#wotlk mage

[warcraft-guru]

Mage main fighting bear in WotLK Classic with Zygor Leveling Guides visible.

[chevvah]

My OC Chevvah I created in WoW the day Classic launched. I didn’t plan to RP with her or even use her in my story, so I just gave her my artist name 😄

Now she is my most comforting character with our shared personality traits 💕

[talesfromlordaeron]

Bai’s Apprentice Part 12 (Series Finale): Shorel’Aran

((Author’s note: To anyone who has been reading along these past couple of years (hard to tell sometimes with the lack of notes), thank you for the journey and your patience.))

((This is a long chapter (perhaps fitting for the end), and I tried to leave room for whatever might come in the future. These characters’ stories are not over by any means, so perhaps I’ll revisit them later in some sporadic one-shots (maybe even an epilogue, haven’t decided yet). But for now, it’s time to bring this arc to a close. Thanks again for reading... Al diel shala!))

Silence had fallen over Sunfury Spire, save for the quiet sounds of Bai’s footsteps sloshing across the wet floor as she carried yet another bucket of water to dump over the railing of the massive pathway leading into the spire. Her arms ached form the effort, and while the poison from the hunter’s arrow had long since worn off, she still felt slightly weakened and queasy from the aftereffects of it. Or maybe it was from the aftereffects of the physical and mental exertion from their escape. Possibly both. She had already learned the hard way not to peer over the edge where she was dumping the water; neither her body nor her stomach would be able to tolerate that level of vertigo a second time.

Ordinarily, she would have decided that creating an army of elementals from the water and marching them over the edge would have been the fastest way of emptying out the room, but Rommath had -- in no uncertain terms -- forbidden her from using even the slightest bit of magic until she’d been duly reprimanded by the Kirin Tor. Thus, Bai was forced to do it the hard way: bucket by bucket, step by step, until the room was as empty as it could possibly get. She wasn’t sure what she would need to do after that; probably to find a mop and continue sopping up the water that way.

Occasionally, she could feel the gaze from one of the guards shift toward her, even as he stood at attention in formation along the ramp. Given the circumstances, nobody spoke a word to her; even the mages in their study chamber had fallen silent, deciding to save their normal lighthearted antics for another day so as not to evoke Rommath’s wrath in their direction as well...

As she returned to the recessed throne room with the empty bucket, Bai glanced over at Zully. The young troll had started out helping her as well, but after dropping his bucket two trips in, soaking one of the guards and getting yelled at by Rommath, he had retreated into the corner, sitting on the ground with his arms around his knees and looking absolutely miserable. Bai wanted to stop and offer him some measure of comfort -- the Light only knew how much pain and grief and guilt he was dealing with right now -- but she didn’t want to get in any further trouble than she already was in. At least everyone seemed to be leaving Zully be instead of insisting he be punished alongside her; his earlier attempt at assistance had been of his own accord.

Bai sighed quietly as she dredged out another bucketful of water and began the march to the outside. The sun was setting, sending long shadows reaching across the floor. At this rate, it would be well after midnight, possibly the early hours of the morning, before she was finished.

She noticed the shimmer of a portal inside the mages’ sanctum. She pushed down the sudden jump of anxiety; Rommath had demanded an immediate response from Rhonin earlier, and Bai knew it was only a matter of time before someone -- maybe even Rhonin himself -- showed up to weigh judgment on her. She could only imagine how much the rumors must have been spreading around Dalaran already... the prodigal troublemaker mage who couldn’t even go a couple of days into an assignment without creating a controversy...

As she watched, the armored figure of Aethas Sunreaver stepped out of the portal. Not Rhonin then; she couldn’t decide if this was a better or worse outcome than having the leader of the Kirin Tor arrive and see the mess she’d made. As she looked away, she noticed the portal shimmer again out of the corner of her eye. She glanced back to see a large tauren step out of the portal behind Aethas--

Bai’s breath caught in her throat as she recognized the newcomer: Essethyr, her guild master. She dipped her head and quickly made her way back to the throne room, thrusting her bucket into the seemingly-endless pool of water. She hadn’t even considered that this would make its way back to the guild. Essethyr had always been kind to her, but how he would respond to all of this would be anyone’s guess.

She heard both approach, Essethyr’s massive footsteps making very audible splashes as he walked, and tried not to look at either of them as she shuffled past with the bucket of water. They stopped, and Bai could sense both of them watching her. But by the time she dumped the bucket and was making her way back, they had turned to regard the throne room. Bai stopped just behind them, gripping the handle, unwilling to cross their field of vision.

Essethyr was the first to break the silence with a low hearty chuckle. “Well, I must admit, this was not quite what I expected to see here tonight,” he remarked. His deep voice sounded mirthful and not at all angry; Bai felt some of the nerves dissipate at that realization.

“Show some respect, tauren,” Rommath snapped irritably as he approached. “This is a serious matter!” To Aethas, he added, “I asked for Rhonin to come deal with his wayward mage. Could he really not find it in himself to step out of Dalaran for fifteen minutes to attend to this matter?”

“Rhonin has more serious business to attend to than a mere portal mishap,” Aethas replied. “He felt it better that a fellow sin’dorei and the mage’s guild master be the ones to address this situation.” Aethas turned toward Bai; his expression was unreadable behind his helm. “Sinu a’manore, Bai. I imagine neither of us expected to see each other again so soon under quite such...” He trailed off, head turning briefly toward the flooded room before swiveling back toward her. “... unusual circumstances,” he finished.

“Such light words for such a serious breach of protocol,” Rommath remarked snidely.

Aethas ignored him, instead turning to regard Zully, who was watching the scene but hadn’t otherwise moved from where he sat. “Your apprentice seems rather worse for wear,” he commented. “Something clearly went wrong during your training today.”

Rommath snorted. “The troll is too inexperienced to have caused any of this,” he said, his voice twisting the word “troll” as he spoke. Zully winced at the sneering tone and looked away. “Focus on the real issue at stake. We already know who caused this disaster.” He glared at Bai before turning back to Aethas. “Is this really how the Kirin Tor trains its mages?”

“Portal magic is delicate; all mages know this,” Aethas replied calmly. “Besides, I would assume that the portal trainers here in Silvermoon would have been the ones to instruct Bai on finding this city’s location within the ley lines. Perhaps the fault lies in their methods?”

“You dare insult the thoroughness of our trainers?! You would defend the carelessness of this reckless mage? We all know how she ran off and abandoned her training once already--”

Essethyr cleared his throat, silencing the two blood elves and drawing their attention to himself. “If I may be so bold as to interrupt here,” he said, “has anyone asked Bai how this happened?”

