I'm Not Dead Yet/Team Member Spotlight

Get to know your fellow INDY team members here. The INDY team main page can be accessed here.

Yelsel

Hello INDY team. My real name is Lesley and I figured I would break the ice and introduce myself. First I'll answer some standard questions and then I'll add a little bio. Please feel free to share as much or as little as you would like.

1. How long have you been playing WoW.

To be honest, I don't really know. I picked it up a few years ago and leveled a character to its 30's, but then I stopped playing because I got busy with work and school. I did pick it back up in February 2008 and I'm pretty sure I've logged in at least once every day since then.

2. What is your favorite class to play and why?

I would have to say anything that has a ranged component to it. I don't like melee, it make me nervous. Needless to say I'm never going to be a Rouge or Warrior for sure (Ok, so I have a Death Knight, but we all know those are over powered so I'll be ok with her). The only character I've leveled to 80 so far is a Priest. I prefer the Shadow spec, but I get more work as a healer. However, being a healer has really started to grow on me. I also enjoy playing the Mage and Hunter classes.

3. Why did you join AIE?

When I got back into playing WoW last February (2008), I really went all out and was trying to read and listen to everything I could about game play and strategy. I ran into this little podcast called The Instance and really enjoyed it. I started listening with episode 100, so over a period of several weeks I went back and listened to all the shows. I learned of AIE through the show. The reason why I joined is because I wanted to learn how to play the game without being pressured to preform or having to rely on my husband (Auuggo) to help me. I wanted to play on my own terms and thought that AIE would be a great place to find people like me to hang out with, quest and generally just talk to.

4. What do you like best/least about WoW?

I like that I get to spend time with my husband (Jason). I hate dying.

Biography

Like I said my name is Lesley. I'm married with two children (ages 10 and 13). You all may already know my husband Auuggo (DK tank and DPS). Our children also play WoW. I am originally from Florida (born and raised) but live in Virginia now. I was in the military and was stationed in Georgia, Kuwait, and Korea. I work full time as a telecommunications analyst. I just finished my BA program at George Mason University. I now have a BA in Government and International Politics with minors in Business and Islamic Studies; and yes, I do tell everyone I meet about it. Auuggo and I just celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary too.

I'm pretty casual about gaming. I like to take my time so that I can enjoy the content and the story. I am in no rush. While I was happy to hit 80 finally, I was a little sad too. Questing with a seasoned WoW player like Auuggo can be very fast-paced. I don't have to read any of the quest. I just accept them and follow him around while he kills everything. Its not that bad anymore, but I feel like I missed out on a lot of the game's nuances by playing that way. I also love to talk (as if you all haven't already noticed in Vent). I hate it when anyone I group with dies (I get really cranky too... ask Auuggo, you don't want to be around me if I've lost someone). That's about it. Oh, I'm also Pixie91075 everywhere... AIM, Twitter, Facebook, Gmail... just look me up and add me if ye likes.

Tyberiuss

1. How long have you been playing WoW.

2. What is your favorite class to play and why?

3. Why did you join AIE?

4. What do you like best/least about WoW?

Biography

Thelindael

1. How long have you been playing WoW.

2. What is your favorite class to play and why?

3. Why did you join AIE?

4. What do you like best/least about WoW?

Biography

Asterien

1. How long have you been playing WoW.

So I started playing WoW around 2005. Just after the launch of The Burning Crusade. I had first heard about WoW before that by one of my teachers when I was in school, but I realized that I should finish school before starting it up knowing that I would devote a ton of time to playing.

2. What is your favorite class to play and why?

So far I have played 3 classes total, but only one to level 80. My first toon was a night elf druid on the Draenor server. Not really knowing how to play a druid i got very frustrated since i split all my talent points up to all the different specs. I then played a Shaman which when i got to the level 50 area I lost interest with playing due to the level grind that goes along with that character. Lastly came my tauren Warrior. And I have a really hard time thinking of playing a different type of class after having played a warrior. I like the whole plate wielding juggerenaut. Plus (as many of you have heard) I am looking forward to my duel spec and having two two-handed weapons!

