Leafshine: Lust for Flower

Brewfest for Space Goats

And that's Ularia, the space goat pally, fully kitted out in Brewfest gear. The Brewfest dresses are more flattering on Space Goats than on Night Elves, don't you think?

Beers, Sausages and Epic Trinkets: Brewfest!

It's that time of the year again! Yes, it's my favourite world event, Brewfest, at least for the next few days. And how could you not love a world event whose principal themes are beer and sausages.

I've got in the beers, fried up some sausages, and got ready for some serious ram racing, barking, boss farming and chucking-steins-at-Dark Irons. I really miss the Pink Elekk and Wolpertinger hunts from last years, and was suspicious that they'd be removed because they were the events that actually forced you to get drunk, but apparently it was just because of a bug, and they'll be back next year. So I can stop being a uspicious, if tipsy, Nelf.

However, the Dark Iron invasions are working like clockwork, and are by far my favourite part of the event at the moment. Characters of all levels, drinking anc hcuking steins at invading dawrves is just an insanely fun way to spend 10 minutes, especially as your screen gets more and more blurred the longe it goes on… Look out for the giant beer mugs that turn you into a drunken master for a few seconds.

I got Leafy her entire Brewfest outfit last year, including the pony keg, so this year, I'm just aiming for the Beer of the Month club, while working on getting some of my alts geared up. Pictures to follow.

However, last night we assembled a party of Ravens to head off to BRD and take down Coren Direbrew. Again. And Again. And Again. On our third kill, he dropped the Direbrew Hops, to make me a very happy Leafy. Just one piece of gear left to replace and I'm full Epic...

But I wasn't nearly as happy as Blayse, a gnome mage of my acquaintance:

Are You Ashamed of WoW?

I was reading my once-and-future guidie Psia's blog, when I came across this little admission:

And so I came to the clothing section. And here’s where I get to the nub of this post (I know, I take a long time to make a point!). I wasn’t prepared to buy any clothing because I am ashamed to publicly declare my love for the game. There, I said it. Ashamed of something that I spend hours on. That I enjoy in a social context with a lot of my friends.

Psia is ashamed of WoW? For shame!

Are you? I'm not.

Now, I wouldn't wear a WoW t-shirt, but that's not through any feeling of shame at being a WoW player - it's just because I think they look faintly ridiculous on a guy in his mid-30s. I don't wear t-shirts at all anymore - I'm strictly a shirt or structured top kinda guy. But, if I did, I'd more happily wear something like one of Phae's t-shirts, which are much less in your face about the WoW connection. To those who know nothing about the game, they're just an odd design, to those who do, they're a point of common conversation. The default Blizz designs are just a little too much like paying to wear advertising…

But I'm certainly not ashamed of my WoW-playing. A substantial number of my collegues at work know that I play, and there will be a small aknowledgement on my main blog when I post here. I've often interlinked between the two. MMoRPGs feel like they're in the same place blogging was in a few years back - many people were ashamed to admit that they were involved, but they were rapidly becoming part of the mainstream. Just as with blogging, I treat WoW like something ordinary and mainstream, and that makes it a non-issue for others.

Does that match everyone's experiences?

Twisted Bananas

The latest Twisted Nether blogcast (which is a podcast about blogs, I think. Certainly an improvement on a bogcast, though, which would be about swamps. Or toilets) has hit the internets, and you should listen to it for two very good reasons.

The first is that the main interview is with my long-time internet buddy Siha of Banana Shoulders, and she makes a really interesting guest.

And the second is that it contains at least three distinct references to me. And that’s significantly more Leafy than any podcast has been before… 

Grab it from the Twisted Nether blog, or direct from iTunes.

There a good WoW days, Bad WoW days...

...and sometimes you end up buried, face down, in the sand.

(This is a bit of a "Leafy's greatest hits", first published back in 2005, on my guild's blog)

Dungeons & Burgers

I'm sure there's a very good reason we went adventuring with a burger in the Altmeister's D&D game last night.

But it's kinda eluding me right now…

Before the Wrath: Your BC ToDo List

So, we now know we're on a timer. Very literally, in some cases. In but two short months, Northrend will open up, and well be wrapping up warmly (so we feel the benefit) and heading off to the icy wastes to fight the Lord of the Chilblains.

So, what are your priorities for the remaining months of the Burning Crusade? Here's mine:

1. Finish outstanding Netherstorm group quests
2. Finish outstanding instance quests
3. Get my Netherdrake
4. Kill Netherspite (mebbe)
5. Get Onyxia-attuned, before it goes bye-bye.

Uh, that's it.

What about you guys?

That's Tor'n it: More WoW as a Social OS

Evidently Bruce Baugh, game designer extraordinaire, and blogger on Tor Books new site, like my WoW as a Social Operating System post enough to pick up the ball and run with it. He's done a great job in developing some of my ideas, so go, check it out.

Oh, and while you're there, check out the rest of the site. There's some great SF / Fantasy bloggery happening there, at a remarkably high level of intelligence.