Safety over Happiness!

Good Morning!

I have totally fallen off of the #Blaugust Band Wagon. I had every intention on catching up as I was a week or so behind when it started but the summer boss has kicked my butt and sent me packing but I am still going to go on with my original goal of my blog and post as much as I want to and can.

GAMING!
Sadly, no gaming on my PC :( My computer is still in the "Shop" and I hope to have it back this week because HOLY MOTHER OF PIXELS I miss gaming. I am still enjoying my time in the Mobile MMORPG Taichi Panda which is actually a lot of fun! It has gear, daily treasure digs, lots of awards, solo dungeons, instanced boss fights, guilds, friends lists, events, etc. This is the first time I am really really impressed regarding the quality of a mobile game so far.

LIFE:
We recently celebrated my daughters 3rd birthday ( just a small party for now) and had a Baby shower to attend and will be throwing a joint Birthday celebration for both of our kids to make it more accessible to my husbands large family. My side of the family is very sparse.  We either have all been separated by busy work schedules and grew apart over the past decade or the cool people who were the "family" Glue have long passed away. Sometimes, when I am in my cynical and realist state, I count this as a blessing. After losing my father, I began questioning the importance of having close friendships and close family members as the pain and agony one feels when they pass can be too overwhelming for many. On my darkest days it always seems to be easier to not get close to anyone ever again because it is just easier that way. I tell myself that the because of the pain I felt but then I think how boring  and unrewarding life would be if we were to never find our tribe of like minded people to share the hills and valleys of life with. Lets be honest, that ship has sailed for me anyways! I am a wife and a mom! I have people relying on me so any notion of isolation would never come to fruition because of love, its a messy thing:)  So upon coming to that realization on my grief journey, I put my muck boots back on and prepared for the future knowing that at some point it is going to get messy again and I will make it through just as I do everyday.

PARENTING:

A common phrase that comes out of my mouth is SAFETY OVER HAPPINESS. I say it often to my husband when he is caught between doing what is right and upsetting one of our kids OR taking a gamble at safety to make them happy... The situation normally involves  our daughter not wanting to sit and eat her dinner. She wants to take a bite and run around. When we ask her to stay seated while she is eating, she looks at him and gives him the basic puppy dog eyes. I see him start to think about what he can do to make her happy. He normally then offers her a compromise like, "Well as long as you don't run you can take a bite." He does this because he is what I call, "The New guy". He spends less time at home with the kids because he is our bread winner. He goes out into the world to make as much money as he can and brings it back home to complete our goal in life, which is to not have to put our kids in Daycare. This means that he wants the time he spends at home to be jolly and fun and fantastic in the eyes of his two babies. Now, don't get me wrong! I want that too! I want them to be happy, but I want them to be SAFE first, then happy. I am the parent who stays home with our baby nuggets all day and all night. I know every mood, every sound, every attitude trigger. I can call out their next move before they do it. I am the senior employee here at the Sky household. I like to run a tight ship. I know that my daughter will smile and tell him that she will walk and chew then take a few steps then "POOF!" Baby moon will be on the run right back to where we began.

I like to cut out the messy middle ground and be firm by saying, "NO. You will sit in your big girl chair and eat your dinner like mommy and daddy." OR  sometimes I like to follow his lead and meet in the middle and allow her to finish a few bites then let her go and play then come back and sit down and finish a few more bites. She is only 3 years old and little ones have a very short attention span so when I can get them to safely eat AND eat without a fuss I choose the WIN WIN situation.

Yesterday I responded to a tweet from someone I follow on Twitter that asked our opinion of their coworker who wants to let their 8 year old join Twitter. They were asking if there was a child friendly version of Twitter for them to suggest to their coworker. The first thought that came to my mind was, "The only safe Twitter for an 8 year old to be on is NO TWITTER AT ALL!"  NONE! ZERO! ZILCH! NADA! Their coworkers child is really into Minecraft and one of the people they watch Minecraft videos of wanted their viewers to join twitter from what I understood. I may have interpreted that part wrong but 140 characters on twitter does not allow a full scope of any story to be accurately shared so that is what I came away with.  So basically my reply was, "NO. SAFETY OVER the HAPPINESS of the child." Just because some stranger on the Internet requests their fans to join twitter and your child wants to obey them, YOU ARE THEIR PARENT. YOU! YOU ARE! Not the der da der on the other side of the computer screen. Just because someone requests something of you or your child does not mean you have to comply.  I was thrilled the person I follow put this out on Twitter for us to answer because they felt it was wrong and wanted to get more feedback. The fact is, Twitter is for 17 year olds and up. It says that when you go to download the application from the google play store. It frustrates me how much parents choose the EASY road and the COOL road over the RIGHT road or the SAFE road.Do your homework! If I could go around and smack people on their foreheads like the V8 commercials show, I completely would do it. SAFETY OVER HAPPINESS . Sure, their kid would whine and cry that they can't join twitter but I would choose that any day instead of having some nasty pedophile trying to prey on my 8 year old any day. 

Safety OVER happiness.

In every situation, I still always choose safety OVER happiness. I think a lot of parents struggle with wanting to be LIKED by their kid instead of doing what is right and what is safe. I feel it is our job to protect our children from their self until they exhibit the ability to make responsible safe decisions for their self. My mom always told me growing up that there is a time to let your kids flap their wings and fly a little bit out of the nest and I agree with her, but that takes place in the late teen years and not the toddler years. I know that if my husband struggles with this concept I know a lot of other parents do too. I am trying to get him to see that a few unhappy tears are better then tears that come from injury. I prefer an unhappy kid over one who is choking on food because she was allowed to run and eat.  In my opinion it is always best to remind yourself, SAFETY OVER HAPPINESS because the result of allowing your child to behave in an unsafe manner can only bring despair in the long run. The happiness you think you are giving them by giving in to them is short lived when they are injured or dead.

Parenting is not for the faint of heart, the lazy or "people pleasers". You will get messy. You will feel like you have failed. You will feel exhausted, but you will also feel total amazement and a love like you have never felt. We are in charge of these little lives we have brought into the world and it is our task to do it to the best of our ability. I am very blunt, passionate, and opinionated regarding this topic. I feel that we as parents have a duty to keep our children safe from others and themselves by thoroughly thinking everything through and doing what it is in their best interest opposed to doing what is the easiest.

Time to send my baby nuggets to sleep land!

Enjoy your day and keep doing the best that you can!

