BioWare has a track record of developing outstanding computer role-playing games including the recent XBox 360 game that took the world by storm, Mass Effect. That game company can weave a story that rivals the ability of Blizzard and I have high hopes that they will be able to deliver on this MMO. Only time will tell!

I, for a time, was spiraling down towards addiction to the game when it was first released…if I had not been married at the time, I’m quite sure my life would have suffered with the addiction. There are a few people I know that are quite thoroughly enthralled by WoW that they spend gobs and gobs of time playing, sometimes forfeiting time with friends and family to opt to raid. It is fun, don’t get me wrong, but there is a balance that needs to be reached and many just don’t have the willpower to draw that line.

I am one of those people. I can’t play a game like that without getting fully involved…I thrive on that type of thing…so steering clear is the best bet. Thanks to Randy I’m a board game geek now and spend time playing Euro Games when I’m not doing stuff with my wife or programming or screwing around with EatPoopUCat.

Not everyone can pull themselves away, though…MMO addiction is sadly a reality. How much longer before we begin having Interventions for addicted gamers?

What is it exactly? Well, its a map of World of Warcraft that you can zoom in and out on Blizzard’s wonderful MMORPG world with the familiar controls of Google’s mapping tool. MapWoW gives a good description on what can be done with the tool:

Overall, a fairly groovy mashup with a lot of functionality for World of Warcraft! Awesome.

UPDATE: It seems the guys at MapWoW have an Outland map as well. w00t!

Introduction

Continuing my Macro listings, I’ll post some Druid Macros! These macros are all thanks to World of Warcraft Druid Forum. I don’t play a druid on any server, yet the macros are pretty straightforward. If you have questions or suggestions…let me know and I’ll update/post them here.

Feral Macros

Ravage/Shred combo

If not in stealth mode, cast shred.  Otherwise, cast ravage.
1/cast [nostealth] Shred; [stealth] Ravage

Ravage/Shred/Ferocious Bite
If alt is pressed, cast Ferocious Bite. Otherwise if in stealth, cast Ravage. Otherwise cast Shred.

show Shred
/cast [modifier:alt] Ferocious Bite; [stealth] Ravage; Shred

Pounce/Rake combo
If not stealth cast rake, otherwise cast pounce.

/cast [nostealth] Rake; [stealth] Pounce

Pounce/Rake/Rip
If alt pressed, cast Rip. Otherwise if stealth cast Pounce. Otherwise cast Rake.

# show Rake
/cast [modifier:alt] Rip; [stealth] Pounce; Rake

Pounce/Mangle combo - Note the extra ()
If not stealth cast Mangle, otherwise cast Pounce.

/cast [nostealth] Mangle (Cat)(); [stealth] Pounce

Prowl or Faerie Fire (Feral)
If out of combat and not stealthed, cast Prowl. Otherwise if in combat and not stealthed, cast Faerie Fire.

/cast [nocombat, nostealth] Prowl; [combat, nostealth] Faerie Fire (Feral)()

Maul/Mangle
This is a space saver macro! In combat, Mauls first, then Mangles, then Mauls, then Mauls. Each 'spell' requires a click.

/castsequence reset=6/combat Maul, Mangle (Bear)(), Maul, Maul

Mangle (Bear) replacing auto-attack
Starts off auto attack with a Mangle...if Alt is held while clicking the macro, you will stop attacking.

# show Mangle (Bear)()
/startattack [nomodifier:alt]
/cast [nomodifier:alt] Mangle (Bear)()
/stopattack [modifier:alt]

Shifting Macros

Shift to Caster
Shift to Caster Form from any form

/cancelaura [stance:1] Dire Bear Form; [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:4] Travel Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/cancelaura [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>

Shift to Dire Bear
Shift to Dire Bear Form from any form - note: to have this macro also de-shift you, include "[stance:1] Dire Bear Form; " somewhere in the /cancelaura line.