3. Why did you join AIE?

I joined AIE after having a long break from playing WoW and decided to start playing again. I mentioned to this guy named Ed that I was thinking of playing and rolling a horde toon. He told me of this guild named AIE and how large and cool it was... So here I am.

4. What do you like best/least about WoW?

I like the interaction of playing with people in such a massive concept. Having played video games as a kid, it was always single person type games and the only thing missing was the ability to play with my friends. Plus I have always like D&D type games and toys when I was young so it was natural choice for me.

Borkaa/Moozh

1. How long have you been playing WoW.

2. What is your favorite class to play and why?

3. Why did you join AIE?

4. What do you like best/least about WoW?

Biography

Auuggo

1. How long have you been playing WoW.

2. What is your favorite class to play and why?

3. Why did you join AIE?

4. What do you like best/least about WoW?

Biography

Kalduti/Numadra

1. How long have you been playing WoW.

I've been playing since December of the year it came out, which I think was 2004?? Gosh I don't remember now. I started MMORPGs with Runescape, then Ultima Online and then WoW. Had a brief try at LoTR as well, but came back to WoW.

2. What is your favorite class to play and why?

That's a tough one. I guess ultimately I like the caster classes the best. Although I enjoy some melee as well, which is why I think Shamans are an awesome class. I never thought I would enjoy healing, but I really really do. My first toon was a NE Druid, but I only got her to about 28 and moved over to the Horde, and haven't looked back! Numadra was my first and main toon- fire mage always. Next I created a troll warrior, that I leveled to 70. The guild she was one of the GMs in fell apart, and DKs came along, so I deleted that toon. My DK is Prasuti and she's at lvl 71. Right now I only play her for mining and cooking. Kaladuti, as you all know, is my shaman. She was originally enhancement, but switched to Resto right before I met Ed. He had the pleasure of experiencing one of my very first, very ugly healing runs in Nexus, lol, and he STILL invited me to group again! I also have a lvl 41 rogue, 28 hunter, 30 something priest, and a warlock and druid at much lower levels.

3. Why did you join AIE?

Numadra was always a guild hopper, never quite finding the right home. I always saw AIE members running around and just applied to join them after getting completely fed up with the immature, egotistical guild I was currently with. I'm one of the few who knew nothing about "The Instance" until I'd been with the guild and didn't listen to it for a few months after that. It's now a sanity saver at work when I'm bored. I love this guild and have no plans of moving again! I like their policies and officer involvement in the "green wall".

4. What do you like best/least about WoW?

I like that anyone can play- you can solo forever if you want as a casual player, or be a hard core raider, it doesn't matter, you'll still have fun. There's a lot to do and it's cool to meet so many people all over the world. Least? Just petty things I suppose. I agree with Dave/Raven/Tonq/Stilgahr about the rolling new toons thing. I really wish they'd at least create a few new areas to explore for low levels.

Biography

I was born and raised in northern lower MI. I've got a BBA in Marketing and Management from Northwood (University) now, it was Northwood Institute when I went there. I still don't know what I want to do, although I'm narrowing it down! Currently I work for the Girl Scouts as a Registrar. I've lived in Southern Florida and Northern (like Redwoods and Mountains northern) CA as well as MI. CA was definitely my favorite and hope to move back there someday. Chris (Grarick) and I have been married for 14 years and we have a 12 year old boy who is an awesome gamer- he plays WoW, but gets bored easily. He did manage to level a holy priest to 61 though! We currently live in Traverse City, which is beautiful, but too much snow. I like to garden and read and misc. other pastimes when I'm not playing WoW. I used to have a bellydance studio and did henna tattooing as well. Haven't done either of those in a couple of years! I'm so excited to be a part of INDY- it's the first raid team I've ever belonged to. The end! :P

Ravenlight/Stilgahr/Tonq

1. How long have you been playing WoW.

I started with a trial account in December of 2007. Shortly after that, I signed up for the real deal and have been playing obsessively ever since.

