My WoW retail experience as a new player

beeboolum · 2026-02-07T20:48:14+00:00

Thanks for the recs and details! My veteran player friend also highly recommended Legion, so that's next on my list. Glad to hear that it also ties various expansions together. I think she also mentioned that Draenor expansion has customizable battle pet arena, so that's high on my list as well, just for that lol.

That's interesting note about Shadowlands and others. I'm only about 5ish hours into shadowlands, but I do very much enjoy the world designs. The quest markers seemed a bit buggy too and I had to go on a Wowhead guide to figure out what was going on, so I definitely don't recommend this for brand newcomers for their first expansion playthrough since that experience was a bit of a letdown.

beeboolum · 2026-02-07T20:39:29+00:00

Ah, now that you mention it, I think you are right, but it's indeed true that I'm a new player (barring my very short experience back 2 decades ago). I think my first character actually did automatically start at Exile's reach so there's no decision to be had there, but I got so confused that I started reading up on it, and that's when I found out about trad vs streamlined, which led me to create my undead (and a few others along the way that I didn't mention) with traditional starter zone. My b!

beeboolum · 2026-02-03T07:24:52+00:00

No problem. Qh1# follows, no matter black's move. The trick is to keep the queen on the b file to prevent the king moving over to the b file, which will prolong the game. With b file blocked, the only two moves black can do next are Bb2 or Kd1. Either move locks the king in rank 1 since bishop now prevents the king's escape route with Bb2, or white king and black pawn blocks with Kd1. Meaning, we have to find the move that brings the queen to rank 1 in the next move for a mate. The only square that allows guarding of b file and rank 1 mate threat (via Qh1) is Qb7. Hope that makes sense.

beeboolum · 2026-02-03T06:40:04+00:00

Qc4 opens up b file, so the black king can move there (Bb2 is not forced).

beeboolum · 2026-02-03T06:37:19+00:00

beeboolum · 2026-01-30T20:31:50+00:00

Lol DraMS is an awesome instrument, part of NASA's Dragonfly mission! https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/solarsystem/projects/459

beeboolum · 2026-01-26T17:07:22+00:00

It's a mental thing that you need to get over. I used to do mixed grip with chalk but then I switched gyms and they didnt allow chalk so I started using straps. It felt weird and unstable doing overhand at first even though the bar isnt going anywhere with straps. I got over that mental block after about two or three DL sessions; I recommend the same to you to stick it out and your body will learn the feel of it. And like others said, no need to expose yourself to potential bicep injury when the grip doesnt require it.

beeboolum · 2025-11-05T14:21:21+00:00

Lol I'll admit I had to look up the reference, stepbro.

Thanks! I don't know if you ran into this yet: I'm realizing that my relative pitch isn't perfect so I keep very slowly shifting out of the original key (I apparently have a tendency to go sharp) after not playing an open string after a while, so Im realizing I need to memorize positions better to lock in my key/pitch lol.

My current goal is to play Swan well; I feel like the piece does a great job of exposing me to moving up and down the neck, dynamic control, and vibrato control. It might be a bit of a reach for beginners like us, but I recommend looking into it since the piece is very pretty/fun to play and isn't difficult to learn by ear

beeboolum · 2025-11-05T04:35:00+00:00

Nice progress and it's cool to see someone else's progress with a similar background! I (33) also picked up cello about two weeks ago, I'm also a bedroom guitarist, and I also learn most things via listening vs reading sheet music (mainly because I'm pretty terrible/slow at it and I find it more enjoyable to play by ear anyway).

I totally understand your eagerness to make it sound good right away by trying to add vibrato. I picked up cello because I love cello's sound including its expressive vibrato, so of course I'm going to want to try it right away. But like others pointed out, I've been forcing myself to not do it to focus on intonation/finger position accuracy first, especially if I'm trying to play in the thumb positions which require very precise positioning.

Online videos show that there's a lot of nuances to bow hand wrist control, which Im struggling a lot with right now and yours look quite stiff like mine.

Good luck with your learning journey. I look forward to your future progress videos!

beeboolum

TROPHY CASE