And That's It

Exactly one year ago today I started this little corner of the net to chronicle my adventures (or misadventures) in Azeroth.

A year later, I'm writing what I believe will be my last post.

Am I quitting WoW altogether? Not sure. With Cataclysm on the distant horizon and my penchant for gaming I can't say that with any certainty.

I'm not going to delete any of these posts or close the account or anything like that, because if there's one thing I've learned it's that you never know where life is going to take you. I'm also going to keep my Twitter account up and running, although I'll likely not be posting from it (except the auto-posts from Raptr).

I'd like to thank all of you who've read and commented on this compilation of pointless ramblings. WoW bloggers and readers are some of the most kind, helpful, and wonderful people out there.

It's been a truly amazing trip. I wouldn't change a thing.

If you're interested in following my real-life adventures, here are a couple of links:

http://www.jasonbenefield.com
http://twitter.com/jasonbenefield

Take good care of yourselves for me.

For the Alliance! For the Horde! For Azeroth!

-Jason

All That and a Cold Wet Nose

Haven't been playing in a while. Landed in the hospital a couple of weeks ago, and then last week the Baby Tank had surgery. No playing means nothing WoW-related to talk about, so there's been no blogging either.

Hoping to get back in the saddle soon, but in the meantime, here's a pic of a puppy:

He's the newest addition to the Aggro Junkie family. Going to pick him up on Wednesday.

Talk at you soon.

Resurrection or Redemption

It's been a long time since I've posted something here. It's been a long time since I've really wanted to.

As we all know, real life has a tendency of getting in the way of our best laid plans. I had every intention of taking my new guild as far into the endgame as I possibly could, documenting our triumphs here. Haven't done either.

Had every intention of leveling a couple of alts to 80. Only managed 70.

Had every intention of being a good guild master. I've barely been online.

H1N1 made its way through our house, we're preparing for a surgery for the Baby Tank, we've had endless drama surrounding a family member and a custody battle, and I've been trying to balance all of that family stuff with work...both my day job and my other job.

Most nights, I don't have the energy to log in. Even some weekends. This past weekend, for example, once I got all the real life stuff out of the way there wasn't anything left in the tank (no pun intended).

I'd like to get back online and playing with some degree of regularity. I've already told my guild that I will likely not be raiding, but in reality I've completely let them down because I haven't even been available..

Bottom line: you can't run a guild if you're not in-game.

Should probably just do what's best for everybody and turn it over.

The Circus

I've been a musician for a long time...almost 3/4 of my life. I love everything about it: driving for hours on end, eating horribly, living on bad gas station coffee and energy drinks, the sound check, the hurry up and wait, the heat of the lights on stage, the energy from the crowd, and the complete exhaustion that sets in after you give your all.

A lot of people compare it to a circus. That's a pretty decent analogy, really. It's all so crazy and you don't have time to process half of what's going on.

My home life is a circus, too. This morning the dog had an accident on the basement stairway (three guesses who got to clean it up), Baby Tank had a spina bifida-related problem (a minor one...just took time to fix), kids were yelling at each other and fighting over the bathroom, and amidst all that I had to get showered and ready for work.

One of my deficiencies as a functional adult is, as Cheesi will tell you, my inability to balance things. I'm really, really bad at it. I go to work, play and promote my music, run a guild, lead raids, deal with kids, etc, etc, etc. I manage to pull it off, but rarely with flying colors.

I haven't played WoW much in the past week, but I did get online this weekend for quite a while. It was a lot of fun. I ran Ulduar on Mis and monkeyed around with a couple of Hallow's End achievements, and I leveled Mactire the Death Knight in the hope that one day in the near future he'll get to snag some Northren herbs for his Inscription.

But, like most guilds, we've had some drama. We are losing one of our absolute best raiders to another guild on another server. That's a huge blow to EoF. He's one of the best DPS Warriors I've ever seen, very well geared, loyal, dedicated, and a smart, smart player. Not to mention he's a really cool guy.

In addition to that, there's been a rift developing over something that happened while I was away. I won't go into details, but it's something that will strike fear into the heart of anyone who's ever managed a guild as a GM or an officer: Loot Drama.