/cancelaura [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:4] Travel Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/cancelaura [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>
/cast [nostance] Dire Bear Form

Shift to Dire Bear and Charge
Shift to Dire Bear From and Feral Charge from any form

/cancelaura [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:4] Travel Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/cancelaura [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>
/cast [nostance] Dire Bear Form; [stance:1] Feral Charge

Dire Bear and Equip
Shift to Dire Bear Form and equip Idol/Weapon
* "Shift to Dire Bear From from any form, equip Warden Staff and Idol of Brutality only when you actually shift to Dire Bear. Note that the test for the equip is still [nostance] because it hasn't yet registered that the stance has changed. You don't need to worry about the global cooldown, because the stance change and the weapon equip both trigger it at the same time, so you only suffer once. (...equipping things can be done during global cooldown.) "

/cancelaura [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:4] Travel Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/cancelaura [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>
/cast [nostance] Dire Bear Form;
/equip [nostance] Warden Staff
/equip [nostance] Idol of Brutality

To Cat Form
Shift to Cat Form from any form - note: to have this macro also de-shift you, include "[stance:3] Cat Form; " somewhere in the /cancelaura line.

/cancelaura [stance:1] Dire Bear Form; [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:4] Travel Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/cancelaura [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>
/cast [nostance] Cat Form

To Cat and Stealth
Shift to Cat Form and stealth from any form (first line makes the macro display the Prowl cooldown)

show Prowl
/cancelaura [stance:1] Dire Bear Form; [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:4] Travel Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/cancelaura [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>
/cast [nostance] Cat Form; [stance:3, nostealth] Prowl

Shift to Cat Form and equip Idol
Switch from any form to Cat form and equip an Idol

/cancelaura [stance:1] Dire Bear Form;[stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:4] Travel Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/cancelaura [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>
/cast [nostance] Cat Form; [stance:3, nostealth] Prowl
/equip [nostance] Idol of Ferocity

Shift to Travel Form from any form
Self Explanatory

/cancelaura [stance:1] Dire Bear Form; [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/cancelaura [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>
/cast [nostance] Travel Form

Travel Form + Nature's Grasp - note: you can cast Nature's Grasp in forms
If you are in a non-travel form, cancel it. If you are mounted, dismount. Cast Travel Form, cast Nature's Grasp.

/cancelaura [stance:1] Dire Bear Form; [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/cancelaura [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>
/cast [nostance, outdoors] Travel Form; [stance:4, outdoors] Nature's Grasp

Spam Travel Form
If you are in a non-travel form, cancel it. If you are mounted, dismount. Cast Travel Form.

/cancelaura [stance:1] Dire Bear Form; [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:4] Travel Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/cancelaura [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>
/cast [nostance, outdoors] Travel Form

All-Terrain Travel Form
If you are in a non-travel/non-swimming form, cancel it. If you are mounted, dismount. If you are swimming, cast Aquatic Form. Otherwise cast Travel Form.

/cancelaura [stance:1] Dire Bear Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/cancelaura [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>
/cast [nostance, swimming] Aquatic Form; [nostance, outdoors] Travel Form

Spam All-Terrain Travel Form
No matter the current form, cancel it. If you are mounted, dismount. If you are swimming, cast Aquatic Form. Otherwise cast Travel Form.

/cancelaura [stance:1] Dire Bear Form; [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:4] Travel Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/cancelaura [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>
/cast [nostance, swimming] Aquatic Form; [nostance, outdoors] Travel Form

Spam ATTF + Mount
If you are in a non-travel/non-swimming form, cancel it. If you are standing still, mount. If you are swimming, cast Aquatic Form. Otherwise cast Travel Form.

/cancelaura [stance:1] Dire Bear Form; [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:4] Travel Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/use Stormpike Battle Charger <replace with your mount>
/cast [nostance, swimming] Aquatic Form; [nostance, outdoors] Travel Form

Spam Travel Form + Rejuv - the WSG flag carrying macro
Cancel any form. If you are mounted, unmount. Cast rejuvenation, travel form, travel form, travel form (one per button press in that order).