Esme out :)

( Also, if you are the praying type of soul, please pray for a family friend of mine named Meagan who has a 50% chance of surviving a gull stone that is wedged near her pancreas. We just found out she had been battling with this gull bladder issue for 2 weeks and it recently took a turn for the worse. I had no idea it could get this bad, she is a mom of 4 small children and a very loving woman. I have faith in the power of prayer and ask that you pray for her if you feel inclined to do so. If you do not I respect that choice as well. Thank you !!!!)

Ranty post : Good morning Facebook, You suck. GET ME MY DAMN COFFEE. #Blaugust17

Today started with a Facebook notification that made me second guess our choice to even be on Facebook. My husband and I share a page as we had only really joined per request of his family years ago. It is actually hilarious to do because we are two totally different type of personalities. He likes to rev people up and pick on them and get a reaction and I just like to do the normal kid pic posting, recipe sharing once or twice a month. He is on there far more than I am as he likes to skim through some of his hunting and fishing pages. Well one of us had shared a post stating it will be illegal for people to smoke in a car with kids that are below 18 years in age starting October 1st in the UK . This is a law I can completely stand behind but sadly I am in the US and such a law doesn't exist yet. Well that did not stop one of my ex smoking uncles from going off on a rant on how our Government doesn't have the right to tell him that. He was quite angry which was surprising since he was a dead beat dad a, didn't live in the UK, and no longer smokes.... His obnoxious statement of "His car his kids!" nestled among some more colorful words just made me shake my head. My first thought was , "Damn.... Mr. Sky posts more offensive stuff than that and we have surprisingly never got such a crazy anger fest from a family member!" God forbid we don't support forcing lung cancer on innocent children! HA! I know, we are complete assholes right?

Of course this did not fly with me. I kindly told him that I did not carry little humans in my belly for 9 months, be in labor for 17 and 21 hours and stare into their precious little faces vowing to always protect them ONLY to turn around and trap them in a cancer car for the rest of their life. I stated that this law wouldn't even have to exist if people cared more about the well being of others MORE THAN their precious addiction. Once I called him on his moral compass or lack there of , he no longer had a reply. Phew. Drilling common sense and respect for others sure takes a lot out of ya when the skull is as thick as his and before I even had my coffee!

This had me thinking WHY THE HELL are we on this cursed Facebook anyway? I know we were pretty much coerced into joining years ago, but so many times I am just ready to hit the delete button. We both have felt this way. We have had the usual drama of the insecure guilt saturated person reading a graphic and assuming it was meant SOLEY for them leading them to go off on you .... We had the Facebook stalking work tramp stealing our photos and texting them to my husband pointing out which ones she like of him. She was doing this to 5 other guys all of a sudden too..... but that is an entirely different story titled "Thirsty Woman can't be trusted." >:) And we have had family members use Facebook to pretend they are an active part of our children's life which is unfortunate. Another part of Facebook that annoys me to no end is that people expect you to log in everyday and keep up with them! I swear! How dare you ask them in person how they have been, Silly fool! You should have been reading their Facebook wall where they clearly stated what they ate for breakfast, how large their last bowel movement was, and that their Boyfriend broke up with them. Seriously!?

I have found myself enjoying Twitter more than I have ever enjoyed our personal Facebook. This might have something to do with having more of a choice of who we choose to interact with instead feeling obligated to interact with. I love interacting with our friend's that no longer live by us or sharing kiddie stories with my fellow Moms. I do not enjoy having family that lives nearby on Facebook. I have often thought about only "friending" people who live a longer distance away but I am sure that would tick off the in laws .... which I wouldnt be opposed too if our kids didnt enjoy them so much...lol  I am sure a Facebook deletion is in our future even though it seems to be the only way families and friends communicate these days which is just sad in my opinion.

I think at some point when something is no longer serving you in a positive way you have to ask yourself, "Does this make me happy?" We need to weigh the pros and cons of a situation and really rely on our inner intuition or gut instinct. So often when we hesitate we already know what we WANT to do but we refrain because of what others will think. 

Either way, I would have woke up happier and respected my uncle more if we weren't on Facebook... but then again is ignorance really bliss?

ANOOK : "Welcome Home Gamer" #Blaugust 15

What a great message to see when you log into www.Anook.com !? I was lucky to have stumbled across this Social Media Website for Gamers. I had entered the #Blaugust contest held by @Belghast and he had made a "Nook" completely designated for us #Blaugust Bloggers. I went to the website with the intent to just snoop around, register and hop into the Blog area that was set up. Well I can say that I was pleasantly surprised to have found ANOOK.com. It allows users to sign in with Facebook, Google plus, or to make a quick account to get started.
I have been building a Blizzard Gaming Guild called Cross Realm Rebellion with a couple friends of mine. It is a safe gaming community on top of an out of game guild intending to unite Blizzard gamers with our battlenet Id's.  I was thrilled when I saw how versatile ANOOK was regarding what I needed to make for our project. Anook is in Beta at the moment, but still allows you to make your personal account on top of also making little "Nooks" to house your blog, your guild, or your clans and in my case the gaming community. There are many more categories available that I could still list. The selling part for me was that you can customize your Nook as well as link your Anook status updates to your Twitter account. This was the absolute kicker for me. The problem with running a gaming group, a gaming community, a blog, and a podcast is the trouble of spending so much time relaying information across various forms of social media. I found that with ANOOK I could make my status from my ANOOK site that would shoot through to my twitter ( because it is an option) then my twitter status shoots trough to my Facebook page so it cuts down on how much I have to visit all of my social media hubs and allows me to interact with friends and fellow gamers across all three avenues. ANOOK also makes it easy to find your friends on Facebook and followers on twitter that have signed up on the site already.

This message has been copied form their ABOUT section:
"Anook enables gamers to learn about the latest games, organize and enhance their gaming life and share their experience with friends and like-minded gamers.

Anook is developed by an international team of dedicated gamers. We share the vision of building a home for all gamers – a stage for the competitive gaming culture and a public information resource for casual gamers.

We are working on Anook for over two years and are 100% self funded. Anook is not owned by a major company and we don't earn any money with this website. We build Anook because we think it needs to exist."

When you go to make your own NOOK on the ANOOK site you can add , a calendar, forums, links, etc. which was great in my opinion! You can add pictures, streams, and you can build a ranking for permissions for those who start to follow your NOOK. You can create forums and lock down certain areas for only members to see. You can add in game characters to your account too! That is one thing I have struggled with for our gaming group, people love the versatility of having a gaming community readily accessible to them as they sign into Facebook. They like the push notifications that come with using the Facebook app but no one really knows who they are talking too out of game versus the character in game as the majority of people use their real life names. I really liked that you can hook characters to your profile to communicate who you are if you choose to sign in with your real name instead of your gamer tag. You can get notifications sent to you via email so you will know if your site is experiencing any activity. 

