One year of Adventures special: Nica IRL

It's been exactly one year since the first post on Adventures of the Hex Machine saw daylight. Happy birthday, blog! In honor of my first year of WoW blogging, I decided to introduce the person behind Nicasia the Hex Machine, or should I say, her partner in crime.

Although on WoW, my primary game, I've been an elemental shaman since the summer of 2010, I am a rogue in real life. A human subtlety/assassination rogue named Olivia to be exact, or as the URL of my personal blog indicates, "that rogue Liv." I'm from southwestern Finland, which makes Finnish my mother tongue. I became a rogue at the age of 13, when I found that stealthing around was a great way to avoid unwanted attention and remain unseen. Yet there were moments I couldn't hide, perhaps the work of Nefarian (BWL), which resulted in me getting ganked a lot. So I've been a rogue for pretty much seven years now, as I will turn 20 next month. When did I get that old, seriously?

Which of my characters do I resemble the most? Elias Desrosiers is what I would be like if I were male. Nicasia carries my passion, Raleigh and I share a lot of personality traits, Vladan's burden is partially my own. Every character of mine represents something of me, which is why they sometimes feel like my virtual children, or creations the same way a child would.

Some of my favorite blog moments/posts from the past year include Ress please!, my MoP beta memories, the wedding of Sol & Lykke and the launch of Pandaria.

Although I've been quite an inactive blogger the past few months due to real life things and my primary PC letting me down, I'm very thankful for my first year of WoW blogging and I'm eager to see what the rest of those years are like. Thank you all for reading and visiting the Adventures, and stay tuned for my future shenanigans.

20 Days of WoW blogging #9

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Day 09 – Your first blog post

In case this means my first blog post ever, I must say that is too far in the past for me to remember. My guess, however, is that it was a blog on the Finnish blog hosting site Vuodatus and likely contained boring things regarding my uneventful life. I was a kid back then anyway, what else could you expect?

Nicasia and Lanfranco in the first background image.

On Adventures my first post saw daylight on the 6th of May 2012 looked like this. The blog had a different layout then and went by its working title Gloria, gloria Nicasia. The name changed to Adventures of the Hex Machine a couple of months later. The first post introduced me and made an attempt to describe what I am like as a blogger. Mainly it was just rambling that I tried to keep together somehow. Overall it was a pretty good first post, considering it was written by me, heh. Since then I have also learnt to remember to name posts!

The blog's first background was the result of a great idea and bad editing. I made a kind of a promise to myself in the first post:

My goals for this blog include not posting anything empty, which to me means something without even the slightest meaning or story behind it.

And I have kept that promise. WoW is far from being just a game to me, and that is all this blog is about: my experience in the World of Warcraft.

An unplanned break

Hello everyone!

I've been an extremely inactive and indifferent blogger in March, for a reason. I hate vague explanations that strive to invoke curiosity within readers, and I don't want anyone to think that is my aim. I will, however, say that due to an event, a big and sad change has taken place in my life. I decided I wouldn't write about it yet at least. Perhaps I will one day, but for now I will not, and I won't stress about it. It's enough as it is. I intend to just live one day at a time, and learn to live with the change.

I haven't stayed away from World of Warcraft because of that only. I encountered an issue that caused my PC to shut down after spending a few minutes on the game. I am hoping a Windows reinstallation will fix this, so I am currently working on that. It's something I was planning to do anyhow, so now I have a very good reason to complete the project. It just takes a while to save all the files and things I want to save.

As I leafed through a few screenshots on my old laptop, I got reminded of how much I enjoy World of Warcraft. That was why I decided to try to get back to the game as soon as possible. Those screenshots featured absolutely horrible graphics, because the PC was horrible for gaming. When I played on that machine, I thought the bad graphics made my playing experience worse. Now that I play with good graphics primarily, I realise that I couldn't have been more wrong.

All in all, I will be back in the game soon. I will finally begin to gear up properly - I've done a horrible job so far! I also heard Menagerie has done a great job progressing through Throne of Thunder in my absence. Well done, you all!

I think I was working on the Felwood quest achievement then.

This made me want to re-mog Vlad's stuff.

20 Days of WoW blogging #8

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Day 8 – 10 things we don’t know about you

1. My thumbs look completely different. They are different size and shape. The right one resembles my father's thumb, while the left one is more like my mother's.

2. One single hair grows in the middle of my forehead.

3. I'm a supporter of the Green League of Finland.

4. The first game I really played was Loderunner: The Legend Returns, the Sierra re-release from 1994, I think. A Lion King one and Quake II followed shortly.

5. I cast my first ever official vote in favor of a homosexual person. I wanted him as my president.

6. I tend to find racial/national jokes funny. I am not a racist. Feel free to joke about my skin colour or mock my country of origin!