/cancelaura [stance:1] Dire Bear Form; [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:4] Travel Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>; [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>
/castsequence [nostance] reset=12 Rejuvenation, Travel Form, Travel Form, Travel Form

Shift to Tree of Life form and switch your actionbar from #1, to #2
Since most spells don't work in Tree of Life, you can set up a dedicated actionbar with ToL-only spells.

/cancelaura [stance:1] Dire Bear Form; [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:4] Travel Form
/cancelaura [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>
/cast [nostance] Tree of Life
/changeactionbar [stance:5] 2

Return to Caster Form and restore original actionbar

/cancelaura [stance:1] Dire Bear Form; [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:4] Travel Form; [stance:5] Tree of Life
/cancelaura [mounted] Frostwolf Howler <replace with your mount>
/changeactionbar [nostance] 1

Restoration Macros

Cleanse Poison/Curse Combo

#left click abolish poison, right click remove curse. both find target, alternatively, if you prefer targeting player first, replace target=none with target=target
/cast [button:1,target=none] Abolish Poison; [button:2,target=none] Remove Curse

Spam Cleanses

/targetfriend
/cast [button:1] Cure Poison; [button:2] Remove Curse
/stopcasting

Pseudo -Decursive

/cast [help] Cure Poison
/stopcasting
/cast [target=player] Cure Poison
/cast [target=party1] Cure Poison
/cast [target=party2] Cure Poison
/cast [target=party3] Cure Poison
/cast [target=party4] Cure Poison
/stopcasting

Nature's Swiftness + Healing Touch

/cast Nature's Swiftness
/stopcasting
/cast [help] Healing Touch; [target=player] Healing Touch

NS + HT/Regrowth

/cast Nature's Swiftness
/stopcasting
/cast [nostance, help] Healing Touch; [nostance, target=player] Healing Touch; [stance:5, help] Regrowth; [stance:5, target=player] Regrowth

ZHC + NS + HT/Regrowth

/use Zandalarian Hero Charm
/stopcasting
/cast Nature's Swiftness
/stopcasting
/cast [nostance, help] Healing Touch; [nostance, target=player] Healing Touch; [stance:5, help] Regrowth; [stance:5, target=player] Regrowth

Heal target or self, based on context

/cast [help] Healing Touch; [target=player] Healing Touch
/stopmacro [nohelp]
/say "Healing %t in 3 seconds."

HoT Stack

/castsequence [help] reset=8/target Regrowth, Rejuvenation, Lifebloom; [target=player] reset=8 Regrowth, Rejuvination, Lifebloom

Rejuv + Idol

/equip Idol of Rejuvenation
/cast Rejuvenation

Heal Target or Target's target

/cast [help] Healing Touch; [target=targettarget] Healing Touch

Healing Touch Mega-pack

/cast [modifier:alt,target=player] Healing Touch;[help] Healing Touch;[target=targettarget, help] Healing Touch;[target=mouseover,help] Healing Touch;[target=focus,help] Healing Touch;[target=focustarget,help];[target=none] Healing Touch

General Utility Macros

Faerie Fire and Feral Faerie Fire combo

show Faerie Fire (Feral)()
/cast [nostance] Faerie Fire; Faerie Fire (Feral)()

Spammable Prowl and Shadowmeld

/cast [nocombat, stance:3, nostealth] Prowl; [nocombat, nostealth] Shadowmeld

Innervate - note: Innervate supposedly can now only be cast on units with mana.

/cast [modifier:alt, target=player] Innervate; [help] Innervate; [target=mouseover, exists, help] Innervate; [target=none] Innervate

Moonfire Spam
Cast Moonfire rank 10, 9, 9, 9, 9 each time the button is pressed. Reset the macro if you change targets, enter combat, or hold ctrl and press the macro.

/castsequence reset=9/target/combat/ctrl Moonfire(Rank 10), Moonfire(Rank 9), Moonfire(Rank 9), Moonfire(Rank 9), Moonfire(Rank 9)

Moonfire Flex
If you hold control, cast moonfire 1. If you click with your second mouse button, cast rank 9, otherwise cast rank 10.

