Sunday, November 30, 2008

Yep, I'm still here...

The reason for the lack of posts lately? Well I had a pretty crazy couple of days at work, then headed home for the turkey eating holidays. I've also had some computer issues lately as well. I swear... computers hate me.

But I think another reason may be the fact that I have felt a little meh about WOW lately. I know what in the world right? Tons of bloggers are writing about all this cool new Lich King stuff, and I'm feeling meh? I definitely agree that its a great expansion with tons of new stuff. I don't know if my meh comes from overdoing it when it first came out, or if its just too overwhelming with seemingly endless things to get done. But lately it has felt in a way like work for me.... is leveling to 80 like work so you can raid at level 80?

Who knows... maybe I've had too much turkey and its affected my judgment.

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Friday, November 21, 2008

Tons of screenshots, a staff decision, and welcome back Healing Touch

Well we went back to Ahn'kahet with everyone one level higher than the first time. I think the first time we were 71s and 72s, this last time we were 72s and 73s. So taking down Jedoga's minions before they hit the circle was very easy.

A screenshot with the our elephant/squid friend Herald Volazj

Now that we finished the two Dragonblight instances, we decided to try Drak'Tharon Keep, an instance rated 74-76. Our group was level 73 and 74, but it was again not too bad at all. The only group wipe we had was on the second boss Novos the Summoner. We went in blind again, and didn't realize that you have to wait for the adds and take them down first to break down his shield. All the other bosses were one shot.

Now I picked up two pieces in Drak'Tharon, Scytheclaw Boots and Staff of the Great Reptile. Now the 81 spirit on this new staff just makes me drool. But let's look at what I picked up in Azjol-Nerub, Life-Staff of the Web Lair. Hmmm, decisions, decisions. 75 intellect is nothing to sneeze at... and while I typically don't care about haste too much, I find that my healing style has changed. I'm still just doing 5 mans, so maybe it'll be different in raids, but I find that I am using Healing Touch a lot more than I used to. I guess the right answer would be to keep both for different purposes, but if you had to pick one staff, which would you go with?

Anyways, more screenshots from Drak'Tharon.

The pretty view up on the last boss Prophet Tharon'ja's terrace.

After we were done, Atania insisted that we needed to do some more bonding by doing the hilarious outhouse quest together in Grizzly Hills. It was kind of creepy that the rest of us were sitting outside while each of us went in. I mean we're close, but this was just a little too close maybe? Here's Vel getting ready to step in.

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Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Signs you have a WOW spouse

Last week I saw this article online about having a work spouse. Inspired from this list, here are some signs that you might have a WOW spouse.

1. You and your WOW spouse regularly share mats or food buffs.

2. There are inside jokes that you and your WOW spouse share. You and your WOW spouse may also joke and kid around by giving each other a hard time about certain things.

3. You can be bluntly honest with each other about raid performance, gear choice, or whatever. You're comfortable enough to point things out and ask what the heck they think they're doing.

4. When something eventful happens in an raid, your WOW spouse is the first person you start whispering frantically. Or over vent in a raid, one WOW spouse may yell to the other to do something, to which the other responds, "Geez, I'm doing it already!".

5. Your WOW spouse knows exactly what type of elixirs, potions, or flasks you consume.

6. You can finish each other's sentences over vent or find that you are thinking the same things at the same time.

7. Your WOW spouse knows almost as much or more about your real life as your best friend or real life spouse does.

8. You and your WOW spouse may have disagreements or minor spats. But you know these spats aren't the end of the relationship, spouses are bound to disagree at times! The WOW wife then waits for the WOW husband to come back with flowers and apologies. :)

9. No one else knows how to push your buttons or guilt trip you as well as your WOW spouse.

10. Your friends and your real life spouse know about your WOW spouse.

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Monday, November 17, 2008

Those two A instances in Dragonsblight

Anyone else having a hard time remembering what the heck those two instances in Dragonsblight are called? I'm having a hard time remembering Azjol-Nerub and Ahn'kahet. I wonder what acronym will be established for these two? AN and AK? AZ and AH?

Anyways, we decided to take a peek into these two instances. Blizz did a great job with them! Design wise, it is very impressive. Also nice to see some bosses do some other things.

Azjol-Nerub is rated 72-74, but was pretty easy for us, and that was with 5 level 71s. We were a little concerned whether we'd have nightmares about all the creepy bugs in the place. We only wiped on the trash leading up to the first boss. I picked up Life-Staff of the Web Lair Some pics.

Now Ahn'kahet was a bit more difficult, rated at 73-75. However we were able to one shot all of the bosses, except for the third one, Jedoga Shadowseeker. We just were not able to get down the minions before they walked into the circle of light. Thus, Jedoga would be buffed and we'd wipe when she came back down. Because the minions pop out of their bubbles randomly, it was almost luck whether a dps would be near them. It was probably a bit more difficult because we ran with two melee dps. It did seem like everyone's favorite boss in Ahn'kahet was the last one, Herald Volazj who does this funny cloning thing to the party. Anyways, Jedoga, we are coming back for you!

