A belated return

Yes, I still exist. No, I haven't posted in a very, very long time (though I imagine my last post had my frustrations showing through pretty clearly). My apologies for not explaining my disappearance, but between a great deal of work concerns and a complete loss of interest in WoW, I'd lost virtually any interest in going near my blog.

I originally started this blog because while there were still a few among us holding strong to the Retribution Paladin style, so many didn't understand how to gear their class, or how to rotate their skills, etc. So often I would see a Ret-spec Pally wielding a 1-hander and shield, casting Seal of Light/Justice/Crusader for grinding, skipping vital talents in the tree or not using their utility to help the group. Thus, I felt it necessary to begin a blog to explain Retribution, so that those who want to try it out for grinding/5-mans/raiding/what-have-you would have the understanding and tools necessary to optimize their own playtime.

So why did I leave? A lot of it had to do with PvP-grinding exhaustion; BG grinding is just about the most painful experience WoW has to offer. Another part was that the gameplay in general was wearing thin; not much to do once you get your epic set out of PvP, and all of the PvE gear available with your progression disinterests you. A major part of it, however, was that the novelty was finally wearing off. More and more Paladins started to play as Ret, and play it well. There's fun to be had in being the underdog. Surprising the hell out of people by rolling #1 on the charts in a UBRS run, or top 5 in Zul'Gurub is a blast, and it was always nice to opening people's eyes up to the fact that nothing is ever as clearcut as the whole 'omg spec X sux' belief that often prevails among the masses.

I hope that my blog was, at the time, at least a small part of the successful transition into a moderately respected DPS-spec. Once one of my server's top end guilds started taking a Ret Pally to raids, I knew we were on our way in the long run. With all my goals in the game (pimp out the gear, experience what content I could, make Ret respectable) fulfilled, what could I do?

Well, my friends successfully pursued a goal of getting me back into the game. With that, a new expansion to explore and an entire revamping of ret to experiment with, it was finally time to come back. It's not very much fun being the 'standard' Paladin spec now; I was Ret before it was cool, dammit! Regardless, it's a lot of fun playing the spec.

So I think I'm back now. As for what there will be to talk about, who knows? I might go over some of the subtler changes that may have been overlooked, I'll discuss my experience in WotLK, and will be happy to answer any questions sent my way via e-mail/comments (p.s. - my apologies for any unanswered emails after my departure; I've cleaned out my inbox and am starting fresh, and will totally answer them now!). I'll start looking into posts; with the availability of good research options available, I'll try to cover more gameplay, mechanics kind of discussions than straight up number crunching; there's always EJ for that.

So I suppose we'll see how this goes! Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to have an interesting site to visit once again.