The New Year Reset

So it’s New Year’s Eve tonight. And thinking aloud, I want to throw out a question:

Isn’t this day the pinnacle of broken dreams and lost illusions?

The expectations are so huge. While it’s perfectly OK to have a less-than-exhilarating Christmas, spent on your own or with family members who’d all rather be somewhere else, New Year is quite the opposite.

You should be with your friends at a huge crazy party where everyone drinks floods of champagne and laughs all night long - pleasantly dizzy but never embarrassingly drunk. As the bells start ringing at midnight you lose yourself in a soft and sparkling kiss with the love of your life (or at a minimum a wonderful flirt of the evening.)

In reality it’s never as fun as it is on TV. It’s more like a cruel reminder that yet another year has passed of your life, and what did you do of it? Where did all the dreams and promises go?

I don’t think you see as much faked happiness and as much true and honest loneliness as you do at New Year.

But for all the bitterness it carries, there’s still something about it that I love. The fireworks. As you might now, enjoying some fireworks after eating a chocolate cake in WoW is one of my guilty pleasures. And you can only imagine how childishly enthusiastic I am about them in real life. Of course it’s a complete waste of money and effort, the ultimate sandcastle, an instant flash of beauty, lost and gone within a few seconds, only leaving a fading trail in our memories. But it’s one of the aspects of what it means to be human.

A reset
New Year is also something of a reset, resembling to the release of a new WoW expansion or at least a content patch. Your calendar has still some empty spots; nothing is set in stone. This is the time and place to make those decisions you’ve been pondering on. Maybe level up some new skill, explore a new zone of the world or even go through a complete remake of yourself, going from a forsaken to a gnome – or the opposite way. Even if the timeline is a theoretical construction and not a physical fact, the impact is undeniable.

The world is reset, and if the American dream that “anything is possible if you just try hard enough” actually is a bit of a lie, it’s still true that many of us only use a fraction of our full potential. All dreams can’t come true. But some can. And New Year reminds us of that.

I don’t think I’ve ever given any New Year solution. Or if I have, it wasn’t serious enough for me to remember it afterwards, so I reckon I broke it pretty quickly.

Oh, or wait. I actually did write down a couple of WoW related New Year's resolutions two years ago. My compliance with them has admittedly been so and so. But it’s a good reminder to glance over them again. The order in my bags and bank could be better, can’t it always? However it’s not completely out of control, in the sense that I have some space. I still don’t charge for mage portals, but if someone asks me about the fee, my reply is “what you think it is worth to you”. I still know how to do the Heigan dance! I don’t think you’ll ever forget it once you know the steps.

Most important though is my promise to see to that I keep having fun playing WoW. This means following my heart rather than the crowd, making sure the game doesn’t turn into a job rather than entertainment.

Spending the night
There are many ways to spend New Year. I will spend it 30 k feet up in the air homeward bound, crossing a number of time zones. If I wanted to I could have a reason to drink champagne throughout the whole night. It's the New Year that never ends.

Some of you will spend it with friends and for a few of you it will be a blast and a new beginning of something, possibly a romance. For others it will be a night of disappointment.

Perhaps a few of you will spend New Year in Azeroth. And if you do, don’t feel awkward or ashamed about it. If you’re with friends, having fun, you’re probably way better of than many of those who celebrate New Year in a more conventional way.

Regardless of what you’ll do, I hope you’ll have a great night, where expectations and reality somehow end up at the same level.

Now please head over to the bar disk, have a glass of free champagne and join me in a toast!

Happy New Year!

Christmas smorgasbord alert in Azeroth

Have you noticed how few boars there are around in WoW these days? Or maybe there are a few of them that have escaped Deathwing’s massacre, but you certainly don’t run around and kill them as frequently as you used to do back in the days. And I wonder what this will mean to the Christmas celebrations.