I had a blast this weekend, but finding out about these things was like a punch in the gut. My 9-5 job is crazy, my music job is crazy, my house is crazy, and when I see things like this happen (among adults, mind you...which makes it all the more frustrating) I just can't seem to muster the energy to put on a happy face and deal with the situation in a rational manner.

My problems with balance should have deterred me from starting a guild. Either I live online and neglect everything around me or I hop on once in a while and neglect the guild. I'm not good with gray areas.

I've gotta figure this out.

That Ability Is Not Ready Yet

Waiting on the cooldown.

I sat down at the computer the other night and stared at my Raptr login screen. A couple of folks were online and it said they were playing WoW. I opened the Curse client and updated addons, logged onto the guild website and crossed Ignis off of our progression chart, monkeyed around with my Myspace and Facebook profiles, and called it a night.

WoW was sitting right there on the desktop. Would have been easy to log in, say hi, cycle my auctions, and log off.

I didn't, though. Why? Just not ready. I know the second I log in I'll be bombarded with questions. I just don't have the patience for that right now. I don't feel like running an instance, doing dailies, or farming.

Will my desire to do those things come back? Absolutely. I'm seriously considering jumping into a raid or two this weekend if the opportunity presents itself, but a couple of nights ago I just couldn't bring myself to log in.

I'm on my way back. Not quite there yet, but I'm working on it.

Still need to build up some rested XP.

RL Crit - Part II

I've gotten into the habit of posting on this site almost every weekday. I've been blessed to have so many people stop by to read and comment, and I've made so many friends via this blog and its related Twitter account. This has been a blast.

Because of some personal circumstances, though, it's time to take a step back and slow down a bit...both here and in-game. I'm not abandoning blogging or playing altogether, but I have to handle some stuff that a pixelated person can't.

I'll probably still post here once in a while. I'll probably still hop on and off my Twitter account as well. Neither, however, will happen as frequently as they have in the past.

Thanks, all. Take good care of yourselves. I'll talk to you soon.

RL Crit

How much defense does it take to eliminate crits from real life? Anybody?

The last five days have been crazy. Absolutely, completely, insanely crazy.

I haven't been on WoW the past two nights, which is probably a good thing considering I was way off my game while we were raiding over the weekend. Sloppy pulls, forgetting to Vig, etc. Just wasn't really with it.

Still, we downed Kologarn and hit a brick wall with the Iron Council. Still couldn't get Ignis, although we think we know what we were doing wrong so he should drop this week. We one-shot the bosses we had downed the week before, which is a good sign.

Tried out ToC and got nowhere in a hurry. We weren't expecting much out of it, so it wasn't a huge letdown. We just wanted to get in and poke around a bit.

EoE was epic frustration. I'm two kills shy of my CotFW title (Maly and H-AN). I really wanted to knock Maly off that list, but we just couldn't get a decent shot at him. First try, wiped in Phase 1. Second try, wiped in Phase 2. Third try, wiped in Phase 3. Theoretically, one more shot would have probably done the trick, but we just didn't have it in us.

We overgear the heck out of EoE, but most of us hadn't seen it before and there's enough going on that lack of experience with the fight can and will be your downfall. We'll get him sooner or later.

I'm hoping to sneak in a couple of raids this week, but my RL drama is still unfolding, so we'll see how it plays out.

Gonna try to toss up a post here or there, but they'll probably be a bit more sporadic than normal.

October Already

There's been a chill in the air the past couple of days. Chicago weather being what it is, it's best to relish the real fall weather when it's here because winter comes fast. Spring and autumn are more like holidays here than seasons.

Seems like a month or two ago I was in Tennessee on New Year's Eve. The day I started this blog feels even more recent...weeks, maybe. I'm shocked to think that I've already chalked up over 120 posts and people actually stop by to read them.

What's the point? I'm not sure. I'm feeling sentimental, I suppose. I lost an uncle today, my wife's been digging through her family's past for long-deserved answers, and my niece is fighting a battle no 14 year-old should have to endure.

The last several times I've logged into WoW it's felt empty...pointless. The work we do now...heroics, raids, dailies...is becoming obsolete at a startling pace. Why scratch and claw to collect better gear now, when in no time we'll be able to get comparable gear from a heroic 5-man?

