Logic vs Intuition?

So while the title isn’t exactly what I was thinking, it’s close enough.

I’m going to talk about priesting for a moment here.

Ok, you can get back up from the floor.  I know, shocker.  ;P

I’m being serious here!

Anywho, I’ve noticed that more and more lately… I can priest and heal like a mofo and tweak this and that when I need to (yay challenging raids!) to get the people a live and the bosses dead… but, for the life of me, I don’t know how I’m doing it.

I read a lot of priest blogs, Ego, Matt, Kestrel, to name some, but while some people can use numbers or logic to figure out where they need help, or where they can rock and get more out of what they’re doing… I can’t.

It’s just there.  In the brain pan.  And I wonder if this is a good thing or a bad thing.  I mean, is just going with your gut a bad way to play?

Lemme give you a tad of insight to where I’m coming from.

Enter Arrows of the Queen, a really kick ass series for a fantasy horse loving pre teen, such as myself.  The main character, Talia, has the gift of empathy, and can maniplutate the moods of those around her.  She’s a shy, timid, slightly rigid young girl, but eventually turns into the heroin a B type person like me knows and loves.  In the second book, Arrow’s Flight, steamy romance aside, she’s out on her internship, and her gift starts breaking down, because she’s lost her instinctual grasp of it.  Her intiution behind the gift gets underminded by some nasty rumors, etc, plot ensues, she eventually gets control back by basically “logic”-ing her gift, and viola ends up a stronger person for it.

Ok, so not a lot of parrallels I can draw from that… but I got the impression from the book, intuition isn’t enough.  Sometimes, maybe, but if you watch NCIS, that’s totally not that case.  (<3 Abby!)  Gibbs is like the intuition GOD.  And he kicks ass, saves people, shoots the bad guys, gets the red head, etc.

In my very twisted and confused and bored out of my skull way, I’m trying to justify being surrounded by a bunch of theorycrafters by winging it, and trusting what my gut tells me.

Is that wrong?

On Social Dynamics

First off, I haven’t posted more recently because SOMEONE hid the “log in” button whe she switched themes and I eventually had to find and enter the wordpress login URL manually.  Now, fair warning, much of this is going to be rambling and much may not make sense to those not in guild.

Anyhow, it strikes me, from time to time, how like a living thing a guild is.  It sheds cells and rebuilds itself over and over, a constant cycle.  It’s a bittersweet thing, at times.  I look around Aetherial Circle now, and I see fewer of our original faces.  The first that hits me, of course, is Sharvan.  The day I got that phone call from Diyami, it literally took me a full minute on the phone to even figure out who was calling.  After I realized what was going on, I literally dropped to my knees on the floor.  It was so sudden, so unexpected.  We were doing our damndest to get her and Diyami to the AC BBQ we held in Maine, which was a just a few months away at that point.  We were even considering springing for a ticket for them.    It’s a wound that I don’t think will ever completely heal.

Diyami and Bunnyfluff, Shar’s RL friends, ended up switching servers a while back, because they were getting so much lag on Drenden that it was mostly unplayable.  Immortus is still with us, though I don’t see him around quite as much as we used to.  Flesh and Vein, two of the guildies who made the jump to Drenden with us back at BC launch, popped back in a month or so ago, but I haven’t seen them since.  One friend (who shall remain nameless here) who was an original member, I had to gkick because of his temper.  I hated doing it, especially since he’s a RL friend.  He moved a while ago, and I haven’t been able to talk with him much recently.  Msbehavin, the warrior who was our main tank when we made the switch to Drenden (I laugh saying this now, as back then, I had almost no idea what the hell a MT was) still hops on very occasionally with his new hunter, but it’s been a while.

Then, there are those who stopped by for a time.  Pyroclasm, you nutjob, we miss you wherever you are.  I don’t care how drunk you seemed at times on vent, you were hands down the best bear tank I have ever seen.  Kyndig, despite the bad ending, you were still very much a part of the family.  Crux, you were an awesome healer, a grumpy bastard, and everyone loved you for it.  Dallin, it broke our heart when you left to raid elsewhere - I still don’t agree with your reasoning, but I won’t let that ruin the good memories.  Oz, I know you’re still around now and then, but we miss having you around more.  TJ, if you don’t hop on Owen more often I’m going to pummel you.  Laguna, you were with us for a while, and screw real life for interrupting.  Skingrad/Dokis, you were a fun couple to play with.  Nightscarab, not sure if you eneded up leaving WoW, but if somehow you ever find and read this, I hope you’re doing well.  Deoin, Jace, Hathorn, and many others.

