Sorry!

I have been gone far too long.  I'm still playing games, just not as seriously.  Delgada got out to finally finish School of Hard Knocks, which resulted in finally finishing What a Long Strange Trip It's Been.  (digging through screenshots) Sorry, didn't even think to catch her on her pretty new violet protodrake. You'll just have to trust me on that one.

I do, however, have pictures of the gal who has stolen me away from playing Delgada.  Meet Lulubelle, seer of An'she.

Bunny Ears?

Alright, so the ears don't quite convey how seriously she takes herself.  Here is a better picture.

Bad Dog!

So now we know who really burnt Stratholme down.  She really isn't as bad as that, though.  Here's another picture.

Consorting with goblins...

Kind of a necessary means to the end of getting the skills to pay bills, though.  Tell me you haven't done something for a goblin at one time or another, go ahead, I'm waiting.  While we wait, here is another picture of the highly photogenic Lulu.

She even heals hunter pets!

She is so very kind!  Right after that, she traveled to Silithus, killed a few large worms and Twilight Cultists, and stepped through the handy portal to the Blasted Lands, to report for duty past the Dark Portal into Outlands first horde installation, Thrallmar.  There may be fewer pictures for a while as she is rather keen on looking her best and the clothes that can be had there are well, outlandish.  See, I made a joke...haha!

Lulu is being leveled from scratch with no heirlooms or big sister characters on a new server to me. She is a discipline priest, which I haven't ever tried before, and I am really enjoying it.  I grabbed dual specializations to have a shadow spec, but haven't needed to use it yet, and doubt I'll even change over save to add points every several levels or so.  She is a tailor and enchanter, leveled well past where she should be thanks to the generosity of her guild mates in Integrity. Her leveling has been easy, as the healer queue is rather short.  A few quests here, a few dungeons there, and she is out of a zone not too long after barely wetting her hooves in the shallow end of it.  She is now in Zangarmarsh, looking forward to hitting Terokkar before the week is up. 

Sorry I have been rather absent.  I am thinking about changing the name of the blog here soon, as when I started it I had no idea there was a large site called the Escapist.  that, and some people, seeing my URL, think it is Escapists Crawl.  No, I'm not crawling like a baby, I am scrawling like a teenager who is late for turning in their homework.  Barely legible, but hopefully good enough for a passing grade.  I'll keep the URL until it expires, which is next year, but I may find another to direct here, or just move over to my other blog that I'm not using yet, Seven Kids - One Bathroom, which is much more like me right now.  Either way, I'll post something here when the change is made.  Thanks for stopping by!

Dress For Romance

When we think about outfits for Valentine's Day, the usual items and sets come to mind. Here is a bulleted list of what the unimaginative will be looking for this season.

• Lovely (insert color here) Dress
• Elegant or Easter Dress
• White Wedding Dress
• Haliscan Set
• Tuxedo Set 
• Black Tuxedo Set

We have imagination, we have vision!   Throw aside these boring examples of Azerothian date wear and open yourself to the possibilities!  First, I have for you Buttercup and her Farm Boy.

Pretty much any farm in the early areas of the Human and Undead zones will do to roleplay this fantastic set. Buttercup is wearing a Simple Dress.  Farm Boy is wearing Blue Overalls paired with your basic axe.  Sorry, the log is a prop only available to non player monsters.

How about something straight out of the Arabian Nights? These outfits, perhaps paired with a flying carpet ride, would be great for a desert or oasis meetup.

Her dress, the Robes of Insight, look like the Vestments of the Shifting Sands, Robes of the Battleguard, Robes of the Guardian Saint and Robes of the Triumvirate.  You might have to have a little luck finding them, but they are well worth saving when found!  His outfit consists of Verdigris Leggings, Abjurer's Cloak, Crimson Silk Vest, and a Spellweaver's Turban.  The leggings are a reward from a low level Alliance quest, so you Horde out there may have to find something different(any plain pair will do).  As for the turban, only the models above level 59 have the feather.  Here is a list of alternatives, with and without feathers.

How about Explorer meets Native?

Our troll princess is wearing the Tribal Worg Helm with an Aboriginal Robe and carrying an Aboriginal Rod.  The explorer, begging to keep his head, is wearing a White Swashbuckler's Shirt with a Moonglow Vest, Twill Belt and Twill Pants and Simple Linen Boots.  You could do this in about any tropical setting, but it's especially fun in troll ruins and active troll areas.

How about a damsel and a swash buckling pirate?

 

Our damsel in distress is wearing a White Woolen Dress and Cross Stitched Sandals. Our villainous pirate is wearing a Swashbuckler's Eyepatch, White Swashbuckler's Shirt, Slavehandler Jerkin, Swashbuckler Sash,  Coven Britches, Crimson Silk Cloak, and wielding a Cruel Barb.  Sadly, if you want that sash, you have to have had it before The Shattering.

These are just a few ideas for outfits that can lead to wonderful romantic roleplay, or just some fun while sitting in your favorite spot, doing whatever you and your Azerothian lover enjoy doing together.  If you have any other suggestions on outifts I might be able to dig up, please leave a comment below!  

Next up, places to go now that you are all dressed up!  Exciting, breathtaking, fun filled vacation spots sure to please even the most picky of partners.  Stay tuned...

Oops! Was That A Heroic?

Delgada in her Tabard of the Achiever

 I played a long time yesterday.  I finished Deepholm, which also finished the Cataclysm Loremaster achievement.  I did my first round of Twilight Highlands dailies, and found the only two dailies in Uldum. I fiddled around getting the 25 tabard achievement.  I logged in my bank alt and sent 1300 gold to Delgada so she could get the ultimate riding achievement.  I even managed to kill C'thun (with some help!) and got my AQ40 achievement.   I figured, I can do all that, I might as well try one of these super hard instances everyone is talking about.

