Day Eight. WoW blogging challenge - 10 things.

We're onto the eighth day of the Soulbound - 20 days of WoW blogging challenge. Today Soulbound asks us;

"ten things we don't know about you"

1. I hate these things! If you've ever been to either a group interview or a team building session they usually involve a game called two truths and a lie (or some variation). I always struggle with the truth part! 

2. I don't have red hair anymore! If you know me from Twitter then you'll probably have noticed my fiery red hair in my display picture. Sadly I'm now blonde (and a lot older!)

Soco. 

3. I have incredibly cold feet! Even during summer, while wearing two pairs of socks my feet are eternally cold. I sleep with a hot water bottle filled from a boiled kettle every night just for my little feetsies.

4. I met my Fiance on WoW during The Burning Crusade. We were pretty good friends until Wrath of the Lich King when things took a different turn. I moved to England to live with him and we've lived together for three years now.

5. I have a cat called Korla. You may recognize that name if you often read my blog. It's my Priest's name! Before we got the cat we joked we'd call it Korla after calling kittyface "cat" and "catface" for a few days we decided that maybe Korla wasn't such a terrible idea after all.

6. When we first got our kitty we were led to believe it was a girl. When we took it to the vet at around six months I got a surprising phone call from the vet informing me my little girl was actually a boy!

<333333 Kitty Korla.

7. My taste in music is all over the place.

8. I'm really easily scared. My fiance likes to hide behind things and jump out on me which never fails to make me scream. I jump whenever I hear a noise, I think I may have been a cat in a past life!

9. I have a really terrible memory. I mean really bad.

10. I love skulls. I pretty much wear some kind of skulls most days when I can! A friend of mine used to say I had "skulldar" I can walk into a shop and instantly find you something with skulls on it.

Day Seven. WoW Blogging Challenge - Blog Name.

We're onto the seventh day of the Soulbound - 20 days of WoW blogging challenge. Today Soulbound asks us;

"The reason behind your blog’s name"

Choosing a blog name was something that didn't come easily to me. It took weeks of umming and ahhing to settle on something I liked. When I started blogging I didn't really know what direction I wanted my blog to go in. I only knew that I wanted to start one. I talked about my reasons for starting my blog in the second day of the blogging challenge. I was heavily into gold making but I didn't want to chose a blog name solely around gold making. There are a lot of fantastic gold blogs out there and I didn't think I could really contribute much at least nowhere near their standard! I also didn't want to be pigeon-holed in case I moved away from gold making.

My main has been my Priest for a really long time so when I was looking at blog names I did have a look though my Priest's spell book and talent sheet. Again I didn't want to be locked into only writing about one topic plus a few of the Priest talents are hard to spell! I didn't want people who liked my blog to have trouble finding me. 

 While standing in Exodar one day taking some screenshots of my latest transmog I noticed part of the city called The Vault of Lights, it was perfect! Although I dropped the s from the end. I'd looked at zone names before but dismissed the idea because I couldn't find any I liked.

Vault spoke to me in part due to my gold making and also in part due to my collecting of things such as transmog gear, fun little vanity items, pets and mounts. Light represented my Priest and my love of healing. It's my go to main spec on any class which can heal.

Day Six. Wow Blogging Challenge - Your workspace/desk.

We're onto the sixth day of the Soulbound - 20 days of WoW blogging challenge. Today Soulbound asks us:

"Your workplace/desk (photo and/or description)"

I'd love to show you a picture of some kind of amazing battle station. A computer with fancy flashing lights or a really cool wide screen monitor but the truth is I don't have any of that. I've had the desk I have since 2000 when I got my first computer bits of it have fallen off or been removed since then. It used to have a small shelf on it which I would constantly bang my knees against so it eventually fell off. It had these large CD shelves attached to the side. Sadly most of the games and DVD's I have come in those large plastic boxes rather than the smaller square CD cases so they just collected dust and I eventually removed them.