Rommath glared at him. “Is it not obvious?” he asked, gesturing to the flooded room. “She opened a portal improperly underwater and flooded our spire. What else could you possible need to know?”

“Well,” Essethyr said, “I have personally traveled around Azeroth through Bai’s portals, as have many of our guildmates. She has always been thoughtful and careful in her spellcasting for as long as I’ve known her--”

“--clearly you haven’t known her all that long--”

“--and I would trust her to take both myself and my sister anywhere,” Essethyr finished, not the slightest bit fazed at being interrupted. “In all manners of magic that I have had the honor of observing, Bai’s training has appeared quite thorough; whatever has happened in her past does not seem to have impacted her current abilities to learn and follow these so-called ‘protocols’ of yours. So if something went wrong, I trust that she has a viable explanation for it.” Turning to Bai, a kindly expression on his face, he asked, “Bai, could you please tell us what happened?”

Bai looked over at Zully, who was watching her with quiet sadness. “My apprentice and I were training in Durotar when we heard that Sen’jin Village was being attacked by the Alliance. We went to see if there was any way we could help.”

“You responded to a local defense call with an untried apprentice?” Aethas asked. His voice bore no accusation, just surprise and curiosity.

“Sen’jin is Zully’s home. We felt compelled to try to help in a non-combat way. But...” Zully shrank, looking down at the floor, and Bai felt her heart twist; technically the fact that they were drawn into combat was his fault. “... a civilian was targeted by one of the raiders, and trying to help required more... direct intervention,” she finished. She would try to keep from throwing Zully under the caravan if she could help it. “Once the raiders targeted us, I did what I deemed necessary to protect Zully and get us out of there.”

“And what exactly did ‘deemed necessary’ entail?”

Bai took a deep breath and detailed the story of their underwater dive, her failed attempts at shielding them from the attacks, and her desperate choice to try to cast the portal while still entombed in ice. “I understand that I didn’t follow the proper protocol with casting the portal,” she said. “But the situation was dire, we were in imminent danger of being killed as soon as my Ice Block shattered, and my first priority was getting us to safety.”

“Adventurers are protected, are they not?” This question came from Lor’themar, who had been listening silently the entire time. Bai had forgotten that both the Regent-Lord and the Farstrider Ranger-General were standing there as well. “The Kirin Tor were the ones who put the same safeguards in place for our territories as they did the Alliance ones.” He looked at Aethas questioningly. “Is something wrong with the spell?”

“Our need to intervene for the defense of the civilian broke the protection,” Bai answered. “To my knowledge, there was nothing wrong with the safeguards prior to that moment.”

“I see. And am I not mistaken in that adventurers, upon their death, are granted a bargain with the kyrian to restore their spirit to their bodies? Was there really such an imminent threat?”

Bai looked over at Zully. “Having your soul ripped from your body is a traumatic experience,” she replied, “especially the first time it happens. I was trying to spare him that.”

“He’s in training to be a mage and an adventurer,” Halduron spoke up. “He’ll have to experience it sooner or later.”

“True as that may be,” Bai replied, “he just witnessed his home razed and his family murdered in front of him.” She watched as Zully sank back in on himself, burying his face in his arms again. She couldn’t tell if he was crying again or had already reached the point of resigned numbness. Forcing herself to look at each of the other blood elves, she continued softly, “I’m sure we can all, as sin’dorei, relate to and understand the pain that goes along with that sort of experience.” She saw everyone shift uncomfortably, their eyes dropping from her, no doubt remembering their own individual and collective grief of the Scourge invasion. “It would have been unnecessarily cruel to add yet another trauma immediately on top of that if I could help it.”

The room was quiet for several long heartbeats. Finally, Essethyr spoke up. “It seems as if you care deeply for your apprentice. That you are willing to watch out for his inner well-being as readily as his physical existence speaks highly of your morals.” Essethyr looked at the others questioningly. “Under that regard, is punishing Bai really so necessary? I see more empathy and selflessness than recklessness from her, myself. And while I understand that there may have been some... mild damages from the water... is not the preservation of an innocent body and soul far more important than material goods?”

Rommath looked away; he seemed slightly chagrinned at the druid’s words.

“You raise a valid point, Essethyr,” Aethas said. “However, one must also consider that Bai took some massive risks in casting magic the way she did. Portal magic is especially volatile. Unfortunately inconvenient as this outcome was, in her panic, she could have just as easily had the two of them embedded in solid rock or sent flying out into the Twisting Nether.”

“And yet, in her panic, she did neither of those things,” Essethyr pointed out. “That should speak highly of her training in itself.”

Aethas turned toward Bai. “Yes... you’re right in that regard as well. And Bai, if what you told me is accurate in how you were able to cast both Mana Shield and Ice Block in a way to protect not only yourself but also your apprentice...” He glanced in Zully’s direction briefly before retuning his focus to her. “Clearly you have a good deal more potential with magic than I think we originally realized. At the very least, you’ve demonstrated a certain level of adaptability and creativity with your skills and knowledge. So perhaps your ‘punishment’ is not to punish you at all, but rather better cultivate that talent. We could use more skilled mages like you on the front lines in Northrend... although given the dire situations we’ve found ourselves in, perhaps that might be considered a form of punishment in itself.”

“So there is to be no consequences for any of this?” Rommath asked. He was no longer as outwardly defiant as he’d been earlier, but there was still a slight edge to his voice.

“Seems she’s been assisting in the clean-up, yes? If she was responsible for damages here, I see no reason why she should be exempted from whatever you deem is an appropriate reparation for that. But I don’t believe she should be stripped of her powers or anything of that nature.” Aethas paused, and then added, “However, this is another matter I wish to discuss with Bai and Zul’lhor, if the two of you will allow me a moment of your time in privacy.” To Rommath, he added, “I’m sure you can spare Bai a few minutes from her duties here?”

Rommath sighed in resignation. “Yes, of course,” he said, waving her away with a flip of his hand. “Try not to dally.”

Aethas walked outside; after a moment, Zully cautiously rose to his feet to follow. As Bai started to go after them, Essethyr reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright, Bai?” he asked quietly. “I know that must have been a very stressful situation to find yourself in.”

“Right now, I’d really just prefer to get today over with and forget all of this ever happened.”

“Getting through the day is the easy part. Forgetting, not so much.” Essethyr gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and stepped back. “If you need to someone to talk to after all of this is over, you know where to find me.”

