Magerly Different

Gold From an Unlikely Profession

2010-06-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

Leveling First Aid on my first couple of toons was priority to me but on the last toon, I never bothered. Perhaps because I'm a healer, because I'm lazy or perhaps it didn't seem important to me anymore. I wonder how many of you have or have not leveled your First Aid and how often do you use it?

Anyways...I'm not certain if the price of the old world clothes were always crazy but they seem to be at quite a high price since I've been looking the last couple of weeks. Mageweave cloth on my server is selling for 30-40g per stack and Runecloth at 50-60g per stack.

I know with the mention of a new bandage coming out with Cataclysm (Dense Embersilk Bandage that will heal 34,800 over 8 seconds) that perhaps this has put the push on folks to level their bandages (which I should do). Hence cloth has taken a good hike in price? Good for me, bad for the the First Aid levelers.

Perhaps my assumption about First Aid is a stretch and we simply have more people, tired of raiding, creating new toons with new professions to level like tailoring and this could be attributing to my price gouging on cloth. I'm not sure of the answer but I do know it is currently a money maker.

A good spot for farming Mageweave cloth is at Jintha Alor in the Hinterlands or a quick run through ZF in Tanaris will give you a few stacks.

Runecloth I've just start farming but Blackrock Depths has been noted as a good spot to farm Runecloth.

My gold quest of reaching 70k by the time Cataclysm comes has been shockingly almost reached with a current stash of 66,400g. So the goal has to change, pushing me to 100k by expansion time.

Now get out there and farm!

Loving Defense in AV

2010-06-22T03:46:00.001-07:00

It was the bonus honor for Alterac Valley this past weekend and honor was pouring in at 5-6k. I am always on offense in AV and generally kill Galv then head right for the final base to help hold the GY and keep the badies out of Drek's room. On one AV run, I found myself in trouble as the horde had placed a ton of their people in with Galv and I died, returning me to our base. I decided for a change to go defense and found myself in Van's room with a DK and Priest.

OMG it was awesome!!! The DK was pullin' the horde in and Van with his associates was tearing them apart. The priest would be ready to fear as many as possible into the room as they peaked their heads around the corner. Dead horde everywhere....life was good.

I healed them up and popped into a corner when necessary to avoid damage and finally the scores popped up and we knew we were a big part of bringing the Alliance to victory.

This was definitely a new aspect of AV for me and I hope to do it more often.

Guild Rep & Rewards

2010-06-17T07:27:00.001-07:00

Although I don't have a full grasp of the upcoming guild rep stuff, I absolutely LOVE the idea that guilds will get rewards (perk system) for their team work with reputation in Cataclysm.

I can absolutely see this portion of the game becoming a very hip thing and that guilds will be created just for getting the rep built up and reaping the benefits of mounts or tabbards or whatever other goodies that Blizz has in store. Perhaps guilds would promote a Rep Leader to coordinate days and events to build reputation for the guild. Almost like a whole new job:)

There are so many possibilities for this aspect and if done well, it could perhaps open doors for those that are more serious pver's within a guild to group with those that are not so serious to complete quests or whatever task it may be as a group. I would love to see some really fun goofy cheeves put in for guild rep. Perhaps drinking until its all a blur then winning an Arathi Basin match hehehe. I know I know, I'm a goof.

I do hope it isn't all too serious and that there are lots of fun elements combined in this to really pull guilds together. I'm excited about the prospects for surSave Nowe.

Big WoW Family

2010-06-16T02:48:00.000-07:00

I just read a post at WoW dot com about a family playing wow. Husband, wife, mother, father, siblings and other relatives. They do their own 10mans and the dad does the gear check. It's insane and awesome.

Check them out and their favorite (and now mine) WoW family saying of "I can't heal stupid"

(scroll down a little on the the link page provided for the article)

LOL

Sticking with the Plan

2010-06-15T02:56:00.000-07:00

On June 8th I mentioned I wanted to get from just under 45k to 70k by the time Cataclysm comes. This past week I've been working hard to get a start on my goal. Presently, I'm at 51,81r7 so making just over 5,100g this past week. Probably not a lot of gold to those big AH players but it certainly was a lot to me.

Old world mats is what I focused on and with more and more people leveling alts while waiting for Cataclysm, these mats seem to be in demand for leveling professions. My main sellers were:

Adamantite ore: 55-58g per stack

Fel Iron ore: 24-30g per stack

Primal air: 30-33g per stack

Cut gems 80-130g each

Netherbloom: 30-33g per stack

Terocone: 30-35g per stack

Adamantite and gems have been my biggest items. Since I have nothing else to get with honor and I do premades quite often. I can get about 40k honor any night I do premades (couple of hours) which is 4 epic gems. Even if you aren't a farmer, if you enjoy pvp doing premades for gems is easy and fun work. As an alchemist I can make one epic gem per day.

So it's been a good first week, hopefully the market will continue to go my way:)

What Were They Thinking?

2010-06-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I thought I would make a little gold doing random heroics. It seemed like a good idea at the time. First heroic that popped was Halls of Reflection and within seconds the tank disappeared into the nether. So we wait and wait until finally a bear tank appears with great health but no defense gear on. He couldn't hold aggro and we wiped, twice. I was done.

I waited my time and signed up for another. Halls of Stone popped which is an easy but annoying instance. To my surprise I'm struggling keeping the tank up in the first couple of pulls. Do I have just a Lovely Dress on? Am I naked? NO, the tank is in lvl 78 PVP blues and so I nicely comment "don't forget to put on your tanking gear dear"..no response. He continues to move forward and we wipe as he pulls a boss with some mobs. "So if you don't have tanking gear, you really should drop out of the group", I stated once back in the instance. As the words left my mouth he aggro'd a bunch of stuff and we die again..finally he leaves group before we kick his ass.

All in all it was a terrible random morning.

Permade randoms with guildies are definitely the best option and that is what I'm gonna stick with when possible.

Podcast - Drawing us Back

2010-06-10T06:58:00.000-07:00

Podcasts are a great way to stay on top of what is going on or coming up in Warcraft. They bring us tons of information that can make our game much more enjoyable.

When it comes to Warcraft Podcasts there are certain things that keep me going back. For me, a podcast has to be entertaining, informative and light. I don't like a podcast that has a lot of dead air or feels very forced and formal. Listening to others discuss topics among themselves about the game and giving highlights is what I enjoy. Personal Warcraft stories within the game are another great touch that will often make me giggle (I like to giggle). Podcasts that let their listeners get involved with emails, calls etc makes the podcast seem much larger and provides a greater educational element without getting too involved.

Podcasts that are heavy with class mechanics or discussing one small topic for an extended period, loses my interest. This is just personal preference. I know some of you are very much into podcasts heavy with details of your classes and skills etc. It's just not something that floats my boat. A show that runs no more than 1 - 1 1/2 hours is ideal. A long podcast can often be just a lack of editing and will tend to have periods of rambling.

Presently, my favorite podcasts are:

The Instance: Funny and informative, this podcast provides great updates within the game and you know they have done their research. No long dead spaces here and the communication between the cast members runs very smoothly and has a great welcoming atmosphere.

Wow Insider: An oldie but a goodie, this podcast is the ultimate for Warcraft news. A funny cast that has made my farming days much brighter:)

Warcast Podcast: Another easy listening podcast that isn't too long winded but gives great insight into the game.

Still LOL at the picture of the boys from "The Instance"

Don't Be Glum Chum

2010-06-08T10:49:00.001-07:00

Seems like everyone is in a very low mood in the game these days. Restless, bitchy, complaining and just downright miserable. I know the expansion won't be for quite some time but perk up people there is still much to do and here is just a few suggestions:

Guild BGs:

This is fun way to pass the time and get some honor for pieces. Great way to get your guild working together.

Achievements:

You can go through the achievement list (Lord knows there are tons) and see what ones tickle your fancy. Do them or alone or with friends. Create a list and slowly work your way through it.

Farm for Something Special:

Farm for that special mount, pet or gear. Again, a great activity alone or with a group.

Help Your Lowbies:

Help get those lowbies leveled up in your guild. Do runs and show them how OP you are.

Guild Events:

Hold special guild events as I've done in the past.

Get Gold Happy:

Find whats hot and make some gold before Cat comes. I'm sure there will be awesome loot and perhaps some special pets to purchase.

WoW Trivia:

This is another activity we would often do. Do it in game and make it just Warcraft trivia or general trivia. Perhaps get rid of some items that are sitting in your g-bank as prizes

Kill HORDE:

Nothing lifts the spirits like a dead horde. Get your guildies grouped up and head to a horde town and bring the pain. (unfortunately this one does not apply in reverse:P )

What you should be saying is "there is so little time and so much to do" before Cataclysm.

My goal is to farm/save 70k before Cataclysm. Presently I'm at 45k so I've still got a lot of work to do but if you continue to buy my old world mats, primal air for 30g per item and my terocone for 60g/stack, I'm well on my way hehe.

Gold DKP Sytem - A Whole New World

2010-06-06T10:23:00.000-07:00

Just attended my first Gold DKP ICC run yesterday on my resto druid. What can I say? I LOVED IT!! I was kinda tired of raiding and then hubby had gone on one of these GDKP system runs and got a couple of awesome pieces so I thought I would check it out.

Our raid leader was very clear about the rules of minimum dps requirements, that all loot is auctioned off and the balance of the gold obtained upon slaying of the last boss is split among the players. If the raid leader is not clear about the rules of loot, afking, dps requirements etc, don't go.

This gives an opportunity for various types of players; those players who perhaps are in need of a couple of gear pieces and those that are well geared and just come for their split of the gold at the end but bring their super dps/heals to the raid.

The system is run by an addon from the Raid Leader or Lootmaster. When an item is being auctioned off, you simply type in your bid ie. 1000 and hit enter in raid chat (must be in raid chat). Your bid shows and any further bids will display. There is a count down of about 5 seconds if no further bids are made. The winner then exchanges their gold with the loot master and he passes them their item.

Of course my biggest concern was trusting this person who held our gold so I do suggest you get a group that others have recommended or that do run with this system regularly. You will have to commit the time required to get your gold in the end so know you will be available for however many hours they wish to run.

I bid on 3 items. My first one was a 264 neckpiece Bone Sentinal's Amulet which I outbid myself on hehehe. In all the excitement and fast pace I went from 2400g to 2800g ...beating myself (watch for that hehe) I didn't care, I was thrilled to win it. The next was one of the tokens to get a tier 10 piece. I found it hard to place a value on it and went to 4k but didn't win it. My other win was a 264 head piece Helm of the Elder Moon which I amazingly got for only 500g. I was shocked:) There were a few druids there but perhaps more interested in any dps drops. So I spent 3300g to get 2 lvl 264 pieces. Then once the pot was split up at the end, I received just over 1,400g back. So my two pieces only cost me about 1900g. I'm still in shock and can't wait for next week:) We did pay 1000g for one guy to come who had the King Slayer title to open up a heroic mode for us with the Gun Ship fight. This fee was deducted from our pot, which was no biggie as seeing some 277lvl gear was a first for me.

I highly recommend you try this system out and please take a look at this detailed explanation of the GDKP system at Elitist Jerks with some great tips for when you do your GDKP run:)

My biggest tip again is ensuring the rules are very clear before you start and ask questions ahead of time so there are no misunderstandings or disappointments.

The Slutty but Deadly Succubus

2010-06-03T05:33:00.001-07:00

Succubus: In folklore that stems from medieval legend, a succubus is a demon who takes the form of a woman to seduce men in dreams to have sexual intercourse.

Sooooo, this is what my husband is up to while I'm in arena dying at the hands of a lock. No wonder it always seems to be happening behind a post or on the other side of the arena when I'm not there. He has been overly complaining about the succubus in arena. So when I hear "OH MY GOD" it isn't a "I'm in trouble, help me" cry, it's a cry of "DO IT AGAIN, DO IT AGAIN". So to all you locks out there, I'm coming for you and I'm gonna wrath that bitch down. You keep that slut's hands off my hunter man /GLARE

The Price is High, But I'd Pay it

2010-06-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

Now we all know I won't be attending Blizzcon as it's in that foreign country of the United States. However, if I were attending, I would like to think Blizzard would be offering me some sort of discount for my continued game play for over the past 3 years and with 3 accounts.

I would think a 5% discount from the $150 ticket for every year you had a full Warcraft subscription (with a maximum of 4 years or 20%) would be fair. For the other useless games like Diablo or Starcraft:P, you get your discount with proof of purchase. This would be a nice and thoughtful "thank you for your continued game play" attitude.

One of the podcasts I listened to this week (sorry I don't remember which one) mentioned that Blizzard has to make money to pay for these events and pay for entertainers like Ozzy Osbourne. Now I think a couple of posts back I said Blizzard is receiving about $170,000,000 per month in subscriptions if the figure of 11.2 million subscribers per month is accurate. Please don't tell me that Blizzard needs to make money from this event. These events are just to fuel the fire of the players. Don't get me wrong I would LOVE to be there. More so for the community of gamers that it brings together, it seems very exciting. Would I pay $150, damn straight, hence why there is no discounts. With not enough tickets for these events as they are sold out immediately. I know I know, supply and demand.

The only thing I ask, lets not pretend that Blizzard needs the $150 per ticket but that people are willing to pay that amount.

Hellfire - Bringin' Home the Bacon

2010-06-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

This week I had noticed that fel iron ore was at a pretty good price of 32g per stack which is much more than saronite. I emptied my 71 warrior bags and took a flight to Hellfire. Thankfully my warrior is a gatherer with herblism and mining.