7. I spend a ton of time watching people play games. My personal favorite YouTube video makers/streamers include Lucikka, AdrineX, RandomDR and MrJallu101. I follow a bunch of others, too.

8. I work as a freelance writer. In the future I wish to work around music, games or writing - preferably all three.

9. As a kid I loved dinosaurs. I was crazy about them. I could have sworn to become an archaeologist.

10. I once asked a psychic person about reincarnation. He said he could see two previous lives: one as a pioneer in North-America, eventually violently killed by native Americans, and another as a soldier in a submarine during the second world war.

20 Days of WoW blogging #7

I am skipping day six until I have cleaned up my desk. It looks utterly horrible as it is.

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Day 7 – The reason behind your blog’s name

Adventures of the Hex Machine is what I've began to call my shenanigans on WoW. Hex Machine was initially (and still is) my guild master title in Menagerie, along with Lanfranco's Lightswinger and Kinsey's Shapeshifter - while I think Doomkin would be more appropriate. When we formed the guild, I ended up as the official guild master with all the rights, but I wanted to make sure that my partners in crime felt they were just as much guild masters as I was, so I suggested unique ranks for all three of us.

Hexxing is serious business. Once upon a time, when the first heroics of Cataclysm weren't yet tuned for incompetent gamers, we were in Throne of the Tides to complete Old Faithful for Glory of the Cataclysm Hero. We didn't realise the add wouldn't go from full health to zero upon getting hit by the geyser, so we had to do it on the second round with a new add. Our healer was already out of mana and struggling to keep us alive, so our tank (welcome back to WoW! \o/) ended up dying just before the naga was to be shot up in the air with the power of pure (?) water. With the tank dead, the minion would attack other group members, so without really thinking even for a second, I hexxed the add in the geyser. And we got our achievement. That is just one example why I justly claim the title of the Hex Machine!

As for the Adventures, well, 'adventures' is a nice word that fits the fantasy theme of WoW and my way of experiencing the game. I end up in strange and unexpected situations without planning them. I try to keep my mind open for everything and everyone, and find that tactic rewarding. Obviously Adventures of the Hex Machine is a self-ironic blog name, and when it comes to the Hex Machine herself, she is definitely an anti-heroine.

Thought pilgrimage

I've had a few things in my mind over matters like work and exams, so I think it's about time I presented them here. They're three separate things that have all taken brain space one way or another, some of them being inspiring, some worrying and some just stir paranoia in me. Perhaps all three for each!

I: One of the rogues

First thing is about my 85 rogue, Nikoleta. If you're interested, you can find the link to her Armory page on bottom left of the blog, where all the featured characters are listed. She was the second character that I leveled to maximum level, and I made her a rogue, because I liked my first rogue, but was a complete nabcake when I created her, so it wasn't all that great.
Nikoleta was supposed to be a Wastewalker bandit, but I never got around to RP her or come up with any sort of story for her. She just has a full name, and I know she has hazel eyes. Since mid-Cataclysm she's done nothing but grinded some valor points to buy BoE gear for my other characters and opened lockboxes. One day I got the idea of giving her a makeover of some sort. Make her male, perhaps (not like my character roster isn't full of male humans already), and obviously change the name if I did that. Now I don't even know if I'd play the character any more than I do now if I changed something about it. It's been proven multiple times but it still hasn't got through my thick skull: rogue is a class I really want to play, but it's just not meant for me.
Some months ago I deleted my first ever rogue that was also my first main character. I've had mild feelings of regret about it, since I begin to approve of the idea of paying for a character makeover. I could've made her that rogue I dream of, but can't be arsed to level anymore. Because I really don't enjoy leveling rogues. Yet I keep trying to do so. Gosh.

All in all, I think my fear of getting bored of WoW/my characters is greater than the actual danger of it happening.

II: Giving a voice

This is so very, VERY far in the future that I can barely see it! But still. Wouldn't it be cool? I mean, first I'd need to learn to edit audio properly. Probably get some sort of program, a voice changer, something like that. Most likely loads of programs. But I can dream, right?!
Basically I'd like to create examples of my characters' voices based on my own. Bring life to that unique way each of them speaks, with their own accent and tone of voice that currently only I can hear. I'm in fact quite very interested in voice acting, despite going a bit over my skill level with Ragnaros that one time... But I did Mannoroth, Illidan and Tyrande okay once, it's just that no one was there to hear it.
Inside my head they are so much more than just game characters; I think that's the ultimate reason why I find it so difficult to get tired of them.

