About the Bloggers: Lisa Poisso
by Lisa Poisso 
Oct 26th 2011 at 6:00PM
What do you do for WoW Insider?
These days, I'm rather akin to my rogue (above, slipping along with her stealth pack after spotting some Alliance players out leveling) or recently departed editor-in-chief Dan O'Halloran in that most of what I do happens behind the scenes. I'm the Mama Smurf of WoW Insider, painting the blue dot that means "copyediting complete" on each and every post that runs through the WI queue. This process is entirely separate from the content review done by our lead editors, and it's where I spend most of my WI time these days -- because this gang has a lot to say, trust me ...
Somewhere in there is writing. I've managed to acquire one of the highest word counts of anyone at WoW Insider by dint of long tenure and the rather mind-boggling list of features I've worked on during that time. Currently, I only write two features: 15 Minutes of Fame and Drama Mamas (although Drama Mama Robin gets the official byline on this feature). The list of what I've worked on in the past, however ... That's another story. I created Insider Trader (now Gold Capped) and the now-defunct features Gamers on the Street and [1.Local]. I also wrote Well Fed Buff, which was absorbed into World of WarCrafts, which I also wrote for a good stretch. I've also sat a spell in The Classifieds and WoW Rookie. Oh yeah, and Two Bosses Enter.
Is it soup yet?
What's your main right now?My favorite characters are mages and paladins. I have probably half a dozen of these sprinkled across both factions and various realm types, and they're the ones I play the most now that I'm not currently raiding. I don't seem to make much progress anymore, though, because I'm constantly switching from one to another and spending most of my time editing their gear and UIs and inventories. (You'd think all that stuff would be tweaked to perfection after this long. Oh, how I wish that were so.)
That said, I would still consider my main to be one of several priests, none of which I'm currently playing. It's a confusing question.
What's the best instance in the game?
I like the old stuff that you could spend a whole night getting lost in. What a great way to spend an evening! I don't want my MMO to be a task list I oh-so-efficiently dash off before I settle in; it should be the main event. It's the difference between a reality TV episode you watch while you're folding laundry and an HBO mini-series you plan your whole schedule around. Some of the later instances are strutting around with some pretty flashy design bling -- and that's cool -- but I like a dungeon with meat on its bones. I'd have to give the props to classic Blackrock Depths back in the day for offering us so much to explore, so many tricks to learn, and so many reasons to go -- business in the bar, particular drops, mining, the enchanting trinket, MC attunements, fire resistance gear ... As delightful as some of the design surprises in the newest instances can be, they go by too quickly and too casually to find a spot in my heart.
What's the best raid?
That honor clearly goes to Karazhan, as so many bloggers have noted before.
What's been your favorite expansion?Expansion? Nah. I think I probably enjoyed vanilla WoW most based on the attraction of exploring and puzzling through the unknown -- ironic, I know, coming from someone who works for an info/spoiler site.
I also dug the complexities presented in The Burning Crusade. Things like that crazy attunement chart for BC raiding just make me salivate. And Zangarmarsh -- ah, its own little world.
What's the #1 thing Blizzard has done great?
Polish. Blizzard has the best spit and polish of any gaming company I can think of.
What's the number one thing Blizzard could do better?
I wish we could roll back time to some point before convenience features such as the Dungeon Finder stripped player community from the game. I miss a realm populated by players with reputations and relationships developed over time. Sadly, I don't think there's a way to recapture that; WoW's definitely something to be played through now, rather than a virtual world to be lived in and savored.
What's your favorite mount?
The Magnificent Flying Carpet gets my nod. It's stylish, it's magical, and it's totally fitting for most of my characters. More pointedly, though, I find the overly large, awkward proto-drakes an ugly nuisance and I'd like to wipe them off the face of Azeroth.
Mounts are pretty utilitarian things to me. I have more of a soft spot for pets -- not the achievements and all that hullabaloo, but rather specific pets. I always make sure to pick up a Firefly from Zangarmarsh on any character I'm playing seriously.
It's far from the "best" way, but I like to farm for herbs. I don't even take alchemy -- I just enjoy the process of flying peacefully around, swooping down, plucking at leaves, remounting ... I've considered making a druid just so that I can have flight form for herbalizing, but my druids never seem to make it high enough to make any progress toward that goal.
Most immediately, I'm probably editing and writing about consumer electronics at Tecca (where you're likely to spy a number of familiar names) or writing for various volunteer efforts where I live. I'm a pretty hard worker; the first act of my life took place in the theater as a dancer ruled by rehearsal schedules, and I'm happiest when there's something creative and consuming to gobble up every last nook and cranny of time. Those who follow me on Twitter (@lisapoisso) know I'm rarely without my cup of tea. Downtime for me means hanging out with my family, crafts nights with my friends (they craft -- I usually write), walking along the trail just down the street, playing the piano (current obsession: themes from Legends of the Fall), rooting around on Etsy for visions that inspire me, watching The Walking Dead and at least one HBO series ... and last but certainly not least, digging into my reading pile (currently gulping down massive quantities of China Miéville).
