9.2.2010 – I’m no actor

I’m sitting outside a Tim Horton’s today.  I just ate a 12-inch sandwich from Subway and my coke is 2/3rds empty.

To my right are two males speaking in an African language.  Their tongue makes them seem like they’re arguing, but then again, all foreign languages do.

To my left is an older man, maybe in his fifties, who just finished his smoke.  I’m glad, because I was about ready to move.  I hate the smell of that stuff.

A man walks by in front of me, and I almost don’t notice him but then I realize he is looking at me.  He walks behind my bench and leans forward on it, just to the right of me.  He has a long, skinny face, bright blue eyes, and hasn’t shaved in 2 or 3 days.  I’d put him somewhere in his forties.

Just before he speaks to me, he puts his hand on my shoulder.  It’s long and bizarrely soft.  At first I expect him to ask me for money like so many of the people in this city, but suddenly I feel like this could be a different request.

“Do you want to be in a film?” he asks me.  He talks a little quietly and he seems excited.

Ho ho, I think, you are no ordinary film director.  I smile and say, “I’m sorry man, but I’m not an actor.”

“Yes but,” he pauses for a half second, “I’m shooting this film myself.”  His cheek seems to twitch constantly.

I don’t say anything.  I just wait for him to continue.

“I am shooting an erotic film.  Of a man and a woman together.”

I chuckle a little bit inside.  So strange.  While I’d been sitting here wondering what to write, I had no idea someone would come up and offer me to be a porn actor.  But anyways, judging by the look of the man, I doubt his erotic film would really be that erotic.

“Like I said, I’m not an actor man.”

“Oh I know, that’s okay.  It’s not hard – it wouldn’t be hard at all!”

Indeed, it’s not hard.  But I bet yours is.  ”I’m sorry, but I’m not interested,” I repeat, amused.

He seems disappointed.  His hand is still on my shoulder and he keeps rubbing it.  He tells me it’s okay that I refused because many others have said yes, but that he wishes he could find someone like me.

“It’s a compliment,” he says about the offer, as if trying to reassure me.  ”You’re very good looking.”

Why thank you, Mr. Erotica, but that won’t get me in your porn.  I may be a testosterone-loaded male, but I also have both morals and a girlfriend.

I tell him to have a good day and I wonder when he’ll take his hand off.  Would his film really have women in it?  I can’t tell if he’s excited because of the prospect of a guy and a girl getting it on, or because he’s touching me.

He asks for my name and he leaves after I give it to him.  Maybe he’ll find his actor somewhere else.

I look back at my paper and realize I have something to write about now.

Huh.

Funny how that happens.

Why I Play A Moonkin

I was lucky enough that the first class/spec combination I tried was the one that was perfect for me.  I never respec-ed and never rerolled.  I’ve loved Balance ever since I began understanding the concept of talent trees and I still remember being excited about getting Moonkin Form way before I was the level required for it.  Now at level 80, Balance is still as exciting for me as it used to be.  All my alts remain just that – alts, and I never have a serious thought about going Resto or Feral.

So why do I like Moonkin so much?

Why I picked Druid

Before I explain what I love about Moonkin, maybe it would be best to look at the bigger picture.  Why did I choose to play a Druid in the first place?

In truth, I had no idea which class to pick when I started WoW.  Today, each class seems clear and well-defined to me, but at the time, even after lengthy research, it was all a little confusing.  Druid seemed the most versatile so that ended up being the class I chose, because I figured it wouldn’t limit what I could do as much as the other classes.

I don’t have a single regret.  Druid is really fun and it is one of the main reasons why I like Balance.

Moonkin Is Creative

Each class or spec, to an extent, has it own unique theme, or style.  Its own flavor.  Rogues have stealth and poisons, Hunters use pets and guns, Priests use the power of words (how fitting), Druids shapeshift and control nature, etc..

Hybrid classes have specs that define the role they play.  Pure classes have specs that determine the way they output damage.  For example, Destruction Warlocks get their damage through nukes while Affliction Warlocks do it through DoTs.  Some specs are more PvP viable and others are more PvE oriented – such as Subtlety vs. Assassination Rogues.

In the end, however, nothing compares to the epic style of Moonkin.  While a Warrior might charge you, a Hunter might shoot you, a Paladin might judge you, who else but a Moonkin will grow roots out of the ground and proceed to aligning the sun and the moon themselves in order to nuke you down?  A Mage might send chills down your spine with a Frostbolt, but a Moonkin will blow a typhoon in your face and command the very wrath of the sun to destroy you.

Take a look at ability name comparisons: Immolate.  Moonfire.  Shadow Dance.  Starfall.  How much more epic do you get?

Moonkin Is Fun

In part, this is because of the epic style.  Maybe I got so used to Moonkin that today I can’t properly play any other class, but I’ve tried every other existing one in the game, and none are as fun as my Moonkin (though I will grant Protection Warrior is very fun too).

Somehow, Moonkin just never gets boring.  Maybe it’s the huge Starfire crits or the amazing AoE burst of Starfall + Hurricane.  Maybe it’s that I can solo nearly everything, or that I can do a silly dance.

Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying Moonkin is better than other classes.  I just personally think the style is more fun.  In reality, Balance Druids are an underpowered spec.  They will often be in the bottom half of raid DPSers (usually they’re only there for the raid buffs they bring), and in PvP they are downright unviable.

Some people hate the Moonkin Form but I love it.  How could you dislike a giant, feathery chicken with antlers who looks like he has anger management issues?

Also, even today, after months of having seen hundreds – maybe thousands – of Eclipse procs, I still never get tired of them.  They still feel great every time.  I crit, and then a huge moon shows up above my head, as if telling me “You have become more powerful than you have ever imagined.”  And then I fire it up.

Moonkin Is Challenging

Let’s face it – some specs are fucking easy.  When I was level 72, I went Resto for a while just to try it out, and I raped every battleground I joined.  At level 74 I healed Heroic Shadow Labyrinth with 3 cloth-wearers and 1 Hunter and we didn’t even struggle.

I don’t like easymode.  Essentially, WoW is still going to be an easy game, no matter what class you play, but I’ll never roll a Ret Paladin or a Shadow Priest.  You know what I’m talking about.

Moonkin isn’t downright facerolling material, like some other specs.  I’ll be honest though – in PvE, I think melees have it the hardest.  Eventually, casters will always be left spamming 1 or 2, or maybe 3 buttons, and I think melees have more to work with.  Though I could be wrong.

I saw a video of a Mage in a 25-man heroic once.  He literally spammed Frostfire Bolt the entire time, casting nothing else but the occasional Blizzard.  To top it off, he ended up with the 2nd highest DPS in the raid.  Boring!  I want a character that scales well with skill, not gear.

I look at Recount after raids to see what abilities other classes use, what gives them the most damage.  My damage is spread out over 6 spells.  I remember I looked at an Arcane Mage’s Recount once and he literally had only used 2 spells the entire time.

Now I’m not going to say Moonkin PvE is hard, but it does require thought and careful timing.  We don’t really have a rotation – our style is more reactionary than anything.  Starfall is about 10% of our DPS.  That one is pretty easy – I just fire it and let it do its thing.  My two DoTs comprise about another 10% of my damage, but if I don’t use them properly, they will reduce my overall damage.

Then about the remaining 80% of my damage comes from Wrath and Starfire.  But if I don’t use them carefully in balance with each other, my DPS will hurt badly.  Moonkin PvE is all about timing, procs, and internal cooldowns.  It’s much more fun than simple Frostfire Bolt spam.

PvP, however, is a whole different story.  Moonkin sucks in PvP.  I’m not just saying this because it’s the spec I play – it is the most underpowered PvP spec in WoW, hands down.  No real survivability, no real control, no real damage.  I won’t get into Moonkin PvP in this post because it deserves one all to itself, but suffice it to say that it is very hard (and that means I like it, because I like challenges), and against equally geared and equally skilled players it’s almost impossible.  If you want proof, just google it or try dueling / 2v2 arena as a Moonkin and you will have your proof.

TD-LR

In the end, it comes down to the style.  Moonkin is a combination of big crits, off-heals, and utility, all wrapped up in an epic theme of cosmological proportions.  I’m not saying sending bolts of frost at people isn’t cool, but it just ain’t quite as fun.

9.1.2010 – Starbuck thoughts

I’m in a public place.

A Starbuck’s coffee, to be exact.  I’m outside on the terrace, surrounded by people.  There’s some sitting at the tables, as I am, others inside, maybe watching me as I write this, and a million more are walking past me in the street.  They’re all going somewhere, but none seem busy.

Yet despite all of the people here, I am alone.  I sit in my chair, writing and listening to my music, and I feel on a level above anyone else.  Somehow the combination of the cool breeze and the music’s sweeping strings has brought me to an exterior, elated state.  I feel happy, thoughtful, and enslaved by something delicious.

Comfort is such an important thing to us.  Would I be feeling this way if it were just five degrees hotter?  If my ears didn’t enjoy the sound of the music – or if I didn’t have music, the sound of the cars in the street, the squeaking brakes, the unintelligible conversations of the people passing by me?  What if someone was smoking and the annoying fumes made their way to my nostrils?  What if I didn’t have sunglasses, or what if I hadn’t showered this morning?  What if I had a broken bone, a sprain, or a permanent physical disability?

Is it normal that I require so many things to be aligned in order to be comfortable?  Could I not content myself with less?  Has society taught me this?

So many questions, yet is there a point in asking them?  Could I not simply sit and enjoy the moment without any further thought?  We only have one life – why worry if it does not contribute to the state of our happiness?

The music’s ended.  The wind is gone and I am starting to feel hot.  Like all moments, this one has passed, and I will go now.  I could restart the music and wait for the wind to return in an an attempt to recreate the moment, but I prefer to leave it in the past.  The first, unexpected experience is always the greater one.

9.1.2010
Music: Reflekt feat. Delline Basse “Need To Feel Loved” [Adam K & Soha Remix]