"I May Be Done" The Husband of A Warcraft Couple Talks about His Wife's Passing

By Bixyl Shuftan

When it comes to computer games and marriages, we often think of the electronic entertainment as a source of friction between a wife who couldn't care less about computers and a husband who is unable to put aside the addiction he developed while single. So when we hear about a couple that goes dungeon-whomping together, it sounds like a match made in heaven.

But what happens when one of the couple passes away? What happens if it is "game over" for a gamer's "player two?"

This week someone posted a link on Facebook to a thread on the "World of Warcraft" forums, "I May Be Done," in which an "Acktion" described how he and his wife ended up playing the game together for years, and his loss and sorrow now that she was gone.


My wife passed away on 10/05. They say the fact I was sitting right beside her, waiting for her to wake up so we could hit Darkmoon Faire and Brewfest together and had no idea when she left is a good thing. That it means she was at peace and the transition was easy and painless.

I don't know anything about that. I'm trying to take their word for it. But, all I can feel right now is pain and loneliness.

I had actually picked up World of Warcraft when it first hit the shelves out of Beta.

I corrupted my wife to it sometime during Burning Crusade.

By the time Cataclysm came out, we were both housebound disabled. At the time, it was more difficult for me to sit up and play for very long than it was for her. I managed, but frankly only because she wanted me to play with her. And then, not for very long before I had to rest.

Sometime in Mists, we corrupted her son (my step-son) to our WarCrack addiction (and she somehow managed to finesse our much reduced finances to pick up a second account since she no longer had room to make new characters) even though she'd become largely bedridden and played from a laptop on a hospital style lap tray.

Sometime during Warlords of Draenor, he got married and his wife joined our band of happy fanatics.

We typically only played together or with one or two friends or a couple of my former students who'd stayed in touch. And, frankly, I really only played to be with them, doing something with them which we could all do.

Ok, mostly I was playing because she was pleading, begging, or nagging me alternately to come spend some time doing one of the few things left she could enjoy as she became bedridden and it hurt her for me to touch her most days.

She loved World of Warcraft. Perhaps I did too, but it was mostly my love for her that drove me to continue adding expansions I could no longer fully explore since raids and pvp and many of the things I once enjoyed were beyond my declining abilities.

I cancelled both of her accounts less than thirty minutes ago.

Sharley will no longer be running beside Acktion.

Lubov will no longer be guarding Panaceah.

All of the characters I have built specifically to run amok with my beloved are now as alone as I am in this home we once shared.

The game has been brought up by our children whom I couldn't love more if they were flesh of my blood, by friends who have stopped by or called to give their condolences. I have told them that I'm not sure if I will ever be able to play again. And I'm not.

Just hours before she slipped from this mortal coil of Earth, my beautiful bride was logging out of Azeroth content because she'd managed to take, if not all sixty characters, at least the ones she was going to this month to the Darkmoon Faire to do their profession quests.

Right here, right now, I think I vastly prefer to remember her competing with me to see which of us leads our guilds in achievement points than visiting Azeroth without her.

That may change. I may be lured back by our friends and family. But not for awhile if ever.

In the meantime, thank you Blizzard for giving her Azeroth to make her last years on Earth so pleasurable for all of us who ran with her.

As of the writing of this article, there were thirty-seven pages of responses, and growing, "This was the most beautiful, yet heart-wrenching tribute of love and life I've ever read." Mostly of people expressing their sorry and trying to offer comfort, "If you decide you want to return to Azeroth someday. We'll still be here, and we'll welcome you back with open arms." "I've sat here for several minutes trying to figure out what the hell to say, or how I can help. I'm not sure how much it matters, but know that we're here for you." Some had their own stories of loss. One brought up a poem that was part of one of the game's quests. One of Blizzard's forum managers would post, "Blizzard sends its condolences to you and your family as well friend. Thank you for telling your story and it warms my heart to see that something we do had a part in it. Loss is never easy but it does get better. Take all the time you need. Real life always comes first."

The man, under his other character name, would later comment, "I realized at the time I wrote it that the overwhelming majority of WoW players would have absolutely no idea who we were or, if we are honest, care much beyond a brief  'oh, that is sad.' But, Lubov (or Sharley on her Horde main), did have many friends in the game that I felt I should at least try to let know she was gone. And this was the only way I could think of. I certainly didn't expect such an outpouring of warmth from strangers. Well, strangers to me, although she might have known you. I'm afraid she was the one who was good with people. And I definitely didn't expect to be notified that my post here on her behalf would be picked up elsewhere as well."

"for what it's worth, I (the OP) and our son, are aware of the outpouring of well wishes both here and other places my original post has turned up. We do thank you for those well wishes and, indeed, feel the comforting touch of my wife and his mother in your kind responses. Thank you. ...  Peace be with you all. Don't forget to make your own day as good as you can. And anyone else's you conveniently can as well. Your support voiced here has helped ours immensely."

When gaming communities at times seem full of little or nothing but immature players who think of nothing but themselves, this is a reminder that they're full of people with heart.

Bixyl Shuftan

Adventures in Tyria, A Look at Guild Wars 2 And Legendary Weapons

By Grease Coakes

When I bought Guild Wars 2 a few years ago I was pulled in by the immense world that’s Tyria. Being a steady player staying up to 3 or 4am some nights playing pvp or doing dungeons has brought me a long way.

I highly recommend this game as now you just have to pay for the heart of thorns expansion as the base game is free. However the way Guild Wars 2 makes it’s money is with gems and people buying the expansion. Another name for GW2 is fashion wars as you can buy outfits or accessories with gems you purchase with real money. Or you could buy gems with gold earned in game.