Bai managed a tired smile. “Of course. Thank you, my friend.”

“Any time.”

Bai hurried down the ramp to the courtyard’s fountain, where Aethas and Zully were waiting. As compared to his earlier extroverted exuberance in Dalaran, Zully looked entirely too uncomfortable standing alone beside the archmage. “Sorry to keep you,” she said as she approached.

“Not to worry, Bai. I’ll try to make this quick.” Aethas looked from Bai to Zully and back again. “While irrelevant to the reason I called the two of you aside, I did have one lingering question in all of this, which is how the protection spell was broken in the first place.”

Before Bai could consider how best to answer, Zully spoke up. “It be Zully’s fault,” he said, quietly.

“Zully, no...” Bai tried to interject, but he continued.

“It not be right dat Bai should be takin’ all da punishment. She be tellin’ Zully not to attack da Alliance no matter what, but Zully didn’t listen. When da leopard attacked...” His voice wavered. “It be my fault. Bai wouldn’t have had to do da tings she did if I hadn’t been attackin’ da Alliance hunter like dat.”

“I see. And this is why you were reluctant to go into detail, wasn’t it, Bai?”

Bai nodded quietly. “Zully was... is... grieving the loss of his family. He reacted the same way I did when I witnessed my mother die. He doesn’t need to be punished for this. I’ll take the blame officially if need be.”

“Bai no, Zully not be lettin’ ya take da blame.”

Aethas raised a hand to forestall further argument. “I don’t think it will be necessary in this case,” he said. “I think ultimately what anyone really cares about is the way you used your portal magic, not the circumstances that led to it in the first place.”

Lowering his hand again, Aethas looked back toward Sunfury Spire. “However, that is not what I needed to speak with the two of you about,” he continued. “It’s in regard to this arrangement for apprenticeship that the two of you currently have.”

Bai’s blood ran cold. “Am... am I being removed from the mentorship program?”

Aethas sighed and nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. But,” he added, clearly noting the shock from both Bai and Zully, “not in the way or for the reasons you might think. It has nothing to do with this incident, but rather something that Rhonin and I and the other archmages were discussing in Dalaran shortly before I came here. You see...” He looked around, then lowered his voice. “... I trust this matter will not be discussed with anyone else? Essethyr is already aware, as the Council of Hope is one of several guilds pledging their assistance to help handle the matter, but this is not to be spoken with to just anyone.”

Bai and Zully both nodded in wordless agreement.

“Good. Unfortunately, shortly after we moved Dalaran to Northrend to assist with the battle against the Scourge, the blue dragonflight -- for reasons we’ve yet to determine -- attempted to assault the city. We fear that Malygos himself may be responsible for leading this attack.” Pausing a moment to let the revelation sink in, he continued. “Given this new and unexpected threat, and especially the implications it may have to be possibly at war with the very aspect of magic itself, Rhonin has made the decision to temporarily suspend the mentorship program, as we need as many skilled adventurers -- mages especially -- to help defend the city while we figure out why this is happening.” Turning to Zully, he added, “That’s not to say that you’re forbidden from continuing your training. But unfortunately, that means that you will not have the benefit of a more skilled Kirin Tor mage guiding you.”

Zully nodded. “Zully understand ya. And truth be told, Zully been tinkin’... maybe now not be a good time for him to be adventurin’ anyways.”

Bai jolted at his words. “Zully, you’re... quitting?”

He shook his not. “Nah, not quittin’ forever, mon. But Zully be needin’ ta help his village rebuild. Lookin’ for survivors. He not be seein’ his mother out dere, or some of his friends. Maybe some o’ dem escaped to da Echo Isles. He can use his business to help da village, and den after they be safe again, den he can be trainin’ as a mage again.”

“A noble venture,” Aethas commented. “And I’m sure there are many skilled mage trainers around Durotar who can help continue your training whenever you’re ready. As for you, Bai...”

Bai turned her attention from Zully, still feeling stunned at the young troll’s declaration. He’d been so quiet since their arrival that his decision came as a complete shock to her... was this what had been on his mind that entire time? She forced herself to put the question aside for now to focus on Aethas.

“Your new assignment, once you finish your, um... current task with the sin’dorei ruling council... is to resume your own training at once. Despite what some of our more, shall we say... opinionated archmages may believe regarding your reputation... nobody can deny the fact that you possess a remarkable mental acuity and talent toward the control of magic, even for a sin’dorei. Maybe even especially for a sin’dorei who survived the destruction of the Sunwell and the magic deprivation that followed; not many of our kind who went through that transition were able to maintain such self-control over the arcane as you have.”

Bai looked away, watching the ripples of water extending outward from the fountain’s central spray. “You humble me, Archmage.”

“My aim is to speak the truth, nothing more. You have the potential, if perhaps lacking in the ability to recognize it yourself. I understand the difficulties you have had to face both in your past, and in confronting some of those who were originally opposed to your reinstatement into the Kirin Tor. But I believe with more experience and confidence, you’ll see your reputation naturally improve with them in due time.” Even though his face was obscured by his helm, Bai could sense his smile. “After all, you, too, are sin’dorei. The only thing that defines us more than our mastery of magic is our ability to persevere through even the darkest of times. This shall be no different for you; I have faith in that.”

Bai blinked back a few stray tears; Aethas’s words had touched her more than she would have expected, but she tried to maintain her composure as much as possible. “Thank you kindly.”

“You are quite welcome. Know that you will always have at least some allies within Dalaran, no matter what.”

There was a brief pause, and an air of decorum came over Aethas once more. “On that note, now that our business here is concluded, I should be returning to Dalaran to continue monitoring the situation there. And you should probably finish your duties here before our Grand Magister becomes irritated again.” There was a hint of a wry tone in his voice at that one. “I trust that your guild will keep you up to speed on matters there and assist you in your training. Shorel’aran, Bai... I look forward to seeing you in Dalaran again soon.”

“Al diel shala,” Bai replied with a respectful bow.

“And Zul’lhor... if you’d like to return to Orgrimmar, I can offer a portal there before I go.”

Zully shook his head. “If it be alright wit ya, Zully be stayin’ here with Bai just a little longer. He can make his way back home later. Or she can make a portal for him back to da orc city?” He looked at Bai questioningly.

“You sure you really want me to?” Bai asked in a half-teasing tone.

Zully nodded enthusiastically. “Zully be trustin’ ya, mon. Ya saved his life after all.”

“Very well,” Aethas said. “Then may our paths cross again one day, young one.”

