Respect

Some things happened in the blogosphere during my hiatus. Lots of things, actually. A few of them hit me pretty hard, and while i haven’t commented on them and am, admittedly, very late in mentioning them at all, I wanted to take a second to say a few things to a few people who inspired me and have since either moved on from blogging about this silly game or just aren’t posting as regularly for one reason or another.

Veneretio:

When I first started tanking in TBC yours was one of the first blogs I found. When I had an issue I couldn’t resolve about how to gear, what abilities to use, or anything else having to do with being a Prot Warrior, I went to you. You were one of the most knowledgeable and accessible tank geniuses out there. Thank you for your contributions to the community. You are and will always be missed.

Jessika:

I found your blog, along with Keredria’s, right around the time our guild started raiding in TBC. At the time, the Left Claw was hitting Kara for the first time, too. Most of what I found online was theorycrafting and number crunching, but here were two bloggers who not only discussed class and boss fight mechanics but also just shared experiences…experiences that were similar to those I was having in a different guild and on a different server. I looked forward to every single Pretty in Plate and Tree of Life post. You showed me that you don’t have to fill every post with comparisons between parry and dodge or how to gem or enchant to have a brilliant blog. All you have to do sometimes is write about what you did and what you’re feeling and people will read it and enjoy the heck out of it because they relate to it. You and K are two of the biggest reasons I started blogging. Thank you for that.

Tamarind:

Tam, there are few bloggers who made me laugh (not fake “lol” internet laughing, but actual, honest-to-goodness, people are staring at me at work laughing) quite as hard or as often as you. Not only that, but you inspired me more than once while I flailed around desperately seeking something to write about. I wish I was around a couple of months ago to give you a proper good-bye on your blog, but I hope you happen to see this and know that Bloggeroth is a little less hilarious these days.

Kadomi:

I know you’re still kind of around (and you’ve got a new blog), but I wanted to let you know that the work you’ve done for the past several years on Tank Like a Girl has been so incredibly helpful to me. I suck significantly less because of you (documented fact). As I near 85 in my less-than-glorious return to WoW, one of my Safari windows on my iPhone is locked on your pre-raid gear shopping list and will be for quite a while. You’re one of the best tank bloggers out there, and don’t let anybody (especially some troll) tell you otherwise. Oh, and thanks for still being on Twitter, because I may have some stupid questions for you as I stumble my way back into this game.

There are others who’ve come and gone, so this is by no means an all-inclusive list. Just some things I wanted to say to some people who I deeply respect.

Thank you. Every one of you.

Gilneas

The starting area so nice I had to do it twice.

Rolled a Worgen Druid (Crann) the other night out of a desire to play coupled with a lack of desire to play any of my existing characters. I had a Nelf Druid at one point, but I lost interest and deleted him (I did, however, name my Hunter’s bear pet after him to honor the fallen).

I considered possibly rolling another class or another race, but something about Gilneas just gets me. The atmosphere and storyline are really well done. I’ve also become a big fan of the Worgen race itself. Granted, some of that may be because they’re the new kids on the block and sooner or later they’ll lose their luster just like everything else, but, for now, I’m enjoying the heck out of them.

I decided to give the Druid class another go due to the lack of healers currently on our (very, very small) roster. I have three characters now (all under level 20, incidentally) who can heal. If I give them all a fair shake and get the necessary motivation to do some hardcore leveling, the odds are good that at least one will stick and I’ll have an option other than tanking when we start doing some high-level content.

I don’t imagine I’ll ever be a full-time healer, but it’s certainly something I wouldn’t mind trying and keeping in my back pocket as a second option…if I can manage to convince myself to actually get one to 85. My old “tank or nothing” way of doing things wasn’t very helpful back when we were raiding as a decent-sized guild, and it’ll likely be less helpful this time around with our roster as small as it is (no offense to the Gnomes).

We’ll see what happens. For now, Crann is level 7 and can’t even turn back into his human form yet, let alone a bear or cat.

Will I successfully level a Druid this time around? Stay tuned.

Side note: A big, hearty welcome to the individual(s) who found my blog whilst searching for the term “Worgen Love.” While I don’t know exactly what you intended to find (although I could venture a guess or two based on my knowledge of Rule 34), I hope that you enjoyed your stay here at Aggro Junkie and, eventually, found the content you desired.

Baby Tank Gets an Upgrade

For those of you who’ve been following me a while, I’m sure you remember Baby Tank. For those of you who are new, here she is:

Baby Tank (almost 5 years old now) was born with myelomeningocele (L3-L5), a type of spina bifida, and a number of conditions that are related to it (hydrocephalus, Arnold-Chiari II malformation, etc, etc, etc). She has no feeling from the middle of her thighs down, but has some control over her right leg. She’s been in a wheelchair since she got out of the stroller.

Well, Baby Tank went to the doctor yesterday and got fitted for something called a Reciprocating Gait Orthosis, or RGO. This little piece of equipment will enable her, with the assistance of crutches or a walker and after quite a bit of practice, to walk.

She’s incredibly excited about this, and, as you can probably imagine, so are we. They have to order some of the parts, and we’re taking her back in on July 7th for a final fitting. After that, she has to go through some training to get the hang of it.

This is a big deal for us and an even bigger deal for her. I’ll be sure to keep you all posted.

Edit: My photography skills are, as Sir Charles would say, “turrible,” so Cheesi insisted that I post this so you get a better look at Baby Tank:

Running Wild

So this guy manages to hit 20 last night. Much achievementy fanfare ensues:

Ciunas has earned the achievement [Level 20]

Ciunas has earned the achievement [Giddy Up]

Also on my screen, I got a little popup that says (paraphrased):

Hey, man. You can totally do this now.

No visit to a trainer. No little quest where you have to go see somebody in Darnassus who shows you how to get down on all fours (shut up, sicko). Just a couple of popups and a spell instantly appears in your spellbook.

Aside from the lack of drama, I have to admit I’m a fan of Running Wild. The fact that it doesn’t cost anything at all makes it really difficult to criticize, but even beyond that I like the concept and the animation.

I’m disappointed that I can’t stock up on Worgen mounts for Misneach the way I did with the other Alliance races, but, all in all, the pros outnumber the cons for me on this one.

My master plan for the week is to take Ciunas on a lowbie instance run this weekend that some folks in the guild have been planning. I haven’t done an instance at less than max level since TBC, and I rarely do any instances on anybody except Mis. I’m kind of excited to give it a go. Nothing too serious, just a little bit of fun.