My desk is often littered with rubbish. I'm quite messy. There is currently ten empty soda cans, four Alpen Light bar wrappers, some Sominex, a fork(?) and an empty mug on it. I've no idea how long the mug has been there or what was in it.

I recently bought a new mic so that's found a space in between all my junk. Due to the mess I'm not going to show you a picture. Hah. I'll tidy it tomorrow, I promise.

Day Five. Wow Blogging Challenge - Favorite items.

We're onto the fifth day of the Soulbound - 20 days of WoW blogging challenge. Today Soulbound asks us:

Favorite item(s) in game.

There are so many amazing little trinkets and doo-dads in game. My favourites are the ones which change your appearance. Blizzard have done fantastic jobs on some of the mounts and armor models too! I've chosen just three of my favorite items due to sentimental value.

Number 1.
Orb of the Sin'dorei

Orb of the Sin'Dorei is one of my absolute favorite items in game. The item disguises you as a Blood Elf for five minutes with a thirty minute cool down. Some of my favorite times in game were when I played Horde so this one is a nice little reminder. Plus Blood Elf is definately my favorite race. 
Wowhead has a nice list of Disguises and Character Effects items. 

Number 2. 
Reins of the Spectral Tiger 

My gorgeous Spectral Kitty is still my favorite purchase. It was the first item I had dropped a ton of gold on after getting gold capped. 

Number 3. 
Deathcharger's Reins

Another mount which holds a special place in my heart. The Bony Pony! This mount drops from Lord Aurius Rivendare in Stratholme. I farmed for this beauty for years. I couldn't believe my eyes when it finally dropped. 

What are some of your favorite items?

Day Four. WoW Blogging Challenge - Your best WoW memory.

It's been a while since I wrote a post for the Soulbound - 20 days of WoW Blogging challenge - hell it's been a while since I blogged full stop! If you follow me on Twitter then you'll know that I've spent the past few weeks bitching and moaning about toothache in a lot of pain thanks to an abscess in my tooth. Thankfully the pain has gone and everything is getting back to normal. I was unable to play WoW other than logging in to do a few daily quests from time to time because WoW simply couldn't hold my attention though the pain and frustration.

We're onto part four of the challenge - Your best WoW memory. I've been playing WoW for so long, I've met some incredible people and have had such a great time over the years that it's hard to pinpoint one isolated favorite memory. I can say with no uncertainty that Wrath of the Lich King was my favourite expansion for many reasons.

With better knowledge of the game as well as a better understanding of my own class behind me. A better computer than I had previously played on during Vanilla and The Burning Crusade and a bunch of degenerates I called friends I was able to beat what was at the time current content. I was unable to raid anything past Karazhan during BC due to technical issues so I only got to see most of the BC raids during the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.

One thing I accomplished during Wrath of the Lich King is certainly one of my most favourited WoW memories, not only because of the act it's self but with whom I accomplished it with. It's also how I got here.

I've always liked reputation grinds but when the feat of strength Insane in the Membrane was released I shied away from it. It seemed like far too much. It literally sounded insane! A really good friend had just returned to WoW after a long break and he knew he wanted to get the title. I offered to help him out in anyway that I could. I started the initial reputation grind with him for Raveholdt which involved killing Syndicate mobs until honoured but I figured two people doing it was faster than him doing it alone. That was my downfall, the beginning.

Over the next couple of weeks I leveled a Rogue of my own as the only way to get additional rep with Ravenholdt is to hand in lockboxes which you pickpocket off of level 60 mobs. As Vad didn't have his own character with Inscription he'd send me herbs every few days to be milled and turned into cards, to be turn into decks for the Darkmoon Faire. At the time there was no other way to gain their reputation. We used one of my guild banks to store all of our cards and already made decks. As each Faire drew closer we'd swap cards between us to finish off any decks we were close to completing.




I really enjoyed the time I spent working on the Insane it taught me a lot. I had to check the Auction house daily, I was hemorrhaging so much gold on herbs that I had to look to other places to make gold to pay for them. I started to learn about my own professions, what to sell, how to sell it and when to sell it. I started reading gold blogs and became involved with some of the members of the gold making community and I'd like to think I've come out of it with a few friends.