Another cool part of Anook is that you create your profile and you can create multiple Nooks and also join other Nooks that interest you! I think a site like this will really appeal to people who have used sites like Guildlaunch and Enjin for their guilds but struggle with getting people to participate. That is a problem I face everyday is that we are spread around so many places because of varying interests.You also get to attach games you enjoy to your profile and to your Nook.

The fact that ANOOK is already full of gamers reminds me of a city of gamers. Then when you make your profile you are "Moving In". Then when you build your Nook, you are building your house on a street that is populating at a fast rate. You are connected to everyone outside of our Nook and in them too. That is the part I really enjoy. When you use a site like Guild Launch , there is not a place to mingle and meet other gamers.

Some things I would like to see available are a mobile app, more customization for nooks outside of the Header. An Application Process to have people use to apply to your Nook. Those would be my top 3 additions if I were to suggest any but I am sure they are very common suggestions and have already been added to their to do list!
So essentially you can make your profile, house your blog, house your stream, house your guild/clan/community, etc all from one site. /Mind Blown!

JUST TO BE CLEAR I chose to highlight this bad ass site on my own because I see how this can totally be a game changer for those of us who wear many hats in the gaming community. The devs are on twitter and they are very friendly. It is still in development and they have a forum set up to take any suggestions you have for them. They are paying for this site out of their own pockets and they are gamers too. I encourage you to give ANOOK a Look!

If you would like to check them out for yourself head to ANOOK.com you can meet them on twitter @AnookDotCom and like them on Facebook!

If you would like to Follow my Nooks join me here! Cross Realm Rebellion  , The Dirty Casuals Gaming Group, Blizzard Blip Cast . I would love to see more of us gamers filling the ranks and to see some familiar faces!

A "Pet Peeve" Post "Less Criticizing, more creating! #Blaugust #16

Having spent almost 3 years on twitter as well as in podcasting, you get to see a lot of behavioral patterns ( as well as participate in some of your own, ha!)   One of my pet peeves would have to be when I see talented and great people who could very well write their own blog, record their own show or produce their own stream nit pick the work of others. They could bust out some great stuff if they were to spend more time on creating something of their own. I do not say this in a rude or snarky way, I mean this in a very honest way. I see their talent. I see their opinions on subjects they feel passionate about. I see them get frustrated with how things are not done their way or said how they would have said it. That shows me that they have passion in the topic but they may lack the confidence to create it. They reach out to their favorite hosts, bloggers, podcasters, streamers, and youtubers showing support or to correct them. I see the desire is there because they tweet about disliking "so and so's" show or saying that an article totally missed the mark, or the stream was incredibly boring. After critiquing others, they never make anything to call their own. That is why my desire for them to create is double sided.

On one side I want them to be humbled by the experience. It has always been annoying to me when someone criticizes something or someone but has zero experience doing what they are judging. It also makes me scratch my head when people assume that content creators care whether or not you partake of their product. Most of us do it as a hobby. We do not get paid for downloads, subscribers, or reviews. If people listen or they don't, it really isn't any skin off of our back. The amount of time it takes to edit, pick out music, trim and cut tracks, make show notes, make headers and avatars, keep up on news, find guests, etc. can add up.I can not speak for other avenues of creation, but I am sure it takes a lot of preparation and time dedicated to final touches, especially where youtubers come in to play. It is all part of the process of taking our free time to mold and create something about something that we love (and some hate) and if any criticism is to be made, do everyone a favor and make it constructive. 

On the one side, I want them to see that they could be incredible at it. ANYONE can do it  you know... It is not a secret club of people. You do not have to wait to receive an invitation. Give yourself a voice! TAKE THE PLUNGE! All of us started somewhere. For me, I normally try to make a show that I would listen too and that fits into my life style. I record during nap times and when my husband works over as I do not want to wake anyone up. This restricts me from having guests or being a guest. When you are thinking of starting a project of your own, make sure that it is something you really love. Make sure that you have the time to do it. Make sure that you can keep up with the demands. Give yourself some wiggle room! You don't want to be so strict with the topic of your creation to the point that if your tastes change you reformat under the same show. I also recommend that you be kind to yourself during the process if you choose to start something of your own. The worst thing you can do to yourself is compare your work to that of other content creators. Everyone has their own talents, tastes, budget, and personality. Over time you will find your Niche and your audience. Spend your energy improving your product instead of being green with envy and poisoned by jealousy. I have seen this destroy confidence, friendships, and fun. Avoid trying to mimic others , be true to yourself and get your ass out of your comfort zone!

It might feel weird at first. You will feel uncomfortable, but you will start to feel stronger each time you do. This is your life, what are you really waiting for? No really! If you spent half of the amount of time you spent lifting up others, trying to get noticed by your idols, or criticizing others, you'd see you have a lot to share and you have been going about it all wrong. 

Give yourself a chance would ya? Yeah, sure, you will no doubt cross paths with people just like you who will feel the need to give you their two cents, and that is OK! Inspire them to leave their comfy little shell of fear a judgment too! You do not have to thrust yourself out in the limelight. You do not have to advertise yourself if you don't want too. Just throw your content out into the ocean like the rest of us do. It really is just like that. We create something, toss it in a "bottle" of sorts, then toss it out into the nether. Sometimes we get a message back and sometimes we don't, but either way we keep creating because it brngs us joy.

I do realize that not everyone who is critical has a desire to produce anything, but they deliver their message differently. They are respectful and discreet. They do not treat the content as though they had purchased a defective product that needs immediate attention. In most cases the content is 100% FREE and your are not being forced to consume it. In most cases consumers understand that their ride to work would be incredibly boring without the voices of their favorite podcast in their ear. Their business meeting would drag on without their favorite blogger to help them pass the time.

If you are more of a "support beam" type of personality, that is amazing too. Anyone who makes anything for others to consume needs to be surrounded by supportive people! You are greatly needed in all avenues of creation whether it be food, art, clothes, crafts, audio, visual, or even something text based. Supportive people are very beneficial and appreciated by anyone that wishes to have a great foundation on various platforms in life. The difference between being a critical jack-hole and a supportive person is that one genuinely loves to help out behind the scenes and the other type of person is too chicken to make something of their own. That's my opinion of course ;) No matter what side of the coin you reside on, I know you have something itching to be created. Please, just stick your toes in, at least just do it long enough to get a taste if you think it is for you!

