Triggahapy

That was a typo. Replace mage with priest. I suck as a mage. heh

Bah! If it's not a hunter or mage, who cares? lol But the Dragon's Breath thing sounds pretty cool. Might have to level my mage now...

All I have is my crappy camera phone, but I'll see what I can do Tam. Come on, guys...somebody else here has to be going!

Nice, Ben. But to be FP COn...we need more FP members than...by my count...5. lol Anyone else?

September 1st thru the 4th is Dragon Con in Atlanta. Me and some friends will probably go Saturday. I know a couple of FP members in my area that might be attending, other than myself. One guildie who is thinking of visiting that week asked me if I knew how many peeps from da guild would be showing up. So, I ask you all...ya goin to Dragon Con? If so, hope to see ya there. Though I'll have no idea who you are. Heh.

Today I joined the ranks of the riders. I hit level forty, and now have a mount. I like my mount. I swear that if it can be helped, I will never walk on foot again! Lol! It was a long road to 40, and it will be a longer one to the next goal, which is 60 or bust. There are many thanks I'd like to put out to show my appreciation to the FP, which has been very good to me. Vanin: For giving me the invite. Honki, Erloin, Potionyguy, and Shalome: The Party of Five. We are all complete idiots and seem to know half of nothing( at least me and Honki do...hehe), but it is always a load of fun in the group that I have had since I started grouping. I look forward to power leveling most of them in the future. Heh. Whitewolf: My pet. Yes, I'm thanking my pet. My pet is awesome. Thus why I chose to go heavy on Beast Mastery. Now he can turn into the Incredible Hulk with Bestial Wrath. Whitewolf smash! (I stole your line, Ecth. ) Vanin, Aelora, Dragonlgnd, Cari, Bentley, Zedek, Octavious, Hinanin, Fiordelisa, and Ecthelion: This is the list of every 60 I can remember that has helped me along the way. Bentley got thugee vengance for me on that warrior today. Priests ftw. Zedek made my Moonsight Rifle, which I kept for about 20 levels after I got it. Everyone else on this list has run me through something...Vanin(Deadmines), Octavious(Gnomeregan), Hinanin(nothing...but can't not thank Two Towels. heh), Fiordelisa(SM...about 2 or 3 times), Cari(also SM), Dragonlgnd(some place where I killed ogre dudes), and Ecthelion(actually...that run was for Shalome, but I tagged along. heh). Aelora gets the most credit on this list. She has single-handedly leveled my fishing to 150, shown me not to be deathly afraid of Horde(just less than deathly afraid), and, most importantly, gave me the 70 gold loan I needed to get my mount as soon as I hit 40...and a nice pair of mail pants at the AH. For that, I made sure to pay back every bit of it in less than a week. She's the greatest, and I hope to return the favors someday. Shalome and Vanin: For being my ammo bank. Keep up the good work, engineers. Mobs: For dying. They did not deserve to die...okay, they did. But I shall honor them with a nice funeral, where there will be a non-existant ceremony followed up with loads of celebrating their lifeless corpeses with Mountain Dew and Doritos. Any Horde characters who did not gank me: I think that speaks for itself. Everyone else in the FP: Even though you may not have been a major contributing factor in my progress to 40, you still all deserve props. I'll make up reasons why later. Now that I have a mount, mail, and a whole new set of goals, it's time to get to work. 60...here I come! Better run while you can...heh. Many Thanks FP, Triggahapy and Whitewolf(he howls his thanks, too) *Oh, and thanks to Fredricko for not shielding me when that 29 rogue tore me up at level 31. Even though I was not in your group, and thus could be shielded...you shoulda shielded me, son! I will forever fear level 29 rogues. Thanks. Heh.

