Off-topic: A Raven Red Riding Hood

I've been working on a post regarding raid cooldowns, but as it's still in development, I decided in the meantime to share a short story I wrote. I hate to write ill of a wolf, but as personified, some people are good, and some are cruel.

Enjoy :)



The nest near which she perched was rimmed in black down and moss, but that was barely visible around the seven pudgy chicks crowded within the branches. "Gran! Gran!" they chirped. "Story, Gran! Story?"

The old raven chuckled at the hatchlings' eagerness, and addressed the father who knelt at the nest's edge. "A thirst for knowledge and wisdom, I am hearing? This brood may do you proud."

The male raven, far younger than she, inclined his long, curved beak in respect. "Your lore teaches what could otherwise lead to death, if one waited but on experience," he intoned.

The old raven chuckled again, preening her sleek feathers before settling back into a story. "You know of wolves, hatchlings?"

"Yes, Gran, yes!" they chirped, all but climbing over one another. The largest fluttered wildly and pecked another on the head, fighting for the right to be the one to recite. The others leaned away, allowing the boisterous one to speak for them. "Wolves are ground-runners, large and fast/They bring down prey, rip them open for repast/A raven must remember: the wolves eat first; birds last."

The old raven clapped her wings, the long feathers striking together in a swift motion without even leaving her perch on the branch. "An excellent verse to remember, Youngling. A wolf and its pack can be a sure ticket to a meal, but always beware that those teeth that open your lunch could just as easily be turned to your own skin."

Here she paused, letting her gaze slide over the landscape of the valley, and then she began. "There was once a wolf who sought a raven's help. 'Here, Raven, look what I have found,' he called out. And sure enough, he had found a bracelet of beads, human-made, and even washed them of the blood in the stream so that they sparkled in the sun."

"He killed a human for the beads," one of the chicks half-whispered, and another bat a wing at the first and rolled his eyes at what was, to him, a dumb remark stating the obvious. The old raven merely nodded slightly in confirmation and continued with her story.

"The raven swept down to a lower branch to inspect the wolf's find, and did indeed covet the prize. Knowing that rare was the wolf who would keep such things, the raven did ask, 'What a fine thing! And what could this humble Raven do if, perchance, the Mighty Wolf wish to trade?'

"The wolf let the bracelet dangle from his teeth as he spoke, 'Your aid, Lady Raven, for I seek to find a Trespasser! Your sharp eyes and strong wings could surely find the Mongrel Filth who have stolen into my pack's lands.' The raven cocked her head in curiosity, and did say, 'Specifics may aid in your Quest, Lord Wolf, for my avian eyes may not see Royalty from Whelps, among the canid kind.'

"The wolf trotted slowly closer to the branch, bringing the bauble closer to the raven's perch; it shone in the sun like a string of stars. 'Strange wolves to this land, Winged One, who entered from Far South. Last my pack tracked them to the Rolling Hills, and there lost them, after the troublemakers did injure my Dear Son.' The raven did flutter her wings at this news, for she had not heard of it yet; 'Your pup, injured?' she asked, and the wolf nodded gravely. But the raven was wise, and knew the year to be growing late, and so said 'Surely your pup could stand its own ground, being full grown by now?'

"The wolf was caught in its attempt to sway judgment, and its triangle ears did flatten back briefly, but after a pause, the wolf stepped again closer with the bracelet, 'A fight most unfair, given the Trespass upon our land and the Poaching of our prey,' he now said. 'They must be driven away, and quickly; surely you know of where they have gone, with your eyes so keen in the Sky?'

"The raven looked again at the bauble, weighing options, for it had indeed seen these strange wolves in the valley before. Who could not have noticed? Loud calls bringing together a band of strangers, fights amongst the resident pack and these new arrivals, and all the prey creatures growing skittish with the territorial howls ringing in the woods? But the wolf was growing impatient as the raven mulled this over, and he said 'I do not offer just any trinket for your aid, Wise Raven; come and look more closely. For within these jewels lies the fire tamed by humans, itself! I had to douse them in the river just to cool them. Come closer, you must see!'