And there are some that are still with us.  Celliana, who I think it the only remaning member of a guild we absorbed trying to get into Karazhan.  Francois/Jefferson, who I sold the Leggings of Beast Mastery to the day he joined guild for about a quarter of the AH price.  Demetria, Anarac, Lamaa, and the rest of the BBQ crew.  Doom, who is like MacGuyver, except instead of making bombs out of paper clips he makes crude jokes out of the most innocent comments.  Militades, who we picked up as a healer and who turned into an incredible tank.  Naki, who was the tank for the Black Morass run that finally got Cay and Fio their keys (I was literally at the trainer about to respec feral when Steph was like “Wait, I found a tank!”).  BRK, who isn’t around as much any more, but who still stops in and hangs out when he can.  And more, of course.

There are new faces in the guild today.  I don’t know yet how they will fit in, what memories will be built, what the future holds.

Can a guild be said to have a personality?  Can it be said to mature?  It feels that way to me.  So much has changed in AC.  I look back at our early days in BC as a young, struggling guild almost like I look back on my childhood.  Everything was new and exciting.  Downing Attumen was a major accomplishment.  Attracting prospective members was incredibly hard - we had no proven track record to show them.  We almost gave it up twice, when we’d recruit ALMOST enough to get going, and then lose one or two more to a guild that was actually raiding.

We were always close.  But (and I hate to keep coming back to it) Shar’s death was what really made it hit home.  Tragedy is like that, sometimes.  Those who remain behind draw closer together.  In a way, it felt like the first death I experienced in my family.  You start appreciating those you still have, because it truly hits you for the first time that they won’t always be there.

When WoW finally closes its doors, it will be a sad day.  I’m not sure what will happen to Aetherial Circle as a whole.  Will we go our separate ways?  Move on to the latest and greatest MMO?  Stage an armed takeover of a small tropical nation and establish the central state of a hegemony that will soon envelop the world?  I’m just not sure.  What I do know is that among the trade chat trolls, random pugged group members, gold spammers, casually known guildies, and fifteen year old basement-dwelling teenage boys, I’ve found a few gems laying hidden.  True friends who I am proud to know, and friendship that may have been built on the foundation of a game, but has transcended that and become something more.

Unicorn

So way back in January, Bree over at GLDC posted something about a Unicorn.

79 tries later…

Reflections

It’s been a year today.

I’m not really sure what to think.

I miss her.  I love her, and I miss her.  A year is  a long time.  A lot of things could happen in a year.  A lot of things have happened in the year since she’s been gone.

I’m not really accustom to death.  When I was young, my family moved around a lot.  Life of a Navy Brat.  So I didn’t have the extended family a lot of my friends and even Jas were used to.  It was Mom, Dad, my bro and I.  The granparents lived a plane flight away, across the country, in opposite corners of the country from each other.  Aunts, uncles, cousins, they lived on opposite coasts and inner ones too.  So I never did the whole, weddings, birthdays, funerals thing that you might normally do.

Last year I experienced death pretty up close and personal.  Jason’s dad was fighting cancer, his gran had passed, and then… like a train wreck from no where, blind siding me, Shar.

I had lost a friend when I was younger.  But while she was a friend when I was 10, not having been in touch with her for almost 3 years dulled the reaction, it dulled the impact.  I didn’t really have a sense of continuity with friends I made when I was that young.  I mean, why would I?  The internet wasn’t even for public use yet, and when you’re moving from one place to another in the space of a few years, you get used to leaving old friends behind for new.

So… when my friend Kelly died at 13 of spinal menigitus in North Carolina (where her family was stationed once they left Groton), I was sad… but it didn’t linger.  Still makes me kind of sad, she was a pretty red head, freckles and all.  Her neighbor, young girl named Heather, was my first school yard “brawl”, if you can call throwing dirt and pulling hair a brawl. *smirk*

She had it coming to her.  Told Kyle I liked him.  (Blasphemy in the eyes of 10 yr olds.)

But with Shar… I never got to see her, face to face.  But I knew her.  We weren’t BFFL, but we were friends.  She liked to cosplay, she loved her tiny japanese dolls, she was an anime freak! and usually where I would get some good tips for good shows, she loved cows.  It was such an odd quirk, but adorable at the same time.

I almost wish I had her moo on recording.  I almost had it.  I fraps’d the Headless Horseman fight when it first came out, twice.  Once with sound, once without.  She was in the silent version.

Sometimes I can’t get the sound out of my head.

It’s probably pretty dramatic sounding, but this is still… painful.  It’s been a year.  There’s no more “fights” between her and Fio about which is stronger, the power of OOM or MOO.

I should probably go to sleep, but this unusual April heat in the northeast is keeping me up.

Yea, it’s just the heat.

~

We’re Alive! And Recruiting PEWPEW! (DPS)

Yes, I know, the blog has fallen by the wayside.

Life has crit both Fio and I upside the head.  While it’s been crazy, we’re going to get back into the swing of things.  Life, the boredom of the content, work woes have all contributed to lack of posting.

But fear not!  I have a cookie.