Hooray! My first...ummm...hat? Yes, at level 34, I finally have head gear. Actually, several other first have occured along the way. Some of which I am none too proud of, I must say. However, firsts are firsts, I suppose! I have done my first PvP battleground. Those are alot of fun, and I hope to do many more in the future. There are lots of others I just cannot think of now, but I am thoroughly enjoying the game, and cannot wait to see what other firsts I will achieve very soon!

My third instance ever has by far been the most enjoyable to date. Blackfathom Deeps. I mean, who couldn't enjoy playing in a dungeon that has bosses who are Godzilla movie rip-offs? We were unable to bring our warrior tank to this one, Shalome, so we had to take a different approach than was used to. We had myself and 2 warlocks, so our plan went as follows. I Hunter's Mark the mob to attack, one lock Seduces one mob with their Succubus, and the mage sheeps the last one. Kill the marked one, mark a new target. Wash, rinse, repeat. It was a very effective strategy, and we were doing very well...until we got to the room where you have the four candles to light. Then I goofed. In the party chat, our priest Erloin (who was actually Aelora in disguise...making Erloin a good priest instead of "eh"...lol) said to light the candles one at a time. I suppose I have played too many Final Fantasy games where you have to do things simultaneously, because I believed that to mean just that...light the candles one at a time. Not light one and wait, because mobs are released when each one is lit. Oops. Four angry mobs of mostly elite turtles and crabs came roaring in on us...and...well, I'm sure you can imagine what happened. Good thing the lock had given the priest a res stone, or we would have been completely done for. We were able to get out of the situation with a really neat plan that involved me using ice traps and the priest drawing mobs into a massive AOE barrage. It was lots of fun. I got 2 more blue items I could use, and everyone came out having lots of fun. Next is Gnomregan...whenever we are able to. Our Party of Five has seemed to be splitting up, and this saddens me. We make a very good team, and it is loads of fun grouping with them all.