/cast [modifier:ctrl] Moonfire(Rank 1); [button:2] Moonfire(Rank 9); Moonfire(Rank 10)

Moonfire + Idol

/equip Idol of the Moon
/cast Moonfire

Totem Killer - needs testing

/target totem
/cast [harm] Moonfire(Rank 1)

Faerie Fire Target or Target's target

/cast [harm] Faerie Fire; [target=targettarget, harm] Faerie Fire

Hurricane+Barkskin - note: for some reason, this still show's Barkskin's cooldown

show Hurricane
/stopmacro [channeling:Hurricane]
/castsequence reset=60/combat Barkskin, Hurricane

Gift of the Wild/Mark of the Wild

/cast [button:2] Gift of the Wild; [modifer:ctrl] Gift of the Wild; Mark of the Wild

Mark of the Wild + Thorns

/castsequence [modifier:alt, target=player] reset=10/target Thorns, Mark of the Wild; [help] reset=10/target Thorns, Mark of the Wild; [target=player] reset=10/target Thorns, Mark of the Wild

Stun and Self-Heal (Tauren)

show War Stomp
/cancelaura [stance:1] Dire Bear Form; [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:4] Travel Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/castsequence [target=player] reset=120/combat War Stomp, Regrowth, Rejuvenation

Stun and Self-Heal (Dire Bear Form) - doesn't work yet...

show Bash
/cancelaura [stance:2] Aquatic Form; [stance:3] Cat Form; [stance:4] Travel Form; [stance:5] Moonkin Form <or Tree of Life>
/castsequence [stance:1] reset=50/combat Bash, Dire Bear Form, Regrowth, Rejuvenation
/castsequence [nostance] reset=50/combat Dire Bear Form, Bash, Dire Bear Form, Regrowth, Rejuvenation

Introduction

Using my post on macros, World of Warcraft Forums and a number of other random resources and suggestions, I’ll be posting useful macros for each class. Because I play a Priest on Illidan, I’ll start with that class first :).

Crowd Control Macros

Shackle version 1
This macro will cast Shackle Undead if the target is hostile. It will then tell the party that you’re shacking the target. The stopmacro line will prevent the announcement if the target is not hostile, cutting down on unnecessary spam. However, I think you’ll still get a /p message if you attempt to cast shackle undead on a non-valid target. (confirmed for 2.0.1)

/cast [harm] Shackle Undead
/stopmacro [noharm]
/p Shackling %t! DO NOT TOUCH!

Shackle version 2 (Focus Combo)
Allows you to set your focus and bind a spell directly to that focus. You should be able to cast the second spell without ever losing your current target. If used with a heal spell instead of shackle, this should also be very helpful for MT/Raid healing.

macro 1:
/focus target
macro 2:
/cast [target=focus,harm] Shackle Undead; [harm] Shackle Undead
/stopmacro [target=focus,noharm]
/script SendChatMessage(UnitName("focus").." is shackled! DO NOT BREAK!")

Note: if you don’t know what /focus target does…well, it allows you to mark a target as a focused target which allows you to target other objects and cast spells on that focus without losing your current target.

Healing Macros

Simple Greater Heal
This simple macro will cast Greater Heal (the highest rank you have) if the target is friendly, and alert the party about whom you’re healing. It will stop the announcement if the target is not friendly. (confirmed for 2.0.1)

/cast [help] Greater Heal
/stopmacro [nohelp]
/p Healing %t

Target/Self Heal Macro
This macro checks to see if you have the “alt” key selected – if you do, then it casts Flash Heal on yourself. If you do not, it wil cast Flash Heal on your friendly target. It also announces to the party when you heal a target.