You don't to have the best equipment or an inside track. You don't have to worry about losing when there are no winners! You do not have to be perfect. You do not have to be a wizard in the field. You do not have to be well known or an Internet celebrity, you just have to be you! So, get off your butt and make something more fulfilling than what you have been cooking lately, which probably is nothing! ;D 

There are a lot of resources available to you on the Internet regarding what you can use to get started on which avenue you desire. Since I podcast I will only speak on that aspect. 

I use audacity to record and edit my show. When I had guests on I would use Skype to interview and Call Graph to record the conversation. I currently use Podbean because of its ease of use as I am entirely incompetent when it comes to messing around with coding etc. There are a lot of different options you can check out too, like Sound Cloud or Libsyn to name a couple. 

Blogger and Wordpress are the two main blogging sites that I have used, but there are so so many options when it comes to blogging that you can feel out what set up would work best for you. 

In closing, realize that there is a difference between having an opinion that you keep to yourself and publicly shaming a content creator because you lack the talent or motivation to create something to call your own. What are you really waiting for? Take the first step and brainstorm then dive in! If you are waiting for an invite, this is it! 

Esme out!

Fried Computer, dragonfly rapists, and Taichi Pandas!

OK! It has been a few days since I have got to take some time to blog!
I ran LFR with my friend Jay and her hubster this past Tuesday  (in Warcraft) and when I logged out my hard drive took a crash so now we are in the process of fixing it.  I am lucky enough to have a mini keyboard that hooks up to my tablet so that I can still get on the internet! :)

LIFE:
August 11th, 2015
So! Today started off great! It was a cinnamon vanilla pancake and coffee morning! The weather has been tolerable so we have been trying to get the babes outside to soak up some fresh air and sun . We have had a horrible mosquito infestation this year and it feels like we have to base our life around flying zombies. One of us usually has to sacrifice their warm fleshy body to the mini blood suckers as a diversion so the other parent can load the kids in the van when we head out . It is a crazy sight  I am sure. I normally choose to run around  breathing heavy because they are attracted to carbon dioxide, heat, and some other chemicals we breath out, so running is the perfect thing to do !
Thank goodness trees block us from our neighbors view!

So today we avoided the damn mosquitoes and communed with the dragonflies. Mr. Sky loves chasing them around until they are too tired to fly and then picking them up for our daughter to hold. They just rest on her finger until they get up enough energy to fly off. I used to think this was cute until I refreshed myself on Dragonflies! HA! They are murdering rapists according to a site I found! Crazy! I went searching for more info on dragonflies today when Mr. Sky could feel one he was holding bite him. It did not hurt at all, but he wondered if they all did that as he had never felt it before. So to google I went and vuala! Murdering Rapists.

"They're Rapists

Most animal species go through some sort of courting routine before they mate; dragonflies don’t have that much time—there’s food that needs eating. So they forcefully mate with the first female they come across, and we mean forcefully. A male will first locate a female by he flight patterns to make sure she’s the right species. Then he approaches from behind, clamps his forearms around her neck—sometimes with a vicious bite to subdue her—and signals his body to begin transferring sperm to the right place. See, male dragonflies store sperm in a segment at the end of their bodies, even though their penises are higher up. So once he’s in position, the male will start the semen transfer."
(Photo and information source: Andrew Handley - listverse.com)

I know! But the good thing is they eat mosquitoes, the nemesis of my summer.... If you want to see the 10 brutal facts about dragon flies, check it out here! So yeah, we spent the day unknowingly hanging out with some of mother natures most sketchy of insect characters....well I guess dragonflies have more in common with humans than what I had originally thought? 

GAMING

So as I stated up above, I am WITHOUT my precious computer! That means NO Warcraft. No heroes of the Storm. No GuildWars2... I immediately went to my phone to see what I could play in the absence of my beloved MMO's and I found a mobile MMORPG called Taichi Panda. it is toted as a Dungeon Crawler Hack and Slash. You get to pick from 5 diffeent characters; A Taichi Panda, A Glorious Warrior, a Treasure Hunter, a Gunslinger, and A Fox Mage. I chose the Fox Mage. I chose her because I wanted a ranged class that was a female. There is a Gunslinger character but it is a male. I wanted to play a female toon as my first character. You can not pick any customizations, you are stuck with the skin that you are given, atleast from the start. The Fox mage has some really awesome talents and talent graphics. One of them is a tornado that sucks up your enemies and swirls them around. I am currently level 7. You do the tutorial till you are level 6 and then you get a little more freedom to do stuff while still getting helpful prompts. So far I have been really impressed by the graphics, the ease of controlling my character and all of the options. You control your toon with your finger on the touch screen of your device. A little joy stick appears and then you get to begin controlling your toon. On the right bottom corner of your screen are the attacks for your character. I have been doing solo questing so far. They are like a mini instance where you kill mobs leading up to a boss fight at the end. Each event I have done has rewarded me with gold and gear. A nice touch at the end of completing the run is where you are shown three playing cards face down that can award you additional gold or gear. I am tryng to level to level 20 so I can join a guild and see how that is in game. So far though, for being mobile? It is really bad ass!
If you decide to give the game a try, let me kow! I am EsmeraldaSky in game =D

Well thats it for now!

Good night!

Esme out!

Evening Entry: One Azerothians old Content is another Azerothians Stranglethorn Sunset! Blaugust Entry #8

Welcome Muffett and Tuffette to Azeroth!

After several days of trying to match our schedules , my mother and I finally had the opportunity to log in together for the first time and create new characters in World of Warcraft together! She has been playing her baby hunter on Borean Tundra on her own but we still wanted to have some characters to play together when time allows. It also makes it easier for her to learn when someone is walking her through stuff.

We had a bit of a rough start because she misplaced her password and didn't know there was a box asking if it was "OK for Blizzard to make changes to her computer" for the patch updates.  LOL! It took about an hour of troubleshooting over the phone until I finally figured out why her battlenet launcher kept saying, " Initializing" .  I did not realize how many things come first nature for me in regards to the entire process of playing world of Warcraft. There are a lot of things I take for granted! You do not realize how much of the game is "trial and error" and research based until you are trying to teach someone who has never played Warcraft, an MMORPG or even a video game in the last 30 years. The last game my mom had played was Frogger on my parents Atari and a very brief stint of Super Mario Brothers that ended after running Mario into the first gap in the ground and dieing OVER AND OVER ! She did it at least 15 times in a row and made my sister and I want to pee ourselves so very badly! Now, after years of hearing me talk about it on my podcast, at family gatherings, and with friends, she decided to give World Of Warcraft whirl. ! Ha! It was hilarious to say the least and I was truly happy and humbled to be joined by her in game. She knows I have played for 8 years, but I don't think she every knew why, until the other night...

