WoW in My Hour - Jaedia

WoW in My Hour is on to its seventh installment where I interview other bloggers and WoW players to explore the different ways people spend their time in game and speculate (or relate) what/how they might prioritise the smaller time periods - particularly if that is all they are left with. We cross another border this week to the European side of the fence.

1. Can you please introduce yourself. Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do (blog about) - in terms of WoW?
   
   I go by the name Jaedia, I play a Hunter (and many alts), and I tend to blog about whatever's in my mind really. I started 'The Lazy Sniper' as a Hunter blog, but since I quit raiding I haven't had much interest in patch notes and such. I like to help out once in a while with a guide if I feel it would be useful, for example, when SAN started up I wrote a guide for levelling Hunters. These days I've become more of a 'general' WoW blogger, though I try to keep the focus on Hunters every now and then.
   
   
   
2. How would you describe yourself as a WoW player? Hardcore, casual (and what you mean by those if you choose to use them), raider, PvPer etc
   
   I couldn't call myself hardcore or casual to be honest. I do play a lot, but mostly on alts, and working on achievements. I'm an altoholic and an achievement hoarder. I currently have 6 80s, and around 20 characters across 3 servers. My aim is to try one of each class, and to see how many achievements I can get on my main. I also collect things: mounts, pets, tabards. Anything aesthetic I suppose, I like them, they give us as characters a little bit of individuality.
   
   
   
3. What does a typical week of WoW playing look like?
   
   At the moment, my main goals are to finish Loremaster on Fae [ed: which she achieved not long after her initial responses], and level my Rogue in SAN. I'm having a lot of fun in SAN and on Argent Dawn, so most of my WoW time is spent over there. I also like to play the auction house a little bit. I get the same thrill out of making gold as I do for earning achievements.
   
   
   
4. You've stated in your blog that you've stopped raiding - how come? Is there anything that would bring you back to the raiding table?
   
   I wrote a post about the why actually. The main reason being the way raiding affects people. I've seen people I considered to be friends turn quite nasty, becoming fairly elitist and up themselves and for no real reason stop talking to me. After some fairly heavy guild drama I had enough. I don't care for the elitist attitudes, and cold shoulders, or scheduling my time ingame. I like to log in and think "What am I going to do today?" And I can decide to do a few instances on my Death Knight, and if anybody asks "Could you help me with something/would you like to join us here?" I'm free to say yes, I have no raid time restrictions, and I like that. If raiding was more about having a bit of fun once in a while rather than progress, then perhaps but I can't make any promises.
   
   
   
5. Is there anything (in WoW) that you wished you could get into but just don't have the time (or for some other reason)?
   
   PvP I think. It's the only aspect of the game I've never really been able to get into. I've tried, and I go through phases where I find joining an AV and seeing how many times I can kill a certain player (whoever kills me first or has a bad name usually) or how I can hone my skills, quite fun. The thing is it never lasts, and PvP causes so many flared tempers that after a while I start to become frustrated. I'd love to try arena properly, I just don't have the confidence, and I can't enjoy it properly.
   
   
   
6. Your favourite class is hunters - what is it that attracts you to them?
   
   You know, my first class was a Warlock, which originally I found boring, I couldn't get into the class (I have a little more now). So, I rerolled a Priest, planned to heal, specced Shadow and never turned back. I played her for most of TBC and part of Wrath, but about halfway through last year I realised I had a new love of Hunters. I couldn't pin it down exactly, though choosing and naming your ingame companion is quite nice, though the complexity of Marksman and Survival (compared to other specs I've played in the past) feels fun. It's a ranged melee class to me, which is unique.
   
   
   
7. One thing I've noted is that hunters are often very passionate about their class. Is there one particular mechanic, or style that would break the class for you if it was changed?
   
   Actually, yes. If Hunters ever.. God forbid, became a melee class. I play melee classes, I enjoy them, but I don't think I'd like one to be my main. Hunters are ranged and that wouldn't work. Incidentally, I'm growing slightly tired of Hunter pet mechanics. This is something else I've posted about fairly recently, in fact. I'm bored of seeing all PvErs running around with a Wolf pet. It's so bland, there is no variety anymore! I'd like there to be.
   