The End of C'thun

So I loaded up the looking for group tool, making sure I had selected only DPS, and pulled out my fishing pole.  I fished for about 30 minutes, and was whisked away into the Stonecore.  I'm guessing I was a replacement, because there were some dead mobs where I zoned in.  Not having run the instance before, I kinda guessed that we weren't at the entrance, because there were no npc types handing out quests.  So, I buffed up and followed the pack, carefully doing my job of dps and nothing else (well, I did dispel a couple things off the tank, but you won't tell?  Good.). 

Pre-Dungeon Attire.

The first boss I encountered was a dragon, I think.  This is a little fuzzy because it was at night yesterday, and I may get things out of order.    Anyhow, seems this guy does this aoe thing, you can see his cast bar ramping up to spin it off, of crystal shards.  Before he does that, he does this aoe where stalagmites drop from the ceiling.  This actually come in handy for the second aoe, as you can use them to hide behind.  Not too bad a fight, and we were off to the second boss.  Now, I'm pretty sure this was the second boss I saw, even though it may be further in, because I was a pinch hitter.  This rock guy does that shatter thing we all love from back in Burning Crusade days, but he has this other aoe I couldn't see.  So, after the shatter was about done, I sat there spamming my shield, or dissipate if it was up, to avoid as much damage from that attack as possible.  We got through that fight, then it was on to the next. Trash fights in between seemed rather straight forward, stay out of bad stuff, don't aggro, don't aoe, follow the tanks lead for kill order.  Well, I did aoe in the room before this next boss, to get rid of a bunch of non elites in the middle, then we turned the corner and saw our last boss.  This lady was fun.  She threw rocks at you, which you could totally avoid by getting out of the dust forming around your feet.  She also put up void circles, which were also easily avoided because of their obvious targeting ring before they appear.  The boss called non elites out, usually when she ran away to her stage, which were aoe'd down rather easily.  Oh, and if you grabbed enough aggro, she had this choke hold thing, I think it was even called Force Choke. So, we didn't get her down on the first try. Or the second.  Then, the tank, healer, and one dps just up and quit, leaving me and another hanging around.  We decided to wait for replacements.  She (might have been a guy, but was in female form, so you know, you are what you wear in this game to me) told me this was her first heroic, and that is when it hit me.  This is a heroic?  Here I just thought that the instances were that hard, and I was lucky to be able to perform at all in them..  Replacements arrived, and my partner in crime ate the dust, but we finished the boss, getting me a heroic and regular run of Stonecore all at once.

So, the heroics are hard?  The instances are hard, too?  Well, it's just more of the same we already learned...stay out of stuff, don't let stuff fall on you, and for gosh sakes pay attention! Now, to start planning my next several runs...

A Few Thousand Words...

Okay, I'll keep this one. Don't be so scared!

Redeemed from Felwood's filth.

Arko'narin

A lone warrior's grave in Un'Goro Crater.

Dwarven Delight!

You are now leaving Ashenvale. Oooh! Azshara!

The new leveling sets will never be so colorful...or mismatched.

This is only missing a blanket and some tanning oil...and you.

Poor Jim.  If he was himself, these would be from him.

A girl and her wolf.

Feeding a teen is hard work.

Trolling with my homies.

Brewfest!

Fill 'er Up!

 

Delgada is perpetually thirsty.  I'm sure it is just a trick of the mind, as the undead require little food and drink past the remains of their kills to live a long undeath.  Still, Delgada enjoys Brewfest, for this is the time when that trick is doused quite regularly and cheaply with brews from around Kalimdor.  The trolls make a flirtatious medium weight ale that is perfectly suited to their tropical home.  Just heavy enough to satisfy, but light enough that, when chilled and garnished with one of the citrusy fruits grown on the isles, will bring down your temperature considerably.  The orcs make a pretty heavy, spicy brew, which is totally unsuited to their established home in Azeroth, but comes in pretty handy where the recipe was born.  Autumn in Nagrand can get pretty crisp, and this brew goes down quite well with a hefty plate of roast talbuk and some tubers.  The Blood Elves have tried to join in, but they haven't learned the fine art of the brew, instead coming laden with casks of light, fruity wines and bubbling champagnes. Delgada will stop by there a time or two during the festivities, just to make them feel welcome. 

 

The Ogres come with their brew, which is pretty much only enjoyed by the very drunk and the ogres themselves.  It's commonly thought that they use their loincloths to filter out the frothy sludge resulting from the heating of the various grains and other additions to their concoction.  I'm pretty sure they even bathe their young in the early part of the brewing process.  The resulting brew smells much like a bilge pump operator 10 minutes before his shower crossed with the aroma left by a terrified skunk.  The flavor is much like what I think tea made from jock straps and sweat socks would taste like. Even when hammered, Delgada stays far away from their booth.  Even if she cannot taste much due to deteriorating taste buds, or smell much for want of a working olfactory system, she is still conscious of how she must smell to others, and there is no sense in adding to that.

 

All the flavors of these brews would be tainted quite sadly by the dry, dusty, hot weather that Orgrimmar is famous for, if it weren't for some goblin ingenuity.  With the help of the goblin engineers, the prominent breweries have refridgerated kegs and their booths are stocked with insulated steins, with small freezers below the bar to stow them when not in use.  The elves were even given a small cooler for their wines to chill in, though I wonder where they stashed it, for by some magic their wines are already chilled, and the chest is nowhere to be seen!

 

As for food, The dwarves will tell you that sausage and pretzels were a gift from the Titans to the dwarves before they were soundly ejected from the underworld to live out their puny mortal lives on the surface.  This is only partly true. If it weren't for the help of some troll voo doo, they would not have known how to package the spiced meats into a sausage form.  Only a troll would know how to use every part of a living thing to it's fullest.  The dwarves will forever be trying all sorts of different recipes in order to try and attain sausage perfection, but the true secret is in the parts.  And the trolls, dey ain't tellin'.  The dwarves can have their cheese, pretzels, and mustard.  Their sausage will never be anything but a cheap imitation, poor fools.