"The raven was startled by so strange a thing, that the raven fluttered down from the branch and did go closer to the wolf, who held the human beads within his teeth. 'Ah ha!' cried the wolf, and he leapt with great speed upon the raven!"

The old raven paused here dramatically, flaring her wings out in emphasis, the expansive tips brushing through the leaves of a nearby branch. The chicks squawked and chittered, and their father chuckled.

"The raven was pinned beneath the wolf's heavy feet, the very bauble she sought now pressing into the feathers of her breast, along with the wolf's sharp teeth. Teeth that were used to rip through hide and crush through bone! And from around his deadly grip, the wolf now snarled..." and the story teller lowered her voice into the ominous, gutteral tones of a wolf, " 'Tell me where the mangy filth is, bird, or I'll be feeding your heart to my alpha!' "

It looked like one of the chicks fainted. It was an act, of course; after bit of rustling, her head popped back up amongst nervous giggles.

"Now the raven knew the wolf would track down the strangers with her help or not, and whether the bracelet was ever traded became a moot point next to preserving her own life. So the raven squawked angrily, 'I would of course tell you, Cruel Wolf, who talks so Sweetly when I am in the tree! I can divulge the location of one now, in fact, last as I had seen the Creature wander; if you but let me up now, I can share it, and then seek out others in trade for your Prize.' The wolf's hot breath stunk over the raven's feathers as he considered, and at last he growled, 'Tell me the location of the One, first, and then I shall let you go to find the others.'

"The raven knew a wolf could track by scent, and so told him the honest truth, 'One did go to the shallow den by the Ancient Hickory, the one gnarled and dieing at its crown, where the Great Horned Owl does sleep. You may find your Stranger there. The others are more dispersed, but I can find them quickly, should my Wing be uninjured,' the raven said darkly. The wolf relented and relinquished his grasp, letting the raven beat rapidly back up into the tree; the bracelet remained in his jaws, locked around his sharp back teeth. 'Seek out the others, then,' the wolf now ordered, 'Return here regularly to report. When they have all been found and killed, you can have your human trash,' and the wolf now bounded away.

"The raven preened, smoothing out feathers in the fading sunlight, noting quite happily that the wolf had not taken the whole pack to take down what he thought to be one weak and alone Stranger-Wolf cornered in a shallow cave. As the sun began to spin towards the horizon, the raven took wing and flew to that cave, alighting on the safe branches of the Ancient Hickory to see what had come of the Cruel Wolf.

"In the fading light of dusk, the wolf's carcass lay, split open by claws longer than flight feathers. Just within his gaping jaw still sat the bracelet, dull now with the wolf's blood. The raven checked to be sure no one else was in sight. She then flitted down quickly, snatching up both bracelet and meat, savoring greatly her meal for all the trouble this wolf had given."

The old raven swept back in a grand bow, her story winding towards its end. "Had that Wolf not so threatened the Raven, it may have lived its full life; but also, had the Raven not thought so quickly, it may have been dead, itself, that day." The old raven paused here, watching the faces of the chicks as they mulled over the story thus far.

After a moment, one chick asked the question the old storyteller was waiting for, "Did the Stranger-Wolf kill the Cruel One, Gran?"

The storyteller gave a sharp, gleeful laugh. "Oh no," she said, "That is the best part: for the Cruel Wolf had threatened her life and harmed her pride, the Raven chose to tell a half-truth. Indeed, the Stranger had denned there one night recently, but just that morning, the Raven had seen a great Grizzly napping at that cave, three Bumbling Cubs rolling about her. A lone wolf is no match for a bear, let alone one so fierce as a mother protecting her cubs."

The chicks sighed appreciatively at the Raven's honest trick. The old raven preened her feathers again, the iridescence still shining bright blues and purples in spite of her age.

"The bracelet," another asked, "Did it really contain Human Fire and Stars?"

The old storyteller chuckled and winked, "Perhaps it did, perhaps not. If it were truly of fire, though, how could a raven keep it without her nest burning to cinders?"

