Shadowmourne Retrospective

I’m going back through my posts to try to outline the ones that have some mention of the Shadowmourne quest line.

March 10, 2010: Battered Hilt

Not really about Shadowmourne per se, but I said I was “pondering starting the quest line for Shadow’s Edge.”  Note that I said Shadow’s Edge, not Shadowmourne.  It gives you an idea of my frame of mind back then.

March 17, 2010: Another gear post

Again, not much about Shadowmourne, but it did have this choice quote: “There’s always Shadow’s Edge, of course, but that’s light years away for me.  I don’t picture myself ever getting it.”  Note again that my mindset was on the improbability of getting Shadow’s Edge.  If you had told me then that I would get Shadowmourne, I probably would have laughed in your face and asked for some of what you were smoking.

June 4, 2010: Some Souls Are Better Than Others

This is the first post after I got Shadow’s Edge, and when I started on the third step of the long Shadowmourne questline.  Here’s the first time I acknowledged that I was on the questline to get Shadowmourne and not just getting some ilvl 264 axe.

June 11, 2010: Collecting Souls

Not much here on Shadowmourne; I was focused on the quest to collect the souls as a quest on its own.  This is the first time I mentioned bastardizing the “Beer on the Wall” song for use in ICC.

June 18, 2010: Progress Report

Just a progress report: Shadow’s Edge had 311 souls to go. No mention of Shadowmourne.

June 20, 2010: 101 Souls to go…

Another progress report. The end of the collecting souls was in sight.

June 24, 2010: Ramble On

A Feast of Souls was completed at this point, but I still didn’t feel like I was on my way to Shadowmourne. I said “Shadowmourne is still a distant dream”, which I guess puts it into the realm of possibility rather than not thinking about it at all.  I note that I also said “Leafie tells me that I will soon get Shadowmourne and will be in a 2H blood spec full time.”  She was right about that, except I suppose for the “soon” bit.

July 11, 2010: Meanwhile, back in Azeroth…

Seemingly nothing huge here; it’s just a retelling of an ICC 25 run which didn’t involve any of the Shadowmourne questline. Yet I wrote this: “I didn’t get the chance to take a step toward Shadowmourne by driving the Abomination on Putricide.” I think this might qualify as the first time I expressed some confidence as to working toward getting Shadowmourne rather than just doing quests incidentally.

July 21, 2010: Not My Fault

Another post on other things, but I did mention that I hoped to take another step toward Shadowmourne that night.

July 29, 2010: The Queen is Dead.  Again.

A few things here.  This was the entry where I actually got the Unholy Infusion.  I remember not getting it the week prior because I had screwed it up by infusing the weapon too early. This time I got it right and completed a step toward Shadowmourne.  It also seemed from the tenor of the post that I was actually working toward the weapon with some confidence; I was disappointed that I didn’t get to try the Blood Infusion quest, though that was understandable given that we hadn’t downed BQL at all before then.  But our first kills of BQL and Sindragosa on 25-man mode left me with some confidence that I would be able to complete the next two infusions.

July 30, 2010: Frost Infusion

No progress, but I noted that “The next big task… is getting Shadowmourne for Traxy.” It was the first time on the blog that I had stated the goal that definitively.

August 3, 2010: Why Me?

This was the first post specifically about Shadowmourne and my goal to get it. At the time, I still had the blood and frost infusions to go.  I said that “I’m not sure” it could be done before Cataclysm. I think I had felt that I was going to work toward getting Shadowmourne but this was the first time I had posted the possibility in depth.

August 5, 2010: Blood Infusion

Here I talked about completing the Blood Infusion part of the questline. Nothing specific about how I felt about Shadowmourne, other than recognizing that it was a guild effort.

August 6, 2010: Frost Infusion

Here were my thoughts on completing the Frost Infusion part of the Shadowmourne questline.  I noted that none of the subsequent three bosses dropped a shadowfrost shard, but I expressed confidence in my closing line: “50 shards to Shadowmourne.”

August 11, 2010: Oranges 

Here came my first shadowfrost shards!  I picked up 5 in a run that killed the first 11 bosses in the zone. I calculated that at that rate, I would have gotten Shadowmourne in nine more weeks.  That would have been October 13, 2010. Things looked pretty rosy at that point.

August 12, 2010: A Weapon Conundrum

Nothing new to update, but this post was about the ethical issues of taking rolls on other weapons when I was in line to get Shadowmourne.  I think at this point Shadowmourne had become an expectation, not simply a goal.

August 14, 2010: Sealed Chests

Another post where I was brimming with confidence that I would get Shadowmourne.  Here I was talking about the sealed chest that drops off the Lich King when you kill him for the first time with Shadowmourne. I note that at some point during that week I had gotten a sixth shard (off of Lich King, undoubtedly).

August 18, 2010: 10/50

Another ICC 25, this time resulting in four shards.  Nothing special, though I still seem confident.

August 25, 2010: 14/50

Another ICC 25, again resulting in four shards. The run only cleared through the blood wing, so I held out hope of getting more shards later in the week. We also used DKP on the run, which meant that we had a good number of guildies on. We tried some heroic modes, but didn’t have any luck with them.

August 26, 2010: Trying to Remember

This post said nothing about Shadowmourne. What it did mark, however, was a turning point for our guild, a point where things started to go sour. We had several recruits at this point who were being rather idiotic, and this post exemplifies my approach toward that: trying my best to remember a time when we (meaning the core raiders of the guild) didn’t know what we were doing either.  I think the previous day’s entry represented a high point as to my confidence about Shadowmourne.  This is when things started to unravel a bit.