 

I'd like to thank Windpaw for the inspiration for this post.  Someone had to tell the Horde side of things!

 

THIS Is Why I Love This Game!

A gondola for undead lovers in Undercity. This is fabulous!

Horde Racial Abilities ARE Important.

I have been toying with the idea of a shorter, pointier eared version of Delgada for some time now. If I really wanted to, the money would make itself available. But I can't imagine playing a priest without Will of the Forsaken. I can't have people dying while I'm running, afraid for my life and the well being of my robes. To me, arcane torrent and a 2% resist to all schools of magic isn't a good enough trade. Guess I'll just have to keep an Orb of the Sindorei handy.


Hubby and I were talking about racial abilities on the way to my step kids week day house. I cannot imagine my beast mastery hunter as anything but an orc. They just make more sense, with the racial bonus to pet damage and the attack power buff from Blood Fury. My hubby is all for a marksman hunter Troll, as well. Why? Their berserking ability grants 10-30% additional haste rating and the 1% critical strike bonus when using a bow fit perfectly.


I hear that the minute they made race changes available, a lot of pvp loving players changed to Undead. I can't blame them, really. Smarter and more resistant to shadow, a trinket-less get out of sleep, charm or fear ability, and let's not forget the ability to dine on the dead bodies of our kills! What better choice for pvp is there? And, for those time you have nowhere else to hide, underwater breathing is awesome. Yes, random pug in one of my random lowbie dungeons, undead can drown. Stay underwater longer and find out!


I haven't mentioned the Tauren, and only briefly mentioned the Blood Elves. The Tauren are very common as tanking classes for their 5% increased base health. War Stomp, their racial ability, is a nice way to stop the damage mid fight for a bandage, or enough time for the healer to catch up when they are behind. I have one Tauren character who is a shaman. She's a great little gal, but I haven't found clothing that looks good on her since AQ40, so she sits unused. Blood Elves have Arcane Torrent, which replenishes a small amount of mana (energy, runic power) and silences casters that are close by. I can see this being very helpful for a rogue, death knight, or a paladin, since they are up close to their intended victim(as long as they aren't players). It just doesn't seem as helpful for a caster, who would have to run up, cast, and run back for it to be used to full effect. I have a blood elf paladin in her mid twenties. I don't expect her to get much older, because I keep killing off my elves for something different. I get to a point with them and want to shoot myself in the head. Maybe they're just to uppity and perfect looking for me.


Well, I think I have demonstrated well how Horde racials are important. Tune in later this week as I pick apart Alliance racial abilities and traits. There may be a test later. You have been warned!

Shawndra Returns!

I pulled Shawndra out of the mothballs to try and get the Halloween achievements done. Why Shawndra and not my latest loves, Anselma or Halinka of the Alliance? Because the Horde of KNR seem to be rising out of the ashes, again. Being that Delgada is the guild mistress, a representative should at least be on for the members. Delgada did all that Hallow's End stuff last year, so she stepped back to let Shawndra try and get hers done. Shawndra did very well, but in the end lost to the RNG boss. No Sinister Squashling means no Sinister Calling achievement, and it was all she had left. She did get her helmet, however. Better luck next year.

Since Shawndra had been dusted off for the event, a little play time was in order. Shawndra was sitting at the end of 74 when I started playing with her again, and trick or treating in all of Azeroth and Outland got her into 75. While she was out, she did some questing, and by the end of the event, she was 76. Somewhere in that time period she was given the Cold Weather Flying tome and a pair of heirloom shoulders by Delgada (with the knowledge that she would be sharing with Anselma the blood elflette paladin), and gifted the money for dual specialization. Shawndra loves her primary specialty as a Titan's Grip fury warrior, but felt it was in the interests of many of the returning members to have a secondary specialization as a tank. She was a pretty good one before Northrend was discovered, but was still a little afraid that she would let her group down when she was called to take the lead.

She was asked yesterday to tank Drak'tharon Keep. I started the instance with an announcement that I had not tanked since Karazhan, and to please watch their step. Shawndra pulled, and surprisingly only lost aggro for a second on a stray mob that one of the dps decided to take care of out of order. Doesn't everyone know to assist the tank's target? The mob was taunted and put back into place, and the rest of the run was pretty ho hum. Shawndra, despite her admitted rustiness, seemed to be keeping aggro pretty well, and the healer didn't seem to be losing a whole lot of mana healing. Of course, it helped that the healer was 79. Shawndra noted in party chat that one of the dps was complaining that the tank out-damaged them on a fight. I grinned. At the end of the instance, a pair of plate pants dropped, which, after close inspection, were disenchanted. It is amazing how long Shawndra's low level raiding gear has lasted her into this expansion! Even her tanking gear is mostly from Kharazan and badges.

After the run, I asked in guild chat if I had been terrible. The healer said I was the easiest tank he had had to heal yet. My buddy, the best death knight tank ever, and part time warrior, said I had held aggro fine. I was so excited! I had tanked my first successful regular Northrend instance. Woot!!

Later on, Shawndra went to Dragonblight and did the Wrathgate, then went to battle for the Undercity. The Battle for the Undercity is a great boost to any character's self esteem, as their dps gets a boost of at least 10 times the normal. Special abilities make themselves available more often, and rage bars never empty. Not only that, but I love the lore that is presented. Varian is an ass. If he took a few minutes to get aquainted with Thrall, he would realize that they were in the same situation. Thrall made the best of a bad situation, and Varian became a bigotted jerk too quick to jump to conclusions. Shawndra threw a rude gesture at him as he was ported to safety by Jaina Proudmoore. She then packed up her axes, nodded to Thrall and Sylvanas, and returned to Northrend.

Shawndra is back. I'm gonna have fun getting into the mobs faces again.

My Ultimate Candy Grabbing Route!