Because Hellfire was an initial new zone of Burning Crusade it still held some of the old world herbs like dreamfoil and golden sansam and the newer ones of Burning Crusade with Felweed, dreaming glory and some fel lotus to boot. Last night I sold two stacks of dreamfoil for 50g per stack and 40g for a stack of golden sansam. Felweed a moderate 20g per stack and my fel iron ores at about 26-30g per stack. I even prospected a few of the ore on my mage to sell the smaller gems for quite a bit.

It was a very prosperious weekend for sure with an easy farm. I highly recommend this zone for mining or herbalism as all the mats here will get you a pretty good price on the AH. Get yourself ready for Cat:)

BlizzCan 2010

2010-05-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't that be a wonderful event, Blizzard bringing the party to Canada. Maple syrup for all, everyone gets a hockey stick at the door and the epic dog sled could be the ultimate new mount.

Seriously though, I would love to see a Canadian event of some sort, even on a smaller scale. Us poor Canadians are always forgotten. No country on earth more resembles Northrend. Despite what many think, we don't live in 6 months of darkness (most of us don't), igloos are only for when the in-laws visit and I'm just trying to help the environment using the dog sled.

Speaking of dog sleds, in my picture above are fellow WoW players and friends Rorik and Kittiara heading to the first anticipated Blizzcan 2010. (they won their mount with a loot card:P) Seeeee...wouldn't you want that bad ass mount?

So Blizzard...come to Canada, I'll get the kettle on.

Posters & Mags Oh My!!

2010-05-27T03:43:00.001-07:00

Knowing how gnomeaggedon loves to see images his rugged little gnome, I had hubby create a little poster for him. This brought to mind a magazine cover he created for my bestest dwarf friend Breana (one of the original hosts of the Twisted Nether Blogcast and kick ass hunter). With Pulp Fiction in mind he did a photo shoot to catch the sexy dwarf Bre in a great pose, which was easy.

I love this picture of Bre...I gotta get it on a mug.

My Pepper Potts Justamom mage look on Gnome's poster is just so elegant, don't ya think? hehe

11.5 Million Subscribers - Still Shocks Me

2010-05-26T02:41:00.000-07:00

According to WoW-Insider the figure of 11.5 million subscribers has been holding steady since late 2008. This still shocks me. I think that is a freakin' impressive number of people playing the same game. With the technology and graphics always drastically improving, there are so many options for folks to choose from. If I was just getting into gaming and faced with all the possible options available out there, would I play World of Warcraft? I'm not sure. I do know once you begin playing that it is easy to fall in love with your character, the game and want to always move forward.

With Wii and Xbox making some amazing graphically intense fun games, the cost would be far less for that type of investment over Warcraft with the ongoing fee. I wonder if game play time is down? Do people now divide their time between their Xbox or Playstation and Warcraft. Perhaps we have the same number of subscribers but not the same amount of game play.

Sometimes I think it's is a conspiracy. This number of 11.5 million is being repeated to give us that "we are part of something huge" feeling. If Blizzard lost even just 2million subscribers it would be a loss of $30,000,000 per month. Bringing their monthly total to $142,500,000 per month. OMG they would starve. We'd have to send a fruit basket for sure.

With Cataclysm only having a 5 level increase, I'll be waiting for my 1/2 price expansion pack:P

The Courteous RankWatch

2010-05-23T00:35:00.000-07:00

While in a BG one day I got a strange message about my spell rank not being at it's top level for Wrath. I was shocked and wondering what the hell is this and realized from looking at my spellbook that I was using two ranks lower than I should be.

I recently installed the RankWatch addon from Curse.com as I truly thought it was a helpful tool. It can happen that spells don't rank up on your toolbar for whatever reason and get missed. So, this sends a message to the party in question, courteously telling them they are using say "rank 5" but can be using "rank 8" for their level. Clever addon I thought.

Well, to my surprise most people seem to hate it hehehe. Which I found kinda funny. I don't think there is occasion anymore to use down-ranked spells, so I thought I was being the helpful samaritan by letting others know when they have the incorrect spell rank on their bar. Instead of those comments like "oh, thanks I didn't realize" I got "WTF, Shutup, I'm gonna report you" comments. I giggled a little and thought "are they serious". Perhaps it is an embarrassment or lack of knowledge about their class so unfortunately I would make it worse by messaging back "Dear, don't be embarrassed if you have the wrong spell rank, happens to us all". Which seemed to infuriate them more.

Rankwatch sends a message to the party in question of a low rank spell and also tells me it sent it. You can then put that person on ignore by Rankwatch if you don't want it to send the message again later.

I currently have my little polite RankWatch turned off, but I think I may try it again. Perhaps I'm evil now that I know it annoys people or perhaps I hope to find that occasional person that appreciates catching the error of their ways.

Either way, I'll be Rankwatching YOU!

Patience for Gold Makers

2010-05-21T03:08:00.000-07:00

Always at the beginning of a new expansion making gold can be extremely easy. You can make a lot of gold and make it quickly. As we come closer to the end of Lich King and most folks are geared, the prices have been dropping for mats.

Now making gold is a game of patience. I find myself waiting for days that are significantly more raiding days to sell flasks and mana pots. On a good raid night my 5 mana pots will sell for 50g, other nights only around 20g. Gems have dropped in price and I would probably do better with them on Tuesdays when players cash in their arena points for gear but because I have soooo many gems (as most people do). I tend to put them up and just patiently go through which cut has a better profit for me. Cash in your extra honor points for gems, or your heroism emblems. Don't forget you can downgrade your triumph emblems into heroism emblems to buy gems. You can turn them in at the Silver Enclave from the 3 emblem vendors but much easier to do it from one NPC in the sewers called Usuri Brightcoin who holds all the emblems and can turn them for you easily into heroism.

Really look at your professions and check even your lower level items you have or can farm (like herbs) to make some more serious profit. Lower end ores are also bringing in a good profit or the gems that come from those ores that are needed for leveling JCs. (not the Big JC but Jewel Crafters, although I'm sure the Big JC can make some fine gems:P )

I still make gold on a few fish feasts as I have my Twisted Nether Podcast running while I fish or I'll even watch online TV shows or You Tube. Use your Windows mode in the game. If you haven't used the feature in WoW just go under video and select "windowed mode". It's a great option while you are farming to multi task. Surf porn, pay bills online (pay my bills online?), surf porn, watch TV, porn. You get the idea.

Step it up and make some gold even in these hard WoW times:)

Cataclysm - 5-mans

2010-05-18T03:05:00.000-07:00

Very exciting with Cataclysm to have new 5 man dungeons. I love running with just a few friends, especially when none of us have seen the content before. It will be awesome.

Apparently there will be 8 new 5-man dungeons including new versions of Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep. I think it is a brilliant idea. It always seems shameful when these wonderful little instances disappear as new expansions arrive. Perhaps I'm a nostalgic sap when it comes to the older zones (or perhaps because I'm tree hehe..sorry couldn't resist) but I love going into the old zones.

5man dungeons are where it all started and I would love to see more of the players that are leveling toons get the opportunity to play them at their level. Most of us just get ran through by a high level guildie. Hmm perhaps that could be a project for your guild. Level up very slowly together and run those old 5mans. I'm sure the prisoners at the stockades are waiting for you. Ewww creepy hehehe.

PVP Tutoring Site

2010-05-17T00:05:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, hubby came across a website Arenapwnage.com. As a druid/hunter team we are always looking for tips to improve our arena game. At this site they have instructional videos, class tips and forums to answer questions or discuss arena issues with high end arena players.

Since we just got the account this week (there is a fee) we can't really give our opinion as yet. Once we have really gotten into the site and all it has to offer we'll be able to provide you with our thumbs up OR down on this arena website tool.

Stay tuned.

Trivia For the WoW Geeks

2010-05-14T00:21:00.000-07:00

Firstly, make sure the office door is closed or your screen is turned off. Don't want the boss to catch you doing trivia at work. I take full responsibility if you get caught but no you can't come live with me if you lose your job. Well, maybe if you bring chocolate.

Anyways...here are a few WOW related trivia questions to sharpen your mind or fill it with more useless information:) Fill in the blank

1. Prince Arthas _________

2. _____________ __________ was once a glorious temple dedicated to the night elves' moon-goddess, Eluna. However, the great Sundering shattered the temple - sinking it beneath the waves of the Veiled Sea.

3. _________ & ___________ host the popular Warcraft podcast Twisted Nether.

4. To obtain the Tabard of Brute Force you must win ____ (number) rated arena matches at level 80.

5. In general, _______ are scaled humanoids with the lower bodies of large serpents.

6. A rare mount drops in Kara from _________?

7. _______________ & ________________ are the two flight paths in Grizzly Hills for horde?

8. ______________, the questgiver, is found patrolling the southeastern part of the fringe of the Bone Wastes. This questgiver provides a quest with the miniwing pet reward.

Strats for Strand

2010-05-11T00:24:00.000-07:00

Upon visiting Cynwise's Battlefield Manual, I thought I would throw my thoughts in on BGs from time to time since I've been doing quite a few of them of late.

It took me a while to get my bearings in Strand when it first came out. As a woman with no sense of direction I found it strange to travel uphill towards yellow and not feel I was traveling North. Now I have my bearings hehe.

Here are a few tips I have learned from our BG leader in premades that will definitely help you. Hopefully I haven't missed too many:)

OFFENSIVELY:

1. Decide on a door to attack

2. Melee drivers
Put your melee as drivers and any CC classes and healers as passengers. Those CCs will let the enemy fall behind the tank and take less hits and heals will help those players on the ground. As a druid I love to ride shotgun, healing, cyloning, rooting...its great

3. Capture the opposite graveyard
This was an unusual move in my opinion but seemed to work. Have a member capture the opposite GY of the door you take down as soon as possible. You take the east door, have someone grab the west GY. This way when you die you rez on the other side where the fresh tanks are and they are totally unexpecting it and you have little or no opposition. Later you can then capture the other.

4. Bombs, Bombs, Bombs
Too many folks don't put emphasis on the bombs but they can truly change the game. Everyone should have a bomb, no excuse...tank dies, get to a door and place it.

5. Keep going back for tanks
Many players get caught up in the fights and leave tanks just sitting there. Keep going back and try to have multiple tanks going at once. Again CC is so important here. Have a partner in your tank to do some CC or heals of the ground players.

DEFENSIVELY:

1. Split your group with healers and dps for each dock

2. Put NO players on the guns.

All players should be on the beach at the designated dock

3. Focus only on the tanks

This is a huge mistake most people make in focusing on killing players. Tanks are the full focus of Strand. Its unlikely they will take the initial door down with bombs as most folks don't think of it and they are generally too busy in combat with all our team on the beach. Begin killing the tanks but if no one gets on them, leave them at about 10% to avoid re-spawns. If the enemy does get them moving, take them down fast and as fresh tanks appear get them to the 10% mark for an easy take down if they begin moving to the gate.

3. If they do get through keep them off the GY flags

By letting them cap the flag you are getting them closer to the end goal. Again you will be watching the beach to quickly destroy any tanks that come up. We generally have not had the enemy get through the first door and if so they are usually kept stagnant at that point.

4. Communication, communication, communication

Follow your raid leader's direction and communicate where you may see a breakthrough or bombers

Last week we had some great Strand BGs. Generally I hate doing Strand but with a premade it's a lot of fun and feels easy.

Hope these little tidbits I've learned help you.

Many thanks to TheChosen on Bleeding Hollow for his great leadership.

Don't Be That Guy

2010-05-09T03:38:00.000-07:00

There is always someone who brings pain to raids, guilds, economy and other aspects of the game. Just so we are clear, I did a list of those guys that make most many of us crazy. Feel free steal my post for your blog and add to it. Actually, I challenge you to add to it hehe. I'm certain there are many guys I've missed:)

1. Don't be that guy who levels a toon with the help of a guild and then /gquits

2. Don't be that guy who comes to raids without any pots, flasks or food

3. Don't be that guy who goes into random heroics under geared and wants to be carried though

4. Don't be that guy that complaints about his guilds lack of raiding without ever trying to organize one

5. Don't be that guy who is constantly asking guildies for gold

6. Don't be that guy who wants to high end raid but doesn't want to learn his class well

7. Don't be that guy who leads a raid and ninjas the loot for himself or his friends

8. Don't be that guy who spams the meter to show his own ego (most folks have their own meter)

9. Don't be that guy who is always criticizing others about their gear or skills

10. Don't be that guy or leaves a group or raid when they get their cheeve done

11. Don't be that guy who buys gold online (since they probably hacked it from my husband's account)

Finally....

12. Don't be that guy whose a tool and brings drama and unpleasant to the game. Be courteous, play smart, play fair and enjoy.

What guys have I missed?

Shopping at Blizzard

2010-05-08T00:03:00.000-07:00

I recently bought the Panderan Monk pet from Blizzard and I've seen tons of folks riding on the new celestial steed mount available for purchase from the Blizzard site. Do you think Blizzard is going to do a big expansion on this area. Right now it is a mount and pets. I can imagine them creating cool trinkets something like the Orb of Deception for purchase or perhaps some fancy gifts for holidays ie. Christmas or Valentines. I doubt it will ever be a game enhancing item but just cool stuff that can be purchased with money from the site instead of in-game gold.

Personally I do like the idea of being able to purchase an item outside the game but I'm sure there are folks that hate it. I know I know Blizzard needs the money *rolling eyes* but for me (a woman who loves to shop) it is a great idea.

I'm just curious as to how far it will go. Buying outfits for your pets, saddles for your steed or perhaps buy your own phased out area to take your loved one on a picnic. I know I'm getting scarey now hehehe.