It's the MMORPG treadmill, I know that. WoW's an escape, though. It's a chance to forget about real life and all the difficulties it brings. It's a chance to go from, in my case, a cube-dwelling spreadsheet jockey to someone who matters...at least until somebody in better gear comes along.

Obsolescence, whether referring to the gear we're wearing or our characters themselves, creeps in and makes WoW more frustrating than an escape should be. It's hard to feel like a fantasy hero when you can't keep up with the bleeding edge and, subsequently, you're neck-deep in mediocrity.

Bottom line: Real life sucks. Sometimes WoW life sucks. When they both suck at the same time, though, that's a problem.

Maintaining the Balance

Apparently my current pants are missing armor in a key area, because RL was successful in delivering several swift kicks to the junk over the past week. As a result, I haven't been online at all since last Tuesday.

The silver lining (not referring to the pants anymore) is that I got to focus on my family. I spent some much-needed time with Cheesi, hung out with the kids, played with the puppy, and got to be a part of a milestone in my niece's life: her first homecoming.

She's gone through a lot lately, but for one night she got the opportunity to let all the crap go and have some fun. She looked beautiful and felt great about herself. I was so proud of her and blessed to be a part of it.

RL > WoW...all the time. I'm gonna hop back online tonight or tomorrow and get back in the swing of things, but I really needed the time off, even though it was caused by some personal issues.

WoW's like any other hobby. Play it, enjoy it, blog/tweet about it, talk to your friends about it, etc. Just don't forget to stay connected to the things that really matter.

Insert Filler Post

Haven't been online in a couple of days, so I have nothing to talk about.

In lieu of a WoW post, then, here's a picture of my 4 month-old American Bulldog, Delilah:

Right now she's a non-combat pet, but eventually, when she gets to over 100 lbs, she'll be fully capable of scaring off boyfriends and ex-husbands. I think due to the nature of the breed (ability to ignore pain and fear) she'd be classified as a Tenacity pet.

What? You want some WoW content, too?

Uhh...dodge is still better than parry.

There you go.

On the Road Again

After a wonderful weekend at the National Quartet Convention, it's time to head back home. Louisville's a great town, but I miss my kids, dog, Chicago, and Azeroth. We'll be hitting the road in a couple of minutes here, and then in about 6 hours you'll all be wishing I was back on vacation.

Thanks for your patience. You'll be getting all the Mis you can handle shortly.

AFK BBIAB

I'm heading out of town tomorrow, returning late Saturday night. Looking forward to a nice relaxing trip full of good times with my lovely wife and WoW withdrawals.

I'll probably pop on Twitter here and there, check email, and maaaaybe throw up a small blog post or two while mobile if the inspiration strikes me. For the most part, though, there will be radio silence.

You kids be good while I'm gone.

Remember

Eight years later, take a minute to remember.

Remember the innocent people who lost their lives to a cowardly attack. Remember the families that waited breathlessly for the phone or doorbell to ring. Remember those who walked boldly into the gates of hell not only because it was their job, but because it was the right thing to do.

Remember that, in a country that has since lapsed back into jaded cynicism with a media community that's more concerned about what Heidi and Spencer are doing than much of anything else, for a little while we were all proud to be Americans.

We stared silently at our televisions together, we cried together, and, afterwards, we stood together.

Regardless of how you feel about the government as a whole or the current administration, remember that governments are composed of fallible people. America and the ideals She represents transcend personal agendas, corporate lobbyists, and dirty campaign contributions. America, and being an American, is still something to be proud of.

To my international readers, remember that our government and the decisions they make do not necessarily echo our thoughts and feelings. You stood with us that day as fellow human beings. Hopefully, you will continue to stand with us now.

God bless the heroes who ran in while everyone else was running out, God bless our service men and women who are still putting their lives on the line for us each and every day, and God bless America.

-Jason "Misneach" Benefield

Crap I Did Last Night

Now that title represents blogging at its finest.