We are Role playing as little Gnome Sisters on an RP Server

and

We are rolling WARRIORS! RAWR!

I think one of the things that brought her the most laughs was the ability to emote! The first thing I did to her in game was run up and do the /chicken. Here is a handy list of emotes you can do in Warcraft if you want to broaden your emote abilities!

 She got a huge kick out of the /dance emote because lets be honest, these new gnome models are totally adorable and even more so when they are dancing. It felt really good to hear her laugh the way she did . It had been quite a while since she got to really get a chuckle out of something. Everyday is rough for us as we make our way through the fog and different stages of emotions that grieving brings. There is something about being able to touch in with your child like side that completely outshines any darkness the adult world can bring you. I think that is what gaming offers many of us. That opportunity to fly in a world where we are without wings. It is a world where you can stand side by side with others just like you to conquer horrendous beasts instead of lowering your head as you walk past the bullies of life hoping to go unnoticed. It allows people to climb mountains when life has them feeling like they can't even climb out of bed. It allows shy people to flex their voice and it allows followers to become leaders. It allows you to sneak in a laugh or two in between the tears, and that is why I am so happy to introduce my mom to gaming and to World of Warcraft. 

I think that this popular cliche often gets overlooked.

During the last couple, days following the World of Warcraft Expansion Reveal, and todays "Live Warcraft Q&A" from Gamescom, there has been quite a debate once again on social media.  There has also been a lot of excitement and joy, and for that I am pleased! I have never understood why people think that berating, threatening, and attacking others will ensure that they get their way and that their voice will be heard and respected. I find myself feeling like I am in the middle of two very different reactions for the same game. I look to my left and see the absolute amazement for Azeroth through my mothers reactions to this new and fantastic world. I actually feel quite proud of my home away from home as I take her on a tour of the place. THEN I look to my right... I see people who seem to spend more time out of Azeroth dissecting, scrutinizing, and complaining about the game and its developers, than actually playing the game. 

I seem to see and hear, "EVERYONE FEELS THIS WAY! WHY ARE THEY NOT LISTENING!?" regarding game development and game developers. I can assure you that not everyone feels the same about anything in this world, pixel based or not. One woman's/man's trash is really another woman's/man's treasure. The same game someone is spending the majority of their free time scrutinizing is another persons escape, paradise, and source of complete entertainment!

Everyone needs to call it a night in Warcraft, so I showed her how to tuck her little Gnome in bed!

The night ended with the famous words, " ITS ALREADY GOING ON 1 am!?"

I assured her that this wouldn't be the first time.

I bet my mom never thought she would be staying up late and "Warcraf-ting" with her daughter as much as I never thought I would be "Warcraft-ing" with my mom!

Well that is all the time I have for today's post as my babes will be waking up from their nap soon!

My final thoughts on the matter I put into a graphic :)

Esme out!

Afternoon Entry: A bit on the personal side...Life,Gaming, and How I have been changed by change. BLAUGUST #7

I posted this graphic on Twitter earlier today and I had no idea that it had stirred some thoughts within myself. The below entry gets a bit deeper and raw than I had anticipated, but that's OK.

Afternoon Entry:
Gaming-life-stuff
I am just going to jump into yacking about gaming today as I don't know how much time I have left on my "Mommy Free Time watch" :) AKA the babies are sleeping! So I was thinking today about my love and hate for gaming. It is definitely a double edged sword. At-least for me it is. I am a mother, I am a wife. I have "real world-ish" duties that I put before any hobby of mine as I believe any decent parent and person should do. Well they should do that if they wish to maintain a healthy marriage and not regret missing out on some of the treasures our little ones share with us everyday. We really can not get those moments back. Do I want to look back at my kids young years and think about how many battlegrounds I won in a row or how my babies eyes gleam when they are happy and bouncing around and singing? I think you know I would choose the second option hands down. The double edged sword is not me having to choose my family over my gaming, no not at all, that is honestly not even a choice! It is a decision I made when I gave birth to my little ones. The minute I became a mom I signed a life long contract to put them first always and forever and it is a joy to do that and I feel that joy in every cell of my being.

The hard part I have found is finding that same joy in your hobby that is also the same hobby as millions of other people! You enjoy gaming and people are "OK", so you dive into the gaming pool, but once you are in there you realize you have to swim around with EVERYONE. You have to find the part of the pool where your "people" are. Yeah, you came to swim there on your own free will but damn...who knew it was going to be so draining at times!? HA! I mean, sure! You don't have to talk to anyone if you don't want too! You don't have to visit forums or be on social media to be a gamer, but then how will you know what is going on with your game or your class? I would still be a hunter wearing cloth and rocking out spirit gear in Warcraft if I never talked to another player the entire time I was logged in or never visited a forum or learned something from a you tube channel! The hard part is swimming around and finding people like you when you are surrounded by competitive people , crap talking trolls, people with endless amounts of time to mid max every aspect of the game..... I mean really. It can be such a chore!

I didn't realize how draining it can be as much as I have the past 7 months. When my father past in December of 2014.... I changed. I had spent my life up until that point with my guard up. On my defense. A witty comment ready to fly at the next asshole who wanted to fight with me. Part of this is just who I am, a constant supporter, representative, and defender of the under dog! Part of this is due to many years of trusting the wrong people, working in toxic environments, surrounded by prejudice.... you name it. It all started to add up. When I became a mom, my guards were raised even higher. I knew that I was now the protector of two more souls and no longer just looking out for my own safety.

When I lost my father, I started to look at the world differently. It is fleeting. People die every second of everyday. I had never experienced this type of a loss before. Watching someone you love with all of your heart die right in front of you changes you. Knowing that the forehead you are kissing as you say your last goodbyes is really YOUR LAST goodbye, shifts something inside of you, or at-least it did in me. It froze time. It made me whip out a very large magnifying glass and examine everything. Even how I viewed how I was using my time. The past no longer exists. The future is not here. The only thing that matters is this moment, right now. Am I happy in this moment right now? Am I safe in this moment right now? Is everyone I'm caring for happy and safe right now?