Should the whole idea of buying stuff on the Blizz site that you can use in game be done away with?

Happy B-Day Gnomeaggedon

2010-05-06T03:39:00.001-07:00

I was thinking what could I do for this special gnome on his birthday (Gnomeaggedon) so I thought I would re-live his horrible stocks experience. Because, thats the kinda mage I am...we are all in or not at all.

A moment of fear did come over me as I entered the Stockades but I blinked, gathered mobs from the first wing and moved the large brutalizing gang to the stairs. There I suffered horrific blows to the head and torso. Blood spilled into my eyes and tears began to well but this was for Gnomer and I must endure.

The pain lasted for what felt like hours (more like 3 minutes) and when I finally fell to the ground the last words before going into unconsciousness were "Tell Gnomer Happy Birthday". In the distance I heard prisoners walking away "who the hell is Gnomer".

My mage is currently recuperating at the Stocks medical care area but is expected to make a full recovery. All gifts of flowers or chocolate can be brought there.

Happy B-Day Gnomeaggedon *cough* *cough* *gasp*

Flower Picking Whore

2010-05-06T00:30:00.000-07:00

How many characters have you leveled up and then when you are bored you simply toss them aside, leaving them alone in the dark twisting nether. They know no love, but await that moment when something is awoken in their player's head to activate them again and bring them back to life.

From an earlier post you noticed I leveled my alchemy and used my first character ever; a 71 female warrior, to farm the herbs I needed. Now I'm enjoying making flasks and pots and continue to put that warrior to work.

I've been farming in Storm Peaks the last couple of hours on my warrior and although she is only 71 I have very few difficulties in this zone. There are 2 or 3 nodes I avoid picking but aside from that she can fill her bags quickly. Most of the herbs there are not near mobs and so its quite easy. Every now and again I come across a horde that will gank me for a flower but thats to be expected and it really is a rarity. Storm Peaks is a much safer zone than Zul'Drak or the Sholazar as there are just too many mobs in those zones.

I love my easy breezy beautiful flower picking warrior whore:)

Afraid Of My Own Shadow

2010-05-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

Well this brand new kick ass computer I got about 2 weeks ago has had some serious issues of auto shutting down and restarting and upon returning it to the store twice they finally replaced the two sticks of ram which seems to have fixed the problem.

Aside from that, I'm am just thrilled with the speed and the graphics. Warcraft has never been so crisp and lag free. Immediate arrivals when hearthing or going through portals to major cities. Traveling around Dalaran and doing so freely without stumbling over my own feet. It has been absolutely wonderful.

I want to enjoy the full graphic experience of WoW and therefore have all my settings turned up. The landscapes, the crisp colors all are just so vivid. However, every time I farm and go to land I see a vision of someone flying nearby and gasp for an instance ready to defend myself. Only then do I realize its MY shadow on the ground. Today I picked about 150 herbs and probably 50 of those times I forgot it was my shadow and had that instant feeling "someone is following me". NO I won't turn off the shadowing ability as when I'm not surprised by myself, I quite enjoy seeing my shadow as I could never use that aspect well on my old system.. It's like a really bad blonde moment I have 50 times a day. Perhaps I need a hair color change.

Ornithophobia

2010-05-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

I believe I suffer from a specific form of ornithophobia, which is the fear of birds, specifically boomkins. Although I love druids, sweet mother of god the boomkin form is ugly. Seriously what is it with this druid form. Boomkins should be peaceful approachable creatures that put a smile on your face. Not this bird that nightmares are created from. As you can tell from the picture above, boomkins are not in denial about it, they know just how creepy they look.

I did try the boomkin form for a brief period of time only to be traumatized every time I logged in. In arena I like my partner to kill them first, make it bloody and painful. These creatures have no place in warcraft. Spay or neuter your boomkin today...help control the ugliness population in warcraft.

I know I know..you folks are probably gonna tear me apart...BRING IT!!

The Mentally Challenged Raider

2010-05-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

Perhaps its my age, perhaps its my nature but raiding more than 3 hours puts me in a state of sleepiness, boredom and agitation.

I like to raid but after about 3 hours, especially with many wipes on one boss, my mind begins to wonder and I often ponder "why did I come to this raid". I absolutely enjoy my time with friends Millie and Rorik who make it much more bearable as we PM back and forth, laughing about unrelated tidbits of nothingness. Rorik and my husband have a very similar sense of humor, which does scare me a little.

Upon the third hour it is as though something in my brain begins to shut down. My bed begins to call out to me. Between wipes I find myself laying my head on my desk and closing my eyes for just a few minutes. I begin to fidget in my seat and I'm sure my prominent sighs can be heard by the neighbors. I know there are raiders doing this 5 or 6 hours a night, 3 or 4 nights per week which would make me mental but I admire their determination. Perhaps now that my PVP side has again awakened and it is an instant gratification or kick in the pants, this short term game feels better for my brain.

After tonight I'm going to take a little raiding break. The folks I raid with are great. I know I know, you all will never invite me to a raid again, but know I'm there with you in spirit...wait...no. I don't even wanna be there in spirit, the thought gives me heartburn :)

I shall die in PVP with honor and broken branches but never feeling the agitation I've been experiencing lately with raiding.

The Pouting Lazy Druid

2010-05-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

I've been a slacker on my drood with only 1 profession so this weekend,

since I have the gold, my plan was to buy all the herbs necessary to level

alchemy. Hubby is an elixir master so I will be a potions master. I hope to level

it over a 2 hour period.

Well that plan went to pot as the old world herbs were freakin' insanely priced.

Some at 120g per stack. I was absolutely floored. I knew the prices would be a

little high and didn't mind paying more for the low level herbs but it was over

the top. On Saturday with hubby's help we farmed some of the herbs and

got me to about 250 then on Sunday we got me to 439 so the rest if gravy

and I'll do it with transmutes.

Flask of the North

Binds when picked up

Requires Alchemy (400)

Item Level 80

Use: Increases your spell power by 47,

attack power by 80, or Strength by 40 for 1 hour.

Counts as both a Battle and Guardian elixir.

Effect persists through death.

"Can be used in arenas. This potent flask is not

consumed when used, but is unaffected by Mixology."

A nice little buff for pvp.

I can't count the number of times I hear folks asking about leveling a profession

and each time I tell them to visit wow-professions.com as they give

you guides for all the professions. They indicate what mats you need and how

much of each, recipes and where to get them. It can have you leveling any

profession in no time flat. There really is no reason to not have two professions

unless you are a lazy drood like myself:)

Loserville

2010-05-01T03:25:00.000-07:00

Draw - A contest ending without either side winning.

From this definition of draw, are we all losers then? After a 45 minute arena match myself and hubby played was a draw, I was shocked to discover we still lose 12points as did the other team. I would have thought a draw meant that no one wins and no one loses. Apparently we all lose:( Blizzard's way of saying we all suck I guess. Why not just Zero for both teams after spending a hard fought 45minutes in arena. This game does not count in your 10 games though.

If you are someone who only does 10 games per week, to waste that 45 minutes must be a real pain in the butt. I think no points lost for either is a better way to do it.

I don't mind that the game doesn't count but to also lose 12points is a double whammy for some.

Conducting Premades

2010-04-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

Many times battlegrounds will turn into a warcraft nightmare. I highly suggest trying to get with an organized premade. We have found such a premade with an awesome BG leader.

Not all premades go smoothly. Folks seem to think just because they are grouped together they will win but in many instances you have too many folks giving opinions of strategies which just confuses things and people will do as they please.

You need a strong leader to direct and monitor activities. Someone who has a plan and ensurse everyone sticks to it. Our guy simply says "do exactly as I say and we will win" and we always do. (err maybe 1 loss) He is constantly watching and moving folks where necessary. As if directing an orchestra to the crescendo he moves his groups strategically from point to point until we have a perfect balance and finish with a win.

I initially found it difficult to follow his direction as at times it made no sense to me, but his bigger plan was very clear to him and he knew exactly how to bring us to victory.

Participate in premades you see in trade chat until you find one that seems organized with great leadership OR perhaps YOU are that great leader?

I love to BG so if you are ever on Bleeding Hollow, look me up and I'll be your pocket healer:)

Here are a few links for some BG strategies...

Check out Cynwise's Battlefield Manual for some great BG strategies

(Thanks to hubby for creating the fun image for me)

Decisions Decisions

2010-04-29T02:46:00.000-07:00

I attend 10man ICC most weeks and as any gear pops up that is suitable for me I find it difficult to make the decision whether it is a true upgrade. Giving up some haste for more spell or gaining some critical strike. I never like to take loot from someone who it is truly an upgrade for. I've seen folks during our Naxx days take gear and never put it on when someone else who could really use it rolled for it and lost.

That being said I rolled against someone when I had a level 245 piece and it was an upgrade to 251 and said "no no give it to them its just a slight upgrade for me" Only to find out they had the exact same piece they were upgrading from. What a tangled web I weave.

At this point for most of my raids it is only a slight upgrade for most and I have to lose that mindset that I shouldn't roll on slight upgrades. I don't want to be greedy but I don't want to lose out on the opportunity to improve my toon. I only have 2 healing specs (pve and pvp) so I never roll on moonkin or dps pieces so I really should be more aware when gear comes my way.

Does anyone else spend too much time pondering gear during raids as I do? UGH

Blonde PVP moments

2010-04-28T03:24:00.000-07:00

I've had many "ah ha" moments while pvping and since I didn't know alot of the skills of other classes you'll often see those little light bulb moments from me. There are a few things I've learned from pvping that many of you would say ..."she's such a nub" Let me share some with you.

1. Don't stay in tree form while there is lock around

Banish is a silly thing I often get caught in unnecessarily

2. I can actually take out a shammy totem with my branches

When it isn't a super intense fight I now try to get rid of those silly totems for me and my partners benefit

3. I can change forms when hexed by a shammy

Yes, I know you are all shaking your head but now I know

4. Can't get feared if I keep my distance from locks and priests

Learning when to keep my distance is coming with more experience and the timing of that distance is everything. There is a balance which I must obtain of knowing when my partner is in trouble and hots are running out and when to stay out when he is safe

5. Mortal strikes from warriors have to be taken much more seriously because they reduce my healing by such a crazy amount

I've often underestimated the mortal strike and just how much it affects my heals especially from a well geared warrior that can do intense damage. I'm definately being more aware when they are on me to root them when possible and keep myself topped off.

6. Importance of LOS

I still struggle with line of sight. Again the balance of popping a hot and hiding. I tend to want to be close to my partner to help him but I know I'm not helping if I'm dead or have no mana. Mana burns are my worst nightmare and I am working hard to avoid them. Somtimes I get caught up in healing and CCing an don't even realize until its too late. But, I am trying to be more conscious of them.

7. Last Woman Standing

When my partner has died the fight is not over, especially if its now only 1v1. I have my swarm, moonfire and if careful I can still win it. I've made mistakes in this case but changing out of tree to root which I have to be more cautious about depending on how much damage the enemy is doing but playing it wisely, it can be done.

Yes there are many more but I'll leave you with these to roll your eyes with :)

Bouncing From PVE to PVP

2010-04-28T02:49:00.000-07:00

Funny how my desires in the game change more often of late. Since I'm back I had been totally pushing my PVE and didn't even want to do a BG. In the last couple of weeks though I'm back into BGs and arena. Although Hunter/Druid combos are not the most popular, myself and hubby have been having a good time. Taking a while to get our groove back and I still have much to learn but the excitement is building. We never did that great last season...about 1500, but the thrill of arena is back.

3s is another new thing for me. I hadn't done much 3s before we have a great rogue for 3s and he is totally encouraging and positive. I really couldn't play with a super serious team who yell and get uptight over it. Don't get me wrong we have our moments here at home but its more a self-loathing thing. "OMG I can't believe I did that, or what the hell was I thinking I didn't pop my trinket" Our rogue is a cool cucumber, calm and very communicative. Thats another thing that makes me crazy is people who don't communicate while they play. Sometimes I'll hunt someone down for skirmishes to practice and its like "lets just kill em". UGH! I need a plan.

The most important thing I'm learning in PVP is that timing is everything. CC has to be perfectly timed. Double CCs and rotating CCs can make for an easy win if timed properly.

Any PVP tips for this old druid gal are greatly appreciated:)

Next time I'll share a few of my blonde pvp moments with you.

Bearly Back

2010-03-08T07:43:00.000-08:00

Well its been a while. I did take some time from the game but now I'm back playing my resto druid. Lots of changes had happened while I was gone including random heroics. Generally, I have really enjoyed the randoms and have only had a couple of not so great experiences. I've starting doing 10man ICC and even pugged a couple of 25man ICC which were great but disband quickly if one or two people leave the group, which sucks.

When I came back I knew my gear was in significant need of an upgrade. Luckily I always had some gold on my toons so I quickly bought up 3 or 4 pieces of gear for a start. It has been going well ever since. My only issue is a nice neck piece. Seems hard to come by or I lose in a roll. I'm currently wearing a 226 and anxious for an upgrade.

My mage has been put to work with her JC skills and keeping me and other guildies in gems.

I hope everyone is doing well and watch for more updates.

Thanks so much

Tips for the Scribe - Part 1

2009-08-02T05:28:00.000-07:00

My poor druid has been on a long vacation from her inscription profession but now I've decided to work on it again and gotten some great advice from my hubby who is making his fortune from this profession. Here are a few tips I thought I would share that may help you save time and increase your profit.

Watch for part 2 later in the week.

