[Shared Topic] How has WoW changed your life?

From Effraeti, via MMO Melting Pot, from Syl:

How has WoW changed your life?

How indeed! I've talked about my out of game experiences with fellow players, something that never before seemed possible. I've talked about how much I appreciate the community of bloggers and Twitterati, and how important that it is for me to have something to stimulate my creative brainmeats and keep me writing fiction, even if it is fanfiction.

But today I mostly want to show you this:

As much as I love the idea of the Horde symbol, or even a Naaru (come on, that's an awesome design) I wanted something much more personal and also more obscure. To illustrate: I showed one WoW friend the design and got "Cool! What is it?" and then showed my warlock BFF "Oooh, the treant chest design!" Even I was surprised that she recognized it because I don't think she even has a tree druid...

The actual pattern in game has rounded, paw-like tips on the crescent, but I liked this version where they are sharpened like claws. I spent a few days drawing and redrawing it until I had a good idea of the shape and size that I wanted, and then I just had to wait until I was back in the States!

The artist I worked with said he prefers to do big, colorful pieces, but I requested him because he had a lot of game-related work in his portfolio. A lot of it was console game characters, but when we got to talking he said he had played WoW from launch until Wrath and he had a druid. Score!

If the details of the procedure gross you out, you can skip this part:


It took him about 15 minutes to get everything set up, from the ink to fresh needles to the music. The room was really cold, which coupled with my nerves had me shivering pretty badly. I had to do some jumping jacks to warm up - I think the artists must have thought I was a little off >_> Another artist, who was about to start a very lovely design of Navi (of the Hey! Listen! variety, not the druid!) on another girl came over to appreciate my design. I think he was trying to help me relax.

I didn't look at first, but it was surprisingly bearable with a few really painful parts. I was really worried about, well, freaking out, or flipping my hand around or something, but once he got started I sort of just settled in. I was able to look without being grossed out, which is helpful because he almost forgot the center dot!

My brother got a big piece on his chest there last year, so he was helpful telling me what to expect during healing. Despite some brief grumbling from my dad, my parents have also been supportive, which is nice, because now I can't help but think of other ideas!