Readycheck and go

So for post number one I'll talk about how I got started with the game, what I do now in-game, and what kind of posts to expect in the future.

Being stuck with Mac computer most of my life, I've been at the whim of whatever cross-platform developers have managed to ship my way, so Blizzard products have been one of mainstays. They managed to get me early with Warcraft 2. Followed up by Starcraft and Diablo uno and dos, you can say that I've been a loyal customer or borderline fanboy. Warcraft 3 offered quite the narrative to follow, and the Frozen Throne left a sizable cliffhanger. Then we had World of Warcraft, a game I was reluctant to start as every online service that Blizz had offered me before came free with the CD-Key. Eventually I took the dive with a free trial when The Burning Crusade hit, followed by a quick upgrade to the full thing with the appeal and promise of playing the versatile Paladin class horde-side as a Blood Elf. Oh the wonderful promises of being a Holy, Plate-wearing Juggernaut, swinging a holy blade, cleansing evil across the land...

...And then I finally hit 70 and was introduced to the brutal world endgame world that could be summarized as the common slang term as "lolret."

With the advent of Wrath of the Lich King and the total reworking of the Ret Tree, the Paladin class as DPS is a far cry from what it used to be endgame. Still, running Karazhan at 70 week after week, I managed to build up a tank set and dabble into the damage receiving talent tree, since the damage dealing tree was so woefully underpowered compared to other classes. It was a diversion to experiment with every other week or so, eventually translating to me keeping 2 sets of gear in my bags, even when leveling when Wrath hit.

When I hit 80 about a week or so after Wrath's release, I found myself among many dps in a frantic rush to run heroics, build up badges to turn into gear and get to raiding asap. Even with the introduction of a fourth tanking class to the game, Tanks were still in short supply on my server, so I found myself doing heroics more and more as protection and raiding as retribution. Eventually, a guild switch and server jump, I found myself enjoying more and more aspects of tanking, like leadership as well as caring about different stats, my worth no longer being measured by a dps meter but rather if I was alive or dead.

It's a little bit of condensed explanation, but basically I started the game as a dps and now I'm a tank, and more often the main tank and a raid leader. Dual Speccing has probably been one of the best investments I've ever made on my main, as I love to quest and daily (and occasionally do a dungeon or a raid) as dps, but when it comes raid time, I love taking control of a boss and seeing what the best way I can take the damage is.

So what am I going to write in the blog? I'm an avid wow player and like keeping up with the current trends of the game, and raid content as well. You can expect to see lots of rants on tanking and dps philosophy, as well as thoughts and opinions about new raid content or ptr info. While a lot might be Pally-flavored, there will probably be points of interest to most raiders and players in general. Expect to see posts and updates soon!