At least in Northrend, which is supposed to be heavily influenced by Scandinavia, this could be an issue. There isn’t very much Christ in our Christmas, there never was. It’s still a Midwinter blot in disguise, where we oblige to our ancient desire for meat, making oversized smorgasboards. A huge Christmas ham http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julskinka is mandatory, and it’s usually accompanied by all sorts of sausages, meatballs, ribs and other animal body parts.

To be honest, I’d rather call it brutal, bordering to disgusting, than tasty. However it’s a part of our heritage. You can’t be serious leaving those Vikings at Howling Fjord starving while boars happily walk around in Azeroth at full health. What are they supposed to eat in its place? Gold clover?

I think I see a pattern though. I suppose you haven’t missed that Vashj’ir, is entirely under water, teaming with all sorts of life including shellfish. And you might also know that Blizzard’s European office is situated in France. Now, you may not know it, but in France you don’t eat ham for Christmas. They’re far more sophisticated than the pagan descendents from the Vikings. As far as I’ve been told you’re more likely to have oysters and Champagne. Yep. That’s what I’d call a stylish Christmas!

You see the connection?

No more pigs to kill. It’s time to collect oysters for the French Christmas tables. It might not be in the game yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Blame the French influence! And you know where you heard it first.

Either you’re celebrating Christmas, some other festivity or nothing at all, I hope you’ll have a great weekend and that Greatfather Winter will bring you something nice, preferably a little more fun than the rifle from last year. I never saw the point of it. It still fills a lot in my bank, in case it will dawn upon me one day.

Here’s a toast for a Happy Winter Veil.

Cheers!

Call for nominations for The Pink Pigtail Inn list of 2010

Ladies and gentlemen, may I call for your attention?

I know your minds are currently blown away by the Cataclysm, but nevertheless I have a small request for a little bit of assistance. You can look at it as a piece of entertainment, something to keep you going while the activity in the blogopshere goes down due to the Christmas season.

For the third year in row, I'm going to put together The Pink Pigtail Inn list, where I appoint winners in a number of categories, covering different aspects of WoW and the WoW community. during the past year. And just like I did 2009, I'm asking for your assistance to refresh my memory.

Who do you think should win those categories, and for what reason? Suggest your favorites for one or several categories, as many as you like. You can write it in a comment to this post, or send an e-mail to larisascorner at gmail dot com. If you're a blogger you're free to put up a post about it, just make sure that I see it by leaving a comment or sending me a note.

The rules

First of all: here are the rules:

• You can nominate almost anyone including yourself. But you can't nominate Larísa or The Pink Pigtail Inn for obvious reasons. And you can't nominate someone who previously has received the award for the same category. (Another category is OK). The reason is that I want to share the love a bit. It makes it more fun for everyone.
  
• The list is intended to focus on 2010. Cataclysm arrived at the very end of the year, however I've decided that Cataclysm content will be ruled out from this list since there has been so little time to experience and evaluate the new content. You can nominate anything that arrived before the Shattering patch. It's OK to nominate content that was released in 2009 since 2010 was a rather thin year when it comes to new tabards, pets, instances etc.
• You can suggest a completely new category and nominate a candidate for it. I might like it so much that I'll pick it up.
• The jury consists of Larísa. My decision will definitely be inspired by your suggestions, especially if they come with good arguments. But it's not a popularity contest where the one with the most votes automatically will win. And no, I don't take bribes.
• The prize for the category winners is the same as always: fame and honor, a special seat at The Pink Pigtail Inn and a virtual toast. If the winners want to design some kind of badge to decorate their blog, they're free to do so. But as far as I'm concerned, all I give out is my love and admiration.
  
• You can keep nominating until I've announced the list, which won't happen until I'm back from my trip, in the beginning of January.
  

The categories
And now over to the categories. Under each one I've listed the winners from previous years, who accordingly can't be nominated again. In a couple of cases I've already decided to change the name of the category slightly to make it a little wider.

