After another couple of days of farming honor (and let me just say, no one can outheal me in AV! muah ha ha ha!), I'm all ready to get [Gladiator's Kodohide Spaulders] from Champions Hall. Well in all my excitement, I accidently get the Gladiator's Wrymhide Spaulders! Why in the heck are these things named so similar? Arrgh!!!
So I'm sitting there berating my foolishness when Jess tells me to try asking a GM to do something about it. I didn't think they did stuff like this, but I put in a ticket. Long story short, a couple hours later, they restored my honor and marks! I was then able to go get the shoulders I originally wanted.
With my new pvp rewards my +healing is now at 1174. Nice!
All stats unbuffed, no potions, no food, no scrolls, no nothing!
Level: 70
Weapon: [The Ancient Scepter of Sue-Min] Off-hand: [Netherwing Spiritualist's Charm] Idol: [Harold's Rejuvenating Broach] Head: [Hood of Primal Life] Neck: [Natasha's Guardian Cord] Shoulders: [Gladiator's Kodohide Spaulders] Back: [Lifegiving Cloak] Chest: [Lifewarden's Breastplate] Wrists: [Vindicator's Kodohide Bracers] Hands: [Gloves of the Living Touch] Waist: [Vindicator's Kodohide Belt] Legs: [Pants of Living Growth] Feet: [Moonstrider Boots] Ring: [Witching Band] Ring: [Celestial Jewel Ring] Trinket: [Osu'gun Relic] Trinket: [Heavenly Inspiration]
Health: 6864
Mana: 8375
Intellect: 419
Spirit: 302
+Healing: 1174
+MP5: 281/138
Sunday, December 30, 2007
D'oh! And new Healing stats
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas!
Because nothing says Christmas quite like dressing up as a gnome and taking a ride on Rudolph...
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Finally, I am the Master Angler
This must have been my fifth try, but finally I won the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza today!!! However, it must be prefaced with the fact that there weren't as many competitors as usual. I won even though my laptop unexpectedly shut down in the middle of it and I had to reboot, probably losing me 3 or 4 minutes.
Basically, I followed the strategy I posted about before. I started at the bridge at 27,69 where there were two pools behind the bridge, one in front and I was the only one fishing those 3 pools. Then I just stayed on the coast up to 25,58 where there can be 3 more pools. Two right next to each other, then one a little further off to the right. Again, I alone fished those 3 pools. I believe I was able to win despite losing 4 minutes because I didn't spend that much time traveling to look for pools.
So now I am carrying around
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Hmmm decisions, decisions.
Due to my stupidity, I have been stuck at O'hare airport trying to get home to North Carolina for 9 hours now. I've picked up this really bad habit lately of pushing it too close for flights, relying on my frequent flyer mile status and upgrade status to fly me through. Well I missed my flight this morning (first time ever) and have been stuck in the Admirals Club ever since. At least I have free wireless in here... even ran a couple of AV runs earlier!
So what do you do in an airport for 9 hours? Ponder the meaning of life? What happens after death? Ponder what system could be worse than the airline system? (I would vote healthcare.) No... you ponder purchases. Specifically, you ponder pvp purchases.
So I would really like to upgrade my crappy shoulders and waist with pvp gear. I mentioned the other day that I'd love to get the But I also want
So what should I get first? Which of my current pieces sucks more? My shoulders or belt?
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Spellthread... what?
So I'm just tooling around last night, actually more like farming honor in AV, when Jess asks me whether I knew about golden spellthread. She found it persusing the AH. Huh, spellthread? Well much to my surprise, its like an enchant on pants: [Golden Spellthread] I bought it off the AH for about 200g, which I think is definitely worth the +66 healing! So my pants went from +77 healing to +143. How come I didn't know about this before? /sigh
On another note, I would like to present a quest to you readers.
Find Daihiro:
Rewards:
The Left Claw's GM Daihiro has been missing for two weeks now. Find Daihiro and let Keredria or Jessika know of his whereabouts.
You will receive K and Jess' eternal gratitude. Ok we'll throw 10g in there as well.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Back from vacation and healing status update
I mentioned before I left for vacation that I updated my bracers. New stats below. Next, I'd love to get the [Vindicator's Kodohide Belt]. But it requires 17,850 honor... ugh.
Jess reminded me though that there are these things she's heard about called instances... that maybe we should check them out sometime. I guess it's been a little quiet lately as a number of guildies and other friends haven't been on. I guess with the holidays, this was bound to happen. Jess and Atania pugged an instance while I was on vacation with a shammy healer. The horror! The betrayal! lol
All stats unbuffed, no potions, no food, no scrolls, no nothing!
Weapon:
[The Ancient Scepter of Sue-Min] Off-hand:
[Netherwing Spiritualist's Charm] Idol:
[Harold's Rejuvenating Broach] Head:
[Hood of Primal Life] Neck:
[Natasha's Guardian Cord] Shoulders:
[Pauldrons of Arcane Rage] Back:
[Lifegiving Cloak] Chest:
[Lifewarden's Breastplate] Wrists:
[Vindicator's Kodohide Bracers] Hands:
[Gloves of the Living Touch] Waist:
[Boneshredder Belt of the Hierophant] Legs:
[Pants of Living Growth] Feet:
[Moonstrider Boots]
Ring:
[Witching Band] Ring:
[Celestial Jewel Ring] Trinket:
[Osu'gun Relic] Trinket:
[Heavenly Inspiration]
Level: 70
Health: 6464
Mana: 7760
Intellect: 378
Spirit: 339
+Healing: 1028
+MP5: 300/135
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
K on vacation
This will be my last post for about a week and a half. I am going on vacation and will be in Stockholm and Rome. It'll be a nice way to escape the Chicago snow, though I realize Stockholm won't be warm and sunny either. But look how pretty it looks!
Thanks for everyone's input on my post from yesterday. I do believe that Alterac Valley may have become my favorite BG. Its definitely less frustrating when I can try to hide amongst 40 players. I got nearly 4400 honor yesterday, which was insane. I had like 4 awesome wins in AV in a row. So this morning, I logged on to buy my new bracers!
Finally, I had to share this. I mentioned before how I can see on my statcounter the specific search terms that landed people on my blog. I'm looking at this the other day, and I kid you not, someone landed on my blog via the search "how to change from being a skank". What in the?!?! I don't know what's funnier that my blog came up or that someone felt that needed to google that phrase. It fed into my post on being a female gamer where I think I mentioned how some armor turns up skanky on the female characters. But hey, beyond sharing my silly stories with you readers, I'm glad if I can help at all on how to not be a skank!
