The Newb Tank in Dual Spec.

With our newly formed guild "is probably drunk" (Yeah, that's the real name, and it's generally true when we're all on WoW) - it was automatically assumed I'd be the tank.

I was up for it... Sweet.. ground zero, get to fight everyone at once... won't die cause we have a lvl 80 Druid healer...

It's a damn good thing we do.

I hate tanking.

I mean, I don't really hate tanking. I think I'll love it when I have better gear and more health...

Is it wrong that I'm scared to DEATH of doing PUGs? (That's WoW lingo for "Pick Up Groups" - I'm still picking up on all these abbreviations. Dude, just type it out, right?

Anyway.

So, I get my 1000 gold, SO excited to spend it (geez, WoW is a lot like real life sometimes) and I walk over to the Warrior Trainer... and I'm all, "I want to learn more about dual talent specialization."

And he's all, "Pay me 1000 gold."

Done.

Mmmm, so there I am... I look up a talent tree, get some glyphs... equip this high armor shield that I'd been keeping...

Okay, group up...

Enter dungeon... Abe leads the way because I have no clue...

Wipe.

Oh. Aggro. Right. Got it...

Wipe.

Oh. HOLDING aggro. Okay...

Wipe.

(sigh).

I really got it after awhile... studied my moves... I even subscribed to the Tank Blogs that I've seen...

The PROBLEM for me.. and I have yet to see someone write about this, is that..

1. I get motion sick in some of the dungeons.

Weirdest thing ever, I know. All the turning and the stairs... and the one with the spider webs is the WORST...

2. I can't see SHIT in mobs. 1, 2, 3 guys... just FINE. More than 4 and there's all the Pally's casting swirly yellow shit... and the heal numbers.. and the damage numbers... and I'm mousing over them, trying to see the target... and hell if I don't realize I'm targeted on the Minion of one of my group members.

Fail.

When I can see I'm SOOO good at it. I finally understand vigilance... and crowd control... and I'm starting to get better at understanding that I need defensive gear...

I keep quizzing level 80 warrior tanks relentlessly. They say I'll get used to it.

And how am I supposed to lead my group if I've never been in the dungeon before?

I don't know about this game, sometimes.

Maybe I'll get there. I think we're running some dungeons tonight. I'll keep everyone posted.

The Beginning...

So, I've been playing WoW on Turalyon for about 5 months, and I've wracked my lovely Gnome Warrior, Crixis, to Level 71.

I've got to be straight with everyone when I say that not only am I a WoW Newb, but a Gaming Newb. 5 months experience in questing by yourself doesn't exactly yield the greatest dungeon experience ever.

We'll start with how it all started...

My friend Abe moved back from Washington DC and started living with me and my fiance, and would play this game nonstop.

We had never seen this side of him before... He's the "cool bachelor" type that's out drinking most nights..

My fiance immediately jumped on board, Abe created a new character.. and they were off..

Naturally you can imagine I was a little irritated that, upon coming home from my shift at the bar I discovered them BOTH playing...
I can't tell you how many fits were thrown when I was trying to convince one of them to help me with something. (I didn't really understand that you can't just up and leave in the middle of owning one of the.. what do they call them? NPB's?)

Weeks go by, a few more arguments, and finally they're like, "Amber.. Just try it. Just create a character."

Fill in the "OMG. You guys are losers. I can't believe I'm really going to do this right now."

World of Warcraft? Really?

When I was little I was a huge fan of Kings Quest. Computer games from Sierra that I played at age 10 for hours with one of my friends (wait, does this classify me as NOT a gaming Newb, then?) But they had horrible graphics, cartoon-esque characters... and were far less violent.

"You'll like it. It's not just killing stuff. There's strategy."

I had no idea.

Weeks later I was FAR more addicted to them, and caught up to my fiance, almost surpassing him at level 35. (He's got a Dwarf Pally, now a 76).

I would spend no less than 3 hours at a time playing this game. I was even stoked to find that I'd accidentally skip meals and lost 5 lbs... which made it even better. I called it the WoW Diet.

My coworkers at the bar didn't really understand. :)

So, I got the general gist. Spam the number keys... get better armor... get your health up so you don't die in two seconds... Do some herbing...

After a few months I even bought something at the Auction House!

I was a PRO.

(headshake.)

And then all this other stuff started coming up... Rings and critical strike chance... and strength and stamina... and attack power...

Every time I chose a quest reward I'd have to call Kyle into the room, "What's better? Intellect or Attack power?"
"Warriors don't use intellect, babe."
"Oh."

It took awhile, but I started to understand. I remember my first conversation on the WoW chat... I was dying in Westfall.. (Stupid scarecrow things)... and someone started helping me kill them...

and talking to me... "Do you need help with some quests?"

Uh. Yeah!!

Took me FOREVER to understand that I'm supposed to / before I chat. I just kept hitting random keys until I figured it out... and they finally understood that I was, quite literally, a newb.

I gradually started to understand everything a bit more... found some friends to quest with, flirted relentlessly with some level 80's for some help.... and here I am.