2. What is your favorite class to play and why?

The answer to the first question is yes. The answer to the second is because I like variety. I am a full blown altaholic. I have four 80's (3 on Earthen Ring) and two other 70 plus toons. On two different servers, Earthen Ring and Windrunner, I have 10 toons, one of each class on those servers. On Earthen Ring, I am all Horde. On Windrunner, I am all Alliance. I have most of my slots filled on Norgannon (mostly Horde) and a few toons spread amongst three other servers. Most of my other alts are level 20 or less, but on Windrunner, many are in their mid-30's. For me, each toon is fun for a different reason and I eventually get the urge to switch (either toons or roles). I have a penchant for respecs to try something else out, though, with dual speccing this has lessened quite a bit. I like working in all four roles: tank, healer, melee dps and ranged dps.

3. Why did you join AIE?

Well, like many others, I listen to The Instance and joined for a couple of reasons. One, the guild sounded like the kind of place I wanted to be. It allows you to do what you want and supports everything. Two, the hosts are closer to my age and seemed to indicate that a lot of folks in that age range were here. I was a bit tired of being in a guild where I was the "old man" and dealing with the mercurial nature of my guildmates and a lot of the drama that resulted from that. Of course, I was playing Alliance...

4. What do you like best/least about WoW?

Most: Variety. Variety of class, of spec, of focus. Variety of play options be it questing, instancing, raiding, collecting, wandering, pvp, economy, etc.

Least: I would like for those who have gone through the level grind to be allowed to start a toon, if they choose, at a higher level like they can with Deathknights.

Biography

I was born in Muhlenberg Community Hospital in an undisclosed year on my mother's birthday. She asked to return the gift, but the stork, as you know, does not have a return policy. So, she and my father endeavored to instill values and common sense in their new child. It was the only thing that they ever attempted that they completely failed to do. My father spent 24.5 years serving this nation as a member of the United States Air Force. To this day, I am most proud of him for what he did during this time. His retirement ceremony included what was, at that time, a very rare honor. He received a fly by as part of the ceremony. The reason that this was rare is that it was usually reserved for senior officer retirements. My father retired as a Chief Master Sergeant. During my childhood, I lived in several places: Kentucky, Florida, North Dakota, England, Alaska and Texas. I graduated from Burkburnett (Texas) High School and, later, Western Kentucky University with a degree in Mass Communication and pursued a brief career in television and radio. I currently work for a major health insurance company as a Policy Consultant. I write policy and procedures that our employees follow when processing medical claims. I live in Louisville (KY)and have been married for 16 years to Katie and have a 12 year old daughter named Elizabeth. In my non-work, non-WoW time, I listen to a lot of music, watch a lot of sports, play lots of non-electronic games, sing and act at church, bowl, play with my two dogs and one cat and spend time with the family. I like lots of the "nerdy" games: strategy, rpg, colectible card game (CCG), etc. and try to make it to GenCon in Indianapolis every year that I can.

