Updates
First of all, ding! again on my 2nd WoW 60. When I'm not raiding with my guild, I'll be working on getting Alydia equipped and attuned. I've begun to notice that Alydia is quite the damage dealer (even when I don't bother with the usual hunter tricks)... it's kind of a nice change. I've decided my next leveling alt will be Oski, the feral bear druid. Props to people who get the reference. :)
I found this pretty interesting. When I last mentioned it, Husker and I joined Wandering Brotherhood. And basically, that was my guild from low-teens to 60. Shortly before hitting 60, the guild master stepped down (to join a raiding guild). And shortly after 60, the new guild master decided to merge. I was happy in the larger guild until I started to consistently miss raids because their weekday times favored east coasters. That was when I joined Ritual and sadly left those I knew from WB behind...
But one thing I've noticed from all my MMO experience (I don't have that much, really), is that when people leave a guild, guild leadership tends to go crazy. It happened in TheBrotherhood (the FFXI guild that split to become Prophecy), and it happened in Ahro. Minutes after I left, there was a witch hunt to find all those "disloyal to Ahro" (basically, anyone who's applied to another guild) which ended up alienating even more people. And another split occurred... oddly enough, many of my friends from WB were the ones who broke off...
Anyhow, shortly after joining Ritual, another guild revolution occurred. I am thankful I was invited to the new guild, Illuminati, as a full member. (I was only a trial member previously.) I am quite happy with the leadership style and the people of Illuminati. In just over a month of existence, we've managed to accomplish many things.
I thought WoW end game was going to be quite boring, but it really isn't, for some reason. Perhaps it's due to the advent of voice communication... (Vent chat is always interesting and funny at times. It's amusing how as a guild, we develop these funny sayings and expressions.) Or maybe Blizzard just developed a lot of endgame content. (But they better develop more soon, because AQ40 is the only "new" encounter for us left!) But WoW endgame does suffer from something I really disliked in FFXI... namely that of cookie cutter classes. Every class just tends to look the same at the end.
Anyway, I thought I would occupy myself with PvP at the "end" of WoW, but I've basically just retired from PvP. I just simply do not have enough time with all the raiding (and it really isn't all that enjoyable anymore). Amelante used to be Knight, now she's a Master Sergeant and will probably be even lower tomorrow (Corporal?). Not to mention I have another non-WoW time sink...
I started playing RF Online. As you can see from the box on the side, I created a whole slew of characters. But basically, I was just reserving names on launch day. :) My main in RFO is Amelante, a Bellato specialist on the Earth server. She's only level 21, but yes, I plan to follow the path of the MAU driver and Armor Rider. I have enough gold for two MAUs, now I just have to hit 30... and what a long grind it will be... :)
RFO is probably best described as a Korean-style, heavy-grind PvP-centric MMO. (It always seems to be compared to games like Lineage I/II and Dark Age of Camelot, all of which I've never played.) What really intrigued me, however, was the setting — a mix of magic and science fiction. There's very little content (don't expect WoW-like quests, or FFXI-like missions)... it's all about grinding up your skills and farming for gear. I thought it would be a nice break from WoW, and it is. I just pop in when I have free time and commence mindless grinding. :)