Until I'm back, happy raiding, questing, fishing, killing, pvping, farming everyone!.jpg)
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Sigh... an alliance healer's plight in BGs
While we've had some guildies away on hopefully temporary breaks, I've been doing more and more battlegrounds. I figure its a good way to get some pretty good gear. Yesterday alone I got almost 3000 honor! But that was a little much.
Im currently going for an upgrade on my crappy bracers. They'll cost me 11,794 honor points and 20 marks from Warsong Gulch. I need about 3,000 more honor points to get them.
See crappy current bracers:
[Goldenvine Wraps] See improved future bracers:
[Vindicator's Kodohide Bracers] Ok, so I'm still relatively new to battlegrounds. Um, where are the other alliance healers? Often times I am seemingly the only healer! Can I also just vent that the Horde seem to be really good at figuring out I am a healer, tracking me down, and taking down my ass? I was in a BG last night when someone in the group asked why alliance healers suck in battlegrounds. And I asked why alliance sucks at protecting their healers in battlegrounds. No but seriously, is it just that alliance healers don't do BGs?
Monday, December 3, 2007
How you can use WOW to get over a breakup
I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was dealing with some real life drama where I needed to take a break from WOW for a bit. In fact, I was and still am getting over a tough breakup of a long term relationship. I've come back to playing again and I've realized that yes, you can use WOW to help you get over a breakup.
1. Strip down, dance naked on the AH table, and flirt wildly with that hot night elf or cute gnome you've always had an eye on.
So you see, WOW can help you get over a breakup! Oh lol... I am such a dork. :)
2. Go to a battleground and take out all your anger and hurt on the opposite faction. For every red name you see, insert your ex's name. Then proceed to do some serious damage.
3. Go on a wild shopping spree and buy that leet purple epic you've always had an eye on.
4. Get everything in order! Clean and reorganize your bank and bags.
5. Talk to your friends in game about it. Many thanks to D and Jess for listening to my pathetic ass over the last couple of weeks. I especially loved when Jess, our tank, said she'd like to shield bash him. :)
6. If you are a girl, realize that guy + wow = geek, but girl + wow = hawt. At least this is what Jess says.
7. So because of #6, go to a public place, maybe a coffee shop, and bust out the WOW. Sit back as curious guys come to talk to you and offer you pieces of toffee cookies (inside joke for Atania).
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
You make do with what you have
Last night, Atania, Jess, and I were on and wanted to finally start on the quest chain out in Blades Edge for Ogril'la rep. Sounds good, right? Well it was just 3 of us and the three quests that Mog'dorg gives out are 5 man group quests. We sort of hem and haw a bit, because we have 4 manned 5 man group quests before, but to 3 man them? We finally decide, what the heck, lets give them a shot with what we have.
The only one we had a bit of trouble with was Grulloc Has Two Skulls. A couple deaths were had. But after buffing up with elixirs, scrolls, and food we got him down. The two other quests, Even Gronn Have Standards and Maggoc's Treasure Chest were fine.
What's the lesson here? A well geared tank and healer can allow you to 3 man 5 man group quests. However with only 1 dps, its a long fight. Poor Atania was quite busy last night!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Where's the Dramamine?
Last night was my first night back playing WOW in two weeks. Something that always happens to me after a break is that I get somewhat sick from the movement in the game! Walking around was bad enough, but flying, oof! It wasn't quite as bad as the picture to the left (screenshot from a funny quest turn in a while back), but I couldn't be on that long.
Couple of notes from my first night back:
1. Pools of fish are a lot harder to see, which I guess they had to do to make the tracking fish skill worthwhile. I'd be sitting there wondering whether I was done fishing the pool for a couple of seconds before realizing the pool was gone.
2. I love the guild bank. My guildies were teasing me for having to organize it as soon as I got in it. But hello! There must be some semblance of order! I like having all similar stuff grouped together. What's odd is that I'm not OCD or neat at all in real life. Just in WOW.
3. My healing gear now has all this additional +dmg stats added. I may not have to switch back and forth between my healing gear and solo gear. Not sure yet about that... will have to do a little more research. Anyways, it seemed to me last night that the casting time on some of my damage spells were reduced. Or maybe the two week break affected my memory...
Thursday, November 22, 2007
The tree lives
Just wanted to check in and thank everyone for their well wishes. I am alive and well... though I am now away from home for Thanksgiving and the internet connection here barely supports blogspot, much less WOW.
It is weird how WOW distorts time... well for me it does. When I was playing a lot and a friend would be away from the game for a week or week and a half, it seriously seemed like they were away for a month! Hopefully my guildies and friends in game haven't forgotten about me. :)
Happy turkey day everyone! Though this picture is a little disturbing with that big axe sitting on top of that poor tree...
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Short break
You guys might have noticed that I haven't blogged as much as usual the last week and a half. I've been dealing with some tough real life (real life... blah) issues, so I haven't been able to play WOW that often, which then cuts down on blogging as well. Its ironic to me that I play a healer... with all her + healing, if only K could "heal" all the crap I'm going through. :(
So I wouldn't be surprised if I take a short break from WOW and blogging until I can get my head back together. I do think that its healthy to take breaks once in a while. People get burnt out, they have life to deal with. Taking this break will hopefully bring K back ready to heal some serious ass!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Healing status and gear update 11.12.07
Updated weapon and cloak with two epics. Jess says I'm starting to look like a grape with all my purples.
I believe my stats now make me Kara ready, which is absolutely crazy. Am I right that the rough healer standards are at least +1000 healing and +80-90 combat MP5? If so, what is really crazy is that I've gotten these stats with epics that were all crafted or bought. So you see, you don't have to run a million instances!
All stats unbuffed, no potions, no food, no scrolls, no nothing!
Weapon:
[The Ancient Scepter of Sue-Min] Off-hand:
[Netherwing Spiritualist's Charm] Idol:
[Harold's Rejuvenating Broach] Head:
[Hood of Primal Life] Neck:
[Natasha's Guardian Cord] Shoulders:
[Pauldrons of Arcane Rage] Back:
[Lifegiving Cloak] Chest:
[Lifewarden's Breastplate] Wrists:
[Goldenvine Wraps] Hands:
[Gloves of the Living Touch] Waist:
[Boneshredder Belt of the Hierophant] Legs:
[Pants of Living Growth] Feet:
[Moonstrider Boots]
Ring:
[Witching Band] Ring:
[Celestial Jewel Ring] Trinket:
[Osu'gun Relic] Trinket:
[Heavenly Inspiration]
Level: 70
Health: 6364
Mana: 7625
Intellect: 369
Spirit: 354
+Healing: 1017
+MP5: 290/92
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
I can't watch!