1) Do not farm herbs

Unless you have a great amount of time in the game, don't bother farming the herbs for inscription. Buy ONLY northrend herbs for 20g per stack or less and buy a few stacks if you can initially afford it. Remember you can trade Ink of the Sea for any other inks you may need to Jessica Sellers in Dalaran. Once you mill your herbs the snowfall inks you obtain should cover the cost of the herbs you just purchased. Perhaps you can find a regular supplier of herbs that will give them at the 20g per stack price.

2) Bag Space

Have at least two Pack of Endless Pockets (scribe bags) which you can easily trade in with your bank bags when needed after you put up your glyphs in the AH.

3) Paper

Have a minimum of 2 stacks of Resilient Parchment and Heavy Parchment and probably a stack of each of the others.

4) Inks

The most important ink will be your Ink of the Sea then Ethereal and next Celestial. Make sure you have a good supply of those. Others you want are a few Shimmering, Lion, Jadefire and Midnight.

Now you should have all the supplies you need to start things. As for me I haven't discovered all the glyphs yet so unlike my hubby I probably put up about 50 glyphs to his 190 glyphs per day. I don't make all of them because some are very low in price. There are 123 glyphs to be discovered/or obtained from the books of glyph mastery so unless you have a ton of gold it will take a while to have them all. The prices of the books has dropped significantly so perhaps invest in one per day when your glyphs sales are stable.

Next time I'll provide some information about the AH about listing your glyphs and maximizing your profit and time.

Where's the nearest Mall?

2009-07-31T04:52:00.000-07:00

I'm just back from a little vacation to Niagara-on-the-Lake (small pretty town about 30km from Niagara Falls on the Canadian side). It was an awesome trip and I'm going to put up a few pictures later.

Now, lets talk shopping. I have spent a considerable amount of time in the game working my professions and utilizing the AH to put myself in a healthy financial position. As I mentioned before, when my druid hit 80 I was able to walk into 3 lvl 226 pieces from the AH. I WANT MORE!! I want to be able to buy alot more gear, rare mounts and just cool stuff.

Although I don't spend as much time raiding as others, I have spent alot of time farming and so for that work I would love to have more shopping options. It is very limited as to what I can get with my gold. It wouldn't bother me if they had shop that offered high end Tier pieces for 10k and up. Perhaps a handful of rare mounts at 25k or higher (just as an example).

It just feels my options are limited. It has gotten to a point where I'm not sure what I am farming for. I have enough gold for repairs/enchants/gems etc for the rest of my WoW life. A nice mall underneath Dalaran would be wonderful. It would be a high-end mall and prices would be crazy but it gives those who really work the professions an opportunity to get some cool stuff.

With all that being said, Hubby just brought up a good point as to why Blizz would be a little hesitatant about my plan. Gold Farmers. If the gold begins to hold value like that then people will use real money to buy the gold they want. /sigh Makes me angry but I know its true.

Oh well....my dream will be just that....in my dreams.

Wee Lost Girl

2009-07-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

It was that time again. The summer has been quiet so hubby and I planned a couple of guild events. The first event was called Wee Lost Girl who was a level 2 female Gnome Warlock. We should first discuss getting this little level 2 to Shadowmoon Valley in her hiding spot. I ported her to Shattrath and thankfully I have the Travelers Tundra Mammoth which helped somewhat stay ahead of the mobs we aggroed but as you can tell from the image above it was an ugly journey. I would be riding along, hear nothing and then like a zipline she was pulled from the mammoth and dead on the road. I wouldn't even see it happen. Terrokar seemed more difficult than Shadowmoon maybe just because we had farther to travel through that zone.

The object of the game was to find this Wee Lost Girl but you must also bring her the items she has requested. In essence, it was a scavenger hunt for teams of 2 or 3 and the first team to find the Wee Lost Girl and open trade with her with the 6 required items, was the winner. We had given out 3 hints as to where the Wee Lost Girl was throughout the hunt and provided teams with the item list at the beginning of the game. The teams then went into different vent channels to discuss their plan. Our first place team with Rorik, his wife Millie & teammate hunter Deebo won 1000g and our second place team of Bre & her hubby Theo came in second with a 500g prize. It was a good time:)

My turn next with "LETS MAKE A DEAL". I had wrapped up 20 prizes with the in-game gift wrap. Any item that was stackable we wrapped an in-game mail note indicating what they had won ie. Abyss Crystal or Stack of Saronite. We rolled for a chance to the play the game and they selected a number between 1-20 as to which gift they wanted. I would pass it, they opened and then would get 2 opportunities to trade in their item. The third gift they took would be their final. Items ranged in price from 10g-800g including a Teldrassil Sproutling, Mechanical Yeti, Storm Jewel, stack of titanium, abyss crystal, cut gems and lots of smaller prizes. In the end everyone that attend the event got to play.

We had a great afternoon and it was a wonderful way to bring our guildies together.

So You Are Gonna Just Drop The Flag Huh?

2009-07-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

With the druid 80 I've been practicing some healing in BGs. Not too bad until tonight. Two guys from Stormage server were purposely dropping the flag in WSG even with just one point to the horde. I was beyond frustrated. Trust me, I hate WSG because it can go on for a very long time but I cannot just pass over the game to the horde.

While I was healing him and he first dropped it, I grabbed it but then they both did it again. They were telling folks to let the horde have it and calling everyone noobs in letting it go on so long blah blah blah.

In AB I know there is a point of no return and the last few minutes can be honor kills but the tide can change in WSG and these two guys were decked out and could have won us the game if they played it. I've had some very good turn around matches in WSG that those are the best ones.

Laziness in BGs is so common place now. People just wanna give up the game and get the BG token. Sitting at the Graveyards, yelling out comments. I'm sure it improves their game:P Maybe I'm over-reacting? I love to win against the odds. Definately gotta do more guild PVP. At least I know we did our best and gave a good fight if we do lose.

NO MORE LEVELING!

2009-07-13T03:25:00.001-07:00

Hitting 80 last Friday on my druid was an amazing moment only because I wouldn't have to face another quest. 78-79 were the most frustrating...being so close yet so far from 80. During part of level 79 my quests were in Scholozar Basin which was a mistake on my part as it's like another STV. Dunno what it is about that zone but there is always a gankfest going on. So hubby came with me to K3 in Storm Peaks and I finished things up there.

The last couple of days I've tried to wrap my head around healbot. I think learning not to over heal and waste mana is my biggest challenge. Staying calm during alot of group damage is also something I need work on. Doing BGs is a good place to practice with the healbot as there no great pressure there. That is the plan for this week....get my heals under control and learn to use the right heals at the right time. Any tips are greatly appreciated:)

I cheated a little and bought two Ulduar pieces for a good increase in my spell power and had a couple of other epics and blues ready so almost immediately I had my spell power over 1800 which was nice. Here are the two big pieces I've bought.

My head is swimming with all the druid healing things to learn but I'm really enjoying it.

Meters - Use Them, Don't Abuse Them

2009-07-10T07:25:00.000-07:00

Upon reading gnomeaggedon and his discussion of the Seven Deadly Sins of WoW, I mentioned that I felt meter spamming was a top sin in my book.

You would never see the lowest damage raid member linking the meter in the raid. It is generally first or second in DPS that puts it out there. Not everyone is equal with their abilities in the game and no one wants to be embarrassed. Link the meter in PM if someone is asking for it. Hell, just give him/her the link to get the addon themselves. For me the meter is just a personal check of where I am and not a boasting tool. Don't use it to embarrass others but as a means to get your own game in check.

If it's a guildie you see that is struggling with DPS, private message with a suggestion of a rotation or a website with some helpful tips. Be tactful but helpful.

One of the most popular damage meters is Recount from Curse.com

Stacks for Snacks!

2009-07-05T03:32:00.000-07:00

With a home daycare of 5 kids between the ages of 4-9 it is always tempting to use their computer skills for toon profit. No I wouldn't do it but the idea is kinda fun to think about. Hmmm I would set up 5 computers in the office and have 1 fishing, 1 mining, 1 getting herbs, 1 making pots/flasks and 1 workin' the AH. My own little gold farmers. Yes I would give them snacks (once they had 10 stacks of everything). *Stacks for Snacks* would be our motto.

Every so often I would hear their whining little cries "I don't wanna fish anymore" to which I would reply "this is how we build character sweetie...learning commitment and dedication to a task". Geez I'm almost convincing myself it would be a good idea hehehe.

Instead of giving these kids a valuable WoW education we are swimming, doing parks, going to movies, creating crafts and all that kinda stuff. My WoW daycare is just a dream.

A Leveling Server...I Think It's Brilliant

2009-07-03T03:14:00.000-07:00

A post from WoW Insider discussed the idea of a "leveling server". A server where folks would go to level their toon then upon hitting 80 would move to another server. I think it's an awesome idea for several reasons.

Firstly, many of us end up leveling alone, which can make leveling kinda lonely. It can also be difficult to get groups together for group quests. Often you'll end up calling upon an 80 from your guild to come kill a mob for you. What about all those great low level instances? You can never get a group for your level to do them. I think that they are an important part of the game to get to know your class and understand teamwork in the game. People level to 80 sometimes never seeing these great instances.

Unfortunately from the article "A leveling server, just for leveling" WoW insider is pretty certain that Blizzard wouldn't be interested in such an idea. On a social level alone I think it would be worth it.

Speed leveling is nice but there is something to be said about really seeing the game and all it has to offer.

Ninja Epidemic

2009-06-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

I can't begin to express the absolute anger it evokes in me when I hear of my guildies spending 4 hours in 25man Naxx only to have KT loot ninja'd. It is heart breaking.

Leveling up my toon I had heard of such things happening but never experienced it personally. I was shocked at level 70 when a guildie had indicated it had happened to them in an instance. People actually do that? I was absolutely shocked and even more angry. Our guild was ticked and it was the talk for an hour I'm sure.

Something is in the air in the last few months though, as it has become almost common place to have loot ninja'd and people are almost complacent about it. No one seems surprised when it happens or even barely upset. "The raid leader gave the loot to his couple of guildies that were there" is the kinda stuff I hear. "Awwww that sucks" someone might say, then end of conversation.

If I have run a 25man Naxx and you ninja the loot, you have stolen my time, my buffed food, my flasks, my mats and yes my chances to obtain that loot. Are folks really that desperate for stuff? Other than not pugging what could Blizzard do to make this more painful for these individuals that feel our time and effort is worth nothing?

Sorry for the bitchin' session. Can't help myself sometimes.

A Healer's Work is Never Done

2009-06-25T03:54:00.000-07:00

My 69 druid, Sarmiento, whom I've neglected for many months has taken a liking to doing BG's. I've always wanted to heal so resto it was. I haven't looked up a thing about resto yet but Siarah throws a few "what the hell are you doing using regrowth there?" etc. I am a spam healer I admit it. Throwing hots everywhere I can and just praying "please don't let the hordie touch me, please don't let the hordie touch me"

It's an exciting position to be in as a healer to keep folks up while they bring the pain but also a scarey place since good healers can change the tide of a game. I'm just lucky to stay alive hehe. Even without any knowledge and just throwing heals through healbot, folks are appreciative.

One day in AB I asked a DK..."hey, mind if I keep you healed and if you could keep the horde off me?" and his answer was "no thanks". Well you know what that meant ..no heals for him but only death and destruction. I know what you are thinking.."what a bitch" and yes I was.

Offensively I panic and do stupid things like turn into travel form to get away which means immediate death or I'm too slow clicking my trinket to get out of a stun before my poor tree is just a pile of lumber.

BUT, even with all that...I love to heal. I doubt you will ever see me in a high level instance but if you are looking for a dedicated healer in a BG, give me a buzz.

Men Being Men in WoW

2009-06-23T10:28:00.001-07:00

Another funny little moment in the game I wanted to share. When I was out one day in Nagrand a few months back I came upon an alliance who, if I remember correctly, helped me kill some horde that were ganking. He loved my toon's name "Justamom" and after that day would often simply send a tell of "hi mommy" every time he saw me online. All in good fun of course. We never raided together or farmed together but just always that quick "hi mommy" when he logged in and to ask how my day was going.

One day I was shocked to get a message from him that said "sup fag" then next line "MT" hehehe. I thought I would bust a gut laughing at this guy. He was was sooooo embarrassed to say that to me... apologizing like crazy. He was always so respectful and mild. I know that this how it is for young guys when chatting with others, to BS around like that.

Hubby and I had a great laugh about it and now when he messages "hi mommy" to me, my only response is "sup fag". Always makes me smile:)

Prospect This!

2009-06-22T04:21:00.001-07:00

As most of you have heard with the upcoming patch you will be able to prospect titanium to obtain those epic gems. The prices for titanium after this announcement went insane on my server at 280g per stack. I'm not sure if anyone was buying them but that is what they were up for in the AH or 12g per individual ore.

Yesterday I noticed the prices were dropping to 180g per stack. I've been tossing around the thought whether I will prospect all my titanium or just sell them after the patch. My friend Rorik voiced his opinion that I should prospect them. I read a forum post where someone broke down the probability and talked about pricing. Unfortunately, I'm not great with numbers but the 25% probability rate is the best way for me to look at it. In my head right now I'm thinking of prospecting 2 stacks to start and see how it goes from there. Purchasing titanium to prospect isn't gonna happen on my end. I'll prospect whatever I have saved up until the patch. The competition for the titanium will slowly be increasing for sure. With 10 stacks of titanium stored away thus far, it's a good start for me.

