Project Lore

Some of you may know SaintGermain in-game on the Moonrunner-US server. He's a good FFB mage that can rock the DPS charts, CC mobs into turtles and has one short week he's waiting for in September to earn a Violet Proto-drake. I've played him for awhile and enjoyed my time in-game. I've made a few friends and learned a lot about the WoW universe. Some of my greatest memories in-game were raiding SSC and getting that elusive Serpent-Coil Braid. Thank god there were only three mages there and it was just a quick /roll to get it. And winning it made my mana management so much easier. I also remember the chance to play in the WotLK beta months before anyone else with a few of the people here at Project Lore. Seeing all the new terrain and the texture was just amazing and it got me excited all over again to play WoW and level to 80. And the chance to get into Naxx, something that was only a dream when I started playing only a few months before TBC came out. That was going to be awesome. WotLK came out and I got to 80 in a few weeks. I joined a great new guild and we destroyed Naxx 25 over and over again. I even got The Turning Tide. Still waiting for the ring, but there's always something, right? WoW. It's been fun. And in real life, I've had the good fortune of being able create video content for you here at Project Lore.com. I've produced and directed almost 250 episodes and edited at least 200 episodes of Project Lore in the past year. In all that time, with all of those 90+ hours weeks I put in, I continued to do my best to make sure you got the best WoW video content on the web. Some of my favorite episodes you may never know about because I had to cut so much of it. Early on the guys enjoyed themselves and spoke like some people on vent tend to do, but that's far beyond the PG-13 atmosphere I tried to keep the show at over the past year. But wow, if you could see the outtakes. And some of the things that have made it to air - amazing. Goggins singing, Jimmy pulling, all of the guys dying in STV.  And what about the inventive way to take down Anub’arak? Or the famous sheeping of '08? Or that amazing wipe on KT? Epic. Wow. It's been fun. As you probably have guessed by now, this will be my last blog post. I'll be moving on from Project Lore, headed for a new adventure. I may not go the way of BRK or Phaelia, but I do know that I won't be at Project Lore. I'll still play Saint, maybe level up a few alts, maybe try RAF to really speed it up. I had intended to complete all of the 33 WoW Life Lessons for you, but as with life, sometimes things... well, you know. As far as the other WoW Life Lessons that I was going to share with you, they are always available for you... in life and in-game. I'm sure that if you're open to it, WoW will teach you whatever life lesson you may need at that time. And I am certain life will too. Yes there are jerks. Yes there are noobs. And yes there are mobs that you will never beat alone. But there are also pugs that rock, epic rollz and phat lootz with your name on it. And you won't even have to spend any DKP for it. And most important, there are groups/guilds/good friends out there in the world just waiting to find you that you can hang with, play some games and have some fun. I am confident that those who work at Project Lore will continue to do their best to bring you the WoW content that you want. They will try to make it happen for you. Just be kind to them, and click on a few ads once in awhile. This site may be free to you but it isn't free to make. And now my time is done. Another will pick up the torch. I will go my merry way off to my next adventure to gain rep with another faction and get some epic loot. Thank you all for the opportunity to share some shows with you. Take care and have fun. Saint.