So I mentioned the other day how I've started pvping in battlegrounds. Can I just say how much I hate rogues? Apologies to D and Atania, but I hates them pesky rogues. Especially when they keep doing whatever it is they do and I just have to sit there helpless and watching my impending death. I sort of feel like this bunny above. So sad, so sad.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Holy crap!
Holy crap #2: After waiting what seemed forever, I finally got my Hood of Primal Life and Gloves of Living Touch made this past weekend, one day after the other! The hood makes me look especially rogue-y, it covers my face. Holy crap #3: I skipped the fishing tournament yesterday to go to Arathi battleground with Atania. We went to Warsong for the first time as well. I'd like to apologize to the 8 other alliance members who were on our team because we were absolutely clueless in Warsong. What? When did I get into pvp? Im still learning, but what's fun is that I'm using all sorts of spells I haven't used in a long long time. Yeah take that! Entangling roots! Hurricane! Cyclone! Its actually sort of fun doing some damage for a change.
Holy crap #1: D dinged the big 70 last night! Yay! Check out the picture on the left. D looks so pensive sitting on that chair...
Healing status and gear update 11.5.07
Updated helm, gloves, ring, trinket, and off-hand.
All stats unbuffed, no potions, no food, no scrolls, no nothing!
Weapon:
[The Essence Focuser] Off-hand:
[Netherwing Spiritualist's Charm] Idol:
[Harold's Rejuvenating Broach] Head:
[Hood of Primal Life] Neck:
[Natasha's Guardian Cord] Shoulders:
[Pauldrons of Arcane Rage] Back:
[Cloak of Healing Rays] Chest:
[Lifewarden's Breastplate] Wrists:
[Goldenvine Wraps] Hands:
[Gloves of the Living Touch] Waist:
[Boneshredder Belt of the Hierophant] Legs:
[Pants of Living Growth] Feet:
[Moonstrider Boots]
Ring:
[Witching Band] Ring:
[Celestial Jewel Ring] Trinket:
[Osu'gun Relic] Trinket:
[Heavenly Inspiration]
Level: 70
Health: 6484
Mana: 7400
Intellect: 354
Spirit: 371
+Healing: 914
+MP5: 298/91
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Blog off!
Look at this t-shirt I got! It could mean one of three things.
1. I could be challenging my fellow bloggers to an allout blogging competition.
Want your own? Or any other cute and funny t-shirts? Go to Steve and Barry's where I got mine.
2. It could be my "screw you" response to people who annoy me.
3. I could be a hedgehog in real life. A cute hedgehog, but a hedgehog nonetheless.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Grinding gold
Ok, I can only blog so many times about how lucrative fishing is. (However, if you are on Drenden, please disregard what I just said. If I see you in any of my fishing spots, it's on baby!!! I will whack you upside the head with my 46.5 dps fishing pole.) Anyways, I know not everyone has the patience to fish or to level it up to fish the Outlands.
So I thought I'd give another (non-profession tied) suggestion for making gold, grinding materials needed for various reps. The mobs that drop these items are easy kills, level 61-64 I believe. Lots of people need rep and are not willing to grind the stuff themselves. Thus, they can go for a pretty penny on the AH. On average, I would say each of the items below are listed on the AH for anywhere from 50-75 silver. That's 10-15g per stack... sometimes more.
1. Collect Firewing signets which are used for Scryer rep. Grind them up in Firewing Point in Terokkar. I'm sure the same applies for Aldor rep, but I'm not Aldor so I don't know what their thingies are.
2. If you are an herbalist, collect Unidentified plant parts for Cenarion Expedition rep. Even if you are not an herbalist, a great place to grind is the Dead Mire in NE Zangarmarsh. Unidentified plant parts and Motes of Life (1 primal life averages 7g on Drenden) drop frequently from the mobs.
3. Collect Arrakoa feathers for Lower City rep. The market for these may go down a bit in the future with the rep requirement changes to run heroics. But there will still be people who need to get to honored. I found the best place to grind these feathers was Veil Shienor in Terokkar. Drop rates vary, but on average an hour of grinding got me 45 feathers, 6 decent selling greens, and tons of cloth.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
OMG this kid deserves a regrade!!! - edit
Gwenny on wowladies posted this hilarious picture of an actual test handed in by a kid.
I believe this kid deserves a regrade. The opposite of a pro is a noob!!! Edit - 2:50 pm. Someone let me know that the link I had posted on these funny exam answers opened some sort of virus. Thank you thank you thank you. OMG! I am so "the opposite of a pro" in terms of this kind of stuff. That link has been deleted. I believe this one is ok. Only one not on this new link that was hilarious to me is below. So sorry!
Barkskin... a little redundant?
I mentioned the other day that I fished up a second Mr. Pinchy. Well he granted me a second wish last night and it was a second Magical Crawdad pet! Kinda sucks that I can't give it to anyone and that I can only have one pet out at a time. It would have been cute to have twin crustacean friends running around with me. What good fishing luck I've had lately... is this a sign? Will I win the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza this Sunday? (keeping fingers crossed).
Barkskin... you know, that which grants you skin as tough as bark and a reduction in damage taken by 20%. Anyone else ever think its a bit odd when casting this is tree form? I mean as a tree, wouldn't our skin already be... uh bark? Here's my suggestion... make casting barkskin in tree form an even bigger defense spell than in regular form. Maybe reducing damage by 25%? Call it double barkskin? lol. Or maybe in tree form we should get a little more armor. Hmmm.
Monday, October 29, 2007
My secrets
Lately I've been divulging a lot of hobbies of mine with you all... Carolina basketball, fantasy football, geeky scavenger hunting... Well in addition to all of this, writing my own blog, and playing WOW of course, is reading other blogs.
Do you know about PostSecret? It is one of my favorite blogs and is updated every Sunday with all sorts of secrets that strangers send in. Some are funny, some are sad, some are a little disturbing. In the spirit of Post Secret, here are two from me.
Its funny how real life and WOW overlap. Driving around this weekend seeing all the trees turn made me think about K in tree form! Must get out more... lol
I know deaths aren't always the healer's fault. Maybe its from having grown up Catholic with all that Catholic guilt, but I still can't help feeling guilty and bad/sad. I sort of feel like I'm being a bad healer when people die. :(
K's weekend
So it was a pretty good weekend for K and her buddies.
