First Raid and Odds 'n Sods

Evening, Sunday, February 2, 2014.  While I was fishing at Olivia's Pond with Orangey C, Vier came back on Vent  and asked me if I wanted to join her raid group that night.

I should have said no.  I had already spent six and a half hours in-game that day, my daily limit is two hours, and I should have said no.  Of course I said "Yes Please!"

She was going to check with her team to ask if it would be OK if I watched, if she could get her "livestream" going.  The plan was that I would listen, not talk, on Vent while simultaneously watching her live stream of her computer screen.

It was a genius set-up.  The quality of the video wasn't the greatest, but it was good enough when it was live and moving to get a general sense of what was going on.

Without looking at the screenshots or reviewing the emails, this is what is in my memory of that night.  Male female ratio of the raid group was 7:3, only because one gal subbed in for a regular who was AWOL.

They seemed to be a very convivial group.  There was a lot of time confusion given that the server was just joined with another a few days previous and the server time changed.  It was also the night of the Super Bowl in the USA.  Come to think of it, I don't know the nationalities of the team members, I wonder how many are Canadian like us?

Gathering Before The Raid

Seems no one wants to be a healer and Dan was finally convinced to come in with his healing 'toon once all the DPS [fighters] slots were filled.  Once they decided they were ready, the mood change abruptly.

All became serious and the guy leading struck me as very professional.  I was in awe.  They did ready checks, a brief, very brief, run-through of the plan and we were off.

The first room was a segmented circle with a column of water in the center.  Apparently one pie wedge per team member and how bad can a column of water be?  Holy Shit!

All hell broke loose, there was water and explosion-type things happening and dead silence on vent!

This shot is labeled raid2

They took a short break, then went into a second room.  The details of which I'm hazy on.

This shot is labeled "second room"

I remember a room that had a beam that would sweep around the room occasionally and everyone would scatter.  I remember a room with golden orbs released intermittently and each team member was assigned to "get" a certain orb.

"Third Room"

I remember wondering how they knew who's orb was who's and what they were supposed to do to "get" it?  Click on it?  And do what with it?  I also got very tense a few times when it looked like an orb was going to sail off the edge of the room.

That was the extent of the conversation in the first rooms - calling out who's orb it was, someone saying they couldn't get the orb, someone else saying they'd get the orb.  And constant big movements, crowds of mobs, flurries of activites.

Because I was watching from Vier's point of view, I remember seeing her check into her email quickly a couple of times and I guessed she had sent me a mail and was waiting for a reply. She had asked me how I was doing and I told her I was scared and amazed that they were so silent on vent!  She emailed back to wait for the next room, then I'd hear a lot of talking.

From Vier's blog post last week, I understand that there were 4 separate rooms and that they wiped on one.  I was not aware of that at the time.

This screenshot is labeled "raid 4"

I do remember that when they were going into the last room, the leader asked if Subbing Gal if she was familiar with the Boss? Then he went on to explain what was to happen and what was expected of her.  He spoke many words in the English language and I don't have a rat's ass clue what he was saying was going to happen or what she was expected to do!

It was very exciting, great fun to watch, I'd love to watch again, I don't think I'll ever be ready to participate though!


Emails between Vier and Noritam during raid night: Feb 2 (7 days ago)

from Noritam -- fyi this is what i'm seeing
above screenshot "Gathering Before The Raid"

from Vier -- ok k

from Vier -- you still good?

from Noritam -- shittin' my pants!

from Noritam -- I figured you sent me a mail when I saw the livestream ck email a couple of quick times. I thought you'd be talking more, you guys are too cool for school.

from Vier -- just wait til this boss, there's lots of talking in this one lol

from Noritam -- 'k! lol

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Odds 'n Sods

Little quirks I've discovered about WoW while researching  ... ...
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Before her gear transmorg, Vier's most often brought along pet was Alphonse.  I learned that Alphonse is a "Spectral Porcupine - green".

http://www.wowhead.com/pet=46#gallery
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A Steamy Romance Novel

from a commenter "... the Steamy Romance Novel is such a stimulating read, enough to cause a discussion over Japanese grammar"

You can read the novels at these links [no need to even be a WoW Player - just click through the Content boxes].

The Original - http://www.wowhead.com/item=29571

Forbidden Love - http://www.wowhead.com/item=37467

Blue Moon - http://www.wowhead.com/item=54291/a-steamy-romance-novel-blue-moon

Big Brass Bombs - http://www.wowhead.com/item=63271

Northern Exposure - http://ptr.wowhead.com/item=46023

Hot and Misty - http://www.wowhead.com/item=87530
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Well Poop! - http://www.wowhead.com/guide=1966
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As I type, we're trying out a different streaming outfit, see if we can get some higher quality video for tonight's raid.  I'll try to pay better attention and take better notes, and well, blog about it before seven days pass!  I'll try. It's been a long day already. LOL

Nor.