Yes, you’ve read that right, we’re back! After a very long break from our blog, The Brutes have finally returned.
The last post we’ve made about WoW dates from the 6th of April 2015. After that, we started playing on and off, without posting anything about our adventures.
It all started in 2014, when we made a huge move to Brussels. We had bought a new construction appartment and Soforah had changed her job. Little did we know about all the problems that were awaiting us. The first year was all about the moving and fixing the poorly executed works.
When finally we thought that we would be settled in, a huge catastrophe happened to the appartment. No, we won’t go into detail, we prefer to turn the page on this plumbing nightmare.
We ended up being relocated from one airbnb place to another for months. Moving around huge PCs wasn’t an option since we don’t own a car. As a result, we couldn’t game for a long time (which seemed like an eternity).
In the summer of 2016, we finally moved back to our place. Unfortunately, it took us longer than we thought to settle back in. But what matters is that we’re back, and we won’t give up anytime soon!
Look who visited us on our server this sunday morning… We first met at the Razor Hill’s inn, then we travelled through a lot of phasing and trees in the face to finally arrive in Winterspring where we had a great time dancing, chatting and taking screenshots.
Navimie even had an amazing surprise for us both. So, Navimie, if you’re reading this… Thank you for everything š
A few weeks ago, Navimie visited our old blogs and suggested that we should write a joined one. Her idea made its way and that’s how The Brutes is born. To thank her for inspiring the creation of our new home, we have written a story in which she is featured.
As usual, it is filled with a large dose of (dubious) sense of humor and a pinch of ego-centrism. And now, off with the show!
Sardoken’s tale
I am awesome. Seriously, I kick bullies’asses and Women fall in love with me, if that doesn’t match your definition of awesomeness, think again! Now that this is out of the way, let’s get going with the events that led me to save Navimie.
I was at the Razor Hill’s Inn with Soforah after a week wandering aimlessly and broke in Durotar living amazing adventures. We were getting smashed on cheap ale eating a delicious meal in this rather modest place when it all started.
There wasn’t many people that day, just us, a couple of Trolls sitting at the next table, a drunken Orc and a lady Tauren drinking at the bar. The Orc was apparently expressing his miscontempt about all that was crossing his mind, from the taste of the beer to the fact that people weren’t grateful enough to Garrosh for all he was doing for the Horde.
It started like the soft mumbling of a drunken man, but it quickly became a shout adressed to the whole room. It was working on my nerves. He went on about the other races and how he thought that they should be reminded of who were the real rulers of Azeroth. He was still as loud but, this time, his speech was directed to the first person he could find, the Tauren druid sitting a few meters away from him.
She didn’t seem too much interested in what he had to say, but he clearly was searching for an excuse to start a fight. Don’t mind me saying this but, while druids are amazing with their love for the nature and all that, they have this habit to grow a culture of mushrooms when they feel threatened… Not very useful when dealing with a giant orc and his two-handed axe.
This is where I came in. You see, I don’t like bullies, even less when they lack respect to a lonely woman. Soforah, still busy eating her roasted beast, understood by the look in my eyes that things were about to be dealt with.
I got up and started to walk toward the bar when one of the Trolls sitting in front of us tried to stop me. He told me that the Orc was Malkorok, the leader of the Kor’kron and that I’d better leave him alone. I told him “I don’t know bullies by their names, but they always end up knowing mine!”.
I had almost reached Marlborok or whatever his name was when he jumped out of his seat and yelled something at me. I didn’t really understood what he said, his breath was too horrible. When he tried to swing his axe at me, I grabbed his arm and twisted it until his weapon dropped. I twisted a bit more and he apologized to the Tauren. Then, with a single kick of my right boot, I sent him flying through the Inn back to the dirt where he came from. He didn’t dare to come back, probably too afraid…
The tauren was speechless, the poor thing was in shock. Who wouldn’t be, she’d just been rescued by Sardoken, the sexiest Orc in Azeroth. She told me something that sounded like “navy me”. It probably meant “kiss me” in her language, but I wasn’t going to “navy” anyone. You see, this fine piece of Orc is already taken. I saw the flame in her eyes but I had to break her heart. I think she understood, because she kept it clean, no tears or anything. After all she would have a fine tale to tell her grand-kids, someday…
I went back to my table and winked at Soforah. She could go on to eat at her ease, the disturbance was over.