1. We ran Shadow Labs Friday night and while some deaths were had, Jess and I felt a lot better about our performance than we did after Sethekk. Kind of odd because Slabs is supposed to be harder. But then again, we did have our old friend Adamas, a feral druid, along. While I consider Phaelia to be my all knowing resto druid older sister, Adamas would be my all knowing feral druid older brother. He was one of the first people I ever grouped with back in the days. Adamas is a kick ass feral druid and knows all the instances like the back of his hand.... even if he is a little "bouncy". I love watching him in bear form run around and around to grab all the aggro. It cracks me up.
2. We finally got around to doing the Headless Horseman in Scarlet Monastery. It was a little tough because I was the only healer for most of it and we were doing it in a group of 7-8 because we weren't all 70. That's a whole lotta green bars to keep track of. It was fun though and I walked away with the Witching Band.
3. I got a second Mr. Pinchy! Like the first Mr. Pinchy I got, he was fished out of Lake Jorune, the lake above Stonebreaker Hold.
4. I had a very very successful weekend on the AH. Its really funny how the economy fluctuates. Some weekends, I can't sell anything, others, stuff sells like hotcakes. I still think for Drenden that Sundays and Mondays are the best days to put stuff up.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Funny search terms
So I've been messing around with my statcounter features. Yesterday I posted about where people are visiting from all over the world. Today I shall share with you search terms that got people to this blog. Some were to be expected, such as "fishing extravaganza gear", "druid healing rotation", "tree of life form gear". This is helpful because it gives me an idea of how to better organize my healing and gear posts.
But others were pretty hilarious and some were just plain odd. Here is the list with some comments from yours truly. No offense to anyone who used these search terms!
* "this tree form, is life, it save my life" - Huh? But yes, not only do we save lives, we ARE life.
* "a tree of life druid can’t be killed" - Oh, how I wish this were the case. Me no likey, but yes us trees can be killed. So sad, so sad.
* "is the druid tree of life any good" - What? Are you freakin crazy? We're not only good, we're awesome!
* "crazy resto druid" - Us? Crazy? Naaaah...
* "tree of life charm" - Why thank you madam or mister, us trees certainly gots lotsa charm.
* "how to get the druid tree of life form" - Well, in order to become one of us trees, you must go out into the wilderness (or a tree in your backyard will work) and become one with the trees. Put your forehead to its trunk and absorb all that tree spirit. Only then will you be able to play a tree in WOW. Or alternatively you could just spend 41 points in the resto talent tree.
* "dilbert wow" - Heh heh, I guess my What Dilbert can teach us about WOW post amused some.
* "swift flight form"; "wow druid flight form" - Its amusing people found me through this search term when my post was ranting about it.
* "healing meters prayer of mending" - Huh? Im sure you were confused to search for a priest spell and fall upon my blog!
* "what does a resto druid need for heroics" - I would think a lot of patience and a kick ass group. Oh yeah, I guess there's gear too.
* "resto for life" - You were probably searching for Phaelia's resto4life blog. But alternatively maybe you were coming up with a new Tree battle cry.
Just picture it... a clear beautiful day on a large field and there on the horizon is a whole line of us Trees. Faces painted, wearing tartan plaid kilts, shaking their branchy arms... exclaiming, "RESTO FOR LIFE!" Hell yeah. Bring on Illidan, baby.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Cultural differences?
So WOW Insider had a post the other day on druid blogs you should be reading and for some crazy reason, mine was listed. I hope it was very clear that you should be coming to me for entertainment (please feel free to laugh at my noobness) and random WOW stories vs serious hard core tree druid knowledge. For that you need to go see Phaelia, who I sort of consider to be my all-knowing, restoration druid big sister.
It's so awesome that all these people from all over the world have been to my silly little site! I am a huge fan of international travel. I'd love to one day just have the time and money to travel around the world and would love to visit every single country on this list. The X's are those I have been fortunate to have already visited, the * denotes an upcoming trip.
So obviously WOW is an international phenomenon. It makes me wonder whether cultural differences play into WOW? I am curious whether server, guild, PUG, chat channel dynamics are different on the EU servers or servers in Asia. Has anyone played on both US servers and an EU or Asian server? Any differences?
Well this article certainly brought all sorts of readers to my blog from all over the US and all over the world. My stat counter has this neat feature where you can see which countries people are visiting from. Listed in order of number of visitors, I believe, here is the list. Sorry its fuzzy, I am also a noob at blogging and editing images.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Fantasy WOW?
I am a big sports nut, pretty much knowing what is going on with all sports. While I've been waiting for my favorite, the college basketball season to start (my alma mater, UNC is taking it all next April!!!), I've gotten myself into soccer (or football for the rest of the world). I've joined a group of friends in a fantasy football league for the English Premier League.
So every Thursday or Friday has been spent looking at who is hurt, who's value has gone up, who on my team just hasn't been performing before the trade deadline for the week ends. The real fun is in the competition and smack talking amongst friends. Smack talking is fun when the three female members have been doing better than the guys. lol. I actually won the gameweek (with 64 points) for the first time this season thanks to awesome play from Tevez, Elano, Alex, and Carvalho. Fabregas didn't do as well, but he usually does well. Any other English Premier league fans here?
Well this got me thinking, wouldn't it be funny to have some sort of Fantasy WOW? I don't see this ever happening, but if Blizzard were able to track and report certain data, you could pick a team of the top players across servers, guilds, and factions. Maybe you build a team of 15 the includes at least one of each class. Then you get points based on their weekly performance. No wipes, +3. A Druid that puts up combat rez, +3. Each major boss taken down, +1. Ninja looting, -10. Heh heh.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
WOW Scavenger hunt?
The last couple of nights I've been feeling a little bleh and less than motivated about playing. Must get geared for Kara! Aaah! Bleh. And I've even gotten sick of fishing (I know... what blasphemy). I need a new distraction or side activity in the game.
Well, I've been spending some time thinking about how much in the game we don't really notice. I am the first to admit that I more than not, never really read the quests given to me. I was like "Yeah, yeah, yeah... blah blah blah... just give me the darned quest". But I feel like there are some really cool little things in the game that deserve to be noticed.