In the meantime, the money has been good for mining. With the eternal shadows and earths I've been making the Shadowmight Rings for disenchantment getting 2-5 Infinite Dust per ring or a Greater Cosmic Essence. Selling a stack of infinite dust for around 70g per stack on our server. With all the saronite and trust me I've had tons of it, my patience with the AH is a little worn and so I sell it a little cheaper but in bulk to buyers. Saves me storage and patience:)

Now I have to think of a way to keep that holy pally Rorik out of icecrown, stealing my nodes. Hey Rorik...I have candy *holding out a mound of delicious sweet candy*

Putting Out the Welcome Mat

2009-06-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung and our guild has definately slowed down alot. Folks are out enjoying the warmer weather, walking, cycling, working in the yards, barbecuing....now what kinda crap is that?? You people should be in the game kickin' some ass in Ulduar ....geez

With those words of encouragement I am putting out the welcome mat to new members. We are a casual raiding guild on the Bleeding Hollow server and currently our numbers are down as folks have moved on from the game or are enjoying the summer *rolling eyes*.

We would ask if you are interested, please fill in our guild application and come in for a body cavity search *pulling at the elastic from my latex gloves* . We are looking for mature fun players that have some time to do a little raiding, some new stuff and perhaps some old. As a member of our guild you should be easy going, reasonably competent with your class, not an imposer on other guildies and simply up for a fun time. During the cavity search if I find big egos, they will be removed piece by piece with tweezers before the invite goes out.

So come on over to Bleeding Hollow. We don't care what level your toon is, as long as you plan to level it up and you may be surprised to get a run or two if you behave yourselves:)

Questing for Something Else

2009-06-18T02:46:00.000-07:00

So the last few days I've done a ton BG's on my resto 69 druid which I've loved. I just can't seem to make myself quest though. Perhaps because I've also been leveling a toon on another server that I find the thought of questing presently sickening to me hehehe.

Last night I did something I never do and that was push for a run. "So who wants to do Kara?" One of our dedicated DK's spoke up "I'll go after Vaults" then my favorite Pally offered to tank. We would still need a healer, just in case we went a little crazy. After a pushy long distance call, I had Bre come on her Priest and her husband on his rogue and of course my husband had no choice in the matter. I think we had 9 by the time it was all said and done.

It was such a fun relaxing night for our guildies. When guilds go through alot changes, getting out there and doing some fun stuff together can definately help get things back on track. Sometimes we may go in different directions in the game but making time for some fun easy play can certainly create a nice relaxing mood for everyone.

It was a fun night which we plan to do more often. I'm still lovin' Kara.

The End of Days

2009-06-16T06:10:00.000-07:00

I became a tad emotional yesterday as I was reading The Death of WoW at Wow Economics. Just the thought that Warcraft will end some day is kinda sad to me.

All the time spent earning and building our toons will all of a sudden be gone as if they never existed. The game has become such a large part of my famlies' lives in a positive way, it would most definately be missed. I'm sure I would continue to try to log in "just to see" if I could.

Would I do another game? It would be difficult and I would absolutely do some pouting for a while before considering another game. I think hubby would have an easier time moving on since he has done a few games over the years that he enjoyed.

Would there be much notice from Blizzard I wonder? Would I wake up and its gone? There would be a sense of loss not having my main toon, Justamom, who has made so many friends in the game. Miss the joking around and poking fun. There would probably be support groups set up for people like myself who would go through withdrawals and mourning.

It's a sad story that will have an ending but I'm no so curious to see it played out.

Guild Bank Maintenance

2009-06-16T02:43:00.000-07:00

As an officer and long time member of the guild, I manage alot of the gbank transactions. I'm curious as to how most guilds maintain their gbanks. Every so often I will go in and clear out some old mats or gear and sell them, placing the gold back in the bank. I will distribute among regular guildies any excessive pots, scrolls, flasks and food etc. We use our gold for guild events and sometimes to help out a guild tank that has been doing alot of runs for the guild.

I try to deter folks from putting old mats in the gbank as they just take up too much room. It is absolutely much easier to organize the glyphs now with the colours and patterns for classes. It was a nightmare for a while.

I was just reading a post about a guild that has one tab as a free for all for guildies which I think is a great idea. Placing things that have been in the guild bank for a while or just old stuff. Putting a limit of 3 items per day to be removed. It can be hard to keep the balance of items at times and having a free for all tab may help.

Perhaps it's just our guild but it seems people hate to ask for anything from the gbank hehehe. When gbanks started I was thinking there were going to be issues with some people trying to take advantage etc, but its been the opposite. People hate to ask and hate to take stuff. Hopefully with a free tab guildies will be more likely to dip in.

Hangin' In a Major City

2009-06-14T23:18:00.000-07:00

I look around while I'm in IF waiting for our raid to form. People in the AH, folks in the bank and at the mailbox and then those just jumping around saying silly stuff. Some are afk and I'm sure googling stuff about gear or spec. Some guy is stood in a santa costume really not appearing out of place as you will often find me in a bunny ears.

What does my druid teenage daughter do in the major city?? Tries on clothes in the AH. Yup...true story. She goes through gear as if at Bloomingdales determining which pieces fit her best and colours that match her skin tones. She particularly loves to start with shoulders and work from there to create an outfit that is "sick" as she puts it. It doesn't matter whether its leather, cloth, mail or plate. The weapons come last and she will even put on a gun just to see how it looks. Siarah's Warcraft world is definately like the image I've placed. Just a girl lookin' for the perfect outfit.

Funny what we do in major cities when we are bored. What do you do? I know thats you over there hopping around on the bridge, spinning your mount. Stop asking me to duel. Move your mammoth off the mailbox. Too many damn toy trains.

Justamom's Sunday Warcraft Trivia

2009-06-14T04:06:00.000-07:00

Test yourselves and see how much you know about Warcraft without looking them up. These questions will be all WOW related with varying degrees of difficulty. Just place the question number and answer in your post.

1. Near which Alliance town is the Darkmoon Fair currently being held?

2. What are the names of the 4 towers in EOS?

3. A warcraft word that means “A nomadic tribe or group”?

4. What is the newest Alliance flight path to their first quest area in STV?

5. What is the maximum gold allowed for a toon?

6. Where would you find the Zandalar Tribe?

7. In what two locations would you find Timbermaw Furbolgs?

8. When you do the quest ““Chen’s Empty Keg” who do you gain reputation with?

9. Where does the rare mount “Swift Zulian Tiger”?

10. Which boss drops the Gloves of Centering?

Don't Be That Guy

2009-06-12T01:08:00.000-07:00

"Luck is when preparedness meets opportunity"

I know my guildies are sick of me talking about this when we raid. As a mother and raider its my job to remind folks when they raid to come prepared. Nothing more frustrating than having folks arrive without flasks, food, bullets, reagents, pots etc. Regular raiding is expensive but if you plan to raid then you have to come up with a way to make gold to pay for supplies.

Of course people forget from time to time and I don't mind helping them out but its the people that show up regularly unprepared that put me over the edge. It is particularly important to come prepared if you are undergeared or your damage is very low. Flasks and buffed food make an incredible difference in damage/healing/tanking. If only 2 people are left on a boss and his health is low, it could make the difference in taking him down.

ie. My hunter hubby was in MT on the final boss, Kael'thas. He had taken a plus 30 stam food before the fight and was the last man standing with 290 health to take the final shots. Without that buffed food it would have been another wipe.

Don't let people carry you through a raid. Do your best to be at the top of your game. White damage is embarrassing and your toon should not just be on auto pilot when others are workin their buns off. I don't expect everyone to be top damage; (I'm certainly not) however, I do expect people to put in the effort.

Make me proud and don't be a burden to others when you raid. Come prepared.

Buying Rolls

2009-06-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

So you are stinking rich with gold. You can afford to buy anything in the game you want. You are pugging in Wintergrasp Vault and there are 3 other hunters there besides yourself. You message the hunters privately and offer them 2k each for any Furious hunter pieces that may drop. Thankfully they all agree.

After about 5 attempts at Emelon you finally see him go down and are happily suprised to see the Furious Gladiator's Chain Gauntlets drop. So you pass out 2k to 3 hunters for a total 6000g.

That is my husbands story from last night. I was somewhat shocked he paid 6k for the gloves but he feels there is nothing else he is really interested in spending his gold on and his luck with drops has been crappy. In his opinion, what is the point in having it if you can't use it to get the things you want in the game.

Me, on the hand, I feel a little sleezy about it. I guess if you are pugging its not quite so bad, but I wouldn't want to put pressure on guildies to give up their roll. For those other 3 hunters I assume the gold was more important to them and they would wait their turn for the gloves to drop. I'm happy hubby got them...but just feel a little unsure about buying rolls.

Ulduar - I'm Just Not Feelin' It

2009-06-10T01:50:00.000-07:00

I went to Ulduar for the first time the other day doing 10 man. The first vehicle fight I thought was alot of fun and I had the easy job as a passenger just shielding us and shooting at stuff. We did 6 bosses but struggled to get Ignis down. Overall it was an unexpected success. I was thinking it would be much more difficult to get through Ulduar than it was Naxx. I'm sure 25 and those hard modes are much more intense.

I do love that they have created these hard modes for the heavy raiders. Nice to have something for everyone. Yes of course if you put in the time and the skills you deserve the best loots.

Although doing Ulduar was fun there was a sense of disappointment. Perhaps my expectations of the game are higher. I'm not sure what it is, but something from Ulduar is missing for me. I think aside from the first fight it kinda lacks creativity. It was a little "ho hum" to me. I was happy with our success but felt a lack of "vavavoom" from Ulduar. I didn't feel that Blizzard stepped it up a notch. The first fight was very cool but the other bosses thus far seemed the same to me as every other instance.

In my mind Kara was very creative and entertaining but then again I haven't been to places like Black Temple.

Perhaps it's just me?

Chasing A Caravan

2009-06-09T05:53:00.000-07:00

I am uncertain if I'm being clever or insane. In Desolace there is a caravan that travels north to south then south to north and the NPC, Cork Gizelton puts out a bot at either end of his pat. There are 6 different cooking recipes to get from each bot. None of the recipes seem common in the AH from what I've seen.

The bot stays open for about 10-15mins. It takes about 45 minutes from when he opens the bot for him to relocate to the other spot to open the other bot. The top picture shows the path he takes and where he stops.

So the other day I did it 4 times to get the recipes which I bought for a few silver each. I've sold some between 20-28g each. There are two in particular that are more popular than others and I think could easily sell for 40g or more.

Recipe: Lean Wolf Steak

Recipe: Hot Lion Chops

You will need lots of space in your bags as they don't stack. Depending on your server, this may be a good mid level money maker. So before you start reading blogs or watching stuff on Youtube, find this guy and position yourself for the first bot. Once you have the first set of recipes go to the other location and do your reading or tv watching and return in 45mins to see the other bot.

Not a fun activity but when you aren't in the game its a great way to pop in for some sales.

Oh and please note that there is a quest with this NPC and so that may make his travel time a little longer.

Justamom's Sunday Warcraft Trivia

2009-06-07T04:56:00.000-07:00

1. There is a lumberjack in Elwynn Forest named Terry Palin. Where was the name “Terry Palin” derived from?

2. What is the name of the cat that runs through Naxx and where did the name originate?

3. What is the name of the "Grand Master Engineer" in the Zangarmarsh?

4. Who gives out the quest With a Little Help From My Friends in Ungoro Crater?

5. The original World of Warcraft was released in what month and year celebrating 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise.

6. Where in the game would you find an NPC named Ophera Windfury?

7. One of the quests in Netherstorm, Outland, is called Needs More Cowbell where the player needs to find the cow Bessy using a bell. Where did the Needs More Cowbell reference originate?
8. The episode, titled Make Love, Not Warcraft, was aired on 4th October 2006 and it was the second half premiere of the tenth season. Which show are we referring to?

9. In the 2005 Christmas event, several new NPCs and quests were added for a short period of time. One of the quests requested that you rescued __________ the Reindeer. What is the raindeer’s name?

10. Who Did Illidan Fight In Order To Claim The Title Of Ruler of Outlands?

A Nagging Pain While You Play?

2009-06-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

Myself and my husband were discussing the "nag" word today and when is it that someone (me I guess we are referring to) is nagging. Now, I don't think I nag at all. I provide gentle reminders of things that I know would not be taken care of without words of encouragement:) Hubby's opinion is quite the contrary and even stretches into the game. When we can't get a boss down he tells everyone to stand back and send Justamom in and she'll nag K.T. to death *raising eyebrow* /sigh

I wonder how many of you get nagged while you play? I would guess you would respond in one of the following ways and I would appreciate your feedback on this:

1. Ignore your parter and continue to play

2. Do the task immediately to stop the nagging

3. Commit to do it later

4. Log out in anger, doing the task and pouting all nite and not return to the game

5. Or perhaps you avoid the nagging by doing everything before you log in

6. Maybe you have a nag-free life?

OH and definition of nagging:

To annoy by constant scolding, complaining, or urging.

My husband is nag-free...he just doesn't know it.....hmmm I must continue to remind him of that:P

Dwarf Chicks Make the Best Drinking Buddies

2009-06-05T01:18:00.000-07:00

The first guild myself and hubby joined there were talks of raiding and lots of fun together but once we got in there we soon realized that the guild was not as described and was totally inactive. The GM was always asking me for gold, there were no runs of anything and although they had intensions of becoming something awesome, it was absolutely falling flat fast. We probably stayed a couple of months before getting an invite to Aculeus Upon Ordeum.

As soon as we joined we had welcomes all around and the mood was light, fun but busy. A casual raiding guild that was high energy and seemed to have a great attitude and we loved it immediately. It wasn't long before we were on vent for the first time and talking with these folks who were easy to be around, helpful and knew exactly the direction of the guild. We felt totally at home and knew this was where we wanted to be. One of the main officers, a little dwarf hunter, was especially impressive with vast knowledge of the game, toon and and an enthusiasm that was infectious. You couldn't help but be impressed.