Soforah’s tale
The tale of Sardoken is true… Well, at least, some part of it. We were indeed at the Razor Hill’s inn that day, and there was indeed a drunken Orc at the bar. Now, for the rest, let me tell you what really happened.
I was devouring eating my roasted boar, the truth is that we didn’t eat for, at least, two hours a day and a half. Our little escort business didn’t have much success at that time, especially since Kor’kron guards were posted everywhere in Durotar. I could say that we were enjoying our meal in this rather modest establishment but the truth is that we didn’t have enough gold to afford anything better than this dump, its warm flat beer and its funky tasting “boar”.
If there is one thing I hate even more than not eating is to be disturbed while eating. The only thing we could hear at the Inn that day was the drunken Orc trying to pick a fight with the lady Tauren sitting right next to him. But if you think that I am a hot blooded Orc, you don’t know how fast Sardoken reacts when an opportunity to satisfy his ego appears to him.
Before I could realise it, he was up and walking toward the bar. The other Orc was drunk but he was also colossal, way taller and wider than Gammy. A troll who was just trying to mind his own business, tried to warn him but Sardoken gave him his most condescendant best smile, the one that means “don’t worry little fella, I have everything under control”.
What followed happended very fast. I tried to stop him, but it was already too late. The Orc had jumped out of his chair and was on Gammy before he could dodge a punch that would stop a Kodo in the middle of his charge. Sardoken was lying face down on the floor, but I could take advantage of the diversion to break the heaviest pint I could find on the back of the Orc’s head. Drunk like he was, it didn’t take more than that to put him to sleep.
That’s when Sardoken finally decided to wake up from his little nap and to drag an unconscious Malkorok out of the Inn. When he came back, he tried to charm the lady Tauren but, as usual, it didn’t work well but, this time, it wasn’t really his fault. We couldn’t really make anything out of the sounds coming from his mouth, his jaw was probably broken.
The Tauren looked at me, made a smile and told me her name was Navimie and that she was very grateful for the help.
We walked back to our table where I could finally finish my meal, and Sardoken could end up this story the way he always ends up all stories, with a half keg and a big nap.
Prologue
Malkorok came back to the pub a few days later and blew it up with a frag grenade. People thought that it was to kill two high-ranked Forsaken and Blood-elf officers. But we know now that he came back to wash an honnor he never had to begin with.
Alternative Chat is doing a project where in honour of the 10th Anniversary of World of Warcraft, she is asking players from around the world to answer 10 questions about their experience of the game. Here are our answers:
Sardoken answered:
I started playing World of Warcraft in April 2006, so for me it’s more like 8 years… Nevertheless, I’m glad to be part of something as awesome as WoW and I find alt:ernative’s project a great way to celebrate the anniversary of the greatest MMORPG of all times. So here we go:
1. Why did you start playing Warcraft? I needed a game for my Easter holidays of 2006… We were about to have 2 weeks at home and we were stocking up on comic books and video games. I thought “why not giving WoW a shot?” After 10 minutes in the game, I knew that it would be different. Not only did the game filled my holidays, it gave me 8 amazing years.
2. What was the first ever character you rolled? Ok horde friends, don’t be mad at me! It was a Night Elf druid (ouch! Not the face, please). I wanted a character that could do a lot of different things like melee, heal and cast spells. I often played as a paladin in games like Diablo, I wanted something different, something more “nature” than “divine”. But why a Night Elf? In that time druids could only be Tauren or Night Elf,… To be honest, I didn’t give it much of a thought, Taurens seemed too big, that was all.