The classes you can play as such as Mesmer,Elementist,Necromancer who wear light armor. The medium armor classes are Engineer,Ranger,Thief. The Heavy armor classes are Guardian,Warrior and now with the expansion Reverant which is a mystic warrior which can use the mists to bring him power.

Mesmer can make mirror images as his images attack for you and confuse foes. Elementlists harness the four elements to attack or heal with water. Necromancers use death as magic to bring foes to an early grave.

Engineers use gadgets and guns to blast enemies. Rangers like hunters in wow hunt with bow and arrow and have an animal companion to hunt along with them. Thieves have low hit points but can attack with stealth and do heavy damage with daggers and pistols.

The Heavy classes are Guardian which is like a Paladin smiting with holy powers. The Warrior is the tough mace swinging solider.

Each class can use different weapons such as pistol or sword. Every weapon gives different attacks 1-5 on your keyboard. If you decide to give Guild Wars 2 a try, play around and see what character and weapons work best for you.

Also for the new expansion there are elite classes you have to get hero points to unlock. Chronomancer for Mesmer and Tempest for Elementlist. You have to gain hero points to unlock the elite classes.

In the game there are crafting professions such as Chef, Huntsman, Artficing, Weaponsmithing and more. They can make goods, such as food and dyes for chefs, melee weapons for weaponsmiths. But crafting professions were also needed to help make something which has been a tremendous source of pride for me.

If you've met me in Second Life lately, you might have seen my fliptitle which says “I have Rodgort the Legendary Torch.” You might of wondered what that means. There are legendary weapons you can attain which isn’t just soulbound to one character. However it takes a long time and lots of the in-game gold. There’s a list of them here on the bottom of the page https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Rodgort. One of them Rodgort happens to be the one I have that Cat Mage now has (my Mesmer).

When you forge a legendary it’s useable by ANY of your account characters. So long as your character can use whatever legendary weapon. For example my Mesmer can use it, but also so can my human ranger.

Another bonus to having a legendary weapon on top of having wonderful visual effects is the fact that so long as you’re out of combat you can change the stats to whatever you choose. If you want more hit points pick solider. If you want more condition damage and precision pick viper. Equipment such as armor and weapons have stat combos. If you want to change stats you have to unequip your legendary weapon and click select stats. It’s fun to experiment to see how Viper or Assassin will change your damage or boost your armor.

You might be asking “Grease how do you get a legendary weapon?” Well it took a LOT of work. And a lot of gold. When you first start the game you might want to start exploring and practice playing at one class or try another class and like that better. One of the things you need for any legendary weapon is the gift of exploration. You get that when you explore all the maps of Tyria. The new legendary weapons such as Nevermore you need to explore the new areas in the Heart of thorns expansion.

 Also dungeons and PvP. You can get free weapons and armor through dungeon tracks. The eight dungeons offer weapons and armor and specific to each dungeon. The weapons and armor have stat combos. So it very possible before you even hit 80 which is the max level to have exotic or orange gear.

PvP is very harsh. Overwatch is a fairy tale compared to how hard and intense Guild Wars 2 PvP can be. HOWEVER. You can get clovers and weapons and armor for free if you stick to it. Mystic clovers you also need for legendary weapons. It’s easier to get them through PvP but slower and cheaper then taking chances with the mystic forge. You also receive tomes of knowledge through PvP.

But don’t throw all your time into PvP though. Once you hit 80 you can do dungeons and get gold along with lots of low level weapons and armor to salvage for magic find. Over time magic find gets higher so you find better armor and weapons and also materials such as vicious claws that you also need for legendary weapons. Dungeons are easy once you get the hang of them.

In order to PvP on the dungeon tracks you have to complete the story mode of whatever dungeon. For example the first dungeon story mode I unlocked was Honor of the waves. When you first start Citadel of Flame is already playable. That offers berserker gear which has power precision and Ferocity. Most players use this gear for the highest damage but it makes your character fragile as well.

Also something you can complete is a title called dungeoneer which offers you ascended (pink) accessories for free. Each dungeon has the weapons and armor sets you can unlock through completing the dungeons giving you tokens for whatever dungeon. When you unlock ALL of them you receive an accessory on the house. Two of them have healing stats. Two of them have assanin’s stats for high damage. The other two are solider’s for tanking. The last two are carrion for condition damage. Such as fire burning an enemy or a sword cutting someone making him/her bleed.
When you finally grunt and get all the dungeons you not only have those eight accessories for free. You also get the title of dungeoneer AND a large treasure chest.

While you get these armor and weapons you might not be using you can salvage them into ectos which (surprise) you need for a legendary weapon AND sell for decent gold. When you get dungeoneer you can keep using tokens for gear just salvage on top anything else you find in dungeons.

Also to get legendries, you have to get gifts from professions. For example for Rodgort I need Chef and Huntsman to create gifts to combine in the mystic forge for your weapon. Not only that it was costly in gold to get the materials for the gifts. You also had to spend gold to bring your crafting profession to a high enough level to create the gift. Sound expensive? Yes it was but worth it as my Mesmer walks around with fire foot prints now.

I hope this helps anyone looking for a new game to play to suck you in to goof off and play on your days off. Also once you pay for the expansion THERE’S NO MONTHLY FEE. Whether you play around for free with limited options or buy the expansion Heart of Thorns of HOT for short. Arena Net doesn’t charge you a subscription fee. Feel free if you see something you like to buy  with gems (from real money) or gold within game traded for gems.

Bring yourself to Tyria for a grand adventure I know I have. There’s also guilds to join to share your adventure with others who might share in your interests and you might get lucky as you might also talk with people also from Second life. In fact I’m working on a second legendary called the Bifrost a rainbow staff. https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Bifrost Who knows you might run into me in this fantasy/steampunk massive RPG.

Grease Coakes