Home Archives for matticus
October 2, 2008 1 Comment

Matticus Interviewed

It all started with a PM from Blog Azeroth which exploded into a full fledge interview. Had lots of fun answering this one from the WoW Blogger. Go read it!

Most important question asked?

Will the blog still be going? For that matter do you foresee WoW itself still alive in a decade?

The blog itself will be up. I chose this name so that it wouldn’t exactly be limited to just World of Warcraft. It’s World of Matticus and whatever happens to be contained in that world will be up to me. Blizzard’s stories have been compelling in every game they’ve produced. If they keep up story telling and designing the games the way they are now there is no reason to see WoW even remotely slowing down at all.

Filed Under: 20 Questions with Bloggers, All Stories, Guest Posts Tagged: , , , , ,
12 Reasons Why Priests Don’t Make the Best Lovers
September 19, 2008 12 Comments

12 Reasons Why Priests Don’t Make the Best Lovers

pirate

Hear-ye, hear-ye, ye backstabin buccaneers!

As me learn-ed scurvy dog colleagues o’er the past few days have discussed about ye class lovers, I have discovered one thing. Ye think Priests make the finest landlubbin’ lovers, do yeh? Well ye be wrong on that count and let me tell ye why! Priests are the exact reasons why thar exists women scorned by which fury hell hath no! Nay, we be nothin’ more than gentlemen o’ fortune so ter speak.

Ye got yer Warlocks! Then ye got yer Captains! And yer goody two shoes Pal-eh-din! A lot of mateys believe that Duh-ruids are tha bettar ones in bed! And of course, Rogues do it from behind (because they’re not smart enough to do it from other positions, harrrrr har har!). Cannae’ forget our tentically hoofed buccanneers!

But here’s why hookin’ up with a Priest be like findin’ fool’s gold!

Fortitude only lasts 60 minutes

Aye, we be full of stamina and strength but fer how long? We can only go 60 minutes before we become tired out ye know!

Staves, Maces, and Daggers

We not exactly be the most skilled with our weapons. Ye never see a Priest with maxed out weapon skills! Ye think we’re any better in unarmed… combat?!

Constant drinking

There be only so much energy a Priest has before they need to batten down the hatches and drink. I find it nigh impossible that a lass would be able ter wait tha’ long fer us to recover (and plunder her booty)!

Squishy

Harrrr! Our inability to withstand pain means activities be limited! Our robes can only handle so much punishment from a cat o’ nine tails! Unless we take ‘em off…

Limited shields

Yarrrr, ye realize our shields can not withstand lovin’ power of that maggggnitude before they buckle under pressure! Oh sure they can protect ye, but for how long? And what will ye do when that bubble be breached?

Never satisfied with just one

We be busy scannin’ all the time for potential targets! We cannae always commit to one, ye know! It be too difficult for Priests to be monogamous!

Too pure

Can we consciously betray our teachings of the light? No! Thar be no such thing as a promiscuous Priest! Not ter mention, I cannae dream of a scurvy cur who’d want ter shack up with the dirty Shadowy ones! Only a wench would!

Too much Discipline

Discipline. Priests have too much of it! Even one point invested be far too much for the ordinary lass! We shan’t betray our cause or our purpose which means we not tha’ righ’ choice!

Too poor

Priests are the most lily-livered class you’ll encounter, me hearty! We don’t have the doubloons to afford even the most scallywag of Warlock wenches!

So ye see lad, while you may think that Priests make great lovers, ye best be takin’ your reasons to Davey Jones locker!

Yarrrrr!

Filed Under: All Stories, Featured, Silly Tagged: , , ,
September 15, 2008 46 Comments

Myth busted: Canadian Chicks Play WoW

I know I’m soooo going to be asking for it and Wyn and Syd probably going to butcher me. I’m in my Psyc class and there’s a girl right in front of me playing WoW while the Prof is lecturing.

  • Looks like a 70 Warlock main
  • Enchanter
  • Has the ZA bag
  • Looks like the Mag Bag too
  • Has many alts
  • Alliance
  • Piling the IF AH with stuff

…Is it scary that I can tell that much information with just a simple and involuntary glance over her shoulder? Or am I just a really good stalker? It must be my Criminology training and eye to detail.

