Friday, February 27, 2009

Twisted!



1. The twisted interview
If you were a piece of food found in Azeroth, what kind of food would that be? Please note the verb in this question: what food do I want to be, not serve. I was quite puzzled when Bre, one of the wonderful hosts of the Twisted Nether Blogcast, put it to me. I won’t spoil anything by telling you my answer on forehand. But I can tell you as much as that I didn’t settle for a sour goat cheese.

The interview was made a week ago and now you can hear it in episode 36 of TN. I haven’t yet assembled the courage to listen to myself yet, but I hope that they’ve cut me down a bit. I was surprised to see how much crap that came out of my mouth in an endless stream – I really ranted my heart away that night. I don’t know what came over me there, but I blame Bre – she’s just such a great person to run a conversation with – you never want to quit once you’ve started.

Anyway, it’s out in the ether, nether, whatever and there’s no return, no regrets. Thinking about those smart things you should have said is a bit pointless. So go ahead, download it if you want to hear the voice of your innkeeper and get to know me a little bit better. Don’t expect any insightful comments about the mage class. It’s rather the usual ramblings I’m serving.

2. The twisted gift
Talking to Bre felt kind of twisted. She isn’t an NPC, she exists for real! The other day I had similar twisted moment when I received a beautifully wrapped package from Japan. It looked just as exotic as you could imagine, with those strange signs all over the place and a paper with some Japanese flower pattern. Indeed it had taken a long journey, if not by caravans and ships, so not far from it. On the cover my name was printed, with the addition: “a.k.a. Larísa”. Then I knew.

This was a gift from a fellow blogger, the in every aspect awesome Ixobelle. A while ago I wrote something about how I wished that I was a bit better at the lore part of WoW and that I thought about reading some more Warcraft novels to improve my knowledge. Ixobelle noticed this and contacted me, offering me to take over a bunch of novels from his collection. He had read them and was happy to pass them on to someone else. The cost for sending the package probably was horrendous, but that didn’t bother him the slightest. I accepted his offer, but I had completely forgotten about it, so the books really took me by surprise when they turned up.

In one of the books was a handwritten note with a greeting from Ixobelle. I can assure you that he writes in a beautiful style, which really isn’t surprising. His posts often show signs of artistic talent, as when he presents ideas for new raid encounters.

Why did I find this package and the note so twisted? Well, It wasn’t only that it was sent from a land and a culture that I don’t quite understand (I imagine I would be quite as lost as Bill Murray was in Lost in Translation if I ever went there). I think it had to do with the fact that I had a piece of physical evidence of the existence of Ixobelle in the real world in my hand. Even though we only know each other in cyberspace, through our thoughts expressed as pixels, he is a person of flesh and blood just like me. If we only lived at the same continent it’s even possible that we could meet one day and have a beer, not in the Pink Pigtail Inn, but in a real pub. Through the book package we could at least pass a physical object from one hand to another. It’s really cool to think about it.

So thank you Ixobelle! You really made my day. I can’t wait to escape into Azeroth in offline mode.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very cool about the package! I've been reading more Warcraft novels lately and they are wonderful. Some of them are really giving me a deeper appreciation of the quests and zones and even NPCs. :)

Klepsacovic said...

This reminded me of a couple years back when I was chatting with a friend I'd met through WoW. My mom asked who I was talking with, I said someone I'd met online. Her response was: "oh, so not a real person." This annoyed me more than a little bit, but at the time I could think of no good response.

Now I thought of some of her old friends that she only sees every few years, or less often. Are they not real? Perhaps all us people online are just waiting for a few years or more to pass.

Your story gives me one more reason to love books. They're so strange, absolutely real objects, and yet filled so often with imaginations.

Kiryn said...

For me, my best friends ARE the people I know online, many of which I've never met in real life. Most of the friends I met in real life eventually lost contact with me, because I eventually realized we were only friends because we happened to sit next to each other in English class, but didn't actually have anything real in common.

I feel like I get to know someone's personality so much better online, and I always feel closer to my online friends than my offline ones.

It's so exciting, and yet very very weird, to take that step between online and offline friendship. Even a little glimmer of trust through exchange of real-world contact information can be special.

Anonymous said...

I'm listening to your interview right now and it's great :D You rant away, I could listen all day!

Anonymous said...