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Getting my mammoth in Dalaran

Over the weekend, we were able to port a bunch of us to Dalaran by having our mage Vel queue us into AV from Dalaran, then all leaving the battleground. It was Jessika's idea. I thought warriors had no intellect? However warriors do get rage, as does happen when guildies level faster than them. And this is what happens when said warriors are also guild leaders.

Anyways, so once we got to Dalaran I was finally presented with the issue of whether or not to get the mammoth. I stewed over it a day or so, then finally got it with Vel. Here is the two of us causing havoc in the streets of Dalaran.

Quick thoughts on the mammoth. #1: Having paid as much as we did for the mount, my own repair guy should repair me at a discount. #2: The repair guy and vendor should buy back more than just one page of stuff. When you're out questing, and wanting to do long runs, one page of stuff to sell back fills up quickly. #3: The mammoth is not a smooth ride. Its kinda too jumpy and jostly for my taste. I will probably only call him up when I need him, and stick to my swift kitty to get around smoothly.

Back to Dalaran thoughts... what a neat city! I love the new additions such as the toymaker and the stable where you can buy fun things for your vanity pets. Let me just also say that Dalaran is a dangerous dangerous place for those who fish. Exhibit A: The fountain.

Dalaran is apparently also a dangerous place for mages. Watch out Vel.

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Friday, November 14, 2008

My gaming bananas

Let's take a break from all the Wrath talk for a bit. Check out what I got from my most recent trip to the grocery store! I have gaming bananas! And they are LOLing at me!

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Wrath pics

So what does everyone think about Wrath? I think they did a great job with not only having two starting zones, but having the quests in the two starting zones spread out within the zone. So yeah, there was competition for quests, but it wasn't too terrible. A lot of what I needed had fast respawn rates. I was also very impressed with the fact that the server did not crash and that the lag wasn't bad. However apparently Drenden had queues of 400+ folks for a wait of 20+ minutes each during peak times last night. Yuck.

I was doing some questing when BRK and his Gorilladin showed up right next to me and I think his Gorilla tried to steal some of my mobs. I really should have taken a screenshot. So I was doing those quests just west of the boat drop off in the Fjord where you have to defend the town from the invaders. It gets a little crazy there. So with the waves and waves of mobs, I can see how you could accidently tag mobs. Maybe I will forgive his Gorilla. Maybe.

I decided to start in the Howling Fjord. Why? Well, I think its prettier than the tundra, has awesome music, seemed less crowded than Borean Tundra, and most importantly, actually had herbs. Some pics. Here's K watching in horror at a forest fire.

My favorite race of people? The walrus people on the coasts of Dragonblight, Howling Fjord, and Borean Tundra! Seriously... how cute are they?!?! At exalted rep with them you can get a penguin pet named Pengu!

We did both of the beginning instances, Utgarde Keep and The Nexus last night. It was interesting doing the instances blindly, not knowing exactly what the bosses do, but saying "Eh, let's just wing it and figure it out". Our first wipe was on the last boss of the Nexus, the dragon Keristrasza. Everyone has to keep moving just a little bit during this flight so a dot doesn't stack up. Anyways, it was nice to actually finally wipe because all of Utgarde Keep and the rest of The Nexus was incredibly easy. In terms of drops, all of the drops were pretty good, but the gear our group had from badge rewards and ZA were a couple of ticks better. It was kind of nice to know that all of our hard work wouldn't be so quickly replaced with quest reward greens or regular instance blues.

Here we are at the last boss of Utgarde Keep... our first Wrath instance!

I fell in love with the frozen tree wing in the Nexus. Sooo pretty!

Finally, I didn't spend too much time questing on the first day. Why? Because there's work to do, that's why! I am big into professions. Check out where I was in my skills at the end of day one. Issues, I tell ya... issues.

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Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Don't be messing with Cenarius... cuz I am guarding it

I hit exalted with Cenarion Circle the other day, thus finally receiving this all too druidy title. It was a painful couple of days, especially since I completely forgot that between friendly and revered comes honored. I started at friendly rep and thought to myself, "Oh, self! You are close to revered already!". /sigh

Jess said I was crazy and had serious issues for doing the long grind in such a short timeframe. Whereas I liked to refer to it as determination and perseverance, with just a little side of crazy. I had to explain that my druid card would be revoked if I didn't get the title. But yeah, if I never ever go to Silithus again, it would be too soon. To commemorate the new title, K spent the night for the first time in a really really long time in good old Darnassus.

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Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Wrath Cooking and Fishing preview

Here are some of my quick thoughts around cooking and fishing in the expansion.

1. It seems to me that they are trying to make comparable food buffs with both fish and meat, which is great. So you wouldn't have to fish in order to make some of these food buffs for yourself. But I will of course still level fishing, because I mean let's just get real here... this is K speaking.

2. I'm glad food buffs last an hour instead of 30 minutes. K was getting a little thick around the middle from eating so often.

