Although admittedly not at all Druid related, if you’re curious about what I’ve been up to since closing Resto4Life, I invite you to check out my personal/technical blog, Loni Huff.NET.
Although admittedly not at all Druid related, if you’re curious about what I’ve been up to since closing Resto4Life, I invite you to check out my personal/technical blog, Loni Huff.NET.
Blog, Community
54 Comments Thanks to everyone who has written in or commented about the recently datamined item, [Phaelia’s Vestments of the Sprouting Seed]! As if it weren’t enough of an honor to have been mentioned, Blizzard was thoughtful enough to include my as-yet-unborn “Sprouting Seed!” The stats are amazing, and even the crit isn’t necessarily a waste with the upcoming changes. And to top it all off, they’re beautiful, matching the colors of the Tree of Life (plus green)! I’m happy for all the players that will wear them proudly some day. Thank you, Blizzard!
Thanks to everyone who sent in one or more screenshots for the Farewell Celebration! Click on any below to enlarge (and scroll through the gallery).

And here were a couple of images from the in-game Farewell Celebration (complete with cake, dancing, and – of course – plenty of booze)!
As announced, I randomed off a Belkin Nostromo N52 TE along with 2 Tree Shirts. As a surprise thank you gift to those who showed up, I randomed off an additional 3 Tree Shirts! Congratulations to the following winners:
Thanks to everyone who participated, either by sending in a picture or coming to the party!
First of all, allow me to say how much I appreciate the outpouring of gratitude and support I’ve received since posting Resto4Life Closing Its Doors. It’s truly overwhelming, and I can’t be more thankful to everyone who’s spoken to me – directly, through comments, through e-mail, or through their own blogs – with nothing but kind words. Wow!
Secondly, I’ve realized that I could have been clearer in terms of how you can submit your screenshot for the “Farewell” competition. Here is some additional information:
.Fimlys and Bre, cohosts of the Twisted Nether Blogcast have very graciously invited me onto their upcoming show. I had to decline recording it live because a) I might get overly emotional and b) I’d definitely be over-nervous, but I am looking forward to recording on Friday (shows are typically released at some time the following week).
My contact form has apparently been borked since the last time I tried to “fix” it. If you sent me a message that way, please send me an e-mail instead. I’ve been unable to respond to Ako of Tortheldrin (US) or Imparatus of Azgalor (US) so far.
Finally, I realize that I wasn’t clear about the future of the site. As far as I can foresee, Resto4Life will remain online at least until the next expansion (the only thing that would change this would be if something went catastrophically wrong with it). I’m a web developer so having some web space available to me is always a good thing. As such, while I appreciate the several offers of hosting I’ve received, I’m happy to continue hosting it myself. Thank you, though.
As of March 19, 2009, Resto4Life will be closing its doors*.
As you can (hopefully) imagine, this was no easy decision to make. In fact, it’s one I’ve been struggling with for the past three months which – not coincidentally – was about the time I found out the happy news that Mr. Phae and I are expecting our first child. I quickly came to realize that it will be too difficult for me to balance working full time, taking care of a new baby, blogging, and finding time to actually play the game I blog about.
I feel a tremendous amount of love and obligation toward Resto4Life, its readership, and all of the time I’ve given to both over the past two years. I take pride in the readership I’ve garnered and the reputation I have for helping others. All of which are positive emotions. At the same time, however, feelings of guilt, disinterest, stress, and unhappiness have lead me to conclude that it is time for me to move on to a new chapter of my life. Hopefully this will be a chapter where I can consider playing another MMO, drawing, or rereading a favorite book series without feeling a sense of guilt that I’d be stealing time away that could be devoted instead to improving Resto4Life. Perhaps I can finally take a laptop-less vacation or stop compulsively checking my Blackberry every 5 minutes for new site-related emails or comments. And maybe I can finally stop saying “I’m sorry, but I just don’t have time for another personal project.”
I want to give special thanks to everyone who’s helped make Resto4Life what it is or just helped made my stay within the blogosphere a happy one. Runycat of Unbearably HoT, Megan from Out of Mana, Karthis from Of Teeth and Claws, Bigbearbutt, Andrige, Graylo, Daniel from Bigredkitty, Leafshine, Matt and Sydera from WoM, Bell from 4 Haelz, my co-authors Currant and Korryna. A special thank you goes out to Mr. Phae for his dedication, mathematical analysis, and tolerance of my near obsession over the years. Thank you also to the many wonderful commenters who have frequented Resto4Life, among them Zackoria, Ermengol, Hokuto, Nilianil, Tone, Yggdrasil, Bigtoy, Crythia, Zaira, Kestrel, Kalaghan, Keeva, Aiuriun, Warscreamer, Dimitris, Beathooven, Kaera, Josh, Kuhbi, Ammeli, Draezele, Not An Issue, Wise Fox, Adarel, and Horns. Finally, thank you to all the readers out there, RSS or otherwise. Even if you’ve never commented before, thank you for choosing to read Resto4Life. I hope that it has enriched your enjoyment of the game in some way and wish you all the best in your future adventures in Azeroth, Outlands, Northrend, and beyond.
As a celebration of the community here at Resto4Life, I plan to make a final post in March, comprised of reader-submitted screenshots and artwork. Because over the past two years, I’ve tried to embrace and welcome all types of Druid players, you can feel free to submit a picture in whatever form (excluding Elf or Cow for verification purposes) that you prefer and needn’t limit yourself to Tree Form. Of those who choose to participate, I will randomly be awarding a Belkin Nostromo Speedpad N52TE, purchased from the funds I’ve acquired from shirt sales and advertising revenue. I hope that in this small way, I can say “thank you” to everyone who has made such a difference in my life. If you are interested in participating, please be sure to send me your submission by or before March 12, 2009. Due to shipping costs, you must live within the U.S. or Canada to be eligible to win the Nostromo, but I encourage International visitors to participate anyway.
With warmest regards,
PhaeliaP.S. Although the Tree Shirts store will remain online as long as Resto4Life does, I probably won’t be advertising any further sales. As such, U.S. residents still interested in purchasing a Tree Shirt can save 17% with code MARCH29. Canadian residents can use code CADMARCH39. Note that this discount only applies on orders of $25 or more and will expire March 12th.
*The contents of Resto4Life will remain available for at least the forseeable future. However, I will no longer be posting or responding to comments or contact requests. I will also be largely withdrawing (even further) from the blogging community at large, including Blog Azeroth.