They watched silently as he made his way up the spire, where the others had been waiting on him. “So,” she commented idly, “taking a break from your training already, huh?” She looked over at Zully. “What happened out there... are you second-guessing whether you want to be an adventurer now? Not that I would blame you, of course,” she quickly reassured him. “I’m just... What I mean to say is... I’m here if you need to talk about what happened.”

Zully looked down, squatting down beside the fountain and idly running his hand through the water. “Zully not be knowin’ what to say, mon. It be hard. Da way dose raiders be happy about what dey be doin’...” He shook his head sadly. “Sorry, mon. Don’t got da words for dis.”

“It’s okay. It’s difficult to talk about sometimes.” Bai sighed and looked up at Spire. “Even though our paths are about to go in different directions... if you ever need me, all you have to do is reach out and I’ll be there. I promise.”

“Tank ya, mon. You be a good friend.” Zully looked back up at her and offered her the first smile she’d seen from him since the raid. His eyes still bore an unspeakable pain and sadness... but Bai had a feeling that he would eventually be okay.

Shifting his gaze back to the Spire, he tilted his head slightly and asked, “What dat be goin’ down da pathway?”

“Huh?” Bai turned and noticed, for the first time, a small channel of water making its way down the pathway and over the railing of the ramp. Frowning, Bai squinted to try to make sense of what she was seeing. A moment later, she spotted the source: another tauren, slightly smaller in stature, was now standing next to Essethyr, hands stretched out over the trickle of water. Bai smiled at the recognition: Lunayansa, Essethyr’s twin sister. Clearly she must have decided to check out the situation for herself -- and also clearly, Rommath didn’t seem to mind the shaman using her magic to drain the water. “Well... looks like I have some backup for cleaning up this mess.”

“You be havin’ some good friends.”

Bai smiled fondly as the two of them made their way back to the spire. “Yeah... yeah, I really suppose I do.”

- FIN -

[dementation]

my OG wow main is finally getting to BE a roleplay toon like i’ve always intended for her <3

this is professor luna peccaminosa, a well-born pyrewood resident whose cowardice drove her to arugal’s experiments in the hopes that his worgen research would allow her to avoid the curse of undeath. after his death, she finally escaped his cruel service (wherein she got the burn on half her face) and roamed free for a while. one archmage beheading + resurrection by the lich king later, she felt his pull yet again and found herself in the plaguelands, where she promptly was killed and turned into a death knight.

after the events of wotlk she has decided to use her new strength and eternal life to learn whatever she can about the world and its history. she studies kaldorei rituals and relics and sometimes teaches at the stormwind mage district!! but she’s usually called on for some adventure or another. no rest for the angry dead, etc.

[miss-littevi]

Pictorina

(because Pictomancer Yorina... Picto-(yo)rina... you know... ah, forget about it ^^ )

The job is fun somehow... the animations are entertaining. But it's a mage and the last mage I played was my Ice-Arcane-Mage (? was that a thing? I think it was, but I could be wrong, it is ages ago) back in WoW WotLK. I am not a mage person anymore so Pictorina will never be a real thing. Just bringing it to lvl 100 and never touch it again.

[dcviated]

another munday meme :: open

send food for thought

@triinitas sent: 🥜

🥜 - What’s the nuttiest thread you’ve ever had?

On here, my brain still harkens back to the isekai thread with Harima and my friend's OC. He was talking to weird animals and they were both trying to figure out how to strike forth in a strange world. Harima very much wanted to engage with the mechanics of the world- save the city, vanquish evil, be a hero. While the other character was super realist and wanted none of that.

Just so silly in concept. Every thread with Harima feels ridiculous. He's just a huge enabler of shenanigans because he is so. So. Stupid.

The nuttiest interaction ever is still the one I had in WoW, back when I played and RP'd in that during Wotlk. There was a blood elf threesome going on and I interrupted asking if there was "room for four more?" with my undead mage. Popped mirror image after breaking invisibility and it was the funniest thing ever.

The girls jumped off a cliff. And the guy waited until the images 'died' then lamented my low stamina. What a goddamn trooper.

[cleoselene]

did LFR today on my mage and my warlock, and I had forgotten.. well, how much i love LFR as a raid option. I get to see all the endgame content without the DRAMA of raiding with a guild lol. Look I have fond memories, particularly of BC and WotLK raiding, but mostly I remember people getting cranky, wiping a million times, and ultimately realizing me and my friends would never be hardcore enough to do this in a fun way.

also for my first raid in 8 years.. I felt good. Didn't fall on my face. Had my Deadly Boss Mods installed and did fine. Got some shoulders on my lock and a dagger on my mage.

delves tho... ugh. it's where literally all the gear is it seems and they're so tedious. Brann is such a dumb dungeon partner. STILL NOT PLEASED AT HOW THIS GAME HAS REALLY GONE HARDCORE ALLIANCE WHILE I WAS GONE. Like. This whole xpac is just a bunch of Alliance bitches with a random Thrall or Lillian Voss sighting to remind Horde players they exist. I feel personally aggrieved that I have to deal with Anduin's angst after they massacred Sylvanas' character. I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE ABLE TO KILL THE BOY KING WHEN WE RAIDED STORMWIND AND WAS MAD IT WASN'T AN OPTION BACK IN THE DAY.

in hindsight I feel really sad I wasn't around for Legion when it was live endgame. it seems like that's just the best all-around content. The world is stunning, the plot is dope, the tier sets are amazing, the class identity stuff is AWESOME.

anyway the Earthen are fun, I like Brinthe. I like that they're not a bunch of drunken celtic sounding types like the Dwarves lol. Look, I just don't like the Alliance that much. I'm here for Alleria, though. I'm always here for a Windrunner sister. Or high elves/blood elves they're the bomb

[skymagpie]

Smash or pass Gelbin Mekkatorque, but he has to be in the mech suit.