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It's been awhile I know. Work here at Project Lore sometimes goes through really long periods where I need to do a lot of stuff in a short period of time. I end up working late a lot and hardly have time to raid let alone blog about the life lessons I have learned from WoW. The long hours and short personal time makes it a real challenge to stay focused on those little goals one sets for themselves. The goals we set everyday like exercising or getting outside in the sun or eating healthy. Of course there are always choices but some seems to go into autopilot when everything else in life gets very hectic. The key to changing the autonomic autopilot method of living life is to set patterns early that are extremely beneficial to yourself, easy to do and can easily be reverted to when other things in your life require more attention. For example, this WoW life lesson is an example of just how you can do this. In the game of WoW, you probably know that there is a secondary profession called Cooking. I'm a big fan of it for two main reasons: 1. You can make your own buff food 2. You can sell your buff food on the AH Being a mage, I can conjure food whenever I want. But the best buff foods takes skill to craft, the skill of someone who's studied hundreds of recipes and made thousands of meals. And the best of the best buff food is always made by yourself. Why? It's cheaper to make, as reliable as the mats you have and takes less time than going to the Auction House or guild bank. And if you do it daily it becomes an autonomic routine that perpetuates itself to the point it would seem unusual not to do it. Y0u eat the food you need, bank the rest or sell the extra on the AH. Simple, easy and affordable... possibly even profitable. In game there are only two recipes that SaintGermain is missing. One will be gotten very soon. The other is for another class of people. And in all my cooking in game, I have saved money, made money and created a routine that is beneficial to me. The same is true for real life. Take a look at how much you spend each day eating out or buying prepared food. When my life gets crazy with work and I forget my cooking routine, I end up spending almost $20 a day for breakfast and lunch. If I stay to my routine of cooking for myself, I spend a fraction of that. Seriously, a fraction. For example, I make sushi. Here in LA it's a huge section of the the culinary cuisine offered around town. An eight (8) piece California roll can cost almost $16 in some of the fancy places. For $35 - 40 dollars, I can make almost ninety (90) pieces of the same California roll. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the savings there. So learn how to cook, in game and in real life. You'll save cash and gold, and have enough food to last for weeks.

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So... How you been liking Noblegarden and Children's Week? Is it putting you over the edge? Making you crazy? Racing around for eggs then doing PvP /beggin for people to play nice? It's a bit insane really. So much to do in a short time all for the opportunity to get a Violet Proto-drake. Of course I'm right on track for it too, with each world event done up until now and only two more to complete, but it has had it's cost. You see I do my best to play as fair as possible given the constraints of the game, but I will admit Noblegarden got the better of me. In fact I'm not sure I acted as noble as my new title implies. Near Ironforge, in the small little town of Kharanos, I camped a few egg spawn locations for about an hour or two one evening a few days after Noblegarden began. I was furiously clicking on spawn points as two or three other people were clicking on the exact same points. They began to get upset with me after my clicking was too fast for them, saying I was playing unfair and that those spawn points were somehow theirs. I just turned off my chat channel as kept clickin. Eventually I got all my loot, but the whole thing got me wondering... I could see how those other people might become upset. The set up of the event is such that this sort of competition was certainly to ensue as some players became more despirate. Truth is I was there at those very coordinates as the server clock struck 12:01 AM and I clicked for two hours on those spawn points, two full days before the little exchange those people thought they were having with me, so I suppose there could be an argument made that they were my spots to begin with since I truly found them first, but that's not the point. I am sure there were thousands of other exchanges like the one I had (and they continued to think they were having with me after I turned chat off) that were happening across every server. The conversations made me remember a favorite phrase other 'players' have which is "Don't hate the player, hate the game.' I could see that statement somewhat true in this case but I think it's more accurate to say "Don't hate the player or the game". Why? Because it's a freakin game and you know what you're in for when you start. Most of the players knew what they were in for when they began. On the first screen it says basically - pick horde or alliance. Right from the start, the game pits you against some other faction else for no other reason other than that's the game. Period. And who makes the game? Blizzard. So those who chose to play the game are at the will of those who make the game. Period. If you don't like the game, don't play. But if you do like the game, take it as it is and play it for what it is. Even though I can play checkers and chess on the same board, when I play chess, I play by chess rules. It's as simple as that. Now some of you may remember that I am not a particular fan of the PvP server aspect of WoW. So what did I do? I switched servers. Done. That aspect of the game I can choose and I did so now I'm happier with the game. But then the Children's week "School of Hard Knocks" achievement comes along and makes me want to crush some Blizzard skulls. But... that's the game, and they made it, and I chose to play it, so there you go. Blizzard gets to say what the game is and that's that. If I don't like it, I can take my money and go elsewhere. Sure Blizz makes concessions to make the majority of their paying fans happy. No one wants to harm their cash crop. But Blizzard knows that the game and many aspects in it have to feel like a challenge in order for people to feel the accomplishment of achieving them, no matter how long it takes them to do it, much to the financial pleasure of Blizzard. I don't begrudge Blizzard for having to pay to play the game. It's worth the money in my opinion so I do not dislike them for the quality product they have made, nor do I personally dislike any of the people who play the game for being horde or alliance. Now how is this all a life lesson? Well let us see... If you join the armed services ( which by the way - more power to you and stay safe), then you are aware that there are certain rules before joining. You may not know all of them, but you have a good idea that someone else will be telling you what to do for the next four years and you have to do it or you'll be in the brig. So it's their 'game' ( if you will, not that honorably serving the USA in military service is a game by any means), and it is their rules, and you have to play by them or you can go somewhere else. If you join a corporate job and they tell you you have to wear a suit and tie or a long skirt and flats, then that is what you do... if you want to play that 'game'. It's their 'game', you choose to play it for whatever reason, so you choose to play within their rules. If you join 'X' and 'X' tells you to do 'Y', then you do 'Y' or you can't play with 'X'. 'Y' may be a made up rule, completely arbitrary, but if you want to stay in 'X' you have to do 'Y'. Either that or go find a 'Z'. So don't hate the player or the game, whatever it may be. Each player gets something from playing and the people who made the game get something too. Either way, It is by choice that you stay in the game, and it is that same power of choice that you can use to leave it if you want. So play your game, within it's confines, and allow others to do the same, and when it's time, you can choose to leave the game if you want to.

