BRK and Ratshag's Running of Da Bulls!

Fer Sharvan!!

Today was the Running of da Bulls on the Cenarion Circle RP server. The locals were quite confused. I REALLY wish I had been able to see what the alliance in Ironforge were saying... My very first character in WoW was a Tauren... so they have a special place in my heart.

"Tigersoubull" was my entrant into the race. But he died too much and did not win. I have NO idea how the winner made it there so fast! (I was almost to Hillsbrad)

I was lucky enough to see a few of the bloggers (Ratshag, BRK, Bellwether) Thanks for the fun!

And I got a purple shirt!!!

Here are LOTS of screenshots:

Just over 2 hours before the race:

BRK does it Disco-style in front of all his groupies (looks like Tigersoubull fainted)

Look at that fine piece of beef!!

Shut up and get to the starting line!!

Wow look it's Ratshag there... Orcs are kind of small!

How many bloggers can YOU find in this picture? (I think I can see five...)

Hey look! I'm running by Bellwether of 4Haelz! She has a great blog!

She also witnessed my first death of the race...

The official race is done - the Herd heads for Wetlands en route to Ironforge!

That is a LOT of Bulls. I wonder if this is a record?

Those mean dwarves picked off a few of the weak.

Good thing we have thick skins in this cold!

Storm the gates of Ironforge!!

Swarm the halls!

There were lots of ghosts present too...

The number of guards that spawned was ridiculous.

I'm sure the alliance will have nightmares caused by their cruelty.


Unfortunately shortly after spawning in Elwynn (I finally made it into the tram only to be killed by some heartless hunter who probably doesn't even like steak) I had to leave... so I missed out on the hogger fight. :(

It was a lot of fun and I thank those responsible for setting all of this up!

Blog Azeroth: How did you come up with your character names?

I'm very bad at keeping up with the Blog Azeroth Shared Topics. But I don't mind too much because I'll miss some here and there, and do some of the others. That's what works for me and I'm sticking to it.

So how did I come up with my characters names? Sit back and get ready for a big entry - not because my reasons are deep, but because I have a lot of Alts! But for the purposes of this shared topic, I will mostly constrain my explanations to my main server of Dragonmaw

Early Original Names:

Tigersoul - My Main, 70, druid, my favorite character name I am using. WAY back before I was even in High School, I created a group of adventurers who I was going to write books and/or video games about. I drew pictures of them, and even created and used them at the Inn of the Weary Traveler, a WBS RP Chat room. Tigersoul was NOT, however, the lead character in these adventures, rather the best friend and right-hand-man (or maybe left) of the main character. But since you can't have titles like General or Warlord in WoW names, and simple names like "Blade" are never available, my major character name that I use almost everywhere on the web was unusable. So Tigersoul became my main. I like Tigers, and this character had a special affinity for animals and especially characteristics of a Tiger. So a druid fits perfectly eh? I actually have a Tigersoul Rogue, Hunter, and Warrior throughout various servers, but my Druid is the REAL Tigersoul.

Silverthorne - Human Priest, lvl 31 - Silverthorne also came from the same group as Tigersoul - he was the noble-born patron and sometimes helper of the group. He was probably more a mage than a healer... but oh well, my guild needs more Priests so there you have it! Interestingly, there is a high level Silverthorn on my server, so occasionally I get high level items mistakenly mailed to me. I always mail it back because no way am I going to keep something not meant for me. (Grateful people have sent me money even though it wasn't expected! Nice!)

Katryona - Human Rogue, lvl 24 - I have a degree in Russian, we were considering naming our daughter this, but decided not to. Still, it fits my idea for this sexy dangerous spy/assassin/rogue. Engineering is fun too, so I'm looking forward to getting her closer to endgame!

Later Names derived from Tigersoul aka "The Soul Clan":

Soulsword - Human Warrior, lvl 46 - Plate wearing sword wielding member of the Soul Clan, Adopted of course since the only born members of this family are Night elves... So pretty simple deduction as to why he's Soul-Sword.

Soulfist - Draenei Shaman, lvl 23 - My first main on my first server was a Tauren Shammy named Bullfist. Some of my guild from there moved over to Dragonmaw with me, so Soulfist was born when I had a hankerin' to roll an Enhancement Shammy. I love dual wielding magic casting totem dropping shammies! (Unfortunately, I DO like cows more than blue skinned demon-like things... but for some crazy reason which I'll never understand, the honorable, spiritual, and not very violent Tauren are Horde) So Bullfist transformed into Soulfist.

Soulspark - Draenei Mage, lvl 13 - Even though mages don't really have any electrical type powers that I know of... I liked Soulspark more than Soulfire or Soulflame... so there you have it. She's kinda spunky.

Angelsoul - Night Elf Hunter, lvl 14 - Simple mix of guild name "Angels of Wrath" incorporated into the Soul clan. I like the hunter class, but for some reason I'm having a bit of a problem with her.

Moonsoul - Night Elf Druid, lvl 8 - Founding member and current acting guild leader of the Druid Army. He's a Balance Druid, (or WILL be rather - 100% no changes!) and Tigersoul's younger brother. Moonkin all the time in the future... so his name will make a lot more sense then!