He can smash without the suit too because I am 5'2, but no I think it's a pass

Though I have to say that my first crush back when I was 13 and played WotLK was a guy who played a gnome mage and I am still fond of that person all these years, so yeah I am not opposed to gnome guys 👍

[kagatsuo]

I DIDN'T KNOW U PLAYED WOW??? what's ur fav class rn

GOOD QUESTION it really depends on what expansion im playing

with vanilla, i've really enjoyed rogue and warlock. with rogue i can avoid a lot of mobs + eventually i have enough abilities to kill super quickly warlock is fun to play with my sister (who has a mage) because we have this fuck ass rotation that we do together that lets us mow shit down (i cant remember it right now rip)

with cataclysm all i ever play is warrior. once you get victory rush youre undefeatable you can just keep getting health back and nearly one-shotting stuff its fun

with every other expansion (the only other two i actually played were wotlk and legion) i just play druid ive been a feral druid main since i was 8 or 9

[honestlyfullfox]

P2Pah WoTLK able to take advantage of deep freeze

The two biggest downsides for the hunter is that it is possible to take their traps and eat them by standing on them while they attempt to catch your healer or DPS WoTLK Gold, as well as them being quite soft and easy to kill. It is important to note that hunters are unable to utilize the deterrent ability when they're not armed, so it's best to take them off the battlefield when you're planning to use it. Also, warriors can use overpower to hit directly by using this capability.

The next one is the mage they are similar to their wotlk version, but they're loaded with spell haste, as well as mirror images. Once they have popped this, three copies of themselves will spawn and start casting at whomever they are hitting, giving them extra damage.

Frost major is now able to take advantage of deep freeze. This is an amazing ability that has many many uses. It's a five second stun which also increases the frost damage on the targeted area significantly. Be aware that they may chill snap and then have the tool instantly reset, and allow them to buy WOW WoTLK Classic Gold the deep freeze in certain situations.

[warcraft-guru]

Mage main on horse back using Zygor addon in WotLK Classic.

[chevvah]

Mama Chevvah with Via

[talesfromlordaeron]

Bai’s Apprentice Part 11: Victory or Death

((Author’s note: another long chapter... There should just be one last chapter after this one (maybe an epilogue, possibly... maybe...). Thanks for sticking it out... we’re almost at the end, y’all.))

“Sen’Jin Village is under attack by the Alliance! Sen’Jin Village is under attack by the Alliance!”

The air grew cold and heavy around Bai as the war horns and the warning cries echoed across the valley. Next to her, Zully had grown pale, a look of horror and panic in his eyes. “Zully’s home...” he said softly. “His family...”

A flash: hordes of undead Scourge crashing through the gates of Silvermoon. Bai’s mother, standing at the front line with the other Farstriders, her bow drawn as she took her final stand... her final breaths...

Bai shook the memory from her head. “I’m sorry, Zully,” she said, resting her hand on the young troll’s shoulder. “All we can do is hope they’ll manage to escape.”

Zully yanked himself free of her grasp, the fear quickly replaced with a startling amount of fierce determination. “We have to help dem!” he declared, running toward the sheltered exit of the Valley of Trials.

“Zully, wait!” Bai shouted, Blinking after him. “Zully we can’t, come back -- it’s too dangerous for us!”

"We have to try, mon!” Zully shouted back, without slowing his pace.

“Zully, no -- stop!” Bai couldn’t keep the panic out of her voice. “You don’t understand -- if these are Alliance adventurers, we truly don’t stand a chance against them. I just told you, I’m not experienced at battling other adventurers -- and if it’s a full raid group preparing to assault Orgrimmar, we’ll be outnumbered anyway!”

Zully spun on Bai, anger in his eyes. “You just be tellin’ Zully earlier how you didn’t like feelin’ powerless when da Scourge attack your home. How you be trainin' to be a powerful mage so you can defend da people ya love. And now you be tellin’ Zully not to do the same? You be standin’ here wanting Zully ta do nothin’ when his home is under attack?”

Bai took a step back, feeling almost as if Zully had physically slapped her across her face. “And I also told you what happened when I rushed in without the training or experience to properly defend even myself,” she said, trying to muster some anger in return for how Zully was almost weaponizing the experiences she’d just told him about; instead, her voice only conveyed sadness and pain. “I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t try to defend your home -- I’m telling you that you can’t. It’s impossible; neither of us are strong enough to do anything other than get ourselves killed.”

“And didn’t ya just tell Zully dat adventurers don’t be dyin’ right away? Maybe you be right and Zully not be strong enough to take down da raiders. But maybe he can distract 'em long enough for his family to escape. And if you be too scared to help him, he’ll do it wit’ or wit’out ya.” He stood for only a second longer, his determined stare challenging her to argue the point, before turning and running off once more.

Bai squeezed her eyes shut, remembering again the pain of having her soul torn again and again from her body, the cold numbness as she stumbled through the darkness of the spirit world, the spiral of the Twisting Nether overhead threatening to suck her severed spirit away into oblivion for all eternity. The warmth of his guiding Light bringing her back over and over... until he was no longer there to guide her and she was forced to do it on her own, time stretching onward as she staggered alone through the lifeless dark, hoping she could make it back in time...

She shivered, forcing herself to run after Zully. He was too kind and pure a soul to have to go through the fear and agony of being in that horrible purgatory; she had to change his mind and stop him before he got himself killed.

It took a few Blinks for her to catch up to him; by that time, Sen’Jin Village was just a short distance away. Pillars of smoke rose into sky as fires threatened to consume the straw-thatched roofs of the wooden huts. Raucous war yells in Common punctuated the screams and cries of panicked and dying trolls.

“Zully, listen to me,” Bai said, desperation seeping into her voice as she ran alongside him. “If you truly want to help your village, you have to listen to what I tell you: do not engage the raiders. We’ll do nobody any good if we die out here. We’ll go in, try to put the fires out, find what survivors we can and help them find their way to safety. Do you understand me?”

“Yes mon, Zully understand.”

“Good. I mean it though. Whatever happens, don’t attack them.”

As they ran into the village, Bai came to a stop and began chanting an incantation; in front of her, the water small pond in the center roiled and rose into the air, shaping into the form of a water elemental. “Aranal!” she commanded, gesturing the elemental toward the nearest -- and largest -- of the burning structures. Sprays of water burst forth from the elemental, beating the raging flames down.

Zully, meanwhile, darted in and out of the various buildings, yelling something Bai couldn’t recognize -- probably in Zandali, and probably seeking out familiar people. Bai realized that by this time, they had heard almost no people... but the number of bodies strewn about...

She gritted her teeth, directing her elemental to the next burning building. First things first -- she had to stop the fires from worsening and spreading.

Zully staggered out of yet another hut, coughing harshly as he tried to wave the smoke from his face. “Fa’da! Ma’da!” He staggered to a stop next to Bai, wheezing harshly. “Bai, dey ain’t here, Zully can’t find dem anywhere...”

“Help me put the fires out, we can look for survivors when the village isn’t in danger of burning down entirely,” Bai instructed. Channeling her emotions into ice, she shot a Frostbolt at some of the lingering flames. “Use your Frostbolt on the smaller fires -- the heat will melt the ice into water and dampen the flames.”