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It's always best to know where you're going before you get there. It's true in life and it's true in WoW. There may never be everything you want in a game such as WoW, like better spells or dual-wielding mages, but there are a few things you can do in game and what ever those things may be, you have to have it as a goal to go fo it. For example, when you started playing WoW, it was probably all about leveling. This included quest, killing innocent pigs or wolves or bats, and hearing that now addictive level ding. Next it was probably get to level ten so you can get talent points. Put a few here, some more there as you level and then whoop arse. Next it was probably to get to level 30 (or 40 for all the 'old school players - Heeeyyy) so you could get a wonderful new mount to run around on. Then at 60, the epic mount. Then at 70, the flying mount and epic flying mount. Then 80, then instances, then badge loot, then raids, then.... So there's a lot of little goals along the way that really help you get to your next goal or one of your bigger goals. For me, my most recent goal was getting a new title, that of Twilight Vanquisher. Yes there have been a few things that got in my way - RL work, people drama, and one big guild drama that resulted in me /gquitting on principle. Too bad a few loud dishonorable people screwed it up for everyone. Then there was the drama of getting a new guild - applying, asking around, looking up guilds on websites looking for any clues that a top guilds on my server that needed FFB mages. And when I got into a guild, I had to prove my worth again by raiding and kicking butt again on the DPS charts, learning how the new-to-me main tank was holding aggro and making sure I was helping the new guild as best as I could. Then I had to get invited to the OS3 raid and then, after flasks and flasks and enough fish feasts to fill up Sholazar basin, we downed those drakes and got a nice little bag for me to boot. So that goal took focus and planning and determination. It took the right bunch of people and their focus after so many wipes, bad waves and random flame strikes. And - I knew what I wanted and I got it. In RL it's just the same. You need focus and planning and determination to accomplish your goals, whatever they may be. If you want to learn to play the piano, then focus, plan, persevere. If you want to ride a bike, same. If you want anything at all, you have to do the same. So what have been your goals in game and in RL that you set forth and accomplished? How did you do it? And what did you do when you thought you couldn't but still wanted it anyway? Because whatever that may be, those same skills that you used to get it will help you get anything you want in WoW or RL.