   
   
8. What is the one biggest tip you can give a starting out hunter?
   
   Please, please, please let the tank pull, use Feign Death when you get it, and strength and spell power gear? Yeah, not for you. Agility. Oh and.. bears are insanely good tanks. Okay, so that's not 'one' big tip, but I notice a lot of.. um.. 'huntards' in LFG.
   
   
   
9. Congratulations on your Loremaster Achievement - as an achievement affectionardo do you have one you are most proud of? Assuming this is Loremaster what is the one you're second most proud of? What is it about the achievements that makes them special?
   
   Thank you :) *thinks* Ooh, I do have an achievement that I am a little more proud of than Loremaster. I have both Bloody Rare and Frostbitten. Even with NPC Scan and strange hours, it was pretty difficult to get them both. I went a little bit insane searching for Loque'nahak in the end and went a little insane, haha. I happened to log my Hunter out over the ledge of white gorillas, and whilst mining on my Warlock I saw it, relogged quickly and got it. You have no idea how happy that made me! The thing that makes them so special for me is purely the feeling you get when you achieve something nice. A little bit of pride. The same feeling you get when you kill a particularly hard boss, or reach a high arena rating.
   
   
   
10. Do you wish there was something to do with the achievement points, other than bragging rights?
    
    Nah, I think they are what they are. Just another collection of things. Another number. Some reward you with nice things like mounts, pets, titles, and some are just there for fun. Though I think 'Well Read' deserves a title 'the Librarian' or something, because that's just 10 points for a fairly time consuming task. I also think that the over 9000 achievement should give a title and a tabard perhaps 'the Collector' maybe.. I'm not great at naming things!
    
    
    
11. How well do you think achievements fit into a WoW in an Hour playstyle? Is there some that would not be possible?
    
    Achievements are a great way to whittle away an hour. You can put a lot of effort into some, for example a few PvP achievements, and you can sit back and relax for a few others, depending on your mood. If you only had an hour's play time to spend on your achievements however, a few might be a little difficult, specifically a few of the raiding achievements because it would be hard to get several people to spend an hour in Sunwell, and come back the next day spend an hour, just as an example. They do require a lot of free time to get a lot of points, but if you're just after a nice little time waster then they're absolutely great.
    
    
    
12. If you had only an hour to play WoW in any given session how would you fill your time?
    
    I'd play the auction house, first and foremost. Perhaps I'd chip away slowly at an alt, occasionally join an instance, perhaps risk a battleground. Generally hang around in guild and chat.
    
    
    
13. If you could only ever play for an hour at a time - would you? If yes, then how would you see your in game activities change? If no - why not?
    
    Hmm.. I couldn't be sure unless it happened. I'd say yes now, but I think after a little while I'd grow bored of the game and cancel my subscription. Whenever I take long breaks away, I tend to get the urge to quit and then something pulls me back in. I'm sure that would make me want to quit in the same way. In that hour I'd feel more satisfied with reading a book I think, personally.
    
    
    
14. Would you be willing to be part of a raiding crew/guild that only raided for an hour at a time? Do you think it's feasible?
    
    Possibly. Though I play a lot, raiding for an hour at a time would make thing a little more interesting and would be less likely to induce burnout.
    
    
    
15. Do you have any tips/advice for making the most of your WoW play time?
    
    Definitely go with whatever's going to make you happiest while you're playing. If that means rerolling, changing guilds, sticking with your friends when a better guild is asking you to join, anything like that, if it will make the game more enjoyable for you, and you speak to the people who matter first, then go for it. At the end of the day, WoW is a game, whilst remembering there are people behind the avatars, also remember that you don't have to play a class you hate.
    
    

Thanks so much Jaedia for taking the time out to answer my questions - and for your lightning fast response to them too! As usual if you have questions for Jaedia I'm sure she'll be willing to answer them - so ask away in the comments!