Yeah, thats it!

Filed Under: All Stories, Personal Tagged: , , , , ,
Twisted Nether: Wynnicus Podcast Now Available
September 9, 2008 3 Comments

Twisted Nether: Wynnicus Podcast Now Available

wynnicus-podcast

Clocking in at under 90 minutes, the Bre, Fim, Wyn, and Matt show is now available for download from the TNB website. If you were unable to catch the whole show (consider yourself lucky ^^), you can grab the edited and pared down version.

Highlights

  • Beta talk (lots of it)
  • Blogosphere highlights
  • Wyn
  • An saga tale

Don’t miss the epic saga

A tale of two Priests. . .

A broken promise. . .

A friendship tested. . .

More drama than the loss of a Hunter bow to a Rogue. . .

A betrayal that no one would have believed possible. . .

This is the must listen Podcast of the year. If you download only one podcast this season, make it The Twisted Nether Blogcast: Episode 16.

Note: I ran out of movie cliches. Anyone got any?

Filed Under: All Stories, Blog, Featured Tagged: , , , , , , , ,
5 Rejected WoW Blog Ideas
September 9, 2008 14 Comments

5 Rejected WoW Blog Ideas

rejected

Image courtesy of alifarid

A lot of WoW Bloggers I know of suffer from Altitus wherein they have so many alts and appear to have a hard time trying to focus on one. While I do have multiple healer alts myself, I’ve maximized my time accordingly and powered them individually so that they are all fairly high level characters. All of them (sans the Druid) are capable of healing Black Temple and Mount Hyjal on their own.
But this post isn’t about Altitus. I suffer from a unique ailment.

I’m afflicted with Blogitus.

There are more WoW blogs out there than Netherweave on the auction house. All it takes is a really killer idea in a niche to set it apart from the rest (so that we don’t end up with another hunter or another druid blog. Not that they’re bad or anything). I quickly examined Blog Azeroth and my reader to try and find out what already existed. Class blogs were out of the question so it boiled down to what I thought people might be interested before mentally shooting it down.

Herez Pilton

What it could’ve been: It’s a play on words off of two different things. The celebrity gossip website Perez Hilton and the in game character Haris Pilton.
Why it got rejected: How much effort and how much entertainment would all that drama actually be? Perez spends 18 hours a day chasing down leads and photos. For this to really work, I’d have to spend copious amounts of time on the WoW Realm forums daily. I don’t have that kind of time to offer, unfortunately.

Prohealer.com

What it could’ve been: A site with numerous healer bloggers culd go and contribute. Would have featured multiple authors and guest posts from favourite names in the community.
Why it got rejected: Difficult to micromanage. Don’t have the resources or the time to invest in it as much as I’d want. Would have to score major cooperation from other writers. Although, I might actually explore this idea later in the future. I’m a chronic project starter.

RaiderRant

What it could’ve been: Nothing more than a rant blog about bad raids and bad guilds. Diary style. Similar to Waiter Rant. It would’ve been day-to-day entries from a raider and 5 minute windows of their raid life. Probably would’ve been updated once or twice a week to help avoid stagnation.
Why it got rejected: My Guild isn’t at the point where I want to rant about them on a weekly basis. A blog like this needs to have some diversity. Readers would tire quickly about stories about the Mage that can’t tank Gruul’s or the idiot hunter who can’t seem to click cubes. Has to be some randomness and the writer has to be able to captivate the audience.

Consuma-blog

What it could’ve been: An extremely narrow focused blog about consumables, items, gear, and such. Would’ve talked about gear guides, where to get them, combinations, criticisms and so forth.
Why it got rejected: Almost as exciting as watching a Holy Paladin and a Resto Druid duel.

The Battle Standard

What it could’ve been done: All PvP talk, all the time, with news, opinion, highlight reel finishers and so forth about Arenas, BGs, and world PvP.
Why it got rejected: I have to actually PvP. I have enough time to either PvP or raid. I can’t do one or the other really well. I also need to have some credibility and having a low arena rating doesn’t do much to inspire justice (although ~1550 in BG9 actually isn’t that bad).

