". . . Only darkness . . . for me . . . ."

The Fall of the Lich King. He is the common thread in the latest generation of Warcraft lore and its fanatics, the stitching that has bound us all together up to this point in the story – and I believe many have played Warcraft for this story. He may not be Vader, the Joker, or Lex Luther, but he’s no semi-evil doer like Bowser or Dr. Claw. He may not be the strongest, but he’s definitely one of the most popular villains in Warcraft. It could because he was the last point of the Warcraft III story and we want to know what happens next or maybe more importantly, we just want the story tidied up. I don’t know about you, but those open-ended stories where the author or director has you jump to your own conclusions irritates me – I’m reading your book, you tell me how it ends damnit!

But he’s Arthas, the fallen prince. We humans love dirty laundry, can’t help but to look at a car crash, at the macabre, to watch the biggest and the brightest of us fall: and fell he did. His grip on Azeroth reached into nearly every crevice and zone; levels 1-80 we were always battling some Cultist, a Burning Legion baddie, or just the creeping undead (even it’s not his work, you associate evil/demons/walking dead with the Lich King…). Even if you’re only playing the game because you like MMORPGS, all your friends play this game, you’re making cash because you’re a shameless Chinese Gold Farmer, or you like talking cows and gnomeregan-brothels, I’d wager you a round at the Shady Rest Inn that even the most disconnected from the story raised an eyebrow at Ice Crow Citadel and wondered what the encounter of Arthas is like, and how, or precisely what happens when his frozen heart is finally shattered into oblivion.
By now there probably aren’t many of us who haven’t fallen to temptation and haven’t watched his death. But if you haven’t, it’s probably a good idea to not read on. I haven’t slain him personally (one of these months) but I watched the video and gave it some serious thought. Here’s my take on the death of one of the most epic baddies in the Warcraft III lore. Definitely some spoilers ahead.


***SPOILERS*** DISCUSSING THE DEATH OF THE LICH KING

The Philosopher's Stone: Mirror Images - How your character reflects your character...

Every week, The Philosopher's Stone will bring you thoughts on how World of Warcraft can be related to life's deeper questions. Sometimes you will agree. Sometimes you will not, and that is OK with me. Hopefully, though, you will enjoy. Feel free to leave your thoughts on the weeks topic as comments. I'd love to read them!

So when it comes to RPGs, I am the bad guy. I am always the bad guy. I think this has something to do with the fact that I am not the bad guy in real life. I've almost always been the "good" kid. I was the churchy kid. I was the kid that didn't ever have to refuse drugs, because someone else would always do it for me. Someone else saying "he doesn't do that stuff" is a pretty easy way to deal with peer pressure.

But in RPGs, it's different. I am the Sith Lord that force chokes wookiees so that I don't have to try to talk answers out of them. I choose the red saber. Preferably two of them. And I put them to good use. In Fable (and Fable 2) my character has nasty looking horns. He is also rich, because he owns everything he can buy and exploits people. This may even be why I play Horde. (Yes, I know that Horde isn't "evil," but when you compare them to the Alliance, they are at the very least "not as good!")

From Angry to Alchemy: How I Went from Being an Irritated Wife to Becoming an Altaholic

Greetings! Let me introduce myself: My name is Christie, but most of you know me as Madelynn, Tannaria, or Lynnaria. I could also be known as the one who rarely raids, the one who falls asleep before raids begin (causing the need for other players), or the one with 80's who is forever leveling alts.

Gaming had always been my husband's thing--not mine. I could not understand how one could spend countless hours wasting time on a dumb game. Alas, after several pleas by him, I succumbed and tried the game. Now, I really enjoy it! Moreover, I understand a part of his world that I never did before.

In real life, I stay busy as a teacher, student, aunt, and wife (to Spence, aka: Jaelas, Elindi, Mirph). In my "World of Warcraft", I am most often found leveling, looting, selling my loots, fishing, and herbing. Hence, my blog will be about lighter topics such leisure leveling and pursing professions.

Enjoy....

The "L" Effect

Most of you are probably confused with me already. What the hell is the "'L' Effect" and who is that strange looking man up there?

Stick with me people, this is going to be a long one.

