The Fanatical Swordsman

My name, for all intents and purposes, is inconsequential. You may refer to me, however, as Chipchops. [NOTE FROM EDITOR: Chipchops now goes by Rhekk] My pseudonym, as opposed to my wonderful friends Geldarion and Torvox, is more of a personal nickname rather than my gamer/lore name. Despite that, it serves its purpose as good as any other. Now on to a bit about me. Something you may find of me is that I love words. So to say this is “a bit” is only based on my own standards. Also, to say that I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it will probably be inaccurate, but I hope you will enjoy this article regardless.

I am a native of the humid, smog-infested concrete monster and I traded that life for dust-ridden flatness. I am a husband, father, artist, teacher, martial artist, writer, poet, avid metal music lover, and gamer. I am a man of thought, of emotion, and of action. I learn rules. I follow some of them, and I break a great many of them (though I try to keep others in mind over myself). I am a warrior, and have been gifted with a fighting spirit that I feel is exemplified in all that I do, and most of the time it serves me well. Sometimes, however, I can be hotheaded and make mistakes. Who doesn’t? And as it is, I have had some sword combat training, and intend to increase my abilities in the near future. It is only fitting I should be writing to you with the name of the blog in mind. Above all of these, I am a seeker of God. I am relentless in everything I do, even in submission to Jesus Christ. If this fact alone discredits everything else I have to say, then feel free to close your mind. For everyone else out there, join me in the words I write, and see what truth (or at least entertainment) you can derive.

Gaming is something I have been involved in since the age of three when my Dad would play PC games and I would watch. A child of the 90’s, I grew up as video games did. Flight Simulators typically bored me, but when I let loose my first bullet against my Nazi captors in Wolfenstein 3D, and then raiding the bowels of hell in Doom and Doom II, I was pretty hooked from there. Having a certain, let’s say “obsession”, with Star Wars, a large quantity of my games were products of Lucasarts. Beyond that, I picked up Starcraft and Diablo II in Junior High, then Warcraft III in High School. The amount of story in Warcraft III really intrigued me, and began interesting me in the Fantasy Epic Genre. Linked closely with my gaming, I began writing my own fantasy epic, which I am still writing and perfecting (as close as I can get it, at least) to this day. As far as gaming is concerned, I moved onto Morrowind, which is to date still one of my favorite games, and then to Oblivion. I still go back and play through Bloodmoon every now and then, wandering around frigid Solstheim. I am still look forward to Skyrim, but as the previous games have taught me, waiting until a complete collection is out in a few years is probably more prudent an investment.

And now this tangent ends, and we return to Warcraft.

When World of Warcraft was released, I was skeptical on a great many things. However, I had just acquired my first job, and used that to fuel my gametime to try it out. I was drawn in immediately, and for a while became an “addict”. While overcoming that addiction, I continued playing for the better part of its 7 year existence. I have played the range of the game, immersed myself in its lore, and become one among the increasingly mainstream community of MMORPGers.

I have played since retail WoW, before the release of Zul’Gurub, playing my first character, a Tauren Shaman named Firecracker. I switched to an Orc Hunter, and a Troll Rogue as an alt. My hunter was my first 60, and upon getting geared for Molten Core, I took a break. When Burning Crusade was released, I picked it back up and got to 70. I ran through Karazhan, and Gruul’s Lair, and after horrible experiences with my guild, I quit raiding and leveled a Blood Elf Priest. Becoming my new main, I worked heavily on PVP and preparing for Wrath of the Lich King with my roommate Torvox (though that name had not been introduced into our personal “canon” yet). I took a brief break, and then Wrath was released.

Wrath was where I really shined. Popping my Hunter on a shelf, my priest became my first 80, and through the trials of really learning and relearning my class, I became geared for Heroics. One of my best friends helped me get to a decent caliber. Also, I introduced my wife to World of Warcraft, and she is still playing (Hunter as her main).

My priest raided through the Wrath version of Naxxramas and a bit of Obsidian Sanctum. I again lost my taste for raiding, and began getting heavy into PVP again. As a Discipline Priest, I did very well and had a lot of fun. Ulduar came, and I did not bother. The Argent Tournament was released a while later, and the lore and aesthetic were too good to pass up. I geared for Trial of the Crusader, and did fairly well. I also leveled a Blood Elf Retribution Paladin, while originally PVP only, I began gearing it for ToTC. By the time Icecrown Citadel was released, I was still undergeared for it, but went along anyway. Yes, I was carried once, though I was praised for pulling my own weight despite not having top dps. When the time came, I had two geared toons that raided through 10-man and 25-man Icecrown, and fought up to Sindragosa. Shortly before Cataclysm, I was pulling well over 10-12k DPS on both characters, and finally downed Lich King on my priest.

Then you say “Well, Chip, you really didn’t do that well. Everyone was downing Arthas by then!”. To which I reply “If you knew our server and the majority of guilds on the server, you would know why.” I learned the fights, and I knew them by heart. I achieved, and did considerably better than many of my raidmates, and could pull higher dps than players in higher gear. Was I the best? No. Am I elitist? Only a tinge. I knew what I was doing, though. Buff or no, I still downed Lich King and was still alive right before he wiped the group and went into RP mode.

At the same time, I put effort into PVPing with my best friend Torvox. We fought with a Holy Paladin (myself) and Unholy Death Knight Team in 2v2 arena. Again, we were not the best. However, we had an immeasurable amount of fun, and did very well. We didn’t have the best gear, and definitely shouldn’t have done as well as we did with the gear we had. That just goes to show that even in an unbalanced, gear-dependent game like WoW, skill still accounts for something.

I have just recently returned from my longest break yet (between teaching and raising my son) to get my priest geared for Cataclysm Heroics and enjoy my last bit of Warcraft for a while, since The Old Republic is released soon.

I digress now to my experiences with Bioware. Two words. Dragon Age. Beyond the original Knights of the Old Republic and its Obsidian-crafted sequel, I was astounded and engrossed with the Dragon Age series. Despite some of its outdated and cantankerous mechanics, it was to me the most enthralling story-driven game I personally have experienced. Of course, when Star Wars: The Old Republic was announced, I immediately jumped on the bandwagon, so to speak. Call me a fanboy, sure. Over Thanksgiving Weekend, I participated in Beta, which I will share with you soon. Rest assured come release, I will be starting a Smuggler. For those who know of my Halo and Star Wars Battlefront II exploits, I prefer the play style of a shotgun wielder. Hands down, I will be playing a Scoundrel.

So without a lengthy conclusion, my words meet their end here, at the end of the page. I will be writing again soon. Until then, Go! Fight! Win!

Straight from the Bag,

Chipchops