1. Best raid instance

2009: Ulduar
2008: Zul Aman

2. Least successful raid instance

2009: Eye of Eternity
2008: Sunwell

3. Most longed for instance

2009: Ulduar
2008: Magisters Terrace

4. Silliest gold sink

2009: The Dun Niffelem Mammoths
2008: Gold Eterium Band

5. Biggest addition to the game

2009: Dual spec
2008: Achievements

6. Best quest

2009:The Quel'delar chain
2008: The Wrathgate quest chain

7. Ugliest tabard

2009:Wyrmrest Accord
2008: Competitor’s Tabard

8. Favorite non combat pet

2009: Onyxia Whelpling
2008: The Phoenix Hatchling

9. Biggest community controversy

Comment: Renamed from "Most juicy guild drama". I decided to make the category wider. Please not that there's a special category for the hottest blog topic.

2009: The Martin Fury incident
2008: The merging of SK Gaming and Nihilum into Ensidia

10. Most charming Blizzard employee

2009: Patric Beja
2008: Ghostcrawler

11. Best podcast

2009: Blue Plz!
2008: Twisted Nether

12. Biggest blog facelift

2009: Righteous Orbs
2008: World of Matticus

13. Most memorable blog post

2009: Archetypes of the Female Gamer, revisited
2008: Noob world reorder

14. Most noticed blogger breakthrough

2009: Greedy Goblin
2008: Chick GM

15.Most solid content provider

2009: Welcome to Spinksville
2008: Tobold’s

16. Most hugged blogger

2009: Phaelia and BRK
2008: Big Bear Butt

17. Hottest blogosphere topic

Comment: The category is renamed from "Blog drama of the year" to make it a little wider.

2009: The Ferraro debacle
2008: N/A

18. Best writer

2009: Tamarind at Righteous Orbs
2008: N/A

And that was the list. Now please go ahead make your voice heard! I'm looking forward to the input.

A letter from the Time vault

My dear guests!

This is your innkeeper Larísa speaking, bringing a message from the future. Or the past. Whatever.

I always get a strange feeling when I prewrite blogposts for delayed publication as I’m off for holidays. It makes me think of Hari Seldon, the future predicting guru in one of the big reading experiences of my childhood, Foundation. You know the guy who every now and then makes a magical appearance as a projection in the time vault, demonstrating how he new everything in advance. Or maybe not.

Like it or not, there are things in the world that are beyond our control. Aircrafts can crash. (Even if it’s a lot less likely than that the car crashes on the way to the airport.) Servers can go down, wiping PPI from the world. And WoW could theoretically cease to exist (even if it seems rather unlikely at this very moment.) You just never know.

But provided that there won’t pop up an unpredictable pesky mutant, I predict that as you’re reading this post, you’ll find me strolling bare feet along a far distant shore as you read this. I’ll listen to the roar of the ocean rather than to the humming of a computer fan, I’ll fill my lungs with air rather than with dust and I’ll let my mind drift away to the stars rather than to Azeroth.

However, I haven’t left the inn to rot in the dust. As you might see, at least if you’re actually visiting the inn and not just reading it through a reader, I’ve hired someone who will keep an eye on the place in my absence, namely Tamarind of Righteous Orbs. He has promised to do some dusting and refilling of the kegs, and I think he scare away a troll or two if needed as well. If you notice anything weird going on at the inn, just send him a heads-up to morewitthanhonestyatgmaildotcom. I’ve trusted him with the keys.

I have put up a couple of posts for my absence. Nothing special, just a little greeting here and there and something to keep you occupied in case you run out of things to do. (Hm… wonder what that could be? I’ll give you a clue: it’s a PPI tradition!)

I’ll be back in January, probably tanned, but also quite clueless about anything WoW. From previous experiences of taking a break from WoW, I know that it only takes me a few days to completely forget about how to gear, what spells to cast or even how to move my character and use the camera properly. My muscle memory seems to have the span of five days as a maximum.