Zully did as instructed, turning toward the last of the burning buildings and shooting off Frostbolts, stumbling over the practice incantations as he did. Bai could feel her control of her elemental slipping, and knew it wouldn’t be much longer before the bonds holding it together fell from her grasp entirely. With one last surge of effort, the elemental lunged at the final building, its body dissolving and crashing as a wave into the side of the structure. The fire sputtered under the onslaught of water, sizzling as the flames flickered into nothingness.

Bai heard the thundering of hooves approaching, along with a defiant yell in Zandali. She and Zully turned as one as a troll sprang out of the shadows of one of the buildings -- a rogue, no doubt, having been hidden much of this time. “Zul’lhor, what are you doin’ here mon?”

“Fa’da!” Zully yelled back, relief pouring down across his body as he let out a sigh of relief and slumped down beside her. “Tank da loa you made it--”

Bai saw it first, a barely perceptible shift in the air behind the survivor. “Look out!” she screamed--

The air shimmered and a snow leopard -- having been hidden in stealth -- snarled into existence, pouncing toward--

Bai grabbed Zully and spun him away, shielding him with her body from what she knew was coming.

Behind them, a horrible crunch, wet tearing and a scream of pain choked out far too soon... the thundering hooves came to a stop, as voices in Common cheered and laughed and celebrated. “She flushed another one out, did she?” one yelled, the dwarven accent unmistakable. “Aye, rip open that nasty troll, tear his flesh from his limbs like they do to us--”

In her arms, Zully let out a howling wordless scream that was equal parts unbridled rage and unfathomable anguish; in her mind, her own matching screams from years ago, watching the ghouls tear her mother limb from limb. She gripped Zully tighter, as much to hold herself together as him.

Beneath her, she felt the fire build and flare throughout his body, a searing pain that forced her to let go lest she be consumed by the flame herself. Shoving her aside, Zully spun towards the leopard, blood dripping from its jowls as it feasted on its kill, the hunter and the other raiders behind it. A swirl of flame engulfed his body as he --

“-- ZULLY NO--”

-- thrust his hands forward, channeling the full maelstrom of infuriated grieving fire into a massive beam of searing energy. The hunter caught the full blast, eyes widening in shock as he staggered backward and fell to the ground, flames scattering around him and scorching the clothes and mounts of the nearest raiders.

For the briefest moment, time came to a stop, and Bai saw the look of surprise in the eyes of the raiders -- twenty, maybe thirty or more of them -- as everyone took in the surprising amount of sheer force and firepower that just came from this young troll.

And then she felt the shift: a change in the aura of the raiders, almost as a deepening red cloud enshrouded the raid. At the same time, Bai felt the shift in herself, the shattering of the magic around her and Zully that kept them protected while in the Horde’s own territory. And now, they were vulnerable: two inexperienced mages against an entire raiding army of Alliance adventurers.

Running on panic and instinct, Bai grabbed Zully and Blinked them toward the ocean. Unlike in Dalaran, there were no corners to hide behind, no crowds to get lost in; they would be overtaken in a matter of seconds. Getting underwater was their one hope at survival -- but even then, Bai feared it wouldn’t be enough, that she was only delaying the inevitable.

If they died, would she even be able to guide both of their spirits safely back to their bodies...?

She Blinked again; no time to think. She could hear the leopard gaining on them, magic fueling its muscles to sprint ahead of its master. “Keep running!” she screamed at Zully, shoving him ahead while she spun to face the cat head on.

“Bai--”

“RUN!” she bellowed. She watched the leopard sprint closer, closer, and then hit it with a powerful Frost Nova, instantly freezing its paws to the dirt. The leopard yowled in pain and surprise, body twisting madly as it struggled to break the ice trapping it in place. Bai spun back toward the shore, Blinking once to catch up with Zully as she grabbed him and lunged into the ocean. “Look for air bubbles as soon as we go underwater,” she instructed. “If we make this harder on them, maybe they won’t follow.”

Zully let out a sound that closely resembled a “ye” as he struggled to swim alongside her. Belatedly, she realized she didn’t even ask if he knew how to swim at all; what if her attempts to protect him only hastened his death by drowning? She forced her panic down, forced back the memories of screaming children and shrieking gargoyles and the cracking of shipboards. “Deep breath now,” she said, drawing in as much air as she could and diving downward, Blinking and pulling Zully under the water with her. She had no choice; this had to work.

Only a few meters down, she felt the first arrow pierce her leg. Biting back an outcry of pain so she didn’t lose her air, Bai channeled as much mana as she could muster into a protective shield around them. She couldn’t maintain this for long, especially not against an entire onslaught, but it would have to do. She kept pushing deeper, looking frantically about for any source of air she could use to bolster them. She felt Zully tighten his grip around her hand. Please hang on, she thought. You can do this, Zully. Just hold your breath a little longer.

Another sound, this time of a blast of boiling water bouncing off the Mana Shield she’d conjured. She felt the strain on her reserves; she couldn’t take much more of this. Please please please, this HAS to work...

Another barrage of arrows; one hit her shoulder, and she immediately felt the seep of poison making its way through her bloodstream, causing her vision to waver and her stomach to turn. She Blinked again, then faltered; she hadn’t propelled herself and Zully forward nearly as much as she’d hoped, and now the dizziness and nausea was causing her to become disoriented. Fighting back the urge to vomit, she risked a quick glance over her shoulder and saw that three of their pursuers had jumped into the water after them: the dwarf hunter, a human paladin, and a gnome mage -- all of whom had the ability to quickly close the gap between them. Another shape took form behind them: a manatee, closing in even faster. A druid. Bai’s heart sank; she couldn’t outrun a druid in aquatic form.

Abruptly the druid shifted into a new form -- an owlkin -- and Bai reacted out of instinct. She pulled Zully into her arms and used Ice Block, a last-ditch effort to shield them form the inevitable attack by encasing them both in a solid block of ice.

She saw the shimmer of white light hit the surface of the ice, the arcane energy from the Moonfire crackling harmlessly across the frozen barrier. Just beyond, their pursuers came closer, biding their time as they waited for the ice to crack and break on its own. Bai fought back tears as she watched their distorted forms circling like sharks, waiting to finish off their prey. These horrible, bloodthirsty people... almost as bad as the Scourge, she decided.

She felt Zully trembling in her arms; she couldn’t tell if it was from hypothermia, fear, or if his oxygen reserves were tapping out already. Maybe all three.

