You’re NEVER Too Old to Learn

Growing up I was never very interested in computers or coding or even video games. I didn’t own a computer until I moved out on my own, back in 2000. As years went by I would lament over the fact that I couldn’t code like a lot of my friends (and my family, my Dad is an Oracle programmer) and I started resigning myself to the fact that it was something that I’d never be able to do. Sure, I learned some basic HTML like everyone else who used forums and wanted to format some stuff, but nothing further.

I think it’s really important to keep learning things as you grow up, it keeps us from being stagnant. With a new kid I don’t have a lot of spare time but I wanted to make good use of the small amount of time that I did have. I still wanted to learn how to code, but I had absolutely no idea where to start or what language to learn – there are so many! I asked on twitter for some help from friends and they came through in a big way offering all sorts of advice.

One of the best pieces of advice was to take a look at freeCodeCamp.org. It’s a learning tool that teaches you how to code in a bunch of different languages and they offer you certificates for passing their courses. Each certificate they offer takes 200+ hours, depending on your speed. Not only that, but their ‘camp’ helps non-profit organizations. You take the stuff you’ve learned and apply it to real life situations; in this case that means creating apps for non-profits to use. So not only are you learning how to code (for free) you’re helping out some fine folks who need it, and your stuff is actually being used. I signed up, got a GitHub account attached, and started on the first lesson (which you can see part of above in my screenshot, the left hand side is my instructions, the center is my code, and the right hand side is the result).

They start you out with very basic HTML and then move to CSS. I’ve done 19 of the challenges so far, and as you progress they hold your hand less and less. You can “ask for a hint” which takes you to their forums where you can interact with other students and help each other along with your code. They encourage community and local study groups which I think is fantastic. No, I’m not doing very complicated things (yet) but I’ll get there. I can learn at my own pace, on my own time. I feel like I’m doing something constructive with the limited spare time I have. Eventually, I may even be able to get a job with my new skill set, even if it takes a few years.

This is something that’s really important to me, and near and dear to my heart. As such, I’ve decided to do a weekly coding blog post, where I talk about what I’m working on and where I am in the program. I’m hoping it’ll be a motivational tool for those who think that they’re too old to learn or don’t have the time. A sort of “hell if I can do it, anyone can do it” example. I’m also INCREDIBLY excited and proud of myself. This is something I never thought I’d be able to do and here I am. I know it’ll take some time, but I’ll get there.

 

Pet Battle Dungeons (and other fun)

Today was an odd mixture of accomplishments. I finished off a few raids I wanted to get done before things reset on Tuesday, obtaining a few upgrades (mostly artifact items for my weapons, and a wrist piece) and I got my dailies done. Then I attempted to clear out some quests from my journal, wandering around aimlessly in Broken Shore because I still have no idea what’s going on there.

I managed to unlock more traits on my DPS weapon which is pretty neat. I’m close to “finishing” the basic traits on my holy weapon, so that’s nice too. I’m not punished too much for spreading my artifact points all over the damn place.

Eventually the evening was dragging on and I decided I wanted to attempt one of the pet battle dungeons that were added not too long ago. Friends who know me are aware that I have a lovely little fascination with pet battles (and collecting pets) with 603 unique pets in my collection. Of course not all of them are level 25, or rare, but maybe one day. I haven’t done a lot of pet collecting in Legion (if any) so that number should go up before too long.

The pet dungeon I decided to try was Wailing Caverns, and it was awesome – but a few things frustrated me.

There’s an achievement for completing the dungeon, but you can’t get it on your first attempt through with the weekly. Instead you have to try to get it on your second attempt, the attempt that doesn’t let you heal any of your pets. Great achievement, but it should specify that some place.

Completing the weekly did give me a token to boost a pet to level 25, so that was nice, but I found the dungeon very long. Maybe it’s just because I wasn’t sure what pets to use and it required some trial and error, but it took a good amount of time to defeat the final boss. Of course that’s also a rewarding feeling, but I was hoping for something I could dart into and not worry about if I had to leave early.