That dwarf hunter soon become my dearest friend and the guild GM. We talk just about everyday...sometimes about nothing and sometimes about the dramas in our lives. My Breana has been like a family member, even talking to my daughter from time to time about issues she has. Always encouraging...like when hubby dyed his hair epic purple for the Make A Wish Foundation last year or when I was in a panic to tank on my mage in Gruuls. She listens to me ramble on about family stuff and my daycare kids.

Breana is such a strong amazing person. Outside the game, she is remarkable writer, a book reading monster, funny, intelligent, honest and overall a great friend. Now moved away from the game somewhat and working on her own personal blog. This week she opened up on her blog about her personal issue of Dyslexia that she struggles with. She has put herself out there in the game and in life for folks to learn from. Having Bre at my side in the last couple of years has just been nothing but a positive experience that has enhanced my life and that of my family. Although we are hundreds of miles away and live in different countries, I'd be lost without her.

CHEERS to the folks we meet in an online game that bring so much laughter and friendship to our lives.

Anti-Achiever

2009-06-04T03:35:00.000-07:00

I can't really say what it is, but I just don't get the thrill most people do when obtaining an achievement. When we did a couple of achivements as a guild group on one occassion, I enjoyed playing with other guildies for a common goal, but when it dings that I have obtained an achievement I'm kinda "meh" about it.

I know I have guildies that are working very hard to get achievements done but I just don't have the enthusiasm for it. That being said, I get my rush from other ways in the game that perhaps are "meh" to you. When I strike an incredible deal in the AH, when I have a full page of AH sales, when I kill a difficult mob or perhaps escape an enemy.

I absolutely respect those who are into achievements and I know some of them are crazy difficult. One of our guildies, Miss Millie, is working on the Mountain o' Mounts achievement. Now that is some freakin' achivement to get. Perhaps because there are so many of them, they don't seem like achievements. I'm sure I /farted in an instance the other day and got an achievement hehehe. Sometimes it just feels that way.

Maybe if there were achivements in the area of making gold or sales, I would feel differently. I'm kinda surprised there aren't achivements in AH sales. Making 5k in a day or selling 100 items etc. Those might be achievements I'd be interested in and I think there would be a large number of other folks that would enjoy them.

An Oldie But a Goodie

2009-06-04T01:40:00.000-07:00

There are alot of great instances but one of my favs is Durnholde Keep. Here you travel back in time by 7 years to the Old Hillsbrad Foothills. I even love the dragon flight down to the Caverns of Time. Although that LONG damn quest following that chick around is totally annoying hehehe.

My hubby loves the part after helping Thrall escape, he punches a guy in the face in order to get weapons. Everytime we go in that room my hubby says "wait for it, wait for it" POW! hehehe

You can do this instance at level 66 but, its no walk in the park at those levels. Lots of attacks on Thrall coming out of the Keep and its difficult to keep up with them at those levels. You need at least of couple of reasonbly geared 70s to take some of the stress off. Mages you can actually do some sheeping in this instance.

Following Thrall for the first time when he mounts up was very exciting and helping him to free Taretha's (although she never seemed captive to me) hehe. I love the feel of this instance and the history that goes with it.

Quest-ion of Insanity

2009-06-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

Dr. Benwick: "Kathrine how are you this morning?"

Kathrine: "5 more vulture gizzards, 2 more boar lungs"

Dr. Benwick: "Are you still referring to those quests in the Blasted Lands, Kathrine?"

Kathrine: "5 more vulture gizzards, 2 more boar lungs"

Dr. Benwick: "You do realize these are just a few simple quests, correct?"

Kathrine: "Who killed those f***** vultures, those were mine!"

Dr. Benwick: "Those will respawn again Kathrine, no need to upset yourself"

Kathrine: "PVE SERVER....can't kill the horde can't kill the horde...thieves all thieves...taking my kills"

Dr. Benwick: "Lets take a deep breath, slow your rocking and calm down Kathrine"

Kathrine: "Bloodmage Drazial wants 3 more f***** boar's lungs...do I look like a butcher? Do I?"

Dr. Benwick: Lets remember this is just a quest Kathrine.

Kathrine: 1...2...3...4...5...6...7... 8
8 boars dead..only 1 lung...how can this be? Who took their lungs? I need those lungs, I need them now! ...the bloodmage is waiting.

Dr. Benwick: "I think it best you place your dagger on the table Kathrine"

Kathrine: "Dagger is dull, dagger is dull....must kill more birds...need more gizzards, need more lungs"

Kathrine: "Give me my dagger, GIVE IT TO ME!" You will pay, you will all pay"

Kathrine: "Take this off me, take it off me ...I must have my boar's lungs and gizzards!"

Kathrine: "Noooo, stop this, take this off me"

Dr. Benwick: "Don't struggle Kathrine, they are just trying to help you."

Kathrine: Noooooo I must kill them, I must kill them allll
/sob

Even Lowbies Need a Job

2009-06-02T03:12:00.000-07:00

Don't let your lowbie toons sit and be slackers. Use your toons wisely to make gold for you. Here are a few ideas to put these lowbies back into the workforce for you.

1)Use a lowbie toon as a banker to place items up in the AH. You can use your main toon to do this as well to avoid saturating the market. Use this bank toon to store most your goodies so that they are in one spot and you know exactly how much AH items you have. I used this method before the patch to ready myself for sales.

2)A mid ranged farming toon with mining or herbalism would be great. Thorium is selling for crazy prices and mid range herbs for alchemists and scribes is another good money maker. Leave these toons in that particular zone to do their job and take them out for a couple of hours per week

3) If you have two 80's with any skill that can bring some quick gold, especially if they can both do a cooking daily, titansteel, JC daily etc. take advantage of it.

4) You could also place a toon at a neutral AH but really research the items you place there. There are lots of great blogs about WOW and its economy so use these resources to put you in the right direction.

I certainly realize most folks probably don't farm as much as I do but these are just a few options to make the most of your toons.

Greedy Globlin, Warcraft Econ, Just My Two Copper are just a couple of the great blogs that show you how to make gold efficiently.

Laying Out the Rules for Pugs

2009-06-01T00:15:00.000-07:00

When you are looking for a pug, you should always have some general guidelines to provide your pug with so that things are clear.

Here are the rules I would expect a pug to follow.

1. Let us know how long you can stay so that there are no surprises in the middle of the raid that we need to replace you

2. Don't come doing white damage and expect to take loot

3. Patterns/recipes etc go our guild first if someone needs it

4. We may ask you not to roll on a specific item that a guildie has been waiting for

5. You may roll on any other items aside from the above mentioned

6. Don't get greedy ....roll only on items that are an upgrade

7. Don't roll on stuff, just to DE it

8. BOE stuff, unless it is an upgrade for you, will go to our gbank

9. Don't create drama with nasty talk and complaints...we've been doing this raiding thing a while and have succeeded many times without you

10. If things go well we would love to invite you back as a regular pug with our guild

Most of us hate pugging ourselves and hate having to invite pugs to our raids. I definately have expectations of pugs who come into our raids. I also expect when our guildies are pugging themselves out to be just as courteous and represent the guild well.

Be fair and clear about the rules up front with your pugs so that there are no misunderstandings. They are part of your team for that period of time and things will go smoothly provided they know what is expected of them.

Justamom's Sunday Warcraft Trivia

2009-05-31T04:02:00.001-07:00

On Sundays I hope to put up some WOW trivia questions. Test yourselves and see how many you know without looking them up. These questions will be all WOW related with varying degrees of difficulty. Just place the question number and answer in your post.

This time our trivia is a little different. It's all about acronyms (abbreviations that are formed using the initial components in a phrase or name). Some of these will be very difficult and old school or perhaps just not as popular as other acronyms. Trust me, a few of these I've never heard of, but perhaps some of the more experienced players will know them. Remember...no Googling.

1. RFD

2. AQ40

3. ROFLMAO

4. SFK

5. MP5NC

6. EULA

7. LOS

8. BRS

9. LFG

10. BFD

Druid Pooh-ness

2009-05-28T12:23:00.000-07:00

This post is meant for all my druid friends, particularly for BBB whom I think will love my new druid bear model *raising eyebrow*. He was talking about the new night elf druid forms but I propose a softer more loveable bear as I've shown here. Yes, this is Druid Pooh on steroids.

Bears don't have to look mean with long teeth and big claws. They can have a face that would melt hearts and have children begging for hugs. They would have a brand new top level talent and that would be the "big bear hug" ...

Rank 1 - a light gentle squeeze

Rank 2 - a pressure with affection

Rank 3 - a wee bit of difficulty breathing

Rank 4 - one by one ribs begin to break

Rank 5 - with the ultimate squeeze the enemies' head blows off

And while your sweet druid pooh-ness is squeezing a horde's head off, he will be smiling contently.

Farmer for Hire

2009-05-27T12:26:00.001-07:00

So lets say you are an alchemist and you need lots of Lichbloom for flasks. You have been watching the market and become aware that the price dips a little on Wednesdays to 20g per stack but you can't pick them up quick enough from the AH before they have been bought out. Instead of playing this race during the week waiting for the prices to fall, find yourself a regular farmer. Someone who is willing to do that 20g per stack with your commitment to buy everthing he has. (not specifically referring to a gold farmer) I simply mean someone who makes gold for their toon with that particular profession and farms regularly.

Many regular farmers find this much easier than waiting for the items to sell in the AH or having to relist them. This way you get a good supply and he gets paid immediately. I met a JC who did this with saronite. He would buy everything the guy had in order to prospect it. The guy got rid of everything and got paid immediately and the JC always got his ore for a fair price, still making an excellent profit.

Now, don't mess with folks. If you say for 1 month you will buy every stack of Lichbloom they have, commit to that and don't play games. If they are mailing the stacks COD to you, don't let them sit there without paying the gold immediately. Its unfair and you will lose your good farmer and good rate for your herbs.

Start this process by doing shoutouts looking to purchase 10stacks of lichbloom and once you find someone who has that many, make a prosposal.

I'm sure this will help keep you in mats and keep your expenses in check.

Family Raid Nights

2009-05-27T01:30:00.000-07:00

We enjoy raid nights together but always plan a little in advance as a family to get ourselves prepared.

On raid nights we eat our dinner ahead of time or have something prepared in advance(a hungry raider will only wipe the whole group).

We help each other get ready with passing herbs to my hubby Krys to make flasks, pots and getting our buffed food ready. We hate going unprepared.

My daughter Sarah has a list at her desk that she has been marking off the best pieces for her class as she obtains them but from time to time you'll hear yelling from room to room with the "SHOULD I ROLL ON THAT" from my daughter or a "I CAN'T BELIEVE I ROLLED A ONE". You'll hear screams of joy from my daughter (and sometimes Krys) when a new piece of gear is obtained. After a couple hours of raiding, Krys will usually give me the look of a 5 year old saying "are there any snacks?"

If we say we need 30secs from the game, we are absolutely no longer and you may see a mad rush to the washroom or to get a drink often having us bang into each other in the hallway (a wow family ain't always pretty)

My hunter hubby has yet to get the Envoy of Mortality but still holds onto hope it will drop one day. This is the one item that would really give him a big boost in DPS. I have just about everything I need from Naxx and I think so does Siarah.

Once the raid is done and we are getting ready for bed, we discuss how the raid went; where we need to improve, our damage/healing, how the pugs (if any) behaved etc.

Outside of raiding we do some instances together and share our WOW stories when something happens. I think I'm still shocked that my teenage daughter enjoys the game so much, although she isn't much of a farmer *shaking head*. Even in the game a mother can nag "you should be out farming so you always have gold for anything that comes up".

Both Siarah and Krys love the pvp aspect of WOW but Siarah has gained a new appreciation for PVE lately. For me, its just nice we are in the same space and often take on tasks working together for a common goal.

Mary Had a Little Lamb

2009-05-25T03:51:00.000-07:00

I was reading a great post from Pike at the Aspect of the Hare. She talks about how chain trapping for hunters isn't being utilized much any more and same goes for sheeping.

As a mage, its been devastating the lack of needed sheeping. I'm assuming the reason for this is because of the AOE affect of most tanking classes. Pallies, DKs, Warriors which now all have exceptional AOE abilities. There are many glyphs available that enchance AOE damage in some way ie.

Glyph of Devistate (Your devastate ability now applies two stacks of sunder armor)

Glyph of Cleaving (Increases the number of targets your cleave hits by 1)

Glyph of Shockwave (Reduces the cooldown of shockwave by 3 secs)

Glyph of Hammer of the Righteous (Your Hammer of the Righteous hits 1 additional target)

I know there are many others and I'm also certain healers must be on their toes for this craziness. I know many folks may feel it makes moving through an instance much faster not having to CC stuff, but for me there is a sadness to giving up the strategy and I hope they create some stuff that will put hunters and mages back to work.

That being said, what about my sheep? I had been continuing to pay him even with this anti-sheep campaign going on but now the funds are drying up and I had to give him the pink slip. There was a alot of snooty looks with .."bah" this and "bah" that. Mary had a little lamb but now I've hired him on a contract basis. Please keep this information on the Q.T. as Mary is going through some difficulties herself with the whole recession thing going on.

I couldn't even tell you at this moment which of my keys is sheep as its been that long since I've used it.

I say "Sheep, Pull FTW"

She Who Fights and Runs Away.....

2009-05-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

As you all know I am from the pvp server Bleeding Hollow, but recently created a new toon on a PVE server, now at lvl 40.