The chicks pondered. "A secret stream nest!" one finally suggested. "With a waterfall!"

The chick's father chuckled at his daughter's creativity. "That would be a sight to see."

"Remember my story well, Younglings," the old Raven now said, returning her gaze to the valley, "and I bid you good day."

"Gran, Gran! Another story?"

The old raven chuckled, "Perhaps another time," she said, and she spread her great wings and swept out from the tree, catching a warm air current to lift up under her wings, letting her soar over the valley.

On Limited Spots

So, let's step back and talk generic for a moment. Say you're organizing something without getting paid to do it. It takes a lot of time and effort, and involves a good number of helpers (officers, staff, whatever) who are also unpaid in order to get your "program" off the ground.

Due to space, you can only accept a certain number of participants.

Now, say your "program" has become insanely popular. You're successful, you're doing something people love, and you suddenly have a "wait list" of people all wanting into those limited spots. This is pretty ideal, as far as the program's success is concerned.

But... those participants who are left out start to whine. They don't want to be on the wait list. For whatever reason, you can't fit them in, and darn it if they aren't going to try every trick in the book to figure out how to get in.


A few things I have seen:

• Begging. (This runs the gamut from polite "please?" to full out drama-queens that say you're ruining the life of them/their family/their friends)
  
• Offering bribes.
  
• Harassing the volunteers working for you (begging or generally being a nuisance).
  
• Threatening to tell others not to attend your event or threatening to get others to leave.
  
• Insulting the organizer's "business skills" for not providing enough space for them.
• Threatening to get the organizer fired "and you'll be jobless and homeless and never work in this field again!" (....these people don't realize that it's volunteer)
• Threatening to set up an even better version that will steal people away from yours (have fun organizing it and getting all the volunteers you need, dude!)... and then, when you appear unphased by that "threat," they then ask for all of your notes and contacts on how you developed your program/event, as well as for your help in doing it (wait, wut?).
  

This happens with shows. This happens with conventions. This happens with banquets. This happens with camps. This happens with MMO raids; it happens for raiding slots on the roster itself. You know what? If your program has a first-come, first-serve policy, if you showed up late to registration or your raid, tough luck, try to get in next time. Or if it has requirements and a ranking system preferential to the best applicants/participants (including hardcore guilds and competitions), oh well: try harder to improve before you come around again. The world doesn't revolve around a single person: it's a group effort, and others want that spot just like you do.

The most outrageous (and hilarious) that I have seen is one from outside of the game, where a mother threatened to drop her child off at an event that had no further registration space and said "there won't be anything you can do about it!".... to which the organizer calmly quoted her the phone number for Child Protective Services, as 'they are usually involved in cases of child abandonment.'

Yep.

In the case of a recurring event, rotation can be set up (such as we often see in WoW raids): those on the previous event's wait-list may get priority on sign-ups for the next event. This, of course, can only work to a point: the person still needs to actually sign up and submit all appropriate paperwork (medical documents, bio forms, payment, etc). Showing up unannounced to the limited event because you think you're entitled to a spot just means you'll get embarrassment; the best you can do is to just be available on a wait list and ready to hop in if a spot opens up. Going around saying you're going to an event when you haven't even been invited/listed/registered is also a sure way to get embarrassed.


I will say this, though:
Being polite, helpful, and understanding will get you much further than being a PitA.


So, limited spots: acknowledge them. Apply for those spots following the rules set out by the leadership. If you missed out, don't be a pain about it... especially if it's being run by volunteers who aren't getting paid to put up with BS.




Disclaimer: no, this wasn't sparked by anything from my current raiding situation :) breath easy, my guildies!

Raiding with a Puppy

Young puppies require a lot of attention. At 8 weeks old, they may not even be potty trained. Trying to raid while you have a puppy rolling around your computer room is... interesting, to say the least; and when you're working on something like Hardmode Lich King, you need your full concentration in the game.


So, what's a new puppy owner to do?

