And now the end is near …

And so I face the final curtain.

Which was ICC HC last night. Demeternoth and her Number One Tank Buddy, aka Darklive, aka My Crazy Dutch Man, have retired from raiding and to round off a great year, we headed back to where it all fell into place, Ice Crown. Of course umpteen (nay thousands, maybe millions?!) have already bopped Ole Lich King on the head in HC mode but we, in the Uber Noob raid team of Deadbeat Desperados, the Old Double Ds, ended Wrath on 6/12 on heroic. And last night we got through the whole place with 15 minutes left to bop LK. Not really long enough as it turned out but this isn't a bad thing. There will always be 'One more boss' for us now :D

Today I am reminiscing about all the raid bosses we have killed, the wipes we’ve had and the unforgettable nights of fun and laughter. At the beginning of ICC, having not been able to find a suitable tank to partner Darklive and having two DPS DKs, Demeternoth stuck her plucky little hand up and said ‘I’ll tank’. Deme and Dark have been the tanking pair in Double Ds ever since and Deme was proud to wear the Nipple as her mark. Yes there is a theme here, BOOBIES!

I will never forget dancing in front of Marrowgar, shouting at all three healers who were trying to tell me, individually, where to place Sindy, sucking with all my might on Proff P and doing the Hokey Cokey on ole LK himself. In between all that we cleared most of Ulduar on 10 man too, some of us did the whole thing including Algalon on 25 man and we even ventured into the old favourites of Naxx, EoE and Obsidian Sanctum to clean off a few titles, achievements and have a bit of fun. That big purple dragon in the Ruby Sanctum dropped the very same week we killed LK. I guess the Game Gods were on our side that week.

As anyone who has read this blog will know, my time in WoW has been coming to an end and the blog hasn’t been getting regular updates for a good few months now. With the end of raiding on Demeternoth, I anticipate another dip in activity here. I will post if I have something interesting to say of course, but for the most part, there’s plenty of other blogs and resources for people to get the information on Death Knights so this is likely to become a much more general wow place. Especially since that little warlock is quite addictive and the druid is howling for attention. In time though, even our casual play will dwindle as we move on in life and begin to tank our very own set of raid bosses, a house renovation/redecoration plan and begin our own little dps team :D. We don’t need any more tanks in our household afterall. Maybe a healer for a 5 man dungeon team.

I will greatly miss talking to Vecio, Gorani, Hugregotwo, Andycoopsdk, Jarobh, Candlewaxx, Serkul/Sertel, Grokknar and Zetronex two nights a week. Candle and Hug have become two great friends to myself and Darklive and as for the hunter who’d never used Misdirect until we got to Halfus, I salute you Serkul, you miserable old fucker. Andycoopsdk, my in game brother, our little warriors grew up together followed by our DKs. You couldn’t get a more stereotypical pair of noobs. I’ll never forget asking for help in Redridge and running Deadmines with you tanking :D. Good times! Vecio – you don’t say much but when you do you make it count. Thanks for healing my arse! Gorani you giant spacegoat. Keep those balls up. Jarobh, thank you for the portals and healthstones. Warlockery is awesome, who needs a mage?! Pink Pally #2, aka Zetronex, get those tanking boots polished and those weapons sharp. Take care of the team and they’ll take care of you. The biggest thing to remember is to talk to the rest of the guys and especially your co-tank, your life depends on it!

And finally Grokknar, the original Pink Pally in a Skirt, well I can’t say how grateful I am to you for raid leading this bunch of noobs. Your patience and approach to raid leading is refreshing and sets the tone for the rest of us to enjoy our evenings together.

Demeternoth and Darklive’s final week of raiding has been marked by two events. The ICC HC run and a wedding. At Light’s Hope Chapel at 2000 realm time on Saturday 26th March, Darklive and Demeternoth exchanged vows. After all, if a Death Knight can essentially repent and feel guilt for the killing they did in the Lich King’s name, they can feel love again right?!

Demeternoth and Darklive will now be found on a little farm, just north of the lake in Stormwind. Deme doesn't want to move back to Northshire since most of its burnt and Darklive wants to be near a lake for fishing. They plan to raise a few DPS and a healer whilst running a totally self-sufficient farm. Look out for 'DD Farm Produce' at the Stormwind Farmers Market soon.

Jumping the Whale Shark

I don't think I've posted on Patch notes much before now, if at all. But something in the patch notes for 4.1 couldn't fail to catch my eye.

• Raise Ally has been redesigned to be a battle resurrection, analogous to Rebirth. It is instant cast, but costs 50 Runic Power to use, and has a 10-minute cooldown. It shares the same global battle resurrection cap with Rebirth and Soulstone.