Now that’s not to say that any of these ideas are bad. I merely listed why they were bad for me (at least for now). I think a cunning and motivated blogger could take any of these ideas and make it work really well.

With this in mind, what types of unorthodox WoW blogs can you think of?

Filed Under: All Stories, News and Opinion Tagged: , , , , , , , ,
MEME: When Matt was a Young Warthog
September 8, 2008 5 Comments

MEME: When Matt was a Young Warthog

pumba

Kudos to Game Dame for tagging me with this excellent meme last week. Due to the lack of free time over the past week with school (and this blog thing breaking), I haven’t been able to p ost my version of things.

I have to confess.

I’m a little perplexed as to why she tagged me because of 2 reasons:

  1. I’m Canadian
  2. I’m quite possibly the youngest WoW blogger in existence and I don’t recognize these events.

In lieu of that, I guarantee you that this will be a very quick list.

Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

I wasn’t around for this event. In fact, I wouldn’t be around for another year. On the other hand, what I was around for was the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. I was in tenth grade and I had just woken up. It was around 730 AM for me at the time and I powered my computer to check out my news sites. Yes, at grade 10, I read news sites. My source? Fark.com. I woke up my dad about it and we flipped on the TV to catch what was happening on CNN.

September 11 attacks

This one I remember fairly clearly. I was in my drafting class working on various technical drawing exercises. The mood was different that day. It felt more somber and I had a feeling something was up. I didn’t get the opportunity to check the news that morning. Many of my classmates were crowded around various computers. I figured they were playing some SNES emulator game like Gundam Wing or Street Fighter. To my amazement, they had CNN streaming live on one of the terminals. Even more amazing, my teacher came by and actually stood there and watched along with us.

Hurricane Katrina

This happened during my graduating year. I don’t remember much about this one. To be honest, as a Canadian and an outsider, it didn’t have as much of an impact on me as the others did. I don’t know why and I can’t really explain it. I think it was because the event occurred over a longer period of time instead of striking all at once within a limited time window. I just can’t remember.

Reagan Assassination Attempt, John Lennon’s death, and Kurt Kobain’s death

I’m sorry gamedame, I’m just way too young for those.

What about you? Where were you at? And why not try these on for size?

Filed Under: All Stories, Personal Tagged: , , ,
World of Matticus Gets a New Face Lift
September 6, 2008 20 Comments

World of Matticus Gets a New Face Lift

rebirth

Of course, sneaky tech savvy blog readers (or even Google RSS readers) would have been able to access the blog while I was undergoing upgrades. That flimsy placeholder page does absolutely nothing to restrict people. Need to find me a maintenance mo

If my blog was my toon, I’d go all out on it trying to maximize rep and getting all the necessary gear to make it better. Looking at it now, I think I did a pretty good job! You can tell what how much a blogger loves their work by not only the way they write but how they present it.

Let’s discuss the set bonuses features about the new look, eh?

Front page
  • Same blue Matticus: The blues are staying. It’s the official colors of the Alliance and it’ll be the official colors of Matticus.
  • Featured video: On the right side, Wyn and I have the option of embedding interesting videos there that we think our readers would love. They don’t have to be necessarily WoW related. For example, if you play it now you’ll recognize the tune from the Macbook Air commercial (which I believe is very fitting for the occasion).
  • Individual author avatars: This wasn’t a problem months ago as I was the only writer. But with the embrace of a coblogger and accepting guest posts, identity becomes much more important. Cemented with 110 x 110 pixels of writers.
  • Headline ticker: Don’t miss out on the latest highlight reel posts. You’ll notice the massive billboard-like plugin at the top. It will cycle through 5 recent posts that we think you’ll enjoy!
  • Advertising: Yes, advertising has become a little more prominent. They won’t interfere with the content (due to tactical and strategic placement). However, if you don’t want to be exposed to them, why not subscribe to my RSS Feed or via EMail above instead?
  • Expanded blogroll: The recommended reading on the sidebar has been expanded to encompass more blogs. Criteria? Bribery.
  • Tag cloud: Categories have disappeared from the side. Instead, you can find random “streams of thought”. The cloud functions as a keyword type thing. Actively discussed topics are the ones that are in large fonts.
  • Refined categories: Instead of being on the side, categories now appear at the top beneath the pages. Mousing over them reveals a javascript powered drop down menu that will take you to the posts that match what you’re dying to find out more of.
Article page