1. At least one hour (preferably 2) before the raid, take her outside and play. Play hard. If she'll chase a ball, use that; if not, take a long stick and run around the yard with her chasing it. Or have her chase you. Just get her running!
   
2. Make sure she potties. "Afk my puppy peed on the floor" isn't a fun call to make mid-raid!
3. Lavish her with attention before the raid. Do this even if you have a family member who will look after her during the raid, because bonding time with your pup is important.
   
4. Save 15 minutes of time before you log in as "wind-down" time. Set up her usual nap area (my puppy insists on having a fan going... northern breeds, go figure!) and pet her/brush her. Let her calm down.
   
5. If you can't keep her in the computer room with you (wires, carpet, etc) I suggest a crate. Otherwise, you'll be distracted by needing to stop her from chewing on everything (wires, carpet, papers, trash can, cats, door frames, bookcases, table legs, your feet) or be ever-paranoid about her leaving a puddle on your floor.
   
6. Attend your raid. Ignore the cries/whines for attention; a couple of hours alone in a crate is not going to hurt her. Just don't abandon her all evening, particularly if you've been gone all day, too!
   
7. During any 10/15 minute break, take her outside quickly if you know she has a weak bladder. Give her some food and let her settle back down; a chew toy or frozen carrot will also occupy her as you return to your raid.
8. Return to her after your raid for a longer walk and playtime. She will have missed you.
9. Train her to control your character.......... I wish. :)
   

If you have any additional tips or just stories to share, I'd love to hear them :)

Woof.

River finds her bark.... wait, what?
IS THAT MY BARKSKIN?!

Semi-OT: Requiring a Data Plan?

I read a news article yesterday that said,

Quote: “As instructors, it might behoove us to take a look at whether we want to require a hardcover textbook or a data plan [for phones],” he said. “It’s not going to work on every subject, and it’s not going to work in every department, but we need to look at it.”

This set my mind churning.

First, a bit on my perspective:

I work at a major university. I am a gamer, as well, who happens to dislike using cell phones because they are noisy, distracting, and demand your immediate attention. They are also very audio-centric, which doesn't mix well with my heavy preference for writing and visuals: I want to type and read, not listen. I will confess that, out of my phone-hating bias, that I didn't bother TRYING to learn how to send a text message on my phone until I was sitting bored in a car in a parking lot 5 months ago, and only did so because I knew it would be text-based.

I am an odd mix, certainly: a (relatively) young phone-hating gamer who works in distance learning at a university. I can respect that phones have their ingrained place in the American society, however, given the way that they interconnect people in places where a computer's internet access isn't assured. When it comes to learning, connectivity is key.


Requiring a data plan??

Why would a college instructor do this, specifically, for their class?

• They themselves are heavy phone users
• The school is in an area with good cell phone signal
• The curriculum doesn't require a lot of software programs that a phone would be unable to run
• There is no guaranteed wireless connection around campus/dorms/where-ever the class may be spread, as may be the case with a school spread through a town
  

What is a data plan but an internet connection for your phone? Am I perhaps spoiled by living in an area where students are all given great wireless access for their laptops, with a centralized campus and a wireless signal expanding even to the bus system?

To be honest, if I were ever confronted by an instructor who told me I have to get a data plan for my phone in order to retreive online class materials, I would balk. For one thing, I would have to get a new phone that would allow me to type better. And a larger screen that could reasonably read the websites without converting it all into ugly chunks of plain text with horrible formatting. And a better scrolling option. And I'd have to remember to charge it and take it with me every where. And I'd wonder why my teacher is so interested in being able to send me emails or class announcements while I'm out on Friday night with friends.

At that point, I would say, "A laptop would serve me better. Why is a laptop with internet access not enough? Why should I get a phone data plan instead?"