Grarick

1. How long have you been playing WoW.

2. What is your favorite class to play and why?

3. Why did you join AIE?

4. What do you like best/least about WoW?

Biography

Zartin

1. How long have you been playing WoW.

2. What is your favorite class to play and why?

3. Why did you join AIE?

4. What do you like best/least about WoW?

Biography

Fluoxx

1. How long have you been playing WoW.

2. What is your favorite class to play and why?

3. Why did you join AIE?

4. What do you like best/least about WoW?

Biography

Beazelle

1. How long have you been playing WoW.

2. What is your favorite class to play and why?

3. Why did you join AIE?

4. What do you like best/least about WoW?

Biography

Mentus

1. How long have you been playing WoW.

2. What is your favorite class to play and why?

3. Why did you join AIE?

4. What do you like best/least about WoW?

Biography

Erythrocyte

1. How long have you been playing WoW.

I started playing WoW in December 2006, a month before The Burning Crusades came out. I had heard about the new expansion, and so purchased the 'vanilla' WoW to get started. My first toon was a NE Druid (yes, I know). I played him to about level 15 or 16 and got tired of running slowly around Darkshore and dying all the time, so quit for awhile. BC came out and I bought it a few months later. I wanted to roll one of the new races, and the Blood Elves seemed like they had the best lore. Also, having played Warcraft I, II, and III I knew their story. I rolled a Mage (Xerosis) and had a blast leveling to 20, I progressed to Hillsbrad and got creamed by every mob. They don't call Mages glass cannons for nothing. I got tired of dying all the time, so I decided to roll someone with more armor, and so rolled a Paladin (Erythrocyte). I've leveled them both up relatively simultaneously trying to take advantage of the rested xp bonus as much as possible. Erythrocyte ding'ed 70 in the summer of 2008 and Xerosis a few weeks before Wrath came out during the Scourge Invasion. So it took me almost 2 years to get them both to 70, but they are both now 80. I stopped playing a bunch of times, rolled alts a bunch of times, but have been pretty much just playing Erythroctye and Xerosis the last 6 months.

2. What is your favorite class to play and why?

I prefer the ranged play style the most, so healing with Erythrocyte fits more in with that, and of course the Mage is the best ranged class there is. I've played a Druid to 30 (my first toon is still kicking around), an Orc Hunter to 28, a BE Warlock to 27 (perhaps my second favorite caster class), a Troll priest to 20-something, an Undead rouge to the mid teens, an Orc warrior to the mid teens, and of course I have a Tauren Death Knight who is sitting in Zangermarsh kinda bored, but well rested.

3. Why did you join AIE?

I'm a long time fan of the podcast 'Buzz out Loud' and heard Veronica Belmont talking about the whole 'I Eat Babies' naming difficulty with the formation of the guild. I started listening to The Instance after hearing her talk about it, and have not missed an episode since. I moved my Mage over to Earthen Ring the first week of July 2008 to join AIE, and then moved my Paladin shortly after. My Tauren DK, Dysphotopsia, is also in the guild. But that doesn't really explain why, does it. I had been listening to The Instance long before I joined. I was on the Nordrasill server in a tiny guild with only a handful of regular players. I pretty much played solo all the time, and was in a guild just to chat with others. All of the big guilds on the server were raiding guilds, and wouldn't consider you if you weren't max level, and committed to playing 4 nights a week. Knowing I wanted to be in a big guild with a more casual tone, I transferred and joined AIE. I can't imagine playing anymore without the green wall to keep me company.

4. What do you like best/least about WoW?

Best: The fact that there is so much to do. Questing, Dungeons, Battlegrounds, Raiding. Questing is easily done casually and solo, I pretty much went from 1-80 without grouping almost at all. I enjoy Battlegrounds with my Mage, but get owned all the time as I don't put the time in to gear properly. That doesn't stop me from cap-ing a flag or taking a node every once in awhile though. It seems like you could play this game for years, and still not experience every aspect.

Worst: The fact that there is so much to do. Its hard to compete with the hard core players, and their time comitment to the game. I consider myself more casual, though I play more than I thought I would when I bought the game. When I look at how much gold it takes to get epic flying, or how many tokens it takes to buy tier gear, and the time comittment, its a bit daunting. I can see some players being really put off. My Paladin went thru Outlands first, and once I hit 70 I thought I'd be stepping right into Heroics and Raiding. When I realized all the work and time I now had to perform to gear up to see those places I went back and started leveling my Mage. Questing seemed less repetitious than the grind to gear up to see the good Heroics or Kara.

Biography

I was born in Detroit, and grew in Southeast Michigan. I currently live in a city called Lake Orion. I'm married with two daughters ages 7 and 5, and have been unsucessful in getting my wife to play WoW or even just farm some gold for me. Although, she'll play Webkinz World with my daughters, which if anyone has seen it, is basically WoW for kids with stuffed animals. In my spare time, I hang out with my family and friends. I started golfing reguarly a few years ago and have been addicted ever since. Otherwise, I'm a big gadget geek, and love to play with new technology. I've been a gamer since pong came out in the late 70's, have played most of Blizzard's other games and also enjoy gaming on the Xbox360 where I prefer the FPS type games.