I’ve not only refined the look of the blog, but I’ve taken care to add extra details to the post pages themselves. Take a gander:

  • Breadcrumb trail: Never get lost again! A breadcrumb trail at the top of each post will let you know where you are at all times.
  • Related Articles: Not sure where to go after you’re done? At the bottom of every post has a list of suggested reading to follow up on.
  • Share this: If you like a particular article or post, why not share it with a friend or guildmate? Supports multiple avenues like Digg, Stumbleupon, and Technorati. You can even share it on your Blogger or WordPress blog (Twitter and Typepad too!)
  • Gravatar support: Gravatar support has finally been implemented. Now you can have your own cool image to help distinguish you from the rest!
  • Comment and trackback separation: In the past, I found it confusing to read through comments and click on trackback links from other blogs. Sometimes I would forget to visit the other blogs because I was so enamored with the comments. No more! When viewing posts, you’ll see the comments by readers first and then link backs from other blogs and sites at the bottom.
  • Commentluv support: Not exactly new, but I never announced it either. If you’re a blogger who posts a comment, the blog will automatically try to pull the latest headline from your blog.
Temporary
  • Banner and header: That will change. I’m going to try and enlist the design skills and support of the same guy that designed the Plusheal banner.
  • Twitter: I found a nifty spot for it in the top right corner. I did a lot of changes to it but I can’t see the little Twitterbird icon. I hope it shows up. Otherwise people will wonder what that random block of text means.

Whew. Time spent? Well over 20 hours. Now I can stop tinkering, coding, and tweaking and get back to the real fun stuff of writing posts!

Actually, I’m late for my raid. Oof!

Filed Under: All Stories, Blog, Featured Tagged: , , , , , ,
September 5, 2008 1 Comment

Matt & Wyn Live

We’re about to go live soon on UStream soon. It would be cool if you made a user name, but it’s not required. It just means we address you as “Uberustreamgamer-87277875143742135248624″. Or something.

How to get in

Link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/twisted-nether-blogcast

Password: tnb73

Then you might have to enter it again.

Join myself, Wyn, Fim and Bre!

Podcast over! Thanks to everyone who joined!

Filed Under: All Stories, Blog Tagged: , , , ,
State of the Blog Address
September 4, 2008 7 Comments

State of the Blog Address

My friends,

It’s been a rough few days here in the World. First week of school, blog randomly breaking for reasons yet unknown and so forth have kept me frantically working to keep this ship afloat. The theme you see right now is only temporary. But I’m also excited. The great blogtastrophe could very well be a blessing in disguise. I’ve wanted to do a new layout for the new year and spent most of my time scheming, planning, and drawing. Alas, I can’t wait until the Fall semester is over to put my plan into motion. What you see right now is a temporary look designed to keep blog functionality going. I have a very limited window here since exams and assignments start piling up towards the end of September and late October.

On a side note, if you have two midterms, how does that work if they’re supposed to be done during the middle of term?

Anyways, with that in mind, I’m setting an extremely ambitious plan to have a functional blog layout operational by Monday the 8th. With luck, I’ll finish in time before my hockey fantasy draft (Ovechkin or Crosby first pick?)

Schedule

Friday

0600: 20 Questions with Veneretio (tankingtips.com)
1000: SYTYCB Bloggers critique and bottom 3 announced (and an explanation on Tulani’s absence which I’m sure many of you have noticed)
1800: SYTYCB cuts announced
2130: TNB Podcast (Live!) hosted by Fimlys and Breana (Matticus and Wyn guesting)

By around that time tomorrow night, I should have a theme ready to go.

Saturday

0600: Responding to the Where the hell was I? meme from Gamedame
1200: Assigning Healing Strategy: Part 5 of 5 – Things to Watch For

Blog logistics and other minor and trivial details need to be handled. Certain categories will be axed and remade. Lots of retagging and reorganization of posts will be happening. I have like a billion posts. This is going to take a while :( .

