Play hard or go home.

It has come to my attention, via messages in-game and out
(basically my aunt in Seattle asked how I liked my new 3v3 matrix on the bottom
of her annual Christmas card) that there are some individuals who have, for
some reason or another, bookmarked my armory page; I am lead to believe these
obsessed, yet largely endearing fans sit at their desks, eagerly mashing the
refresh button and interpreting each roster or team change I am subject to.
While it is impressing that these restless souls can divine what I had for breakfast from a slight gear change; I
will lay out my life for those less psychically endowed:

1.) Playing 3s with Jasi (of WorldofMing.com) and Zilu has
been fun, to say the least. We are, as far as I know, one of (or perhaps the) highest active (since I can’t
really vouch for teams long gone) rated of our specific matrix: Shadow Priest /
Rogue / Druid. While there are those who would call us a less versatile version
of the common Warlock / Rogue / Druid matrix, I find that I really enjoy this particular
one. Shadow Priests offer far more burst than Warlocks, and our CCs fit
together seamlessly (Silence into Cyclone into Fear into Blind into Cyclone
into Bash). Not only this, but for some reason, I’m just attracted to teams
that require very delicate coordination and playing, as opposed to attrition or
hit-hit-hit-windfury-EMNSCL teams, a-la any variation of the Warrior / Paladin
/ Warlock/Shaman team.

2.) My 5s has really turned into my point earning team more
than anything. Hopefully this will change into a rating gobbling team soon
enough, but we’ve been having some bad luck with roster problems and other such
things. 4DPS is, to put it bluntly, freakin’ hard. I’ll admit there are some days I look at 2345 teams in all
their protected smugness, and I cry a little on the inside.

3.) I sell arena points for low-stress kicks and giggles via
2v2 teams. Hence as to why I’m always switching 2v2 teams with ratings anywhere
from 1700-2200. In total, Decima and I have earned something like 15k Gold
(then split by 2) in the past month or so. I have no qualms about helping less
talented and handsome individuals achieve their desired arena items; perhaps,
in a way, this makes me Jesus. Who knows.

4.) Be on the lookout in 2v2 matchups against Decima /
Dustinmynose and I! With Season 3 poking its cute little head around the corner
like a neglected child who has been sent to the forest and then forgotten, we
have decided next week, to put down our money-grubbing ways (for now) and
actively begin rating up our ‘seriouslol’ team. Stay sharp for the Decima +
Pwyff (Ice Mage + Feral Druid) combination, with its constant flow of tears
every time we see a Warlock, or the much lolled about Dustinmynose + Pwyff
(Deep lol Thunder + Restoration Druid) combination, with its…. Well, Deep
Thunder. When you beat us, be sure to screenshot it so that you can brag about
taking down someone more handsome than you. For
once. (I’m not bitter at all. Screw you.)

---

Today’s article, since it has had a large portion of its
space gobbled up by my in-game antics, is a short one, but still important. I’m
relatively sure anything I say is
revelation-level important, but whatever.

As a highly competitive individual, whenever I find that I
enjoy a particular game, I tend to gravitate, like children to a van with candy
(usually mine), to the competitive scene. My first game I played ‘competetively’
was the original Pokemon. I was a pre-pubescent online Pokemon player, creating
and matching teams in online competitions. My trademark pokemon, Wigglytuff,
was the bane of many, and I eventually lead my 5-man team in the elite and prestigious
“Sneakerton Cup,” which was an invite only league that involved some of the top
players from top Pokemon communities across the internet.

(If, at this point, you are crying out of sheer embarrassment for me; you are justified
in doing so.)

As you can see, however, when I play something with large
amounts of interest, I tend to play hard.
My other competitive streaks really only branched to FPS mods, where I played
Counter-Strike at the CAL-m level (very very briefly) and Team Fortress at the
top CAL levels, as well as the ADSL (the Attack Defend something league).
Natural Selection would be perhaps my biggest game, netting me online
sponsorships in the form of gaming subscriptions (HYUK HYUK) and web hosting. I
played NS at the CS equivalent of CAL-i (it was called CAL-Delta), as well as
being the captain of ‘Team Canada’
in the online Natural Selection World Cup. The Koreans are, by the way,
incredible at micromanagement, even in an FPS game. Small fingers, tiny feet;
vast quad-core processing brains. Go figure.

