerely apologize for it makes it worse.

Blizzard, you failed.

You failed hard.

You failed in the worse sort of way.

If I feel like it, my next post will show an transformational/educational model linking some of this together.

Zwingli

_____________________________________

I thought I would put some links up of other bloggers attacking the problem of bigotry.

Ratshag

Manalicious

Piercing Shots

Grimmtooth’s Troops

I Like Pancakes

Big Bear Butt Blogger

Mysterious Buttons

MMO Melting Pot

Azeroth Apple

Paw Prints at the Portal

The ‘mental Shaman

 

BRK on MoP

If you’re a Hunter from “back in the day,” then you’ve heard of Big Red Kitty.

He’s the granddaddy of WoW Hunters.  He was Huntering when Huntering wasn’t cool. When people would say, “LoLhunter,” he was rockin’ and sockin’ the dps meeter.

All this to say, when Daddy BRK speaks: Hunters should listen.

Well…

Big Red Kitty says a little bit about Mists of Pandaria.

Check it out.

Zwingli

No Big Bad?

I’ve heard a few people talk about us not having a “Big Bad” guy in the next expansion.  Some don’t know how to feel about it. Others don’t like it because it doesn’t give them something to focus on towards End Game.

I’m not so sure about the “No Big Bad” idea.

You can find this paragraph on the Meet the Pandaren website.

During the bleak days that preceded the sundering of the world, when demons flooded onto Azeroth and threw the entirety of the mortal realm into jeopardy, the last Emperor of the pandaren discovered a way to protect his land from the devastation. His deal with fate shrouded his land within an impenetrable mist for ten thousand years, but the nature of his transaction has left Pandaria haunted ever since…

See that?

The Emporer made some sort of “deal with fate.”  I think that is where the “Big Bad” will be found.

Is this guy melancholy, or what?!

Of course, this is just conjecture. I’ve no idea. However, as I read it I can only assume that we get to kill the “Big Bad” thing that is behind leaving “Pandaria haunted ever since…”

To be honest, I’m not one of those players that needs the “Big Bad.”  I’m the casual that enjoys exploring, running alts, and RPing. Give me a new zone, and I’m in heaven.  I then enjoy doing dailies, because it gives an illusion of being helpful.  So, I continue to look forward to the Mists of Pandaria Expansion.

So, what do you think?

Z

Mists of Pandaria… YAY!

I have this feeling.

It’s like an itch at the bottom of my neck.

It’s like that pimple in the middle of your back, that hurts to high heaven.

It’s like…

err… It’s getting gross!  I’ll stop.

I have a feeling that I’m the only person excited that we are getting a Pandarian Expansion!

I mean, I can’t be the only one…right?

Sure, I know some people aren’t excited about it. And I’m going to miss them when they leave.

IT’S FREAKIN PANDAS!

How can you not like Pandas?

Back, oh I don’t know, maybe four to five years ago, I heard about Pandaren Monks in one of the Warcraft Novels. I had been experimenting with a Horde Alt, and you found a Keg of…something. Beer maybe?

Anyway, it was my first introduction to the idea of a Pandaren Monk. From that day on, I’ve wanted a Pandaren character.  I even had, “All I want for Christmas is a Pandaren” in my Forums signature.  And now we get one, baby!

So, Yes.

I like the idea.

I like the class.

I like the race.

I like it.

That I get to RP as Kung Fu Panda, gives Blizzard extra kudo points, in my book!

Seriously, How Can You Not Like Pandas?!

You need to get in touch with your inner Dora Explorer.

Go check out the website.

Just sayin’.

Oh, and I’m playing again!

Zwingli