Moving

Gillir and the gang are taking up residence over at Wordpress. I hope you'll follow us over to

Stormrage's Dreaming: http://gillir.wordpress.com/

Critical Thinking and WoW

Tobold said something, in the comments to his post on the nature of his blog, that struck a chord with me so I'm going to riff off it. Here's a snippet (be sure to read all of it):

"If I just wrote what happened to me, this blog would be pretty boring. The interesting thing is how what happens relates to game design, and the behavior of other people. Given how human behavior tends to follow certain paths, most notably that of least resistance, how would game design need to change to turn some bad game feature into a good one? It is not about what I do while playing, it is what I *think* while playing that makes people read this."

Another way to describe what Tobold is talking about is the term "critical thinking." Asking questions, connecting the dots, asking why and how, determining causal relationships; really just using your head and diving beneath the surface to understand how things work.

The reason this struck a chord with me is because I was considering writing a post on this very topic (so thanks to Tobold for the inspiration). See, I teach college English, and so I also teach first-year writing (I know, everyone hates freshman comp.), and one of the objectives of these courses is to teach critical thinking. So, how does this relate to WoW?

Does playing Warcraft teach or develop critical thinking?

I think so. Just take a basic transaction in the Auction House. You have to compare and contrast; you have to consider how the gear will enhance your stats. What build are you? Which will be more useful to you +spirit or +strength? Even grinding possesses the potential for analysis: Can I pull this mob without pulling 2 more on me? At what point do I down a healing pot? What's the best sequence for my casting? While you can go through all this without a second thought (and you can be successful, too, I would assume), that doesn't mean that there's no thinking involved.

Let's approach this from another direction. Take NASCAR for instance. I grew up in the South and so stock car racing was quite prevalent in my environment, but I never liked it. Like many people, I thought it was just cars driving fast in a circle. Then, a few years back, I actually watched a race, and lo and behold, there is strategy: tire pressure, aerodynamics, when to pit and when to stay out, drafting, and tons of other technical things that I still don't even know about. So, yes, you can watch NASCAR and not give second thought to it; but you can also consider the strategy and nuances of the sport, too; you know, think about it.

Thinking and Warcraft do go hand in hand; I mean, that's what theorycraft is all about, isn't it?

That doesn't mean that you have to critically analyze the game all the time. What's particularly attractive to me is that it possesses strategy and intellectually-challenging content and plain and simple bash and blast. Many times I play to not think, to get out of my head; but it is also nice to analyze and critique, too, so perhaps it's that combination of the intellectual and the visceral that keeps me coming back.

The Man Behind the Mask

So in addition to travel form, another nice thing about hitting 30 is wearing a helm. Maybe there are some available before 30, but I've never seen one in the AH. Anyway, Gillir has shed his BElf Bandit mask for an Insignia Cap, as seen here:


I considered putting the BElf mask on the AH, but it has sentimental value (I got it the first night after getting BC) so it'll pass on to Gillir's sister-alt, Halja, since she'll look best in it (warlocks and red just go together).

I wonder if others hold on to equipment for sentimental value, like the first blue you got in an instance, or something you grinded away for until it dropped. I've got a ton of equipment in the bank I need to sort through and vendor, but can't seem to get myself to do it (not completely for sentimental reasons, though).

(On a technical note, I've been trying to figure out how to do the tooltip-mouseover trick with links but can't do it. Any suggestions?)

Ding! 30

I'm a Lumberjack and I'm OK...

If you've been to the Eastvale Logging Camp in Elwynn Forest (and you're familiar with Monty Python) then you know exactly what the post title refers to:


I had seen references to this character before, so I had to play tourist and take a picture of him. (Worth noting, too, is that the name is a combination of Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam/Terry Jones).

Of course, here's the original:


Hey, while we're on the subject of Monty Python, here's one of my favorites:


"Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Herakleitos, he beat Hegel, Herakleitos is a little flick, here comes on the bardboard Socrates, Socrates is there! It is in! The Greeks are going... the Greeks are going mad! The Greeks are going there, Socrates scores, beautiful----the Germans are disputing it! Hegel is arguing that reality is merely a ---- ethics, Kant by the categoric imperative is holding that ultimologically possessed only in the imagination and Marx is claiming it was off-side! But Confucius blows the final whistle...it's all over! "

Spirited Away

Tsoai dinged 20 and got ghost wolf. Pretty fleet cruising down the road with 40% increase to speed.

Gillir's up to 29. Had it rough Friday night at Raven Hill, or Gank Central, probably about 6 times total. Luckily, it was quieter last night so he made some progress. Onward to 30 and travel form, but first should make some visits to the battlegrounds and get some PVP practice (boy, do I need it.)

Spammer?

I was in the human starting area (rolled a lock) and happened to see this where you begin at level 1:
Notice the name? The garbled, nonsense letters that you see in those annoying gold whisper spams? This must be one. Strange to actually see it in the flesh (as it were).


And here's what Gillir would look like if he were undead:I did the Cursed Crew quests (and finished all of them, too!) and when you get hit with the curse you're turned undead. It's a little disorienting, especially for a druid because you can't automatically tell when you're in form. Although the bear or cat pops out when you perform a move. And then the underwater fighting, and aggro, and cramped spaces: not the easiest quest line to perform.

Oh yeah, Gillir dinged 28 last night. I'm focusing on getting him to 30 this coming week.