/cast [modifier:alt,target=player] Flash Heal; [help] Flash Heal
/p Healing %t

A Better Target/Self Healing Macro
Llenyd and Augur wrote this one, which I think is better than the one listed above. It will heal yourself if the target is harmful, otherwise it will heal your target – and announce whomever you’re healing, including yourself. The above macro would only announce your targetted healing. (confirmed for 2.0.1)

/cast [help] <healing Spell>; [target=player] <healing Spell>
/script local n if(UnitIsFriend("player","target")) then n=UnitName("target") else n=UnitName("player") end SendChatMessage("Healing"..n.."in 3 seconds","SAY",nil)

Uber Mouse Wielding Heal Macro
For you uber-mouse wielders out there, Llenyd’s macro would:
Cast GH1 on the Broodlord’s current target if you click the macro.
Cast Shield on the Broodlord’s current target if you right-click the macro.
Cast highest rank FH on the Broodlord’s current target if you Mouse Button 4-click the macro.
Cast highest rank GH on the Broodlord’s current target if you Mouse Button 5-click the macro.

/cast [target=targettarget, button:1] Greater Heal (Rank 1); [target=targettarget, button:2] Power Word: Shield; [target=targettarget, button:4] Flash Heal; [target=targettarget; button:5] Greater Heal

Uber Mouse Wielding Flash Heal Macro
This is similar to the above macro, except that it casts Flash Heal and chooses the targets according to which mouse button you click with.

/cast [button:1, help] Flash Heal; [button:1, harm, target=targettarget] Flash Heal; [modifier:alt, target=player] Flash Heal; [button:2, target=party2] Flash Heal; [button:3, target=party3] Flash Heal; [button:4, target=party4] Flash Heal; [button:5, target=party5] Flash Heal

Combat Macros

Space Saving Mind Blast/SW:Pain Macro
This macro uses the new “cast sequence” ability – yay more bar space! When you first click it, it should cast Mind Blast – when you click the button again, it will cast Shadow Word: Pain. The sequence will reset to Mind Blast if the player drops out of combat, or chooses a different target.

/castsequence reset=combat/target Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain

MindFlay When Not Channeling Macro
Should cast Mind Flay only if you are not currently already channeling Mind Flay. For those “duh” moments. :)

/cast [nochanneling:Mind Flay] Mind Flay

Devouring Plague Macro
Good example of the timed reset macro. This macro will, on the first button press, cast Inner Focus. On the second press, it will cast Devouring Plague. The sequence resets after Devouring Plague, or if enough time passes between button presses (170).

/castsequence reset=170 Inner Focus, Devouring Plague

Shadowform Heal
For our shadow friends, this macro will drop shadowform on the first click, cast Flash Heal on the second click, and revert you to shadowform on the third click. If you are not in shadowform, it won’t do anything.

/castsequence [stance:1] Shadowform, Flash Heal, Shadowform

Correct Your Smiting
Casts smite on a harmful target…OR if you target a friendly to heal them, and they’re targeting a mob, casts smite on your target’s target.

/cast [harm] Smite; [target=targettarget, harm] Smite

Troll Berserking/PI/IF Macro
Sirona’s Troll Berserking / Power Infusion / Inner Focus — Smite macro does just what it says. :) If any of the first spells are on cooldown it should give you an error message, but continue on through the other spells. You can also turn this into a healing macro if you change the final spell.

/cast Berserking
/stopcasting
/cast Power Infusion
/stopcasting
/cast Inner Focus
/stopcasting
/cast Smite

Misc Macros

Mouseover Dispell
Sylphael’s macro (ty, Sylphael!) will cast dispel magic on whatever target your mouse is presently hovering over. So if you bind it to a mouse button and hit that button while hovering over a character, you’ll cast dispel on that character.

/cast [target=mouseover] Dispel Magic

Instant Shield
This will stop the current spell and cast PW:S on your target if it is friendly, or (if that fails) it will cast PW:S on your target’s target.

/stopcasting
/cast [help] Power Word: Shield; [target=targettarget] Power Word: Shield

Handy Resurrection Macro
Just a simple resurrection macro that announces your casting!

/cast [dead] Resurrection
/stopmacro [nodead]
/script SendChatMessage("Resurrecting "..UnitName("target")..".  w00t!")

