I may be back later, if I ever get a nice guild invite I might come back to check out a new family...

The picture says it all. After being guild kicked and subsequently ignored I was left at a loss. The fact is I do not have the time to make Hitokiri’s raid 1, well Hitokiris raid because they cut their second one, so rejoining is out.

I could join another guild, but I would never make a high end raiding guild because of the above. Find a more casual guild?  It would take a long time to find the guild I want, which raids but is still casual. In the end my wants are not really compatible with the game, and I understand that. Casual guilds don’t raid very often, and high end raid guilds require a lot of time.

I feel hurt that Hitokiri cut me without warning, but I can’t blaim them. I chose to leave my old server, I chose to play a shaman and I chose to invest the time to level that character to 80.

So I could live guildless, but I need the social atmosphere.

Rather than aim for PVE content, I could PVP, build a set of PVP gear and find a PVP guild. I don’t think I have the skill required, and if I wanted to PVP I think I would rather play on a druid or a mage, rather than a shaman, which would mean leveling another character.

I started looking around at other blogs, something I have neglected of late. So what did I find?

http://www.sideshowandsyrana.com/2009/05/16/cancellation-musings/ - there are other people thinking about cancellation. And then I found

http://justawowgirl.blogspot.com/2009/05/camel-joke-is-classic-end.html - another blog I used to go to has closed its doors. Then, the nail in the coffin

http://www.resto4life.com/2009/02/23/resto4life-closing-its-doors/ - I haven’t been to resto4life since I started my shaman really, which is a shame because I really enjoyed resto4life, and I might go so far to say I enjoyed my druid more than my shaman. I am exceedingly depressed that I missed the closing of resto4life, the reason I started blogging and the best blog I ever came across. Serves me right for not checking in as often as I should have.

So thats it. Someone is trying to tell me something. I’m going back to Starcraft. This blog will most likely continue under another name as a Starcraft blog. To those select few who posted on my blog, thank you very much. I especially enjoyed the attentions of Sideshow and Syrana, thank you guys and thanks to all.

You will see the name Kade Morton on the spine of books very soon, I’m vigorously pursuing a writing career. Just remember this blog when you see that name again.

Now I’m waiting for my web developer to jump online to see what we can do about this blog…

I'm so confused, and I don't even know if I should be confused?

I got guild kicked. No warning, no issues, nothing going down, I just got kicked.

I don’t know what’s going on, will I be allowed back, am I banned for good, is it just a misunderstanding?

I will run few the last few days. I just recently got a head set and mic and tagged along on a  Naxx 10 man. I got all the mods I was told to get, I got the mic and I got a friend set up vent for me, which I got working with help from the raid members. I ran along with everyone else, and comments where thrown around like “Zoo, you’re going to fit into this guild fine” and “bit more schooling Zoo and you’ll be up there.”

So the last week has cruised by, I signed up on the guild forums as it is a requirement for raiding. The old shaman class leader, someone I have spoken with previously in game, warmly invited me into the guild officially since I have been a member and just not raiding for a while as I was leveling. I’m on good terms with the guild leader as we were work colleagues, he recently left the job I’m at but we were keeping in touch through the guild. This is a guild leader who donated epics to me so I would have some gear when I hit level cap, so we were on good terms.

So the time since the raid has passed with me signing up on the guild forums and logging in every other day to level my professions and do some dailys. There has been no fights, no dissagreements, no blow ups, nothing. I did say that I might, stress on the word might, be online on Saturday because the guild often throws something together for the more casual members on a Saturday, but Wise Vixen was sick, she has been sick a lot lately, it is her stress over work and university, so I was not on.

Sunday morning, the partner is still in bed asleep, I sneak downstairs to log in. I immediately notice my tabard is blank. Whats going on? Have they changed the tabard again? It was recently changed, so I thought maybe it was changed again. I continue on in, go to ask the guild leader what’s up. The guild tab on the social options is greyed out. I’m unguilded! What?