I have started this topic for two reasons. One, out of mild boredom. Two, out of guilt for my actions. I am a level 34 hunter. This, of course, puts me in the middle of the pack...good...but not able to hold my own against all odds yet. I have found myself in contested territory since I was probably level 18...perhaps less. In between, I have gained 16 levels...and been "ganked" by level 60 horde players (and one really annoying 43 mage) more times than I can probably count. Most of these have occured several times in a row by the same individual. Some of the culprits are famous on the server, and to the FP, for their ludicrous actions of going around and killing off characters 30 or more levels below them for some unknown reason other than they seem to get some strange satisfaction from it. I am a person of fairness. I believe that, at the very least, a battle between Horde players and Alliance players should be balanced by levels. 20's versus 20's, 40's versus 40's, and so on. This is why I love the battlegrounds system of PvP. It is balanced and just. However, outside of the battlegrounds are massacres. One level 60 character alone can devastate a small army of characters who are in my level range..and that's not factoring in if they have Epic armor on. What is worse is having to go to Horde territory, where a player such as myself can only hope to defend himself, and cannot launch a first offensive. Something I have learned from role-playing games throughout the years...the first hit makes all the difference in most battles. The PvP system in World of Warcraft is definitely not perfect. At least we get some consolation that we cannot be looted or lose experience, like in Everquest and Final Fantasy 11, respectively. Recently, I found myself helping a friend and fellow FP member with a quest. I will not name this person. I am not here to point fingers and call names, simply to voice my opinions and ideas. We were in contested territory, along with a few Horde members who were lower level than we were. This person had asked me once to "gank" a level 18 undead character who managed to get in a final blow when they were attacked by 4 level 40 Horde guards, then taunted them afterwards. I naturally refused, and they seemed quite annoyed by it. Well, I was hunting down one certain mob that seemed to be quite rare that this person needed to kill to complete their quest. Along the way and alone, I came across a chest. My backpack was full, so I tried emptying some things out to grab the loot. In the same area as me was what I had originally believed to be a level 31 mage. This, in fact, turned out to be a level 25 priest. The priest grabbed the loot before I could, which did not bother me. Then it made the mistake of trying to attack me...with my pet out and set on defensive. The priest ran like a bat out of Hades as soon as my wolf came charging forward. I told my party member about the incident, to which they replied, "Did you lay the beatdown?" I said that I did not, for I called my pet off of the priest as soon as it aggrod two mobs running away. This seemed to, as best as I can describe it, nearly infuriate my party member. We went into a heated discussion about why they thought I should have finished what they started, and why I felt it was necessary to call the fight off. I saw no sense in killing a character 9 levels lower than me who was also being attacked by two other things. The attack they did hardly did any damage to speak of to begin with. This conversation continued to go into how I was soft and submissive and did not understand that in a PvP server, if someone attacks you, you destroy them. This went on for quite some time, until I decided to make a choice I would later regret. I found that exact same level 25 priest, who this time was in the middle of being attacked by 3 mobs and at about 50% health and little mana...and did the following, while I was telling my party member that if they wanted me to get mean and nasty, I could show them mean and nasty. Sick pet, concussion shot, auto shot a few times, serpent sting, intimidation(after their shield ran dry and they had healed slightly), and ran in with two axes blazing. Swing, swing, raptor strike, swing...and dead. All this time, I was being attacked simultaneously by a level 25 rogue. In my fury, he or she would have felt my wrath as well, if they had not stealthed out before my pet could hit them. In all, from 2 characters, I suffered an asstonishing...400 hit points of damage. No potions used. That was all they could do. Most of my armor is comprised of blues, and I am sure they are severely lacking in that department. It was a completely one-sided fight...and it was exactly the same thing that nearly every Horde player I have run accross has done to me. Complete and utter annihilation. I mockingly gloated to my teammate about my accomplishment of killing a player 9 levels below me, and how I should probably be crowned a champion among champions. I got absolutely no satisfaction out of my actions. During my ordeal, the priest spoke something. If I could translate Horde language, it would have probably been something along the lines of "Why are you attacking me?" or "What did I do?". This was an endeavor I hope never to encounter again in my time playing World of Warcraft. It was calous and vile and cruel. We should all remember that behind every dwarf and night elf, orc and tauren, is a person. A person playing a game to have fun. Though some of those people have a very warped sense of the word, it should never encourage us to pass the torch on and demonstrate the same actions that we dreaded so much when we were lower levels. I am a level 34 hunter. And from this day onward, I vow never aggain to kill a PC who is any less than 4 levels below me, unless I deem it justified. I will keep this promise to myself and my fellow World of Warcraft players far after I have attained the maximum levels provided to me, no matter what they are. We are not pixels in a game...we are flesh and bone human beings all who have feelings and desires, wants and goals. My only regret is that it took one level 25 Horde priest for me to finally realize this. If I couold ever approach that person and appologize, I would gladly do so. I do not expect any replies to this post. I will probably never even check to see if there are. I am sure that most feedback I may recieve will be negative. I am unconcerned. I merely felt the need to voice my opinion, mostly to help place my own conscience at ease. That is all I have to say.

So, by my calculations, I scored a C+ on this exam, right? Does that mean I get a cool consolation prize? And please tell me it's not nudie pics of Gynis. Some things are better left just completely unimagined...or ever even seen.

Okay, so far, this is what I have learned about people in the FP. 1. Hvilelos smokes babies. 2. Bentley kicks kittens. 3. Shikimaru has too much money. 4. Stang collects nudie pics. 5. Gynis is stang's nudie pic supplier, stalks Klaudia, and supplies HV with his babies. Talk about being an antropenour. 6. Kidnapping characters seems to be abundant in this guild. Not exactly the things I thought I was going to learn about people...but I suppose it's a start!

Yeah...I'm jealous. Your tie costs more than I make in two weeks. I just wish you ran it through a paper shredder by accident instead. heh.

Haha! You people are all insane...I think I'm gonna fit in with this guild just fine! As for smoking babies, my doctor told me to cut back.