And that’s about it I think. I’ve filled my bags with books and left any electronic device at home. It’s time to unplug, which probably isn't a day too early.

Here's what I'd like you to do while I'm away:

• Be nice to Tam.
• Take care of each other.
• Have fun.
  

See you on the other side of the New Year!

Hugs

Larísa

I dinged 85 and went straight to Naxx

So, I reached 85 the other night. The first thing I did was to train my new mage toy, the godsend Time Warp. Of course. But do you know what I did next?

I went straight to Naxxramas. Yes, the same old pyramid that has been hanging over Northrend the last two years. It hasn’t’ been tweaked or upgraded, there isn’t any new surprise boss in there. And yet, there I found myself at a date with Patchwerk.

How come? Well, it turned out that it was the weekly raid quest. And you might not be aware of it, but that quest gives a decent 138 justice points for just a couple of minutes of effort. Not bad for a point- and gear-thirsty freshly dinged 85. It felt weird to say the least, and in a couple of weeks I don’t think it would be worth it. But as it is now, it’s not bad. After all a normal LFD dungeon only gives you half of it.

Talking about patchwork, with an “o”, that is what this post will be: some random observations about Cataclysm that I wanted to share before I take a break from Azeroth for a couple of weeks.

Item level – the new Gearscore?
There have been a couple of things that have been bubbling around in my mind. One is the issue of Item level. I’ve never been obsessing over Gearscore before, but I find myself way more interested in the average item level number that Blizzard provides you with in game. I learned that I needed to reach 329 to be let into a heroic instance and suddenly that became a goal per se. I looked for whatever upgrade I could get – through justice points or at AH and then I equipped it and waited eagerly to see if my average level had raised enough to reach the magical number. “Oh, noes, only 328, bugger! I need something more”

I wouldn’t go as far as to equip a completely irrelevant, useless item just because it has a higher level number, in order to play tricks on the system. But can certainly see the temptation.

I wonder if this development is for the good. We’ve discussed the pros and cons of Gearscore to death, and I’ve heard several commenters saying that you certainly need a simple evaluation tool, but that Gearscore is too dumb to make the work properly. In its place they recommend more advanced addons such as Elitist group. However, with the arrival and emphasis on item level, Blizzard might take us in a different direction. It’s way dumber for sorting purposes than Gearscore, since it doesn’t say anything about the usefulness of the gear or whether you’ve done anything about it, using enchants or gems. However, I’ve already seen it in practice as someone was announcing in /2, looking for a group to make some dungeon achievements. The requirement to join the group was to have an average gear level of 340 or more. It remains to see if this was a unique event or a beginning of an unfortunate trend.

A Very Manly Staff
While we’re talking about gear I have to mention the Very Manly Staff that I got from the new ring of blood-quest in Twilight Highlands. I’ve had a lot of weapons over the years, and I don’t remember anything about most of them. They all look the same to me; there are only so many ways you can design a gnome dagger. But this weapon will no doubt become one of those that stick in my memory. It can’t be missed.

For one thing, it’s huge. Especially on a gnome. I’ve always thought that my mage has some kind of back problem, since she’s sort of crouching as she runs. Now I know why. I would have that too if I was supposed to carry around such a burden. Oversized? Yep, you bet.

The second feature is that it moves. It’s got some kind of mechanism with spikes that randomly are folded in and out for no apparent reason.

And then there’s this name. Very Manly Staff. I don’t know exactly what it is in it that makes it so manly, but I suspect that the devs just wanted to bring the e-peen measuring to a new level with a wry smile. So far I haven’t noticed any beard growth or other changes to Larísa. Well, apart from that bad back then.

Just looking at the staff makes me a little giddy. There’s something irresistible about a pink pigtailed gnome running around with a Very Manly Staff, as if she was showing the finger to players who think that only a Big Bad Guy can kill a Big Bad Monster. Or carry a Very Manly Staff.