Anti-Phone

Some may argue that it'd not be a big leap to require a data plan, "Everyone already has a phone, and most already have a data plan." I'd have to argue against this. I was forced to get a cellphone by my then-fiancee during college because of safety reasons: I was doing field work and he wanted me to be able to call out if there was an emergency. As someone who enjoys backpacking, I couldn't argue with his reasoning. Within the first year, though, I lost it down a hole in a huge field while doing soil sampling. I still go camping and expect my cell phone to be a durable, rugged, preferably water-proof lifeline to emergency services. A blackberry is unlikely to survive me very long. (EDIT: Rhii tells me Blackberries aren't the delicate flowers I make them out to be. :) I stand corrected.)

Aside anti-phone wierdos like me, there are those who can't afford one, or can't afford the data plan. Locking an international student into a phone plan for the sake of making sure they can check email on the sidewalk just makes me squirm. Buying textbooks for a class is painful enough, but at least a $80-$160 book (and that's on the high end) for one class is cheaper than a $60/month data plan for dealing with heavy email attachments and web use. A class that doesn't need a textbook would otherwise be a financial breathing point, saving the student money, but instead it would be filled with an even more expensive data plan.

This is in addition to the basic computer requirement held by any major university, because a phone's not going to be able to run the necessary software to create presentations, spreadsheets, or term papers. There are also special software packages like AutoCAD, ArcGIS, and Photoshop and design studios. Some classes/programs even require Tablets.

Why not a laptop? Laptops come in all sizes and power, and can have internet access of their own. Computers are required for most American college students, anyway. You can get a cheapo word-processing, internet-browsing laptop for the same price or less as that little iPhone, and it'll still weigh less than most text books. You can get a decent laptop and use it for internet access, while it can also run programs you want/need (like if I want to play WoW while sitting in a cafeteria), both in the classroom and for recreation.


I don't like it.

I'm not saying that there aren't some people who like data plans for their phone; there are certainly some out there who find it more convenient to have a pocket-sized web browser. Being able to price-check or look up reviews while standing in the store is always a bonus.

REQUIRING a student to get a data plan for a phone (when some may not even have a phone) for a class, however, is a little extreme, given the current cost compared to already having a computer requirement.

So, I guess I'm just left baffled. As time goes on, phones and laptops are becoming more similar, and the lines between them are blurring. Requiring a student to have both with internet access for the sake of a single class just seems like asking too much, financially. I just can't understand the reasoning of requiring, specifically, a phone data plan for a class that will span all of 3 months, when a student may instead prefer to keep their internet access mobile via a laptop.

So I'm throwing this out there. I know we, as gamers, tend to rely much more heavily on having a good, strong computer: do you have a data plan on your phone, too? Is it used enough to be worth the money you spend? If you were a cash-strapped college student who had to buy a laptop for a whole degree program and were then asked by a single class to also get a phone data plan, would you complain, or think it unfair to those students without data plans already?

Or, perhaps, is the quoted person assuming that the student won't have a computer? Have I been spoiled in my perspective by the computer requirements at my own and other major universities? (EDIT: the quoted person's university has computer requirements, as well!).

I think that rather than requiring a data plan, the class should simply require reliable internet access.

Trying to talk WoW...

So...

...um...

Just because a leaf is defying gravity, doesn't mean it's hacking.
The wind is a perfectly ordinary class mechanic for it.

...


um...


Beta efflorescence graphics: no, this puddle isn't going to melt your feet. EMBRACE THE GREEN OOZE!


...hrmm...


...Lich King? I like bubbles. I hate defile when it eats bubbles. Defile can DIAF while I bounce around the room in my pretty shiny bubble. With fear ward. F U, DEFILE.

F U N D A!..........





...ahem...


*looks around*



*crickets*

....

Oh, who am I kidding. My attention is elsewhere, atm!





If for some bizarre reason you are offended by adorable puppies, I suggest avoiding my blog for a while. Just sayin'.

The cuteness compels me.

RE: River: An Old Bit of Art

Might not fit in the blog frame, but still worth posting.

This is an old bit of artwork I did back when I had the time and inclination to try "painting" with a mouse (translation: when I wasn't lazy and/or busy). I felt it was appropriate to repost :) This is my original druid, Kae, with her worg pup... I have wanted a puppy for yeeeeeeearrrrrrsss!