Sayonara, Azeroth
Byebye!
It feels weird.
According to the account transaction history on wow.com, I have been paying for this game since December 2004, and you guys, that is a long-ass time. It’s such a long time that I healed in my first serious raiding guild with this nice kid, spent another entire expansion and a half on another server, and jumped servers a third time to find myself melting face with that nice kid all grown-up into a great guy. The fuck? That is both terrifying and awesome all at the same time (and I still adore you, sensei).
I gave up serious raiding because of a combination of factors, the primary two of which were a lack of story and a lack of time. The end of Deathwing is the end of my Warcraft story, and raiding with a toddler has turned out to be drastically different than raiding with a baby; the baby pretty much kept herself entertained, but the toddler wants to share every interesting thing in the world and also stays up a lot later at night (no afternoon nap, ALAS).
This has been a remarkable seven years, and I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world. You hear about Internet Friends not being the same as Real Friends a lot less often now, and I think WoW is to thank for that just like it’s got at least a little bit of the credit for how gaming has a lot more mainstream acceptability now. You can find a WoW player anywhere and that’s amazing. What Blizzard created with this game is mind-blowing, and the lasting friendships I’ve made over the years is testament to how gaming brings us together and keeps us there, a common thread regardless of our nebulous and scary Real Lives.
Thanks for that, Blizzard. I appreciate it.
A brief history in pictures
- Aro and her twin at the very first Lunar Festival in 2006.
- Waiting for the Burning Crusade lauch, 2007
- The final step of the Benediction chain, which broke me of my terrible action-bar clicking habit.
- Cross of Vengeance vs Vashj, February 2008
- Machiavelli's Cat vs Algalon, Nov 2009
- Apotheosis vs Ragnaros, August 2011
- Machiavelli's Cat vs the Lich King, April 2010
- Apotheosis vs Deathwing, December 2011
I am getting some serious nostalgia looking at some of these screenshots, without stating the obvious, but that 2008 screen was still to date one of my most memorable and gratifying moments to date (although I was under another alias at that time!). And even though I still like to poke fun at you for the infamous 'triple champion call' (WHICH I TOTALLY CALLED BTW), I was glad we were able to get your hat of hats eventually. Even though after that time you became a face-melting specialist with your twisty ribbons of death, I still will remember your times in Azeroth as the holy priest who made holy cool before lightwell (and even got me to do that crap back in primal mooncloth!), and who was the cornerstone of one of the best healing teams I have ever been a part of, thats the Aro I knew. It was absolutely surreal getting to raid with you again, never again did I imagine raiding with you again after CoV, but stranger things have happened, like Ludde drinking something other than Bud Light, or Serrath with Milwaukee's BEAST. Good luck with your future gaming endeavors and with your bundle of joy weester! I am also still working on your diploma thinger, CURSE YOU MS PAINT!
Oh the days when lolwell was an eternal joke. <3
It took forever to write this post because oh my god I have many screenshots, just nothing before The Great HD Crash Of 2006. The AQ40 event, Cereal's pugs, Montes in Karazhan, Flash burning through Shattered Halls, Bronte and Ryven going apeshit on Mag (YOUR CUBE IS NOT BROKEN WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU), all of CoV's kill shots in Hyjal and BT. So much time, so many memories. Just damn.
I'm still mad about the triple champion bullshit. XD
I'm so very pleased that our little group makes up some of your notable moments, above. Apotheosis has had its own crazy history, but it's been people like you who make me glad I started up Apotheosis again for Cataclsym. You've been one of the raiders who has made this version of Apotheosis totally worth it all for me. Thank you for being amazing and awesome and all-around outstanding.
We'll miss you. :)
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I'll certainly miss your hilarity in my blogroll. It's been fun! :)
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Worry not, my blog (probably) isn't going anywhere! Just a lot less WoW and a lot more single-player stuff. XD
I'm glad to hear your blog's not going away. I might drink beer irresponsibly if I didn't have your beer advice!
OMG IS THAT VRJ
THAT IS VRJ!!!!
I'M FAMOUS!