Last post, I caught up with some of my reviewing. Today, I’ll discuss the writing and WoW-related developments that I missed covering during my mini-holiday from blogging.

The contest aftermath:

My finalist story from Blizzard’s writing contest, “The Future of Lordaeron,” went minorly viral, and I got to bask in my fifteen minutes of cyber fame.

The large majority of the feedback has been very positive, and I find that quite gratifying. A number of people have said that they hope the story is made canon, which I think is the highest praise that can be given to fan fiction.

But the story has not been without its controversy. The thread I started about it on the official forums has turned into an epic nerd argument about some of the ideas I put forth in the story, which is still continuing to rage at the time of this writing. I think the very fact that it’s stirred such strong emotions shows there’s some merit to my proposed direction for the plot.

Although to be fair, my own participation in the discussion has done a lot to stir the pot. Not that I’m doing so intentionally or anything…

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Normally, I’d find the experience of bashing my head against the more intractable members of the Alliance fan base frustrating, but in this case, free publicity is free.

Soon, things will die down, though. As I said previously, it’s best to keep this in perspective. As much a thrill as this is, it makes little difference towards my struggles toward success as a writer in the long run. I have a long way to go still.

My new (virtual) home:

The holidays brought with them a major change for some of my WoW characters greater than anything I’ve done before.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this here before or not, but in recent times, I’ve grown thoroughly sick of the Horde side of my server. Antonidas is a lovely realm if you wish to play Alliance, but the Horde side is like some lawless western town  — hardly anyone’s there, and those that are tend to be pretty unsavory.

So I finally gathered my courage and ventured into the unknown. I server transferred. The three Horde toons I care about — my mage, my shaman, and my warlock — have moved to one of the larger role-playing servers.

I’m sure to some people, this may not seem like a big deal, but I’ve played on Antonidas pretty much exclusively since I joined WoW. To finally leave, if only partially (my Alliance characters are staying put), feels like a big change.

As for why I chose my new server, part of it is just the higher population. No more being forced to do Baradin Hold with tanks in PvP blues because there aren’t any other options.

But partly, my brief vacations to Moon Guard have shown me I prefer the environment of RP servers. Whether or not I will participate in any role-playing myself is at best unclear, but at the very least, it’s a more colourful environment, and I’m among fellow lore fans.

It’s the little touches, like the way there are people in cities that aren’t Orgimmar. Makes the world feel more alive. Or that the players /cheer Nazgrim’s speech on the way to Vashj’ir. Or passing a Blood Elf couple walking the streets of Dalaran in their Sunday best — actually walking, not running.

Hell, even the Trade trolls seem a little more pleasant.