I sent my wife a World of Warcraft Recruit-a-friend promotion email.  The message I sent along with it was, “Hey, it’s worth a shot… love you! ”.

I know she doesn’t want to play; once we quit EverQuest II she swore off MMO games for good.  She’s tried WoW before, back in 2005 on a ten day trial and after just an hour of playing concluded that she hated it.  Several times, while watching me play over my shoulder, she’s commented that WoW “looks so stupid”.  I’d love for her to play again, but the odds aren’t in my favour.  We’ll see.

Last night my Shaman got together with Kuarlos (Warrior) and Grahn (Druid) to finish off the group quests we had left in Terokkar.  The undead dragon above is Teribus the Cursed, a dragon we summoned for the Evil Draws Near quest.  After using the Dread Relic to summon him it seemed like nothing was happening.  Had I looked up of course, I would have seen Teribus spiraling his way down towards us, but as it was, I just stood there looking at my freshly placed Dread Relic wondering why nothing was happening.

Just as I finished typing something to the effect of “let’s go already” in group chat, Teribus “the Big Huge Honkin’ Dragon” landed on my face.  I was honestly not expecting it and had a genuine damn that’s freakin’ cool moment.  I’d like to say that I immediately sprang into action and laid a beat down on him, but in all honesty, the first thing I did was zoom out as far as I could and took some screen shots, while Kuarlos and Grahn did the heavy lifting.  It was hard getting a good picture because it took up my entire screen.

After dispatching Teribus, we moved on to Terokkarantula, an equally impressive large spider.  In case you can’t tell from the screen shot above, Kuarlos stormed right in and started whacking away at the great beast, while both Grahn and I stood back and took some screen shots while admiring the view.  We eventually reinforced the fearless warrior and took the spider down without any trouble.

I believe I have now done all the quests in Terokkar, putting me just two and a half bubbles away from level 67.  Level 70 feels so close I can almost touch it.

After much begging and pleading (I’m not ashamed to admit it), I was finally able to break my wife down to the point where she cracked and yelled at me to, “just buy a stupid new monitor already.”  You see, for probably about six years now, I have been using a ViewSonic A90f+.  It was a fine monitor that served its purpose well, but it was definitely time to upgrade.  I mean, it was a CRT for crying out loud, taking up far too much real estate on my desk.  Its screen was a paltry nineteen inches.  Forget all those claims that “size doesn’t matter”.

After some quick research I settled on the Samsung Syncmaster T220.  It was gorgeous, not just in physical appearance, but the picture display itself.  The colours seemed perfect, and so much more clear and vibrant than my poor old ViewSonic.  I was very happy.

When my evening of gaming was done, I slid my keyboard tray back into the desk, and heard something.  My new monitor was rattling.  I pulled the keyboard tray out again, and heard it again.  I gently tapped the top of my desk, and from within the monitor housing, I could hear what could best be described as a metallic vibration.  After a few more “shake and tap” tests, I concluded that there must be a loose part in the monitor.

I went back to the store the next day and exchanged it for another.  I took it out of the box and gently tapped the top of it.  The rattle was in this one too.  I scoured the web looking for others who experienced this rattle but didn’t find anything.  I thought long and hard about it, but eventually concluded that I wouldn’t be able to live with this rattle; it would drive me nuts.  “Just don’t shake your desk,” my wife said.  Seems logical, but even sliding my keyboard tray in as gently as possible produced the rattle, and just knowing that it was there would eat away at me for the remainder of my days.  It had to go back.

Back once more to the store, this time for a full refund.  I checked the stores display model of the T220 and was able to reproduce the rattle.  I drove to three other stores (yes, I’m that nuts) all with display models that had the rattle.  I guess it’s normal.  It’s too bad too, because it was a fantastic looking monitor.

Some further research led me to pick up another Samsung, the Syncmaster 2232GW.  It had decent reviews and seemed to be a favourite amongst gamers.  I found the picture to be just fine, but not quite up to the T220 standards, although it was about $80 cheaper.  It would do just fine.

