Road to Nerdtacular 2015.

It's that time of year again.

      Last couple weeks of raiding has been not really happening.  Low attendance etc.. has had us running old content for kicks and having fun doing other things.  This weekend I'm hoping will be better but since I will be somewhere Saturday night.... The place listed in the title we will see.

     Maybe if I'm not there folks will show.  Who knows?

     Nerdtacular is over for me now.  This is my one big get away event where I go to hand out with Geek kind at Snowbird, Utah.  It is awesome to see how it has grown since the first year I went to see it and we watched Iron Man 2, then had a short Q&A upstairs.

     I wandered around a bit, caught some cool panels.  I really loved the ones on Podcasting and Comic books in Modern media.  However, due to the fact it's so big I had to pick and choose between panels and ended up sitting out hypothetical help and Sword and Laser.  All of these will eventually be streaming somewhere on the Frogpants Network among other places, and I recommend thumbing through and seeing if there are any you like.

My Fat head next to Chris Metzen's

      The highlight this year for me was that Chris Metzen was there.  I didn't talk to him much, but I managed to shake his hand and thank him for an amazing game.  I then embarrassed myself by not being used to taking selfies on my camera. (let's be honest, this is not a bad thing except in this situation.)  I did get this picture with him, and it is fun to be able to say I've met the man.

     If you only listen to one thing from Nerdtacular, I would suggest "The Instance" Podcast.  (Though you should listen to more)  Chris Metzen and Russell Brower where both part of the panel, and Chris essentially stole the show.  He talked a lot about the beginning days at Blizzard and how things have grown and illuminated the path they took to get where they are.  Whatever you think of World of Warcraft, and Metzen himself, I will tell you from the little bit I saw; the man has passion and while he's very smart, he seems very humble as well.  When they talked about Project Titan and the Values Blizzard holds to when releasing a game, I felt myself smiling.  You can tell he cares a lot about what he does, and about the people his products serve. 

Ever Wonder why I love living in Utah?

    Here I am though, two days of Nerdtacular past, and feeling happy about the time I spent there.  Here is the funny thing about me though, I don't talk to many people.  I sit there, by myself this year, and just watch the people around me and enjoy what is going on around me.  I did miss my opportunity to thank Jules from Tauren Think Tank and to say hi, as she had reposted one of my blogs from last year.  I need to email her and say hi and such, but I felt that I should have said something and I let the moment pass.  Once again, I am much better at typing my thoughts out here than approaching people in real life.  Especially when I have a lot of respect, and a little hero worship, for what they do.

     

     I even asked a question on the Podcast (building an audience panel) because I've been kicking around starting one to compliment this blog.  Nothing big, and probably just once or twice a month, but we will see what happens.  In all likely hood between work and school that goal is a long way off.

Snazzy new shirt.

     So, if you ever get a chance to find your way to Nerdtacular, I recommend the experience. Scott Johnson has created a wonderful experience and it's amazing to see how it's grown.

See you soon,

Lag

Comics Panel

Podcast/Building your audience Panel

    Yes I included a lot more images then normal.  But this was a special occasion.

We are a community! Raid update (Week of 12/12/2013)

And I love me some good community,

Community on NBC

     This week in raiding started about the same as it was last week.  We managed to get past Narushun, but just past.  We had some weird issues that stopped us there for the night.  This fight which we have managed to at worst two shot for the last few months gave us all sorts of trouble.  But we managed and got through.

     Wednesday, we were short a dps so I pugged out of trade chat.  This brought us Summerdawn, the warrior (on his pally which was another Summer.. somthing), Mondel the Monk, and a priest who I am going to be horrible and forget his name, but his gear and deeps made the rest of us want to bow down and worship him lol (If any guildies want to throw his name in the comments).  We managed to Down Galakras after a couple tries, one shot Iron Juggernaught, and ended the night with our first Dark Shamans kill.  This means I hope that we have everyone studied up on Nazgrim for next week. (hint hint)

     No, I normally have been opposed to pugging folks into our raids.  Sometimes that can be a mixed bag at best, however last night I have to say I was excited by the happiness and positive support from the folks who hopped in with us.  I know that we were not raiding on the level they are used to enjoying, but they were willing to hop in and help us push forward, which warms my heart. I know most of the people in Wow are good folks who are willing to help out, however that one or two bad eggs know how to stick out when you come across them.

      Back to my title theme, I have been thinking of community in Wow this week.  It started when I listed to Tauren Think Tank while working Monday.  (If you don't listen to this show, you should)  Near the end of the podcast (At roughly an hour and 42 minutes into the show) In a letter that they received, a player had written in with their experience.

     This player had an experience that is well worth sharing.  He was in a guild for a few years.  While he was in this guild he came across another player named OG who tanked along side him.  The writer of this letter was an info nut, who describes himself as the "Oh my gosh how do you not know this stuff guy."   This character OG who played with him was a good dps, but not great as a tank.  The writer says he normally would give OG crap, and rib him during raids.  After a few months however, the raid team decided to transfer to a more populated server, and a few couldn't afford to move over, OG being one of them.

    A couple months after the transfer, the writer's old guild master asked him to hop into vent with her.  She then told him that this other player that hadn't been able to transfer over, had committed suicide.  The writer initially thought the worst of his personal behaviour, But the GM told him she had been talking to OG for a few months and that he had been depressed for a while, and had thought of the writer as an older brother and saw the ribbing and teasing in a friendly manner.  However, the tragedy in the situation was apparent.

    The writer did an info search while other guildies were getting into vent to discuss OG.  He found OG by name and decided to call his family.  He was able to contact OG's mother and managed to talk to her for a while, sharing some stories of her son, and some of the fun they had together.  He then asked if it was alright if some other people called her.  She answered yes, and the writer's guild, each took a turn to call her and share their stories of her son.  During this whole time, the guildies who weren't on the phone with her shared stories of OG in vent and held their own little memorial.  If you listen to the podcast, Jules reads it much better then I can type it, and I recommend you listen to it.

     I was moved to the point of tears during this story.  We often talk about how this is a game, and game doesn't trump real life etc... We do forget that we are a community also.  As a community we are capable of some wonderful things, even in the face of tragedy.  I hope that in this moment, OG's mother and family was given some comfort in the face of one of the worst things a family could ever go through.

    It is so easy to forget when your tromping through a pixelated landscape that the characters you come across are real people.  That the person you come across who just swiped your mining node is a person who may have not seen you.  Or is someone that might have an emotional response when you berate them in trade chat.  It is so easy to forget we are dealing with players feelings, and that you could do damage to someone emotionally if you say the right thing at the wrong time.

    We are fragile beings folks.  Even the strongest of us have moments where they can be hurt deeply.  Some may never even show it.  We never know what the power of our words are, until they break the wrong person.  I don't believe that OG was effected negatively by his Wow mates and experience from the reading of the letter.  I feel rather from the way writer reflected the GM talked to him, that Wow and his guild mates might have been a bright light in a difficult life.  I hope that this guild was a shelter to OG at times when he needed it, and it sounds like that they likely where.

   So, as you tip toe through Azeroth this week, think about your actions.  Are you a positive light in you fellow players lives? I know I haven't always been.  Being human there will probably be lots of times where I fall short after this again.  I do strive however to do my best to bring a positive experience to those around me.

Lag/Dizzty/Lazyeye