My next course of action is to go to the guild website, in the forums I have access to there’s not a shred of mention about a guild break up, a guild culling, or if Zoomenon specifically has done anything wrong. So back to wow, search by the guild name, and there is one player online for Hitokiri, a guild officer who I do not know. There is normally one than one player on, I don’t know if that means a lot of people have been kicked or if it is just coincidence.

I ask him whats going on.

Hitokiri now only has one raid group.

Ok, so everyone else got cut?

Yes.

Is there a backup guild for the second raid?

No.

And I didn’t reply that, I didn’t know what to say.

If anyone from Hitokiri is reading this, please take this under consideration. I came from an alliance server. The guild leader, who I was working with at the time, mentioned I could join his guild and I would get a raid slot at some point as a shaman. So I left my alliance guild, who were all nice people, and leveled a shaman from 1-80 on a new server. I had a bit of help around 30 and 40, but basically I have leveled a character from scratch, with the intent of raiding with you. Now I’m not out to villify Hitokiri, if all the non raid one members where going to be cut, that’s fine, I would have liked to know about it before actually being kicked, but thats done. Now, what I am hoping is that all the raid two members and everyone else are sort of kept in reserve and will be allowed back when they get proficient enough.

I know I’m not the most experienced player out there, but I’m willing to learn. Is that what’s happened, that we will be allowed back at a later date. Or it is goodbye, see you? I don’t know!

I don’t believe that my friend, the guild leader, would kick me without telling me, but maybe I was wrong. I hope not.

Hitokiri, what happened? I all seems so odd to get told that you are fitting in with the guild and to be welcomed by one officer and then told by another that you’re no longer part of this guild, all in just over a week.

So now I’m at a crossroads. Am I over reacting, is it logical and likely we will be allowed back? Am I being nieve and this really is a culling of all the less serious members and I’ll never be allowed back? What will I do if it is? Find another guild, maybe trasfer to another server?

I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t know what to do…

After the raid

A few days after hitting 80 I conned a friend of mine into shopping for some headphones and a mic so I could raid. I got all the add ons I was told to get, we bought a semi decent mostly el-cheapo headset and I was lucky enough to get a spot in 10 man Naxx a few hours after getting the headset and vent set up. Hitokiri cleared Naxx ages ago, it was just an alt run, which was perfect for a newb like myself.

It took me a while to figure out the headset and vent, as it was I still need to play with the key bindings to talk but I was able to listen to everything. My overall impression of the raiding experience was I enjoyed myself immensely, though I died on almost every boss apart from Patchwerk. The whirlwind mobs in the military quarter where fun as well.

Shock and Awe, an enhance shaman add on I installed before the raid taught me a lot about my rotation/priority system, I’m now activiating my shields during the gap between hitting lava lash and waiting for earth shock to come back up, having hit stormstrike and earthshock before lava lash. So my shields are up more often and with lightning shield my overall dps has increased.

Everyone in the raid was really nice to me and made allowances for the fact that I’m new, it helps with you get that understanding. Some of the more memorable comments:

“Oh yeah, Zoo’s died 50 million times, his armour’s probably all red by now.”

(me typing) *probably?!*

“Zoo, stay out of the void fissures.”

“Zoo, don’t attack the A-bomb by yourself. Why aren’t you using Omen?”

*I am, I just have to move it so I can see it*

“Lol!”

“Zoo, stay out of the void fissures!”

“What just happened there? Zoo took a whole lot of damage real quick…and now he’s dead.”

“Ok this fight…ah screw it, Zoo just dps the boss as hard as you can.”

“What happened to Zoo? Oh, he got tailswipped. More dots, more dots, way more dots. Ok stop dots.”

“Ok no, this fight you have to know Zoo, you get given a charge and if you mess up everyone dies. So you, no pressure.”

