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New Feature Series On Dominate Your Server

We really strive to bring a little something to the table for everyone.  And considering that there are far more casual gamers than pros out there we thought it was time we did something just for them.

We do a lot of tips and tricks for those on the back end of the learning curve.  And everyone loves it when we dig up the very useful yet obscure tip that no one else ever thought of.  But those are hardly growing on trees, so you’ll have to wait.

In the meantime, we’ve decided to start a new feature segment called the Casual Corner.  If there is one thing for sure in WoW, it’s that everyone is a noob in some way.  Some people spend their entire WoW existence having turret’s-like bouts of noob, while others live in a constant state of noob.

And don’t give me that crap that you’re all pro now.  Everyone is a nerd some times.  There are a few of you that make far fewer mistakes than others, but since most of the folks who play are casual gamers, we figured a little humor about life as a nub would hit everyone in the funny bone.

As it turns out Lawbringer is drowning in just the right sort of candidates for this kind of material.  Everyone in the family (with a few exceptions) has picked up the game and they are progressing at various rates of skill (with a few exceptions) and having a blast doing so.

It turns out that running with the nub squad is always pretty fun.  You get to see the game in a different light than in those Ulduar raids.  You remember how bad you really were at one time, and laugh together when someone falls off the boat.  It would drive me nuts in a raid, but with the chicks it’s pretty funny.

So let me introduce the members of the Casual Corner crew:

  • Ellimace – Moneybaggins (cough, Lawbringer’s) main squeeze
  • PetitePowerhouse – Law’s mom and burgeoning AH guru
  • Teacake – Law’s much smarter and more stable sister
  • Cameo – whoever else Law can cajole into writing anything funny

You probably won’t learn much in the Casual Corner, and there certainly won’t be any theory-crafting.  And since it’s for entertainment purposes only (not available in all states) there is a rule here as well.  No hate speech in the threads.  Casual Corner is a nerd rich and odd friendly place where the real cool kids hang out.

Or whatever, but really the point here is to point out how bad at this we all once were, and how some are either oblivious to their own struggles, or struggling like heck to look like they aren’t struggling.  So the eldest member of the all girl crew PetitePowerhouse has agreed to make the first installment – enjoy, and may you one day Dominate in self-satirical prose.

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The Path To The WoW Draft – PetitePowerhouse

When you’ve lived long enough you come to the realization that there is only so much TV you can enjoy.  You find that after 40 years of the tube you’ve pretty much seen it all.  I can actually remember a time when there was no TV AT all.  There are only so many times a day you can feed the chickens, only so many flower beds you can stand to weed, only so much time you can spend on the phone with the 3 year old grandchild.  As it turns out I woke up one day and realized I was just freakin’ bored.

I needed something to do and watching TV while we fell asleep cracking pecans wasn’t cutting it.  My daughter was playing, Law’s wife was playing, the son-in law was playing and the husband didn’t care who was playing.

Now, I don’t watch no TV any more (I mean I don’t abstain from it completely) I do really enjoy football.  I know it’s not right for the little old lady to scream and yell at the guys running into each other at top speed trying to kill each other, but it’s just fun.

I like it so much I’ve watched the last 5 NFL drafts.  We just got done watching every hour of this year’s draft as a matter of fact.  I have no clue what happened, but I like it just the same.

I hear that if you’re going to keep your mind (yes this is the old person’s way of saying this – a young person would say keep your mind ACTIVE or some trash) you have to mentally challenge yourself.  WoW is by far the most challenging thing a person my age can do.  The last time I took on a technological challenge of this magnitude it was the unfortunate attempt to program a VHS VCR  – there was smoke and possibly screaming.  Actually to this day no one has ever been able to program one of those things which is why TiVo was invented, not even kids could do that crap.

Everyone was playing WoW, and my daughter, Teacakes wanted me to give it a shot.  I was being recruited like one of those college athletes – ok, maybe not so much.  Definitely not like Crabtree or Sanchez (probably more like the punter the Lions picked up as an un-drafted free agent – you’ll never hear from HIM) but Law was always saying how it was more fun to play as a pair, and Teacakes needed a crew to roll wit.

Well I was ready to get started.  Enough of this being a granny junk.  I was ready to kick some butt, Law was skeptical to say the least.  And sure enough I was lost in the character creation screen.  I must have spent two hours looking at hair.  Law is trying to explain the finer points of race selection and I’m looking at which ones have the best earrings.  That was the first of many “sighs” I have gotten from Law.  Night elves were out, I don’t do face tattoos.

I had so much to learn about so many things; quests, quest logs, bags, right click this, left click that, spells, flight paths, zeppelins, picking herbs, auctions, gear, mail, vendors, talents, (what the heck is a paper doll slot on a video game?), maps, dying, dying again.  I still don’t know how to use chat.  And it’s awfully hard to concentrate on a tutorial to learn all those things when you’re walking into walls and falling off of things.  For some reason I seem to always end up in the water.

So WoW has been more than just a challenge.  There is soooooo much to learn.  I’m not sure what I’ve learned yet, but I love it.  Today I was fishing and some guy slapped me, spit on me and shot me the bird.  Then he jumped around in front of me until I accidentally hit him with my fishing pole – he killed me – instantly.  I still have no idea how to do the emote for “turn the other cheek.”

But in the process I’ve actually seen most of Northrend (playing an alt in a group with Law) and I have my very own level 40.  Perhaps in the not-so-distant future I’ll grind up to 80 myself.  Now Law says the game just begins at 80, at which time I’ll need another long series of tutorials.  (He says I’m doing better about the walking into walls thing – water, not so much)

So that’s how I got drafted into Dominate.  I might not make the pro bowl, but I plan on having a long and fun career here.  If you see me on Fenris say hi – I won’t be able to say anything back, but I’ll be thinking “HI!”  Silent and deadly . . .but I can /wave.  So you’ll have to get close, but perhaps we’ll just team up with Law and the rest of the crew and go do a little Dominating.