Sunday

Blog will be in maintenance mode for the entire day which means it will largely be inaccessible. I have to raid from 1630 onwards until 2100 which means I may not be able to finalize deployment just yet. If all goes according to plan, then you’ll see the 4th reincarnation of the World.

I’d like to take a moment to recognize Lassirra for her tremendous support and technical expertise in troubleshooting the majority of the cataclysms affecting World of Matticus recently. Thanks Lassirra!

I have to confess. I came *really* close to throwing in the towel and calling it a career. That feeling only happened for a split second but it was long enough. Of course, I needed only to look up at the Feedburner counter to realize that I had at least 731 reasons to keep pushing.

All I ask is for more patience.

In the mean time, here’s a trip down memory lane:

v1

Version 1: This theme ran from early August until late September. I didn’t care much about the layout at the time. I focused more on writing as much as I could.

v2

Version 2: I opted for something new and fresh. Something that was more vibrant. Something more… me! This one was live from September on until towards the end of December.

v3

Version 3: The longest lasting theme thus far, this theme served me well from the start of 2008. My only regret is that I could not make it work long enough for the whole year. This was by far my favourite and I’m disappointed that I have to retire it earlier than usual.

Go beyond what’s asked of you. Never settle for just being “good enough”. This new theme will be better than the old one. It has to be. I won’t be happy with anything less. I will do whatever I can to make sure it reaches that point. My readers deserve no less.

Thanks for sticking it out this long.

Your friendly Priest blogger,
Matt L.

Filed Under: All Stories, Blog Tagged: ,
Be a World of Warcraft God in 5 Steps
September 2, 2008 12 Comments

Be a World of Warcraft God in 5 Steps

wow-god

You’ve got the game. You’ve done the raids. You’ve finished the PVPing. For some reason, and you can’t quite place it, there’s still a hole within you. It feels as if though there is something missing. You were a hardcore gamer before. In Counter-Strike you’d consistently dominate with the AWP in your hand. In Warcraft 3, dominating the opposition was nearly effortless especially with multiple tournament wins and top place finishes.

Not only that, you actually beat Tetris.

You’ve mastered shooters. You’re renowned in RTS games. Now you’ve set your eye on the MMO world. How does one “conquer” World of Warcraft?

Raid. Raid a lot.

The best gear in the game can only be acquired by tackling the hardest bosses in raiding instances. Until you’ve taken down Illidan and Archie (and now Kil’Jaden), you’re just a small pup. Get the best gear you can possibly get!

PvP Endlessly

What good are all those shiny weapons going to do if you can’t actually use them? It’s one thing for your opponents to make a note of the firepower you’re packing. It’s something else entirely when you go up to them and cleave them in half. Furthermore, a strong push to the 2000+ rating is almost a must. Non-stop BGs and Arenas are your ticket to be the Unstoppable Force.

Post often to forums

Forum trolling is an acquired skill. Some people just grow up having the innate ability to cause an uproar. The point here is to make your presence known and felt. A real gaming God is not content with just be a one man wrecking crew. Their name has to be known in households worldwide. The only way to do that is with constant posting. Reply to other threads, answer other questions, or start some discussion of your own.

Have insane amounts of gold

Like it or not, the WoW economy is one of the central pillars that drive this game. Gold makes the world go round. Without money, you can’t buy the supplies you need. Yes, although WoW Gods don’t need trivial things, armor and weapons could use some buffing and shining every so often. Although some players would be willing to do it for free, the merchants in the cities need to make a living somehow.

“Contribute” to Trade chat

It’s not enough to own the forums. You have to own trade chat! Start making references to bad movies! Make fun of Canada! Go ahead and randomly insert support for some political candidate! Get people to react to you! I saw this one guy in trade chat who said that “heals can’t crit” and I observed in amused amazement as the entire channel went off in an uproar for a good 45 minutes citing every resource base in the game that “yes, heals can in fact crit”.

Filed Under: All Stories, Featured, News and Opinion Tagged: , , , , , ,
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