Flashbacks and resolutions

It’s the last day of the year, time to make a summary of what has passed and to make resolutions for the future.

I try to remember what the game looked like to me a year ago, but my memory is a bit hazy, and there are no achievement records or blog posts to support my memory (this blog didn’t start until February 2008).

Guildlife and raiding
The first thing that comes into my mind is my guild. The guild I belong to has always been important to me. It’s my home and my family, it’s the starting point for everything I do in the game, actually it’s such a big part of what the game is to me, that it’s one of the major reasons why I play it at all.

This year I’ve gone through quite a lot guildwise. In the beginning of the year I went through a guild split, which was pretty painful at the time and I ended up making a server transfer. After that I’ve switched guilds twice, which is a little bit too often to make me comfortable.

Fortunately enough I now feel that I’ve found my home in the guild I joined during the summer. The guild is healthy and stable and there are no dark clouds on the horizon, so hopefully you’ll find me in the same guild if The Pink Pigtail Inn is still around next New Years Eve.

The second thing that I come to think of looking back is the raiding content. One year ago I had cleared Karazhan for the first time pretty recently, if I remember it right. Netherspite was the last one to go. I remember a couple of wipe nights before we could get the beams right. How odd it feels thinking about it now – were the beams really that complicated to handle?

One year ago I had never been in a raid with more than ten people. My ambition didn’t go any further than to see Gruul at lest once, to see what 25 man raiding was like. Little did I suspect that I’d end up clearing all raiding content in TBC except for Sunwell.

Guild life and raiding. Those are the things in the game that mean most to me. Even though I often say that I’m fond of Larísa, I must admit that I don’t think much about her doing this summary. Of course she’s geared, skilled and levelled up during this year, and she’s become friendly and honoured and exalted with obscure clans of creatures all over Azeroth. But so what? Dear Larísa, I’m sorry to tell you, but in the end you’re nothing more than a vehicle, the tool I use to enjoy the game. You’re not quite as irreplaceable as I used to believe. This insight has evolved over time, as I’ve come to understand the game and my relationship to it better.

The year to come
Now over to the looking-forward-part of this post. What are my expectations for the year to come?

Well, considering how great we did towards the end of TBC I’m looking forward to some really good 25 man raiding, beginning next week. The only thing that worries me is the performance of my computer. It’s doing OK in the current 10 man raids, but the lag in Dalaran is bad, and when I joined a 25 man pug in Vault of Archavon, I found it quite hard to perform well, since my fps was too low. If this continues I don’t know what to do. Possibly I could turn in the computer once again, perhaps putting some more RAM into it. But I know my family would find it quite incomprehensible since the PC in their eyes is pretty new and top-notch. Just thinking about it gives me a pain in my stomach. Suggesting buying a new gaming PC is out of the question. Not because we can’t afford it, but because I’m the only one that wants it. This issue needs to be solved and I don’t know yet how to do it. If I’ll ever stop playing, it will probably be because of this.

So do I have any resolutions? I’ve never been much of a resolution maker for New Year, making promises to quit smoking, loosing weight or whatever. I normally keep my mouth shut when it comes to that part. But let’s give it a try, just for the fun of it.

• In 2009 I’ll start charging strangers for portals. I have no reason whatsoever to spend my time and money on consumables to be their taxi driver all over the world.
• I’m going to learn the Heigan dance well enough to survive it.
• I will get my bank and bags in better order. The first step is to stop jamming it. I’ll stop keeping tons of junk there “just in case”. The starting point will be a big sellout at AH, and after that I’ll ALWAYS see to that I have at least 10 empty slots in the bank so I easily can clear my bags if I’m in a hurry and don’t have time to make decisions about what to do with items.
• I shall prioritize my sleeping better than before. This means cutting down a bit on my nightly gaming. I’m so tired at those hours that I’m not efficient anyway. It’s ok in the weekends, but normal weekdays I’ll quit my habit of playing after midnight.
• I will see to that I keep having fun. I’ll follow my heart rather than the crowd and make sure that the game never turns into a job instead of entertainment.

Now time has come to raise our glasses of sparkling wine and suggest a toast.

Happy New Year to all the guests of The Pink Pigtail Inn! May you live long and prosper!