Untitled April 19, 2011
Posted by Stormy in Guild Stuff, Personal, Tank Girl.trackback
The post is untitled, silly. Not me! I would *never* go around untitled! That’s like going around naked!
Yes, I admit it. I’m a title addict. Some people collect mounts, some people collect pets, some collect armor sets. I collect titles. Start me off on a quest line and tell me you’re going to give me a pet or a mount and I’ll maybe go out of my way to do it, but promise to call me Tormenta of the Diseased Bear Ass and baby, I’ll collect diseased bear asses for you until the cows come home. Easy ones, tough ones, long ones, short ones…I don’t care, I’ll take ’em all.
I don’t even remember my first one, actually. I have a hunch it was the Jenkins title from a run I did with some guildies way back in the day when my hunter was but a wee calf, but it may have been Störmy the Love Fool from my first holiday event (yes, I could go check my achievements…lazy blogger is lazy). I remember going back to Quel’thalas and Durotar so I could grind rep with the various Horde factions for my Ambassador title, and being immensely proud of myself as I put that up. I remember having nothing but “the Patient” on my druid and desperately wanting to replace it with something less common and less prestigious. I remember walking around Dalaran like a badass with my “of the Ashen Verdict” title, even though by that point everyone and their grandmother had it. I remember swelling with pride when I finally got my “Champion of the Frozen Wastes” title, and having my bubble promptly burst by the guy who dragged me kicking and screaming into WoW lo those many moons ago when he pointed out that he’d earned it in January 2009.
So what’s in a title? Do I judge various people by the titles they pick for their toons? Of course I do! If you have “Hand of Adal” or “Scarab Lord” I know that means you’ve been around the block a few times and probably know what you’re doing. If you have the “Conqueror” title like one of my former guildies, you spend far more time PvPing than I personally think is healthy. The “Insane” title…well, that one speaks for itself. Although I love the Ambassador title on all four of the toons that have it now (Miss Grimsey the Tank Girl got hers this weekend…go her!) and I wear it with pride, I cringe a little at the prospect of getting it on my Damned Dirty Alliance Priest because it suggests some allegiance to “King” Varian of the Wet Noodle or High Tinker Mekkatorque, and that just won’t do.
So what’s my favorite? I *love* my priest’s current title, Tormenta of the Shattered Sun. I worked pretty hard for it, and I love the way it rolls off the tongue…even though it’s from two expansions ago. I used to wear the Kingslayer title on my druid because of all that it represented for me at the time. To me it was a symbol of me and nine of my guildies rising from the ashes of our previous guild, banding together and downing the Lich King in a little over a month, and I remember standing on the steps of the North Bank that night shooting off fireworks while some of our old guildies watched. I remember a feeling of smugness as one former guildie walked by wearing her ill–gotten Kingslayer title (that’s a story for another day). I am not ashamed to admit that, knowing the immense amount of work and the tremendous love and respect that I felt for those people at the time, I cried openly in Vent as my former co–GM was screaming “DON’T RELEASE! DO NOT RELEASE!”
As for my actual favorite? I’m going to go with my Crusader title on my druid. Crusader Sterrin. It doesn’t roll off the tongue the way Tormenta of the Shattered Sun does, it doesn’t sound prestigious the way Ambassador Störmy does, but dammit, I worked for it. I did nine dailies every day for a month and a half to get it. I remember sitting at my computer on the first day I did the Tourney grind and feeling so defeated, swearing up and down that the damage numbers for the jousting must be rigged so that there was no way anyone could ever win a jousting match. Six weeks later I’d win seven jousting matches in a row every day without breaking a sweat. It was the first time I’d ever truly had to work for something in WoW, and over the course of that six weeks I actually saw my performance in the game improve dramatically. I worked for it, and I wear it with pride.
Next on my list is the Diplomat title on my priest, which I’ll probably grind after Miss Tank Girl hits 85. I’ve already started on Mag’har rep, and I’ll collect bear asses and sanguine hibiscus until I’m blue in the face.
So that’s my story. What’s yours? What’s your favorite title? Which one gives you the most pride? Are there any you refuse to wear? It’s Tuesday morning and since the servers are (possibly?) down, you don’t have anything better to do. Tell me!
Scribblings on the Asylum Wall 
I like titles that relate to the class or personality of my characters. Akabeko has the greatest collection of titles, so although I generally prefer “Guardian of Cenarius” I do like to show off whatever I am most currently proud of. At the moment, I am using “the Exalted” to annoy my raid leader after the requirements change to that title 🙂
On my paladin, I specifically earned “Crusader” because it seemed appropriate, and I’d like to get “the Hallowed” for my warlock…provided I can ever get her to level cap!
Kingslayer is probably my proudest one, although I got that after the dungeon had been nerfed to the ground so I probably shouldn’t be too proud of it.
Of the Nightfall is probably the one I like most in the way it sounds.
But to be honest, I’m not really a stickler for titles. I’d rather be plain old Nethertwist.
My favorite part of titles is that it’s something that remains with your character after the gear has gone away. The beautiful T10 shoulders that my Priest wore for almost a year are now gathering dust in the bank, but you can still see “of the Ashen Verdict” or “the Kingslayer” floating above my head.
I earned “Crusader” on two characters, even though my druid lost it in the faction change (and haven’t ruled chasing it again, because I’m just that in love with the Argent Tournament), and it’s one of my favorites. It may not be exclusive, but it’s a symbol of the time and commitment I put into reaching that goal, and the epic 5-at-once achi spam that I hit at the end.
The holiday titles have always been a novelty for me. I try to get certain ones as I see appropriate for my class. “Flame Keeper” for my shaman for example.
“Of the Nightfall” may have been trivial when I got it, but seems a fitting title for a shadow priest.
And some I’ve sought just for the funny little irony for me. A death knight with the title “The Argent Champion”? I think it’s entertaining.
I’ve wanted “Guardian of Cenarius”, but the string of Heroic Steamvault runs that means always push me away.
“Jenkins” – I think I might have this on one toon. I never wear it. I don’t hate it, but I don’t feel any attachment to it. It’s just there. When I see it on others I tend to just think “ooh, someone’s guild was bored”
I don’t wear my “Jenkins” title ever, because I got it by accident while on a BWL run with the intention of killing Nefarian, and because I don’t feel like it suits me at all.
The titles that mean the most to me, and the ones that I usually wear, are the ones that feel the most fitting for the character. I worked hard to get Guardian of Cenarius for my Druid, and if there was an “of the Earthen Ring” title, I would love to have it and proudly wear it on my Shaman. My Paladin will go after becoming a Crusader and an Argent Champion. I’m a huge Tauren partisan, so I ran around as “Kamalia of Thunder Bluff” for a long time after the Argent Tournament debuted. After that, my favorite title was “Loremaster” because I love the lore and stories of the game and worked very hard to get it. Currently, I’m “Associate Professor” and hope to eventually become “Professor” — ironically, titles that I will never have in real life, despite having a PhD, because one of the biggest things I learned in graduate school was that research and I do not get along.