I especially enjoyed that I got to complete it with such an amazing friend who helped push me on when I felt like my milling finger was breaking or when I really didn't want to run Dire Maul for goblin reputation even just once more.

Vad doesn't play WoW anymore but thankfully we're still in contact, I look at my title and smile from time to time.

Too badass.

Day three. WoW Blogging Challenge - Your first day playing WoW.

We're onto the third day of the Soulbound - 20 days of WoW blogging challenge. I'm still in Scotland with family for a few more days and then I'll be returning back home and back to Azeroth! I've been able to sneak in a few hours of play time over the past three weeks. Admittedly it took around 4 days to fully download the WoW client between being a terribly old computer and a low strength wireless connection. With no addons and a hight of around 20 frames per second in quiet area's I've done little else than chat to friends and a bit of leveling in Outland.

I think most people look back on the first days of WoW with fondness. I do also but at the time it was mostly confusion and frustration. I'd never played a game like WoW before I had no idea what anything meant or what I was supposed to be doing. I started on a ten day trial. The first character I created was an Undead but realised I couldn't play with the person who'd invited me to play as he was Alliance. I created a Human Warlock instead "they get a pet and get to cast spells? sure! Sign me up!" Oh god. Those first few hours of WoW were the most painful experience I've ever had with a game.

At the time Warlocks had to do quests to get their pets. Your first quest as a Human was to collect a book from within a camp of bandits at Milly's farm. I died over and over with no idea how I was supposed to 'collect' this stolen book. Finally when my friend came online he explained to me that I had to mouse over the item until a cog wheel appeared. After finally completing the quest I received my Imp and then he died. I don't even know how he died, but he did. I couldn't for the life of me remember how to get him back. I tried collecting the book again (dying multiple times in the process) I visited the trainer who gave me no explanation so I did was any self respecting Warlock would do. I tried to quest without him! After a while graveyard running I thought I'd see what else World of Warcraft had to offer and off I went to explore.

I ventured into Elwynn Forest only to be eaten by wolfs and spiders. I by this point, extremely frustrated din't understand all of the fuss my friend had made over the game. Although I did meet a friendly player who warmed me as a level 4 that I shouldn't cross that bridge over into Redridge. After dying to a spider somewhere close to a mine I gave up and deleted the character, vowing never to play it again. A day or so later my friend convinced me to try instead playing a Warrior because they just hit things in the face. I was hooked at that point, I loved my Night Elf and I certainly liked smacking things in the face! Don't get me wrong she died a lot but by that point I had a slightly better understanding of what I was meant to be doing. She went onto being my main raiding character for a long time to come. I still love her although she's slightly abandoned on a dead server and a Blood Elf but I visit her from time to time.

I have more horror stories of my first week or so playing WoW but I'll share those in another post!

Day two. WoW Blogging Challenge - Why you decided to start a blog.

I've always liked blogging. I'm not much of a talkytalk person I much prefer typing. I may not be the most eloquent writer but it's something I enjoy. After getting our first home computer when I was around sixteen I was introduced to the world of blogging via a site called Xanga from there I moved onto Livejournal. I still have access to some of my old Livejournal's they're always worth a laugh if nothing else. Between the ages of seventeen and twenty I didn't have very much to write about aside from the typical "No one understands me. My heart is a black hole of despair, turmoil and woe." However I enjoyed it none the less and I made a few friends throughout my Livejournal years.

I don't know when I originally discovered there were such things as World of Warcraft blogs but one of the first I came across was a little blog called Hit the cap. It was a gold making blog written by a girl on her journey to hitting the (I believe) original gold cap. From there a whole world of blogs opened upto me and I became completely hooked. I'd say even now some days I spent more time reading WoW blogs than actually playing the game!