Haha! I would, but I'm having too much fun questing with his alt(Potionyguy). He's been...busy, to say the least. I'll let him know, though.

Yay! Stockades is done! Two instances down...not sure which one is next. Maybe Gnomregan, but the rest of the group has to catch up to me first...I've hit 30! Halfway to my goal, baby! Now comes the climb uphill. Ten levels from getting both mail and a mount...that's a recipe for having no money.

I chat in guildchat a bit, and I am getting to know a little bit more about a few of the members of the guild. Three members are actually RL friends of mine(Honki, Dragonlgnd, and "Van da Man" Vanin), but I know that other than them, absolutely 0 other people really know squat about me. So, since I am working hard on reaching 60(and the opportunity to go on Onyxia runs), I just thought I would tell people more about myself, and try to get to know more about other members. My name is Jason. I am 25 years old. I live in Norcross, which is near Atlanta. However, I am originally from Texas. I lived there for 14 years, and though I have lived in 7 different states since leaving, nothing is as fantastic in my mind as the Lone Star State. When I am not leveling my hunter, I hang out with the 3 previously mentioned(along with others who are not FPs...those poor souls). We do geek stuff, for that's what we are...we play video games and card games and watch really terrible movies like the new Fast and the Furious flick. I run Hero Clix tournaments once a week at The War Room, which is one of the gaming stores we attend. I am pretty big into a lot of things...comics, anime, but primarily I am a sports nut. I am HUGE into baseball. I am a die-hard Texas Rangers fan(even though most years, they suck), and am an even bigger fan of Nolan Ryan. I know nearly all of his career stats by heart. I work at a job that, for the most part, I dislike...though I hope to be changing that soon. It pays the rent(I live in a hotel...I solo life...get more loot that way hehe) and for my WoW account, so I can't complain too much. My parents live in Houston. I hope to go back and visit real soon. I also want to get them hooked on WoW at some point...hopefully, if they play, they can join the guild and play alongside me! My theme song in life is "Baby Got Back" by Sir-Mix-A-Lot...cuz I like big butts, and I cannot lie! For the most part, that really about covers me. So, what can you guys(and ladies) tell me about yourselves? I hope to get lots of responses from the FP, so that I can know more about the people that I will one day be working with in huge raids against nasty bugs and dragons and undead thingies. Oh, and one more thing... FPFTMFW!

YAY! My first blue item! Sadly, it's armor(and not an awesome gun like I was hoping), but I love it all the same. In all actuality, this is really my second blue item...it's just the first one I kept. Before completing VC and getting the armor from the quest, I had gotten Lil Timmy's Peashooter as a random drop from Gobbler(of all creatures). It was nowhere near as good as the gun Zedek made for me(STILL can't thank you enough for that, btw!), so I sold it at the auction house...for 15 GOLD! I couldn't believe that! I made 15g's off an item that I deemed unworthy of even putting in the bank to give to another character later! Whoever bought that gun off of me...thanks! I soooo needed that cash, too. Artisan skinning is expensive!

Disregard last post. Seeing Superman Returns Thursday. Should still be on schedule to do Stockades Wednesday evening. Any mid 20-mid 30 characters in FP welcome to join, as so far there are only 2 confirmed for the run(myself as one of them).

Oops...scratch Wednesday for running Stockades. I forgot that me and my friends are going to see the new Superman movie at the IMAX that evening. Perhaps Thursday or Friday, though. I'll leave a post for updates.

Definitely looking to run it with a group. I've done the "60-runs-in-and-annihilates-everything" once, and I find that instances are much more fun in a group of people who are trying to knock out the same quests than just one guy running around looting all the bodies while the other guy goes and kills an entire room solo. Hopefully, the rest of my running crew(Honki, Erlion, Shalome, and Potionyguy)will be around to do this, though some of them are a little bit further below me in level. If not, any other FPers who want their 20-something or 30-something characters to come along are more than welcome. If all else fails...Vanin just tags along and does what he does best.