3. Which factors determined your faction choice in game? Well, as I’ve said Night Elves were the only choice for me as a druid. I didn’t know much about the lore, the other races, their cities,…
4. What has been your most memorable moment in Warcraft and why? Even if I’ve had a lot of awesome moments in WoW: completing the world events together with my wife, my Sunday afternoons with low level Orcs (I had a thing for leveling Orcs on Sunday afternoons), healing during “Ragnaros server first” (vanilla), the one that will always come first is my first hour in WoW. Running in Teldrasil, discovering the landscape, the feeling of depth of the game, it marked me forever. I thought that the game was so huge, imagine my surprise when I found out that we could cross the sea and explore another continent… I will never forget.
5. What is your favorite aspect of the game and has this always been the case? That’s a difficult one, it’s between healing 5-man dungeons and running after achievements. From a pure fun perspective, I’d say that healing 5-man is my ultimate favorite. I love dungeons, whether it’s in a dark cavern, an Defias hide-out or a dragon lair, I enjoy them all.
6. Do you have an area in game that you always return to? That’s an easy one: Darkshore. I’m attached to that place, I’m a sentimental. The colors, the trees, the sea, the quests (damn it Cataclysm: for love eternal, the absent-minded prospector, washed ashore), Darkshore will always have a special place. Now, if I had to chose a place to retire, it would be Winterspring… I would become friend with the Furbolgs and I would protect the Yetis from the careless levelers.
7. How long have you /played and has that been continuous? I’ve been playing 271 days and 7 hours (omg, that’s 6511 hours o_O’) since april 22, 2006. My most played characters are my druid (70 days) and my hunter (71 days), the rest is shared between a lot of other classes. I haven’t rolled a monk (yet) and I’ve never reached max level with a priest. There has been pauses, sometimes of a month and even once for 5 months (worst time ever!). It always happened when my main character was geared and I had no reason to go to raids anymore. The first sign was that I started to re-roll and switch classes every day, then every hour until I got mad. But things have changed, other games like Hearthstone and Diablo III are keeping me away from WoW burnouts. Also, I have now two mains now (hunter and shaman), it will take me twice more time to reach that “I have nothing to do anymore” moment.
8. Admit it: do you read quest text or not? On my first run, I do. I’m a lore fan. I read the comics, I read the books, I read the quests,… I love stories and Blizzard is sooo good at story-telling.
9. Are there any regrets from your time in game? Yes, I regret that I haven’t remained in one guild from the beginning. I would have loved to make real friends through the game. It almost happened a few times but the guilds disbanded because to GM was quitting WoW. As of today, I’m still looking for a guild where I could stay. Anyone from Draenor-Eu (Horde) reading this, if you’re searching for a funny couple of gamer to put some color in your chat, Soforah and me are available š
10. What effect has Warcraft had on your life outside gaming? Passion is what WoW gave me and it changed everything. Before WoW, I didn’t have much in terms of passion, I was drinking and smoking a lot… Spending more time at home to play WoW made me discover another lifestyle, more cozy. I’ve quit smoking and I don’t drink in the same way as before, now it’s more like going to the pub with my wife once a week to have a few pints like two orcs. Then we go to devour juicy steaks š Also, being a WoW player is being part of a commmunity with events, celebrations, things to be excited for, blogs to read,… The people around me in real life aren’t really gamers (with a few rare exceptions). I always felt sad not to be able to share my passion. WoW changed that, now I have barely enough time to read all the tweets and all the blogs, lol.
Soforah answered:
1. Why did you start playing Warcraft?
When I was younger, gaming in general was quite badly seen in the environment where I grew up in. Especially when youāre a girl. So, given the fact that it was such a taboo, I stuck to the good old paper and dice role playing games, which we could easily play hidden. It wasnāt until I met my partner in crime, my sweet husband, that I broke with that awful stigmatising world. Even though it took me 4 years of watching him explore that awesome world named Azeroth before I jumped on the Blizzard train as well.
