If you don't like to talk about *cough* that time of the month, skip down to the break.
I told my husband yesterday that I don't think men understand PMS. He agreed, and I told him that I think this is because it's different for every woman. Some women have to take medication to even out the wild flux of hormones. Some women barely notice a blip on their emotional radar.
For me, my most hormonal times are just before and just after the . . . icky part. Just before and after, I'm likely to have stronger reactions to just about everything -- but they're reactions I would have had, just amplified. It doesn't make me feel anything I wouldn't have, though it does make me post frustrated rants on my guild forum about stuff I usually overlook. >_> (Sorry guys.)
Most of the time, if I'm in an unreasonable mood, my husband (has permission to do this) asks me if it's that time of the month, and I stop and tilt my head and say "Oh yeah." And I can consciously rein it in.
Because there's nothing I hate more than being cranky. Except being cranky in public.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Low Dps, or "I'd Rather Have My Friend Than Your Stinky Tauren"
A 25-man Arch run led by Satanface. Arch has seriously good PVP gear as well as Naxx Tier raiding gear.
Plum is my PVP character. A guildmate was asking for one final person for 25-man Arch, I said I'd be willing to take Plum.
Plum's dps is not great. I know this. She's toward the bottom of every list.
My question is -- if you can down the boss, do you still have the right to dump your lowest dps?
Situation
They pull before 1 person is there, so we're down a man.
Tank keeps tanking in the fog. This has been a problem in every Arch I've gone to except IVV-led ones.
Several people dead.
We wipe on the first try.
Raid leader wants his friend in the raid.
So they kick the lowest dps. Me.
Reaction
It's the first time I've been kicked from a pug and is the first time I've pugged in a long time. I don't pug anything but Arch, because of the PVP gear and because my guild gave up scheduled runs after being thwarted too many times by Alliance control.
My problem isn't that they kicked me for low dps. It's that I WASN'T the only reason we failed and shouldn't have been kicked at that point if we still could have done it.
Now, most people will argue "They did the right thing for the group. They shouldn't have had to carry you." I argue that they were carrying the dead more than carrying me. They were carrying the guy who wasn't there more than they carried me. I did my job and while my gear isn't the best, it was the only factor in my low dps. I did nothing else horrible except forget about my battle rez for too long.
So I guess my second question is . . . when is it justifiable to ruin a random pug's day? To actually make them feel so awful, they have to log and do something else?
See, what really gets me beyond all that is that I truly think those guys wouldn't even care if they knew I was a woman and they made me cry by kicking me out of the group. I think they'd laugh or make excuses about how I got kicked because of my gear or tell me to stop complaining and feeling sorry for myself (or, and this is my favorite, "tears are blackmail" so I should stop trying to make them feel guilty), because they just don't want to face the fact that they care more about gear than another person's feelings.
They might have had a reason that most people would consider perfectly justifiable. But it wasn't, not until we'd tried it a second time with a full group, a proper ready check, and then failed.
And, to be honest, they should have whispered me -- this one isn't even about being fair, it's about being a civil human being. "Hey, you were last on dps and I'm sorry but we've been wiping and dps is the problem. Nothing personal, we just think your gear is better suited to the 10-man version." And I'd be okay with that (if we had wiped more than the once). How can you argue if your dps is worse than, say, the people who died halfway through? And if it isn't . . . well, then, you had better dps than them whether or not your gear is crap. You stayed alive. *applause for u*
Anyway. I'm not QQing, I'm just ranting, trembling from reaction, and unable to focus on anything right now.
Yes, they made a girl cry. No, I don't think they'd care. No, I don't like being kicked from groups when I didn't do anything wrong. My gear might have been wrong. Yes, I know this stuff happens to everyone, every day. Yes, I know you can make reasonable arguments for their side. But, in the end, it's just another one of those events that justify why I consider Zuluhed to be filled with flaming jerks and people who don't care about each other.
It's why I'm glad I'm in IVV.
[edit] I'm also looking forward to the dual spec system because they never kick you out if you're healing.
[edit 2] I want to assure you I'm not just complaining because I got my feelings hurt. I afford random pugs the same courtesy that I wanted in this situation. I do not ever agree with kicking people from a group, even that one time we wiped until WG started again. I do not agree with the philosophy that "It's okay to kick people if they aren't putting out the numbers" ever (rude and disruptive . . . maybe). This is very different from most people, I know, and I've always said I shouldn't be a raid leader, but I consider it an ethical issue.
Plum is my PVP character. A guildmate was asking for one final person for 25-man Arch, I said I'd be willing to take Plum.
Plum's dps is not great. I know this. She's toward the bottom of every list.
My question is -- if you can down the boss, do you still have the right to dump your lowest dps?
Situation
They pull before 1 person is there, so we're down a man.
Tank keeps tanking in the fog. This has been a problem in every Arch I've gone to except IVV-led ones.
Several people dead.
We wipe on the first try.
Raid leader wants his friend in the raid.
So they kick the lowest dps. Me.
Reaction
It's the first time I've been kicked from a pug and is the first time I've pugged in a long time. I don't pug anything but Arch, because of the PVP gear and because my guild gave up scheduled runs after being thwarted too many times by Alliance control.
My problem isn't that they kicked me for low dps. It's that I WASN'T the only reason we failed and shouldn't have been kicked at that point if we still could have done it.
Now, most people will argue "They did the right thing for the group. They shouldn't have had to carry you." I argue that they were carrying the dead more than carrying me. They were carrying the guy who wasn't there more than they carried me. I did my job and while my gear isn't the best, it was the only factor in my low dps. I did nothing else horrible except forget about my battle rez for too long.
So I guess my second question is . . . when is it justifiable to ruin a random pug's day? To actually make them feel so awful, they have to log and do something else?
See, what really gets me beyond all that is that I truly think those guys wouldn't even care if they knew I was a woman and they made me cry by kicking me out of the group. I think they'd laugh or make excuses about how I got kicked because of my gear or tell me to stop complaining and feeling sorry for myself (or, and this is my favorite, "tears are blackmail" so I should stop trying to make them feel guilty), because they just don't want to face the fact that they care more about gear than another person's feelings.
They might have had a reason that most people would consider perfectly justifiable. But it wasn't, not until we'd tried it a second time with a full group, a proper ready check, and then failed.
And, to be honest, they should have whispered me -- this one isn't even about being fair, it's about being a civil human being. "Hey, you were last on dps and I'm sorry but we've been wiping and dps is the problem. Nothing personal, we just think your gear is better suited to the 10-man version." And I'd be okay with that (if we had wiped more than the once). How can you argue if your dps is worse than, say, the people who died halfway through? And if it isn't . . . well, then, you had better dps than them whether or not your gear is crap. You stayed alive. *applause for u*
Anyway. I'm not QQing, I'm just ranting, trembling from reaction, and unable to focus on anything right now.
Yes, they made a girl cry. No, I don't think they'd care. No, I don't like being kicked from groups when I didn't do anything wrong. My gear might have been wrong. Yes, I know this stuff happens to everyone, every day. Yes, I know you can make reasonable arguments for their side. But, in the end, it's just another one of those events that justify why I consider Zuluhed to be filled with flaming jerks and people who don't care about each other.
It's why I'm glad I'm in IVV.
[edit] I'm also looking forward to the dual spec system because they never kick you out if you're healing.
[edit 2] I want to assure you I'm not just complaining because I got my feelings hurt. I afford random pugs the same courtesy that I wanted in this situation. I do not ever agree with kicking people from a group, even that one time we wiped until WG started again. I do not agree with the philosophy that "It's okay to kick people if they aren't putting out the numbers" ever (rude and disruptive . . . maybe). This is very different from most people, I know, and I've always said I shouldn't be a raid leader, but I consider it an ethical issue.
New Hippogryph, or "They STILL Couldn't Make It Pink?"
So they have a brown hippogryph as a prize for the ARGENT (not Arena) Tournament.
What I want to know is . . . where's the PINK?
November '07, MMO-Champion found several different hippogryph mount skins. My sister-in-law was thrilled about the white one, but I was ravenous for the pink.
Husband said, "Well, at least this means they're still open to using the hippogryph skins."
And I said, "As long as they don't make it a raid achievement."
Because they just announced they were taking out two raid achievement mounts (just like the warbear) when Ulduar comes out in 3.1 (after giving us only, what, four months?! to finish the requisite raid achievements? My raid character isn't even 80 yet!!!): the black and plagued proto drakes. They are leaving in the red proto drake for the heroic dungeons (not raids) and adding two new mounts for the higher level raids.
Though the drake they're putting in for beating Ulduar on heroic (unconfirmed) is even cooler, I still maintain that Blizzard never gives slower raid guilds (or players) the time to finish mile-markers before ripping mounts out from under us. People say it makes them too "easy" but there's nothing easy about getting a 25-man together.
I'm also opposed to limited status pieces and I always have been. We pay enough for this game that everyone should be able to get what they want at their own speed and mounts and pets should not be available outside the game in limited supply. (I realize many people disagree. But I've noticed that the people who disagree have these mounts and pets. And most of the people I know who have everything are arrogant jerks who are no fun to be around and make me wish they got poo instead of nice things for their efforts.)
My last note: You want to keep people from farming stuff? Just make everything as discouraging as the Kael'thas fight. I've only been able to stomach trying to get a group together twice.
Disclaimer: I am hormonal. This happens 2 days a month. Do not attempt to be rational. Just nod, leave your cute pets on the ground, and smile as you back away slowly.
What I want to know is . . . where's the PINK?
November '07, MMO-Champion found several different hippogryph mount skins. My sister-in-law was thrilled about the white one, but I was ravenous for the pink.
Husband said, "Well, at least this means they're still open to using the hippogryph skins."
And I said, "As long as they don't make it a raid achievement."
Because they just announced they were taking out two raid achievement mounts (just like the warbear) when Ulduar comes out in 3.1 (after giving us only, what, four months?! to finish the requisite raid achievements? My raid character isn't even 80 yet!!!): the black and plagued proto drakes. They are leaving in the red proto drake for the heroic dungeons (not raids) and adding two new mounts for the higher level raids.
Though the drake they're putting in for beating Ulduar on heroic (unconfirmed) is even cooler, I still maintain that Blizzard never gives slower raid guilds (or players) the time to finish mile-markers before ripping mounts out from under us. People say it makes them too "easy" but there's nothing easy about getting a 25-man together.
