An Introduction: A Glimpse into the Hollow

In reality, a squirrel's den is nothing more then a hollowed out domicile, used for shelter and warmth by Tamiasciurus Hudsonicus (American Red Squirrel). From a metaphorical standpoint, this blog will mimic such a place. It will be a small escape from the world of $3 gas prices, traffic and global warming and instead focus on the virtual worlds of MMORPGs (Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games) with a focus on World of Warcraft. Before I continue, I feel it necessary to provide some background regarding who I am, my experiences within online games and a general direction of the blog in weeks to come.

Many years ago, a good friend of mine was discussing his downtime from work. One of the items he mentioned as a hobby was a game he played called "The Moosehead Sled". Without getting into too much detail, it was a very simplistic form of online roleplaying game. It consisted of classes, races and random number generators, designed to progress a character through levels. The major difference between the Moosehead Sled and today's MMORPGs was that the Moosehead Sled was all text based, much like old school Dungeons and Dragons. Nevertheless, the game was very interesting to watch and marked an introduction into online gaming.

Several months later, Verant launched Everquest in March of 1999. Having caught the online gaming bug, I purchased a copy and the rest was history. For five years, endless Mistmoore and Karnor's Castle trains and an unbelievable ride through the Planes of Power and beyond, I found myself investing excessive amounts of time raiding with my guild on the Quellious server. After defeating most of the bosses in Gates of Discord, I felt it necessary to reallocate my time in other ways. Quite simply, while raiding was excellent fun, it was an incredible time investment. At that point, I felt my online gaming experience had come to an end.

Then, out of the blue, a friend introduced me to Planetside. Planetside was a far cry from EQ and didn't require the extreme time investments to make headway. For two years, we had a great time with the game. Unfortunately, Planetside really never evolved and after some issues with hacking and imbalances, we stopped playing the game. On occasion, I activate my Sony account to play for old time sakes but the amount of cheating that takes place on an every day basis takes the fun out of the game. (And by seeing the total lack of players on all servers, the cheating seems to have taken the players out of the game, too.)

After being gameless for about two months, we settled into World of Warcraft and that is where we currently reside for the time being. The game is fun and polished and relatively easy to play with a family and a full time job. At this stage of my life, that's exactly what's necessary.

I know what you're thinking and you're right. Yes Squirrel, this is all great. You seem like you have lots of gaming experience but, quite frankly, I don't care. What's the point of your blog? What can I expect to read? Why should I read it? Well, I'm glad you asked...

• The contents of this blog are the opinions and thoughts of me, the squirrel unless otherwise noted. Any content that is not original will be sited with a source. Providing credit to where credit is due is paramount in any literary medium.
• The opinions listed upon the blog are just that; opinions. I don't claim to hold the truth in all scenarios. On the contrary, it is beneficial to obtain some dissension. Bill Gates once said "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning". In the context of debates, the individuals that disagrees vehemently with a given topic may provide the most interesting debates.
• Debates are encouraged to be civil. Posts full of profanity may be deleted. A post will never be deleted for an opposing viewpoint.
• Content posted that does not pertain to the blog or that is deemed as malicious to the site will be deleted. This includes things such as keyloggers, trojans, or links to commercial websites.
• Readers may suggest topics to discuss although if I feel unqualified to write on such a subject, I will make that reader aware of the situation. While I am well versed in a variety of topics, I will never write on a subject that I don't feel qualified to provide insight upon.
• I don't claim to be a fanboy of any game and will try my best to be as impartial as possible. No game is perfect and the flaws and imperfections of the industry will inevitably be a topic of discussion someday.
• Accountability for statements made by all on this blog are the responsibility of the individual who provided the statement and all statements made on this blog by myself will be qualified or defended when necessary. The degree of anonymity used within the parameters of the blog will be kept to a minimum.
• Articles posted on the site will be in my writing style, which has a degree of magniloquence and sophistication. This goes against conventional wisdom as most professional writers will stick with a "less is more" attitude, which is in many cases the best road to take. Readers are encouraged to comment upon how this style of writing conveys the necessary message with each post.
• These guidelines are subject to additions and modifications as the need arises.

In conclusion, I want to thank anyone who has made it this far. The first topic of discussion will be posted as soon as possible and it is our hope and desire that the blog become a regular contributor to the MMO community. Until next time...