The thing is, however, is that with each time I really got
interested within these competitive scenes, I never actually ‘felt’ hardcore.
Granted, with my Pokemon phase, I lacked a social life to sacrifice to it, like
offering human hearts in Indiana Jones, but with all the other competitive gaming
I’ve done, I’ve simply enjoyed it whenever my social life can afford it. Now
that I’ve very earnestly gotten into the high end World of Warcraft arena
scene; I’m beginning to feel awkward. Perhaps it’s not to say that I’m a ‘terribad’
in a room of supergeeks who have been born without sexual orifices because God
destined them for competitive gaming;
but the fact is, some of these guys are really freakin’ dedicated. Should I
really wish to become known and recruit the ‘best of the best’ for any of my
matrices, I’ll have to jump into the PVP community, idle on IRC, chat it up with
the ‘leet’ of the battlegroups, and be willing to reroll so that I can finally
experience the ultimate in min / max teams to take the top. I’m told if you
achieve 1^st place in a specific battleground, you are quite
literally sent an internet penis. This is all hearsay, mind you.

Gabe over at Penny Arcade (http://www.penny-arcade.com/2007/07/23#1185176160)
said it best (scroll down) when he speaks of how he went to a Pokemon tournament
with his fully breeded Pokemon (breeding perfect stat Pokemon with specific
moves, EV values and IV values takes a month or two of consistent playing).
When a child went on and on about how cute the Pokemon they chose were, Gabe
found that he was using Rotom because of its Ghost/Electric type and its
interesting movesets that it can utilize to counter-balance its weaknesses. Let
me tell you; the thing isn’t quite so cute.

At this point; he realized, and I know this as well; a game
is just a game. Obviously there are going to be those hardcore individuals who
take it really seriously, and look down on those who don’t (“DO YOU *******
ENJOY BEING A SCRUB? IS THAT WHAT THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT? HUH? YOU WANNA BE A SCRUB
WHO USES WIGGLYTUFF, WHEN YOU KNOW THAT A CURSELAX ACCOMPLISHES THIS 5X
BETTER?! HUH!? SCRUB!?!!?? I’D INPUT A SYNONYM FOR SCRUB, BUT I HAD NO CLUE
WHAT SCRUB MEANT IN THE FIRST PLACE, SO I DON’T THINK I CAN.&rdquo, but I truly
have no desire to be apart of that group. Even when I used to play Pokemon competitively,
using Wigglytuff was virtually unheard of, simply because there were many other Pokemon who had significant
advantages. There were about 10 of the 150 Pokemon that you almost always saw; Starmie, Snorlax, Alakazam,
Vaporeon, Zapdos, Rhydon, Jolteon, Machamp, Arcanine, Charizard. I chose
Wigglytuff just because it was cute. I may have used Jolteon because it was
cute as well.

Ultimately, WoW arena, PVP, video games, everything in
general should be enjoyed first, then
competed within second. Obviously you can say that min/maxxing the perfect team
is what makes the game fun, and sure,
whatever floats your boat. I, however, shall take my class and play it by the
simple nature that I enjoy playing it. Competition is fine, but when you turn
it into a job, I tend to get twitchy.

I play 4DPS not because it will get me points, but because I
enjoy playing the delicate rushdown game versus the attrition burst game. I don’t
care about rating, I simply want to play my Druid to the best of my abilities,
enjoy playing with my teammates and come to play a video game that requires a
little bit of teamwork. But I’m still going to use my Wigglytuff.

*****es.

P.S. Retadin / Warrior / Elemental Shaman / Ice Mage /
Restoration Druid. 2500 or I have a tantrum.

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