Treesoul - Night Elf Druid, lvl 2 - Officer of the Druid Army, she's a bit slow right now... and isn't anywhere NEAR the tree-form that is her namesake. Oh well. She's patient.

Silversoul - Dwarf Pally, lvl 8 - My kids wanted me to create this one for them, but I don't particularly like playing him too much... We'll see. Mix of my priest's name and the Soul clan. Only non-elf that has the soul at the end too.. woops.

Blog Azeroth: Druid Challenge

Thanks to Bellwether at 4Haelz for the suggested challenge... it only took me two weeks to get it done...

Challenge:
Hypothetical situation: Blizzard has introduced a new underwater zone to WoW. Due to this, they start giving all classes underwater abilities. The druid seal form is now utilized for more than simple travel.

Your goal: Design abilities for the seal form! Is the seal a healer? Magical dps? Physical dps? Tank? Utility? CC? Something entirely new?

Accepting the thrown Gauntlet:

Of course the only thing that could even be remotely possible here is the Tiger Shark! (Bull shark for Tauren) Get rid of that silly seal form, for it pales in comparison to this mighty beast of the sea!!

Heck, they even have the models in the game already!! (Night Elves get the sleeker Shark, and the Tauren get something like the Hammerhead model (See - MUCH cooler than that silly seal))

Sharks instill fear into the hearts of all who dare tread in shark-infested waters! Being such scary creature makes them a powerful DPS/CC mix.

Abillities:
Shark Form - Shapeshift into aquatic form, increasing melee attack power by 40 plus Agility, increasing swim speed by 50% and allowing the druid to breathe underwater. Also protects the caster from Polymorph effects and allows the use of various cat abilities.

Blood Frenzy - Upon critical strike a 50% chance to increase attack power by 150% for 5 seconds, once every 15 seconds. (Talent investment to get this or improve it)

Tailfin Swipe - A quick spin whacking the enemy with a powerful swipe of the tail stunning the target for 4 sec. and causing 150% damage.

Mangle (Shark) - Mangle the target for 140% normal damage plus 142 and causes the target to take 30% additional damage from bleed effects for 12 sec.

Jagged Bite - Serrated shark bite with damage plus greater bleed effect.

Feed - Activate to regenerate 7% of total health every 2 sec. by consuming Humanoid or Marine-life corpses within 5 yds - lasts 10 sec - 2 min cooldown (yay stealing racial abilities!)

And finally, the ultimate shark ability...
Jaws Attack - Shark disappears and all enemies abilities (up to 5 in a 30 yd radius) and spells receive an increase of 1 second to cast until the music finishes and the shark appears behind the select target for a devastating blow (30 minute cooldown) Booyah! Even better... the potentially doomed target will receive a special item right before the final blow at the music's crescendo... This item too is already in the game... Message log: "You have received the dreaded item" BAM! You die. (BTW - a must have Lucky Item that should be in EVERY guild bank. 'Cuz I say so.)

An underwater area would be great! Maybe there's a faction of less-violent Naga or Murlocs that'll give quests and help you out!

Other BA Bloggers who completed the Challenge:
The Dread Mana Turkey
4 Haelz
Lost in the Grind
All Things Leafy (Love the HGTTG reference in the title!)

Why Do I Enjoy Playing Feral Druid?

First off, I want to say that Blog Azeroth is an amazing resource for WoW Bloggers, and I may say Bloggers in general. To be honest... I signed up for an account there before I had even set up this WoW blog!! So if you blog, go sign up and check it out! It's amazing!

Siha of the Banana Shoulders made a "Shared Topic Challenge" to answer the following:

"Q: What do you enjoy about the class you play the most?"

So why do I enjoy the Feral Druid class?

Big Cats are amazing powerful beasts. Very cool. I like them. Especially tigers. Hence the name.

Initially Tigersoul was a Hunter, because he could tame one of those cute little tigers in Darnassus, but then I thought to myself, "Why TAME a tiger when you can BE one!" So I typed DELETE in that little box and started over. After playing the character for almost a year, spending a lot more time exploring than leveling, I discovered more and more reasons to LOVE playing a Druid. The number one reason is the forms. Talk about (almost)ultimate survivability! Especially once I got it through my thick fur-covered skull that the Bear was my friend and not just slow and dumb! If I don't kill it fast enough as the dark kitty, I can change into a big bad bear (oh how I LOVE insta-shift from recent patches!!) and Tank the snot out of those mobs until they die of exhaustion, OR if my shift into Night Elf while casting Barkskin and healing like crazy isn't enough, I can turn into a cheetah to the point where I leave combat and fly into the sky in a flurry of dark feathers! Too much fun! I like the "Hybrid" classes to be able to do a bit of everything - but the cat, bear, travel, aquatic and flight forms are what make it SO enjoyable for me.

So that is the simple version of why I like Druids.

I do however, wish that feral druids were a bit more viable in the Arenas... Somehow even though when in World PVP or BGs I kick butt - in the Arenas I'm often at the bottom. :(