Actually, last night was quite a busy one. I logged in later than I usually do after working late and then walking our new American Bulldog puppy, Delilah. We've had her for several weeks, and she's almost 4 months old. 30-something pounds of determination and she's going to get up to about 100-120 lbs. Gonna be a whole lot of dog.

But, anyway, here's the WoW stuff:

• Did three Heroics: CoS (reg daily), VH, and Oculus (heroic daily).
• CoS: Grabbed some nukers and made it a drake run. Cleared it with about 3 or 4 minutes to spare and, since everybody else had one, I got the drake. That made me happy.
• VH: Ran this one because it was...well...right there after we turned in the regular daily. Nothing terribly notable, except Vel, one of our 1337 Shammies, got enough emblems for the upgrade he was after, so he grabbed it before we hit Oculus.
• Oculus: A couple of pulls in, I hit exalted with the Knights of the Ebon Blade and got the achievement for that as well as the Northrend Vanguard achievement. I also learned why everybody hates Oculus. Wiped a couple of times on the last boss, but finally managed to make it happen. It'll be smoother next time.
• The emblems I managed to pick up allowed me to get my glove upgrade. Now I've gotta figure out what to aim for next as far as Conquest, Valor, and/or Triumph emblem purchases go.
• And finally, I did my fishing daily before I logged off, turned it in, and got the Battered Jungle Hat. After running around a bit in it, I had an idea. With the hat on, I equipped my defense trinket and took a look at my stats. Aside from the huge armor ding I take without my headpiece, my stats aren't that bad. I opened Outfitter and saved the outfit under the name "Pimp."

Sometime in the near future, I'm going to grab some guildies who are as crazy as me, flip over to the Pimp outfit, and do a Pimp Run in one of the easier heroics.

If it happens, you'll read about it here. I'll take screenshots.

Catching Up

Big, big weekend for EoF.

Friday night, Cheesi and I had to run the Baby Tank to the hospital. Due to her hydrocephalus (common with spina bifida) she has a shunt that drains the excess cerebrospinal fluid from her skull to her abdominal cavity where it's reabsorbed into the body. We've been blessed so far, but shunts do malfunction and get infected.

So, anytime BT spikes a fever and we're not sure what's causing it, we have to go to the ER. They ruled out shunt problems, strep, and a urinary tract infection (common because she's catheterized) and sent us home assuming it was likely a simple virus. She's doing much, much better now.

While Cheesi and I sat in the hospital, Echo of Fate ran into OS and took down Sarth with 1 drake up. They then knocked out both bosses in VoA.

Saturday night, we flew through the Arachnid and Construct Quarters of Naxx. Sunday, we went back in and cleared Military and dropped Noth. Really, the only fight we had a problem with, aside from one wipe on Grobbulus due to a little miscue, was the Four Horsemen. We banged our heads up a against that one for a while until we could get the best strategy for our group and coordinate it properly. If my memory isn't failing me, I believe we one shot everything except those two fights.

We extended the raid lockout on Naxx to knock out the other four bosses this upcoming week. I really want to get to Sapphiron and start handing out EoE keys to as many people as possible so we can get that one off the progression chart and then start farming it without having to worry if we've got a keyed person online.

We have a number of people who are geared for at least Ulduar 10, so I think, as long as we stay diligent and keep up our momentum, we may just start to catch up to the rest of the field as far as the 10-mans go.

Hypothetical Number Crunching

Or: Proof that everyone and everything is out to get me.

Emblems needed for my new chestpiece.	:	58
Emblems I currently have.	:	44
Emblems I would have if I would have been able to complete UK last night but couldn't because of a storm-induced power outage.	:	47
Emblems I would have if I would have had enough time to complete UK with enough time left over for a quick Nexus, which didn’t happen because of a storm-induced power outage and some kind of battle.net clusterfudgery.	:	52
Emblems actually needed.	:	14
Emblems needed if, hypothetically, I didn't get screwed by technology, weather, and/or squirrels.	:	6

Blizzcon and the Best of Intentions

I know a lot of bloggers out there are headed to Blizzcon. If any of my readers are going, have a drink or two for Uncle Mis.

Hopefully we'll have some really great announcements to blog about this weekend and some speculation will become anticipation. 

If you're going, have a great time.

