Done in a similar, tongue-in-cheek, check out my 1337 stickman skills as this post, though not quite as good, I’m afraid.

Whilst I made it through the 20-29 AB on Eisla quite happily, the 30-39 bracket of PvP on the Blackout battlegroup appears to be dominated by the Allies. So I now had fresh experiences with which to draw a daft battle plan. (You will most likely have to enlarge the pictures to see them properly.)

To begin with, the basic aim of the game:

Doin’ it rite: You want to hold more bases than the enemy, so that your points go up faster.

Doin’ it wrong: LOL WE CAPPED A BASE, NEXT ONE!

AB’s big no-no – the 5 bases obsession:

Doin’ it rite: Carefully balance your attack and defence teams (unless the enemy team is filled with absolute numpties OR short on members.)

Doin’ it wrong: OMG WE NEED FIVE BASES TO WIN!!!!!111oneeleventy!!11

(Excuse the rather poor “zomg I drew a line in the wrong place quickly copy and paste paper over it” cover up.)

General Winning/Losing strategies:

Doin’ it Rite: Assuming a full 15 vs 15 match, you can really only hold three bases consistently. Split the team evenly between defending the three bases, with another similar sized group “roaming” for lone ranging enemies, providing support to bases under attack, or if feeling cheeky, attack a weak enemy base.

Doin’ it wrong: Cap the base closest to your side and two others, leave these with no or marginal defence, whilst the bulk of your team presses on to cap the enemies closest base. This leaves all three of your other bases open to easy capture even from lone or small groups.

Now, you too can contribute to stunning victories and crippling defeats in Arathi Basin!

 FOR THE HORDE, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

(Please, folks, PvP with sense!)

It never ceases to bug me how little people know about Scotland. Of course, I totally understand that people can’t know everything about every country in the world, but admit it – you’d get a bit bothered if people constantly got your history so very, very wrong, right?

So, for what little good it will do, I’m gonna clear up some common misconceptions about Scotland and the United Kingdom here.

The United Kingdom

Sometimes, people, particularly in the US, are a bit confused as to exactly what the UK consists of. The UK is Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The rest of Ireland (the lighter green part of the island) is it’s own, independent country. Sometimes people think it’s part of the UK – it’s not, so be careful with that!

Basically, each country in the UK is like an American State (well, except England… it’s complex.) – The UK as a whole is governed by the British Parliament in Westminster, London. However, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have their own “devolved parliaments”, with certain powers over their countries – somewhat like the Federal and State division in the US. However, England does not have it’s own government, and is represented solely by Westminster.

While I say the situation is somewhat akin to American states, I think it’s worth pointing out that, unlike American states, as they exist today, with the states beyond the original 13 all having been settled by Americans with the intention of the new lands joining America, the Countries that make up the United Kingdom all have long histories as independent states –thus, each have distinct national cultures that are probably far greater than the differences between, say, an inhabitant of California and an inhabitant of Maine, despite the greater physical distance in the latter case. In fact, Scotland, Ireland and Wales all have native, Celtic languages, totally unrelated to the Germanic English language, though, in Scotland, Gaelic is spoken by a small minority.

To make matters even more complicated, there are substantial, though not in the majority, groups in Scotland, Wales, and particularly Northern Ireland (which has suffered greatly over the years over the issue of being in the Union) who advocate seceding from the UK. Thus, while “British” is a catch all term for people living in the UK, you may find that people prefer to be called by their “proper” nationality.

For example, and here’s where I may stir things up politically with any British readers, I support Scottish independence. I bear no ill will to any of the other countries in the UK, I just feel we should be independent, and as such, I object to being called “British” instead of “Scottish.” It doesn’t offend me, I just don’t consider myself to be British, as such. However, calling me “English” does offend me – because I feel that shows a great deal of ignorance about how the UK works.

Scotland

Firstly, and most importantly – Braveheart is not an entirely accurate portrayal of Scottish history. I know, I know, it’s hard to believe – but there’s a lot wrong with it, historically. It’s a fantastic film, however – don’t let inaccuracy spoil it for you.

The most standout one, in a way, is also the least important. You know how they are all wearing blue face paint (woad) and kilts? Well, those are both anachronisms. Woad was utilised by the Picts, who were the original, inhabitants of Scotland. It was most certainly not used in the 13th-14th centuries. And in the other direction, kilts, especially not of the style in the film, were not actually worn by Scots until much later!

Also, perhaps influenced by Braveheart, there are misconceptions about William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, and how Scotland came to join with England.

William Wallace

William Wallace was “Guardian of Scotland” – he was not, at any point, in the running for King of Scotland. Basically, he was a general.

Robert the Bruce

The Scottish Monarchy did not end with The Bruce. While the Bruce dynasty was short lived, Scotland continued to have it’s own Kings and Queens from the mid 1300’s, when the wars of Independence finally came to a close, until the 17th Century, when the Scottish Monarch also became the English Monarch.

