Favorite Mount

Dog House Systems is having a contest, in which they will pick someone out of the masses who respond with a picture of their character on their favorite mount to receive either a sparkle pony or a winged guardian and a companion pet.  Now, how could anyone pick just one favorite mount?  Delgada has at least tfour.  Here they are in no particular order.

Zhevra from the old Recruit a Friend Program

Cenarion Hippogryph from Outland Cenarion reputation

Ochre Skeletal Warhorse from Brill

Albino Drake from 50 Mount Achievement

If I had to pick just one mount, it would have to be the Cenariion Hippogryph.  So, I will be sending the link to that  in.  What are your favorite mounts?  I'd love to see pictures, even if you don't enter the contest!

Hurry Hurry!

In the interest of getting to Northrend more quickly, Halinka has set aside her reputation grinding until she reaches 80. She can't have everything she wants. As the server was being shut down today to increase instance capacity, Halinka hearthed to the Sewers, just a smidge into 67. She has changed her plans of sticking it out in Outland in favor of starting Northrend at 68. Her gear is less than fabulous, but her trade skills are up there where they should be. Gear is pretty much a non-issue, as we all know the starter quests pretty much gear you out for your start in the area.

Tomorrow, Halinka should be on a boat to the frozen North, in a leotard and ripped linen slacks. She'll be so cold she will be questing like a mad woman to get a warm robe!

What To Do, What To Do?

I took the normal road while leveling my first characters to maximum level. No sidetracking to build reputation, no stopping in one place to farm for a certain item, no trying to finish out an area after the quests became less than yellow in difficulty.

Then came the Burning Crusade. Shawndra got to 70 behind most everyone else, for no other reason than she was just slow to level. Carlotta was second to 70, but she hit that mark in Zangarmarsh, killing fireflies for the Captured Firefly. It wasn't for her, she was just the person dedicated to the task. Shawndra wanted it, so Carlotta spent a long time in Zangarmarsh.

Northrend hit, and normal paths to normal leveling happened. Delgada was first to 80 this time, followed by Carlotta. Noone has pursued unusual farming practices, but experiments have been launched on the other side of the conflict, on a non PvP realm.

Is it because, having been playing for so long, that I finally know what I want out of a character? Is that why I have been leveling Halinka this way? She finished out her Gnomeregan Exiles reputation grind today, hitting Gnomeregan for a few easy quests, then doing 17 runecloth turn ins. This amount of turn in did not happen for the other reputations. Why did she stoop to do this? Impatience. I had in my mind that she would have all the Alliance factions in Vanilla WoW at exalted before she hit 60. Today, at 62, Halinka was able to purchase her mechanostriders. She is still happy about it, but I had hoped to have had this finished already.


I logged Halinka out in her favorite inn-by-the-sewer with a drink in her hand. It was a rough day for her, mostly spent in Gnomeregan trying to find her way around. She didn't find Mekgineer Thermaplugg, but she was able to find a radioactive slime sample, save Techbot's brain, and gather some essential artifacts. Not as helpful as she wanted to be, but she was in enemy territory without a guide, and found the entrance more frequently than she found anything else. So, sitting on the edge of the dock with her hooves in the strangely refreshing magical waters of the sewer, she sips a fruity cocktail while she waits for her next adventure.

I started the Wintersaber Trainers reputation grind with her, and she is just into friendly with them. She had also been working on Timbermaw reputation, as they work well hand in hand. I had thought to finish out those reputations with her before she crossed through the portal into Outland, but a guild mate is urging me to hasten my leveling to 80.

So, I sit here trying to figure out how to get what I want and still be able to give what they want. In Winterspring, it is pretty solitary. I run into the rare person as I make my trips back and forth between Winterfall Village and Frostaber Rock. My quests are done rather easily, and I am able to harvest a large amount of herbs and high level skins while I am questing, not to mention the cloth and gear I loot. When I was working out there, I was making about 250 gold a day. Now that I am in Outland, it seems that every Tom, Dick, and DKFluffy is skinning and herbalizing too. The prices I get for the Outland herbs are roughly a third what I was getting for Icecap and Mountain Silversage. Same with the leathers. The gear that drops? I have relisted the same few items now twice. I sure hope they don't come back tomorrow. I haven't tried selling the cloth yet, as Halinka is stll leveling her first aid. On the economic side, Outland is not looking very bright.

On the experience side, it looks far brighter. The only experience I was getting on my reputation grind in Winterspring was from the kills. After the first turn in, the quests only give reputation. The amount of time I was traveling between quest mobs and turn in in Winterspring made my time spent seem wasteful. If only they would allow the collection of the items needed (the meats) to be done much like the beads and feathers for Timbermaw rep, the grind would be more inviting. In Hellfire, at least all my questing is giving me experience for both kills and completing the quests. And, I am cashing in most of the gear rewards, so I get a few gold from them. It's not nearly enough to make up for the loss of income from the items I was picking up in Winterspring, but it helps. After purchasing all her epic mounts, Halinka sits on about 100g (down from about 1700 she had at 60), and still needs to purchase the last epic mount from Steelgrill's Depot. This means that she needs to save roughly 2100g to buy her flying training, all three flying mounts, and her dual specialty by 70. She will then need to start saving roughly 6800 gold for her epic flying skill and cold weather flying. This is not even counting any reputations she fancies grinding out in Outlands (She will be trying for Netherwing and Skyguard reputation, and possibly Cenarion Expedition for their flying mounts, and Sporeggar for their pet). Staying in Outlands really doesn't make sense financially, but it does on a leveling perspective.

In the end, I guess I have made my mind up to stick it out in Outland. I have rolled a new character on Shadowsong, Ellence, a rogue. She will accompany my husband when he decides to play on the server with me. He is taking my normal go to combination of herbalism and skinning, so I will be taking mining and the freebies of fishing, cooking, and first aid. I would welcome any suggestions for a second profession. I'd love the skinning on the rogue for the extra critical chance, but trying to grab a target to skin before the hubby does will be quite difficult! I would prefer an easy money maker, so that I can regain some of the sales I lost moving on in the world.

As always, comments are encouraged!

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).

Outland Ho!

Esoterique finally hit that happy 58 mark a couple of nights ago. She took one look at her list of quests, planned her route, and turned in all the completed ones, then went and deleted all of the rest. She emptied her bags, donned a couple of pieces of gear from the Outlands she had found in the auction house, and made her way to the portal.

How did you feel the first time you walked up to that portal? I remember when I used it the first time with Shawndra, and I guess the first time for every character is still awe inspiring. The thing, for one, is huge! The large crater it sits in, and the slope of the ramp to the gate are also just one of those things that make you feel small and insignificant. I thought as she walked up the ramp, "She'll die from the first mobs look of scorn!", remembering how thin her armor was. If, it had been me and not Eso walking up there, I would have been walking really slowly, looking over my shoulder constantly, hands balled into stressful fists at my sides. Eso entered the protal and materialized on the other side. She found the man in charge, and followed orders. Within 10 minutes she was out on her first quest.

She didn't die right away! But the new gear paired with her old conjured water was a disaster. Two bottles of water instead of one every time she needed a break. Thankfully, there were only two levels until the next new conjure water spell. She plugged away at her quest log, finishing things in record time.

Now, she is 61, riding her epic riding mount, and wearing the worst outfit ever dreamed up! But she is in Outlands, and for that, I am proud of myself! The alliance leveling experience was successful, and school only a week away. I doubt I'll hit 70 with her by then, as our triple experience experiment has taken more of my game time, but I'll get there soon enough.

Yay! Anyone got any chocolate cake? A party is required!