She couldn’t let him die. Not here, not like this, and certainly not to these monsters calling themselves “adventurers.”

A loud pop as the first of the cracks appeared in the ice. They were almost out of time.

There was only one option left. Bai channeled the last reserves of her energy, tapping into the ley energies she could sense around them. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized what she was doing was dangerous -- trying to cast a portal while they were still encased in ice. She could feel the edges of the portal ripple and push and strain against the confines of their frozen tomb. They couldn’t fit through it, not like this... their only hope was if it would spring into a large enough size the moment the ice broke for them to slip through.

Another pop, an echoing crack. Bai sensed the edges of her vision start to darken as she strained against the effects of the poison and the effort of holding the portal and her own growing need for air. She willed herself to hold on just a little longer.

Finally, the ice broke with a deafening crack. The edges of the portal burst outward and -- without waiting for them to stabilize, there was simply not time -- Bai gave one last desperate kick forward, shoving herself and Zully through the opening...

Inside the mages sanctum within the Sunfury Spire, Narinth, the city’s portal trainer, yawned sleepily as she watched the tired scene play out in front of her. The day was the same as it always was... Elrodan continued to “practice” his various Polymorph spells on Aurosalia, who protested every time but continued to agree to be his test subject... meanwhile, the other mage trainers studied their tomes and tried their best to ignore the louder mages in the midst. And then there was her, tasked with maintaining the portal to the Blasted Lands and occasionally teaching mages how to tap into the ley lines of Azeroth to find their way back to Silvermoon. It was all incredibly boring, and some days, Narinth wished that something new and exciting would happen to bring some color to her day.

In front of her, a portal shimmered into view and began to expand. Again, nothing new; mages brought people into Silvermoon on a regular basis. She suppressed a yawn, and instead straightened up, fixing a fake smile on her face as she prepared to welcome whatever traveler this was to the city.

The portal widened further, bulging as if holding back some great force. Narinth frowned; this was... unusual. Was the mage on the other side struggling to tap into the ley lines properly?

A deep rumble echoed from the portal, drawing the attention of the other mages. The portal swelled massively, rising above the floor slightly. Narinth took a step backward, alarmed and almost frightened at this unexpected turn of events. Whatever was about to happen...?

With an echoing bang, the portal burst open, a massive deluge of water exploding outward and gushing into the room. Aurosalia let out a scream as she snapped out of the giraffe polymorph, the torrent of water sweeping her, Elrodan, and one of the mage trainers closest to the archway out into the main room. Narinth grabbed desperately onto the side of the archway to keep from getting swept away herself as the relentless onslaught of water continued to surge out of the oversized portal.

As Narinth watched, two people -- a sin’dorei and a troll -- tumbled out of the portal; both looked barely conscious. The sin’dorei was familiar; Narinth recognized her as someone she had personally trained; the troll was not. Clearly the sin’dorei had been the mage responsible for this portal. In her half-drowned state though, she didn’t look capable of closing it.

Bracing herself, Narinth shoved herself against the current, struggling to reach the portal so she could close it before anymore damage was done...

Bai could barely tell which way was up as she and Zully tumbled through the portal and the flood of water into Sunfury Spire. She must have briefly blacked out, because the next thing she realized, she was being sat upright by one of the Royal Guards. Beyond him, she could see the portal trainer struggling to close the portal that Bai had opened, fighting against the unending flood of water from Durotar’s ocean shores.

Bai tried to stand up, to help close the portal and the flood she’d inadvertently created, but her body refused to cooperate until the portal was closed and the flood of water had instead become a soggy trickle sloshing across the floor. What finally prompted her to move was the sight of Zully laying in an unmoving heap just a few meters away.

“Zully!” she gasped, pulling away from the guard and forcing herself to move toward him. Fear crawled its way into her throat... surely, after all of that...

She saw him move, slowly raising himself up on shaky arms as he started coughing up water. She made it to his side just as his arms gave out, catching him before he hit the ground again. For what felt like an eternity, she patted his back as he continued to cough and gag, forcing as much of the water out of his body as he could. Finally he collapsed into Bai’s arms, trembling as he wheezed in exhaustion. He stared up at her with bloodshot eyes and an almost detached expression.

“Are you alright?” Bai asked worriedly.

“Tink so...” came the hoarse reply. “Alive at least... you be ‘kay, mon?”

“I...” She wasn’t; not really. Squeezing her eyes shut against the tears, she hugged Zully tightly. “Well.. we’re alive and that’s the important part.”

“Y... yeah mon... we... we be alive...” She felt his body slacken in her arms. “But Zully’s family... his father... dat leopard... we couldn’t... Zully couldn’t...” His voice trailed off as he buried himself deeper into her arms, body shaking with quiet tears.

Guilt and empathetic pain crashed down on her. “I’m so sorry, Zully...”

She heard a splashing behind her, and suddenly-- “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!”

Bai tensed and looked up; she felt Zully shift in her grasp as he, too, looked in the direction of the angry voice...

Bai found herself staring into the furious glare of Grand Magister Rommath, standing chest-deep in the pool of water that occupied the bulk of the now-flooded floor pit of the Spire’s throne room. Behind him, Ranger General Halduron Brightwing and -- Bai’s blood ran cold -- Regent-Lord Lor’themar Theron were slowly wading their way toward her and Zully, pushing aside scattered cushions and furniture floating in the water, their expressions unreadable but somewhere between shock and anger. The guards who were normally stationed in the throne room were clinging to the ramp leading to the Inner Sanctum and the Orb of Translocation that connected Silvermoon to Undercity.

“Is this your doings, mage?” Rommath snapped at her, eyes flashing angrily. “Do you have any idea the amount of chaos and destruction your carelessness has caused?”

Bai sank dejectedly, unable to form any words with which to defend herself. “I apologize, Magister... General...” The last words came out at a near-whisper: “Your Regency...”

“Do you think a mere ‘I apologize’ will excuse this... this... deplorable conduct?” Rommath continued, his voice growing even harsher. “And of course this is how a representative of the Kirin Tor must think is proper behavior for our city... but a sin’dorei like you -- you should be ashamed of yourself, disrespecting us in this way. I have half a mind to report you to Rhonin himself!”

Bai lowered her gaze to the floor, fighting back tears of frustrated defeat. She and Zully may have been out of danger... but they were clearly not out of trouble.

((To be concluded...))