I looked, mostly in vain, last night to find a guide to the best way to get everywhere there is a bucket of candy. I found a few routes on Thottbot, but nothing else. I know they are out there, somewhere, but I just cannot find them. So, I promised someone I would have a good route to follow on my site today. I am researching as I am writing, so it may be really late today (the 19th of October), but it will be today!

Now, the disclaimer. This guide assumes you are of the legal flight age, and can get to Dalaran, and have your hearth set there. I may work out a flightless version for those that are using this opportunity to level a character later, which might be difficult without flight, but not impossible.

Warcraft Overachiever has a great map of Horde and Alliance candy buckets for Azeroth and Outland. Links to these can be found here. They are numbered just so you can see them on the map, but this is not by any means a recommended path. If you don't like mine, use their maps to plot your own!

Now, my attempt at making things easier for myself will manifest itself in list form. Remember to fit in Trick or Treating when your debuff fades, and have fun! Stop and smell the roses, kill the flagged players, throw stinkbombs, and smear ash on your face. It is, after all, a holiday!

Dalaran, Crystalsong Forest
Portal to Orgrimmar, Durotar (Trick or Treat)
Ride to Razor Hill, Durotar (put out fires if you have time)
Ride back to Orgrimmar, Durotar
Taxi to Everlook, Winterspring
Taxi to Splintertree Outpost, Ashenvale
Taxi to Sun Rock Retreat, Stonetalon Mountains
Taxi to Shadowprey Village, Desolace
Taxi to Camp Mojache, Feralas
Taxi to Cenarion Refuge, Silithus
Taxi to Gadgetzan, Tanaris
Taxi to Freewind Post, Thousand Needles
Taxi to Mudsprocket, Dustwallow Marsh
Taxi to Brackenwall Village, Dustwallow Marsh
Taxi to Thunder Bluff, Mulgore
Ride to Bloodhoof Village, Mulgore
Ride to Camp Taurajo, the Barrens
Taxi to Crossroads, the Barrens
Taxi to Ratchet, the Barrens

-Achievement!-

Boat to Booty Bay, Stranglethorn Vale
Taxi to Grom'Gol, Stranglethorn Vale
Taxi to Stonard, Swamp of Sorrows
Taxi to Kargath, the Badlands
Taxi to Hamerfall, Arathi Highlands
Taxi to Revantusk Village, the Hinterlands
Taxi to Tarren Mill, Hillsbrad Foothills (if you have the quest, take care of the ale in Southshore while you are there)
Taxi to the Sepulcher, Silverpine Forest
Taxi to Undercity, Tirisfal Glades (Go out to the Wickerman and get your rep buff, and take the quests!)
Ride to Brill, Tirisfal Glades (take a break to help with fires and kill the Headless Horseman while you are here)
Ride back to Undercity, Tirisfal Glades
Taxi to Light's Hope Chapel. Eastern Plaguelands
Taxi to Silvermoon City, Eversong Woods (visit the Royal Exchange and the Bazaar)
Ride to Falconwing Square,Eversong Woods (put out fires if you have time)
Ride to Fairbreeze Village, Eversong Woods
Ride to Tranquillien, Ghostlands

-Achievement!-

Hearth to Dalaran, Crystalsong Forest
Portal to Shattrath, Terokkar Forest
Taxi to Shadowmoon Village, Shadowmoon Valley
Taxi to Sanctum of the Stars or Altar of the Sha'tar, Shadowmoon Valley
Taxi to Stonebreaker Hold, Terokkar Forest
Taxi to Garadar, Nagrand
Taxi to Swamprat Post, Zangarmarsh (no bucket)
Ride to Cenarion Refuge, Zangarmarsh
Ride back to Swamprat Post, Zangarmarsh
Taxi to Falcon Watch, Hellfire Peninsula
Taxi to Thrallmar, Hellfire Peninsula
Taxi to Zabra'jin, Zangarmarsh
Taxi to Thunderlord Stronghold, Blades Edge Mountains
Taxi to Evergrove, Blades Edge Mountains
Taxi to Mok'Nathal Village, Blades Edge Mountains
Taxi to Area 52, Netherstorm
Taxi to the Stormspire, Netherstorm

-Achievement!-

-Achievement!-

Since the buckets in Northrend are not part of any achievement (other than the gold and candy they dispense) I will only go so far as to link a post in the World of Warcraft forums. In this post, people are adding to a list of known locations for both Alliance and Horde. Hopefully by the time this post is up, they will have fixed the problem with Northrend candy buckets, but if they haven't, please, please do all your candy buckets in the achievement areas first. There is a known bug that when Northrend buckets are done first (not all of them but a few) some buckets in the achievement areas are not available.

I hope you all have a great time this Hallow's End. I'd love to hear of the fun you had, so leave your comments below!

Pets!

Yesterday, Leafy got Stinker. Today, Nibuca got her fawn. Then, later today, Delgada got her fawn! It was totally unexpected, as Delgada has been neglected in favor of my alliance characters. My husband, right as he sometimes is, reminded me that Delgada was a guild leader of a guild that deperately needs to have one on, so I made a blood elf paladin (named her Anselma after my current flavor of the moment), and got her out of the starter island and into KNR. I then realized that a) she needed bags, and 2) I didn't want to buy them. So, I logged in Delgada to make netherweave bags from the stacks of cloth in the guild bank. Bags made, she walked over to the mailbox and, what, mail? It was cute little Chilly. I opened the note, and had Delgada learn the spell. My screen went crazy with all sorts of fun lights and sounds came into my headphones...and the achievement popped up. WOW! I had forgotten how close Delgada was to the achievement. She pulled out her little fawn from the mailbox, and danced around to the enchanter shop to get her new abyssal shatter recipe, then let the new Anselma log back in.

I shrieked when it happened, and I was on Ventrilo with the hubby and a friend. Of course, the husband and our friend and guildmate Baz will never understand the joy of getting one more pet. Baz seemed a little surprised at the number of pets I had collected, but it didn't last long, as I heard them join another battlefield in Battlefield Heroes, and they started plotting their next target's murder.