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Have you ever been in a group or pug that you thought was going in one direction and went the complete opposite? I mean, you thought you were going to do The Violet Hold so you could finally get the chance to complete Lockdown to get one step closer to your new Red Proto-Drake, but 10 minutes into summoning they decide that Utgarde Keep is easier to do for badges because the tank isn't defense capped just yet. This sort of indecision, lack of focus and disregard to certain members almost guarantees that I will leave the group immediately and go do dailies. And I have found out that doing just that is perfectly fine no matter what anyone one spams at you in chat. Let's face it, in WoW there are a few people, regardless of actual age, that are... well.. how should I say this... big cry babies who piss and moan when they do not get their way. That's fine by me. They can go their own way and I can go mine. I truly do not care if someone spams me that I am a traitor for leaving a pug or that I was now put on some list by them because I didn't finish a Heroic when everyone in that pug knew the tank couldn't hold aggro in a two-ton bucket. That is what /ignore is for. And the same thing goes for some guilds I have been in. Years ago, I was in a guild that felt that every member had to help every other member, not on a voluntary basis or when available, but right now, no matter what it was that had to be done by whichever member. Around the same time, I saw a guild advertising on their web site that in order to move up the ranks, you had to drop whatever your were doing at a moments notice while soloing to come the the aid of a guildie even if it was just the GM's lowbie alt that couldn't down Hogger. Now for some that is fine, and if that's you or someone you know or even if that's your guild now, great. You go your way I'll go mine. I have no animosity toward you not should you have any against me. It's just what you do or want me to do is not something I want to do or a way that I want to play. Everyone has a right to play the game how that want in the way they want at whatever time or frequency that they want. As for me, I will go my own way, and as far as being in a guild, if that includes hanging out with mature respectful people taking down end-game content on a daily basis, I'm in. And as you probably guessed, in RL you can go your own way too. If you want to be a florist, flautist, or philanthropist, be me guest. Better yet, be your own guest. It is your life - don't make a pug out of it. Go your own way and find people who are cool and hang with them. And always, /ignore those QQ peeps who want to pee on your parade. What do they know? So if you've ever gone your own way and it worked out better than you ever imagined, let us know. Your story can help others, and maybe you'll help give someone the confidence to go their own way. Thanks and have fun.

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As you may have noticed this week, the guys are running lowbie Horde characters - quite a departure from the Alliance toons they usually run. Watching them run RFC as Horde is a real treat because, from my perspective, it shows that WoW is a fun game for both 'sides'. But as you and I are both aware, there is a dark side to WoW, a dark side far more angry and divisive than anything in Sunwell or Icecrown, and for some, it begins the first second they create a toon. It may not have been talked about before as candidly as I am about to and I think this week is the perfect time to discuss it and how it relates to this life lesson. As you know, there are two main 'sides' or factions in World of Warcraft: The Horde and the Alliance. These two side are pitted against each other by the forces of fate seemingly set in motion to create conflict and instability throughout the entire WoW universe. And it is in this illusion of opposition that cultivates perspectives which foster in some an unusual hatred of the 'opposing' faction. I have know some Alliance players who unilaterally vilify the Horde as all being monsters bent on destroying all that is sacred to the World of Azeroth, somehow believing that it is their duty to eradicate all Horde on sight. I also know some people who play Horde who believe that the Alliance is filled with do-gooders, pompous elitists, essentially zealots, bent on purging thought any means all those unlike themselves. These perspectives are from RL people who actually see other RL people who play opposing factions as enemies based solely on a story told to them, a story which basically says those not like you are the enemy. All of this stems from basic misunderstandings and cultural stories based on inference and conjecture rather than direct experience and personal evaluation which unfortunately escalated into open conflict. Being primarily an Alliance player, I know the lore and stories I have been told about the Alliance and their heroic efforts. I have been ingrained with stories of the Horde as the 'evil' ones and that it is 'my duty' to destroy the Horde whenever possible. But over time, I have met several Horde players in game that were kind and generous to me even when I was on a PVP server that made me reconsider all of those stories I was told about the 'evils' of the Horde. While I have never played a Horde character for any substantial length of time, I can appreciate some of the stories of a few of the Horde races. From watching the opening cinematics of each of the Horde races and playing a Horde toon up a few levels, most of them seems to be races of people thrown into conflict and doing their best to survive the circumstances thrust upon them. Paramount to their struggle is trying to change the perception by the Alliance, somewhat based on purely visual cues or the manipulation by others upon them, that they are essentially monsters while in truth they are just a race of peoples doing their best to survive. It also seems to me that the Alliance may be misunderstood by the Horde as well. The Horde may not understand how deeply the Alliance was affected by the events of the past perpetrated by an essentially mind-controlled group of peoples manipulated to do the bidding of another. Maybe the Horde's main struggle against the Alliance is to get the Alliance to understand that those horrible events of the past were not their true intention and that they just wish to live their life. While I know I will never play a Horde toon again, I can see why some are drawn to those races. I can appreciate why someone would choose to have their character's backstory be that of the Orcs or Tauren or any of the other Horde races. All of this points to a greater concern within the World at large, the RL world that we all venture into from time to time, usually on Tuesday mornings. If everything is, as I believe it is, a microcosm and macrocosm to everything else, than this game of WoW shows how some - only some - use inaccurate stories, limited perspectives and general omission of facts to create divisions and conflicts between peoples. The only way these falsehoods can be lifted is through direct experience and personal evaluation based upon internal criteria rather than external dogma or consensus. There are many people on this planet, many people, with many perspectives and beliefs and interests that it's a wonder small groups of us can agree on anything. Some would say that there are more than two factions in RL while I would say that there are none. It depends on your perspective. Do you choose to see disharmony or potential? Do you choose to see adversaries or opportunities? What do you choose to see? So here's the challenge to you, to put this life lesson into action, and it will only take one hour. Would you be willing to run a toon on a different faction up to level 10? Would you be willing to do that? And if you do, let me know what you think. It's only one hour, but that hour may change your perspective of your entire world. At least , that's my perspective.