III: The other life

Oh, there is one. There is one indeed. The thought of creating a blog about my real life has crossed my mind briefly, but there are so many things to it. The main reason to why my previous blogs sucked and have ceased to exist is that I can't come up with things to write about regarding my life or myself. Now it's true that my life has some happenings in it at the moment, but I'm still not sure if it's anything to write about. There are things I can't quite mention here on the Adventures, but I'm also not sure if I'd like to talk about them anywhere else either. Or if I'd like anyone to read about them.
I already stuff a load of music stuff here, in case you haven't noticed, so there would probably be even more of that in the personal blog if it existed. Gaming would also play a part, I'm sure. And studies. And non-driving. It would certainly be interesting to see how long I can come up with things to cover up my twisted mind! A major question is whether I'd write it in English or in my mother tongue, which is most likely unknown to the majority of this blog's readers.
How does all this sound? I need some help with this one. I don't know what to think about it.

A new layout for Pandaria?

First of all I'd like to apologise for the long-ish break from posting. Days have been better and worse, some of them horrid, but most importantly they've just passed, one after another. Here I am anyway, I haven't lost interest in this blog and I'm in fact working on a new series of posts, but the premiere takes more work, and another photoshoot. Another thing is that I also got a job, if I can call it that - it certainly doesn't feel like one. It's nothing much, but I keep my email open constantly, and when I do get to do something, I want to do it well and it takes a bit of my day.

There's something I've been wondering as Mists of Pandaria is around the corner. Should I perhaps update the blog's layout to Pandaria style? I'm pretty sure it would involve a lot of green colour. Currently the background image and colours have nothing to do with Cataclysm, it's just a personal thing, a long story in the form of a picture made of two screenshots. And I like it, and the meaning behind it very much.
I'd definitely like a blue background best, since it's my favorite colour and the one that represents my favorite expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. I can see that it would be very illogical, though, as we have, and Azeroth has, moved on from that. A snowy and cold layout is however a strong possibility. After all, this blog has a slightly greater focus on me in the game, than the game itself.
Let me know what you think, if you think, about any of the stuff.

WoW-wise I haven't been up to much. I changed Ral's protection spec to retribution so I'd get some change and some gearing up to do. I was, in fact, extremely lucky in the first full LFR run I did as retribution: I got everything I rolled on for main spec, three items, and a ring for the tank spec which I had just dropped. So four items altogether. Definitely my luckiest LFR run in the history of ever (due to having my lucky dwarf with me.)

I've been a real slackbanana of a guild master recently. At least I feel that way. I've just been leveling my alts and whatnot, letting officers and co-guild masters take care of everything. On top of all that, Cataclysm is getting more and more boring with less things I actually want to do.

Anyway, this was just a little post to let my imaginary readers know what's going on with me and the blog. There will be more MoP beta posts in the near future, also character intrductions (I assume?!) and other things. You may also suggest if you'd like to hear, see, smell, feel, taste or sense something in particular, I might be able to make that happen!

Wiggles,
Nica

So...

Something happened. I got disgusted by my own writing. It frustrates me beyond understanding that something, in this case language skill, is preventing me from being as good as I could be. Writing is the only thing in the world I am really good at, and this situation pains me a lot.

I can't and don't want to just stop updating my blog, but I'm going to take a break from those (excuses of) stories and just write something else for a while. I'll probably try again one day, but not now. I don't want to hate the one thing I am talented at because of other people. So please, enjoy my break and keep reading my blog, but if you would be so kind, please don't read the earlier posts.

This one is about PvP.

I would never call myself a PvP pro of any sort, so I'll just settle for explaining something of my own that, like always, makes little sense.

My main character Nicasia is elemental/elemental specced, meaning that her main spec is elemental for PvE, and off spec elemental for PvP. Her talent trees, as of patch 4.3.4, the last one of Cataclysm, look like this:

And she is glyphed like this:

I feel the need to say something about these. Stoneclaw glyph is there only because we thought of the possibility of me soaking an Hour of Twilight at Ultraxion. Then I never came to change it, because I didn't think I needed to. Ghost wolf is there for a better chance of avoiding a Shockwave when further away, faster movement at Zon'ozz and all that stuff. I like Glyph of Elemental Mastery for PvP, because I seem to suck at avoiding the situation where I get hit. I also suck at having EM available at those times. I should probably swap it for Stoneclaw, as the absorption effect still persists if you change your earth totem after popping it, however I probably won't PvP much before Pandaria.

My problem with PvP is that I lose my nerves. I get annoyed, I rage at myself, I ruin what's left of my peace of mind and wreck my day. It has a lot to do with my fear of failing. In fact player verses players, doing it and talking about it, is one of my weak spots on World of Warcraft. I haven't PvP'd with Nica, or any other character except my lowbie Forsaken rogue Ancelot, since a very traumatising arena match some months ago. There doesn't seem to be a limit to how much I can terrify myself with my own behavior. Despite all that I have some amazing player verses player memories. Not to mention that I am a great!! amateur psychologist, and therefore try to cure myself with music therapy.

Warriors by Freedom Call works great in Warsong Gulch, which is slightly too much a claustrophobic battleground for my taste. I have some awesome memories of that, and I imagine it would also work in various other situations.