Painful quest
If you think about getting it for yourself, I recommend you strongly to not try it at anywhere near peak time on your server. I’m on a PvE server myself, but the competition around the quest giver, buried under a mountain of mounted players, was so fierce that it felt more like PvP. Some players amused themselves (or was stupid enough to not know better) by snatching the target from other groups who just had started the event. This resulted in repeatedly failed quests and prolonged waiting times – for everyone. If people would just have queued up nicely and taken the quests in order, it would have gone ten times quicker. But WoW players just don’t do that, unless they’re technically forced into a queue like when they’re logging in.

So to put it shortly: this quest is currently a pain in the ass unless you do it at 6 am in the morning. And I think Blizzard should think it over, if they couldn’t put it up somehow differently, through phasing, instancing or some other solution.

Raiding 5-mans
And a final note: I’ve dipped my toe into my first heroic dungeon. It felt like a raid. A raid where I’m constantly active – sheeping, throwing orbs, putting up rings of frost, counterspelling, decursing, you name it.

It was long time since it was as fun to play a mage. I lost count on how many corpse runs I did. But I did them with a smile.

Edit: Tarnop pointed out in a comment that the Manly staff probably is named after a player in Elitist Jerks called - yes, you guessed it - Manly! If you check out his armory he's currently wearing it, even though I don't doubt that it soon will be upgraded. Thanks for the heads-up!

The moving walkway

First of all: I’m having a blast as I’m questing my way through the new zones of Cataclysm. There’s so much to love – so much beauty, so much imagination, so many new and thrilling quests, especially in my current zone Uldum, which has blown me away on several occasions.

So don’t get me wrong. What I’ve seen of Cataclysm so far has lived up – or even exceeded – the somewhat crazy expectations that have been built up ever since the announcement at Blizzcon 2009. But I have a little thought of doubt: hasn’t the questing in WoW become just a little bit too streamlined?

Following the pathways
Everywhere I go, I see players following the pathway that Blizzard has put out for us. Strictly speaking I reckon I could deviate from it. It’s not like when you’re hiking in one of those heavily populated nature reserves where you’re more or less forced to follow the assigned trail to preserve the surrounding grounds. But in practice this won’t happen. The quests are supposed to be done in a certain order; one thing leads to another, moving between phases. Woe the player who dares to break the quest chain! No more quests for you, ungrateful scum! Leave the trail and you’ll be condemned to trash grinding your way to 85 killing nothing but murlocs.

Every now and then, without previous notice, the screen goes black and I’m suddenly thrown into a mini cinematic of some sort. And this adds to the feeling of linearity. It’s even more linear than the experience of reading a book or seeing a movie. When you’re consuming something in those media, you can always go back. You can replay the scene you came to think about on your dvd or you can go back and look at the previous chapter if you get lost in the novel. WoW is much less forgiving. If you get distracted in some way, you’ve missed it.

A moving walkway
Over and over again an image pops up in my head: the image of the moving walkway in the room where they keep the royal jewels at The Tower of London. The only way you can see them is by standing on that walkway, and it passes those jewels at set, nonnegotiable pace.

You blinked as you passed? Your toddler came by as the quest cinematic was running? You got a phone call and didn’t see that scene where Harrison swings around in his rope on the giant statues? Too bad for you, but the conveyor band has moved passed the jewels and the exit is there. You’ve completed the quest, here's your reward! (Which on a side note feels rather bizarr - why are we rewarded for doing nothing but staring at our screen, drinking coffee?) What are you waiting for? Hurry up, step into the next rollercoaster ride! Want to see it again? Sorry, mate. Roll an alt or check YouTube. You're in a different phase now and the ride only goes in one direction.

Who’s driving?
Tam asked: “Who’s driving this story?” and my answer is simple: it certainly isn’t me. I feel like a marionette doll, secured in the threads under the rule of the designers, in a way that I’ve never ever felt before.