I created a Twitter account when it first surfaced but I never fully understood the point of it, not being one to follow celebrity gossip and having no real life friends who used it I abandoned it until a year or so later. I heard Jim from Power Word Gold mention on his podcast that they had a Twitter account dedicated to the show, the site and updates. I started to follow the PWG and several other bloggers adopting the name Soco (the name of my bank character) and I was able to join in on conversations about gold making and other World of Warcraft topics. I started to get my own followers and even people I'd consider friends. I started to feel like part of something. It was a nice feeling.

During May 2012 Bio Break started the Newbie Blogger Initiative trying to get perspective bloggers to start blogging! It was something I'd always considered. Twitter was great but it's very limited as to what you can actually do with it. While I didn't join the NBI I did start at the same time thanks to a friendly push and I'm super glad I did.

As I mentioned in my introduction post I suffer from Anxiety / Panic disorder which means I struggle to get out of the house as much as I'd like. Blogging about World of Warcraft gives me something to concentrate on. It's one of the main things in my life that is pretty positive and that I still find incredibly fun. Being able to share my experiences, adventures and transmogrifications with the people who like to read about them makes me incredibly happy. It'll also be something to look over in the future. I'm not really one for statistics, don't get me wrong it's nice to have a high day but I definitely blog more from myself than others. I'd love to be the font of all Priest or gold making knowledge but I'm not. But that doesn't mean I'm not still having fun!

I'd like to give a massive thanks to everyone who not only reads but retweets my posts on Twitter + Redit/r/wow.

And a special thanks to Jim Younkin Power World Gold Farli The Overcut and Nev AH Addict who gave me that little push and confidence I needed to start my own blog. You guys are amazing! <3

Day One. Blogging Challenge - Introduce yourself.

For July Ambermist from Tastes like Battle Chicken challenged everyone to write about themselves. Since I'm away from home visiting family and friends for a few weeks without real access to World of Warcraft I've chosen to incorporate both this challenge and the 20 days of WoW blogging challenge (courtesy of Saga over at Spellbound.) into one post as they're both something of an introduction to Me, not Soco nor Korla. I already have an introduction post but it's more related to the WoW side of my life.

Amazing quality picture from my
6 year old phone. 

In real life I'm not gold capped and I don't have an awesome mount collection. I can't even drive although I do have lots of dresses. I'm twenty six and I'm told I have a strong Scottish accent (I don't hear it). I'd say I'm girly girl. I adore having long, pretty painted nails. I love spending time with my friends they mean the absolute world to me.

I met my fiancée on WoW during The Burning Crusade he tanked while I healed. We've lived together for coming up on two years now. We don't have any kids or have any planned for the moment although hopefully in the future. For now we're content with our year old kitty who we only recently found out was actually a boy (after believing it to be a female since we got him!) He's an absolute nightmare sometimes but I don't think I could live without him now even though I'd still consider myself more of a dog person.

I now reside in yucky England with my Fiance far away from all of my friends and family. I'm on medication for depression / anxiety and  panic disorder which has unfortunately turned my life around in a bad way. I've been unemployed since I moved here which drives me nuts sometimes because I haven't made any new friends. Which was part of my reasoning for a trip back home for a few weeks. Just to get a bit of a breather, take a bit of time off. Verging on just never leaving the house I've started seeing a Councillor. I started having problems with anxiety several years go but it's only been in the past year that It's come to a real boiling point, rendering me afraid of the simplest of things like going to the shop on my own. When I had my first panic attack I was completely terrified, I can't begin to explain to anyone who hasn't experienced it how horrific it actually feels. The medication I'm on makes everything a little better and I'm hoping with time and taking little steps I'll be able to get my life back on track by next year. My fiancée has been an absolute rock throughout this past year in supporting me and taking care of me, he's defiantly one in a million. I'm so thankful to WoW for bringing us together.

I don't want to write too much because there are nineteen more posts in the challenge. And we don't want them all to turn into one big post but hopefully that's given you a bit of an insight into who's actually behind Soco!  I'm a pretty social person though If you haven't spoken to me before feel free to give me a poke on twitter @Socowow The next post will be "Why you started a blog".