I'm also opposed to limited status pieces and I always have been. We pay enough for this game that everyone should be able to get what they want at their own speed and mounts and pets should not be available outside the game in limited supply. (I realize many people disagree. But I've noticed that the people who disagree have these mounts and pets. And most of the people I know who have everything are arrogant jerks who are no fun to be around and make me wish they got poo instead of nice things for their efforts.)
My last note: You want to keep people from farming stuff? Just make everything as discouraging as the Kael'thas fight. I've only been able to stomach trying to get a group together twice.
Disclaimer: I am hormonal. This happens 2 days a month. Do not attempt to be rational. Just nod, leave your cute pets on the ground, and smile as you back away slowly.
Other Pet Resources, or "Yeah, Okay, I'm Not the BEST Source"
WoW Insider recently posted a listing of available in-game pets for anyone interested in the 75 pet achievement. While it's completely doable, it does require high level fishing and some serious farming.
The major drawback to that list is that it won't get updated with the new pets in 3.1, but it's a very well laid out list to start from.
For that, you want to frequent Warcraftpets.com, particularly the news section or their collecting guides. It will also give you an idea of what pets aren't possible to collect without tons of RL money and some serious luck (pink murloc or baby panda, anyone?).
My philosophy on posting about pets is . . . post what I feel like. I don't cover everything.
The major drawback to that list is that it won't get updated with the new pets in 3.1, but it's a very well laid out list to start from.
For that, you want to frequent Warcraftpets.com, particularly the news section or their collecting guides. It will also give you an idea of what pets aren't possible to collect without tons of RL money and some serious luck (pink murloc or baby panda, anyone?).
My philosophy on posting about pets is . . . post what I feel like. I don't cover everything.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Faction Exalted, or "You Better Represent"
Along with the pets and mounts coming in the Argent Tournament, you get titles dependent on which faction cities you're exalted with. Of course, you need to participate in the tournament too, but exalted is something you can work on now.
Titles:
of Orgrimmar/Undercity/Silvermoon/Thunder Bluff/Sen'jin*
of Darnassus/Gnomeregan/Ironforge/Exodar/Stormwind
*Sen'jin is Darkspear Trolls and is the name of the troll starting village in Durotar.
First: Quests
Do all the quests for that faction. Yes, all of them. You can see who has low level quests by clicking the tracker button on your minimap.
Go to the appropriate faction page on Wowhead (alliance/horde) and sort quests by ascending. You'll have to scroll past the holiday quests to get to the normal ones, but then you do them all in order of level.
Second: Cloth
The availability of these depend on your level.
Wool x60, Silk x60, Mageweave x60, Runecloth x60.
Repeat Runecloth turn in for 75 rep/stack.
If you don't want to do this rep grind or have already done it:
Farm Runecloth and sell it. You will make THOUSANDS, particularly right after the tournament event begins, when people are desperate to get their rep up.
If you refuse to take advantage of this opportunity, you don't get to complain about never having money. You just don't.
[edit] More details about the tournament. It will be a permanent event and part of it will come out later than 3.1. Not sure about what "permanent event" means, as Zarhym was pretty vague:
Titles:
of Orgrimmar/Undercity/Silvermoon/Thunder Bluff/Sen'jin*
of Darnassus/Gnomeregan/Ironforge/Exodar/Stormwind
*Sen'jin is Darkspear Trolls and is the name of the troll starting village in Durotar.
First: Quests
Do all the quests for that faction. Yes, all of them. You can see who has low level quests by clicking the tracker button on your minimap.
Go to the appropriate faction page on Wowhead (alliance/horde) and sort quests by ascending. You'll have to scroll past the holiday quests to get to the normal ones, but then you do them all in order of level.
Second: Cloth
The availability of these depend on your level.
Wool x60, Silk x60, Mageweave x60, Runecloth x60.
Repeat Runecloth turn in for 75 rep/stack.
If you don't want to do this rep grind or have already done it:
Farm Runecloth and sell it. You will make THOUSANDS, particularly right after the tournament event begins, when people are desperate to get their rep up.
If you refuse to take advantage of this opportunity, you don't get to complain about never having money. You just don't.
[edit] More details about the tournament. It will be a permanent event and part of it will come out later than 3.1. Not sure about what "permanent event" means, as Zarhym was pretty vague:
It's going to be a permanent event. You will be working to construct the coliseum, though the coliseum itself will officially be added in a future content patch.
You'll see more competitions and festivities coming down the road as well.
New 3.1 Mounts/Pets, or "Thank You, MMO-Champion"
Copy/Pasted from this post.
New Pets
New Mounts
Implications
Husband thinks that the new faction mounts might be a 280% ground mount. Don't quote him on that.
Some of the pets are Northrend orphans you get to look after for Children's Week and therefore not permanent pets, but which means 1 more pet a year from that holiday. That means you can get 3 a year, 9 total. (If you aren't yet 70, get there by May 1! The Outlands Children's Week quest requires level 60, so Northrend will most likely require 70.)
Some others might also be "pets" only available for limited quests, but we'll see. Personally, I think any amount of new pets is a good amount of new pets. (Unless it's zero. Zero isn't a good amount.)
There are several pets named after starting zones (i.e. Mulgore, Elwynn), which makes me wonder if they're similar to the Westfall Chicken quest or if they're new faction pets. Either way, this is one of those opportunities for financial growth I've been talking about if you're willing to get off your butt and find how you can make it easier for others to get these pets (especially on the day of the 3.1 release) in a profitable way.
One of the pets is confirmed as an arena tournament pet that you get for participating in 200 qualifier games ($20 US to join the tournament). So not all of the pets are actually available to everyone.
Please feel free to check Warcraftpets News for more updates and conjecture. They haven't updated as of this post, but I'm sure they will within the next 24 hours.
New Pets
- Spring Rabbit - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Spring Rabbit.
- Plump Turkey - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Plump Turkey.
- Teldrassil Sproutling - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Teldrassil Sproutling.
- Tirisfal Batling - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Tirisfal batling.
- Dun Morogh Cub - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Dun Morogh Cub.
- Durotar Scorpion - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Durotar scorpion.
- Alarming Clockbot - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Alarming Clockbot.
- Elwynn Lamb - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Elwynn lamb.
- Mulgore Hatchling - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Mulgore hatchling.
- Ammen Vale Lashling - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Ammen Vale lashling.
- Strand Crawler - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Darkspear Strand crawler.
- Enchanted Broom - Right Click to summon and dismiss your enchanted broom.
- Argent Squire - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Argent Crusade squire.
- Mechanopeep - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Mechanopeep.
- Argent Gruntling - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Argent Crusade gruntling.
- Curious Gorloc Hatchling - Right Click to call or shoo away a Curious Gorloc Hatchling.
- Curious Wolvar Pup - Right Click to call or shoo away a Curious Wolvar Pup.
- Gorloc Orphan - Right Click to summon and dismiss the orphan you've agreed to look after for Children's Week.
- Wolvar Orphan - Right Click to summon and dismiss the orphan you've agreed to look after for Children's Week.
- Murkimus the Gladiator - Right Click to summon and dismiss Murkimus the Gladiator.
- Sen'jin Fetish - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Sen'jin fetish.
New Mounts
- Aquatic Riding Ray - Summons and dismisses an Aquatic Riding Ray. This is an aquatic mount.
- Swift Stormwind Steed - Summons and dismisses a rideable Swift Stormwind Steed. This is a very fast mount.
- Great Azuremyst Elekk - Summons and dismisses a rideable Great Azuremyst Elekk. This is a very fast mount.
- Swift Darnassian Mistsaber - Summons and dismisses a rideable Swift Darnassian Mistaber. This is a very fast mount.
- Swift Silvermoon Hawkstrider - Summons and dismisses a rideable Swift Silvermoon Hawkstrider. This is a very fast mount.
- Great Mulgore Kodo - Summons and dismisses a rideable Great Mulgore Kodo. This is a very fast mount.
- Turbostrider - Summons and dismisses a rideable Turbostrider. This is a very fast mount.
- Swift Ironforge Ram - Summons and dismisses a rideable Swift Ironforge Ram. This is a very fast mount.
- Swift Sen'jin Raptor - Summons and dismisses a rideable Swift Sen'jin Raptor. This is a very fast mount.
- Forsaken Warhorse - Summons and dismisses a rideable Forsaken Warhorse. This is a very fast mount.
- Swift Orgrimmar Wolf - Summons and dismisses a rideable Swift Orgrimmar Wolf. This is a very fast mount.
- Mimiron's Head - Summons and dismisses a rideable mechanical gnome head. This is a very fast construction. This construction can only be summoned in Outland or Northrend.
Implications
Husband thinks that the new faction mounts might be a 280% ground mount. Don't quote him on that.
Some of the pets are Northrend orphans you get to look after for Children's Week and therefore not permanent pets, but which means 1 more pet a year from that holiday. That means you can get 3 a year, 9 total. (If you aren't yet 70, get there by May 1! The Outlands Children's Week quest requires level 60, so Northrend will most likely require 70.)
Some others might also be "pets" only available for limited quests, but we'll see. Personally, I think any amount of new pets is a good amount of new pets. (Unless it's zero. Zero isn't a good amount.)
There are several pets named after starting zones (i.e. Mulgore, Elwynn), which makes me wonder if they're similar to the Westfall Chicken quest or if they're new faction pets. Either way, this is one of those opportunities for financial growth I've been talking about if you're willing to get off your butt and find how you can make it easier for others to get these pets (especially on the day of the 3.1 release) in a profitable way.
One of the pets is confirmed as an arena tournament pet that you get for participating in 200 qualifier games ($20 US to join the tournament). So not all of the pets are actually available to everyone.
Please feel free to check Warcraftpets News for more updates and conjecture. They haven't updated as of this post, but I'm sure they will within the next 24 hours.
Argent Tournament, or "Get Your New Mounts and Pets Here! Just... Waiting for Patch 3.1"
I am cranky.
After an entire weekend tending to a husband with a bad reaction to his tetanus shot (fever, nausea, wooziness, exhaustion), I stayed up until 9AM yesterday, woke up at 3PM, and got back to bed at 9PM last night.
Weird for me, but my schedule is always weird. (It's usually more like 3AM to 2PM, and yes, I actually do need that much sleep. The doctor says it's not the average, but what's normal for my body is normal for my body.)