I remember how I back in the days sometimes used Jame’s levelling guides, with mixed feelings. It was efficient levelling on one hand, but it took away a bit of the “a virtual world to explore” feeling from the game. It quickly became a threadmill, with a tunnel vision focus on the XP/hour rate, rather than on the thrill of adventure and uncertainty.

The last few years Blizzard has taken WoW in a direction where the guides and quest addons aren’t needed anymore. It’s all built into the UI, showing where to go and what to do next, and into the pipeline quest design. The tendency started in Wrath, but Cataclysm takes it up to the next level.

I reckon it’s my lack of experience from other games that makes me react against it. Maybe this is the way that stories normally are told in games?

I’ve become used to – and fond of - Blizzard’s open-world-design. I know that some old school players sneer at it, thinking it’s more of a theme park for players that lack any kind of imagination of their own, than a sandbox where you can make anything happen.

The same meal
Until now I’ve always thought that the theme park accusations were unfair and that there were more player freedom and options than you’d think of at first sight. You could tweak your WoW experience into something different from everyone else’s. I didn’t have such a strong feeling that we’re all having the same standard hamburger meal as I get in Cataclysm.

It’s an awesome hamburger, the best one they’ve ever made. Shiny. Entertaining, full of surprises. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as curious, excited and involved as I’ve been exploring Uldum for instance. I’ve even started to read the quest texts for some reason, and this fact surely must be a sign of a huge improvement. Quest design taken at a new level!

Perhaps I just have to take the bad with the good. Maybe there isn’t any other way to make the design than by forcefully leading us through certain pipes?

Another thing to remember is that I haven’t yet dipped my toes into Archaeology. From what I’ve heard it might offer a counterweight to the streamline questing, giving the sense of freedom, exploration and individuality that rollercoaster rides somehow lack.

It’s too early to make the call what impact the changes to questing will have on us, too early to say if we’ll enjoy all those cinematics as much next time we bump into them, or if they’re just an annoyance, “been there, done that”.

But I can’t quite get the image of the walkway at The Tower of London out of my head. The thought is a little disturbing.

Perhaps it's there because it tells us something about our real lives. Am I living my life as if I was in a sandbox, a world of freedom and possibilities, where I'm in charge of myself? Or am I just idly standing there on the conveyor belt, waiting for the trip to end when Life is done with me?

The thought crosses my mind and I pick it up and look at it briefly, before I carefully put it back in my backhead again where it came from. Some things are too scary to give a full examination.

Some thoughts about wish lists – in WoW and elsewhere

Did you write any wish list for the season yet? Perhaps you’ve received one from a toddler in your neighbourhood? Or maybe you’ve forgotten about Grandfather Winter’s doings altogether, too wrapped up in the cataclysmic craziness to care?

I’ve reached the age when I dread the question on what I would like to get. I was asked about this recently, as I’ve got an incoming birthday, and my mind got absolutely blank. Or to be truthful: there was one wish that crossed my mind, but I hesitated to say it aloud. Since my birthday is in the weekend, I would love if I could spend a big chunk of the day playing World of Warcraft. It’s not something I’d normally wish for, but this year it’s a special situation, with Cataclysm just out of the oven, fresh and steaming hot. Just imagine being left alone for a while to enjoy it, no question asked, no negotiations, no need to explain anything.

Of course I didn’t say it aloud. I just mumbled something incoherently: “whatever” and “it doesn’t matter”. Age has that effect on you. I don’t really care much about my birthdays anymore, especially not from a gift perspective. I’m a grown-up with a steady income and if there’s something I know that I want, like a book, I’ll buy it, regardless of which day of the year it is. So wish lists are rather pointless.

I wouldn’t go as far as Gevlon does, who on several occasions has talked about his hatred for birthday celebrations, seeing them as the pinnacle of moronic social behaviour. If someone surprises me with a personal, well thought out gift, given out of love and consideration, rather than as an obligation, I will still be touched and appreciate the effort and gesture. But mandatory wish lists? They don’t appeal to me.