[mmo-news]

WoW WotLK Frost Mage Leveling 1-80 Guide

WoW WotLK Frost Mage Leveling 1-80 Guide Read the full article

[wowwotlkgoldigv]

IGV WoW Guide - Best Classes To Farm Gold Fast in Wrath of the Lich King Classic

There are many ways of earning WoW Classic WLK Gold , and some classes are better suited for specific forms. Knowing which ones excel in what method can help gamers optimize their rags-to-riches journey. While each job specializes in particular aspects, some classes are suitable in the general sense. Here are the best ones to use for overall farming:

Paladin

For the most part, Paladins is the Godfather of WOTLK Gold Farming in Wrath of the Lich King. There are surely specific ways in which you can farm gold, but with Paladins, you don’t have to worry about anything. Not only does Paladin do best in Gold Farming, but they are also considered Jack of all trades.

Mage

After Paladins, your best bet is none other than the Mage Class in Wraith of the Lich King Classic. Unlike the previous, now Eternal Farming is overpower in WotLK as it has more locations for gold per hour.

The reason for Mage being good with WOTLK Gold Farming is their Massive Pull of Eternals or Elementals in one pull. In farming locations where there are no disruptions, you can pretty much dominate your enemies in bulk and gain massive amounts of gold per hour.

There is Mage Boosting in Wrath Dungeons that makes them even more special. Mage Boosting will become a real thing after the gamer’s theory-craft it more and then check out different techniques alongside it.

When the Mage Boosting does become a real thing, you can do level boosting from level 68 to 80, as it will be the most exceptional path to farming gold in Wrath Classic.

Druids

While they may not be as competitive as Paladins in Solo Dungeons or Mages in DPS, Druids excel most in gathering professions. Their ability to shapeshift to flight form allows them to reach resource nodes much faster. At the same time, they can easily access areas that most classes will have trouble getting to. Herbalism and Mining are the Druids' strongest suits.

Aside from their excellence in gathering professions, Druids have also received a buff in WotLK Classic, where the damage of the Boomkins has been increased. Not only does this make the class's AoE damage stronger, but also their single-target attacks. This makes them viable in Raids and in Eternals farming.

Death Knight

Like Druids, Death Knights have an advantage over other classes in terms of mobility due to their “pale horse” ability. This skill allows them to be on par with other top jobs with movement talents. This makes DKs extremely efficient in Herbalism and Mining. Aside from their proficiency in gathering professions, each Dark Knight specialization also provides unique playstyles that impact mob grinding and Raiding.

IGV has recommended several best classes for you if you want to farm gold fast in WoW Classic WotLK. These classes are efficient in farming gold in the game. Their special skills or attributes are useful in the process of farming gold in WotLK. On the other hand, you can Buy Wotlk Gold at https://www.igv.com/WoW-Classic-WLK-Gold to level up your characters quickly and complete more quests or dungeons for gold rewards.

[sleeper354]

Traps and Min/Max

World of Warcraft dominated a lot of my early online gaming.  One portion that always stood out to me was the talent system and the builds that would come out of it.  I used to play a warlock and when I looked at what the warlock class description was it emphasized the demons and curses.  I was like, pets class dots class?  Sign me up, I played a ton of D2 necromancer it was right up my alley.

What I found out, was that it turns out that a lot of things were stacked against curse/demon warlocks.  During vanilla, there was a harsh debuff limit which really hurt both warlocks and shadow priests.  You had so many debuff slots spoken for so that tanks could do their thing.  And curses were mutually exclusive so even in smaller content you were either doing curse of elements to buff the mages who did the actual cast damage or weakness to help out the tanks and healers.  No shadow, no agony because one, you could only have one up and a raid wide boost to the 6 mages or what have you was better than the boost to the 2 or 3 warlocks, or just your own personal damage.

Then on the pets end, so many bosses had cleaves or mechanics that would target pets and become a huge fucking problem that a demon was more often than not a liability.  When you did have a demon out, it was the imp, for the HP buff, and the fact that it phase shifted out and was un-hittable.

So where did that leave warlocks?  A shitty version of a mage with a shitty version of a priest buff and a damage buff for the non-shitty mages.  So you would run enough into affliction to get some support for your shadow bolts and then into destruction.  On top of that, the demonology tree had a bunch of useless talents that buffed useless things, like improved firestone or improved spell stone (that one sat at the bottom of the tree with the other 31 point talent!).

So you have these talents that everyone says “Oh these are traps to show new players what isn’t a good talent”.  And that’s such bullshit, new players should never say “Ugh, I can choose garbage”.  But then, even a good set of talents would then be overshadowed by “This doesn’t do optimal damage in the constraints of the game” so now you have the min//maxxers going “21/0/30 so that you have the best DPS a warlock can get” and how boring is that.  Why have any variety if the only way a community lets you play is by ignoring 90% of it?

So I played differently, I used the firestone, I had the DPS pets out, I would swing a sword that was enchanted to do fire damage, on my dumb little caster class.  Did I top a DPS chart? No.  Was I gonna anyway without raid gear?  Also no.  So I finally found something fun to do, and I’d get yelled at in groups and raids.  “Where’s my imp buff, why are you swinging a sword, the fuck is a succubus?”

On the one hand, I get it, some people want a system they can game.  I would be lying if I said that I hadn’t worked out the ratios for a good chunk of items in factorio so I could have a 0 wait and 0 overflow production line.  But at the same time, so many games trend towards the min/max that variety and fun become very specific.  Cards in MTG that have fun effects that you will never see because even when you account for jank deck tournaments, they still stick to these formulas which do in fact work, but just playing bread decks all day just doesn’t appeal.

Where am I going with this rant?  These ideas of newbie traps and min/max bleed out.  They seep into other things and people start putting up gates.  It starts in the games themselves, in WotLK the halls of reflections had the alcove strat.  Because the waves spawned spread out, it meant they would all bunch up.  But by now I’ve switched to warrior.  I have 3 different ways to charge and a ranged silence, I want to use these buttons the game has given me.  “No, stand in this corner”, and I’d argue with groups, just come out and have fun.  But now you see it bleed out into things like real life toys.  I saw a commercial for a hand held music playing device which you could control by waving it around certain ways.  The commercial had one of it’s selling points as “Make content creation easier”.  What the fuck?  Why is it content.  Why can’t it just be, “make some music” why do we have to min/max our own enjoyment of life.  And why does that min/max have to be economical?  Why can’t I have a fun dj toy be a toy that I make music with.  Or put on a concert for my cat, why, when even just describing this toy, is it still pushing towards “Better max your marketability!”

Just fucking enjoy things, stem the tide of people saying, “But this is the best way to do it” do suboptimal shit.