So (geez I am really exposing my geeky side now...) I've been thinking of putting together a little WOW scavenger/riddle hunt. Sort of like Watson Adventures does in real life. If any of you are in the cities where they host public hunts, you have to do it. I did two (one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and one in lower Manhattan) when I lived in NYC and had an absolute blast. My girlfriend and I actually won the one in the museum. It was hilarious running around the Met for two hours solving all sorts of riddles.
I wonder whether anyone cares about this kind of stuff? Is everyone just too busy gearing up for and/or running end game instances? A teaser:
1. Where in IF is the NPC that shares a first name with the actress who played Punky Brewster?
I was an art history minor in undergrad so maybe I could do one around all the interesting paintings/sculptures in the game. Hmmm...
2. If you take the number of IF guards inside The High Seat and subtract the number of hanging shirts in the IF AH, you get the number...
3. A horde catapult is hidden somewhere around IF. From which War is it a remnant from?
Monday, October 22, 2007
Rep changes FTW!
So after I make my morning posts on my blog, I go over to the oh so handy dandy Google Reader and check out the other wow blogs. And I just found something that almost made me spew my coffee all over my monitor.
Big Bear Butt has a post about changes in the next patch to getting keyed for heroics. You only need Honored rep! I can't even tell you how excited I am about this. I'm already honored with Lower City so I'll be able to run heroic Sethekk for my epic flight form. Now I just need to get good enough gear/skills to be able to do it... /sigh
The good, the bad, and the ugly
Lots to update and blog about!
The very very good:
The good:
The bad:
The ugly:
1. K is wearing new pants:
[Pants of Living Growth] I'm tooling around somewhere when Jess lets me know these are on the AH for 600g. What in the...?!?! I never find healing leather gear on the Drenden AH! So actually this is a kilt. I just love how cool it looks, check out the picture under about me. Plus its my first purple!
2. A run in Sethekk on Saturday night got our rogue Atania the much drooled after:
[Shoulderpads of Assassination]
1. I made my first two alchemy discoveries over two nights. [Flask of Relentless Assault] and Transmute Primal Earth to Life.
2. Sethekk runs over the weekend gave Jess some plate upgrades.
3. I love the trick or treating and all the halloween themed stuff going on!
4. I was watching TV when I saw this ad. Pretty funny.
1. I had a really hard time in Sethekk over the weekend. Many deaths were had. I especially had a hard time on the last boss because I just wasn't fast enough to run in tree form to get away from the blinky arcane thing he does. He was blinking in odd locations and got me a lot. I think this was a wake up call for me. My reflexes just weren't fast enough. I really need to do a better job of being aware of my surroundings.
2. I'll have to do more Sethekk runs to get D the shoulders Atania got.
3. I did not win the fishing tournament, yet again. The pools were different from where they were last week and didn't spawn as often. Damn you Blizzard! (angrily shakes fist). I think I just have to get over it and accept that luck has a whole lot to do with it.
1. So I mentioned how hard Sethekk was for me. That was bad. The ugly part was how frustrated I got with it. My group members were pretty good about it, I got a little ugly. I can't even imagine how you deal with working on a boss or instance for weeks! I need to learn how to better deal with this kind of frustration.
2. The ugliest part is that I have to go back to Sethekk in heroic mode for my epic flight form. :(
Healing gear and status update 10.22.07
K has been busy! Updated off-hand, feet, and head pieces... and most important, new pants! Also note that health has gone up in part due to Daihiro putting some armor kits on me in Sethekk the other night.
Biggest stat jump has been in spirit. I've got spirit, yes I do, I've got spirit, how about you? lol! All stats unbuffed, no potions, no food, no scrolls, no nothing!
Weapon:
[The Essence Focuser] Off-hand:
[The Saga of Terokk] Idol:
[Harold's Rejuvenating Broach] Head:
[Circlet of the Starcaller] Neck:
[Natasha's Guardian Cord] Shoulders:
[Pauldrons of Arcane Rage] Back:
[Cloak of Healing Rays] Chest:
[Lifewarden's Breastplate] Wrists:
[Goldenvine Wraps] Hands:
[Gloves of Penitence] Waist:
[Boneshredder Belt of the Hierophant] Legs:
[Pants of Living Growth] Feet:
[Moonstrider Boots]
Ring:
[Holy Healing Band] Ring:
[Celestial Jewel Ring] Trinket:
[Osu'gun Relic] Trinket:
[Glowing Crystal Insignia]
Level: 70
Health: 6294
Mana: 7175
Intellect: 339
Spirit: 333
+Healing: 870
+MP5: 260/72
Thursday, October 18, 2007
What Dilbert can teach us about WOW
I love the comic strip Dilbert. I have some up near my desk that I think are really funny, but then I realized two that have significant WOW implications as well!
Listening
But at the same time, I would think it is important for the person giving the advice to do it in a way that is not embarrassing, rude, or disparaging. But what if said person keeps ignoring said advice? Well after two times, I say let the swear words roll. j/k.... or am I? ;) Damage and Health Meters
I don't disagree that there is value to damage and health meters. There should be some standard level of performance for members in end game runs. But I do think its important to look beyond them. Not all classes deal damage or heal the same way. Not all classes have the exact same role in a group. You may end up #1 on the damage meters, but your tank and healer may have had a hell of a time keeping aggro off you and keeping your health up. Or maybe you were the #1 healer but ran out of mana towards the end of the fight and had to constantly rely on innervates (Druids FTW!).
Coming out #1 in these meters doesn't tell the whole story. Likewise, just because you weren't at the top of the damage or health meters, doesn't mean you didn't play an important role in bringing that boss down.
Now, I know that end game runs are not going to be easy. As groups wipe and frustration mounts, people are going to give advice or tell others what they're doing wrong or how to do things better. Everyone should work together for the best of the group so as to attain the shared goal... shouldn't they? So I think its important to definitely listen and be open to others, understanding how what you do impacts others.
Dear Mr or Ms Scary Elite Mob,
Yes, you are certainly very scary and we fully recognize and respect your scariness. However, Jess and I need X from you. So in the pursuit of X, one of two things are going to happen:
1. You will die Now, in the unlikely event that the second option occurs, we would like to let you know beforehand that K is a dedicated healer and Jess is a full on tank. You don't even want to see K's mana bar and Jess' health bar. So if we have to tustle, you will focus on Jess, K will heal her, and Jess will do some damage. However, since Jess is a tank, she will not be able to do much damage.
Well, what does this mean for you? This means that even if we die, this will be a very very LONG fight. You will be just absolutely spent and exhausted. Do you really want to go there? Why not just save us all the trouble and just hand over said item X and we can each go on our merry and respective ways?