Top Trinket+PI Macro
This is Tanara’s “Top Trinket +PI” macro. Trinket slots will not be a valid term in the “/castsequence” macros – you’ll have to specify the item name like the one in italics here. If I remember right, the name is case sensitive but only has to be long enough so that the term isn’t ambiguous. For example, “Conjured” could call conjured water or conjured cinnamon roll. You would have to write out to “Conjured Cinn” to get the term non-ambiguous.

The macro is a sequence so that if the trinket was on cooldown, then the Power Infusion wouldn’t cast. There’s no way to “use spell if item is not on cooldown” in the new scripting language – the developers deliberately removed that functionality. Remember, you’ll have to press the button twice (with no failure) to get the Power Infusion spell cast.

/castsequence [target=player] Zandalarian Hero Charm, Power Infusion

Spoon’s BAM Macro
Spoon’s BAM macro (ty Spoon!) should use the Hero Charm if it’s not on cooldown, then cast Power Infusion, then cast Inner Focus – all with one click. It differs from the above macro in that there’s no cooldown check. If the Hero Charm is on cooldown, you’ll just receive an error message but the rest of the spells will execute.

/use Zandalarian Hero Charm
/stopcasting
/cast [target=player] Power Infusion
/stopcasting
/cast [target=player] Inner Focus

SpaceSaver Macro
Spoon’s spacesaver macros – now your low ranked or single-cast spell can be the same button as your high ranked. All you’ll have to do is hold the alt key to toggle between them.

/cast [modifier:alt] Prayer of Shadow Protection; Shadow Protection
/cast [modifier:alt] Greater Heal(Rank 1); Greater Heal
/cast [modifier:alt] Holy Nova(Rank 1); Holy Nova

Raid Shield
Pretty simple macro to cast shield on your target if he’s in your group and friendly or if your target’s target is friendly and in group, or else shield yourself.

/cast [raid] Power Word: Shield; [target=targettarget, raid] Power Word: Shield; [target=player] Power Word: Shield

Special thanks to Anaea of Aerie Peak’s Priest Macro resource where a number of macros were pilfered :)

Caulderon, who’s in Highschool, one of our lead tanks, and a guild officer asks:

How do you ask a chick out?

Just simply say “Will you go out with me”? or would you say “Are you doing anything friday night?”

This is my dillema.

There are a few canned responses of: “Be cool,” “Be confident.” However, there are a few that stand out from the rest:

Tugsy writes:

I dont think a warcraft forum is the place you want to be asking these types of questions.

Meni writes:

As long as you don’t accidently introduce yourself as “Caulderon” you should be fine.

Sotel writes:

Actually laugh instead of saying elohel

Shadyfigure writes:

watever you do, if she responds:

you have done somthing right.

Shodan writes:

You’ve got to be suave. You’ve got to be debonaire. You can’t tell her you play an MMO.

Schizoid gives the most sage advice of all.

Fundimentally the dilemma exists because regardless of what you say, you are expressing interest in her without her having to express any interest in you first, which increases your chances of rejection and justifiable anxiety. To defuse this, you must talk with her for approximately 5 minutes (which really is not that much of an investment when you are trying to get an entire date), with the goal of getting 3 indicators of interest before you pop the question. So it goes like this:

Run into her when she is definitely not in a rush or too preoccupied, like in a library or something when she wants to be distracted and kind of not interested/matter-of-factly say:

“God, I’m trying to think of something to do this weekend. I don’t want to end up doing nothing.”

If she doesn’t like you she will say something like:

“Good luck with that, bye.” = Dude she hates you, bail now and don’t humiliate yourself.

If she likes you she will say something like:

“Hmmm… why don’t you just go to a movie?” = Indicator of Interest #1

If she takes the bait, regardless of what she suggests, you say:

“Yeah, I guess I could do that, but I still would need someone to go with. Give me something else, help me out here.”

If she doesn’t like you she says something like:

“You are such a loser you don’t have a friend to go with?” =Dude she REALLY hates you, bail, bail, bail…and save face.

