The blogger formerly known as Smashie

If you're reading this post (from my blog, not in your reader), then you probably have noticed my new banner...and new title.  If you are reading this post from your reader, swing by the blog and give it a look.  Why the change?  Queue the long and drawn out explanation in 3, 2, 1:

A lot has changed over the past year.  I play WoW about a quarter of the amount of time that I used to, which has left me with a lot more time for enjoying the better things in life.  Things like my family, my fiancée, my friends, my health, my hobbies, and my community.  While I got a real enjoyment and satisfaction out of playing WoW, I had let it become a distraction to me.  It never got to the point of missing work, or ignoring my woman, or gaining 100 pounds and acne, but I did invest a lot of time and energy into something that I will never truly see a return on.

I find it appropriate that since my gaming interest and "career" has taken a different direction, and since my blog has taken a bit of a different direction since its inception, that I rename it to something a bit more reflective of my interests.  I want this blog to be more about me, my hobbies, my stories, and my LIFE.  Not that of my Paladin on WoW.  So I can hear you asking yourself "What the hell does Medwards mean?"  How can I hear what you're saying?  I'm standing outside your window, but never mind that.

Medwards is my first initial and last name.  Michael Edwards.  It was a name given to me as a computer login at a former job, and people there found it humorous and started calling me that every now and then.  So there you have it.  I know this will probably cause confusion in the long run, seeing as I show up as Smashie on other's blogrolls and links, but thats alright.  I'll probably be commenting as Smashie for the remainder of the week, then officially switch to medwards.  It's a process, you know?

A window to the future

So in my previous post, I mentioned that there would be "major changes" on the way for this blog.  In this post, I will outline and expand on those changes a bit.  In the past, I have focused on the Paladin class and the Retribution spec specifically (obviously).  However, in light of my recent change in interest in WoW, I will no longer be focusing on the Ret Pally directly, but will be covering Gaming and Technology in general.  So what does that mean exactly?

• I will be giving my thoughts on all types of games, including PC, console, and handheld platforms.  I will also begin doing unboxing videos, reviews, and previews of major releases  
• I will be doing reviews and video reviews of gadgets, mobile apps, browser extensions, and social media platforms
• I will be doing interviews with tech, gadget, and gaming professionals
• The name of this blog will probably be changing from "Smashie" to something a bit more reflective of my personal life and interests as opposed to my WoW gaming handle.  This will also result in a changing of the banner here and possibly even a complete overhaul of the appearance

So as you can see, there are a lot of changes in the future here.  Some in the near future, some a bit more distant.  But nonetheless, its all exciting!  Well, I'm excited anyway.  I want this blog to eventually become a source of breaking tech and gaming news and updates.  So all you nerds, geeks, techies, and gamers stay tuned.

The future of this blog

Whats up folks.  It has been a little while, hasn't it?  Things have definitely come and gone in the last few months, but I have been surprised to see a steady stream of about 20 people continually checking this blog, even in my absence.  While that is a considerably small number in the blogosphere, it surprises me and has caused me to second-think my decision to abandon this blog.  Why was I going to abandon this blog, and what is there to look forward to?

Well my playtime with Warcraft has gone through some serious changes in the past three months or so.  I've gone from playing 40+ hours a week to playing about 3 or so hours every weekend, at the most.  My time in Azeroth is spent simply posting glyph auctions, running random Wintergrasps, and doing a battleground scattered here and there.  So why the changes in my playtime?  Why the changes in my priorities?  Let me expand on this a bit.

I moved.  I have moved into a new place, which requires some changes in lifestyle.  My new house is a small place, only about 700sq ft.  I'm here on my own, which is quite nice, to be honest.  I really enjoy living by myself.  

I got engaged.  I asked my fiancee to marry me on Christmas eve in '09.  I'm very excited about the quality of life that I'm going to have with a wife that is as amazing as my fiancee is.  This contributes hugely to the amount of playtime that I get with WoW.  But when choosing between the two, the choice is incredibly easy to make.

My interests have changed.  While I get a deep enjoyment out of gaming, I no longer can play Warcraft in 18 hour sessions like I could a year ago.  I still love gaming in general, though.  I play a lot of Tekken6 and I like kicking back and enjoying a good single player console game like Assassin's Creed II or God of War.  I also have begun playing a browser game, evony, with a coworker of mine which has become a nice change of pace.  My love and appreciation for gaming has definitely grown, but my passion for WoW has fallen.  While I still enjoy the game, but I don't get the satisfaction from it that I used to.

And that brings me to the million dollar question...what does that mean for this blog?  Well, I'm excited to fill everyone in on that.  There will be some major changes coming, from the aesthetics to the content.  The focus of this blog will no longer be exclusive to the Paladin class, or even Warcraft in general.  I will begin covering a wider variety of games, as well as other hobbies and interests that I have outside of the world of gaming.  I will be expanding on this with a well written blog post that will layout exactly what I will be providing as content, and what you can look forward to as a reader.

I know that after three months of inactivity, I am asking a lot for you to sit tight and wait for the changes to come, but please bear with me.  This blog has a bright future ahead of it, and I would love for you all to be a part of it!

More flying updates

Yesterday I wasn't sure that the updated flying costs were intentional or not because of the fact that all vendors weren't reflecting the same pricing. This change has been confirmed by a blue on the forums today, so the change was in fact intentional. Changes were made to the faction discounts at the vendors also. So the changes are as follows:

• Riding 150 is now 225g
• Riding 225 is now 4500g
• Faction discounts are based off of Orgrimmar and Stormwind reputation

Discounted flying

So the minipatch today reduced the flying costs at the trainers in Honor Hold/Thrallmar. Down from 600g to 225g for Riding 150 and down from 5000g to 4500g for Riding 225.

This is good new for my DK alt. I never trained his flying at 225 just because I usually take the gryph everywhere anyway (i'm lazy). But now that it's discounted, and I have the gold, I may as well go ahead and buy it. Especially since I'm not so sure that the flying cost change was intentional, being that it wasn't changed for every trainer.