We’re recruiting… DPS!  We have the healz, we have the tanks!  We’re just looking for more pewpew!  Here’s the offical forums post from your lovable Critchicken (and the GM), Fio!

Hey everyone,

Aetherial Circle finds itself in need of (mostly) ranged DPS. We’ve lost a few to the Real Life boss, and for some reason our rezzes aren’t working..

We are currently full on Priests, Paladins, and DKs, but we potentially have space for just about anyone else. As I said, we’ll be mainly looking at ranged DPS. We specifically have room for a resto and/or elemental shaman, maybe two, depending on our other response. We could also use one more hunter.

We have currently cleared all content except Sarth +3.

Now, about us. We do 25 man content, although there are unofficial runs into the 10 man content. We’re a “casual raiding guild” for all that tells you. What it means to us is that we raid 3 days a week, about 3-4 hours per raid. We’re 18+ only, and while guild chat isn’t a cesspool, you will sometimes see off-color jokes. We plan to do experience all content, but we don’t necessarily do all acheivements. Our purpose is to experience what the game has to offer, and still be able to have family, kids, and about half of a real life. For those that are curious, we use a zero-sum DKP system called SWAPS.

What we want to hear about is just a brief blurb about your experience, a link to your armory profile, and why you think you’d fit in with AC. There are no hard and fast DPS requirements or gear requirements. As long as you’ve got decent gear and know how to play your class, you’ll be fine. We raid Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday, and invites go out at 7:45 EST. If you can’t make every night, that’s fine. We’re willing to talk to people who can only do 2 of those nights. The main thing we’re concerned with is that you attend what you commit to, and you come to raid on time and prepared.

If you’re interested, please email recruit AT aetherialcircle DOT com. Yes, I’m writing it that way to avoid spambots. Consider it the pre-screening intelligence test.

Thanks for the interest all. Hope to hear from some of you soon.

So join us for the fun! <3 Stephi

EDIT:  US Drenden Server!  Totally forgot that part >.>

And that, as they say, is that

The night started off so young. Heroic  Sarth +1, with some lazer pew pew. Mid battle, we lost a healer. Thought it was lag, turned out it was fried power to the PC… DOH! But we’ve done Sarth +1 in our sleep, so no sweat.

On to Malygos! Our second night of hardcore tries! Monday was just a warm up XD  Getting used to a fight that’s actually… well, hard.  (Sorry but Naxx was waaaaaaaaaaay too easy.)  Doling out the healing assignments… wait… 1 priest, 2 priest… pally… shaman… that’s all?

Four healers.

COMMENCE FREAKOUTIFICATION!

So, first wipe, Phase 1, adjust strat.  Second wipe, phase 3!  3D ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!  combo points not showing up arg I hate Ace’s High!  Wipe 3, 4, 5, and 6, adjust adjust adjust.

Did I mention this guy looks pretty damn epic?

Anywho, we’re on our 6th wipe, and we lose a DPS.  ZOMG and we’ve already had a 1% wipe and a 5% one in there too!  Nooo lose on teh DPS!  T.T

But then… we got our crap together, aaaaaaaaand died… except… for ONE!

Jefferson LIIIIIIIIIIIVES! AND MALYGOS DIED! WOOOOOOO!

Time to rock out with the Queen bee.  /rockout

Aetherial Circle clears Wrath 25 man!  Wheeeeeeee!

6th of a 6th /math flail

So this is the sixth thing in my 6th(read 7th) folder.  I’m gonna guess Rats tagged meh for this… sorta.

My first time in 10 man Naxx XD

Oh, and if you were looking for something really old, hang on a sec, cause I have to dig through the folders in the folder… yes, I’m anal, and have different folders for different years of WoW… it just makes going though screenies easier! XD

Ahhh never mind, I can’t find my 2006 stuff cause some where in there, I decided to start giving them names.  Ah well…

Ummm, I tag … uh… people… yea… that’s it >.>

^.^

We. Get. IT.

Oh, in case you didn’t see it…

OMFG WE GET IT ALREADY! /crazypants

Fixing things

Yea, totally fixin’ the place up.  The fact I wasn’t happy with the look was contributing to the lack of postings.  That and… honest?  We cleared Naxx heroic… we were killing bosses… our second time int here… with 4 healers and 22 people.

Come on Blizzard.  You seriously went over board here.

Karazhan Naxx is not.  And that kinda stinks.

But!  More on my thoughts for that lata!

We Blogcasted!

So Bre and Flym over at Twisted Nether wanted our opinions on being Married, Guild leaders and just in general silly stuff.  It was fun talking with them, and if ya want to hear our voices, you can go here ^.^

PS:!  A more substantial post coming soon!  I have some fun Screenies to share ^.^

EDIT: This whole thingie isn’t gonna get compfy, something broke with the RSS feed thingie, now I can’t see the text/picture.  Gotta fix it, I might just go back to the old look, with a different BG picture… maybe.  ARG!  /shurries off to work