So as many of you know, Wrath's story has pretty much been wrapped up. I won't spoil anything for those that don't want to be spoiled, but it's a pretty interesting ending, although one that's not entirely surprising. For those of you who do wish to be spoiled, you can find the .avi video in your WoW folder and watch it in high quality (the same video that's played should you actually kill the Lich King in game), or you can be lazy and click this link. Sufficiently spoiled yet? Go on, I'll wait.

"We need more gold!"

We’ve all had the experience. You’re minding yourself in some metropolis trading hub, and a random Madoff leans over and asks you for some spare change. Now most of the requesters ask for anywhere from some “spare gold,” or perhaps, “a couple of g’s man,” while others ask for a specific amount.

The other day I was minding my own business in Thunderbluff (loyal patriot of cow city, and Ienjoy having being able to actually see the bank and auctioneer), and I get a message from gold lurker. On rare occasions, I’ve given a few pieces of gold to a people who have made me laugh, for doing things like turning tricks or dancing like a monkey. But almost always I flat out deny them. Before that though, I will ask them why they need gold (to hear the creative excuse) and then crictize them for giving said lame excuse. My correspondence the other day, went something like:

“Can you spare some gold?” – Shiftless Beggar

“Why do you need gold?” – Giant Cow Thing (Me)

“I want to buy epic flying” – S.B.

- At this point I do that slow turn so I can try to identity the face…err avatar to the person talking to me. The culprit turns out to be non- other than the 61 Tauren sitting atop an epic kodo mount targeting me. This ladies and gentlemen is what I identity as a special kind of Shiftless Beggar – Douchébag class. He’s obviously at a significant level and has an epic mount, so unless he’s been turning tricks and begging for gold up to this point, I would assume he’s capable of earning his own money (but he was a hunter…), by you know, doing things like…quests?

“You’re level 61…why don’t you go earn it like the rest of us?” - Me

“It’s so annoying, lol” – S.B.

“So are people like you.” - Me

“lol” – S.B.

Once in a great while as you’re selling your bounty of riches and flaunting your wealth by, you know, having the ability to purchase repairs and buy that expensive 100-something gold head enchant, you’ll get the vindictive fellow who feels that the world, i.e. you, owe him something, like a piece of your wealth. Those are the fun ones, the players who have no money, and like spamming you with a barrage of vulgarities on the slim chance you’ll give them cash, or the more probably reality that they get a the virtual finger and /ignore.

Whenever I meet a beggar or some nude avatar dancing on the mailbox, I always get this quasi-queasy feeling like I’m witnessing with the lowest slums of society; I can feel pretty confident that this persons’ status is because of their own volition – laziness.

I eventually always come to realize and make the connection between the economies Blizzard has made for the seething masses in my digital world and with the encapsulating place we call RL. There are beggars in both worlds, but at least in WoW you can assume that they are shamelessly peddling their digital buttocks atop of the postbox because they are far too lazy to be bothered to earn 20 silver for repairs on their level 37 gear.

That or they’re bored, to which they should politely get the hell out of my game.

Bears, chickens, and cows, oh my!

Greetings faithful viewers [sic]! As the contributors give an introduction, I thought it was time I begin my career here at Cool Runners and a healthy preamble to who I am and my past experiences. So without further ado:

For those of you who don’t know me, well, I go by many names. On Altar of Storms, a few know me as Attica but mostly Bulvex, the guild bear-tank or more popularly crit-chiken. On other realms and in other games and forums, a lot of people know me as Dash. Any or all are preferred.

Ais.

So, here I am, my first blogging experience.

.

I should start off by saying that I am not one for scholarly work. After getting my master's degree I find myself very impatient with the prospect of a coherent, well processed essay. I rather much prefer to write freely, whatever comes to my mind. This leads to what the great Philip J. Fry once said while fighting a giant brain, "There, now you're stuck in my world. A place full of plot holes and spelling errors". I also enjoy writing poetry here and there, so don't be taken back if a post I put out there is a poorly written piece of "art".

A/S/L

23/M/TX

Now that we have the important part across, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Jaelas, err Mirph, err Elindi. OK, my name is Spence. I enjoy playing and listening to music. I play bass, guitar, drums, harmonica, and ukulele. I enjoy my wife, who will also be contributing to this blog (Hi, Honey!). I also enjoy my job as a student minister at a church in Texas.

I also play WoW, casually.