I hear you can make girl characters in that game now. Maybe I should go kill them a few times. Just for kicks...

While I am remembering, KNR (Smolderthorn-Horde) is recruiting! Level, class, race are no roadblock to getting in, but you must be at least old enough to drink. We're just looking for some fun people to hang out with! If you are interested, feel free to drop a line at knrguild.com, or contact any member in game.

Blacklisted

A couple of days ago, I logged in Delgada, and my favorite paladin tank ever is playing around on his hunter, so I whisper,”Wanna kill Coren Direbrew?” He’s holding a trinket of mine.” He replies,” Sure. Let me log in Graham.” I tease my hubby into joining us, so that we only need 2 dps. Since this is my first day of Brew Fest, I take the portal from Dalaran to Orgrimmar and start doing the Brew Fest dailies. Our server is one of the many plagued with a targeting bug, so I waste about 10 minutes chucking mugs at a robot that won’t be hit. I finally learn that if you stand next to it and chug, you will most likely chuck your mug at him. Two minutes later I am on my way to get my third Brew Fest stein. (I really want a house or a guild hall where I can put my trophies, instead of them gathering dust where only I can see them in the bank.) I get my stein, run the barrel run twice, and then decide it is high time we found more party members. I advertise, and find one. I keep advertising to no avail. I decide to run into the gates of Orgrimmar and advertise there. This requires some fumbling on my part as I turn on Trade chat (I loathe and despise trade chat, so it was turned off). Once it is on, I advertise for one dps. Someone replies, says he would like to bring his warrior. Fine! I wait until he logs in and he whispers for an invite. We are on our way. Hubby portals the group to Stonard, and we make our way to the instance.

Now, I am not one to study loot tables before an instance run. I only know Coren has trinkets because he dropped trinkets last holiday. I have no clue what they are called, let alone what they do. I have a vague clue that he drops mounts and some remote control for a mole machine. So, we get into the instance, take the mole machines to the bar, and begin our piñata breaking. It really isn’t fair to piñata breaking to compare it to the Coren Direbrew fight. When you play with a piñata, you are at least wearing a blindfold. This fight is much like cheating and beating the piñata to smithereens while able to see it. For those that may be new to 80, I imagine this fight is a little harder. Once you have taken the daily from the spy around the corner, you talk to Coren and insult him. This makes him angry, and he has two friends with him. The best way to handle this fight, in my opinion, is to focus down the boss, because when he dies, the additional mobs disappear. During the fight, more mobs (non-elite) will come out of the ground in mole machines, tossing you in the air if you are over them when they begin to surface. Please know, if you are the one to insult, make sure no one else is trying to insult him at the same time. It will use both, and that will leave the group with one last chance to summon him. Anyhow, we only had four attempts, as Graham had done his the night before after reset. I forgot to tell our two pick up members this, slightly upsetting the warrior, but at the time it was late, and tanks with summons were all but unheard of.

The fight begins, and ends, and begins, and ends, until all four insults have been used. Stamina trinkets dropped three times, and on the fourth time, a critical strike rating trinket drops. I only saw the critical rating on it and rolled need. My husband followed my lead and rolled as well. Graham is so over geared I’m sure he didn’t even care. I don’t think I have ever seen him use his Retribution spec. He is the ultimate Paladin tank. The warrior won it, accused us of trying to ninja the trinket for the guild, told us we were blacklisted, and left party and used his hearthstone. I was stupefied. He had won 2 of the three stamina trinkets, and the critical strike trinket, and I could not see what this guy’s problem was. We stood there in the tavern for a good five minutes or so. Then I looked up his character in the armory. This warrior had only one low level trinket. So, he obviously needed them. I wasn’t mad about that. So I scroll back to the trinket and bring the item description up. The second part reads that it increases melee or ranged attack power. Alright, I goofed. I saw critical chance and started drooling and didn’t care about the chance on hit wording below it. My husband says, “I just do what you tell me to do. It’s all your fault.” I try to whisper the guy, but he is already offline. So I look up his guild. No guild master on. I then remember the name of the character he whispered me on, and I whisper him. I apologize for not having read the rest of the description. He goes on to tell me I’m a noob. I told him it was an honest mistake, and that I am glad he got the trinkets, since he obviously needed them. No response. Whatever!

So, I’m on someone’s blacklist. I can’t read. I’m a noob. But I am NOT a ninja. I don’t roll need on something in an instance that would not benefit my character, unless I am instructed to disenchant it. Even then I usually wait until the end of the instance to shard anything, just in case someone decides later on it’s something they need. I hope he never has trouble finding a healer. He made my “I don’t like to play with“list. It’s not a black list. It’s a list of people that need to redeem themselves before I heal for them. I mean really. Take the game a little too seriously?

Bloodthistle Addiction

Yeah, I use the stuff, but what blood elf magic user doesn't. I keep a leaf or three in my pouch all the time. I don't use a lot. I'm a priest, I have principles. My friend, Aesirla, ordered a salad of the petals with a splash of vinaigrette the other day. It might not have been so bad, but it was a meal sized salad, not just an appetizer. When we left the restaurant, it was all she could do to keep from turning her hawkstrider into turkey dinner. I only use it when I need a boost. You know how it is. You're in the field, you feel drained, like you can't heal another rogue, or you can't smite another plague infested lynx. So you take a nip. Noone hides it out here. Remember when we disciplined those two apprentices for drowning Antheol's musty old tome? That pouch he gave as a "reward" was his old herb bag. Magister's Pouch, hah! More like dime bag. Seriously. We all do it here.

We didn't always lean on herbs for a boost. When the Sunwell was still around, we just drank the power in from the air. The "smell" was heavenly, and the feeling, well it sure didn't send me int0 withdrawals. We had it pretty good for a while, when those "blood knights" had that Naaru in captivity. Stealing the power to heal sounds horrible, I know. Those paladin were the bad guys, I was just taking a little here and there. All I did was grab the radiant beams when the Naaru had a hot flash. They sat around and channeled the power out of him. Nibbling a little bud doesn't seem so bad, considering the alternative means sucking the last bit of power from a dying source. Now all we have to work with are stale leftovers and rogue leylines.