So this morning I got up at 9AM and read about the fancy new World Event with mounts and pets coming up in the next major content patch.
The PTRs just went up (they did, right?), and husband said that with the enormity of this patch, it'll be a while before they actually implement it, so I'm assuming I have about 2 months and plenty of time to keep myself busy until Sims 3 (yes, WoW right now is just a way to pass time until my true obsession gets its pretty little packaging in line -- I've even been "preparing" for Sims 3 with the same intensity some fanatics prepared for Wrath, by downloading hundreds of faces of people and blueprints of houses to create in my game).
So I read about the new World Event, the unidentified pets and mounts, and I said "This is in Northrend. Birdfall is not in Northrend. I wonder if you have to be 80 to participate?"
So my goal, ostensibly over the next two months (my time estimate), is to get Dusty and Birdfall to at least 75.
Dusty is 73. No big there.
Birdfall is 60. And played primarily with husband's druid.
So, burning with the intensity of these decisions, I attempted to log on.
Realm maintenance.
/facepalm Don't I usually sleep through this?! Why couldn't I have slept the day away today instead of yesterday and had tomorrow for clear-headed playing?
/grumble
Now I actually have to do laundry like I said I would.
After an entire weekend tending to a husband with a bad reaction to his tetanus shot (fever, nausea, wooziness, exhaustion), I stayed up until 9AM yesterday, woke up at 3PM, and got back to bed at 9PM last night.
Weird for me, but my schedule is always weird. (It's usually more like 3AM to 2PM, and yes, I actually do need that much sleep. The doctor says it's not the average, but what's normal for my body is normal for my body.)
So this morning I got up at 9AM and read about the fancy new World Event with mounts and pets coming up in the next major content patch.
The PTRs just went up (they did, right?), and husband said that with the enormity of this patch, it'll be a while before they actually implement it, so I'm assuming I have about 2 months and plenty of time to keep myself busy until Sims 3 (yes, WoW right now is just a way to pass time until my true obsession gets its pretty little packaging in line -- I've even been "preparing" for Sims 3 with the same intensity some fanatics prepared for Wrath, by downloading hundreds of faces of people and blueprints of houses to create in my game).
So I read about the new World Event, the unidentified pets and mounts, and I said "This is in Northrend. Birdfall is not in Northrend. I wonder if you have to be 80 to participate?"
So my goal, ostensibly over the next two months (my time estimate), is to get Dusty and Birdfall to at least 75.
Dusty is 73. No big there.
Birdfall is 60. And played primarily with husband's druid.
So, burning with the intensity of these decisions, I attempted to log on.
Realm maintenance.
/facepalm Don't I usually sleep through this?! Why couldn't I have slept the day away today instead of yesterday and had tomorrow for clear-headed playing?
/grumble
Now I actually have to do laundry like I said I would.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Free Murky!, or "Account-Bound Not Account-Wide"
(As in "Free Willy," not as in "Murky Giveaway."Trust me, if I had a random Murky lying around,
. . . love you all, but I'm not that generous.)
Your account is comprised of all of your characters. That's the point of an account. You are a player, you can have up to 100 characters on any server or faction you wish all on that one account.
Account-Bound items are only available to be passed from characters in the same faction and on the same server.
This seems messed up to me.
While I can understand that Blizzard does not want you passing random goods to and from your alliance and horde characters through the mail, and I agree that they have a good reason to keep the factions from being able to communicate (even if the factions are both comprised of, well, you), I still think we're getting screwed over by account-bound items not being extended to the entire account.
I have two characters that collect pets, Dustfire and Birdfall. Dusty is horde on a PVP server. Birdfall is alliance on a Normal RP server.
If I, by some miracle (or a lot of irl money), got my hands on an account-bound baby murloc pet, I could only use it on one of those characters.
Which makes the pet's "account-bound" status utterly worthless.
Blizzard might argue "But you can use it on any of your extra horde or alliance characters."
My rebuttal is, "I don't have any." (While this is technically untrue, I do not collect pets on any other characters, to the point of not even using account-bound pets on them, thus making their existence moot for this discussion.)
While the current account-bound mostly screws over people who have characters on both factions (so... most people), it also messes with anyone who has characters on separate realms; though, if they're on the same faction, the server issue can be managed by a paid transfer.
My point is that a server transfer is extreme and shouldn't be necessary in the first place.
If something is account-bound, it should actually be account-bound, not just where-you-are-right-now-bound.
In the end, you have to look at Blizzard's motives for implementing account-bound pets: They were getting flooded with requests to restore this or that pet when Wrath came out and said "Screw it, let them take care of their own freaking pets." Or something like that.
So while they might be less than motivated to help us get our pets across faction barriers, even to the point of citing old "We don't want alliance and horde communicating because they're not supposed to" hype, I still maintain that players deserve the benefit of being able to send account-bound cosmetic items across time and space to any character they want.
I also maintain that not allowing it contradicts the spirit of pet-collecting achievements.
So either change the functionality or change what it's called.
*cajoling smile* Please.
Fishing Aides, or "I Hope You Enjoy Long Pointless Grinds"
I do. Enjoy long pointless grinds. Because that's what fishing is, at its base.
Big shiny thanks to El's Anglin, as usual. The best site for your (Warcraft) fishing needs.
I plan to farm the easier-to-grind equipment, particularly if the method has a pet in the vicinity. I think with the upcoming gear system, it'll be important to have your fishing set pimped out.
Available Poles
For beginners, look for a strong pole on fishing vendors (always have a stack of baubles on hand, or on your bank character) until you can quest for Seth's Graphite Fishing Pole (level 60) or the horde only (level 50) pole that's the best before winning the tournament or level 80.
At 80, work on becoming Exalted with the Kalu'ak for their epic Fishing Pole that lets you breathe under water. Also for the penguin pet.
Some people have the tournament fishing pole, which has the most fishing skill of any pole. It's 5 above the Kalu'ak pole BUT doesn't look as cool and doesn't let you breathe underwater. Pick which you prefer. Me, I like the Kalu'ak one. If you need to win the tourney for Salty, consider getting the second prize, a trinket that turns you into a fish with underwater breathing and increased swim speed, since that's kind of awesome and will help you get around for underwater quests.
Available Lines
A line is like an enchant just for fishing poles. It's permanent until you replace it with a new one.
You get +3 fishing from Spun Truesilver Line, a drop in the Outlands fishing daily.
The best line (+5) is from the Queenfish (0.18% droprate) you can get from the Tastyfish pools on the outer edges of Stranglethorn between 2pm and 4pm server time on Sundays.
Available Hats
Now this is weird, because you usually get the best items from the Sunday fishing tournament. But while a really great (and cool-looking) +5 hat (from turning in the Angelfish) can drop 0.25% of the time from Tastyfish pools 2pm-4pm Sundays, the BEST hat (also +5) actually drops from the Outlands daily -- it has a use effect to put a free 10 min +75 lure on your pole.
Available Hands and Feet
There are no fishing gloves at this time, but there is a +2 glove ENCHANT. So find some nice gloves you think look fishing-worthy. Someone once recommended fingerless ones, which I think sounds nice.
There are no boot enchants, but there are +5 BOOTS from the Blue Racer (0.23% droprate) fish at the 2pm-4pm Sunday tournament.
My Strategy
Get the ring that ports you back to Dalaran (sold here*). Requires level 80 and 8000g at Neutral or 6500g at Exalted. (1 hour cooldown, so basically a second hearth.)
Go to Shattrath every day for the fishing daily, particularly the Crockolisk daily which is the only one of the quests that can drop the four crockolisk pets.
(If you're a cook and don't have the Delicious Cake recipe, do the cooking dailies too. It's an achievement.)
Spend a little time farming the Mr. Pinchy pet in Skettis.
If Sunday, grind for rare fish or participate in tournament (depending on wants and mood).
End circuit, use ring to hearth to Dalaran.
*This ring is among my top 4 best rings before raiding, and I wanted one anyway.
Big shiny thanks to El's Anglin, as usual. The best site for your (Warcraft) fishing needs.
I plan to farm the easier-to-grind equipment, particularly if the method has a pet in the vicinity. I think with the upcoming gear system, it'll be important to have your fishing set pimped out.
Available Poles
For beginners, look for a strong pole on fishing vendors (always have a stack of baubles on hand, or on your bank character) until you can quest for Seth's Graphite Fishing Pole (level 60) or the horde only (level 50) pole that's the best before winning the tournament or level 80.
At 80, work on becoming Exalted with the Kalu'ak for their epic Fishing Pole that lets you breathe under water. Also for the penguin pet.
Some people have the tournament fishing pole, which has the most fishing skill of any pole. It's 5 above the Kalu'ak pole BUT doesn't look as cool and doesn't let you breathe underwater. Pick which you prefer. Me, I like the Kalu'ak one. If you need to win the tourney for Salty, consider getting the second prize, a trinket that turns you into a fish with underwater breathing and increased swim speed, since that's kind of awesome and will help you get around for underwater quests.
Available Lines
A line is like an enchant just for fishing poles. It's permanent until you replace it with a new one.
You get +3 fishing from Spun Truesilver Line, a drop in the Outlands fishing daily.
The best line (+5) is from the Queenfish (0.18% droprate) you can get from the Tastyfish pools on the outer edges of Stranglethorn between 2pm and 4pm server time on Sundays.
Available Hats
Now this is weird, because you usually get the best items from the Sunday fishing tournament. But while a really great (and cool-looking) +5 hat (from turning in the Angelfish) can drop 0.25% of the time from Tastyfish pools 2pm-4pm Sundays, the BEST hat (also +5) actually drops from the Outlands daily -- it has a use effect to put a free 10 min +75 lure on your pole.
Available Hands and Feet
There are no fishing gloves at this time, but there is a +2 glove ENCHANT. So find some nice gloves you think look fishing-worthy. Someone once recommended fingerless ones, which I think sounds nice.
There are no boot enchants, but there are +5 BOOTS from the Blue Racer (0.23% droprate) fish at the 2pm-4pm Sunday tournament.
My Strategy
Get the ring that ports you back to Dalaran (sold here*). Requires level 80 and 8000g at Neutral or 6500g at Exalted. (1 hour cooldown, so basically a second hearth.)
Go to Shattrath every day for the fishing daily, particularly the Crockolisk daily which is the only one of the quests that can drop the four crockolisk pets.