If she likes you she will smile and give you another idea. = Indicator of Interest #2

Then you chit chat about her lame ideas for a bit and try to keep her smiling. Take about 3 minutes until you get another indicator of interest. If you get nothing then give up dude, she is probably wants you to leave her alone. Otherwise you say:

“Yeah, one of those might work. What are you planning on doing?”

1) “I don’t know yet.” Reply: “Hmm…well, I would like to see that one movie we were talking about. You should come with me.” Your accept ratio will be much better than just asking cold.

2) “I am definitely planning on something.” Reply: “Well, at least you have something to do. Have fun with that. Bye.” = Tough luck, dude, but she likes you, so try again next week.

3) “Me and my bicurious girlfriends were gonna have a pillow fight, but now that I think about it… things might be a lot wilder with you around.” Dude, you got game, score this one hard core (regardless of what she invites you to).

It is interesting that the close-ness of the guild encouraged Caulderon enough to ask for advice on a topic as RL (Real Life) as it gets…dating. Even though the responses were humorous and most useless…its as much as (and maybe more) than one can expect when asking a RL group of friends.

Huxley is a Massively Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter (MMOFPS) – built on the Unreal 3 Engine – scheduled for release sometime in 2007 (date not yet announced). Its the first of its type and has grabbed my attention both from the backstory, graphics, and game style.

Its got some sweet features:

I. FPS IN A PERSISTENT WORLD.
Huxley delivers the excitement and rich gameplay experience of an MMORPG while combining the knuckle-whitening action of an FPS. Players can communicate with each other in a virtual online city, and participate in side battles with the intuitive PvP (player vs. player) system. Everything a character does in the Huxley world directly affects the success of not only the individual, but also of their race and party; from battles to behaviors, all interactions are linked to the survival of a character’s entire race.

II. LARGE-SCALE BATTLES.
Huxley goes past traditional death match FPS gameplay by challenging players to adapt to new forms of combat to protect the interests of the camp. Servers will be solely dedicated to accommodate millions of users engaged in fast paced, large-scale combat. Players will require strategy and cooperation to achieve victory. Extensive multiplayer battle modes are available each with a variety of unique fighting techniques and special characteristics.

III. ADVANCED A.I. AND QUESTS.
Huxley has advanced A.I. that rivals other online games. Enemies in Huxley demonstrate remarkable intelligence, which can be used to a player’s advantage or demise. Quests in Huxley will take players on paths of intrigue to uncover conspiracies resulting in confrontations. Each quest is continually updated so players feel as though they are enjoying a new story mode every time they play.

IV. CHARACTER GROWTH AND UNIQUE PLAY STYLES.
The characters in Huxley are continuously growing, which is rare in FPS games. Players are able to enhance their own combat styles by obtaining out-of-this-world weapons and new skills, which in turn continuously challenges players to adopt different gameplay styles as they progress.

As bullet IV mentioned, there is a leveling system and differences between lower and higher level characters which isn’t too common with FPS games. Wikipedia has a better description on the leveling system:

Huxley’s advancement system is actually separated into two. In the early part of the character advancement player system, players can shape their character in the style they like best. After that, players can then add depth to their characters. ‘Experiences’ and ‘Battle points’ are two elements of character advancement. ‘Experiences’ will affect the earlier part of character development and ‘Battle Points’ will affect the later part of a character’s development in a big way.

In the earlier part, by acquiring licenses, characters can have opportunities to use upgraded weapons and armor. In the later part of the game, players will concentrate on developing their characters to be more effective under any circumstance. One developer has stated, “We are planning to make the earlier part of character development relatively fast and the later part of development a bit slower but more abundant. This is because we decided that too much difference between characters abilities that affect combat result is not good for an FPS game.”

Webzen has considered the fact that in most MMOGs the players at earlier levels have no chance of beating those at the higher levels, and therefore they have adjusted the game to make skill more significant than long periods of playing the game and leveling up. Leveling up will give players advantages, such as more slots for upgrades and perhaps faster aiming, but a lower level player can still measure up to a higher one.