The interview was awesome - I really enjoyed listening, and it reminded me I really should reply to my own commenters more often! Oops...

Anonymous said...

While I can probably guess that the blogcast only puts on successful bloggers, and seeing how I just got going yesterday I doubt I'll be on for a while. The goal of getting on it however did prompt me to start writing.

Anonymous said...

I am in the middle of the Twisted Nether interview. So far so good!

And the novels I have yet to read yet-
going to soon I believe.
Just need to get myself to spend the money >.>

Klepsacovic said...

How dare you not like a paladin!? :P

You're very good at being interviewed. I loved your leveling story. It took me a few seconds to realize, who is the red man following you?

I must admit, I'm a little bit jealous.

Anonymous said...

@Syrana: Indeed! It adds another dimension to the game. Killing those dragons knowing the story about them is a different thing.

@Klepsacovic: books ARE amazin things. So simple and cheap, with no need for electricity and upstart processes, and yet they contain a whole world.

Oh about paladins - I don't dislike them, it was just too complicated as a starter char to mee. But I still don't like the looks of my female human pala. Too big, too clumsy and with a stupid expression in her face. Maybe I was just poor at making the right choices in the creation process.

@Kiryn: Well you do get to know people at a different level online than you do in real life. I think it helps a lot not being distracted by superficial aspects as looks.

@Hulan & Faulsey: thanks!

@Tristan Johnson: well they do almost one show a week and then the roundup tables so quite a few bloggers will be in the show eventually. Don't forget that you can send them voice mails and jingles and get into it that way too.

@Theawákening: Well, the novels aren't exactly big literature but they've got a value anyway, making the WoW experience better.

Kromus said...

You have a writing style i really enjoy- really intresting outlook i cant explain; its fresh to me, and one of which i enjoyed so much i made an account just to comment :).
(Ok, so i didnt know you didnt need account to comment, but worth the sign up!).

I enjoyed your interview and enjoyed listening to the podcast alot, the convasation seemed very very genuine, and your "stream of talking" was all constructive and intresting, and i totally understand why your shy to listen to it, i hate my voice too ;).

I'll keep reading i think, its intresting seeing your outlook :).

Rich said...

I actually get a kick out of mixing the two lives we lead. Being out in Japan, I missed a big guild gathering a few years back from the main guild I've been with... but the photos posted online by the people that went, and the fact they all jumped on vent from one account "at the place" made it awesome. So i *was* there, I guess, after all..?

I love sending real mail, too, and especially packages. Everyone loves to get something cool in the mail, and it doesn't need to be something new. I sent an old motherboard and video card to a guildie, and a sound card to another who always sounded horrible in vent. i upgrade my rig a lot, and having them sit in a closet was doing none of us any good.

anyway, glad they made it intact, enjoy! ;)

Anonymous said...

I listened... I liked...
but then,
I read... I like...
Guess you could say I am a little biased...

Anonymous said...

@Kromus: thank you very much! You don't need an account to comment, I even allow anonymous comments. But I'm glad you've started one... I'm just waiting for your first blogpost to appear. :)


@Ixobelle: I used to write a lot of real letters. Now I feel that I miss a bit of it. Of course e-mail is convenient and superior in many ways but there is a physic, sensational dimension that you miss out.

@Gnomeaggedon: I'm very biased when it comes to you too. The gnomes for the gnomes! Gnomer and out!

Anonymous said...

I just listened to TNB (i'm slow, i know) and I really enjoy it! It's one few episode that I'd like to go back to listen again. I love your story about your pally. Everyone have their noob moments lol!

Anonymous said...

@thelyse: thank you so much! I checked up on your blog, you fancy pink pigtails too! (However slightly shorter). Cheers for such guests!

Sydera said...

Hi Larisa! I'm a first-time visitor to your blog, but I've seen your comments around other places. I listened to the podcast and I thought you did a great job. What you said about taking care of your blog readers and responding to their comments was really inspiring! That's something that all WoW bloggers should aspire to.

I'll be dropping by the Pink Pigtail Inn on a regular basis now :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Sydara and thank you for your kind words!

It's great to hear that you're one of the guests and I hope you'll find something on our menu that you'll enjoy.

By the way, I'm one of your readers (of course) and I really like your writings, even though I'm not a healer myself.