Think about it and let us know.
Sincerely, Hee hee... I felt compelled to write this letter after Jess and I's experiences with some quests we duoed in Netherstorm and Shadowmoon.
2. We will die
Jess and K
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
A big booooo to swift flight form
Ok, if you guys haven't noticed already, I am somewhat clueless to a lot of things in this game. What I know already, I know really well but what I don't know... well I don't know at all. (Huh?) But seriously, I hope you are using this blog as entertainment and amusement instead of some sort of source of knowledge. For example I posted yesterday thinking that resto druids were no good at arenas... to be corrected that they rock! On to the subject of this post. So I've been pretty bummed out the last week since finding out that you have to do a bazillion quests to get swift flight form. Ok its not bazillion, but it's a lot and the last part requires doing Sethekk in Heroic mode, which requires revered rep with Lower City (its a never ending death spiral!!!). Ferocious Bite made a recent post on how to do the last part of the quest on his blog.
I, in my glorious cluelessness thought I just needed to fork over 5,000g to get swift flight form. So I fished like a mad woman (motes of water, golden darter, furious crawdad FTW!)... only to find out money isn't enough. Total sad panda. The other night when we did the ring of blood quests, Jess and I made about 100g. Bleh... more money. I don't need more money, but swift flight!
I am probably a rarity in that I have more than enough money, just not the rep to finish the quest line. On a related note, let me rant for a bit about rep. This is my first character I've leveled to 70. So I had no clue that I should grind arrakoa feathers until honored with lower city before doing any of the quests for it. Same for cenarion expedition... turn in unidentified plant parts until you're honored before doing quests. /big big sigh Do others have to do a crazy questline to fly fast as well? Does anyone just need to hand over the money?
So I know I just need to /end rant and get over it and start working on the lower city rep. But in the mean time, I am going to go on a crazy spending spree and use my money to gear up. I did actually find two people on Drenden who can make those shiny purple leather pieces for me, I just have to wait until they have a primal nether available. I was having a hard time finding someone in game until Jess suggested I go to the Drenden profession forums (I swear for a warrior that Jess has a good amount of intellect!).
My question to you all is this... should I switch professions to be able to make the Primal Mooncloth Set (boo also to bop)? It's cloth but it seems like the best gear available for me given I'm not running instances every night. Or should I pick up leatherworking? Thoughts?
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
K + PvP = What in the?!?!
So I hardly ever PvP. Prior to last night I had I believe like 15 honor points. However last night, we did the Ring of Blood quest series in Nagrand and afterwards, Daihiro found some PvP action in Halaa to get in on. I swear, Daihiro can smell good PvP action 10 miles away. Daihiro is to PvP as bees are to flowers. You get the idea.
Well as Daihiro jumps right in, we couldn't just leave him, so Atania, Jess, and I got in with him. Ok, I am so bad at PvP. Not just because I am a noob at PvPing as a resto druid and was in my full somewhat squishy healing gear, but because dealing with real people is so much different that dealing with computer operated mobs. You serious PvPers have some mad skill. And am I right in that resto druids aren't played that often in arenas?
It was hard, annoying, and amusing trying to chase after this warlock who I swear was running faster and crazier than anyone I've ever seen. This did allow me to actually do some ranged damage in a group situation, which never happens! You should have seen how excited I was to be able to nuke these guys to finally take them down. I had to exclaim, "OMG I actually killed him!"
Monday, October 15, 2007
Why? Because screenshots are fun, that's why!
Here's K in all of her transmuting glory. On a related alchemy note, I had the recipe for [Fel Mana Potion]drop for me the other week! See Phaelia's post about these potions.
Jess is always so fashionable. She's very matchy matchy. At the time, this was her red solo gear. Her tanking gear is a full green set. Compared to her, K looks like a bag lady with her mismatched gear.
There certainly is no place like home. K and Jess stoning in tandem.
Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza
You non-fishers are probably pretty sick of me talking about fishing. However, I tried for the third time to win the fishing extravaganza yesterday. No, third time was not the charm and I lost once again. When the winner was announced, I had 37 speckled tastyfish, a huge improvement from the last time (27) and the first time (21). I definitely think I can win now, since I did a couple of stupid things including starting 20 seconds late. So here are my opinions/tips on this tournament:
1. Set heartstone to Booty bay
2. Start on west coast around 27, 69 where the bridge is. Two pools spawn behind the bridge, one in front.
3. Stay on coast up to 25, 58. You can cross the water if you want, but I believe the swimming takes too long, plus there are more fishers up there. So stay between these two points and just keep running back and forth (the pools respawn pretty quickly).
4. If possible try to find a pool no one else is fishing. You get more speckled tastyfish from a pool you are fishing alone. So when running, run the opposite way everyone else is going.
5. Make sure you cast clearly within the pool. When fishing normal pools, you can cast on the edge of the pool and still catch the pool fish. But I've found that its much less likely to get the speckled tastyfish on the edge of the pool than when its clearly within the pool. Just keep recasting until it is.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Healing gear update
I've been able to upgrade my neck, hand, and ring since I last posted my gear. Also I'm listing both MP5 rates (not casting/casting).
All stats unbuffed, no potions, no food, no scrolls, no nothing!
Weapon:
[The Essence Focuser] Off-hand:
[Unearthed Orb] Idol:
[Harold's Rejuvenating Broach] Head:
[Mistyreed Hood of the Physician] Neck:
[Natasha's Guardian Cord] Shoulders:
[Pauldrons of Arcane Rage] Back:
[Cloak of Healing Rays] Chest:
[Lifewarden's Breastplate] Wrists:
[Goldenvine Wraps] Hands:
[Gloves of Penitence] Waist:
[Boneshredder Belt of the Hierophant] Legs:
[Haramad's Leggings of the Third Coin] Feet:
[Swamprunner's Boots]
Ring:
[Holy Healing Band] Ring:
[Celestial Jewel Ring] Trinket:
[Osu'gun Relic] Trinket:
[Glowing Crystal Insignia]
Level: 70
Health: 6114
Mana: 7235
Intellect: 343
Spirit: 277
+Healing: 848
+MP5: 222/60
Thursday, October 11, 2007
More healing lessons learned...
Both Seb and I got back from SF safe and sound... I did have to swat away some hungry hands from Seb as Jessika warned me. This is the longest I've gone without blogging since I started! Perhaps being away for a while and returning after that absence will give you readers double the ap (amusement points)... much like xp works in WOW! heh heh.
