WoW Weekly: A Sort of Block

WoW Weekly is a biweekly-ish, self-absorbed look into the things I've been doing -- or not doing -- in the game. From auctioneering and pet battling to mount farming and raiding.

I've been struggling for about a month with whether or not to post about not writing. Poignantly, I saw a tweet shortly after I realized I didn't feel like writing that basically said no one cares why you're not writing, just write or don't. Since I have ultimate reverence for authoritative tweets that speak for everyone...[blech]. Sorry, threw up in my mouth just then.

I haven't been writing because I haven't felt like writing---for a variety of reasons---and I am going to talk about that. I'm going to talk about that because I miss being in this particular space, one both digital and emotional, a space I've inhabited regularly over the better part of the last year. I've started seven pieces in the last four weeks only to leave them all as unpublished drafts on my dashboard.

Instead of practicing writing, I gave thought to writing. I looked at potential areas of content I could add to the calendar to maintain a regular posting schedule. But that's about as far as I got, because it was agonizing, even though it's something I've regularly done for the past year and a half. And I'm not great at agony.

The main reason I haven't spent much time here is the community reaction to what Blizzard themselves have recently sent our way: the lukewarm (and sometimes incredulous) response to Azeroth Choppers, the new female night elf model, a lackluster patch 5.4.8, vanity customizations, class starter guides, Garrison integration...hell, even a Blizzcon announcement only seemed to send players into a frenzy for a couple of days. If we weren't in such a weird place with the game, I would've been all over those subjects like murlocs on a wayward adventurer.

Maybe I'm just projecting some of my own reaction onto the greater community, but I don't have the confidence that I can produce quality content right now that even I'd want to read. I would bet the entire worth of my Warcraft account that had we a Warlords release date prior to these announcements they would have been received in a much different manner. But we don't have a release date, and until we do, I don't believe there is anything Blizzard can do to reignite the greater passions of the playerbase.

I have the utmost respect for people like Alternative Chat, Liopleurodon, and others on the blogroll at right who continue to churn out content that is both high-quality and regularly dispensed. But I am in that same funk so much of the playerbase is in. Tired of talking about the meal that's being prepared for us. We want to see it, smell it, roll it around in our mouths. We fully understand Blizzard's assertion of how incredible it will be. But it's high time we have an announcement as to when dinner will actually be served.

To wrap up, and staying in the spirit of WoW Weekly: less time spent writing means I've had more hours to do other things. I've strayed away from Heroes of the Storm as the true appeal for me will be when I can play alongside friends; I haven't looked into Wildstar beyond the first weekend I had beta access; my D3 Barbarian is on holiday fishing. Have you ever fished with an axe?! It's quite amazing. I've been focusing a lot of my time on one game...World of Warcraft:

• I won't put money on it, but I have a feeling the next subscription report we'll see from Blizzard will show an increase in the number of subscriptions. Our recent recruiting efforts have been nothing short of surprising, and the majority of our recruits of the past month have been new or returning players. 
• Our Normal 1-night group brought Garrosh to a heartbreaking 3% before we had to call it quits for the night. The arrival of patch 5.4.8 with little warning was a bit disappointing to us---we know the kill was inevitable without the aid of further upgraded gear, but at the same time we're not prohibiting our raiders their upgrades this week. He'll fall, but it'll be just a little less epic than it should have been.
• With the announcement of patch 5.4.8, I slacked a bit on collecting Secrets on the priest. Thus, you can imagine my disappointment Tuesday when it was revealed the patch did not include the legendary questline nerfs. 
• Still grinding bones occasionally on the Isle of Giants. I've found if I chunk it down into 500-bone sessions it becomes much less boring. Given it's so late in the expansion, I rarely have company out there, and can hop from mob to mob with no down time. 
• Knocked out 9/9 Gold CMs on Elepheagle, the shaman vanity armor having a very...interesting look to it. 
• Mount runs! We have a guild activity where ICC, Ulduar, and Firelands are cleared for a chance at the mounts that drop. We added Mogu'shan Vaults to that list, because at current gear levels it can be completed with five or less people, assuming you can cover the important roles a fight mechanic may demand. Haven't yet seen a mount drop, but someday...someday.

So...what are you up to?