The Union of Scotland and England

I rarely see this, but I do see it often enough for it to make me /facepalm. The Union of Scotland and England was entirely peaceful. There was no war involved. Some people seem to think we were put to the sword and made to join – not quite. As stated above, the two countries started sharing a monarch in the 17th century. In the early 18th Century – 1707 to be exact – the two countries joined together to form Great Britain. While the Union was peaceful, it was also incredibly unpopular in Scotland at the time.

Silly things

As much as we like to tease foreigners about it, and Scottish readers will be so cross with me for unveiling our great lie – Haggis is not a real animal. We do not chase it round mountains. It’s just meat in a sheep gut. No, I have never tried it, and I do not intend to.

Similarly, The Loch Ness Monster doesn’t exist. Well, to the best of my knowledge. Who can really say? I mean, it’s a pretty murky Loch, and very deep… If there’s something there though, it’s damn well not a plesiosaur. Seriously people.

We do not wear kilts all the time. I have worn a kilt once in my life, for my high school leavers Ceilidh and the only time I anticipate wearing one again is if I get married.

We most certainly do not all sound like Groundskeeper Willie! See here for an example of how I speak. Nothing alike!

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There we go! The more you know!

Joining a party – Get invited as a healer, despite your preference for DPS. Proceed to stare extremely hard at the screen until the Rogue and competing Enhancement Shaman who are both after your mace leave the party.

First Boss – Scream at your thick tank to “PICK UP THE DAMN [Insert race of ranged opponent here]”, because you can’t heal them when you are dead. Twice now that has happened, twice being the sum and total of the times I have healed this instance. Pick.Up.The.Damn.Troll.

Second Boss – Gnash your teeth at your DPS because you don’t give a damn if you can heal through the flashy light, it’s the principle of the thing. Don’t look at the blinding exploding guy is on the same tier as don’t stand in the frickin’ fire.

Third Boss – Cry to [deity/enlightened being of your choice] because why the hell does the final form of the last boss have to be so much of a bitch to heal and OMG DEATH LASERS I just died again rage.

After you win – Mutter to yourself because despite the numerous upgrades that you could have got for your main spec, none of them dropped, indeed, no upgrades for anyone else dropped, and all you got was some flashy healer belt, further putting your off spec gear ahead of your main spec gear in terms of quality.

I don’t like Trial of the Champion. It’s an evil place. Whilst Kazura waltzes around in her nice new gear earned from there, I get my face blown up by the ridiculously difficult to heal final phase of the Black Knight and mourn my lack of shiny maces.

Disclaimer: Screaming and crying not advised. Gnashing and Muttering certainly advised.

We spent most of last night wiping on those damn Jormungar in the new 10 man raid. Gormok was ridiculously easy after a few shots – chasing Snobolds down quickly became routine. We just couldn’t get the Jormungar down. That fight has got to be a prime example of where 10 mans are more difficult than 25 mans – if someone dies, which is very likely to happen, then your entire attempt is pretty much doomed. Guh.

I’ve kind of lost steam on Ilthiran – not really that interested in playing him right now. In fact, I’d say after that brief period of revival, I’m kind of bored of WoW again. –shrug- Anyway, I did manage to get to level 71, and thus, Swift Flight Form;

I also managed to finish the Nexus – we had absolutely zero problems this time, so, ha, suck it, Kyp, it was totally the healers fault last time!

Faulsey received a brief revival as well. He had 26 Emblems of Heroism, which were just sitting there, annoying me, so I ran a few HCs to get up to 40 EoH and 200 SKS, to spend on an heirloom chest and shoulders for my Paladin – he’d previously been using some mail shoulders.

Logging onto said Paladin, I had a case of “hey, I should have read the patch notes” when I noticed that A. My Judgements were returning a flat 8% of my Base Mana when cast, despite there being nothing in the tooltip to suggest they would do so, and B. Hand of Reckoning now does ridiculous damage if used to pull a target. Geez, as if leveling Ret Paladin’s had to be even more powerful! –grin-

And random cool screenshots:

(So Algalon is kind of old news by now – I’d never seen this, and didn’t expect any of the scrubs on my server to have been able to take him out!)

Dis wasn’t quite what I meant!

Ya say to wan Blood Elf that "I’ve always wanted a raptor, ever since I was a little chil’”, an’ a few days latah, da courier shows up at Razor Hill wit a strange box, containin’ dis little fella!

He is kinda cute, though… I tink I’ll be keepin’ him!