About an hour into my first gaming session with it, it turned off.  On its own.  Without being touched.  The power button did nothing.  I ended up having to physically unplug it, then plug it back in to bring it back to life.  Interesting.  I checked all the cables and made sure they were tight.

The next evening it shut itself off again.  Without being touched.  What…the…hell?  My patience with Samsung was done with.  Back to the store I went after yet more research.

While at the store – a different store that I hadn’t yet been to, I checked out their T220 display model, and once more produced the rattle.  I felt vindicated.  In the process I accidentally hit the power button (not really a button, but a “pressure area”) and turned the monitor off.  When I tried to power it back on, I got no response.  I tried and tried, pushing the “pressure area” over and over like a monkey poking at a piece of its own poop.  The monitor was dead, confirming my suspicions that I am The Bringer of Monitor Death, and reaffirming my decision to stay away from Samsung.

I ended up getting an LG W2284F.  It has a nice appearance and similar specifications to the T220.  Things did not start well however, when I opened the box and saw that the DVI cable was missing.  I hadn’t taken back the last Samsung yet so I just used the cable from that.  After one night of gaming on it, I’m quite pleased.  It’s got a fantastic picture and hasn’t rattled or shut itself off on me yet.  I’ve got my fingers crossed.

I was working on a quest just outside the Refugee Caravan in Terokkar forest the other night when I ran into Mannich, a level 70 Blood Elf Warlock.  He engaged me immediately, and sensing that I, a lowly level 65 at the time, wouldn’t have a hope in defeating him, I turned tail and ran.  Fortunately I was very close to the Caravan which offered me the protection of the guards, who scared Mannich enough that he quit attacking me.

While he did stop his attack, the annoyance had only begun.  He started walking around my character, emoting just about every emote available.  I decided to move on and head somewhere else, so I mounted up and headed out.  Mannich followed.  As soon as I was beyond the protection of the Caravan guards, he attacked again.  I once more found myself turning tail and running back to the safety of the Caravan, although this time the guards sprang into action and starting laying a beat down on Mannich.  I suppose I should have taken the opportunity to leave, but I just couldn’t resist watching from the sidelines.

Mannich ended up out-running the guards, and came back again to spend some quality time with me.  This time he got on his flying mount and hovered over top of my head, following me with every step I took.  He wasn’t going to let me leave the area.  I put a quick call out to two friends online at the time, Kuarlos the fearless Warrior, and Grahn the Druid, who arrived at the Caravan lickity split.  Many emotes were shared with Mannich, and the three of us moved out from the Caravan, hoping he would follow.

We weren’t disappointed as Mannich, ever the faithful little puppy-dog, followed us out.  As soon as we were out of sight of the guards the three of us turned and unleashed on the Warlock, killing him.  Not content with the kill, we decided that his corpse needed to be camped.  We managed to kill him once more after he arose from the dead before some more Horde joined the party.  Now outnumbered, Grahn, Kuarlos and I decided it was time to take off.

I mounted up and started heading towards Shattrath, noticing that Meldeth, a 70 Undead Priest from the same guild as Mannich was right on my tail.  Unfortunately for him, he was the only Horde following, and my Alliance buddies and I killed him off.  This went on for some time.

Meldeth kept coming back, trying to take on the three of us, not once being successful.  The poor soul even suffered the indignity of being teabagged by Kuarlos; not even the worst of people deserve that kind of treatment.

Not long after however, more Horde reinforcements arrived, all level 70.  We booked it into Shattrath where we stayed, but Meldeth continued to follow me wherever I went.  It seems as though Meldeth had taken up Mannich’s torch and made his life’s goal to annoy me.  Every step I took in the city was echoed by Meldeth, who threw in the occasional emote for good measure.

I eventually ended the whole thing by entering a battleground, much to the chagrin of Meldeth who begged for me to stay.  What started out as a bored Horde player annoying me, turned into a pretty interesting, and fun, night of world PvP.  Perhaps next time I cross paths with Meldeth or Mannich I’ll even feel a touch of sympathy for them as I’m kicking them in the face.