I had to start asking myself these things because I had developed some freakish thing called Anxiety. I say freakish because I had never felt this way before. The severe nausea, shortness of breath, emotionally shutting down and feeling detached... NONE of this had I ever experienced before. I had heard of it, but I had never felt it. Until now. Until I started gaming again. I came back to play Warcraft after being on a hiatus and the minute I get in our team-speak there is Guild Merging discussions, and decisions and confrontations. I wanted NO PART OF IT. I found myself being cornered and I no longer could breath. I literally was at a loss for words. I could not muster the the energy to reach for my handy dandy "Bitch Switch" that I have always relied on. I felt caught off guard and did not understand how to process the negativity. I knew one thing though, I had just came back to play a game and to ENJOY MYSELF. The old Esme would have easily put ass-hats in their place, and I know deep down that person is still in me, but the care to do so is not. That is the unfortunate part of Gaming with others in my opinion. We bring our real world baggage into game along with everyone else. We don't always know what someone is dealing with. Some just care about progression, "pissing contests" and who's transmog is the best. Someone else just feels blessed to have made it through another day. We are indeed stuck taking turns on both sides of the coin when we share a hobby that involves other humans.

When I say I have changed I really mean it. I went from a person who cried twice a year to someone who is touched by the most intricate parts of life and also someone who had become hyper sensitive. The Old Esme who could pile a load of life's shit on her shoulders no longer wanted too. This made me look at gaming differently. I really do not have to game with competitive shit talking people if I don't want too. I don't have to be belittled because I am a girl, I do not have to watch people force their views and values on others. I am a mom and like to game. I don't need to apologize for logging in AFTER my kids go to bed because those are the personal moral values I have.I don't have to make excuses for why I have not raided on a raid team ONE DAY IN MY LIFE because it never interested me and never fit into MY life.

I have never ever ever been a competitive person and that has always been the rough part about gaming because it brings out the worst in people who are competitive. They no longer can game for fun, they grow into some sort of green eyed monster who loses sight of why they started gaming in the first place. They start comparing themselves against the best of the best and they kick themselves when they don't compare. They turn on their friends and start micro managing them and their performance because they feel so poorly about their own. They think the amount of fake things in a fake world they have accumulated means they are somehow superior to others but with a quick pull of a plug honey all that GOES AWAY. That is life and that is change and that is inevitable.

Change will happen through your life. You can not get around it. Nothing stays the same. What you value now? What you think your life revolves around now? Yeah that will change too and the tricky thing about change is that you don't always get to call the shots. Sometimes it just happens to you. Sometimes it is a little dose of change, sometimes it is so huge that it totally rearranges who you are as a person and you come out feeling a better sense of what matters and how you treat others through the grand scheme of things matters more then being better than them. Sometimes it does not change you on the first trip around but after 12 more rounds of change? Yeah, you're going to start feeling the shift. Mark my words, you will always be touched by change. You can either decide to make the best of it or be a victim of it. You can choose to adjust to the change and grow or you can sit down and attempt to escape it. Change happens in and out of game and it will affect how you play no matter what world you are playing in. The best thing I can suggest is to do your best at being true to yourself and roll with it.

Whoa.

Well. I had no intent to spill this much, but it is a diary type blog, so there it is...My entry for the day. Time to get lunch going as my babies are to be rising soon =D
Take care <3
Esme out!

Afternoon Entry: Excited! Snorefest...Excited! Warcraft Exp Announcement Blaugust #6

Ok, So I made my celebratory breakfast this morning consisting of biscuits and gravy and a big mug of coffee. I informed Mr. Sky that I will be loading the dishwasher, busting out breakfast but then I am going to be selfish and make time to do what I have been looking forward too and that meant WATCH THE EXPANSION ANNOUNCEMENT for World Of Warcraft from Gamescon 2015
Well just as Murphys law states "If it can go wrong it will!".

 I had the stream set up to watch on my tablet so I could be dazzled while eating breakfast but then I thought NO ! Bigger and Better! So I opened up You tube on the Big TV in the living room hoping that it would be an AMAZING show for the family to join in on! So then I went to open up my phone to cast the screen to my TV and it was totally frozen! Then I thought Phew! I have my tablet streaming in the kitchen, I'll be fine if my living room TV plan doesn't pan out! Just then My Sky walks into the living room and holds my tablet up and says," It is starting!" He is not very tech savvy and I just knew that his big man thumbs would tap the screen and close it all down and I will be left with NOTHING. I froze into place and said very slowly ," P L E A S E...SET ...IT.........DOWN.......CAREFULLY......" Like it was a damn grenade missing the pin or something! He looked at me and started laughing. He obviously did not grasp how serious I was about making this MY TIME after all I very rarely make a stance and demand anytime because I do all of my non mommy stuff while everyone is sleeping. I finally got the you tube to stream the Gamescon 2015 reveal on my big TV and we all settled down to watch it and I WAS PUMPED!!!!!!!! The expansion trailer grabbed my husbands attention and my little moons attention right away. She fell in live with the "Pretty Orc" the moment she saw Guldan lol  We had bought them some Orc toys to play with the other day that are for her age and she immediately went to go and find him and thought he was behind the Entertainment stand and went to pull it away from the wall almost unplugging the tv chord from the wall. I leaped up from the couch once again to stop my precious stream from being shut off and that once again set my husband laughing in hysterics. I said, " I don't think you understand that this is some very important STUFF!" LOLOLOL He then starts to ramble about not getting to go fishing as much as he used to because of work and I quickly told him to suck it up and get a real hobby that is not victim to the weather, GAMING!
SO now I am tucked away in my bedroom with my headphones on fully prepared for a meteor to shooot down from space and smash my computer to keep me from watching this damn expansion reveal I have had to pause and re watch now a GAZILLION times......

 So FINALLY After I had to pretty much extract myself in a selfish and

AND HOLY CRAP!!!!!

World Of Warcraft Legion

 and 

HOLY CRAP! SNORE-FEST!!!!!