Anyways, a few seasons latah, an’ here I be – now wit’ my own riding raptor! ‘E’s quite fond of de little wan – dey get on like a hut on fiah!*

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When they added those Raptors in 3.2, I looked at them and thought about how much I’d like one… Well, I figured, what better character to get one for than my baby Shaman, to complement the riding raptor she’d get later? So, I looked into them all on WoWhead, and the Razormaw Hatchling looked easiest to get. I’d been in those caves a number of times whilst leveling mining on Faulsey, and I’d killed the Matriarch a few times. She’s apparently on a 5 hour or so respawn timer, but, well, when you go into a remote cave on a PvP realm at 3.30 AM, you’re quite likely to get lucky!

I immediately sent her off to Eisla, though the temptation to sell it on the AH for 750g was quite high. The Agamaggan incarnation of Faulsey is a Skinner/Leatherworker, and Eisla is a Herbalist/Alchemist, which means the only source of cash is Cloth and random Greens, so I’m much poorer on those characters than I would normally be.

However, I had a stroke of luck when the recipe for Savoury Deviate Delight dropped in the Barrens. I knew it was quite rare and popular, but I thought it would sell for about 200g. Wrong! A tasty 1k! Well, up to 1.5k, but I was in no mood for waiting ages for the other recipes to sell, and 1k is quite enough for little Eisla!

Whilst levelling, I also got a group for Ragefire Chasm, which I’d never been inside before. It was kinda fun doing a low level instance properly, but it wasn’t fun when, on both runs, people left before I was able to kill a final quest mob – he isn’t worth killing if you don’t have the quest, as he doesn’t drop a blue. Gah.

Now that she’s 20, it’s out into the wide PvP realm, though I won’t be playing her a huge amount now that I’ve reached my first goal of getting a Raptor. Maybe I’ll leave her till Cataclysm – who knows!

Uhm, Cataclysm. I said I’d probably not be playing, but, unless FFXIV is out, and is fantastic, I’ve decided I will be playing casually, to experience the new world. I have my level 10 Warrior to test the new Barrens with, Eisla for the rest of Horde-Azeroth, and my Mage and Paladin for Alliance-Azeroth.

* The big raptor totally kicks the small one in the face, actually.

Eisla is fair speeding through the levels, and at 17, I decided to run her through WSG now that it’s mostly twink free, for some gear and lols. While we did have a 4-1 win-lose ratio, my teams did still drive me absolutely crazy.

So I put together this (incredibly serious) little guide, complete with visual aids!

To begin with, the basic aim of the game:

Doin’ it rite: Capture the enemy flag.

Doin’ it wrong: Graveyard camping. This is level 10-19, kids, you don’t need all that honour. Ok? Ok.

Next, catching the flag carrier:

Doin’ it rite: Do some quick maths and intercept them.

Doin’ it wrong: I’M CHASING AS HARD AS I CAN BUT I CAN’T CATCH UP, OMG.

Simple, right? Now, let’s put all that knowledge into practise.

Here’s a losing strategy:

The EFC is defended by a competent healer, your FC is under serious fire from a group of enemies… and the rest of your team mills around in the middle of the field like a flock of useless, misshapen sheep, contributing absolutely nothing to the match.

Here’s a winning strategy:

The EFC, while defended by a competent healer, is overpowered by your forces. Your FC is defended by a nice healer, and King Leonidas, who destroys all invaders. In the middle, the drooling masses of the enemy assault are kept busy by a couple of Rogues and Hunters, who are keeping their tiny brains focused on KILLING DOODZ instead of capturing the flag.

Now, you can WSG like a pro!

FOR THE HORDE, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

(But seriously, kids, it doesn’t hurt to play the game with a modicum of intelligence.)

Ta da! Here’s a recording of the post. Hopefully you can understand me.

for-anea <– Clicky.

Aye, well, ah wis gonnae try an fin’ somethin’ WoW related tae write a post on, but that’s actually a lot mare bother than it’s worth – ah cannae be arsed wie that pish.

So instead, just a silly wee post to kinda illustrate, as best ah can, how ah actually talk, since Anea was kinda wonderin’ how Scottish people sound – rather more complex than you may think, because, just like any other country, there are plenty of regional variations! When ah’m writin on mah blogs, ah usually do it in proper English, since that’s A. What ah’m most used tae writin in, and B. easier fur everyone else tae understand!

Also, ah think that mah Scottish accent may be a wee bit ay a let down – ah’m fae a pretty well spoken famly, which is to say, my wee auld granny has ideas above her station an tries tae speak “properly”, which, of course, rubbed off on ‘er weans and eventually, their weans! So, ah don’t have all the hallmarks of a Glaswegian accent, which ah suppose is somewhat appropriate, as ah’m no quite in Glasgow – ah live near Loch Lomond, which, coincidentally, is one ay the most beautiful regions in the UK. (At this point, you may imagine me making a rude but light hearted gesture in the general direction of England.)

