Conformity is Key...

Which is why I'm here. If everyone else is doing it...

I'm actually doing this blog, honestly, because I have alot of free time at my job. What's my job? Thank you for asking. I'm an administrator for the world's largest designer and producer of military warships, Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. From the Gerald R. Ford nuclear aircraft carriers all the way down to the Virginia Class attack submarines, we do it all. I can't say much more than that, due to classified reasons :)

I am a fairly long-time WoW player. I started playing about November 2006, a few months before BC hit. I played for about a year until Christmas-time 2007, leaving because of being burnt out on the game. I rejoined early summer of 2008, staying until February 2009. I left this second time against my will, but I can't say more than that. This was followed by several life changing events, including moving from my long-time home of Oxford, MS and several subsequent shorter moves before I ended up in the New Orleans/Gulf Coast region; and later starting my current position and then finding out my wife and I were to be expecting our first child. Luckily, things have settled comfortably into a place where I now find myself returning to one of my favorite pasttimes, WoW. And speaking of that subject..

I have several characters, most of which are on the Daggerspine server but I also have 3 70s on the Korialstraz server, which I haven't touched since the first time I left WoW in late 2007. I have an innate hatred of "clothies"; not that I don't like playing alongside them or appreciate their talents, I simply cannot play one. I have tried, oh have I tried. 3 attempts at playing a priest, 1 as a mage, 1 as a warlock all ended with me throwing my hands up in frustration.

I love paladins. In every way. Neverwinter Nights, D&D, WoW...you have a paladin class? I'm there. I have my bachelor's in history with an emphasis on European history, and the traditional chivalrous mounted crusader-type warrior has always captured my attention. This carries over to my playstyle; whether I'm on my paladin or not, I want to rush to the rescue of anyone who needs one...and a few who don't. This also lends to my decision to play as a tank. Just another concept of the paladin, or any noble warrior-being on the frontline defending his comrades. I simply get a feeling of pride tanking that I don't get when I'm playing my DK or my shaman and I'm DPS'ing. And I'm far too unskilled to heal, so I won't even get into that.

So while other guildies have a purpose to their blog(or blogs...), I really don't. I will make it a point to comment on things I see from the point of being a fairly experienced tank and/or paladin player, but I'd like to comment on the simpler things as well. I think WoW is a microcosm of how our world could, in a very real way, end up one day. A fantasy writer once wrote that we don't fight for peace, we fight for civilization, because only civilization can create peace. And I think, even though this is a game and should in no way be taken seriously in the way you should take raising a family or nuclear war "seriously", I find myself regularly seeing things I thing other people should notice. And of course I want to make fun of people too. Can't be all business all the time.