So, yeah, I am addicted to bloodthistle. At least I'm not passed out drunk like that guy outside the inn. Go pick on someone else.

Changing Sides Of The Conflict.

Traitor! That's what they would scream after me, as I nonchalantly dropped my Horde colors, went to the Alliance stronghold closest to me, and pledged my allegiance.

Blizzard has announced that they are working on a way that one could change their character from one faction to roughly the equivalent character of the opposing factor on the same server. I can only imagine the work that they are doing trying to make this possible. What would you have to think of when doing this change? Well, here is what I think needs to be thought through.

1. Faction. Your goblin reputation, and any other reputation you can gain without thought to which side of the conflict you are need not change. What needs to change is the factions you have with your main cities and settlements outside Vanilla WoW. Orc could be Human, Undead could be Dwarf, Troll could be Gnome, Blood Elf could be Draenei, and Tauren could be Night Elf. I thought this out by pairing up the main group of each faction, the hardest reputation to grind of each faction, the druid groups, the expansion groups, and the last two naturally went together for their easy reputation grind. All the other relevant factions trade out equally well, such as Horde Expedition for Alliance Vanguard. All that is left unspoken for is the Wintersaber Trainers reputation, which would disappear if switching to Horde, or have to be ground out if switching to Alliance, since their is no corresponding reputation grind on the Horde side, yet.
2. Quests. What a tangled web this is going to be. I guess the easiest part are the starter and secondary areas. They can gauge what was done, and kind of match that to the chosen side. Quests done for neutral NPC's such as goblins would not need to be compared, just marked as completed. Quests that grant faction reputation for both sides would have to be marked completed. Dungeon quests that are normally not available for the other side would have to be traded for the equivalent ( Leaders of the Fang for The Defias Brotherhood). To have to compare zone to zone, quest to quest, I just cannot fathom the amount of work they'd have to do to make the switch even. Crossroads compared to Redridge Mountains? Silverpine Forest compared to Wetlands? Once you get to the expansions, it's not so hard. Let's face it, we all had our poo quests. So one of us got dog poo and the other got an outhouse. The zones are pretty equal there. It's the earlier, growing stages that are really going to cause the problems. And what about quests that give special perks. What Alliance hasn't saved their Furbolg costume from Ashenvale? Sorry, if you go Horde, it goes poof!
   
3. Gear. Some gear you just can't get unless you are on the right side of the fence. Any gear obtained from a quest that was not your faction would have to be traded for gear from the equivalent quest. If that type of gear wasn't offered, the equivalent Bind on Equip item would have to suffice. Things that are race specific, like Blood Elf Bandit masks would be sitting, unusable and not equipped, in their inventory.
   
4. Professions. A profession is pretty much the same no matter where you go. Cooking, on the other hand, is different. Up until recently, Alliance could not get their hands on the recipe for Dig Rat Stew. Horde could buy all the Alliance quest recipes on the neutral auction house, but Dig Rat Stew was bind on pickup, and therefore not available for cross trade. It still is bind on pickup, but there's a fella in Bael Modan that will sell it to you, if it sounds like something you'd want to eat. So, if you were moving from Horde to Alliance, all the recipe quests that were faction specific should be unlocked, regardless of whether you had the recipe or not, because you can purchase these alone, right? As far as other recipe quests, regardless of salability (is that a word?) those quests should remain open when sides are switched.
5. Aesthetics. When this change is made, are we going to be able to revisit the character creation screen? I would hate to have an exact number for number model trade. Take this example. I have the Orb of the Sin'dorei. When I changed my undead priestess' hairstyle, I used the orb and she had a different hairstyle, too. I hate the face that corresponds to the one my undead has. She looks so sour as a blood elf, but so content as her undead self. Are we going to be able to have a sex change, too? Maybe our undead priestess wants to be a hunky night elf priest.
   
6. Name. Delgada really fits my undead priestess. It would never go with, say, a dwarf or a gnome. There is nothing "delgada" about them. I would definitely want to be able to rename my character.
7. Associations. This is a given. Bye Bye Horde, hello Alliance, or vice versa. Guild and friend lists are a clean slate.
   

Now that I have taken the time to sit down and write this out, I can see where Blizzard has been making preparations for this to work.

• Sprite Darter Hatchlings can be farmed for by Horde.
  
• Dig Rat Stew recipe available for purchase to Alliance.
• NPC in Un'Goro soon available for Horde to get special mount, for a quest grind.
• Homogeniezation of expansion content (Horde quests are equivalent to Alliance quests)
• Thunder Bluff Blimp (quite like tram to Ironforge, am I right?)
• Reputation rewards on opposite sides are just differently named and modeled (Charged Wand of the Cleft vs Gnomish Magician's Quill).

Any comments? I'd be happy to debate, or agree with you on this one. Am I happy about this? I am neither happy nor outraged about this. If you are trying to play with someone who rolled the opposite faction and are able to join them without the mess of a re-roll with this, great, I am happy for you. Does this make it easier for people who PvP to switch sides of the conflict for better racial abilities? I foresee a great number of changes to undead for PvP players. How about for PvE? The change from a night elf rogue to a orc rogue would be very satisfying for the new ability to wield axes, wouldn't it? Well, I'm going to let you all comment below.

Thanks for reading!

Who Needs a Tank, Anyway?

My girlfriend and I were commiserating on how we can never find a tank when we want to gear up. For her, it's her main, for me it's my numerous alts. So, I've decided to tame a tank pet. I know I probably will never tank an instance with it, but perhaps it'll help tank, or run some group quests (she's a healer, so it'll be a cinch!). Carlotta would like to introduce you all to Spice.