If I'm generally not in any particular kind of mood, I like to play Supreme by Robbie Williams. There's absolutely nothing about Robbie that would make one associate him with PvP action, but if you take a closer look at the song's lyrics, it's actually understandable why it fits a moment of aggression and uncontrollable rage.

... And all the best women are married
All the handsome men are gay
You feel deprived

Yeah, are you questioning your size?
Is there a tumour in your humour,
are there bags under your eyes?
Do you leave dents where you sit,
are you getting on a bit?
Will you survive?
You must survive

... Do you need a bit of rough?
Get on your knees

For a couple of battlegrounds I tried Eros Ramazzotti, but found that the memories related to his album Stilelibero are too far from anything gaming-related.

Now something for the imaginary readers: what's your PvP soundtrack like?

A request for Blizzard, feat. blog news

I'm pretty sure game masters have always got a lot of tickets from people who have accidentally (or purposely, who knows, could be a form of masochism) vendored or deleted an item they actually wanted to keep.

Now we have the battle.net item restoration service, which is pretty handy, although I always prefer dealing with real humans rather than robots and computers. They tend to mess things up. However, I was too ashamed of my recent issue to contact a game master and talk about it. Therefore I am kindly requesting that Blizzard makes a Sent my heirlooms from banker Fghfghfghj to new banker and never took them out of her mail, leading to a situation where the items were returned to a non-existant bank character restoration service.

Until then poor Luciferias needs to work hard on his light-swinging skills. It's strange how we adapt though - on Argent Dawn Horde I'm totally fine with levelling without heirlooms, simply because it's my first character on that realm. On Moonglade Alliance, my main base, I think: "I don't have to do this anymore, with all the ninjas who need on armour which they can't even wear."

I was also supposed to say something about GGNica (I like how that also sounds like 'good game Nica', hihihihih), the blog, generally. The story of Vlad will continue, but part IV most likely won't be posted within the next couple of days. I need a moment to gather more ideas regarding details. At the moment I find W.A.S.P. a great source of inspiration for the story. I recommend listening to them to both of my two readers.

Also, has anyone else noticed that the ending of the my blog's URL has changed from .com to .fi? /gasp My national identity isn't secret anymore! Maybe it's just me...? But anyway, the favicon appears to have updated itself, so enjoy the shamanism on your browser.

I tend to forget to name posts. This one was no exception

To be completely honest, I have no idea how to write the first post in a blog. It's the most difficult one for me and I've always had issues with it. Good thing only one can be the first, and the sooner I come up with something, the sooner it'll be done.

If you haven't yet realised from the background image, this blog is about a MMORPG called World of Warcraft - particularly from a roleplayer's point of view. Not all of it though, because I do other stuff as well. I'm a guild leader and I raid weekly, with more than just one character these days, and sometimes it gets a little... well... Like those times I just can't make myself swallow anymore food.
I do like to raid though, that I admit.

I've been a guild master since July 2011. Back when I had two names on the formation scroll and I was scouting Dun Morogh for the last two, I had no idea what my WoW life was going to be like in a few months (almost a year now, goodness!). It's been exhausting, depressing and infuriating, but most of all: rewarding.
Occasionally I miss those times when WoW was "nothing personal", I just had fun with and without (but mainly with) the friend who got me into it in the first place. Everything was new and exciting. Sometimes I miss getting lost in the forest of Elwynn, and being afraid of Defias bandits, but the path I have walked from there to here I wouldn't change for Invincible's reins.

Enough about that for now! My goals for this blog include not posting anything empty, which to me means something without even the slightest meaning or story behind it. Whether I will tell it or not is a different matter, but at least for now it's enough that I know it. Generally it's a project to get me back into writing. I did want to write more in my mother tongue, but I think any writing what so ever will be helpful.
In future posts I intend to introduce some of my characters that I've learnt to know, talk about things happening in and out of character and such. Each one of my characters, those which have at least some depth to them (these days I wouldn't create a character without that inspiration), is a fragment of me. They are feelings, moods, dreams, hopes, fears and desires. 
I've also received a beta invitation to MoP, so I might post and talk about some beta stuff! And basically anything that's connected to WoW - that's all I can say about that.

A little bit about the graphical side of this blog. Take the background image for example. I think the RP related pics in this blog will all be that style. I feel it makes it seem more like telling a story rather than posting screenshots. Of course it wouldn't be very convenient when trying to introduce some new spell effect... So I'm not going to use it in such situations. Why I got so fond of that style, though, might be because it reminds me of one of my favorite series - Everwood.

I can't think of anything else to say now, so I think I've made it to the end of the first post. Wohoo! I sincerely hope you enjoy the blog, in case there's someone reading this (there must be at least one. He said he would read it!), and feel free to leave a comment or two if you feel like doing so.

Nixnix, /curtsey

P.S.