This MMO is a pay to play game with a price yet undetermined. I’ll most likely be picking this one up and giving it a run for its money. I want the Beta.

Gaming tends to be regarded as a harmless diversion at best, a vile corruptor of youth at worst. But the usual critiques fail to recognize its potential for experiential learning. Unlike education acquired through textbooks, lectures, and classroom instruction, what takes place in massively multiplayer online games is what we call accidental learning. It’s learning to be – a natural byproduct of adjusting to a new culture – as opposed to learning about. Where traditional learning is based on the execution of carefully graded challenges, accidental learning relies on failure. Virtual environments are safe platforms for trial and error. The chance of failure is high, but the cost is low and the lessons learned are immediate.

We see even now that MMORPGs are affecting the economy, laws, and communication. As the games become more social, they are introducing experiences and obstacles to end users where those users may have never had the opportunity to encounter them. And as with many experiences in the real world, those users grow and alter behavior patterns to suit these diverse situations in the virtual world. Wired’s article focuses on MMORPGs grooming managers as a direct correlation to holding the position of Guild Master. They write:

[T]he process of becoming an effective World of Warcraft guild master amounts to a total-immersion course in leadership. A guild is a collection of players who come together to share knowledge, resources, and manpower. To run a large one, a guild master must be adept at many skills: attracting, evaluating, and recruiting new members; creating apprenticeship programs; orchestrating group strategy; and adjudicating disputes. Guilds routinely splinter over petty squabbles and other basic failures of management; the master must resolve them without losing valuable members, who can easily quit and join a rival guild. Never mind the virtual surroundings; these conditions provide real-world training a manager can apply directly in the workplace.

Heh. It may sound corny, but in my stint as an officer of a World of Warcraft guild, I was able to garner some knowledge of mangement with regards to conflict resolution, player management, evaluation of applicants, advertisement, and extra-guild relations; each lesson has allowed me to grow as a person on both a personal and professional level (oddly enough). Despite my appreciation for the acquisition of knowledge through virtual methods, the artcle’s last line is still laughable. They say:

The day may not be far off when companies receive résumés that include a line reading “level 60 tauren shaman in World of Warcraft.”

While that seems unlikely, will there come a time where I’ll be filling in my Guild management experiences on my resume?

Joi Itio, “the money-and-idea guy behind internet companies PSINet, Digital Garage, Infoseek Japan, and social software like Moveable Type, Technorati, and Socialtext” is pleasantly addicted to WoW as I am. Here’s an excerpt from the 1up article:

These days Joi enjoys the social aspects of the game. And by “enjoys” I really mean, “is absolutely obsessed by”. “The game really starts at level 60,” he says. Taking care of a guild, administering to members’ needs, looking after newbs and pleasing the veterans is a delicate balancing act that challenges even a guy who is used to being the CEO of fast-growing companies. “Warcraft is like a really, really well-designed UI for real-time, ad-hoc group collaboration and management of tons of people. The tools are really interesting because they apply to stuff that we’ll be using in the real world.” Has he learned new lessons about leadership because of his involvement in WoW? “Definitely,” he says. Eric tells me Joi carries around copies of the game to hand out to people he meets in real life. Joi has become a real Warcraft evangelist.

Pretty nifty. Like it or not, MMORPGs (WoW in particular) are gaining ground in many walks of life. As game membership grows beyond its 5 million subscribers, the probability of getting into a conversation and relating with a fellow technophile (or anyone for that matter) increases. As I have stated in the past: gone is the time I log into IM to chat with friends. I log into WoW and they are there waiting. Over the past year and a half of membership in World of Warcraft community I have had discussions on get-togethers, code, received/given help on work-related topics, all forms of entertainment, web 2.0, blogging, etc. It is becoming a melting pot of information transfer for both professional and non-professional topics!

Is WoW the next Golf – a get-together of friends for the tossing around ideas and banter? Well, thats to be determined. Heh…I can’t turn down a chance for real-life interaction just yet, but meeting in game to talk about out of game stuff is easy and somewhat commonplace for me.