Filed under: About the Bloggers
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tai Oct 26th 2011 6:12PM
I think you're exactly right about the dungeon finder. Yes, it is useful, but it destroyed the feeling that your reputation counted on your realm. I remember in vanilla and BC getting invited to instance runs because I had other players who would vouch for me. Your name and your guild mattered then.
Didax Oct 27th 2011 9:01AM
I really miss the days of pre-DF grouping. As a druid that both tanked and healed, it was rare that I would log on and not get whispers asking me to help out in the daily heroic.
What's more disheartening:
Pre-dungeon finder, I typically added 2-3 new people to my friend's list every week.
Post-dungeon finder, I've maybe added 2-3 new people to my friend's list TOTAL.
Diop Oct 26th 2011 6:27PM
God I miss [1.Local].
HappyTreeDance Oct 26th 2011 7:06PM
Me too!
Drakkenfyre Oct 26th 2011 7:26PM
[1.Local] was just one of those columns that got alot of criticism. I think you had alot of commenters who got mad when their comments weren't used, and criticized the ones who did.
There used to be a column named "Caption This", which was like "Around Azeroth", but invited people to caption it. The next week had the winners. It had similiar critcism. But the criticism of that column was more deserved. The captions chosen were almost always stupid "I can haz cheezburger?", or "Lol, I see a Druid" type comments, when much, much funnier captions had been submited.
Angus Oct 26th 2011 8:00PM
I never understood the bitching about local.
I didn't care if my oh so clever post was ignored because a floating head said something much funnier. I got to see the funnier comment if I missed it.
Jealousy is a dumb thing. Especially over anonymous fame on a website.
God. Next thing you know I am going to be waxing nostalgic over people comparing Rossi to Wolverine and telling the damn kids to get offa my lawn. Back in my day Enhance Shaman bought the badge leather pieces because it was the best gear they could get without screwing their Rogues. And the Rogues were theirs too, cause when Angus wasn't in raid that one melee groups DPS went down close to 200 PTA each. When you manage 1500DPS with his totem twisting mojo, you got mad when the shadow mages won. So you were his. Shadow mages? Oh those are now Warlocks. We also called them shadow cannons or "I cut myself and listen to "Black No. 1" by Type O Negative emo punks". You knew who they were before every boss pull. You'd hear some Succubus get summoned, she'd slut up the place for maybe 1 GCD and boom, the sound of her enjoying her death. "Ready" they'd say and lifetap the crap out of themselves so the healers got pissed.
Good times.
What was I talking about again?
lisapoisso Oct 26th 2011 8:02PM
There weren't really any problems with [1.Local] other than the massive time sink required to sort through an entire week's worth of comments -- and things have only grown since. When you compare it against other news or features we could be spending time on, it just didn't hold its own as a feature. I kinda miss it, too!
jimforbes40 Oct 26th 2011 6:58PM
Woo-hoo, another Walking Dead fan! Lisa, you certainly have good taste :
lisapoisso Oct 26th 2011 8:03PM
Yeah, but one thing I've learned, jim ... never, NEVER try to watch while you're answering work-related email. Oh, the paranoia and dread ...
Marius W. Oct 26th 2011 9:17PM
"Hullabaloo" I love that you used that word.
Gimmlette Oct 26th 2011 11:15PM
As the beneficiary of one of your early "15 Minutes of Fame", I will always remember being in Shadowmoon Valley helping two officers, one of whom dinged 70 and we missed it, when you whispered me asking about my guild. I thought you were pulling my leg until you mentioned something from the add I'd put in The Classifieds that had been left out of the ad in Insider.
Thank you, Lisa, for the interview, which we still have up in our guild forum in the "guild history" thread. We've come a long way since that February. It will be 4 years in December. I still get a chuckle when I think I could have let my paranoia about being whispered by unknown people get the best of me.
Xayíde Oct 27th 2011 8:31AM
Hmmm, are you sure you farm that Firefly on many characters? Wowhead lists it as a 0.07% drop chance (1 in every 1429) from Bogflare Needlers...
hwacha Oct 27th 2011 9:21AM
she could buy it off the ah. if you're invested in a character, a few thousand gold isn't much ;)
lisapoisso Oct 27th 2011 9:30AM
And for an old-school player, if you're invested in a character, that's not a horrible farm (especially in a favorite zone). :)
The Dewd Oct 27th 2011 11:48AM
I've never farmed up the firefly but I do love ZM. I've never understood the hate for it because I always run characters through the whole zone - especially these days because that means I can skip Terokkar and go straight to Nagrand.
Gimmlette Oct 28th 2011 12:02AM
It took me two weeks of 2-3 hours a day to get mine to drop. Sell everything you get from looting and you make a very nice sum of money. Who knew fractured carapaces were worth so much.
Tim Oct 28th 2011 12:44AM
I'm kinda late but I'm digging Homeland on HBO. It's pretty good. I'm a Walking Dead fanatic myself. I'm actually reading through the comics atm.