~*~

I've had the best intentions to play this week. Our internet was down Saturday and Sunday thanks to the cowardly actions of an evil squirrel, but since then I've gotten home from work every night thinking I'd get to log in and do a ton of heroics, get a bunch of EoCs, and get a couple of gear upgrades.

Unfortunately, life has a wonderful tendency of getting in the way. We've had a new puppy since Saturday, an American Bulldog named Delilah (after the Bible character, not the horribly overplayed song). She, like any other young puppy, sucks up a good deal of energy and attention.

Also, yesterday was the kids' first day of school...Baby Tank included (She's three! I can't believe she's riding a bus to preschool). That means school supply shopping, figuring out first day outfits, calming down those who have the biggest changes (like our niece who just started high school where we live, which is a brand new town for her), and generally dealing with a higher level of insanity than normal...which is saying something because we have five girls in the house not including Cheesi or the dog.

It's been nuts.

Last night was my best shot to get online, but hormones were raging with the older ones and the excitement of the first day of school being over was still driving everyone to an energy level with which I simply could not keep up.

By 9:30 I could barely keep my eyes open. Had to call it a night.

The good news is, the leadership crew in our guild is very, very good. I've been in touch with several of them who have been online and things seem to be in working order. I can also still communicate to the guild as a whole using the website.

Feels good to know that real life can smack me around a bit and the guild will still be pushing forward. Wish I could say the same thing for my day job.

Mis out.

Glory and Retribution

It was a night of glory. A battle raged beneath Wyrmrest Temple as my comrades and I felled the mighty Sartharion as his lieutenants lay rotting on their perches above.

It was a night of glory. We battled throughout Utgarde and, from the Keep to the Pinnacle, distributed cruel justice to the Vrykul servants of the Lich King housed there.

It was a night of glory. After the ringing of swords and the shouts of battle faded from my ears, I, with my loving yet lethal wife by my side, slept a sleep made deeper by the drug of victory.

It was too deep, for the enemy struck unnoticed during our slumber.

For nearly two days, my shield was no longer a symbol to my brethren of my undying, vigilant protection.

For nearly two days, my wife's blades were prohibited from singing their silent song of swift mutilation.

For nearly two days, we were silenced by a vile beast spat from the far corners of the Twisting Nether. A foul demon from which the Legion itself would turn and tremble.

If ever I happen upon this hateful creature, it will know the unbridled, blind fury of the Warrior's berserkergang. I will extract brutal, bloody, yet righteous vengeance until, on a guttural whisper fueled by its final, rattled breath, it softly utters one word..."Misneach."

Of course, if the stupid squirrel electrocuted itself when it chewed on the cable at the top of the telephone pole, knocking out our internet and home phone until the Comcast guy could show up late Sunday afternoon, I suppose we can call it even.

A Real Titan

As a Bard class IRL I wanted to throw a quick post up here regarding the loss of one of the greats.

In a world where people think the Jonas Boneheads are geniuses this may go somewhat unnoticed, which is truly unfortunate, but Les Paul passed away.

Les Paul was a catalyst in the early development of solid-body electric guitars, and finally convinced Gibson to create one after Fender developed theirs. Appropriately, Gibson named the guitar the "Les Paul Standard." If you're not a guitarist and are wondering what one looks like, Slash usually plays one...along with guitarists all over the world.

Not only was he an incredibly influential guitarist, but he invented many of the recording techniques we take for granted today: overdubbing, delay effects, and multitrack recording.

Some people sit and bang on their guitars and try to learn to play scales as fast as they can. Some people transcend the mechanics of playing the instrument and go beyond the scales and modes to truly innovate in the most honest, pure sense of the word.

We've lost a real Titan...and yeah, he dropped loot. He's left behind tools that have forever changed the music industry and a legacy that will never be forgotten.

RIP Mr. Polsfuss.

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory

Today is Memorial Day here in the U.S., so I'd like to take a moment to remember those members of our armed services who paid the ultimate price for our country. You and your bravery will never be forgotten.

I'd also like to salute those real-life Warriors who fight for our freedom. All of you who have served or are currently serving, you are an inspiration to me and you're in my prayers.

God Bless you all, and God Bless America.