The Great Pandarian Staff Swindle (Or how I discovered a hidden social welfare system in World of Warcraft)

Every monk has its demon, they say. Even if that monk is a digital furry and his demon, a somewhat dodgy idea of digital opportunity. As a returning World of Warcraft player, I found myself experimenting with my first Pandarian character (and my first monk) and right there -Quest number one - I made an unexpected discovery. The objective was to go get a staff and return to the master. But, because I really like using that unlock feature on WOW, I clicked it a second time after taking my staff. And discovered that it was possible to take a second staff. As I continued, I began to wonder about this possibility. How many staffs can you take from the training ground? In the interests of scientific enquiry (of course) I decided to create a second Pandarian monk to find out. That's when I found out that the Wandering Isle was generous beyond belief.

My (second) Pandarian helped herself to almost a backpack full of staffs. To exchange those staffs for currency, she needed to reach a merchant. This required her to complete Quests 1 and 2 first before she could begin her neferious dealings. Quest 3 involved sparring with the Huojin trainees, but at this point she was able to go AWOL instead and track down the nearest available merchant.

It was slightly risky, because to reach him she needed to move through the aggressive Fe-Feng, without yet having achieved the ability to heal herself, if injured.

Lee Sunspark - blacksmith and 'fence'. It was slightly risky, because to reach him she needed to move through the very aggressive Fe-Feng, without yet having achieved the ability to heal herself, if injured. She had the luck of the devil, though, and was able to return to the training grounds without incident for a second load of staffs. Yes, even after handing in Quest no 1, you can still take as many training staffs as you want. At this point, I deleted the little guttersnipe and switched back to my original Panderian. But, here's where it gets crazy. 14 training staffs = 1 silver 56 copper. After 75 trips, she would see her first gold. 75,000 trips and she would have over 1000 gold, while still a puny level 3. Okay, it would be v-e-r-y time consuming. And boring after a while. There are many better ways of earning gold. And World of Warcraft is about more than gold. Isn't it?

The Two Best Things About The Netflix series Sweet Tooth...

... are Gus's ears. You just can't stop watching them. The way they rise and droop to show what's going on in his fireball mind. They are also a large part of why it's so easy to suspend disbelief that hybrid children do exist. It helps that Christian Convery has been abundantly blessed with the natural beauty some kids just have. It's equally fascinating to observe his interactions with other animals - such as the way he draws deer to him in moments of high emotion. All these things contribute to making him more than just an adorable little boy with antlers. The world of Sweet Tooth is a surprisingly relatable dystopia, especially in the time of Covid. As we do, many of its people mask up and stay home in the hope that it will keep them safe. Luckily we do not observe some of their more extreme rituals - such as immolation of the infected, but we could all imagine a pandemic going that bad - a totalitarian police state where fear makes people do terrible things. In a way, the characters represent the various points at which integrity, compromise and survival intersect. We can empathise with the difficult choices Dr Singh faces, but the ruthlessness of Last Men represents the emergence of humanity's darker side. It would have been nice to see more of Bear's bold animal army - they deserve a spin-off series - although the plight of that poor tiger in the container crate worries me. Aimee perhaps represents the best in humanity, even as General Abbott represents the worst. For Big Man and for Bear, meeting Gus represents an invitation to confront their demons and change. But it's mostly Gus that we're rooting for, because Gus represents our longing for freedom, our hope at finding that Brave New World beyond the sadness. I can't wait for Season 2 to be available. This has been awesome.