A WoW wish list
But let’s move along and bring in some WoW focus to this post. Have you ever made a WoW wish list?

In the podcast Twisted Nether, the hosts always ask their show guests: if you could wish for anything WoW related, what would that be?

Without any competition the most common answer is: to get a job at Blizzard. Actually this isn’t something I personally would wish for. From what I’ve heard, the working conditions in the game industry seem to be far from ideal. If I was to wish, I would rather like to get the opportunity to hang around in the Blizzard HQ:s as an intern for a week.

I’ve always been fascinated by the underlying machinery it takes to produce all sorts of items we surround ourselves with. As I grew up I was enchanted when they showed on TV how the process of putting together a toothbrush in a factory, from the beginning to the end.

What’s behind the curtains? What’s in the minds and on the agenda for the hundreds, not to say thousands of people involved in the creation of Azeroth? I’d love to sit like a butterfly on the wall, listening to what they talk about at their meetings and their lunch room, seeing the voice actors live or meeting the guys who spend their days designing trees and bushes, putting them into the right place.

Tear down the wall
Back to the WoW wish question. If you leave out working for or visiting Blizzard, you could also make a wish that was about game changes. If you were in power and could change one, but just one thing about the game, what would that be?

It’s a tricky one, isn’t it? If you ask me tomorrow, I’ll probably answer it differently than today. But OK, if you press me for a reply, what comes first to mind is this: I want Blizzard to once for all tear down the Berlin wall they’ve built between EU and US servers. Let us play wherever we want to, allow us to move our characters across the Atlantic at our own choice! If there’s a lag issue, the decision of how much we can put up with should be ours. I want to give my friend Gnomeageddon an in-game hug. Stop preventing me from doing that!

Haunted Memento
Then there’s of course a different, down-to-Earth way to answer the WoW wish list question. Some guests of TNB have wished for in-game items, such as Illidan’s warglaves and others want a Frostmourne replica to put on the wall or an orc statue for the garden.

I’ve never been much of an item gatherer myself, even though I admittedly have a weak spot for non combat pets. What I would like most of all though, is to get back my Haunted Memento. Somewhere on the way I lost it, probably when I cleared up my bank slots a bit carelessly and didn’t really look, thinking it was some old outworn neck piece. I miss my shadow and if someone could bring it back to me, I'd be very happy. I was always more than just a pink pigtailed Merrymaker.

What children wish for
This post is long as it is, but I won’t let you go quite yet. I have one more thing to share, not WoW related, but wish list related, namely a little piece of classic Swedish TV comedy from the mid 80s. The clip is in Swedish, so here’s a rough translation that I think will give you the jest of it.

Reporter:
So, Anna, if you could wish for anything in the world, what would you wish for?

Girl:
A doll!

Reporter:
Well… I mean like something bigger.

Girl:
A bicycle.

Reporter:
No… not a toy.

Girl:
A car.

Reporter:
No, not things, but something superimportant that all people on Earth want.

Girl:
Food!

Reporter:
No, food and food, I mean something that is important that you demonstrate for and that America and Russia are discussing, what is that?

Girl:
Money?

Reporter (increasingly annoyed):
Bah! Money and money, what the hell is that the only you think about, dolls, bicycles and money and food and such shitty stuff, what the fuck, think if there came a bunch of soldiers to your home and shot your mum and dad, would that be fun, would you like that?

Girl:
No

Reporter:
No, but what the hell is it then, what is it?

Girl:
War?

Reporter (exploding):
What the fuck are you stupid or something, that is not what you want, that is what you DON’T want, so what is it that you want?

Girl:
Peace?!

Reporter:
Yes, peace.

Reporter (turns, looking into the camera, finally pleased):
And that is what the Swedish children want most of all! Peace on Earth.

END

Friday night toast
And with those words I wish you a wonderful weekend, with dolls, peace or whatever you wish for.

Cheers!