Erm, say what?? Deme will be able to B-rez her allies and instead of 'spamming 1' they can actually fight? First reaction, Yippee!! What a great update for a spell that isn't really made the most of currently. Then I thought about it some more. Death knights. The clue is in the name surely? D E A T H. We shouldn't be able to resurrect people, as Shizukera on Twitter said "They're harbingers of death, not bringers of life".

Rioriel said "HI! Want to play a class defined by unique abilities? TOUGH THEY'RE ALL THE SAME. In 5 years we'll just have one stat: Awesome." Which was kind of my 3rd thought. If I wanted to be able to 'rescue' players I'd be a healing class. I have a lowbie priest, specced in holy and disc. She's low level for a reason. I like smashing stuff in the face with a big sword in my hand.

Which brings me to Psynister's recent Rift review where, understandably, he compares it to WoW. It was the remarks about class balance which struck me most.

There’s a lot of simplifying going on in WoW right now where classes and roles are being standardized so that everyone can do the same things with every class, and that takes away some of the uniqueness that used to be really appealing in WoW. So right now Rift is at one extreme (lacking balance) and WoW is at the other (excessive balance)."

The emphasis there is mine, but it sums up how I feel about this change pretty well and it makes me wonder what else is about to happen in the name of balance and how much do I want to be a part of that? I'm starting to think WoW has jumped the Whale Shark.

Tuesday Tickle aka what you do when you can't move.

6 things to tickle you on a Tuesday.

Verde's Videos - he makes some of the prettiest raid vids ever. His Wrath Tribute is beautiful. Someone get him into machinima please!

Cynwise's Maps - now appearing in all his BG guides and on my pink hoodie.

There's been some comings and goings in blogging lately --

If you didn't know, Mortigan is back. And as fabulous as ever.

On the sadder side, both Arrens and Tam and Chas are hanging up their blogging boots. If you've not read them, go on! NOW! Whilst you can!

But! On the plus side, after a short absence it looks like Soph at View Through the Branches is back to blogging again. Good stuff!

I'm off to buy the strongest pain killers known to man. Or maybe just to Azeroth.

Blogging and Fanfiction

In the past few weeks I've written a couple of stories about Deme. The first part, Midnight Ride, was good. Honestly, I believe it's a good piece of writing. The second part, Light House, humm, not so much. It didn't feel as good when I wrote it and then this last week I've written another part whilst on the plane off on my holidays. This 3rd part feels good too, BUT it also feels like it's giving away too much too soon. There's some great passion in there on the two characters parts, but it feels like they are baring too much to each other way too soon. So I'm not putting it out there yet.

Now I'm a bit stuck. I've got this 2nd character involved and I'm not sure I've introduced him properly. Let me explain. I've not developed sufficient back story for Deme yet to carry a 2nd character and his introduction felt rather rushed. I read it back and I didn't buy it so I don't know how I expected a reader to. I think I swung Deme's reaction to the new character too soon and should have taken my time with it a bit more. So now what? I need your help! Do I leave it as it is and try to improve on the 2nd part some how? Do I just chalk it up to being in-experienced in this field of writing and carry on ignoring the pants effort I made on it or do I just leave Deme on the jetty for all eternity?!

And would you like to hear about Artemia, a clumsy rogue? I think WoW needs more comedic characters.

Light House

This is the second part to a fictional story I began here. Feedback is appreciated in the comments.

Deme turned her mount back towards the jetty and kicked him into a trot. As they approached, the boat was alongside and the rower was hefting rope in the moonlight.

Well get off your horse and tie me alongside! yelled the boatman.

Deme stood her ground and did not dismount. Wearing a flimsy dress was not the best way to encounter someone who might want a fight. She wasn't about to give up the advantage of being on horseback.

Who are you?

I'm the bloody Light House Keeper and your that stuck up death knight who thinks she's too good to get married in our cathedral!

Deme gaped.

Aww come on lass, grab this rope and tie me up. Then come inside, you look half frozen.

Disarmed by the light house keeper's consideration and his knowledge of who she was, Deme dismounted with as much vigour and dignity as the silly dress would allow. Self-consciously pulling her cloak tighter round shoulders, she thought, Damn that bloody Jenwa for convincing me to go to the party in a dress.

Don't worry lass, there's nothing of yours I want. I've seen it all a'fore from them blue ones to the blood elves and I still say the dwarven lasses are the best there is.

Deme was gaping again. He was damn rude, but oddly perceptive and reassuring. The light house keeper chortled and clambered onto the jetty from the boat. Not an easy task Deme now realised, given his short stature.