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I always get a kick seeing toons dance in WoW. It's so funny. Now say what you will, but there's nothing funnier to me than /dancing with a boss before you wipe the floor with it. Maybe the /rude is more appropriate, but /dancing adds that little bit of insult to injury. Now being on the receiving end of a /dance in bgs is not my favorite. It's better than some of the other wonderful emotes that blizzard has decided to keep in the game, but still not so fun. The real joy in the /dance is dancing with friends in game, maybe with a cute looking toon (until you find out it's controlled by someone you don't want to dance with), or even dancing with an opposing faction member when you just helped them or they helped you. It's fun. But seriously, do people actually dance like those WoW toons in RL? Answer: yes Oh. Okay. Well I guess people actually do dance like that in RL. And dancing in RL can be fun even if you don't think you can dance. Watch that video again. It obviously does not matter how you dance as long as you have fun. So celebrate. Enjoy life. And dance.

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So I'm all for taking some risks every once in awhile, but from time to time it's best to play it safe. Ever been in a pug and some tool rushes in and pulls the boss? Or worse yet, they tell you in chat that they know what they are doing or how close they can get but still pull the pat? Holy crap that makes me got nuts! I wish there was an ingame fine or something we could give to tools, not noobs cuz we were all noobs at one time, but tools who think they know the game inside and out and end up wiping the raid and costing me 5 dailies worth of gold. So for group sake, play it safe... a little at least if you don't really know what the heck you are doing. Don't rush into rooms. Don't pull mobs until a ready check. Don't back into another pat because you weren't looking. Just think. Play smart. Play safe. And in RL, play it safe too. Get yourself a Blizzard Authenticator today. I know too many people who have had their account hacked or keylogged only to see their gold and gear gone when they finally get their account back. I don't get any kick back from this and I have no contact with the people who sell them. I even play on a Mac for the most part and I still use a authenticator. Why? Cuz I put years into this game and I want to put years more into it and I want to play it safe and protect my account. If you don't get this, do virus checks or check your computer for strange apps or weird network traffic or memory usage spikes. Or better yet, play on a Mac exclusively. I would but I sometimes have to log in at ProjectLore and play on a PC, hence the account authenticator. What ever your choice is, play it safe, and for group sake, don't pull the boss.