3. A couple of new food buffs.

4. A new very interesting raid wide buff. So everyone in a raid can partake in this feast and get this buff. Yum yum!

5. Nearly all of these recipes above are for end or near end game cooking. The recipes and the Northern Spices required to cook these up can only be bought with Dalaran cooking awards, received by doing daily cooking quests. You can pick these up once you get yourself to Dalaran. The one exception to this is the Great Feast. (see next paragraph)

6. As for what we can immediately expect to cookup in Northrend, Brom Brewbaster for Alliance in Howling Fjord (one of the two starting zones) teaches 15 recipes. Orn Tenderhoof in Borean Tundra (the other starting zone) teaches the same recipes for Horde. Fourteen require a cooking skill of 350 and one requires 375 (the feast). Both trainers will teach you how to make the Great Feast, as well as Clam Chowder. The chowda will also give you all three buffs, but it is not something you can set up for your entire party.

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Stack sizes and Vel, you can haz fish sticks now

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Monday, November 10, 2008

IF bank - Circus time! SW bank - Time to get physical?

So sometimes I notice random things. Here's is my latest.

Apparently the IF bank is just a huge circus. Why do I say this? Well look at the names of the three bankers.

• Bailey Stonemantle
• Barnum Stonemantle
• Soleil Stonemantle

Makes me think of Barnum & Bailey as well as Cirque du Soleil.

Now is there a theme in SW? Well let's look at the three bankers in SW.

• Olivia Burnside
• Newton Burnside
• John Burnside

Anyone else think its time to get physical in SW? Im ready with my legwarmers, are you?

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Sunday, November 9, 2008

Weekend screenshots

1. We did a combined SSC run with our friends from Captains Crew. I couldn't get over the fact that fishing plays such a big role in this place! Here I am with Seb just mesmerized by this huge pool.

2. As we count down the days to next Thursday, its sort of sad to realize that we may not come back to some of these places again. Heroic Slave Pens has become a classic instance for us, as its a super fast and easy couple of badges. As it was the heroic daily yesterday, we decided to run it. It was a bit sad to realize that it may have been our last time doing Heroic SP. We decided it was worthy of a screenshot. Ah Heroic Slave Pens... good times, good times.

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Friday, November 7, 2008

"No, please"

Are any of you fully specced resto druids ever asked to hibernate or root anything in a raid or instance? If its an instance that is much below our level, than maybe. Otherwise I find it very difficult to keep something hibernated while still trying to heal. As a toon in the raid to heal, when I can't heal, peeps die (simple math!) Plus with my spell hit at a whopping zero, hibernating hardly ever sticks anyways. Maybe some of you can keep stuff hibernated and heal and I am being uber noobish.

Last week Jess asked me to hibernate one of the bosses at that Moroes like ZA boss. Anyways, my reaction to Jess' request? "No, please". I explained why it wouldn't work and reminded everyone why it turned into a mess last time. Hey, at least I was polite instead of saying "Hell, no". So if a raid leader asks you to do something that you know won't work? Speak up.... but be polite and explain why. Say "No, please!" or I guess "Please, no!" would work too. :)

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Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Election Day (in WOW speak)

Today is a big day here in the USofA... finally Election Day is here! In doing some searching, the current US election and our shared pastime have already crossed paths. Why am I not surprised?

Check out this site that says that Obama polled 62% across all of Azeroth population, with McCain favored by Alliance and Obama favored by the Horde. Interesting...

This site has a hilarous comment. Commenter Nessaja refers to this duel as a Level 46 Tauren Druid vs a Level 73 Dwarf Warrior. LOL! I think McCain could also be a Pally. I like Obama as a Druid.

Here is the Youtube video link 'Election Duel! Obama V. McCain - Who Get's Pwned?' which includes such epic quotes as 'Excuse me while I go all Palin on this Wolf'. Double LOL!

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Monday, November 3, 2008

Two random questions

1. What's the deal with damage/healing meters? How can Recount and Damage Meters be so different? Even more odd, if two people start recording stats at the same time, both using Damage Meters, how can the stats at the end of the raid be different?

2. Secondly, a lot of people commented last week about the zombie madness. But could the zombie walk have been for a good purpose? Omaha's zombie walk raised money for the muscular dystrophy association. Some other large walks this year was Detroit's and Seattle's. Apparently 10/26 was World Zombie Day.

Quoted from the Omaha Zombie walk site:

What is a ZOMBIE WALK?
A zombie walk (also known as a zombie mob, zombie march, zombie horde, zombie lurch, zombie shuffle or zombie pub crawl) is an organized public gathering of two or more people who dress up in zombie costumes and make up. Usually taking place in an urban centre, the participants make their way around the city streets in a somewhat orderly fashion limping and gnawing their way as they go. During the event participants are encouraged to remain in character as zombies and to communicate only in a manner consistent with zombies (such as grunts, groans and slurred moans calling for “brains”.)

Can you believe people really do these real life zombie walks? Check out how many cities in which these walks were held this year! I wonder if anyone who came across these walks started screaming, "Where's that Argent Dawn healer?" or "Damn you zombies... you killed the flight master!"

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