Ah’m also, as much as possible, refrainin’ fae exaggeratin’ things, like ah usually would if ah wis talkin’ Scots tae an American on the internet. Like, ah willnae say “Awa’n bile yir heid!” (Away and boil your head) as that’s not somethin’ ah’d say tae ma pals. Ah would, however, say somethin’ like “aye, that wull be right! Don’t gies yer pish!” (Yes, that will be right. Don’t give us your piss… which would, in “proper” English, be Yeah, right. Don’t give me that crap.) Use of “us” for “I” seems to be a distinctly Glaswegian thing, ah think. Ah will, at work, regularly ask a colleague “gonnae gies a hand wie this?”

Tae give ye a wee example of how things are different regionally, one ay the more famous examples of Scots, the word “ken”, as in, “Ye ken whit ah’m sayin’?” isn’t actually used here on the west coast – it’s a much more east coast, and possibly Highland, word. Also, while a distinctly Glaswegian thing, despite havin’ a Weegie mother, neither of us do the typically Glaswegian thing of saying “haun” instead of “hand”, or “staun” instead of “stand.” Another difference is mah grandfather, who lives in a wee fishin’ village down in the extreme south-west of Scotland. He might say somethin’ like “Ah caught a fish, it was aboot yon length.” I’d never use the word “yon”, though I do occasionally say “aboot.”

Anyway, ah hope that’s satisfied yer curiosity, Anea, and if ah have time the morra, ah’ll mebbe record masel readin’ this tae give ye a proper idea.

Oh, an since mah guild leader, who’s also Scottish, once called me Taggart (a famous Glaswegian Detective show)… There’s been a murder!

3.2 hit EU servers today, which means I could finally pick my Druid back up, with his shiny new forms. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know I love white animals, so, I had to pick the white forms.

Pre.2:

Post 3.2:

Bear pics are kind of small because for some reason I had to make sure my name was in the shot, and your name really floats quite high when you’re in bear form.

I was kind of iffy about the pink ‘do on the Cat Form, until I discovered it made me the ultimate Winterspring predator!

Almost impossible to see me. Muwahaha.

I went from 53-55 on him today. Would have done more, but wasn’t feeling up to a massive grind. Should be in outlands within a couple days, thanks to his nice new tunic.

My Shaman UI has kind of exploded right now, so I’m not going to play Ellaria for a little while, till everything is back in order, and even then, will probably just run the odd heroic. Though I’ll need to remember to do the Orphan quest whilst I still can.

Old Ass

Cute Ass

Silliness aside, what is it with people finding my blog with “ass.” First, there was “Ass Battle” then, today, there was “ass climber (ice climber hack).nes pour.” I have no idea, and don’t want to have an idea, of what that person was looking for.

The fact that this post is going to make matters worse aside, what is it with people finding my blog with Ass?

Is it, as Llanion said, because my blog is all about the ass?

Low moan – Whu? … No.. go away. Head splitting… want… sleep… shouldn’t have… guh… too much Fiery Festival Brew…

Whu-wha? Oh no… Kiaara’s gonna kill me. –groan- Actually, could you, please… really… not feeling so good… I… I’m gonna crawl back into bed now…

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As you may have noticed, I don’t really do Holiday events. I’m really not someone who goes out of their way to get Achievements – especially not the holiday ones, which tend to be boring and grindy. But I really wanted the title from this one. Flame Warden. Isn’t that just perfect for a Shaman? I think so!

Thus, I dragged myself all around Azeroth and Outlands to both Honour and Desecrate bonfires. Kalimdor resulted in some frustration when I was ganked by no less than three Hordies when I was desecrating the Mulgore flame. Seriously, come on. Three on one! /golfclap. Of course, I was destroyed by far bigger groups than that when going for City Fires, but that’s understandable, what with invading the heart of their nation.

A few of us from Soul Haven also put Ahune in his place – four times. We were quite lucky with drops – apparently, on normal mode, the Enchantment and the Scythe are 3% drop rate, but we got both over the course of four fights. Yours truly snagged the Scythe!

Looks snazzy, eh? It’s also pretty strange in that it gives “Spell Critical Hit Rating” despite the merging of Physical and Spell Critical into one stat back in October! Also, I now actually have the tabard I’m depicted with in the avatar that Pike did for me.*

After splurging all my blossoms on the outfit, I spun round one of those poles, and earned my title!

Edit: There we go, added a much better “Flame Warden” picture, as promised!

Unfortunately, since this is the last event till Brewfest, I can see a lot of people sticking with Flame Warden and the Horde equivalent for quite some time, so I won’t be a unique snowflake. But I’m extremely pleased that I now have a title that I feel truly fits my character.

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*If you’re following me on Twitter, you’ll have seen this quite a lot for the past couple weeks. Snazzy, eh?

Edit: Ohh, and I have to put this in. Yimi is awesome.