Welcome to my aerie!

I’ve no idea how you got here (most likely, an accident), but have a seat and let me draw you a nice Ironforge ale, or perhaps a goblet of Silverwind Chardonnais?

And as long as you’re here, take a look around. Perhaps you can find something useful—or even leave something worthwhile for me to ponder after you’re gone.

This blog is intended to be a resource to the “casual” player of World of Warcraft. Now, I’m well aware there are as many definitions of “casual players” as there are casual players. So before we go any further, here’s my working definition (subject to change as the mood strikes me): A player who is not committed to the rigors of 10- and 25-person “endgame” instances. In other words, a “non-raider.”

If you’re still with me, then on to the rest of the story. I spend a good deal of time playing WoW. I play on Kul Tiras, and I’m a founder and officer of a small Alliance guild named “Are we Done Yet” (yeah, the uncapitalized word was a booboo when the charter was created). I maintain a website for the guild as well.

We’re a “casual” guild: We don’t do a lot of instances, and the only people who are keyed for even heroic Hellfire Peninsula dungeons, are a couple of recent Level 70 transferees. But…we DO have a lot of fun!

Currently, I have two Level 70 Rogues (why 2? Because one is basically a soloer; I transferred him from our previous server at level 60). I also have a holy priest who will be 70 by September 1, and a 67 BM hunter. (And when I can get a chance to link from a computer that doesn’t have 99.9% of all WoW-related sites blocked, I may even link to my Armory profiles–but then you might laugh at my gimpiness.)

While I’m not a min/maxer (that strategy turned me off in Asheron’s Call), I do use UI mods and macros a lot. So, a lot of what I’ll talk about will be about mods, addons, and macros.

Where possible, I’ll give credit for the source of the info—for instance, where I got a given macro; undoubtedly, there will be even more original sources, but I’m not going to take the time to try to find the original author of a given macro–and there’d probably be disputes on that anyway.

So, I’m not a raiding player: My guild is very small, very casual. If we have 10 players on at a time, it’s a big deal. Thus, I’m not going to be able to provide the insight that BRK, Ego, Doom, or Kirk (to name just a few) can provide. But I have 5 characters level 60 or higher (three are 70), and I’ve played most classes, or quested consistently with the classes I haven’t played.

I love playing WoW; I love reading about it. I don’t have the time, inclination, or mentality to be other than a casual player–I was addicted to Asheron’s Call once upon a time, and I don’t want to get back in that mode. (That doesn’t mean I don’t play a lot: 4-5 hours a night, a lot more on weekends, but I don’t have any kids at home, and my wife is both an inveterate TV-watcher and seamstress, so we don’t feel we’re neglecting each other. After 33 years of marriage, it’s nice to be that comfortable.)

But I also enjoy writing, if only for my own enjoyment. The focus here will be on WoW, and I hope I can present the “casual” (i.e., non-raiding) viewpoint in a reasonably cogent manner. (Yes, despite the rather rambling nature of this particular post!)

And I also recognize I may be the only person reading these words—but that’s okay too. Just the act of putting some of my thoughts into words has a relaxing, almost cathartic effect. And if at some point, my meanderings are read by others—and perhaps even enjoyed in some small way—then I’ll be more than content.