Anyways, I wanted to continue an old post I made about healing lessons learned.
Lesson #5: Healing... the a la carte menu
Around level 50 I realized that healing isn't just spamming a couple of buttons over and over. That's when I learned I should have different ranks of different heals on my action bar! It was like a light bulb went on... I can save mana this way and this is what all that +healing is for! Around level 60 is when I learned to use different heals on different party members in different situations. Currently, I usually use a lot of lifebloom but occasionally throw in rejuvenation and regrowth.
Lesson #6: The early bird does not get the worm... he gets in trouble
When I first started healing instances, I thought I needed to heal the tank immediately... as soon as the tank got his first hits. But then what would happen? Well the tank didn't have enough aggro yet, so the mob would often come to me. Not a great way to start the fight. I had to learn to be patient for a bit before sending pretty green wave swirlies the tank's way.
Lesson #7: It aint over till the fat lady (or healer?) sings
This is sort of a general lesson, not just a healing lesson. But what I've learned is that when things get really crazy, just try to remain calm and do what you do. There have been many times in a fight when I was sure we wouldn't make it, that I was completely wrong! You may be down to 1% mana, and your tank at 1% health, but if that is 1% more health than the mob, its all good!
Sunday, October 7, 2007
K and Seb in SF
Thursday, October 4, 2007
You knew this already... but we rock!
- Gamers are better at handling risk and uncertainty. (Ok... you want to run X with no idea how the boss fights work and the group geared in quest reward greens and blues.)
- Gamers are more creative and have better problem solving skills. (Maybe we can just all sneak, stealth, prowl around that guy?) - Gamers are more sociable and have a greater need for human relationships. (I just really love meeting new and fun people through PUGS!) - Gamers think of themselves as experts and want to tackle problems head-on. (Duel me, duel me, duel me, duel me.... I TOTALLY PWNED YOU NOOB!) - Gamers aren’t discouraged by failure and believe each setback is just a chance to try again. (Sure, lets just continue to wipe on this boss 10 times over when its clear we're undergeared.) - Gamers are more flexible about change. (No! We have to have exactly this class do exactly this at exactly this point in this fight. No other strategy will work.) - Gamers are better at seeing problems in a deeper perspective. (I'm still not running Kara/Gruul/SSC! I/my guild/the game sucks. I quit.) - Gamers are great at learning in informal ways. (Hey, look it up on wowhead, tthotbot, allakhazam.) - Gamers are more globally oriented and outwardlooking. (Yeah, Im totally global. I bought gold from those farmers in China.) - Gamers are more confident and have a more positive outlook on life. (You knew this already... but we rock!)
Source: article in the New York Times that talked about this book published by Harvard Business School Press.
Source of italicized text: K's smart ass WOW responses.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Excuse me while I wipe the drool off the keyboard
Here are two crafted items K is going to try to get crafted ASAP by a 365+ leatherworker.
Head: [Hood of Primal Life]
This helm requires 6 heavy knothide leather (which is 30 knothide leather), 20 primal life, 8 primal water, and 1 primal nether.
Hands: [Gloves of the Living Touch]
These gloves require 4 heavy knothide leather (20 knothide leather), 16 primal life, 12 primal earth, and 1 primal nether.
The knothide leather I'm not worried about, it's easy to fish them up in Zanga or buy them on AH. The primal earth and water, I already have sitting in the bank (because I hoard things like crazy). I will have to grind the primal lifes in Zanga or buy them on AH. I think I have like 12 primal lifes in the bank right now... I need 36 for both pieces.
What I'm most worried about is finding a leatherworker who has these patterns and the primal nether. Primal nether is bop (boooo) and drops from the final bosses in Outland instances (~5% chance on normal mode, guaranteed drop on heroic). So if I hand over all the mats and the leatherworker is using their bop primal nether, I wonder how much more the leatherworker will ask for to make these items for me?
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
OMG UR A GURRL!!!
Well, my guildies actually knew I was a girl, but I'm sure this happened elsewhere yesterday. So my first experience with Voice chat last night... It was cool, but at the same time, kind of odd. In a way it took away some of the mystique of the game... to have that familiar background music interrupted by the voice of a (shock!) real person. What? You aren't a female nightelf in real life?
So Sunday, I participated in the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza for the second time. Last time I had 21 Tastyfish when the winner was announced. This time I had 27. Total sad panda. I am getting better... but having only 27 when the winner had 40 is still quite a difference! I am done (done, I tell ya!) with trying the eastern coast of Stranglethorn Vale (way too crowded on Drenden) and will try next time on the western coast. The tournament wasn't a complete loss however, as I did get the rare fish Brownell's Blue Striped Racer, which was turned in for [Nat Pagle's Extreme Anglin'Boots].
Finally, I have a most likely noob question about my Mark of the Wild buff. So the highest rank I have is rank 8, which increases armor by 459, attributes by 18, resistances by 33. On my action bar, it says that it is rank 8. But then when I cast it and check on the buff itself on the upper right corner, it says increased armor by 340, attributes by 14, and resistances by 25. Why is my buff less than what the rank 8 stats say they are?
Monday, October 1, 2007
D and our time zone differences
So you guys have heard a lot about our tanky (not skanky) tank Jess, let's meet our crazy pvp loving, sappity sap rogue and GM (though his official guild rank is Psycho), Daihiro.
Now D is the only one of us out in the East Coast. We have a number of West Coasters, and I'm in the heartland of America, on good old CST. This means that when we run instances, D is up the latest. Add to that the fact that I believe he games in a very comfortable chair and works a sometimes crazy work schedule, D sometimes falls asleep in the middle of an instance. It's become somewhat of a guild joke.
Well it happened again Friday night in a guild run of Auch Crypts, where D spent the night by himself. Fortunately it was after we finished the instance. The SS isn't all that clear, but basically it looks like D has been punished and sent to face the naughty corner. As a guild, we know that D has fallen asleep when he starts just running into some wall. I think this will change when we get voice, because then we can try to talk to him to wake him up. Anyone else have guild time zone differences?
Just so D's backside isn't all you see, here's another pic of D.
Finally we had a group wipe in Crypts on Friday and I got a SS of the sad carnage. We nightelves die a pretty dramatic death as well! (Aaargh! Plop.)
Healing status and gear update
I've been able to upgrade a couple pieces, thanks to Phaelia's awesome advice. I was able to pick up the Essence Focuser for an unbelievable 45g (Drenden FTW!). I actually bought two for 45g each and sold the second one for a nice profit. Because, it's all about the Benjamins!
