I'm Not That Kind Of Hunter!

...Or, strange things players have done in my presence.

The day before yesterday, I had my bank alt, Minya, sorting through auctions when out of the blue someone asks me if I want to run Deadmines. Sure, I said, and was whisked to Moonbrook. The group consisted of Minya (23 hunter), a 17 hunter, a 18 druid, a 21 druid, and a 17 rogue. The rogue was only in it for the blade, and so was the hunter. I was just along for the ride, as were the druids. Before we settled on a full group, we had a few hiccups, but once we were all in, things fell pretty quickly, as we decided to let the pets tank. As we were rolling, and the hunter expressed that he needed that blade, I mentioned there was a better hunter drop at the end than the blade. As the rogue agreed (more so he would have no competition, I am sure), the hunter exclaimed, "I'm not that kind of hunter." To which I replied, "What kind of hunter are you?". Maybe at higher levels a hunter might decide to aim for more intellect than agility, or more attack power or hit, but the lower levels shunning an item with that much benefit seemed silly to me. Sadly, we did not get much further than Smite, as someone pulled a whole level of pirates down on our fragile heads, and heals could not keep up. The rogue said forget this and split. Then a druid disconnected. At that point, we had left a druid who professed to be new to the game (and was doing quite well), and the hunter, who had run out of arrows right before the goblin workshop. I told the druid to add me, and said I was sorry, but I had auctions to process, and I hearthed back to Stormwind.

Last night. after my cherry cheesecake was an uncomfortable memory (no, I shared, but something didn't agree with me last night), I logged in Minya again to sort through some auctions. I stood idly in the bank for a minute or so as I turned to see what the kids were doing on the Wii, and when I turned back, there was a human paladin standing back to back with Minya. I asked if he liked tall, dark, exotic women, and he replied, "YES!". I replied that I was likely too young for him, him being a 53 warrior to my lowly 24. Turns out his paladin was a leatherworker, and he wanted to help get Minya some better gear. Who am I to turn a guy down? He was very generous in gifting Minya some shoulders, boots, gloves, belt, and a cloak for later. He also crafted an armor kit for me, which I slapped right on my chest piece, since I figure I'll hold onto it for a while. We chatted, mostly one sided, as I didn't get the answer to my question, "Why did you choose leatherworking for your paladin?". But the guy was thrilled that he could help upgrade someone. It made his day. To me, that is just awesome. Here I thought I was just getting the benefit of someone hitting on a girl (he was trying to see Minya's face, because she had this fabulous hat on and it was in the way), and he was just one of those guys that really likes to help. I'm planning on sending him an anonymous donation of level appropriate leathers for him to work his leatherworking skill up, because I know he won't take any money.

People astound me with the decisions they make in this game. When given arrows, why does a hunter continue to melee? Why choose a profession that does close to nothing for your character? Why do people show up for a raid without food, potions, water, bandages, and elixirs or flasks?

The world may never know.

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!

The Thrill Of The Ding

I can't help it. I love leveling new characters. Hitting max level is almost a let down for me, because it means I can't watch the experience bar fill up. Sure, there is always reputation leveling, and I may try that soon on Delgada. But the thrill of the ding, the excitement of getting to spend a new talent point, the glee at putting on that piece of gear that was too high level to wear is what I love. I'm sorry I haven't been raiding, everyone. I would rather run Scarlet Monastery for the millionth time!

Who have I been working on? Halinka has just hit 46, and I got to run Deadmines with a few guild members on Minya today, which sparked a renewed interest in leveling her as well. She was on the brink of 15 when I logged her in today, and now she sits halfway between 19 and 20, newly kitted out in almost twink gear. Do I take her in to Warsong Gulch for the fun of it, or do I grab that last level so she can use her polearm? I couldn't decide, so I flew her to Exodar so she could take care of some auctions.

That's all I have for now. I just felt like explaining myself. I'm sure my guild knows. This probably only makes sense to me, but I just have to escape my escape sometimes.

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.

The Obligatory Ding Post

There she is, Miss Aaaazeroth! Carlotta is 80 now. That means I only have 7 more characters to go. Go ahead, laugh. I know I'm nuts.

Bow Loving Orc Chick :)

Sorry, Carlotta hates guns. She trained them, and went out of her way not to ever use a gun for 75 levels. Then, she does a quest in Grizzly Hills, and what is the quest reward? A gun. A big, fugly gun. Guns, in her opinion, are clunky, smelly, noisy, and heavy! A bow, no matter how huge and ornate, will never be as heavy. The gun is, at best, a side grade. She will lose 34 attack power to gain another point in agility and 13 critical strike rating. The top end damage is one point less, and the DPS is .4 less than what she already has. That, and she would have to buy an ammo pouch and bullets.

You know, I think she's gonna just keep her Sunfury Bow of the Phoenix. Gavrok can take his Bondsniper and put it you know where.

Thanks to Dramek, I now have an ammo pouch. I suppose I'll give the gun a try. But I don't have to like it!