It's been very quiet but earlier the week I was doing my usual herb run when I came across two horde around Dun Garok in Southshore. They were questing, I'm assuming. When I clicked on the first one, a hunter, the icon changed. Is this a dagger I see before me? The "flagged for combat" knife hovered ominously over his head. Now I, a pacifist at heart, could count on one hand the number of times I've ever ganked someone. Doing so on this.... a PVE server felt very dirty, but a deliciously wicked urge came over me. There was someone else with the hunter, but I paid him no heed. I swear a cloud passed in front of the sun as I held my breath and summoned a frostbolt. The blast hurtled toward him and the terror I felt only intensified my excitement. The unsuspecting hunter was so focused on killing his target that he was unaware that he had become the prey. I used the aptly named Icy Veins... 2 more bolts and he collapsed, dead.

Then there was a shocking stab in my kidneys... the pain was horrific. I knew I couldn't take a rogue and so, when I could, I blinked. He was not far behind me and he wanted revenge for killing his friend. I ran, 'cause thats what I do best *GRIN*. He caught up to me once again and I was stunned for a moment and when I had the opportunity I hit my Life Blood for a good heal and blinked again. My next step was to use my Free Action Potion while he wasn't close to me (I never leave home without it). Then there was no stopping me, I was near the entrance to the Arathi Highlands when I was finally free of him.

Now, I know most of you are probably rolling your eyes and saying "what a coward" "how cheap" and I say YES & YES. But, then the excitement of killing was overshadowed by the sneakiness of getting away. I think I enjoy the pleasure of knowing that he was beyond frustrated not being able to finish me. That was always my pleasure in PVP since my skills are severly lacking in pvp. The game of getting away was the challenge.

Hard to believe on a PVE server, I have become evil:(

Justamom's Sunday Warcraft Trivia

2009-05-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

Test yourselves and see how many you know without looking them up. These questions will be all WOW related with varying degrees of difficulty. Just place the question number and answer in your post.

1. Who is the last boss in Mechanar?

2. At what level can you mine silver?

3. What level 11 elite Riverpaw gnoll chieftain would you find in Southern
Elwynn Forest?

4. Who sells the "Gigantique" Bag? (Which building/city)

5. How many turkeys do you need to kill in the Friend or Fowl achievement?

6. What is used to summon a Tiny Snowman pet?

7. Although the area is almost completely isolated from the rest of the world and sandwiched between two deserts, the region is filled with exotic plant life and even more exotic creatures. Which zone are we referring to?

8. What is the increase in attack power upon drinking an Endless Rage?

9. What profession creates the Philosopher's Stone?

10. What are the 3 faction options for turning in Obsidian Warbeads?

Warcraft Landfill

2009-05-22T03:21:00.000-07:00

"This is a post I had written on my guild site a while back and thought I would share it with you"

I continue to hold on to the merciless gear in my bags, having difficulty letting those pieces disappear into the warcraft nothingness. I often imagine there is a very large and dirty warcraft landfill where all these items from every dedicated warcrafter find their way. A scummy looking undead shovels them into a huge pit, filled with what was once the best of gear. In the air, the faint cries from those who have typed out the "DELETE" phrase for these once precious items. The undead simply gives a loud and content laugh and continues to shovel.

I know its a very silly attachment to have, but I loved my gear. I loved the colours, the way it fit and resilience that kept me alive in many dangerous situations. Everyone strives for the EPIC pieces that make us feel "we are finally there". These pieces represent experience and hard work, wipes, massive potions and elixirs, excitement and of course great memories. NOW, back to blues, back to grinding and armor that just doesn't fit well, and well...make me look fat:(The greatest thing about the upcoming months are the new adventures with my guildies. The excitement to get the epics again and whether that is for me or a guildie, its always a great moment. Sometimes I feel like the bionic woman before she was enchanced. "We can rebuild her, we have the technology....."God dammit....BRING IT!!!

Who is Your Social Director?

2009-05-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of years we have had some fun events to bring our guildies together. Aside from having a great time and getting everyone together, I take the opportunity to help clear out the guild bank by using stuff for prizes. (If you are anything like us, stuff builds up and people don't ask for anything) I would refer to myself as a Social Director like Julie on the Love Boat.

My hubby would create some clever ads for it like these to make it more alluring to folks.

Here are few events we've had over the last couple of years:

Trivia Nites - we do this in vent and have people type out the answers so there is no chaos in vent.

Beach Party - have everyone meet on an island outside Booty Bay, drink booze, have duels and prizes.

Wee Lost Girl - place a female gnome in a major city and give gradual clues as to her whereabouts until she is found. Start off very vague and difficult with your clues.

Naked VC Run - this was my favorite event. Have groups of about 3 people remove all amor and weapons. The only things you can equip are things you pick up in VC. Each piece of armor or weapon has a value ie. greys 1pt, greens 2pts and blues 3pts. The team with the highest amount of points at the end, wins. Myself and Bre were usually sat at the end of the instance waiting for the players to come out. OMG I'll never forget seeing one our (at that time) level 70 pallies with these nasty pink pants on. It was a hoot.

Group Achievement Nite - Pick a silly achievement or two and get some guildies together to go do it. We did the "To All the Squirrels I've Loved Before" and with a couple of mages it didn't take long. I had already researched the most efficient order in which to do it in.

Musical Chairs in Karazhan - this game I have never played but I'm anxious to try it. Here is a video of it. Looks like a hoot. *WARNING* turn your volume down a little ..its a tad loud.

Musical Chairs

Its been a while since our guild did some silliness so I better get my so Social Director hat on and plan something soon. I've been a slacker for sure.

WOW PET PEEVES

2009-05-20T06:54:00.000-07:00

Yes there are many and I'm sure you can add to my list...where to start hmmmm

1. Strangers asking me for gold (my response is always ..don't you have a profession?"

2. People abusing the AH...folks who put a light feather up for 100g I assume to increase the price or have someone accidentally buy it thinking it was 1g...(eh hum,yes I've done that)

3. Lag....no other major city other than Dalaran do I have crazy lag and in 25man, which puts me over the edge. I turn off my addons and anything extra crap I don't need but still it doesn't help much.

4. Dishonest salesman...I had a guy I provided mats to in my early levels to make something for me ...he indicated he needed tomake it somwhere specific and took off with my mats and put me on ignore...my husband then messaged him and put the pressure on to return them and he did

5. Strangers asking for runs - I'm always surprised at the number of strangers that ask me to run them through an instance. My suggestion is always the same "ask your guild" or "join a leveling guild"

6. Gold Farm Spammers - I'm still shocked how these people can get away with this so easily. I guess I was living in La La land thinking there were Blizzard people monitoring this activity on each server.

7. Dependent guildies - Don't get me wrong I don't mind helping guildies but its when people step over the line of asking for help with anything that remotely looks scarey. Help from guildies should be for those quests when you just can't find someone in that zone or if you need to run an instance, just one shoutout to your guild asking if anyone else needs it....not spamming and not harrassing. Help should always come at your guildies convenience.

8. Lack of class knowledge - I am absolutely no expert in my class but did certainly look up a rotation for raiding so that I would not cause my raid to wipe because of lack of dps or be foreced to carry me. People don't need to do top damage but should be attempting their best to ensure a safe run without too much aggravation. I am never at the top of the meter but I hold my own.

9. AFKers - Even with the new system, BG afkers are still there. They move their toon from time to time to avoid being reported but they are useless and avoid combat as much as possible. Makes me crazy!!

10. Ninja Looters - I know this is a top pet peeve for many and I so wish Blizzard could offer some safeguards from ninja looters. If you pug its always a risk and lately I'm shocked at the amount of ninja looting going on. I've heard more than ever stories from guildies of Ninja Looters when they pug. Nothing disgusts me more.

On a happy note there are many things about WOW that I love which I will discuss in another post.

When to /GKick

2009-05-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

I wonder do most of you have the same difficulty I do when it comes to kicking people from your guild. Most offenses are small ones and undeserving of a kick but a warning. I think the hard kicks are those kicks for people you actually grow to like but have a quality that comes out from time to time that is displeasing to some guildies.

I think I've only /gkicked twice as an officer. First time to a member that was showing online but was farm botting in Shadowmoon. I happened to see him while I was farming elementals and I knew from his movements and lack of response he was botting. After two days of botting, I felt this was not the kind of representation we wanted from our guild and so he was gone.

Second time was a more personal drama that was initiated from a guildie. He was over sensitive and being very difficult about small issues and complaints were beginning to trickle in from other guildies. It eventually grew into a blowout and he was toast.

I think by solving issues quickly before they grow helps to prevent a kick. For me there are some "no no's" that will get you a warning and some things will give you the boot from Justamom.

WARNINGS:

1) asking for gold in guild chat

2) repeatedly asking for help questing

3) spamming the meters in raid chat

4) making an inappropriate comment to another guildie

5) not bringing Justamom chocolate:)

GKICK

1) Another offence after a warning of above

2) Ninja looting from a raid (whether its us or pugging elsewhere)

3) Taking from the Gbank to resell items

4) Racial slurs

5) giving Justamom white or dark chocolate ...must be milk chocolate

Hmmm have I missed any?

My Dreanei Mage Update

2009-05-18T04:13:00.000-07:00

I've just hit level 37 on my new toon and I'm flabbergasted at how easy it is to level and make gold.

It seems every quest almost gets me a bubble. It doesn't have that same grueling and at times overwhelming feeling it had in the early WOW days. I'm sure I'll feel different from 70-80.

Since I hate being without gold and I'm on a new server, I'm working that much harder to ensure I have gold at 80. With my Herbalism and toon level, its a perfect time to farm around Arathi Highlands. Steelbloom, Goldthorn and Fadeleaf sell for very good gold since not just the alchemists need the herbs but the scribes are using these lower end herbs and duel spec is a bonus

Presently, I have 1066g which I thought was pretty good for my level. It would probably be about 1200g but I did treat myself to a couple of armor pieces here and there.

Don't tell anyone but I've been purchasing the Icy Cloak Pattern regularly from Micha Yance, Trade Goods vendor in Southshore for about 14silver and then reselling it for 14-15g. A very nice profit for a low level. This makes it worth keeping my hearth in Southshore even though I'm questing elsewhere. Mages FTW:)

My good friend Rorik from The WoW Street Journal is a big WOW economy watcher and loves to follow the warcraft trends. For me I just kinda watch for them as they come to me.

So make sure as you are leveling a toon (especially a first toon) that you have a gathering profession that has no investment. It will make getting those mounts much easier.

Oh and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself with no ganking horde and my great new guild:)

JUSTAMOM'S SUNDAY WARCRAFT TRIVIA

2009-05-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

On Sundays I hope to put up some WOW trivia questions. Test yourselves and see how many you know without looking them up. These questions will be all WOW related with varying degrees of difficulty. Just place the question number and answer in your post.

1. Who is Gryth Thurden and where would you find him?

2. ________ is a female guardian; requires the Staff of Prehistoria to gain access to her chamber.

3. Where would you find someone named Turpster?

4. Where is the most northern Inn in Northrend?

5. The __________are humanoid walrus people who live in Northrend. Although seen throughout Northrend, they make their homes primarily in the Borean Tundra.

6. Which popular blogger is a retired Air Force major, with degrees in psychology (UCLA ’74) and business administration (Missouri ’78).

7. In which building would you find the portals for the alliance in Dalaran?

8. Which mobs and zone drops the “Captured Firefly” pet.

9. ______________ is an orcish outpost built on a crossroads in central Durotar

10. What is the name of the achievement for reaching an arena rating of 1550 in 2v2?

NOTE: Special thanks to my dwarf hunter husband Krystofar for creating that great trivia image for me.

Would Millions of Dollars Change Your WOW Life?

2009-05-16T01:09:00.000-07:00

Myself and my hubby often discuss if we won millions how it would change our lives and those of our family. Aside, from traveling, new vehicles, clothes and sharing with family how would it change our WOW life. Well, first we need to call into work as permanently rich:)

Here is how we would spend our millions to make the game that much more awesome sauce (as Bre would say). A new house with a very large gaming room with a few extra stations set up for our gaming friends. Of course, we need a amazing gaming systems with 30"monitors.

An absolute must is a small kitchen area in the room with lots of gaming snacks and a direct line to Dominos Pizza hehehe. We would pay to have friends travel up for some crazy gaming weekends and do it in style.

Yup, we have every loot card and so would everyone in our guild. Want to go to Blizzcom, we'll have a private plane pick all our guildies up.

OMG I'm excited thinking about hehehe. /sigh What a crazy WOW life it would be to have the best of everything. Now, if only I had won enough money to do away with ninja looters hehehe.

Mage Glyphs While Leveling

2009-05-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

Obviously we are very limited by glyphs we can use as we level since glyphs have level requirements. Glyphs cannot be aquired until Level 15 but at least now you can add your glyph anywhere and do not need the Lexicon of Power. For me its about defense as well as offense while I level. At level 30 I currently have:

Majors:

Glyph of Frost Nova

Glyph of Ice Armor

Minor:

Glyph of Frost Armor

The minor glyphs are very "meh" to me. Nothing great really and for the major I liked the defense of the ice armor glyph and the additional damage of the frost nova. I am currently frost, although some folks have said I should level as fire, but I'm a creature of habit and leveled my main as frost so I'm pretty comfortable with it.

I am, however, going to put my next couple of points in Fire Blast so I'll probably then take the Glyph of Fire Blast.

Euripedes from Critical QQ did an awesome breakdown of the mage glyphs and their suitability for raiding, soloing and pvping.

I'm sure as I hit the higher levels I will change up my glyphs, but for where I am now I think these glyphs work quite nicely. Here is a full list of the mage glyphs.