“Ok for the spell interrupt…nah Zoo is new, so the rotation is me, then me, then I’ll step in, then me again, and you have to call me when it’s my turn ok?”

“Ok, everybody, not just Zoo, in Wow, if there is a black circle on the ground, its generally not a good idea to stand in it! Everyone, keep out of the void fissures!”

The highlight of the raid was I was able to pick up some epics! I’m hoping to have an armoury widget soon (to my webmaster, if you’re reading this, remember the widget I sent you about four months ago? Yeah that one). IMO I look like a wacked out version of the Praetorian guard with the helm and dagger.

Many thanks to my guild Hitokiri for carrying me through Naxx, I’m looking forward to being a leet raider in future!

Oh, and on a final note, which is the horseman that keeps crying “Maybe they will come to their senses and flee for their lives!” throughout the whole raid? I’ve got something to say to you.

Shut up dude, we’re professionals.

Ok all, so I am back. After taking a very long time out to write manuscripts, which are almost ready to submit to agents, and leveling zoo, I have hit 80 which is when I decided I would continue my posting. So here is my journey in pictures.

I hung out with the red dragons for a bit

Then it started to rain Murlocs of all things...

Then these cute tadpoles started following me around...

Then the red dragons where like "Hey, go pwn some blue dragons for us."

Then the flat faced taurens decided we pwned so much they would join us

As revenge the blue dragons spiked my drink, because things where looking a little weird for a while there...

During my visions I saw this weird see through proto-drake...

And this weird two headed troll...

But then the Undercity got attacked! ZOMG!!!

And I met the Queen of Dragons!

Then I met my sister out on the town one night...

Then I made it to the fabled city of Dalaran...

Where I was asked to do a photo shoot for playboy...

And star in a Final Fantasy Wow cross over as a chokobo knight!

It’s with startling realisation that I have not made a journal entry in some time. In truth I have not uncovered many plots to take over azeroth recently. I’ve been on holiday. Since I left Hellfire Peninsula I haven’t been looking over my shoulder as much. Things where pretty straight forward in Terokkar Forest, you where either a member of the Scryers, brave, divine warriors who had the courage to turn their back on Kael’thas Sunstrider, or demon worshipping Aldor, clammering for marks of Sargeras. I mean, what do they want with warp tainted demon tokens, I ask you? It was pretty clear who the enemies where there.

Then there was Zangarmarsh. Blessed Zangarmarsh. The only thing to worry about in Zangar are mushrooms and naga. I personally never credited walking mushrooms with much brain power, and everyone knows naga are evil, so you don’t have to wonder where their loyalties lie.

Then came Nagrand. A walk in the park compared with some zones, with undercover enemy agents asking themselves how many knives they can get in your back without you expecting it, Nagrand just has ogres and game animals as far as the eye could see. A picturesque change of pace.

I was lucky enough to get a ride on a nether drake, sadly not my own. After the relaxing joy ride, I decided it was time. Too long I had holidayed, shirking my responsibilities to unmask the secret faces of demon worshipping cults everywhere. News came from the north of Azeroth. Life, and possibly, far far darker creatures stirred in the frigid, frozen north. It was time to head to Northrend.

I’d heard rumours that the vrykul, the vicious and until recently, untainted and honourable giants of Howling Fjord had made dark pacts with demon spawned powers. The Forsaken where also up to something up there, and questions hangover the Forsaken and their Dark Lady’s motivations. So it was to Howling Fjord, to investigate the veracity of these claims.  Off to Northrend, off to Northrend! Don’t cry for me I’m off to Howling Fj…

Wait! This isn’t Howling Fjord?!

Back on the zeppelin to Orgrimmar, over to the other zeppelin tower to Undercity, jump to the other zeppelin tower to Northrend…

Ah! This is more like it. The rank smell of death. The unchanging and remarkably bad Forsaken architecture. Yes, this was Howling Fjord!

So, where are those giants?