Will be running Stockades soon. Most likely late Wednesday evening. I've got about 5 or 6 quests to knock out there, so I plan on wanting to do the whole thing. Hopefully, the rest of the crew can tag along for all the fun.

Haha! VC downed Friday! Okay, I know it's nowhere near as impressive as these monstrosities that all you beefy 60's slay on a near regular basis, but it was my first real boss battle, and it was a blast. For getting my first blue, some thanks are in order. Shalome: for tanking just as well as I do(if not better) Erloin: For keeping us all from not getting our butts wiped by all those goblins and robots Honki: for just blasting the crap out of stuff the replacement mage: though I wish it had been my pal Potionyguy, where would we be without you freezing stuff in place for us to gank it? Whitewolf: My pet. Don't laugh because I thank my pet. Without that guy, I can't shoot and not draw aggro. Plain and simple...he doesn't growl...I die. Hopefully next on my list will be the Stockades. Can't wait to see what new little bosses dare to oppose the Five. And how many more blues I can pick up...they just look so much nicer(but not as nice as purples...ah, the future...)!

I am still relatively new to both the World of Warcraft universe and to the awesomeness of the FP. Before joining this guild, the most people I had ever had in a group alongside me was two. Running VC for the first time with my friends(and fellow FP members) doubled that to four, though one of them was a 60(lol...next time, Vanin, leave the monstrosity behind and bring your priest instead). Sunday was the first time ever I had a full party to work with. It was myself, Vanin's alt priest, Honki, Potionyguy, and...ummm....I'm really terrible with names(sorry 5th FP person that I can't remember). The fifth person was really cool, just like everyone else in this rockin' guild. It was a pretty well-balanced party: 25 hunter(me), 23 priest, 22 mage, 23 warlock, and 24 warrior. We were in Lakeshire and went around killing Blackrock Orcs inside the cave. I got a taste of how group fighting works. It's just like football: everyone has their general assingnments. If anyone fails in their assignment, then everyone can suffer greatly. That happened to us once, when I got distracted by a rogue chest and got stuck outside the cave fighting a few respawns while everyone else was in the cave getting severely overwhelmed. Now I know rule one: party takes presedence over loot. After I made it inside(and everyone else ressed), we worked like clockwork from there on. It was like a well-oiled machine: every piece doing it's job perfectly to create a smooth operation. My pet tanked while I shot stuff and kept an eye out for anything coming up from behind the party, the priest kept everyone tanking healed, the warrior did lots of damage, and the magic users did neat magicy things to stop orcs from hitting us all with large, sharp, pointy objects(or large, blunt, beaty objects). We found that human guy that you have to rescue from the Blackrock cave and..well...VERY patiently escorted him back to Lakeshire(personally, I don't see what that guy's problem was...he sure did move slow until there was a fight, and he was a 25 elite!). Once we cleared the cave, I got a laugh when he sped up and everyone in the party started doing train sounds. It was loads of fun working as a team, and mostly with people that I actually know outside of WoW. That fifth person(who's name still eludes me) was really cool, too. I've got to ask Vanin who that was, so I can maybe remember next time. We all also must group again soon...I still have 3 quests in Deadmines to complete(because I died last time...lol...I suck). We seem to make a pretty darn good team...4 people who know what they're doing, and the one person who's still learning from his experiences(or from everyone else telling him to stop doing stupid stuff, like set his pet to aggro in an instance...no names mentioned...lol).

Where do you get the 2 programs to do all of this col artwork? Photoshop is pretty obvious, but what about the WoW Model Viewer?

Man, you guys(and gals) rock! I didn't think I would get quite the outpour of responses I did. I'm so glad Vanin talked me into joining the FP...not that it took much convincing. Vanin: "Hey, you should try and join the guild when you hit 20." Triggahapy: "Okay."