While techniques and activities done during this personal day can and will vary from person to person, there's usually a general consensus that the time spent on the personal day was well worth any repercussions they may incur in the future for taking one.
As for me, my "personal day" can usually extend to a few days at a time. I'm currently having a "personal day" (it started yesterday) working on something, and I'm having fun.
And it's all because of things I've taken off the backburner. Oh, and sushi, too. Can't forget about sushi. =3
CURRENT MUSIC:
Zelda Reorchestrated - "Gerudo Valley"
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ~ The Complete Collection
Obviously I'm a big fan of video game music, but deep down inside (at least for the people in my age group), you have a bit of fondness for the stuff, too.
Deny it all you want, but when the music for a game you just loved playing when you were younger pops up somewhere, you brighten up.
Enter The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Now, if your household owned the Nintendo 64 (or if you were over a lot at a friend'd house who did), there's a very likely chance this excellent game was in their library.
"Gerudo Valley" is probably one of the most memorable and serene pieces from Ocarina of Time's soundtrack, and it's an excellent thing to play for long drives near the middle of somewhere scenic (or near the middle of nowhere) or closing credits sequences.
Now, Zelda Reorchestrated is a website dedicated to making orchestra-sounding renditions of Zelda games - Ocarina of Time included.
They do a marvelous job of it - and they offer their work to the public!
If you're a fan of the Legend of Zelda series' music, then I suggest you check them out!
Hey, everyone. It's a nice Friday off for me (a first, really), and for some reason I find myself thrown off and imbalanced despite the relative serenity surrounding me.
Could be because I'm so used to working on a Friday that it's got me worked up for work... even though I'm not scheduled.
*shrugs and walks off the set, getting sushi in the meantime for about two hours, walking back afterward*
...aaaaaaaand while I let this sushi digest... I'll go ahead and talk.
(Author's Note: There wasn't a three-hour nap here. None whatsoever.)
(Author's Note: The following entry for today will delve heavily into things related to World of Warcraft. I say this now because I know a good portion of people don't play, and I wish to warn them if the famed MMORPG isn't their cup of tea. However, I will also be touching on some more issues while I talk about this stuff, so maybe you shouldn't skim. If you do decide to read on, not only do you have my thanks, but you'll also see things get boiled down so that you'll get what I'm talking about - even if you don't play the game.)
So yesterday night I started playing someone on World of Warcraft that I thought I'd never touch again: Gefallen, my Human Rogue on US-Tichondrius. While non-WoW players would say something like "cool story, bro" or the like, actual players who know my WoW gaming history would probably look upon this entry in shock - I declared Gefallen "dead and retired" months ago, so why was I reviving him? To understand that, one would have to know a decent amount of expository backstory...
I'm going to be honest: there was a time where I acted a bit derisively when I heard someone mention World of Warcraft. Matter-of-fact: I was one of those poor, blind fools that I hate - the kind of people who think negatively about every single thing they come across and shoot down anything/anyone without giving it/them a chance. (Hell, I still am like that - but I think I toned it down somewhat. ...don't give me that look.)
Digression aside, it took me a while to go from "WoW is for chumps with no lives" to "WoW actually looks like a pretty decent game" to "I think I actually want to try WoW!"
So at the behest of one of my good friends, I gave in and joined the WoW community around the end of May 2009*. I was over at his house with my laptop as I had the installer going, looking at the classes and seeing what I would want as he advised me on the basics.
When WoW finally finished its setup, I was given a trial account via Recruit-a-Friend and I logged into Azeroth for my very first time.
Now, if anyone knows my gaming style, I'm the kind of player who isn't afraid to get down and dirty (unless the tactics call for otherwise). Fast-paced action, close-quarters encounters, and striking before the enemy got a chance to strike back - it describes it in a nutshell. At the same time, though, I picked my battles.
In first-person shooters, this usually meant I was in a "scout" sort of role - I'd pick the lighter, faster weapons (usually submachine guns) and would often blitz the enemy in a fashion that kept me (mostly) intact. In strategy games, I usually go with the mobile infantry option - or lightly armored vehicles - as my mainstay army. With role-playing games, agility/speed/haste/"whatever the game called it" was a main stat I would usually invest heavily in. If the game let me pick a class, I'd always go with the lightly-armored, quick-striking specialist.
With all that in mind, one can easily guess what my first character was. If you guessed "Rogue," then you're absolutely right - a Blood Elf Rogue named "Prymous" on US-Maelstrom.
Now, the WoW-knowledgeable are probably wondering my reasons for picking Blood Elf as my race.
It wasn't because I thought the other races were ugly-looking or too plain or anything else involving aesthetics.
It also wasn't because I was thinking strategically with the racial bonuses** or anything.
And it most certainly wasn't because I favored the Horde. (For the Alliance!)
It was simply because my friend rolled a Blood Elf Priest and wanted me to join him in the starting zone and smack stuff for him while he healed me.