(If you're a cook and don't have the Delicious Cake recipe, do the cooking dailies too. It's an achievement.)
Spend a little time farming the Mr. Pinchy pet in Skettis.
If Sunday, grind for rare fish or participate in tournament (depending on wants and mood).
End circuit, use ring to hearth to Dalaran.
*This ring is among my top 4 best rings before raiding, and I wanted one anyway.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Flaming Egos, or "What the Hell?"
I don't understand egos. I really don't. Some people can only make their lives meaningful by putting other people down, and even though I see it regularly enough to know it happens, it always surprises me just how stupid and petty people can be.
Some people, if they've decided you are Full of Fail, will never ever admit you aren't. Not if you throw the whole book of achievements at them. Not even if you have achievements they haven't accomplished yet. Not if your gear is better, not if your friends are cooler, not if you get official sanctions from God Himself for being L33T.
The Contestants
My guildmate is a raiding warrior who hasn't done all of the 5-man heroics yet but who is a sensible, nice guy with a respectable work ethic. He tanked Heroic Azjol-Nerub with this DK as dps.
I'm not going to link to my guildmate for gear comparisons, but I can report (after checking his armory) that he's a warrior in all blues and purples, every piece that can be gemmed and enchanted is (head, shoulders, back, chest, bracers, weapon, shield, hands, legs, feet), with a focus on stamina, dodge, and defense.
The DK's shoulders are unsocketed, unenchanted PVP gear (Savage Gladiator), though other gemmable pieces are gemmed and his feet, legs, hands, and head have enchants (his sword is runed).
Here are my guildmate's tanking stats at the time of this story (click to view larger):
Here are the DK's dps stats (click to view larger, I have no clue which panel is relevant, so you get them all):
As of this post, my guildmate has 10 Wrath normal raid achievements to the other guy's 8. My guildmate has 4 Wrath heroic raid achievements to the DK's 1.
My guildmate has blacksmithing and mining (plus all three secondary professions), and the DK has NO professions at the time of this post except for the secondary profession First Aid.
I do not know whose gear is better or whose stats are better. All I know is that I've been reading (for fun as a former recruiter and guild structure blogger) what hardcore raiding guilds look for in an applicant, and fully gemmed and enchanted gear is a HUGE factor.
The Failbag
My guildmate, we'll call him Warrior, is having an off day. The pick-up-group he's with wants to do the Azjol-Nerub achievements, which a 5-man group of some of our guild's best raiders wiped on countless times -- guys who are not scrubs (guys that other guilds try to poach from us).
Now, I don't know anything about Azjol-Nerub or its achievements other than what people tell me. So I'm not going to say "Oh, it's impossible" or "Oh, people are lame if they can't do it." All I know is, players I know to be very competent (and persistent) have failed to do them so far.
Warrior's group keeps wiping. Warrior has never done Azjol-Nerub on heroic before, and he knows he's not giving his best game because he's still learning the encounter, plus the added difficulty of trying to work the achievement in. But he's game, and he keeps going back and throwing himself at the challenge.
Warrior explains at this point in his story that DPS keeps pulling aggro: "Not much of an excuse, was just having a bad time of it for some reason. It happens."
So they give up on the achievement and do it the normal way with a few minor hiccups.
Apparently, this entire time, the DK has been talking trash to Warrior and finds a line of attack he likes: insisting Warrior bought his account on eBay. Warrior has "had about enough of his meaningless taunting, and very respectfully stated so, left group, and hearthed."
"Afterwards, he sends me a tell again, 'you never answered me if you were an ebay warrior' and I, once again as respectfully as possible, explain that I had just never done that instance before and was having a hard time especially getting flustered and sloppy after being told what a terribad tank I was. Of course I knew better than to believe that I'm the worst tank to grace the server. I linked a couple of achievements and in particular he scoffed 'Sapph and KT? What, were you carried or something?' and I said 'No, I main tanked Saphh and picked up adds on KT.'
We both were pretty insistent of our opinions, mine that I am far better a tank than that run happened to imply, and his that I was a waste of space and should /wowquit."
The Contest
Warrior offers DK a challenge. They'll do another heroic, Warrior pays repair costs for all wipes. If they don't get through in a reasonable amount of time, DK gets "several hundred gold in auctionable goods."
If they do get through reasonably, and Warrior proves he's not the worst tank on the server, the DK must "apologize, say that I was not a fail tank, and leave it at that."
DK brings in a group of guildies and insists on another heroic Warrior hasn't done before, explaining, "No, [Gundrak] doesn't prove anything other than you can repeat the same thing over and over like a robot. If you were really skilled you could do something new without any trouble." They pick Halls of Light. Warrior sighs and figures he'll just be on top of his game and it'll "make revenge that much sweeter."
The warlock in the group is doing something else, so they four-man through the first boss.
Once, the healer gets knocked across the room, causing a wipe that Warrior gets blamed for.
The DK keeps proximity pulling mobs with the excuse that Warrior isn't fast enough.
The DK refuses to get on the skull target and so keeps pulling aggro and dying, then blames Warrior for it. His excuse is "You've never been here before, I have. I know what the kill priority should be on the mobs. I was just killing what's SUPPOSED to die first."
They wipe a few times on the last boss, Warrior is always the last alive, and when the boss finally goes down, Warrior finds himself with 3 shiny new conditional achievements in addition to the achievement for completing HoL on Heroic.
DK starts the final conversation with "I guess that was a good run by your standards huh?"
Warrior replies with "We made it to the end in a reasonable amount of time, how was it by your standards?" and gets a laundry list of things he did wrong, including all of the things DK did wrong but blamed on Warrior.
"All right, but where's your end of the deal? You owe me an apology."
He doesn't get an apology at all. He does get a grudging "You are not the worst tank I have ever seen......but you are far from the best."
Warrior: "Okay, sure. But there's room to learn. I don't need to be the best as long as I can play and have fun."
DK: "So you settle for mediocrity then? In my guild, that's unacceptable. That says a lot about you and your guild."
And DK's final parting shot: "If I were you I'd do the smart thing and end this conversation and be glad that you got you and your guild taken off the blacklist."
Granted, I didn't have screenshots to reconstruct the conversation, just my guildmate's quotes from memory. But, really, that's not the kind of stuff you get wrong. Plus, my guildmate is a respectful person, he recounted the story in a factual tone, included his own personal mistakes, did not at any point rant and rave, and I trust (with my instincts as a writer and English major, as someone who spent college and her entire recruitment position looking for bias and deeper meanings in other people's writing) that he stayed true to what happened.
My Response
*stare*
*blink*
*stare*
*blink blink*
Yes, Tëmpus. They're talking about you.
Some people, if they've decided you are Full of Fail, will never ever admit you aren't. Not if you throw the whole book of achievements at them. Not even if you have achievements they haven't accomplished yet. Not if your gear is better, not if your friends are cooler, not if you get official sanctions from God Himself for being L33T.
The Contestants
My guildmate is a raiding warrior who hasn't done all of the 5-man heroics yet but who is a sensible, nice guy with a respectable work ethic. He tanked Heroic Azjol-Nerub with this DK as dps.
I'm not going to link to my guildmate for gear comparisons, but I can report (after checking his armory) that he's a warrior in all blues and purples, every piece that can be gemmed and enchanted is (head, shoulders, back, chest, bracers, weapon, shield, hands, legs, feet), with a focus on stamina, dodge, and defense.
The DK's shoulders are unsocketed, unenchanted PVP gear (Savage Gladiator), though other gemmable pieces are gemmed and his feet, legs, hands, and head have enchants (his sword is runed).
Here are my guildmate's tanking stats at the time of this story (click to view larger):
Here are the DK's dps stats (click to view larger, I have no clue which panel is relevant, so you get them all):
As of this post, my guildmate has 10 Wrath normal raid achievements to the other guy's 8. My guildmate has 4 Wrath heroic raid achievements to the DK's 1.
My guildmate has blacksmithing and mining (plus all three secondary professions), and the DK has NO professions at the time of this post except for the secondary profession First Aid.
I do not know whose gear is better or whose stats are better. All I know is that I've been reading (for fun as a former recruiter and guild structure blogger) what hardcore raiding guilds look for in an applicant, and fully gemmed and enchanted gear is a HUGE factor.
The Failbag
My guildmate, we'll call him Warrior, is having an off day. The pick-up-group he's with wants to do the Azjol-Nerub achievements, which a 5-man group of some of our guild's best raiders wiped on countless times -- guys who are not scrubs (guys that other guilds try to poach from us).
Now, I don't know anything about Azjol-Nerub or its achievements other than what people tell me. So I'm not going to say "Oh, it's impossible" or "Oh, people are lame if they can't do it." All I know is, players I know to be very competent (and persistent) have failed to do them so far.
Warrior's group keeps wiping. Warrior has never done Azjol-Nerub on heroic before, and he knows he's not giving his best game because he's still learning the encounter, plus the added difficulty of trying to work the achievement in. But he's game, and he keeps going back and throwing himself at the challenge.
Warrior explains at this point in his story that DPS keeps pulling aggro: "Not much of an excuse, was just having a bad time of it for some reason. It happens."
So they give up on the achievement and do it the normal way with a few minor hiccups.
Apparently, this entire time, the DK has been talking trash to Warrior and finds a line of attack he likes: insisting Warrior bought his account on eBay. Warrior has "had about enough of his meaningless taunting, and very respectfully stated so, left group, and hearthed."
"Afterwards, he sends me a tell again, 'you never answered me if you were an ebay warrior' and I, once again as respectfully as possible, explain that I had just never done that instance before and was having a hard time especially getting flustered and sloppy after being told what a terribad tank I was. Of course I knew better than to believe that I'm the worst tank to grace the server. I linked a couple of achievements and in particular he scoffed 'Sapph and KT? What, were you carried or something?' and I said 'No, I main tanked Saphh and picked up adds on KT.'
We both were pretty insistent of our opinions, mine that I am far better a tank than that run happened to imply, and his that I was a waste of space and should /wowquit."
The Contest
Warrior offers DK a challenge. They'll do another heroic, Warrior pays repair costs for all wipes. If they don't get through in a reasonable amount of time, DK gets "several hundred gold in auctionable goods."
If they do get through reasonably, and Warrior proves he's not the worst tank on the server, the DK must "apologize, say that I was not a fail tank, and leave it at that."