Still, I love the idea, and hope they can make a few improvements with time and practice. I only had time for one run through and I don’t think I’ll have the pets required to make a run without heals, so for now I’ll be happy with that.

I also collected enough essences to boost my 940 legendary to 970, yay! Almost forgot to mention that.

So while I don’t have a lot of time to play, I AM making progress. Slowly. In my own time. It’s still a pretty nice feeling. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

The Broken Shore (Lost…)

This weekend is a holiday weekend, so I was able to dip into some WoW while the other half took kiddo for a walk – it was glorious because I finally finished off the very beginner part of my class hall campaign! YAY!

Then I started working on The Broken Shore stuff.

What?

I don’t understand the point of this zone. I understand what’s going on from a lore perspective, but the place just doesn’t make sense to me. So far I’ve run around completing a few missions / quests, but I’ve seen only a handful of other players, the place is awkwardly packed with encounter after encounter, and I haven’t gotten a single item as loot / quest reward yet. What am I missing? Do I need to progress further in the chain before the usefulness of this zone becomes apparent?

Am I working towards something? I couldn’t even tell you aside from the ability to research my artifact stuff beyond 25.

Speaking of artifacts. I wish I had of been much smarter when it came to spending my points in the beginning. I swapped between all three of my weapons and spread points everywhere. I’m finally on the last 1.2 million required for my main spec (these days that’s DPS) and then… well then I work towards finishing off my holy weapon, I suppose.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying playing a huge amount, but I just don’t understand what I’m doing in this zone. Plus, I have a quest to go do a dungeon, and it’s causing me some anxiety. It’s not a mythic dungeon (I believe it’s some sort of citadel?) but I still don’t see myself doing it any time soon in a PUG. We’ll have to see, I suppose.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

I’m Good With LFR, Thanks

I don’t like grouping with strangers very much – but there’s one very odd exception to that rule, and it’s in LFRaid in WoW. I have absolutely no problem doing any of the raids, and even have a few favourites. I try to get a handful done each week (I just don’t have time to do everything) especially when the extra incentive options roll around.

So why is it that I have no issue in a raid but I almost always absolutely refuse to be in a group? I suppose it’s because I feel a lot less pressure in a raid. You can still get called out, still get kicked out of the group, and still be commented on – but there’s also a lot more people around, and chances are unless you’re doing something that’s causing large scale wipes, you’ll be fine.

Tonight I ended up doing a few rounds of dailies along with a handful of raids. I didn’t get any gear upgrades but I did get an item for my holy weapon. I’m only at 859ilevel right now and there’s still raids that are blocked to me until I hit 860, plus I haven’t even completed the previous four (I’ve done some of them but not all of them). I’m working my way slowly through the broken shore quest chain and I still have my class hall chain to complete, too. Problem is trying to find the time for everything. I’ll get there. Eventually.

I suppose that’s one of the huge pluses of not having any time. There’s no way I’ll run out of content any time soon. I’m also contemplating leveling up a druid on the new server I play on, because why not. I love druids and I miss mine (and I don’t want to move her). We’ll see if I go anywhere with that. In the meantime I’m having an absolute blast on my priest.

As always, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself!

Short and Sweet (Dailies in WoW)

It had been a few days since I logged into World of Warcraft, but my priest was right where I left her. I jumped into some dailies because I was out of resources (again) and sold a BoE chest I found for 35k, not too shabby. I wanted to do another round of dailies, but alas, the clock was ticking and it was nearing bedtime. That’s the trouble with there being only so many hours to a day.

I’ve been thinking of setting up a Minecraft server to play on in between my rounds of WoW but so far I haven’t decided on a mod pack to use (or if I even have the time). When I do have a few seconds I’m typically diving into some game that requires zero thought to play it, like Hell Girls.

My adventures this week have been short and sweet, so this post shall be the same way.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!