Sorry, after all the fun of today, we didn't feel like editing out the list. Spice is the rare spawn in Silithus. I thought Grubthor was a horrible name, and since I think of the movie Dune when I see him, his name is now Spice. Tomorrow, I will be putting him out for a test run.

If any of you have any tips for tanking with a pet, please leave us a note, or drop us an email!

Hormones and Healing Naxx

I got a phone call from our illustrious guild master last night. Seems they were going to try Ulduar and needed me and my hubby, and the raid leader had lost my number. This was right about dinner time, and I had already proclaimed it free for all night, so I logged in and was promptly invited. I then logged into Ventrilo, slipped on my happy new headphones (thanks hubby for my early birthday present, they're awesome!), and started getting together the flasks and money I needed to raid. I don't raid often, so I don't usually have everything together. Sometimes I have the flasks, sometimes I have the food, sometimes my bags are full of rotting animal parts and discarded low quality weapons. Provisioned, I fly to Storm Peaks and manage to locate the stairway to Ulduar and enter the instance. Figuring I am the first one there, I afk to grab a snack, completely forgetting that, on my husbands urging, I had installed a new raid unit frames mod and I hadn't set it up yet. I get back to my desk, and hubby is in the instance with me, and everyone is saying we're missing. What? I told them I was waiting in Ulduar, and they said they decided we weren't geared enough, so we were doing Naxxramas. Snarf Snarf Snarf, I hike up Delgada's robes and run her out of the instance portal, only to get beaten into the ground by some Alliance that were waiting for someone easy and squishy to kill. My Spirit of Redemption pops up, and I growl, try to right click it away, and growl more as it doesn't work. The buff runs out, and I make the corpse run, growling, and click accept as I run past my body, back into Ulduar, where I accept a summon to Naxxramas.

Now, notice my mood has quickly soured. I forgot to mention that it started dipping below excited once I saw three priests and, when I asked who was healing, they said me. I have dual specializations, shadow as my main and holy as an off specialty. Specialty is really not the right word for it. I can keep people up, sometimes. I overheal, a lot. My gear is ok, not spectacular, just good enough for the odd heroic that I want to run where I have to heal, and in 5 man instances, I don't mind, because it usually is pretty easy, but in raids, I'd rather dps. I'm a fairly good shadow priestess. I am a teh suck holy priestess. Yeah, my guild tells me I am fine, but really, if you don't like it, you won't do your best at it.

Back to the raid. We entered, buffed, and started on the Construct quarter. We flew through the trash on the way to Patchwerk, and Patchwerk died shortly after I managed to kill off both the tanks. Yeah, I killed them. If any of the rest of the guild tell you differently, they are wrong. I was cranky already, and I killed them. Just leave it. It gets better. Frogger boss, failed. I was directly between the slimes. I always am. But for some reason I always die. Whatever. I am resurrected, and we head over to the trash before Grobbulous. Trash is cleared quickly, fight is explained, and we get started. It was a messy fight, farts dropped in bad places, but most everyone lived through it, and loot is distributed and we head for Gluth. The first attempt is bad, and the people in charge of kiting the chow let a lot through, Gluth heals to full, and I manage to be one of the last 3 standing after he enraged. I also manage to be the last into the instance, due to not being able to click off my debuff. Frogger boss, I wipe out on the first row, get resurrected, and wipe out on the last row. My resurrection timer is now at 45 seconds, so I go to the bedroom to change for my date with the hubby that is closing in fast. I get back to Gluth, we try again, and though there is better control on the chow, we lose our chow herders and then I lose it and kill the tank, again. Another wipe, and I fly back up to the instance, run into a couple more slimes on Frogger, and go to my room to finish changing.

As I return, I see a friend log in, a holy priest. YES! This is my chance to replace my cranky, useless self and get out of the raid. I whisper him my plight, he asks how long, I say now, and I tell the raid leader to invite him, as I am hormonal and apologize as I log out. Hubby followed shortly after, and we finished getting ready and left the children in the care of the oldest so we could go eat a late dinner.

Sizzler was delicious. Sorry I was so horrible. Please don't invite me to another raid as holy for the next 4 days. You won't live, and you'll have to listen to my growling in ventrilo. Now, pass teh Crunch n Munch and a can of Mountain Dew. I'm going to level Lulubelle some more.

Flavor Of The Moment - Lulubelle.

I have been wrapped up in leveling a shaman to heal with. Delgada is best throwing shadow about, and I just felt that, even though she has the duel spec option, I'd rather play her as shadow. I have had a shaman kicking around Thrallmar, leveling inscription and twiddling her hooves, so I decided to level her. Here she is, my currently elemental shaman, Lulubelle.


Alright, so it may not be the best pose of her. She was in a 10 man Temple of Ahn'Qiraj (the only one gaining any experience points, at 10 per kill). with a few guildmates. What a pretty room, said Lulu, so I snapped a picture, and pulled the boss. I thought at 65 I would have a smaller aggro radius. Apparently this was not the case.

She got to see a lot of things in Ahn'Qiraj. The floor has many different textures. So does the ceiling. Here is a picture of what one guildie referred to as Uvula Land, the best land in Disney World.


Here's another pretty room. I should have taken the screenshot while there were still mobs inside, for those that would like to see what they look like, but I was more interested in staying alive this time, so that is why the empty room.


Lulu has been other places. But let's dig into her past. She started out a he on my husband's account, a rough around the edges resto shaman named Stroganhoof. Here he is with his leveling buddy, Synna.


They were really quite the pair. Stroganhoof was leveled on my account, and transferred to the hubby's account. He sat there, gathering dust, until he was about to kill him off. I said I'd take him, if he didn't mind me changing a few things. I took Stro to the surgeons, and Lulu arrived on the scene, back on my account.


There she is, a couple days ago, level 65 and wearing her very first epic. Isn't she lovely? She thinks that gown is so great, she's still wearing it in her new home in the Howling Fjord. Here's to a new grind to 80!