DK brings in a group of guildies and insists on another heroic Warrior hasn't done before, explaining, "No, [Gundrak] doesn't prove anything other than you can repeat the same thing over and over like a robot. If you were really skilled you could do something new without any trouble." They pick Halls of Light. Warrior sighs and figures he'll just be on top of his game and it'll "make revenge that much sweeter."
The warlock in the group is doing something else, so they four-man through the first boss.
Once, the healer gets knocked across the room, causing a wipe that Warrior gets blamed for.
The DK keeps proximity pulling mobs with the excuse that Warrior isn't fast enough.
The DK refuses to get on the skull target and so keeps pulling aggro and dying, then blames Warrior for it. His excuse is "You've never been here before, I have. I know what the kill priority should be on the mobs. I was just killing what's SUPPOSED to die first."
They wipe a few times on the last boss, Warrior is always the last alive, and when the boss finally goes down, Warrior finds himself with 3 shiny new conditional achievements in addition to the achievement for completing HoL on Heroic.
DK starts the final conversation with "I guess that was a good run by your standards huh?"
Warrior replies with "We made it to the end in a reasonable amount of time, how was it by your standards?" and gets a laundry list of things he did wrong, including all of the things DK did wrong but blamed on Warrior.
"All right, but where's your end of the deal? You owe me an apology."
He doesn't get an apology at all. He does get a grudging "You are not the worst tank I have ever seen......but you are far from the best."
Warrior: "Okay, sure. But there's room to learn. I don't need to be the best as long as I can play and have fun."
DK: "So you settle for mediocrity then? In my guild, that's unacceptable. That says a lot about you and your guild."
And DK's final parting shot: "If I were you I'd do the smart thing and end this conversation and be glad that you got you and your guild taken off the blacklist."
Granted, I didn't have screenshots to reconstruct the conversation, just my guildmate's quotes from memory. But, really, that's not the kind of stuff you get wrong. Plus, my guildmate is a respectful person, he recounted the story in a factual tone, included his own personal mistakes, did not at any point rant and rave, and I trust (with my instincts as a writer and English major, as someone who spent college and her entire recruitment position looking for bias and deeper meanings in other people's writing) that he stayed true to what happened.
My Response
*stare*
*blink*
*stare*
*blink blink*
Yes, Tëmpus. They're talking about you.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Peddlefeet, or "It's Not Luck, It's an Act of WoW"
Unlike some people, I did not get a Peddlefeet pet this year, though I ground for hours and hours every day on three characters. (Okay, I slacked on Valentines Day, but come on. Husband brought home a pile of ribs slathered in barbecue sauce and suffered through a John Cusack marathon, all for little ol' me. Even kitty behaved himself!)
If I had less patience, this pet farming failure would be a huge letdown. As it is, Peddlefeet is hideous and I can try again next year. I just want him for the pet collector achievements, anyway.
I read a comment on Wowhead about how people assume that if you just keep farming, you'll definitely get it because your percentages go up the more you farm. A commenter said this philosophy is essentially flawed, that the percentages stay exactly the same at all times and farming does not increase them, nor does luck factor into the equation. Rather, the more you farm an item, the more chances you have that the small percentage will pay off in your favor.
A very matter-of-fact way to look at it.
If I had less patience, this pet farming failure would be a huge letdown. As it is, Peddlefeet is hideous and I can try again next year. I just want him for the pet collector achievements, anyway.
I read a comment on Wowhead about how people assume that if you just keep farming, you'll definitely get it because your percentages go up the more you farm. A commenter said this philosophy is essentially flawed, that the percentages stay exactly the same at all times and farming does not increase them, nor does luck factor into the equation. Rather, the more you farm an item, the more chances you have that the small percentage will pay off in your favor.
A very matter-of-fact way to look at it.
Gender Wars?, or "Why Do People Insist on Putting Up with Crap?"
Generalizations are, by nature, inaccurate because they don't allow for exceptions.
So, in the interest of not generalizing the entire WoW population, some males are idiots who think "all women" are this or that (ie, emotional, untrustworthy, lousy tacticians, always social, etc), when all women can only be generalized one way: individual. Every woman is different, and you cannot make accurate assumptions on us all based on the ones you've met.
I get emotional sometimes. I'm not fond of prepping my own gear (my husband does it). I "squee!" over cute things like kittens and pink and The Sims. I'm a competent player, mostly casual, can remember a fight after one successful run, and possess above average intelligence.
If I thought for one second that my guild assumed I was only an emotional, girly, chattering kitten-addict, I would gquit. My guild shows enough respect for its women not to toss us into generalized categories or lump us all together like a plant genus: homosapian femininus.
What bugs me about the whole thing, though, isn't that stupid boys make stupid assumptions. If they're idiots, it will show, no reason to be surprised.
The part that gets me is when women sit there and take it. Why do some women not call out their guild leaders when someone treats them differently based on gender, why don't they demand the guild prove that it cares enough to squash sexism in its flacid bud? Why don't we report offenders?
Is it laziness? Is it misinformation or the belief that we can't do anything if the guild leaders won't, that we have no power? That our guild shouldn't have to stand up for us because it's just a game? Is it the fear that reacting harshly will fulfill the prophecy that we're all "emotional"?
I'm not officially a feminist, but my mother was raised by her single mom and a boatload of aunties. My mom is the kind of woman I'd be afraid of if I wasn't her kid -- she's friendly until it hurts (either her or the people around her), hospitable to the extreme, and the scariest freaking woman in the world when she's mad (even God couldn't have helped my high school administrators when the gym teacher let my brother get hit in the head with basketballs).
I was raised by that woman. And she instilled in me the unwavering belief that you must respect yourself enough to get out of a situation where others don't respect you.
I don't care if your best friend is the guild leader, or if you are the guild leader. If your guild, your officers, your members won't stand up and say "We don't want people here who treat women differently based on gender," then you need a new guild.
No drop is as legendary as self-respect.
So, in the interest of not generalizing the entire WoW population, some males are idiots who think "all women" are this or that (ie, emotional, untrustworthy, lousy tacticians, always social, etc), when all women can only be generalized one way: individual. Every woman is different, and you cannot make accurate assumptions on us all based on the ones you've met.
I get emotional sometimes. I'm not fond of prepping my own gear (my husband does it). I "squee!" over cute things like kittens and pink and The Sims. I'm a competent player, mostly casual, can remember a fight after one successful run, and possess above average intelligence.
If I thought for one second that my guild assumed I was only an emotional, girly, chattering kitten-addict, I would gquit. My guild shows enough respect for its women not to toss us into generalized categories or lump us all together like a plant genus: homosapian femininus.
What bugs me about the whole thing, though, isn't that stupid boys make stupid assumptions. If they're idiots, it will show, no reason to be surprised.
The part that gets me is when women sit there and take it. Why do some women not call out their guild leaders when someone treats them differently based on gender, why don't they demand the guild prove that it cares enough to squash sexism in its flacid bud? Why don't we report offenders?
Is it laziness? Is it misinformation or the belief that we can't do anything if the guild leaders won't, that we have no power? That our guild shouldn't have to stand up for us because it's just a game? Is it the fear that reacting harshly will fulfill the prophecy that we're all "emotional"?
I'm not officially a feminist, but my mother was raised by her single mom and a boatload of aunties. My mom is the kind of woman I'd be afraid of if I wasn't her kid -- she's friendly until it hurts (either her or the people around her), hospitable to the extreme, and the scariest freaking woman in the world when she's mad (even God couldn't have helped my high school administrators when the gym teacher let my brother get hit in the head with basketballs).
I was raised by that woman. And she instilled in me the unwavering belief that you must respect yourself enough to get out of a situation where others don't respect you.
I don't care if your best friend is the guild leader, or if you are the guild leader. If your guild, your officers, your members won't stand up and say "We don't want people here who treat women differently based on gender," then you need a new guild.
No drop is as legendary as self-respect.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Summon Me, or "Using Warlocks as a Traveling Service"
I just wanted to share a story.
Husband and I went to a Wintergrasp, I on my big bad (okay, cute and plump) PVP druid and him on his DK. One of our guildmates, a warlock, was also in the raid group.
(For those who don't know, Wintergrasp is world PVP, not a battleground, so different rules apply. You form a raid to share kills.)
This guy in the raid, we'll call him Mr. Undead, asks for a summon because he's stuck in Dalaran's well and the GM isn't responding.
It was a perfectly reasonable request, though you might wonder why he joined the WG raid if he couldn't move. I suppose he hoped a summon would be available. Also reasonable.
I said "working on it" and asked my fellow guildmate to come over to husband and myself so we could summon Mr. Undead.
I had Mr. Undead targeted so saw him hopping around when he accepted the summon. I was pleased, I assume he was as well, and we sat to wait the next eight minutes for the battle to start.
With one minute to go, as I'm trying to share WG quests, I see Mr. Undead in chat again. "Can I get a summon plz. I want to pWnz." I shift-click his name.
He's in EASTERN PLAGUELANDS.
I replied "Didn't we already summon you?"
And he stayed in Eastern Plaguelands for the whole battle.
When one of my guildmates wanted in the raid, I worked out the weird letters in the raid leader's name (had to /who Wintergrasp and right-click to just whisper the guy, since he didn't read raid chat >.<) and said "Mr. Undead is in the Plaguelands. Can Guildmate get an invite?"
And he did.
So, there's a lesson for you boys and girls. If you ask for a warlock summon to something once, DON'T run off to the other side of the world and expect a second one.
Husband and I went to a Wintergrasp, I on my big bad (okay, cute and plump) PVP druid and him on his DK. One of our guildmates, a warlock, was also in the raid group.
(For those who don't know, Wintergrasp is world PVP, not a battleground, so different rules apply. You form a raid to share kills.)
This guy in the raid, we'll call him Mr. Undead, asks for a summon because he's stuck in Dalaran's well and the GM isn't responding.
It was a perfectly reasonable request, though you might wonder why he joined the WG raid if he couldn't move. I suppose he hoped a summon would be available. Also reasonable.
I said "working on it" and asked my fellow guildmate to come over to husband and myself so we could summon Mr. Undead.
I had Mr. Undead targeted so saw him hopping around when he accepted the summon. I was pleased, I assume he was as well, and we sat to wait the next eight minutes for the battle to start.
