It was our heroes’ second journey to Utgarde Keep to address the attempt by King Ymiron and his followers to prove the strength of the Vyrkul and their fitness to serve the Lich King. It was a simple enough request from Archmage Lan’dalock; get the axe of Ingvar the Plunderer. We sped through, tanking huge groups with no problem, Taurenbane and I sheeping/penguining multiple mobs with joy. Ingvar went down easily and we congratulated ourselves on a job well done. The tank got the lovely new whatevers that dropped. I opened a portal to Dalaran and we all went back to tell Archmage Lan’dalock of our success. How many of us looted the axe? Two.

It’s not that difficult to pick up loot; you just right click on the shiny and stuff flies into your bags. Most people would remember to do this automatically; some of us fail to, though, out of noobishness or simple uncharacteristic forgetfulness. Some of us, however, need more help. In fact, there are many times when I simply bat my toon’s eyelashes and purr, “I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers – don’t forget to tell me how to do the quests in this instance.” Probably not a guy approach, but then that’s one of the advantages of being a gal. You can ask other people for help without looking like too much of a dork.

At home I’m so spoiled I don’t even need to ask for help. My doctor husband enjoys cooking and feels out of sorts if there’s laundry in the hamper. I’ve even convinced him that it’s fun to garden. At present cleaning is not one of the things he takes pleasure in, but I have hopes that he’ll come around. Naturally, I’ve tried to encourage him to get on with me so we can eventually run five-mans as a family, but so far he’s only got his pally up to level eleven. He shows a natural inclination for the game and has picked it up very quickly. I think being a doc has advantages that way; everything has to be perfect so he works hard to explore the game in a way I didn’t. He refuses to rely on the kindness of others.

“If you don’t run back yourself, you’ll never learn the way.” At first I was disappointed that I wouldn’t get a rez, but then I realized the truth in the wise shaman’s gently-worded statement. So I girded up my virtual loins and ran around aimlessly in the Caverns of Time until I happened upon the Culling of Stratholme. I got turned around coming up from the basement but other than that found my way back pretty well after our second wipe (at least it was on heroic). Our shammy seemed upset with himself about his healing, but this guy, who pwns on his death knight, is still learning resto and much harder on himself than he should be. Our tank was also picking up those last bits of level 80 tanking, and the shammy was kind enough to give him tips as well. Shammy, btw, doesn’t use addons, which elevates him to near-godlike status in my eyes. He says he likes to win or fail based on his own merit and not on whether his addons are working correctly.

I can’t imagine. I’m using addons and all the help I can get and still noobing around, asking for help and just generally being a ditz. But I’m having tons of fun getting spoiled, both by helpful guildies and as a slacker housewife. I wish everybody could have it so good.

We all have degrees of noobishness, which in RL are frequently known as mistakes. Putting off the book report til the last second, forgetting to wear the tabard that awards you all the rep you need, not realizing dodge doesn’t work for enemies who are behind you, or letting the wash get all smelly because you forgot to put it in the dryer – everybody does that kind of thing. And as a level 80 housewife, I’m not ashamed to say I forgot to loot the axe.