The biggest reason I started playing WoW wasnāt to rebel against taboos, but because I love to explore new worlds and live adventures that make your creativity juices flow. I love lore and find the world of Azeroth both inspiring, and tremendously relaxing. My husband could always talk with so much passion about āthe gameā and he was always having so much fun that one day, I joined him on his adventures. On the 18th of February 2010 to be precise, was the day I asked my hubby if WoW could run on an iMac (quickly and gladly exchanged for a gaming pc). Since then Iāve been on a roll and became a big Blizzard fan.
2. What was the first ever character you rolled?
The first character Iāve rolled was a Night Elf druid. I loved the diversity of the druid. The shape shifting, the different specs,ā¦ it all had a lot of charm back then. Little did I know that there was a āCataclysmā on the menu. Since that expansion, I lost my fun playing that character and rolled my new main, an Orc hunter.
3. Which factors determined your faction choice in-game?
Well, I started levelling my first character on the Alliance. I just loved the starting zones of the Night Elves. So peaceful, beautiful,ā¦ But, I quickly realised that I was fighting on the wrong side. I just prefer all Horde leaders above the Alliance ones. I prefer the capital cities from Orgrimmar (being my favourite) to Tunderbluff. And, most of all, I prefer the races. On the Alliance side, I always find it hard to roll a new character because I just donāt like the races while, on the Horde, I never can choose whether itās going to be an Orc, Tauren, Troll,ā¦ I just love them all. So, yeah, āFor the Hordeā all the way!
4. What has been your most memorable moment in WoW and why?
I guess that would be my very first day in WoW. As a complete gaming noob and newbe, I found that huuuuuge world so overwhelming, I felt like Santa on xtc in Disneyland.
5. What is your favourite aspect of the game and has this always been the case?
Wow, thatās a tough one cause there are so many favourite aspectsā¦ heheā¦ (choices, not my strong point). I would say that exploring that huge open world full of quests (lore), collectibles, achievements,ā¦ is my favourite.
6. Do you have an area in the game that you always return to?
Darkshore! I love that place and if I could choose a place to live in, in-game, Iād build a little house there. I know, itās an Alliance place, blame it on my first day in WoW, that day marked meā¦ hehe. And, then thereās Winterspring! I love the snow, the cold, and above all, I love running around in those beautiful landscapes, pretending Iām making snow angels.
7. How long have you played and has it always been continuous?
Since 18/02/2010. On and off, the longest break I made was one of a few months. The usual reason is some real life crap that comes in between. All my high level characters together (low lvl ones not included), Iāve played about 109 days of WoW (2616 hours)ā¦ well, and I thought that my 100+ hours spent in Skyrim would be an achievement?!
8. Admit it: do you read the quest text or not.
When itās a new quest, yes. Like Iāve mentioned before, I love lore, but after a second or third time, I start to skip on reading them once more.
9. Are there any regrets from your time in-game?
At the beginning, I didnāt know the first thing about gaming. Hell, I couldnāt even run in a straight line with my character (-insert: you may laugh now-). So, needless to say that I was dead afraid to run dungeons or raids with my royal noobness. As if people could kick my ass for real through my screen or something, but later on, when I started being more at my ease, I kicked my own ass in stead, and now I even raid (something I swore one day Iād never do lol).
10. What effect has Warcraft had on your life outside of gaming?
A huge one. It may sound corny, but WoW has changed my life for the better. It helped me throwing my past luggage overboard and it gave me the chance to help breaking the taboos of being a gamer girl (still need to kick ass big time over this one, but itās totally worth it). A few years back, I didnāt even dare thinking about telling anyone I was playing WoW, now I scream it from the rooftops and smash all naysayers under my size 6 boots.
VoilĆ , That’s pretty much our few years of adventures in a nutshell. If you are interested in this survey, we invite you to read this post on alt:ernative.