August 31, 2010: When Cataclysm Hits

This is when I first stated my worries about not getting Shadowmourne. I also noted a change in my approach to the game; things that helped me get Shadowmourne were interesting to me, things that didn’t (e.g., Ruby Sanctum, ICC 10 heroics) were not. I think you can see that my confidence is beginning to falter.

September 2, 2010: 16/50: In Which I Whine

We had a really good raid week this week; in two nights we cleared ICC 25 (one-shotting everything except Sindragosa) and then Ruby Sanctum (two-shotting Halion) as well. Except I remember feeling horrible due to a cold. I tried to keep positive here, but I think reading between the lines I was worried.

September 8, 2010: 20/50

Just another update here. Nothing much to read into it. We had 22 guildees and potential recruits in the run and decided not to pug at all. We didn’t get Sindragosa down, but I did get four shards.

September 9, 2010: Eleven Ice Blocks

Another update with nothing specific about Shadowmourne. It recounted an awful ICC run where we wiped to Sindragosa many times due to stupid puggers.  In closing, I expressed the worry of the event that might have prevented me from getting Shadowmourne: “I’m not sure how many raids like last night our guild can take.”

September 15, 2010: No More Pigs

Another basic update recounting a raid.  I got four more shards, bringing the total to 24. We couldn’t get Sindragosa down, but this time I think the blame was more fairly placed on our guild members rather than the pugs.  In the ending, I expressed my growing worry: “if [we couldn’t pull ourselves together and defeat hard bosses] we will likely start losing people faster than we already are.”

September 16, 2010: A Dream is Dying

This was the nadir.  The pits.  The bottom of the whole experience. One of the things that fed into this was the rumored launch date of Cataclysm in early November. I also noted that “our ICC 25 runs are falling apart.” And “The dream of Shadowmourne has never seemed so distant.”  I had almost given up on the thing at this point, and was really depressed about it. The closing line probably illustrates my mood the best: “Perhaps I never should have wanted it in the first place.”

September 22, 2010: 30/50 — A Happy Post

I think the idea that this post might illustrate the best is why people who feel down on themselves like to gamble. There’s a certain thrill that comes with a run of good luck and that’s what was necessary to kick me out of my depressed mood about Shadowmourne.  I got six shards in a run that was full from the guild. And more importantly, it left me with the feeling that I might be able to complete the quest in five weeks rather than six, which would have been before the rumored Cataclysm launch date.  We didn’t down Sindragosa, but I felt upbeat about getting the quest done.

September 29, 2010: 34/50

Another ICC 25 raid, another four shards. This post was the first time I spoke about the Shadowmourne journey in a retrospective sense, so I clearly felt that I was in the home stretch at this point.

October 6, 2010: 36/50: Luck Runs Sour

An unlucky 2-shard ICC 25 run. I think if this run had occurred three weeks earlier I might have given up. But at this point I was still upbeat, because I had confidence that the next week the drop rate would turn around. I think by this point the actual release date of Cataclysm had been announced, and it wasn’t looming in early November. I still had a fair amount of time to get it done.

October 14, 2010: 41/50: Traxy Sings!

Another ICC 25 run, this time with a bit of luck in getting five shards to drop. It was the first run after the 4.0.1 patch hit.  My confidence was running high, and the end was in sight.

October 20, 2010: The Penultimate Shard Night (Hopefully)

Another ICC 25 run. I came in with the goal of getting five shards, and I got five shards (although the way was difficult; we had quite a bit of trouble on BQL). This left me with four shards to go before the quest was complete. My confidence was illustrated by the title. I felt like I would have only one more raid to go.

October 26, 2010: Shadowmourne Checklist

I was being thorough here.  I listed all the things I would need to do after getting Shadowmourne but before I could use it in a raid.

October 26, 2010, later in the day: Yet Another Shadowmourne Post

This was a sort of mini-retrospective. I had the full expectation of getting Shadowmourne that night, and was doing some calculating of time.  Turned out I had been actively working on Shadowmourne for over half the time I was in my current guild, including the time we transferred to another server.  Indeed, I had been working on Shadowmourne for more than half of this blog’s existence.

October 27, 2010: Okay, so never mind then

The expected shards did not drop. Out of five normal mode bosses and three hard mode bosses I managed to get one shard of the needed four. I don’t think I felt bitter so much as beaten, as though ICC were telling me “No, I decide when you get Shadowmourne, not you.”

October 28, 2010: 49/50: Tantalizingly Close

The next day we took down the last four bosses of ICC, two of them on heroic mode. The heroic mode bosses dropped two shards, but neither of the other two bosses dropped a shard. I don’t remember feeling disappointed at this outcome; my hopes had already been dashed, crumbled and stomped on the night before. I was also very glad that we figured out how to down the Lich King again; I needed him for the Sealed Chest.

November 2, 2010: Shard Night

Probably one of my shortest posts ever. It was posted because I felt like I needed to post something, but by this time all the words I could reasonably write on the subject had been written the week before.

November 2, 2010, later that day: Photo

Shadowmourne is mine.

November 3, 2010: Photo

Another picture of Shadowmourne, this one showing the soul fragments in action. It was a surprisingly cool effect when I first saw it.

November 3, 2010, later in the day: Five Months

A description of the raid in which I got Shadowmourne.  At this point I was a little bit giddy.

November 3, 2010, even later in the day: Sealed Chest Speech

This was the text of the speech I gave for the Sealed Chest event, which happened that night after we downed the Lich King. It was pretty moving. I think I may edit it to include the NPC RPs, since those were as much a part of it as anything. It was a wonderful event.

November 5, 2010: Closing the Book

What I assume will be my last Shadowmourne post.  This was a bit of a reflection on the Sealed Chest event and the entire Shadowmourne experience. I think the whole experience, including compiling this retrospective, made me glad I have a blog. I will be able to remember it better this way.

Hope you enjoyed it!