With one minute to go, as I'm trying to share WG quests, I see Mr. Undead in chat again. "Can I get a summon plz. I want to pWnz." I shift-click his name.
He's in EASTERN PLAGUELANDS.
I replied "Didn't we already summon you?"
And he stayed in Eastern Plaguelands for the whole battle.
When one of my guildmates wanted in the raid, I worked out the weird letters in the raid leader's name (had to /who Wintergrasp and right-click to just whisper the guy, since he didn't read raid chat >.<) and said "Mr. Undead is in the Plaguelands. Can Guildmate get an invite?"
And he did.
So, there's a lesson for you boys and girls. If you ask for a warlock summon to something once, DON'T run off to the other side of the world and expect a second one.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Role Play Silly, or "I Didn't Do It . . . But I Wanted To"
[Borhammer] yells: "high hoe silver away"On roleplay realms, you're expected to stay within the confines of the world itself. You're not supposed to bring in outside references to, say, TV shows. Doing so can even get you reported.
This is what I wanted to do (but didn't):
[Birdfall] whispers: I would be willing to purchase your silver.
[Borhammer] whispers: He's not for sale! O.o
[Birdfall] whispers: You announced that you had silver ore and were trying to do away with it.
[Borhammer] whispers: No no, I was calling my mount, Silver.
[Birdfall] whispers: Your mount is made of silver? Are you an engineer, sir?
[Borhammer] whispers: No, he's a HORSE.
[Birdfall] whispers: A silver horse. Miraculous!
And so on.
The point is that all statements on a roleplay realm must remain within the continunity of Warcraft or very silly things will happen.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Purple Swashbuckler Shirt, or "Nobody Levels in Dustwallow Marsh... Right?"
We can craft black, white, and red, but the ONLY way to get a Purple Swashbuckler's Shirt is through a short quest chain. It is a chest piece and not a shirt, so you can't put anything over it, but you can put a shirt under it.----------------
In Dustwallow Marsh, find Mordant Grimsby in the house at Witch Hill.
Pick up [What's Haunting Witch Hill?].
Kill Riven Husks in the area and they'll give you information when they die. Gather 10.
Turn in, pick up [Witch's Bane]. Gather 9 of the plants.
Turn in, pick up [Cleansing Witch Hill]. Torch the dock, fight the demon, return to Grimsby.
When he offers you a choice, get the Mordant's Travel Tunic. It's cloth, so anyone can wear it.
----------------
If you already did that quest and are kicking yourself, I'm really sorry. That sucks. I did the quest on at least one character, but I don't remember who. >_>
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Valentines 2009, or "Yay, Hearts Everywhere!"
Feel free to check Valentines 2007 and 2008. Last year has the quest chain walkthrough. I'll edit this post as I go, and don't forget that Lunar Festival is still going and ends very soon.
Get to a city innkeeper (not Exodar or Silvermoon) and get cologne, perfume (both have 10 charges, so just grab them one at a time, no need for bulk) and a bunch of Love Tokens.
Once an hour, if you're wearing the appropriate scent (cologne for female guards, perfume for male), you can show your love to a city guard by giving them a Love Token (right-click, "can I give?"). DO NOT waste Love Tokens until the Adored debuff wears off! I'm seeing people running around tossing love at guards or civilians continuously -- this does not get you the good presents. It gets you the cheap pointless presents.*
Sometimes, instead of a gift, they'll break your heart. If you see others with broken hearts, toss a ring of friendship at them and it will heal them. This is an achievement now, so you shouldn't have to beg to get fixed anymore.
Last note, you get GIFTS of Adoration from civilians and PLEDGES of Adoration from guards. They hold the same items but you need 1 GIFT from each city for an achievement.
*The cheap presents used to be useful in acquiring the Faction Gift Collection. Which used to be the ONLY way to get a Peddlefeet pet. Now he's a random rare drop. So no need to bother unless you really really want to waste the time.
Required Items for Title Achievement
Title: "The Love Fool"
- 20 Unbestowed Friendship Bracelets
- 10 Silver Shafted Arrows
- 10 Love Rockets
- 3 Different City Gifts of Adoration (from civilians)
- 11 Handful of Rose Petals
- 4 Different Holiday Candies
- 1+ Bag of Candies
- 1 Bouquet of Red or Ebon Roses (boss drop)*
- 5 Love Fool
Rare Drops from Pledges of Adoration
Gifts now soulbound.
Places You Have to Visit
And What You Do There
You need 5 Love Fools and at least 1 Handful of Rose Petals for this part. (Similar to handfuls of snowflakes at Winter Veil, the petals must go on characters with a specific race and class combination.)
- Dalaran: Click on a romantic picnic basket. Someone else should join you. Win. (Does not have to be your basket, can be anyone's.)
- Ironforge (A): Get a Gift of Adoration from a civilian. Drink until you get "smashed," perfume yourself, toss a Handful of Petals on Sraaz and /kiss him.
- Stormwind (A): Get a Gift of Adoration from a civilian. Pick up Dangerous Love, covered in my 2008 post.
- Darnassus (A): Get a Gift of Adoration from a civilian.
- Undercity (H): Get a Gift of Adoration from a civilian. Drink until you get "smashed," perfume yourself, toss a Handful of Petals on Jeremiah Payson and /kiss him. Pick up Dangerous Love, covered in my 2008 post.
- Orgrimmar (H): Get a Gift of Adoration from a civilian.
- Thunder Bluff (H): Get a Gift of Adoration from a civilian.
- Arathi Basin (Queue From a Battlemaster in Any City): Use a Love Fool at the blacksmith and /pity it, or /pity someone else's.
- Wintergrasp (Northrend): Use a Love Fool and /pity it anywhere in the zone.
- Gurubashi Arena (Stranglethorn Vale): Drop down in the ring that marks you for PVP, drop a Love Fool and /pity it, or /pity someone else's before you get killed.
- Culling of Stratholm (Tanaris, Level 75 Required): Go to the Caverns of Time, enter the instance, drop your Love Fool, /pity it, exit. May have minimum level requirement.
- Naxxramas (Northrend, Dragonblight, Winterguard Keep, Level 80? Required): Find a friend to join a group with you, convert to a raid (top of raid panel), enter the instance, drop your Love Fool, /pity it, exit. May have minimum level requirement.
- Alterac Mountains (89, 75): Final turn-in spot for the Dangerous Love quest chain.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Starter Business, or "Making Money for Lowbies"
While I outlined how I made my gold by focusing on market opportunities, I wanted to dedicate an entire post to acquiring starter capital on very low level characters entering a new server.
Again, this is for low levels with no friends, no alts, and no money.
This method is not fast. If you are on a low-population server with a bad economy, it will not be easy, either. The keys are patience and prudence.
-----------------
Level
The truth of the matter is that money gets easier to make the higher you are. Dailies, quests, drops, all make it easier to make lots of money for those expensive high-end goods.
At low levels (ie, 10-20 range), your options are much more limited, but you still have them.
Profession
You do not need blacksmithing or leatherworking while you level. I know you think "But it's necessary for great gear!" No. No, it's not. It might be necessary at endgame, but for now, it's not. It's a massive gold sink. If you insist upon a crafting profession at level 10, then I can't reach through the screen and slap sense into you, so just go read another blog.*
For the rest of you, get gathering professions: Skinning, herbalism, and/or mining.
Resale
I'm particularly thinking of pets, because that's what I'm most versed in, and everybody wants them.
Example
The cat lady is a short run from Stormwind proper and the snake vendor wanders around Orgrimmar.
You buy a 40s/50s pet and sell it on your AH for 5g.
Worst case scenario, it doesn't sell. You've put the price of buying and listing into the pet, but that's all.
Best case scenario, you make a few gold every time you list a pet.
The pets that sell best are the ones that are out of the way for high levels. The rabbits in Dun Morogh, the dragonhawks in Eversong Woods. It takes a while to run get them (and, remember, you can only get your own faction pets), but the gold you make is worth it, and you can always stock up while you're there.
Also, don't underestimate the potential of reselling pets on the neutral Auction House, or buying pets there and selling them on your AH. Details of that method expanded on in my other post, linked at the beginning.
Expenses
The point of making gold is to use it for necessities. Once you have enough for training, regular and epic land mounts, and maybe even a simple flying mount, consider investing in storage space.
The one thing you can never have too much of in this game is storage. It's a good investment for anyone, and I highly recommend taking advantage while you can. Let me explain how I set up my banks and you can see what you think.
Birdfall's Banking System
All of my bankers belong to a guild I formed for them. It cost a few silver per charter signature (a time-honored tradition of paying people to help you) and 10s to create. Once you get your signatures and turn in the charter, thank everyone for helping, and they should leave on their own. Feel free to tell them it's just a bank guild to hold your stuff if they ask. Anyone still in the guild the next day can be kicked while they're offline.
Naming suggestions: Merchant, Shop, Personal Shopper, Peddler, Store, Savings and Loan, Storage. Any variation thereof. This isn't a real guild, just something for you to store your extra non-soulbound stuff.
Banker 1 - [Stormwind] - Level 10
Purpose: Relay materials to and from the Alliance Auction House. Pick up Cat Carriers in Elwynn Forest, look for cheap White Kittens on the AH, send all to Banker 2. Resell horde pets from Banker 2 for a profit.
Banker 2 - [Booty Bay] - Level 2
Purpose: Relay materials to and from the Neutral Auction House. Check for Hyacinth Macaw, which can be mistakenly sold for a handful of gold and resold by Banker 1 for several thousand. Buy 5g and under horde pets to send to Banker 1.
Bank Slot Economy: It costs 111g to buy all 7 bank slots in your personal character bank. This does not include the cost of bags, which can run into 100g per 20-slot frostweave bag. That would be roughly 5g 79s for each individual new slot (at 20 a bag), if you bought all 7 and outfitted them with 20-slotters. (Yes, the first personal bank slot is just 10s but the 20-slot bag is still 100g, and that's 5g per individual slot.)**
If you have a bank guild, it costs 100g for the first tab, and each is 98 slots. That's 1g 2s per new slot. If you got the first and second tab, it would cost 1g 78s per slot overall. If you got up to the third tab, you'd be spending 2g 89s per individual slot. 4 tabs is 4g 72s a slot. 5 tabs is 8g 89s.***
So, you wouldn't go over 5g 79s per individual slot (if you find 20-slot bags at 100g apiece) until the fifth tab. Until then, it's economically wise to buy up the first four guild bank tabs before getting too far into your personal character bank.