While I slowly learned how the game worked, I began experimenting with other classes and races. I couldn't quite grasp the concept of mana usage (early experiments with the magically-adept classes like the Mage or Warlock ended with early death), and for some reason I felt that other melee-based classes (such as the Warrior or Paladin) were... slow. I kept coming back to the nimble Rogue, but I didn't feel like playing as a Blood Elf.
Then my friends at work heard that I started playing, and some of them told me they played on another server (US-Tichondrius) on the Alliance.
So, mirroring Prymous, I created a Human Rogue who would come to be known as Gefallen.
That was then... almost two years ago. Creepy when you think about how much time has passed, really...
Anyway, back to the present. Or something close...
Back in October 2010, when Blizzard began updating its servers for the then-upcoming Cataclysm expansion, they released Patch 4.0.1, which greatly overhauled virtually every ability and talent that existed in-game. At the time, Gef was my first and only character I had that was at the (then) level cap of 80, and I loved playing on him. However, 4.0.1's changes greatly interfered with my play style and frustrated me when I spent hours trying to figure out how to rework his talent trees to no avail***. Finding myself defeated, I gave up and worked on another character on a different server - Chariselle, my Lv85 Blood Elf Paladin on US-Ravenholdt.
One night earlier this week (or last week... lately I've been sporadic with my WoW time), I found myself utterly bored with playing. The reasons are varied and somewhat riddled with catch-22s, but it can all be boiled down to stagnancy.
Sure, playing on Chariselle was fun - I was slowly getting back to roleplaying and getting my Blacksmithing near max, but... that was it.
I logged off my Paladin that night and looked at the list of characters I made - and I found myself looking over at US-Tichondrius' list.
I spotted Gefallen and remembered how much work I put on him. How he was my very first character to hit Lv80... how I had so much fun destroying other players on PvP battlegrounds... how I worked tirelessly to hone and perfect his customized build so that I destroyed anyone I came across**** and showed up every single cookie-cutter Rogue at the time (Mutilate/Prep players: I'm looking at you).
So, last night, after getting bored playing on Chariselle, I went off and - for the first time in months - logged onto Gefallen, hellbent on getting him to 85.
I'm at Lv81 so far. Squee.
* = Yes, I was a "Wrath" baby. No, I'm not one of those "Wrath" babies who bitched about how "hard" Cataclysm instances are. I grew up learning about the importance of crowd control, so I lived.
** = To those not knowledgeable in WoW gaming mechanics, each race has their own ability and passive traits they can take advantage of.
For instance, humans like Gefallen have "Every Man For Himself," which allows them to break out of anything that stuns, mind controls, snares or otherwise that prevent you from doing stuff. Blood Elves like Prymous get "Arcane Torrent," an ability that silences all enemies within range for a few seconds.
Like I said, I didn't really research racial traits and abilities, but when I look back, I think I made a good choice. Rogues are known for their numerous interrupts, incapacitates and stuns they have up their sleeves, so choosing Blood Elf was actually an innately good choice - had I leveled Prymous to 80, at least.
*** = Each class has their own "talent trees": a set of passive and active traits defining what your character can do. (To understand this footnote, please follow this link and read along.) These talent trees are divided into three specializations, or "specs," with two to four traits available to spread points amongst each one. Players start at the top row of the tree, and for every five points they place in that tree, the next row would become available to place points in. (I hope that makes sense.)
Originally, Wrath of the Lich King gave you a point starting at Lv10, giving a player 71 points to throw around once they were Lv80. The talent trees were also set so that one could place points wherever they preferred (as seen with my Rogue's previous spec), allowing players to fully customize and fashion their own "hybrid build."
With Cataclysm's 4.0.1 patch, they reworked all the talent trees and the accrual rate of talent points, making it so you earned a point at every odd level past Lv10 (along with the initial point at Lv10 and five points from Lv81-85), boiling down to 41 points. They also made it so that you had to pick a talent tree to place points in, and once picked, you had to throw 31 points into that tree before you can spread them anywhere else.
This utterly destroyed hybrid builds and made each player seem less unique and more "cookie-cutter," which brought out a great deal of debate amongst the WoW community.
**** = ...well, almost everyone. Frost Mages (the bane of all melee classes) non-Retribution Paladins (the Holy and Protection trees just laugh at damage) and the rarely-seen actually-good player trounced me. I never said I was the best...
So on that note, I'm going to go back and continue working on Gefallen. I'll catch y'all tomorrow!
You're actually pretty wrong about saying everyone is cookie cutter. The old 71 point system caused people to throw points in the same talents, many not very helpful, most builds were identical save 2-3 talents. The new system cuts off the fat, and after you put your 31 points in, you still have 25% of your points to customize -further-, rather then just using 10-15% of your points to customize. I have more freedom now then I did in wotlk where everyone had the same build save a few talents. Look at pvp builds, nearly everyone is different. Its a change for the best.
ReplyDeleteThis was Mike btw.
ReplyDelete