cheenaroonie

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste this as a note. Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.

() Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
() Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
() Blazing Saddles
() Airplane

Total: 6

Before I start my WoW blabbering, I'd like to say "YEHEY, new year, new LJ layout!".  This ample heap of black, white and pink sure cost me an hour or two of sleep.  I was up until 1 am, tweaking pre-made CSS codes that I assume was written like eons ago.  Nevertheless, I lurvees it!  I'd like to thank the original author (whoever you may be) for the neat and minimalistic approach. 

Now, with all that gushing out of the way, let's proceed to the topic (as suggested by this entry's subject line).

My No-Cost Addiction

I have been playing World of Warcraft for almost 2 years now, but I have never paid any sort of subscription nor registered on the Blizzard website for an account.  In short, I am playing for free!  How's that, you ask?  Simple.  On discreetly (but obviously obvious), cunningly clever, but downright devious WoW private servers!  Yes, you have to give them *that* much props... they managed to shell out an awesome amount of dough for hardware, firmware, internet/hosting connections, and are shouldering huge electricity bills while dodging the ever vigilant, prosecuting eyes of Blizzard Inc.  Despite numerous warnings and shut-down orders, private servers are still alive and serving thousands and thousands of stingy (or just financially incapacitated) WoW afficionados like moi. 

What's In It For Them?

Without any doubt, private server owners don't just do it for the love of the game or any altruistic intentions for bum society... they are, duh, actually in it for the benjamins.  Apparently, these unofficial servers put up reaaally conspicious webforms and paypal sections on their websites for their players' heartfelt "donations".  In turn, the server will reward any donor with an in-game premium item corresponding to the "contributed" amount.   From the looks of it, private servers ARE raking in cash, or else they would have closed a long time ago. 

The Pros and Cons of Free Play

Though the concept of no-cost WoW addiction might sound inviting, there are still major cons in choosing an unofficial, unsupported, unoriginal server over Blizzard's 900 pesos-per-month well-managed realms.  For every reader's convenience, I took the liberty of listing down the pros and cons in a neat, bulleted list: 

Pros:

• free play
• a taste of WoW at no cost!
• no pressure in levelling up
• you can play with your friends who can't afford subscriptions
• free, but limited, support from the GMs
• you can buy premium stuff
• you can buy certain levelled chars
• less stressful environment

Cons:

• server is only running on WoW emulators.  some quests, skills, instances are bugged
• frequent, unplanned, unannounced downtime
• inconsistent lag
• low population
• low field pvp opportunities
• limited GM support
• sometimes rude GMs
• less community events
• server might shut down someday  :(
• character wipes  :(
• any accomplishment won't ever really matter coz it's just a "private" server
• haxxors galore!

 
With tons of cons, why do I still play for free?

Even with all the listed cons, I'm dead sure I won't be leaving the private server scene pretty soon.  Perhaps I'm valuing the chance to enjoy the game with my real-life friends, including my boyfriend who's put a lot of effort on his rogues, Nailbite and Glassjaw.  I've also invested on two characters already, one for each private server we've been on:  Moxie, a level 70 night elf druid on the recently shut down Burning WoW server; and Konstantine, currently level 66 blood elf Paladin on Crogges WoW. 

Well, I wouldn't deny that I prefer the commercial server over the free ones, and I don't mind the monthly dues and expansion fees.  The events, recognition, PVP, server/game stability, and legit fun would be enough bang for my buck... but, I'm sure everyone would agree with me that nothing beats having a sox-roxxing, lawl-filled, twinkie-ganking good time with your RL pals on one of the most awesomest MMORPG to date.  The experience is priceless. 

So private or official server?  Anywhere, as long as you're happy~!

MOAR GOLD PLZ!  
 

gawd, these are the times i hate  having a job.  it's when i feel like i don't have a job at all.  my team lead's out for a whole week's training, and i've finished most of my deliverables... so i'm left with a bunch of nothings and 7 hours of blank staring at my laptop. 

if anybody can suggest an online hobby that could keep me busy during weekdays, please feel free to drop a comment.  usual office rules apply:  no games, no movies/series-watching, and most certainly no pern.  :P

hmm. come to think of it, my life's beginning to feel like a routine too.  work-home, work-home... gollee.  gotta do something about it really fast, like perhaps, join a new weekend hobby club?  any suggestions?  (no liquors or hard partying plz.  clubs are certainly a no-no for me, erm, at least until the end of the year.  XD)

uhm.  yeah.  i realized i can't suppress that ever-nagging need to jot down little details about my existence and put into writing the nitty-gritty silliness of random bozos around me.  XD.

so, what nao?  where do i begin?  or is it re-begin, since i havent actually deleted any entries in here... :P

mm.  for starters, i changed the layout.  not a very artistic one, but i'd find something better soon. 

oh crap.  nao i'm out of stuff to say. 

erm.  catch you later, fewls.  XD~