Final Advice
You are poor. You do not have the luxury of relisting things because you tried to sell them for too much. Keep your prices modest, your listings short, undercut the competition, and don't waste money. Until you hit higher levels, these tips are your best bet.
* The kid I always talk about, who failed my guild's trial membership even though he was someone's brother, subtly hit me up for a promise to help him buy his first mount when he reached 40 (yes, that long ago). He then proceeded to tell me he was a leatherworker and planned to switch to blacksmithing at level 50. He told this to me AS IF IT WAS A SMART IDEA!! Like, he was proud he thought of it. OMG. *dies*
** 111g 10s + (100g x 7 bags) = 811g
(20 slots x 7 bags) = 140 individual slots
811g/140 individual slots = 5g 79s per individual slot
*** 98 Slots x Number of Tabs Total = A
Combined Cost of Tabs = B
B/A = Cost of Individual Slots
Again, this is for low levels with no friends, no alts, and no money.
This method is not fast. If you are on a low-population server with a bad economy, it will not be easy, either. The keys are patience and prudence.
-----------------
Level
The truth of the matter is that money gets easier to make the higher you are. Dailies, quests, drops, all make it easier to make lots of money for those expensive high-end goods.
At low levels (ie, 10-20 range), your options are much more limited, but you still have them.
Profession
You do not need blacksmithing or leatherworking while you level. I know you think "But it's necessary for great gear!" No. No, it's not. It might be necessary at endgame, but for now, it's not. It's a massive gold sink. If you insist upon a crafting profession at level 10, then I can't reach through the screen and slap sense into you, so just go read another blog.*
For the rest of you, get gathering professions: Skinning, herbalism, and/or mining.
- Skinning - Necessary for leatherworkers and useful in various other crafting professions.
- Herbalism - The best current gathering profession. Due to alchemy and inscription both being completely herb-reliant, stacks of herbs sell for several gold even on poor economies. ALSO, the lowest level herbs are used for minor inscription training, which even maxed inscriptionists still use, so they're in high demand.
- Mining - The former king of gathering, mining is used heavily by blacksmithing, jewelcrafting, and engineering.
Resale
I'm particularly thinking of pets, because that's what I'm most versed in, and everybody wants them.
Example
The cat lady is a short run from Stormwind proper and the snake vendor wanders around Orgrimmar.
You buy a 40s/50s pet and sell it on your AH for 5g.
Worst case scenario, it doesn't sell. You've put the price of buying and listing into the pet, but that's all.
Best case scenario, you make a few gold every time you list a pet.
The pets that sell best are the ones that are out of the way for high levels. The rabbits in Dun Morogh, the dragonhawks in Eversong Woods. It takes a while to run get them (and, remember, you can only get your own faction pets), but the gold you make is worth it, and you can always stock up while you're there.
Also, don't underestimate the potential of reselling pets on the neutral Auction House, or buying pets there and selling them on your AH. Details of that method expanded on in my other post, linked at the beginning.
Expenses
The point of making gold is to use it for necessities. Once you have enough for training, regular and epic land mounts, and maybe even a simple flying mount, consider investing in storage space.
The one thing you can never have too much of in this game is storage. It's a good investment for anyone, and I highly recommend taking advantage while you can. Let me explain how I set up my banks and you can see what you think.
Birdfall's Banking System
All of my bankers belong to a guild I formed for them. It cost a few silver per charter signature (a time-honored tradition of paying people to help you) and 10s to create. Once you get your signatures and turn in the charter, thank everyone for helping, and they should leave on their own. Feel free to tell them it's just a bank guild to hold your stuff if they ask. Anyone still in the guild the next day can be kicked while they're offline.
Naming suggestions: Merchant, Shop, Personal Shopper, Peddler, Store, Savings and Loan, Storage. Any variation thereof. This isn't a real guild, just something for you to store your extra non-soulbound stuff.
Banker 1 - [Stormwind] - Level 10
Purpose: Relay materials to and from the Alliance Auction House. Pick up Cat Carriers in Elwynn Forest, look for cheap White Kittens on the AH, send all to Banker 2. Resell horde pets from Banker 2 for a profit.
Banker 2 - [Booty Bay] - Level 2
Purpose: Relay materials to and from the Neutral Auction House. Check for Hyacinth Macaw, which can be mistakenly sold for a handful of gold and resold by Banker 1 for several thousand. Buy 5g and under horde pets to send to Banker 1.
Bank Slot Economy: It costs 111g to buy all 7 bank slots in your personal character bank. This does not include the cost of bags, which can run into 100g per 20-slot frostweave bag. That would be roughly 5g 79s for each individual new slot (at 20 a bag), if you bought all 7 and outfitted them with 20-slotters. (Yes, the first personal bank slot is just 10s but the 20-slot bag is still 100g, and that's 5g per individual slot.)**
If you have a bank guild, it costs 100g for the first tab, and each is 98 slots. That's 1g 2s per new slot. If you got the first and second tab, it would cost 1g 78s per slot overall. If you got up to the third tab, you'd be spending 2g 89s per individual slot. 4 tabs is 4g 72s a slot. 5 tabs is 8g 89s.***
So, you wouldn't go over 5g 79s per individual slot (if you find 20-slot bags at 100g apiece) until the fifth tab. Until then, it's economically wise to buy up the first four guild bank tabs before getting too far into your personal character bank.
Final Advice
You are poor. You do not have the luxury of relisting things because you tried to sell them for too much. Keep your prices modest, your listings short, undercut the competition, and don't waste money. Until you hit higher levels, these tips are your best bet.
* The kid I always talk about, who failed my guild's trial membership even though he was someone's brother, subtly hit me up for a promise to help him buy his first mount when he reached 40 (yes, that long ago). He then proceeded to tell me he was a leatherworker and planned to switch to blacksmithing at level 50. He told this to me AS IF IT WAS A SMART IDEA!! Like, he was proud he thought of it. OMG. *dies*
** 111g 10s + (100g x 7 bags) = 811g
(20 slots x 7 bags) = 140 individual slots
811g/140 individual slots = 5g 79s per individual slot
*** 98 Slots x Number of Tabs Total = A
Combined Cost of Tabs = B
B/A = Cost of Individual Slots
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Combo Pet Pack, or "Darters for Alliance, Robot Chickens for Everybody"
Alliance will benefit most from this walkthrough, but here's the short version: Alliance can run a quest gamut for a Sprite Darter Hatchling, which will take you through the same areas you'll need for the robot chicken. I'll have the horde version after the alliance version.
This walkthrough is just a variation on the norm and combines 2 pet grinds into 1.
The mechanical chicken is NOT bind-on-pickup, so you can sell it for a hefty profit or give it to a collector friend.
Before You Start:
[Freedom for All Creatures] is timed and requires you to protect the escaping Sprite Darters and Kindal, so I suggest clearing the camp before you accept it. When you open the cage door, they will scatter everywhere and it's annoying to run around saving them.
Finish, turn in, pick up [Doling Justice]. Keep killing until you complete the quest and recieve a [OOX-22/FE Distress Beacon] drop. It could take a while. If you're doing other quests in the area, feel free to move along, as anything in Feralas can drop it.
Turn in [Doling Justice] and get the followup of the same name which sends you to Darnassus.
At this point you're going to use the Distress Beacon and start the quest to find the chicken. The chicken is in the west (52,57) deep inside the yeti cave. Turn it in and pick up the Rescue followup. You will have to fight 3 ambushes of 3-4 mobs on your trek. As a 60 rogue with no aoe, this was particularly annoying.
Once the chicken reaches the western coast and gives you a quest complete message, swim to the island and fly to Darnassus (take a coffee break for the 9 minute flight).
Turn in [Doling Justice] to Tyrande upstairs in the Temple of the Moon.
Check the Auction House for 2 Elixir of Fortitude if you haven't gotten them yet.
Fly back to Feralas (second coffee break), get [An Orphan Looking for a Home] from Kindal Moonweaver.
Fly to Gadgetzan. Do not go see Quentin yet.
Kill mobs in this zone until you get a [OOX-17/TN Distress Beacon].
Once you get one, use it to start the quest to find the chicken at 60,64. Turn in the quest and pick up the Rescue followup. The chicken will lead you north to Steamwheedle Port, aggroing mobs along the way. There are only two ambushes along this route.
If you don't have your 2 Elixir of Fortitude, get them now before doing anything else. Also make sure you have your quick route to Hinterlands from Gadgetzan, as you'll have only an hour to make the trip.
Ride north of Gadgetzan, out of Tanaris and into Shimmering Flats (Thousand Needles). Keep going north to the Raceway (80,77).
If you don't have an Ancona Chicken (not to be confused with Westfall Chicken), pick one up for 1g from Magus Tirth at the southern edge of the bleachers (west side of the Raceway).
You'll find Quentin along the bleachers just north of Magus Tirth.
Turn in [An Orphan], pick up [A Short Incubation], turn in the Elixirs and pick up the TIMED quest [The Newest Member of the Family].
You have one hour to reach Aerie Peak in The Hinterlands. I recommend flying from Gadgetzan to Theramore, taking a boat to Menethil Harbor, and flying to Aerie Peak. Takes less than 20 minutes.
In Aerie Peak, go down the mountainside to the Inn. Head to the back of the Inn and go downstairs. The guy is in the middle of the downstairs area.
Turn in [Newest Member] and pick up [Food for Baby]. Silvermane Stalkers are in the eastern half of the map and are stealthers, so ride on over and start killing.
Keep killing things until you get a [OOX-09/HL Distress Beacon]. Go ahead and ride northeast to 49,38, use the beacon to start the quest, turn it in, and pick up the Rescue followup.
The chicken will take off and you'll have two ambushes. Follow it to the southeast until it gives you a quest complete message.
Return to Agmar and turn in [Food for Baby]. Get the followup [Becoming a Parent] and turn it in for your pet.
Fly to Booty Bay (final coffee break for 10 minute flight) and find Oglethorpe Obnoticus to turn in your OOX quests and receive your robot chicken pet.
Before You Start:
Feel free to stay in Feralas and kill Sprite Darters for the pet drop (3.1 change).
