I am a Pro at Wasting TIme

Half the time (more?) I don't kill a single thing when I log on. I just play around with the holiday freebies. This day I decided to combine the Elune's Light from the Lunar Festival with some left over Rose Petals from the Love is in the Air event:



Then stand back and enjoy the results for a bit.

Solo vs. Botting

Originally, this forum thread peaked my interest because of something said in the Original Post. I'll summarize the thread, but you may enjoy reading it yourself. The drama of it is pretty funny. Hopefully I can capture some of it for you here:

The original poster (OP) starts off by including this statement about a topic that quickly didn't matter because the thread was about to be hijacked:

But for me its more about the journey as an independant, unguilded individual, who did it "my way" as some old man used to say.

It sounded to me that this was someone else who might play solo. (Note the reference to Sinatra's "My Way." It'll show up later.)

But soon thereafter another player (BB in post #7) says what seems to be the innocuous:

lol@your way

/afkbotting AMIRITE

To which the OP responds:

You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. I report a few dozen botters a week...

Then in post #10 you see BB come back and ask the follow up:

So you've never used a bot for anything?

Now, if you were raised by my mother you would be immune to this trick. "You were at the library all night, right?" Trust me, that should be your first sign that you're caught NOT being at the library all night. But the OP falls for it and says:

Nope..wouldn't know where to get one or how to set it up...Didn't have computers when i was in school so I am self taught.

Well the trap was set and now it's sprung. In post #14 BB comes back to say:
"Then I'm sure you'll remember this:" and posts a link to this video starring the Original Poster apparently doing the thing he just said he's never done:

(In case there are problems with the embedded video, here's a link to the video on Google Video.)

Now this looks bad. Very bad. Because in the video two alliance characters come upon this guy, the OP, (a hunter) and thinking he is botting decide to test him by killing his pet over and over. The OP, however, does nothing and lets this happen. He just keeps fighting.

Queue the many posts stating that the OP was just completely owned:

That is ownage on a scale that has never been seen before.

etc, etc...
When the OP finally replies he says he was drunk and being stubborn (to keep resurecting his pet) to see if they would stop bothering him.

Now, this all interests me, particularly as it pertains to any perception that being alone and unguilded means someone is botting (only two of my characters are guilded - unless you count the day I was showing my mom the game, but that's a story for another day). See post #116:

You're unguilded atm, which REEKS of "I don't want guildies to find out that I bot, so I'll join a guild after I'm done".

Hmmm, is that what people think? Hopefully this guy is just talking about this instance.

Nonetheless, I'm paying attention to how this unfolds. What are the perceptions now? And this guy is going to be one more data point in building future perceptions - either as a legitimate unguilded player or as someone purposely avoiding guilds because he's botting.

From my own perspective, I tried to determine if this could be legitimate. I'm not fond of the PVP aspect of the game myself so I don't roll on PVP servers (except maybe as a tourist). But I do play solo a lot and when someone does something that bothers me, I often silently let it pass. Offensive whisper? Just ignore it, they usually don't keep bothering me. (Except for the showing my mom story - again - story for another day.) Begger? No response. Although on the stubborn front - just today someone (same faction) ran up to a copper node I was mining and started mining it as though I wasn't already standing there mid swing. That time I just kept mining, trying to beat him. Then I moved along my way. I wanted to yell at the guy but what would that gain? So I said nothing and went about my business.

So when this guy defended his actions, I thought... maybe... maybe... He certainly makes an empassioned plea that he was at the keyboard and not botting. I can't help but think, though - why didn't this guy run away? Anytime I am near a member of the opposing faction (and I'm on a PVE server and rarely if ever flagged), I'm scared I'm gonna get PK'd. I just couldn't reconcile this whole thing's being on an RPPVP server and this player didn't think - uh oh - I'm horde and these are two alliance in a guild known for ganking - I should run away. Log off. Something! I sincerely doubt I would continue to go about my business.

Anyway, back to the drama,... BB says - I've got more video coming and then later posts this follow up video with subtitles set to the tune of, of course, "My Way":

(Link on Google Video.)

So it really appears that the OP was botting. This is not good for perceptions of the unguilded.

I've also taken away two learnings. First - maybe it wouldn't hurt for me to utter a word or two on occassion to make sure players or Blizzard or whoever knows I'm not on autopilot and that I'm actually at my keyboard. When I walked away from that guy who tried to steal my copper mine, maybe he thought I was just a bot because I didn't acknowledge what he did. (Maybe he was the bot, hmmm can they do that?)

And second - /thanks mom! Because I'm just a little bit better on my toes today for your sleuthing skills while I was growing up. I can't believe the OP fell for it. At least I got a good laugh out of the thread for it though. Hopefully you did too.

I Twink, Therefore I Am

(With apologies to Descartes.)

Actually I should clarify. I consider myself a "generic" twinker (is that a word?) rather than a "battlegrounds" twinker. I've actually never been in a battleground.

Generic Version of Twink:
Twinking used to be thought of as the limited practice of giving a newbie character hand-me-downs from a higher level character. Thus the lower level character quickly has access to equipment that he/she might otherwise take longer to earn for him/herself.

New Version of Twink:
As I read the posts out there it seems that Twinking has developed into the narrower practice of gearing up a character specifically for use in Battlegrounds(which are level based).

More Reading:

Live Journal Post discussing various meanings of Twink

Wowinsider Post that asks "Should Blizzared End Twinking for Good?" (Lots of comments)

WoWWiki

Wikipedia

(In some of the World of Warcraft forum posts you might see the word "muffin" used in place of the word Twink.)

My Version - Self Sufficiency
To me, this game is about the conquering, balancing and optimizing of all there is in WoW. Where other players may use their friends and their guildmates, I try it just with myself (and the Auction House). Here's my way:

I enjoy learning the different professions. For example, I'll have an alchemist on a server who will make and send potions to all my other characters. I have a skinner who supplies leather as needed, a leatherworker who can supply armor kits, a tailor who can supply bags (all the cloth gets sent to her), a chef, an enchanter, a blacksmith, etc... Yup. I always have a full mailbox.

I also like to stagger levels on the server. This way, as equipment is dropped, more senior characters can donate their armor and weapon drops to the lower level characters.

I try to make money. That challenge in and of itself is fun. The results get shifted to whichever character needs it.

So my point? Not all twinking is about Battlegrounds or getting the edge over another player. For me it's part of the solo game.

Changes that others considered game altering - New Honor/PVP systems, flying mounts, Paladin/Shaman switches... none of that changes anything for me. But if one day everything were say, suddenly Bind on Pickup... then I'd have to reconsider the game. Would it still be enjoyable for me? Probably not.

Update 8/20/2007:
Patch 2.1.3 Improves Mailing Between Alts at wowgrrl.com says that:

Mailing between your own alts is instant for both cash and items now.