All stats unbuffed, no potions, no food, no scrolls, no nothing!
Weapon:
[The Essence Focuser] Off-hand:
[Unearthed Orb] Idol:
[Harold's Rejuvenating Broach] Head:
[Mistyreed Hood of the Physician] Neck:
[Ogre Slayer's Pendant] Shoulders:
[Pauldrons of Arcane Rage] Back:
[Cloak of Healing Rays] Chest:
[Lifewarden's Breastplate] Wrists:
[Goldenvine Wraps] Hands:
[Murkblood Gloves of Healing] Waist:
[Boneshredder Belt of the Hierophant] Legs:
[Haramad's Leggings of the Third Coin] Feet:
[Swamprunner's Boots]
Ring:
[Holy Healing Band] Ring:
[Heirloom Signet of Convalescence] Trinket:
[Osu'gun Relic] Trinket:
[Glowing Crystal Insignia]
Level: 70
Health: 6244
Mana: 7010
Intellect: 328
Spirit: 262
+Healing: 861
+MP5: 203
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Holy crap, aka the ding of all dings
Yes, it happened Friday night. K dinged 70. It is definitely a weird feeling to have been pushing towards something for so long and now to have achieved it.
However, I know this is just the beginning since it is an entirely new game again at 70. Gearing up, gaining rep, running end game intances... In a way it can be sort of frustrating, as the game seems to never end. I guess unless you are one of the very few who achieve world and server firsts, this game is really more about the journey than the destination!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Patch 2.3 - fishing and cooking
We just got patch 2.2, which by the way has seriously screwed up my sound. It sounds like I have a box of rice krispies in my laptop... constant snap, crackle, and popping. 
Anyways, word is that with patch 2.3, those who fish will be able to track fishing nodes, like herbalists and miners do. They're also adding some new fish as well. However, most of us avid fishermen/women already know where all the good pools are.
So I'm much more interested in seeing the addition of cooking daily quests! Hmmm, I wonder what that will be like? Bring me 10 golden fish sticks or roasted clefthoof? The quests will probably have to reward me with new recipies or something cool because I'm not going to just easily hand over food that I can use, share with guildies, or sell for a pretty penny.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Home sweet home
I have been busy moving homes in real life so my time on WOW lately has been limited.
But speaking of homes, where do you consider home? Do you always log out in one city or another? For me, its Ironforge. A number of my guildies also log in and out from IF. I think its really convenient how the AH and bank are right across the way from each other. I'm always running back and forth and the proximity saves me some time. Because you know it is true what those goblins say, "Time is money, friend!"
Sunday, September 23, 2007
My new chest piece
Healing status and gear... lvl 69
All stats unbuffed, no potions, no food, no scrolls, no nothing!
Weapon:
[Azure Lightblade] Off-hand:
[Unearthed Orb] Idol:
[Harold's Rejuvenating Broach] Head:
[Mistyreed Hood of the Physician] Neck:
[Ogre Slayer's Pendant] Shoulders:
[Pauldrons of Arcane Rage] Back:
[Cloak of Healing Rays] Chest:
[Watcher's Tunic] Wrists:
[Goldenvine Wraps] Hands:
[Murkblood Gloves of Healing] Waist:
[Boneshredder Belt of the Hierophant] Legs:
[Haramad's Leggings of the Third Coin] Feet:
[Swamprunner's Boots]
Ring:
[Holy Healing Band] Ring:
[Heirloom Signet of Convalescence] Trinket:
[Osu'gun Relic] Trinket:
[Glowing Crystal Insignia]
Level: 69
Health: 6331
Mana: 6687
Intellect: 314
Spirit: 275
+Healing: 781
+MP5: 200
Friday, September 21, 2007
Screenshot updates
I mentioned the other day that I fished up a Mr. Pinchy. The first wish he granted me was a Benevolent Mr. Pinchy, a level 68 combat pet. Jess and I took him around a bit to quest but he died after like 10 min. He was a little smothering though... look how he's all up on me!
Second wish granted me a Magical Crawdad pet like I had hoped for! I felt a little silly being so excited to get him... but just look at him! Who wouldn't be excited to have a new little crustacean friend? Maybe I should name him Sebastian. What movie is that from? :)
Finally, Jess hit a very big milestone last night. Yes, she hit 70. My, my, our little tank is all grown up! (sniff, sniff).
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Being a female gamer
Now that I'm blogging about WOW, I find myself playing a lot more. I need good blog material! :) With this increase in play time and the time spent on the blog, I've been telling more real life family and friends about this "little" hobby of mine.
I've never hid the fact that I am a female to my guildies I play the most with, though I never explicitly advertised the fact from the beginning because I don't think it matters. However, especially in the beginning when playing with random strangers, a part of me would rather not let them know I was female. Why? Hmmm... well as a female brand new to the game, I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't know if they would think I couldn't play well or needed help... or maybe so as to not further the stereotype that all women play healers. But another part of me wouldn't mind having them know that us female gamers are playing this game, and playing it damn well, thank you very much. Overall though, I really haven't encountered any negative or unwanted attention by people who knew I was a female or towards my female character. I'm curious how things will change with the introduction of the voice chat feature when it will be obvious whether you are male or female.
However, I felt kind of odd telling friends and family that I play. When I told some of my girlfriends, the response I got was "What? Huh? What is that?". I guess saying, "You know, a MMORPG, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game!" wasn't the best answer. Upon further explanation, their response was "You are such a geek!", which is an accurate label I wear quite proudly. They also weren't too surprised since while on the outside I am a girly girl, I have several other real life hobbies that are typically dominated by men. So people outside the game seem to think of female gamers as "geeks", though I would argue that people outside the gaming world think that male gamers are geeks as well. Probably female gamers are thought of as just a little geekier. Is this the perception people within the game have as well?
I'm curious whether this perception will change over time. Those of you who have been playing since the beginning, has it changed? Latest figures say about 16% of WOW players are female. Though I think I read somewhere that Blizzard is going to try to reach out to more female players. I bet the penetration rate amongst males is just about maxed out. If they really want to significantly grow their player base, the opportunity is with female players. My one suggestion for this would be to stop the "skankification" of gear when a female character wears it. You all know what I'm talking about. Maybe having more than one female developer (so I hear) amongst the 20+ developers would be a good start as well.
This topic has been discussed online a lot, even being the subject of a college term paper! On a more humorous end, a comic from Hammer of Grammer that most of you have probably already seen.
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