Before I had went to hide away and watch the stream in my room, my husband and I were watching the first speaker, Who I can honestly only say, is Alex "Blah Blah Blah" as my stream lagged and even the you tube stream jumps when his last name is mentioned. That oddly seems kind of fitting because sweet baby Thrall.... this guy put us to sleep! I kept fighting off the feeling that I was back in high school listening to some boring teacher ramble on and on. I really felt like they dropped the ball here. :( Is it just me or did Alex have an extra earpiece compared to what Ion Hazzikostas  had? I told Mr. Sky it looked like he was listening to someone say something in his ear then he would relay it. The delivery came out flat, slow, and lacking passion and excitement. It could easily be argued that this may have been his first time public speaking , maybe he was just nervous, but that does not explain why he was chosen to deliver the most anticipated message about Warcraft all year. It was quite painful to watch and listen too . You would think that who over was chosen to deliver the expansion news would be just as pumped up and geeked out as we are but Alex did not look or sound excited lol Not one bit. He walked around the stage staring toward the floor and attempting to crack little jokes here and there. I feel they really really needed to have someone drop this expansion news that had the same excitement for it as the crowd had and as we do. I think they should have had Ion or Chris Metzen drop the news then have Alex step in. I feel they really needed to deliver the news with such an overload of passion, excitement, and energy . So fired up that the crowd would rawr so loudly that they would have to pause to wait for the sounds to die down to talk again, but a lack luster delivery leads to a lack luster crowd response. 

When Ion got up to speak you could totally feel his passion. He talked fluidly and with first hand knowledge. You could get the impression quickly that he knew what he was talking about and had all the answer ready to flow from his mouth to our ears like he usually does . I told Mr. Sky that this Ion dude has this weird confident hypnotic voice that just seems to make you smile and nod as he explains things. 

So once I got over the obvious wet noodle of an introduction, I found myself really looking forward to what's in store.

Here is the Official Legion Website for your to check out!

I am honestly more geeked out about this expansion and all they are "Promising" us so far. I know everything is subject to change, but I am thrilled to be able to rock out a Demon Hunter, 

To explore the Broken Isles, 

AND HELL YEAH TO HONOR SYSTEM VERSION 3

A Pvp Talent Tree System

Are us PVP loving players finally seeing some love!?

I truly truly hope so!!!!!

 There is sooo much to go over and comb through to give an honest effort so that will be for future posts. I succeeded in at-least getting to watch the stream and soak in all of the awesome aspects of the new expansion. It really felt like Christmas all over again and for us Adults, the butterflies of excitement comes very far and few the older we get, so we have to enjoy our childlike excitement when we can get it, and I am EXCITED!

Well, My mother duties are kicking in! Time to his the road and head to the park. 

OH! And thank god we don't have to go around for months referring to the new expansion with some form of crazy initials like the past expansions of MOP and WOD! It is soooo nice to just say 

LEGION!!!

Esme out!

Evening Entry: Don't judge an Expansion by it's introduction. #warcraft #Blaugust #5

Parent Roulette!
Today started out as a win! On the parent roulette table I did not do so bad! Last night my baby moon woke up crying and shouting out for us at 4:30 am. I of course rush in and see whats causing such a reaction and she seemed to just have had a bad dream, but then realized that daddy was now home from work so she immediately requested he sleep on her floor. He could not say no to his biggest fan so he walked like the tired daddy zombie he is and curled up on the floor next to her toddler bed. I tossed him pillows and a blanket because I know she won't let him out of her sight lol Now I am going to be honest. I was thrilled. I had completely dodged that bullet ! I adore by babies, don't me wrong, but I am tethered to my mini's all day and night and this little reprieve when they would prefer to have their daddy is a perfect every now and then. I soon realized that every day when you are raising a family is a big game of RNG just like in the games I play! lol You might be holding the baby that will crap them self next and BOOM! It is your turn to change that diaper. It literally is a crap shoot. The parent left standing free and clear of the #2 bomb gets permission to laugh and point and even do a celebratory dance if one is so inclined. It is the rules..well at least in my house >:) We got to get out and go to the park today and it was such a gorgeous day. The one thing I want to stress is SUNSCREEN PEOPLE ! Use that all the time and really make sure to coat your baby in it. Don't forget the little areas on the tips of their ears and try to avoid the spray stuff because a report I had read said that the FDA is warning against it due to it being inhaled by the little ones and that the spray doesn't cover as well as a lotion. They say that if you want to use it spray it on your hand and smear it on. I have not checked to see if anything has changed though, I'm just going to stick with what works for us.I prefer the stuff that's formulated safe for kids. Make sure you reapply too. More and more der da der people are popping up on the internet complaining sunscreens are not working and they are not re applying after the time the products label says. I have found that the stick suncreens work  great and they have some all natural child safe ones, your kid just gets to go around looking like casper as it is a sunblock and stays on top of the skin. I have used the Aveeno Brand one for babies when my toddlers were little nuggets and it worked great.

"Here we go again Jay... time to re-explore Frostfire Ridge!"

Gaming

I spent last night running LFR. 

Thats right! I am not ashamed to admit it! 

I AM AN LFR HERO and I am OK with that! I got in a decent group with minimal jackholes and fantastic healers. I love being healed! It makes me feel loved :) We got down Gorefiend and Kilrogg Dead eye and I was lucky to have received a trinket upgrade:) I was pretty pleased as I am not a raid type player but I like to see the content, upgrade my gear, and still get to learn some mechanics when I get the time too. I did not log in with the intent to do LFR as I had forgot it was Tuesday! I was actually going to go and finish my exploring of Draenor to work toward the flying I probably wont have for quite a while. One thing that sucks is that I had faction changed my main to Alliance and that means I have to re-discover FrostFire Ridge now lol Lucky me! My least favorite zone and I have to do it twice !? Well it was fun, I am not going to lie. I made pain trains all up and down that ridge like a boss!

In other news! I made a graphic that explains what I have been seeing on Twitter and the forums:P

The Warcraft Expansion is announced tomorrow!

I am thrilled to see what is in store for us and I seem to be in the minority on twitter (based on those I currently follow). Not everyone is as geeked out as I would like to see. Everyone seems to be holding their breath or already preparing to throw tomatoes the minute the expansion is announced. I had a brief discussion with some great ladies on twitter today about how we were noticing so much negativity toward the announcement tomorrow. I have seen a great spectrum of statements from people who don't play, people who used to play, people who are subbing but not playing, people who are playing but are threatening to not play if they do get the expansion they want... Yes, there are people like me and those whom I was discussing this with, that are excited to see what is in store. We agreed it seemed really really silly to be all worked up and looking forward to being mad. The announcement has not even been made but people are already getting ready to be pissed off. That just seems so silly to me! That moment in time does not even exist yet, but many are more excited to hit the angry mob switch than to give it a fair shot. It reminds me of when I am watching Americas Got Talent and the judges have to hit their buzzer if they don't like what they are seeing on stage. When they hit their buzzer a big red X glows big and red for everyone in the audience to see. The thing is, sometimes the audition ends up really surprising them. Sometimes they realize that they had totally hit their buzzer way too fast they never gave the contestant time to prove them self. Other instances you can clearly see that the Audience is doubting the performer and is almost sure that they will fail... Like Mr. Prince Poppycock :)

When you watch the video you can see the audience looking at each other and immediately doubting this contestants ability to deliver them entertainment. I am happy to say they were completely WRONG. Do you think they were judging him based on seeing hours of people fail and get the buzzer so they assumed he would be no different? Do you think their doubts were based off of past experiences with people with the name Prince Poppycock? Do you think they were thinking he lacked talent because of how he looked? Well, to be honest it doesn't matter why they doubted him, it only matters that they did. They immediately cast judgment instead of just sitting back and enjoying his performance.

