History of addiction

While I've been mostly absent from 2o2p as of late, I'm still a slave to that unrelenting addiction that is World of Warcraft. A long while back my 360 RRoD'd. I've been playing enough WoW to not really miss the console (and I have a Wii if I'm dying for a change of pace) so I haven't picked up a new Xbox or gotten mine fixed. I miss the feel of a controller in my hand from time to time, and of course, I miss the Mike James drunkfests (the last of which I attended with my former brother-in-law Umbee, and we were so drunk we got put on our own team and stood there spinning in a circle and shooting while people ran by and slaughtered us) and many of the other social events held by the site. I also have to admit that while the gameplay doesn't look incredibly different or innovative, I will probably step up my game and get the new Halo ODST game, which will force me into resolving my current Xbox issue. Go ahead, call me a fanboy.

Hello, my name is Ag. I'm an altaholic.

I actually first started playing WoW a long time ago, probably a few months after finding this site. I got a free copy of the game and a 30-day trial, and I've been cooking WoW in a spoon and injecting it directly into my viens ever since. I was even part of the first 2o2p guild (the name of which escapes me) when we rolled Horde on Perenolde, a PvE server. I don't recall what happened, but Doodi, Bliz and a few others decided they wanted to roll Alliance on a PvP server. I was stubborn about sticking with the horde, but decided to roll PvP just to see what the fuss was about.  About the same time, my best friend from high school started playing, so we created our own guild, Thunderchicken, on Spirestone.

That guild was fantastic. By that I mean it had a lot of fun people in it, some of which eventually joined 2o2p, but it was ultimately doomed. My real life friend decided to stop playing, and he was the GM.  That left none of the active players with the ability to really change much that we didn't like and keep the guild together. I decided that I would then start my own guild, an official 2o2p guild, Heros of the Horde (I think we started off as Rode the Short Bus, but the name got reported, and it was misspelled (Heros should have another e before the s) when a new name was submitted). The guild did very well for a while, receiving visits from some of the 2o2p Alliance and PvE players. Ultimately tho, the active, high level players were not content with progression. Since I wasn't an active raider (never really have been, don't know if I ever will be), I passed along the torch of GM and continued to level and play my alts. During a bit of a lull in activity, I actually started playing with the 2o2p Alliance guild, leveling a rogue to 65 before running out of steam and returning to the Horde.

When I got back to Spirestone, it really felt different. I wasn't a core member of the guild any longer, and the main activity at the time consisted of groups running Kara. I got to go occasionally, but it was no longer my guild, and, while there were great people there, I didn't really feel at home any longer. Around the same time, a few friends at work decided they were all going to start playing, and we all agreed on a realm (Kalecgos - Horde - PvP). I transferred the bulk of my favorite characters (which cost a lot, but I was dedicated to the cause) because I knew I could help everyone level, provide support for those that were ganked, etc. By the time two months had passed, just about everyone from work quit playing. Except for one.

I tried out a couple guilds shortly before and after the release of WotLK, and settled on one that had a small-ish player base, but had a few people leveling alts. I actually met the GM while questing in Ghostlands. I leveled my Paladin (which quickly became my main), and stuck with the same guild through about 60 levels or so. However, as I continued to level and play multiple characters, again the bulk of the activity in the guild was focused on raiding, and there wasn't much recruiting for those in Outlands or entering Northrend (nor for any other levels really). I decided to give another guild a go, and my paladin is still in this guild, as a backup healer, if I'm on and they're in need.

My true love in WoW has been learning all the different classes. I have one of each class, and I'm more content to level alts than to get my two 80's geared (I have a warrior as well as the pally). I realized that there really isn't a guild set up for this. Leveling guilds turn into gearing guilds, which turn into raiding guilds. If they make it that far. And if they do make it that far, most of the focus of the active members isn't helping its lower members, but doing dailies, getting badges, or PvP. I've been in a few guilds where as a lower level I'll ask for help, and no one will even acknowledge my request, if even just to turn it down.

I have recently started my own guild (called C A S U A L) that will focus on these mid-level players, or attract people like me. Altaholics. I set up 2 nights of instance runs per week, with the goal of helping people level. Many guilds have promised such, but rarely deliver, especially as end-game closer and closer. I figure that there will be a lot of turn over in two areas. One, all the lowbies that want instant runs, or help with all quests. The other will be level 70+ characters looking to get into a raiding guild.

Anyway, totally rambling on at this point. That's where I've been, and where I'm likely to be.