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When I started playing WoW years ago, one of the first things I did, without knowing much about the game, was get a fishing pole and started fishing in Elwynn Forest. Within a few casts, I fished up a 15 pound fish that I could hold and slap people with it. It was so funny. I also caught a few fish that I used to level up cooking. I remember thinking that was a cool part of the game, fishing and cooking, and that I'd do that along with all the other stuff there was to do in the game. Later I told a friend about how I liked the fishing aspect of the game and he said he hoped I was a glutton for punishment. What? Well evidently he said that fishing was the most boring thing in the game and that it wasn't worth the time or effort. Well that wasn't a very hopeful thought, but I really didn't care. It was fun to fish and make receipes. There was loads of downtime between instances and raids, and the foods gave me buffs so I kept doing it. Then TBC came out and fishing got really lucrative. I can't tell you how many Furious Crawdads I sold. And now with the WotLK, selling Pygmy Suckerfish has kept me in gold and gear that I hardly do any dailies. The point is that in the game I decided what I liked and I kept doing it because I liked it. I did what I wanted to do and I had fun and made a big profit. Of course I listen to advice from some people about where to fish, how to fish better, and where to get the best recipes, but that all helped me have more fun in the game. Now in RL do you know what I do? I get paid to do this. Write here. And produce and direct Project Lore. Interesting isn't it? I did what I liked, asked people how I could be better, followed my intuition and got probably one of the oddest jobs on this planet. And in RL, it's your game. So do what you want to do. If you want to be a game programmer, do it. If you want to be a florist, do it. If you want to stare at a screen of numbers, betting on the market, then do it. Whatever it is, do it. Please. Ask around and follow your fun. Do it for a career or as a hobby or anywhere in between. Whatever it is, it's your game. Because when you do what you like, it makes the whole game that much more fun.

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Whenever I'm running around IF or Shatt or Dalaran, going from mailbox to bank or Cooking trainer to cheese shop, I always pop an Arcane Intellect on anyone I can. Whatever their level or whatever guild they are in, I just top them off with a little AI, and hope they have a nice day. I'd even give it to horde players if I could. And really, what does it cost me? Not much. I'm gonna be in town for a bit anyway, or even if I'm out and about doing dailies, what's a little mana here or there? I regen it so quick or maybe I have to eat a Conjured Mana Strudel, but that's nothing really in the grand scheme of things. What is something is that 9 times out of ten, that person buffs me right back. I can't tell you how many pink paws or BoW that I have gotten just because I buffed them. And it all adds up. Over the course of doing my favorite dailies, that pink paw and BoW help quite a bit, And I'm sure they appreciate the extra mana and chance to crit. All and all, everyone wins when you just buff people. Now the same is true in RL. Randomly buff people. Go ahead. Do it and see how your day goes. What? You don't think you have buffs for people? Oh come on, yeah you do. Here's just a few: • A Friendly Smile - Places a blessing on a friendly target, increasing their Spirit by 50 for 15 min. • A Kind Word - Places a blessing on a friendly or unfriendly target, increasing their Spirit by 20 and reducing their chance to harm others by 20% for 10 min. • Compassion - Infuses the friendly or unfriendly target with a sense of connection thereby significantly reducing their aggro and increasing their ability to cast beneficial buffs for 30 min. • Understanding - Places a blessing on a friendly or unfriendly target reducing their chance to attack by 15% and increasing you reputation with their faction by 1000. • Listening - Increases you reputation with targets faction by 200% and increases the targets health and mana regen by 20% while spell is in effect. And those are only a few of your RL buffs you can give people. So go out and use them, and see what buffs you get in return. I am certain that you will be surprised with the buffs that you get. And if you know of any other RL buffs you can give out, or that were given to you, write them in the comments. It's always nice to know what buffs are out there.

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