Tanaris -- Kill mobs in this zone until you get a [OOX-17/TN Distress Beacon]. Use it to start the quest to find the chicken at 60,64. Turn in the quest and pick up the Rescue followup. The chicken will lead you north to Steamwheedle Port, aggroing mobs along the way. There are only two ambushes along this route.
If you don't have an Ancona Chicken (not to be confused with Westfall Chicken), pick one up for 1g from Magus Tirth at the southern edge of the bleachers (west side of the Raceway).
Hinterlands -- Kill things until you get a [OOX-09/HL Distress Beacon]. Go ahead and ride northeast to 49,38, use the beacon to start the quest, turn it in, and pick up the Rescue followup.
The chicken will take off and you'll have two ambushes. Follow it to the southeast until it gives you a quest complete message.
Booty Bay -- Find Oglethorpe Obnoticus to turn in your OOX quests and receive your mechanical chicken pet. (The reward for this pet opens up once you turn in all three, so if you think you've done one or more, turn in the ones you can still do, one at a time, and see if it opens up. You can also petition a GM to help you figure out which of the quests you've already completed.)
This walkthrough is just a variation on the norm and combines 2 pet grinds into 1.
The mechanical chicken is NOT bind-on-pickup, so you can sell it for a hefty profit or give it to a collector friend.
Alliance
Before You Start:
- Get flight point route from Gadgetzan to The Hinterlands.
- 2 Elixir of Fortitude
- If you think you've done one or more OOX quest but can't remember which, petition a GM to find out.
[Freedom for All Creatures] is timed and requires you to protect the escaping Sprite Darters and Kindal, so I suggest clearing the camp before you accept it. When you open the cage door, they will scatter everywhere and it's annoying to run around saving them.
Finish, turn in, pick up [Doling Justice]. Keep killing until you complete the quest and recieve a [OOX-22/FE Distress Beacon] drop. It could take a while. If you're doing other quests in the area, feel free to move along, as anything in Feralas can drop it.
Turn in [Doling Justice] and get the followup of the same name which sends you to Darnassus.
At this point you're going to use the Distress Beacon and start the quest to find the chicken. The chicken is in the west (52,57) deep inside the yeti cave. Turn it in and pick up the Rescue followup. You will have to fight 3 ambushes of 3-4 mobs on your trek. As a 60 rogue with no aoe, this was particularly annoying.
Once the chicken reaches the western coast and gives you a quest complete message, swim to the island and fly to Darnassus (take a coffee break for the 9 minute flight).
Turn in [Doling Justice] to Tyrande upstairs in the Temple of the Moon.
Check the Auction House for 2 Elixir of Fortitude if you haven't gotten them yet.
Fly back to Feralas (second coffee break), get [An Orphan Looking for a Home] from Kindal Moonweaver.
Fly to Gadgetzan. Do not go see Quentin yet.
Kill mobs in this zone until you get a [OOX-17/TN Distress Beacon].
Once you get one, use it to start the quest to find the chicken at 60,64. Turn in the quest and pick up the Rescue followup. The chicken will lead you north to Steamwheedle Port, aggroing mobs along the way. There are only two ambushes along this route.
If you don't have your 2 Elixir of Fortitude, get them now before doing anything else. Also make sure you have your quick route to Hinterlands from Gadgetzan, as you'll have only an hour to make the trip.
Ride north of Gadgetzan, out of Tanaris and into Shimmering Flats (Thousand Needles). Keep going north to the Raceway (80,77).If you don't have an Ancona Chicken (not to be confused with Westfall Chicken), pick one up for 1g from Magus Tirth at the southern edge of the bleachers (west side of the Raceway).
You'll find Quentin along the bleachers just north of Magus Tirth.
Turn in [An Orphan], pick up [A Short Incubation], turn in the Elixirs and pick up the TIMED quest [The Newest Member of the Family].
You have one hour to reach Aerie Peak in The Hinterlands. I recommend flying from Gadgetzan to Theramore, taking a boat to Menethil Harbor, and flying to Aerie Peak. Takes less than 20 minutes.
In Aerie Peak, go down the mountainside to the Inn. Head to the back of the Inn and go downstairs. The guy is in the middle of the downstairs area.
Turn in [Newest Member] and pick up [Food for Baby]. Silvermane Stalkers are in the eastern half of the map and are stealthers, so ride on over and start killing.
Keep killing things until you get a [OOX-09/HL Distress Beacon]. Go ahead and ride northeast to 49,38, use the beacon to start the quest, turn it in, and pick up the Rescue followup.
The chicken will take off and you'll have two ambushes. Follow it to the southeast until it gives you a quest complete message.
Return to Agmar and turn in [Food for Baby]. Get the followup [Becoming a Parent] and turn it in for your pet.
Fly to Booty Bay (final coffee break for 10 minute flight) and find Oglethorpe Obnoticus to turn in your OOX quests and receive your robot chicken pet.
Horde
Before You Start:
- If you think you've done one or more OOX quest but can't remember which, petition a GM to find out.
Feel free to stay in Feralas and kill Sprite Darters for the pet drop (3.1 change).
Tanaris -- Kill mobs in this zone until you get a [OOX-17/TN Distress Beacon]. Use it to start the quest to find the chicken at 60,64. Turn in the quest and pick up the Rescue followup. The chicken will lead you north to Steamwheedle Port, aggroing mobs along the way. There are only two ambushes along this route.
If you don't have an Ancona Chicken (not to be confused with Westfall Chicken), pick one up for 1g from Magus Tirth at the southern edge of the bleachers (west side of the Raceway).
Hinterlands -- Kill things until you get a [OOX-09/HL Distress Beacon]. Go ahead and ride northeast to 49,38, use the beacon to start the quest, turn it in, and pick up the Rescue followup.
The chicken will take off and you'll have two ambushes. Follow it to the southeast until it gives you a quest complete message.
Booty Bay -- Find Oglethorpe Obnoticus to turn in your OOX quests and receive your mechanical chicken pet. (The reward for this pet opens up once you turn in all three, so if you think you've done one or more, turn in the ones you can still do, one at a time, and see if it opens up. You can also petition a GM to help you figure out which of the quests you've already completed.)
Friday, February 6, 2009
Engineering Pets, or "You Like Your Current Professions? Too Bad"
WoW Insider had a post on this post, and I'm doing a post on both posts. How messed up is that?
Anyway, Jayleenae, the creator of the second and more important post, is a genius. She found that you can level engineering enough (200 skill) to get one of the 2 BoP pets, make it (205 skill), learn it, and then unlearn Engineering.
And keep your pet.
The catch is that the BoP pets are a rare mailed gift item when you renew your gnomish or goblin engineering, and you cannot switch between the two types of engineering to gain both (the first one you choose is the only schematic you're allowed to farm through the renewal system). I wonder if it's possible to drop engineering altogether after you have one and level it again to get the other? Would that reset it?
I believe the answer is no. Wowwiki says you used to have to change to Gnomish or Goblin Engineering by dropping the profession altogether, and you still couldn't get the other pet. I doubt they changed it to allow it now, so I think folks in the comments are correct and it's just not possible on the same character.*
I'm going to try on Birdfall at some point, because I'm crazy and because I like doing that sort of thing for you guys and because I have nothing better to do with her when there's not a holiday happening and because it actually looks cheaper and easier than some of the "free" farmable pets.
* This information edited in.
[March 27, 09] GAME CHANGE FOR THESE PETS
Anyway, Jayleenae, the creator of the second and more important post, is a genius. She found that you can level engineering enough (200 skill) to get one of the 2 BoP pets, make it (205 skill), learn it, and then unlearn Engineering.
And keep your pet.
The catch is that the BoP pets are a rare mailed gift item when you renew your gnomish or goblin engineering, and you cannot switch between the two types of engineering to gain both (the first one you choose is the only schematic you're allowed to farm through the renewal system). I wonder if it's possible to drop engineering altogether after you have one and level it again to get the other? Would that reset it?
I believe the answer is no. Wowwiki says you used to have to change to Gnomish or Goblin Engineering by dropping the profession altogether, and you still couldn't get the other pet. I doubt they changed it to allow it now, so I think folks in the comments are correct and it's just not possible on the same character.*
- Gnomish: Lil' Smoky (Engineering 205 to Craft) -- 2 Mithril Bar, 1 Truesilver Bar, 1 Core of Earth, 1 Fused Wiring, 2 Gyrochronatom.
- Goblin: Bombling (Engineering 205 to Craft) -- 6 Mithril Bar, 1 Heart of Fire, 1 Fused Wiring, 1 Big Iron Bomb.
There is a chance for a BoP recipe to drop in a mailed [_____ Engineer's Renewal Gift] upon renewal of your [_____ Engineer Membership Card]. It can take more than 100 renewals before the recipe drops. Note that you may renew the card several times in a row by destroying new cards as they're purchased, thereby increasing your chances to obtain the recipe. Should you decide to drop engineering, this pet may still be summoned.Membership renewal costs 2g a pop, so you'll spend over 200g (not including materials) for one of these. Still, if you have gold to burn, no current projects, an easy-to-relevel gathering profession, and a nutty passion for pets, I highly recommend trying it. :)
I'm going to try on Birdfall at some point, because I'm crazy and because I like doing that sort of thing for you guys and because I have nothing better to do with her when there's not a holiday happening and because it actually looks cheaper and easier than some of the "free" farmable pets.
* This information edited in.
[March 27, 09] GAME CHANGE FOR THESE PETS
Engineers can now obtain the schematics for Lil' Smoky and the Pet Bombling from certain creatures found in Gnomeregan. Specialized Gnomish or Goblin engineers can obtain both schematics equally. The repeatable quest that used to randomly grant these schematics has been disabled. (source)Don't know if you need to have engineering to get the drops or if they're changing the BOP nature of the pets. I suspect the pets will be the same but the method of getting them is now different.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Stinker Love, or "Making Black Cats Everywhere Paranoid"
I read about the added change to the Stinker pet on WarcraftPets.com, decided to give it a try, and taped it for you. :) Wootskies!
Now I wonder what they'll do for the little faun.
(Stinker's action only works with Bombay cat and Black Tabby cat, but as long as the owners remain near each other, the pets will repeat the action indefinitely.)
Now I wonder what they'll do for the little faun.
(Stinker's action only works with Bombay cat and Black Tabby cat, but as long as the owners remain near each other, the pets will repeat the action indefinitely.)
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