I can't help but wonder if a lot of people I am seeing on social media and in forums are guilty of the same thing. I also can't help but wonder what exciting gaming announcements would be like without forums or social media for people to whine about stuff. Would they just wander the streets of their city ranting angrily to themselves about the upcoming World of Warcraft expansions looking like total whack jobs? I can see them now, twitching and wandering up and down the streets in their bath robe shaking their fists at the sky and proclaiming, "If I can't tame murlocs as pets I am un-subbing! DO YOU HEAR ME!?!?!? 

I would like to think that any true fan of World of Warcraft would do the logical thing and wait to play it. 

Get excited , buy it , play it, THEN give their opinion. 

There were a lot of people who hated the entire Panda theme of MOP but then actually ended up liking it. How many times have you cooked your family or friends a meal only to find out they don't want to eat it. They proclaim that they will hate it because it has mushrooms in it. They won't even give your creation the time of day. We test drive cars before we make a decision to buy them and we try on clothes in fitting rooms to make sure they fit the way we like! 

Call me crazy, but it seems that the logical thing to do would be to try it out and cast your opinion. The odds that you will like it are the same odds you might hate it, 50%. Either way, the delivery of your opinion matters greatly. Have respect for those around you and for those you wish to actually respect what you have to say in return.

Well, I'm pooped. 

Happy Expansion Announcement Eve!

Esme Out!

Warcraft Opinion Entry & Diving into #Blaugust! Blaugust Post #4

Happy Tuesday to you!

Today started out with some great music off of spotify. I found an EDM playlist that got my house pumping while I pretended to bust out the beats from my DJ booth (aka my stove) to my husband and babies . Who knew pans of scrambled eggs and bacon could make such amazing sounds :)

So I came across a tweet a few days ago asking what this hashtag #BLAUGUST was all about and I admittedly had no clue. I looked around and found that there is a blogging contest that takes place during the month of august. It caught me by surprise because I had just decided to make the commitment to blog everyday so this just makes it easier for me to really want to get my thoughts out there. They seem to have no problem flooding my mind while I sleep, or while I'm cleaning but when it actually comes down to sitting in front of a screen to pour my thoughts out I find myself procrastinating.  So I joined in the event with every intention to complete it and the good news is that you can play catch up this year unlike last year,from what I have read. I have a couple posts to finish I had actually started but I did not get to finish. Wish me luck! If you would like to participate, here is the info: Blaugust Anook Page .

GAMING related Opinion stufffffs:

           Please don't be like that cute puppy!

Twitter was a buzz with anticipation to see what the Blizzard-Activision Second quarter numbers were today. I snooped around and found that it hit the internet pretty quickly and Blizzard claims it actually did better than what hey had anticipated with 5.6 million subscriptions. Part of me doesn't understand the hype that goes into waiting for such information. It seems more appropriate for those types who love a juicy bone to chew on as opposed to someone who likes to pick the meat they want off of the bone and call it good. I tend to just take what I want , what fills me up and makes me happy. I guess I kind of approach this situation that way too. I enjoy myself in the games I play regardless if they go up or down in profits. I also don't slow down to spy on an accident on the highway. I say a prayer for those involved and their families and I keep driving. I really don't take any joy speculating on the failure of any person, place, or thing..( unless they are just an all around asshole. Then I might smile if they trip and fall >:D ).  Maybe I am just not curious enough or invested enough to care, but I find myself not really feeling the need to jump aboard the "blah blah downer hype train." Yes there are a lot of people who are not happy with this expansion but there are a lot of things to do in Azeroth that previous expansion offered and I bet a lot of us have not completed. I for one, was just thinking yesterday about knocking some stuff off I missed out in Mists of Pandaria. I had just given birth to baby moon when MOP launched and I was more interested in my new precious baby than I was grinding rep to get mounts and now I want to go back and work on that too.

I have heard people say, "I don't want to pay $15 dollars a month to just do old content!" Well that's fine and good for you but in my opinion if you have never done it or seen it , it is still new content . There are so many things that we have not seen or done in Azeroth yet it gets brushed off by those who's appetite is never satiated. Sometimes I feel people get swept up in the attitude of those they play with or look up to. In my opinion, it is OK to be critical. I believe  a certain amount of PRODUCTIVE criticism shows passion for what you love. I find that when you are critical about every angle of something you used to love maybe you just need to move on to something else as you may have outgrown your interests. Seeking new interests could bring you more joy than trying to force something into the shape of your expectations.  I think that many people become lazy  in regards to being entertained. I believe that you have to be proactive in seeking your enjoyment instead of being spoiled and waiting for your exact demands to be fulfilled and delivered in a nice package on your lap. 

                                                 

When you log into Azeroth you make the decision to run around and go,"I HAVE NOTHING TO DO!" or you can Google some mounts, achievements, or content you haven't had the chance to do. Blizzard has even tried to help grab your hand and lead you to try new aspects of the game with these weekend events and time walking and even the little guide that pops up reminding you of stuff you can do in game as your character progresses.  If all of that sounds tedious to you, then honey I am sorry to say, maybe you are looking in the wrong place for what it is you seek. Maybe you are just pining for times in your past? Maybe you are failing to realize you have changed and what the game has to currently offer is no longer your type of game or entertainment?

I'm sure you have heard the cliche, " You cant squeeze blood from a turnip" ?
Well I would like to say that you can't squeeze a MOBA from an Azeroth and you can't squeeze an FPS from an Azeroth.

If your time and tastes have changed it might just be time for you to explore new lands or at least go on vacation so that you don't pee on everyone's parade.

Well that's my quick take, I have dinner to make!

Esme out!