I'm Derrid Oljind, he grinned holding out his hand.

I'm that stuck up death knight replied Deme, shaking his hand and grinning back. Rude, but reassuring, what wasn't to like?

Midnight Ride

As a side step from normal activities, I've written a piece of fiction this week. Constructive criticism is welcome, trolling is not.

Deme slipped out of the tavern and flipped the hood of her cloak over her head. Her heels clipped on the cobbles as she walked over to her deathcharger. A soft whiny greeted her as she slipped the worn leather reins from their tether.

The light grew brighter and the sound of raucous laughter emerged as the tavern door swung open again, but no one followed her into the street. Taking the reins, she led her horse through the winding streets and across the canal, heading for the docks. Rounding a turn past the Cathedral, she looked up and shuddered as the she saw the spires reaching up to the stars.

Even after all she'd been through this large building intimidated her. The Light seemed to emanate and pulse from it, even in the night blue. It forbade one of Deme's kind from entering the sanctuary it provided, no matter what anyone else told her, she still felt this way. Thinking back to her first meeting with Fordring and her recent run in with Thassarian and Koltira, she was stunned momentarily. So much had changed!

The deathcharger shied as a gaurd approached on his patrol. He grunted a greeting and passed on. Still not fully welcome in my home city, mused Deme. Lost in her nostalgia, the swoop of the gryphon riders overhead brought her back to the present, and the moonlight cast over the docks.

The sea salt tickled her nostrils and she felt the cooler breeze on her face. Dropping down in front of her were the sheer grey stone ramparts of the harbour, leading out to the piers and the ships, carrying merchants, goods and the Alliance Army to all reaches of Azeroth. With her free hand she pulled the cloak tighter around her, thinking her attire wasn't really appropriate for these nocturnal activities. A dress was fine for a few drinks in the tavern on a special occasion, but not really suitable for a moonlit flit across the harbour. She missed the weight of her armour. The sense of release she'd first enjoyed at not wearing it had quickly been replaced by a vulnerability she was not accustomed to, nor entirely happy about.

She'd reached the edge of the docks. Turning right she walked the length of the board-walk, aiming for the far northern land mass, the closest point to the Light House, her final destination. Hitching up the dress, and cursing it's impracticality, she swung up onto the death charger before leaning down and stroking his shoulder. A whispered word of enchantment and they were racing across the water on a frosted mirror.

The wind tore her hood down and tugged at the cloak's clasp around her neck. The skimpy dress beneath did little to keep out the cold but she'd forgotten about that now. Racing across the water, cloak, hair and clothes flying and her grin spreading. A laugh escaped her throat and kept coming. Pure, belly laughter of delight as she sat back, reining in her charge and slowing to a canter. The pair rode onto the small jetty that served the Light House and turned to see the city of Stormwind across the water. Coming to a halt, the deathchargers snorts displaying his enjoyment of the night-time excursions.

Over the bay, the spires of the Cathedral and in the far distance the high stone walls of the keep dominated the night sky, lit from the torches placed around the city and from the lights still burning inside. In sharp contrast to the grandeur and splendour of the new Keep, was what had once been the city's Park district. Now a tumbled, crumpled and burnt out ruin. In the slivers of moonlight rocky ruins could be glimpsed, a sign of the recent horrific events to have warped Azeroth.

Deme gazed over the docks and the city for what felt like mere moments. She heard the 'clunk-splash-clunk-splash' of a rowing boat and realised that her time alone, for now, was over.

Lunch Topic - What if ....

One day the AOL Seed programme will work in the UK and I'll be able to submit something for the WoW Insider Breakfast Topic. In the meantime, this is your very own lunch time topic.

What if you hadn't rolled your main character on your current server, do you think you would have made friendships/found similar people/guilds on another server? I sometimes wonder if, in a parallel universe type way, I would find people similar to all those I now know on my home server, on another server. Would they be the same personality types? Would there be a person who works/thinks like our GM, or like the officers, or like my friends in my raid team? Would we spot the person who gets lost ALL the effing time?! The person who spams up /g with random chat, would there be the same characters in another guild??

Would your WoW journey have been different? I know I would not have continued to play had I not made friends and found my guild. If I'd rolled on a PvP server and been consistently ganked in Stranglethorn Vale I probably would have /ragequit and never come back. What if I'd rolled on an RP server and discovered that side of the game? How would that have affected my gameplay? My blogging? Would I have begun a blog at all?!

The power of What If makes my head hurt. The great thing is I can still experience all of the things mentioned above and still stay on my server, play with my friends and play the game I've grown into and enjoy so much.

How has your game been shaped by the server you've rolled on and the characters and players you have met there?