Happiest Hunter On Smolderthorn Tonight!

He was just waiting there for me. There I stood without that last point in beast mastery, unable to tame him. So, I hearthed to Taunka'le Village, flew to Dalaran, took a portal to Orgrimmar, unlearned everything and spent my points, maybe not perfectly, but to at least get that last point in Beast Mastery. Then, with the help of Sinnerman, I took a portal to Dalaran, flew back to Sholazar, beat the feathers out of my wyvern for going so slow, and found him still waiting there. To think I had been admiring the Goretalon Matriarch and thinking of waiting for her to respawn after killing her for my Frenzyheart daily quest. I'm so glad Loque'nahak caught my eye!

The name Carlotta felt a little Italian, so I went with an Italian word that meant spirit (or essence). No bubble gum name for this fella!

On a side note, BlackJack gave up his stable spot for Essenza. He will be missed, but I'm sure he is running happily with his corrupted brethren in Zul'drak. You were a good pet, Jack. You earned your freedom.

What Holiday Would You Design?

On the forums today, Crygil asked, "If you were a developer for just one World of Warcraft in-game holiday/world event, what would it be?" I read through maybe 2 pages of what looks to be a very popular thread, with ideas that range from a gnome appreciation day/week, to a faction un-appreciation day (kill your own allies!), to a twist on St Patty's Day. Some had some ideas for a day to honor our past heroes (though I thought we already had that in the harvest festival, going to Ashenvale to visit a monument to Grom Hellscream), and some had some really outlandish ideas. Gnome costumes for Tauren? Thulgasta of the Malfurion server had a neat idea for a Leif Erickson day, complete with a cloth helm with horns anyone could wear. Idoka of the Scarlet Crusade server had another idea that is close to my heart, Troll Week. It's about 2/3 of the way down page four. the details are better in the hands of the person who thought them up! Elindi of Altar of Storms server had a great idea to have a beach party themed holiday, about 2/3 of the way down page 9. Goatvomit of the Uther server did a bit of research and came up with a Tauren-centric holiday and quests on page 10 near the top. Near the bottom of page 10, though short and sweet, a Teddy Bear picnic day told in the words of Diesalven of the Burning Legion realm has some appeal. Exphryl of Tichondrius has some neat thoughts on a Pirate vs Ninja event (who doesn't want a hook to complete their pirate costume?) on page 11 three posts down. The whole of the previous pages are sprinkled with people wanting more zombie invasions and a Mardi-Gras type event, though how it is implemented varies wildly.

I get to page 13, and Kisirani, a world designer, comments,"This is a curious read. Do keep it up. ;)"


It would seem that they did. Brandston of the Ghostlands server, just a few posts down the page, thinks there should be a county fair, and I agree! I'd love to see Farmer Torp's famous pig! Oogle of the Misha server has a good idea for a flea market, centering on the professions, toward the bottom of page 14. Directly below that post, Vaca of the Bladefist server has some ideas of a Carnaval type event, or, if that didn't work, a murloc invasion. There were many other ideas, all of them showing some thought, even if I didn't take to them myself.


What kind of holiday would I want to see in game? I would first have to think, would it be something that all races and both faction could participate in? A race specific holiday doesn't sound like such a good idea when I start to think that way. I really am enjoying the idea of the county faire type event. It doesn't have to cross faction lines, as the original person thought that the best places to host the event would be Westfall or the Barrens. One on each side of the conflict would do. The areas chosen are also some that have been pretty empty as of late, and would bring new life to old zones. What kind of quests would be there to keep our allies busy? A pie eating contest, definitely. A greased pig wrestling contest, perhaps? Perhaps our friends would be charged to vote for the "best of show" among all the livestock entries. Maybe the sheep pen is plagued by a nasty wolf that needs taking out. Are some of the cooking judges being bribed (or can they be bribed) to choose an unworthy product as winner? Choosing a side could open up a whole new set of quests, siding with the sleazy judges or the angry contestants. Vendors could serve faire food, like they do in the Darkmoon Faire. Maybe there could be some cooking quests, to help supply the food vendors. For the roleplay crowd, maybe a circus tent with some rare animals and acts could be arranged. There is so much someone can do at a faire.

As much as I love the country faire idea, here is my idea for an in game event. I posted this on the thread. Seems I am the only one that came up with this, at least in the thread.

My original idea had been to return to Nagrand, and have an armistice of sorts, where the Draenei and the Orc would come together in a sort of good will meeting, remembering back to before the Orc were tainted with the fel blood. There could be quests of discovery for both sides, seeing how they once lived in a tenuous peace, trading their wares, their children playing at the foot of the bargaining table.

The orc and draenei, both learned in the shamanistic way, could have a spirit guide to lead us to important areas, and have an ancestor meet us there with a story of what happened at that place. Before that there would have to be some material gathering, much like the quest in Garadar that Greatmother Geya gives. There could be a special quest for shaman only that would give them a totem that would be on par with something already in game, but with an added perk like a spirit raven that follows the owner when it is equipped. Perhaps this would be a follow up quest to the spirit guide quest, where the shaman is asked to bring an item to a great shaman of their faction. Once there, the shaman leader of their faction would have them run a certain instance (perhaps one in Auchindoun) and summon a special boss to retrieve a corrupted totem, that would have to be purified (perhaps a solo follow up quest that has them kill evil spirits corrupting the totem) to make the quest reward.

There would be a great feast set out, talbuk and clefthoof roasting over huge pits, bluefish and mudfish set out on rough plank tables with drinks and platters of vegetables and fruits. There might be a sparring area to one side where we could go hand to hand or use staves to duel npcs. A fishing tournament is a must, with all the great fishing to be had out there. Maybe a prize for the person who catches the most fish in a given time, run once every hour? The winner could get some silly fishing frill like a sparkly bobber or a special fishing outfit (chest piece that works as a full outfit).