Wet TShirt Contest!

2009-05-14T02:51:00.001-07:00

I recently won a t-shirt donated by the Twisted Nether (good Lord, am I pluggin' them again?) in an Ebay auction for a childrens charity hosted by The Hunting Lodge My husband already had the tshirt and I really wanted one and so the bidding began and I was fortunate enough to win:)

Now the Twisted Nether is desiring a new tshirt look so they can have a tres chic appearance while attending Blizzcon. I'm hoping with my super "fill in this blank later" and my hubby's sweet design talents that we can come up with something cool.

If you have a creative bone in your body...give it a whirl. There are great prices for the winner. OH, and the wet t-shirt contest thang was just to get you reading:) And you read this didn't you?? You read this whole post ....PERVES hahaha

TNB TSHIRT CONTEST

Where Did You Come From?

2009-05-12T20:37:00.001-07:00

I came from a land far far away... blah blah blah... actually we came from Quake 3 Ufreeze. This simple but fun game of freeze tag that was totally addictive. For those that aren't familiar, I'll give a brief explaination.

Quake is a first person shooter game and you would be either be on the blue or red team. You would shoot your enemy with either a railgun, rocket launcher etc., but instead of ending their life they would be frozen. If you froze the entire enemy team, you got a point, but if one of their team members stood by them for 3 seconds they were "thawed" and back in the game. Needless to say there was alot of camping frozen opponents to keep their team members from thawing them.

It was a very fast paced game and we used grappling hooks (a beam of light that would shoot out, attach to a wall or ceiling and then rapidly pull you to it. You flew though 3D space like Spiderman). Eventually many members moved on to Warcraft and other games. One of the things my husband liked most about the game was that it was entirely skill based. There were no levels, no classes, no better armor or weapons. If you won, it was because you had more talent or a superior strategy.

Ufreeze was my start and damn, I could mess you up with that railgun:)

Where did you come from?

List of World of Warcraft Blogs

2009-05-12T03:44:00.000-07:00

For those of you not famliar with this list, the great folks at the Twisted Nether have created a wiki list of wow blogs. It's a great way to see whats out there, especially if you are looking for something specific about your class, professions etc.

You can have your blog added to the list, which I just signed up for this morning. The list is extensive and there is a section of general wow blogs and those separated by class. It's a great way to get yourself out there in the blogging community by visiting other blogs and bringing them to yours.

Specially thanks to Bre & Fim at the Twisted Nether for starting this great blogging network

My Sugar Daddy

2009-05-11T08:03:00.001-07:00

My husband, like myself, prepared well for 3.1 to make his fortune. He knew that glyphs would be the highest demand item once the patch came. He prepared by having a hugh supply of inks ready to go. Duel spec was going to make him rich:)

He diligently has been putting glyphs up every morning and every night before bed. The pure volume of glyphs makes this a time consuming task. As of last night my dwarf hunter husband has earned 40k gold since the patch dropped 4 weeks ago. He was tickled pink. However, this is not pure profit. As you probably know, the new glyph recipes came in the form of Books of Glyph Mastery. There are 61 books I believe and he just obtained the last one a couple of days ago. He paid approximately 1200g the first week or so for the books after the patch and then in the last most week or so they have dropped to about 300g. In total he spent 25k on the books for a net profit thus far of 15k. With all the glyphs learned, it is now pure profit.

This morning he has 22 glyph sales for a total of 651g. The market is tough as he is often undercut; however, there is still a huge opportunity to make substantial gold.

So I'll have to pick out somethin nice for myself that my sugar daddy can give me. He already got that condo for me at SW Harbor...so now I'm a kept woman. Sugar daddy FTW!

WOW GPS FOR DUMMIES

2009-05-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

I am the type of person that comes out of a store in the mall and isn’t sure which direction I came from. My sense of direction is absolutely miserable. Thank heavens for coordinates and addons with arrows in Warcraft (still doesn't help me in SW where I am eternally in a lost state) .What a huge difference from questing without any addons to questing with them. I would say your time is definitely cut in half. Presently, I use Lightheaded and Tomtom which make questing very smooth. Lightheaded provides details about each quest as to where the mobs are, whether there are adds, if it is a difficult quest, or any bugs with a quest. Tomtom also provides coordinates with large arrows pointed in the direction of your quest. These are priceless.

ie. You just picked up the Hogger quest, when you open the quest log there is a little tab for Tomtom on the right side. This is where you will see the information provided by others about that particular quest from Wowhead. You can click on any coordinates in blue to have them make a waypoint on your mini map. Immediately an arrow will appear on your screen, noting the quest and the direction to travel. Once your toon steps over that location, that waypoint will automatically be removed. You can also get coordinates for the quest turn in NPC.

In my opinion, the information from Tomtom is approximately 98% accurate. Every now and again I’ll find some ill advice, but it's rare. Knowing exactly where to go when you pick up a quest is half the battle. Questing doesn’t have to be painful and people like me don’t have to remain lost in the realm.

Progressive Percentage?? What the Hell?

2009-05-07T11:42:00.001-07:00

Since I'm now leveling another toon, I am always up for doing some complaining about drop rates but apparently this was done in vain. According to a former World of Warcraft lead designer and current next-gen Blizzard MMO director, Jeffrey Kaplan, Lich King Warcraft has now adopted the Progressive Percentage system.

So, with this system your chance of getting a quest item increases as you farm it. There is apparently a base drop rate now of 45% which, depending on how long you farm a quest item, that percentage will gradually increase. Of course as soon as I read this I did notice with the quest I was working on that it did drop more frequently/faster for the last 4 quest items I needed.

Hmmm has anyone else noticed this? Here is the link to the article....interesting stuff. Hopefully I explained it properly. Here is a link to the article.

Progressive Percentage

Favorite Places in WoW

2009-05-06T03:14:00.000-07:00

I have found traveling from zone to zone that certain zones appeal to me for different reasons. Westfall I love for the errie music which I actually find quite peaceful. Elwynn Forest is just so quaint...who wouldn't want to live there.

When I first walked into STV I was amazed at the jungle atmosphere. The colours of tigers against the flora of the jungle. The sounds of the gorillas and the birds. It was very captivating.

If I could live anywhere in warcraft where would I live? I guess Elwynn Forest since my husband also loves it there and its close enough to a large city for shopping and a nice walk to the beach in Westfall:)

We are often very quick to get on the attack of Blizzard with the issues we have but I think if you take an indepth look around in the zones, you will gain a greater appreciation of the work and detail put into creating this magnificant magical world and all the entertainment and fun it provides us with.

My First WoW Embarrassing Moment

2009-05-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

I think I was probably level 8 or 9 when I first went to SW. The impressive buildings, beautiful scenery were pleasantly surprising to me. I made my way to the Trade District and was told by a friend there was a bank to store any extra items. That sounded very cool to me and so that was one of my first stops in SW.

I walked into the lovely building and was smiling as I entered seeing the cordoned off section of line up space. I navigated through and saw 2 or 3 people standing at each teller. I stood at the end of the roped off area waiting my turn...yes you heard me right, I was stood in line at the bank waiting until the people in front of me finished with the teller. I thought people were just being kinda rude in each others space while the other person did their banking. Besides what was the roped off area for ?? Esthetics?? (Yes fool thats exactly what it's for.)

When people started to go ahead of me and running up to the teller I couldn't believe how rude they were. I know its just a game but come on people, wait your turn.

My husband laughed his buns off when he realized I was waiting in line.

Now I'm always first in line:P

Authenticators – An Absolute Must

2009-05-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

It was our worst Warcraft nightmare come true. I logged in first thing in the morning to check my AH sales. While stood at the mail box I got a glimpse of my husbands toon standing there as well. I glanced at his screen to see if he had logged in before me, but it wasn't opened. When I opened up my bags, all my gold was gone. Nothing else, just my gold. I yelled for my husband who immediately logged in but quickly gets kicked, as now the hacker has changed his password. My daughter now checks her account only to discover all her gold is gone as well.

I was shocked and felt very violated. Yes its just a game but I consider it my personal space on the internet. We finally resolved that we had all at some point logged in at my husband’s computer into WOW where the key logger obtained all 3 account information. Our security system didn’t flag it unfortunately. My husband immediately mailed Blizzard and got the password changed.

That day, we ordered our Blizzard Authenticators which were about $7.00 each. We keep them on cords attached to our desks so we always have them on hand. It took about 2-3 weeks to get our accounts back to their existing state and as much as we were frustrated about the hackers, we were more frustrated with ourselves for not ordering the authenticators sooner.

For those that are not familiar with the Authenticators they are a small electronic device with a digital screen. Once you enter your user name and password, another little screen appears to enter your authenticator number. Every time you log into Warcraft, you simply click the button to get your new code. This prevents key loggers from obtaining the information since it changes every time you log in.

For more information about the Authenticators you can visit this Blizzard page to get the details.

Trash or Treasure

2009-05-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

If you have leveled a toon before you may already know this information but for those of you that don’t or may not think of it there are few tips about what you are vendoring. There are many items that you might normally vendor that have value to someone in the game.

One item in particular that has value is meats. Most animal meats you come across are used in a recipe or two. Take a look at the list of cooking recipes and keep in mind any meats that you could sell in the AH. A lot of folks with gold could not be bothered farming meats, especially the low end stuff. Take a look at each item before you vendor it and determine whether any professions can use that item.

Also, note which festivals or events are going on at the time. Right now small eggs are required for Children’s Week to make the Chocolate Cake and are selling for about 1g each. For my lowbie toon this is a great opportunity to boost my income.

Please don’t trash those low end greens. New enchanters are always looking for inexpensive greens to DE. Even at my low level of 14 I can get a couple of gold for the low end greens I pick up.

So never be too quick to vendor the goodies from your bags. Perhaps some hidden treasures will bring you closer to your first mount.

Making A Living

2009-05-02T12:47:00.000-07:00

Well it’s a been a huge adjustment starting over financially on a new server. Usually when I start a new toon on my main server I simply send myself a few gold to get things going. This is different though. This is truly a fresh start but now I have the knowledge of the game and professions to get me moving.

My initial instinct was to take Herbalism and Mining since there is no gold investment in these professions but I really wanted to try out alchemy and knew at the high end of the game there is good money in Alchemy. Herbalism feels easy and while I level its easy to pick flowers. At level 12 I’ve just capped my first level at 75 and have gone for training. I may have to wait a while to level any higher since my next herbs are mage royal, briarthorn and stranglekelp which will be in an upcoming zone.

I’ve already earned 12g, which at level 12 I felt was pretty impressive. I can sell my stacks of peacebloom, earthroot and silverleaf for about 1.5g-2g per stack which is a nice sum at my level. For those that don’t have gold to get their first mount I blame it either on their lateness to start their professions, not having any professions or just laziness. Making gold isn’t that difficult.

Checking Out The Carebear World

2009-05-01T12:27:00.000-07:00

What's this? No ganking? I can complete a quest without interruption you say? I must check this out, and so my adventure begins. I've started a Draenei Mage on a server with my good friend Bre.

I've now been considering moving a toon over with some gold but I thought it may be a fun adventure to start from stratch to see how quickly I can now make gold while I level. Bre helped get me out of Exodar since I really hate questing in that area and made the journey to SW. Should be fast leveling since I know the area and quests pretty well. (Hey I thought Hoggar was a non-elite now ...lets just say "it got ugly")

I think when I start questing in STV that the realization of no horde confrontation will really hit me. STV was always one of the nightmare zones while leveling. This is certainly an efficient way to get a toon to 80 without those ganking interruptions. Will I miss the excitment of calling on guildies for help and watching my guildies kick some horde buns...we'll see:)

Right now, I am enjoying the quiet with my level 10 but look foward to playing with the big boys at level 80.

Playing on PVP Server

2009-04-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

Playing on a pvp server certainly does have its challenges and I am not immune to the relentless ganking that occurs. Of course, as a member of the Alliance we always feel the Horde are evil and start all the fights. Perhaps I feel that way because personally I don't or I guess I should say rarely gank.

As an avid farmer, I usually give up nodes if horde are around since my pvp skills are lacking to say the least. My guildies always joke with me that I always carry swiftness potions and frankly there may be some truth to that:) Since, I'm fairly certain I can't beat the horde, getting out of combat has become somewhat of a game for me.

Mirror image, blink, invisi will often do the trick. I love to be on top of mountain in Storm Peaks where I can throw myself off and slow fall.

I must admit though, especially when leveling up, Swiftness Potions were my best friend and got me out of many a difficult situation. No need to ever tell me twice in a raid "its a wipe" I'm half way to the door by then hehehe.

The most important thing I've learned playing on a PVP server is to not let my opponent disstroy my love of the game. If I'm camped I'll either call for help from guildies or log for a bit. The game is always there and the gankers aren't going anywhere. May as well make the best of it.

Pull Up a Chair

2009-04-30T07:41:00.000-07:00

As a mother who plays warcraft, I certainly have stories to share about my adventures and those of my family. Let me first introduce myself; I'm Cathy and my toon is an 80 mage named Justamom on the Bleeding Hollow Server. My daughter is an epic 80 druid healer who loves to pvp and my husband a dwarf hunter who enjoys both pvp and pve.

We are part of a family first guild and consider ourselves casual raiders. We have been playing for over 2 years and have made some great relationships.

My main interest in the game aside from the social aspect is PVE and coming up with fun ways to make gold. I'm an AH veteran who loves to farm and bring home the bacon:) Its very convenient to have 3 accounts with different professions not only for making gold but to help each other.

I look forward to sharing my stories and that of my family.

That being said, pull up a chair at my mage table...always room for one more!