Sunday, August 31, 2008

Paladin Squire "Pet" in LK

No. This is no rumor. I did not hear it on another site. It is official... from my head.

I want paladins to get a pet like Mages and Shamans. Give them a squire. Let him be this lad or lass 15 - 20 levels lower than the paladin that just follows him around. Give them a two hand sword and let them lay in with their crappy dps. Let them have minimal bag space to hold stuff like a squire should. When the paladin mounts up... so does the squire, on a bland looking horse.

If I need, let it be some epic long quest line. Make me ear exalted rep with all main cities of my faction. Shoot... I would even be willing to take a debuff if I allowed my squire to fall in battle. Like a 10 min -15 to all stats or something.

The squire would not be a game breaker. It would be more comic relief. I would love it. I would even be willing to share my squire idea with other classes... Attendees or something for any class willing to do the long quest line. That would be an achievement... You have your own entourage.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Restoration

Hermit was rebuilt. He is now a level 70 again and has the majority of his stuff back. My ally are the same way, stuff has been restored. Blizzard is still investigating the gbank issue, but even some of that was restored to me so that I can put it back in the bank.

I guess I need to make my lazy butt get one of those authenticator things from Blizzard so this never happens again.

Thanks for all the encouraging words from those who stopped by are hit me up ingame. I appreciate it. You know, the funny thing is I have been robbed 3 times in my 13 years of marriage. It has never really bothered me. I don't think this would have bothered me either if it were not for the gbank issue.

I am sitting home today. I guess the hack was not the only going away present from Cuba. I feel like crap right now. Sore throat, ache all over, headache... I feel like a bunch of Locks rode by my house and lit me up.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Hackers are the devil

My account got hacked.

If it was just my toons that were affected then I would be cool with it. However, others were affected. All 5 tabs of the Guild Vault were looted. All because some stupid guy wanted to have some fun. My lock was deleted and rebuilt as a level 1. Why would they do this? Why rebuild him? Just to rub salt in the wound?

I have two accounts, so I can still play. However, now I just feel dirty. I really don't want to face my guildmates. I know it was not my fault, but that does not alleviate the fact that it was my toon that did the damage. A lot of damage.

Blizzard has sent me emails already saying that they were investigating and I feel confident that the toon will be restored, but all my gold.. gone. Will they be able to restore all that got looted? I can not see how. That was a lot of stuff. My alt bank was cleaned out. The guild vault was cleaned out. They even hit my ally. They did not delete my paladin for some reason, but they did take his stuff.

I have not loaned out my info. I have not downloaded anything? How? The only thing I can think of is maybe I get hit in the net cafe I was using in Cuba. I am home now. Maybe it was a Cuban going away party.

This is the kind of crap that just makes me want to stop playing. Even if my toon is restored, I just feel dirty.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Hurricane / Tropical Storm Whatever

So I am minding my own business here in Cuba. I am doing my job... All of a sudden it starts getting real cloudy. Then the rain comes. Then things start closing. I am thinking to myself at this time...

"Self, what gives? A little rain and these guys close up shop?"

The phone lines go dead. The internet goes dead. For a time the cable dies... I am sitting in my room, bored to death. It is raining hard so I can not go anywhere... guess I watch some movies.

Sunday comes... still raining. The phone lines come back up, still no net. I call home to check in with my wife and kids and find out a hurricane/tropical storm just hit Cuba. Woot! I had no idea. It was windy. It was rainy. It was dark. You think I could have seen a funnel or something. Maybe some huge waves. I am this close, stuck on an island, nowhere to go and I miss it all. Crap!

Oh well.

So you may have noticed no update yesterday. Yea... Thing is the net just came back up. Woot! Go Cuba!

I did some exploring yesterday and got some great shots. Found some little caves and stuff. I will see what I can do when I get back and post some pics. This is truly a beautiful place.

Friday, August 15, 2008

My Guild Split

Ok, so this close to WotLK coming out it is really no surprise. I had no real problems with my old Guild, KMM. I still have no problem with them. There are maybe 2 - 3 people I can not stand, the rest are cool. The guild split this time over the expansion really and what we each expect in a guild at that time. So all the "casual raiders" broke off from KMM last night and founded "Run for the Door." We have no intentions of becoming hardcore, and by that I mean 5 - 6 raids a night... So sorry for you if you can't make it... /gkick. By my casual label I am saying this... We raid maybe 3-4 times a week and you don't have to be there. We would like you to attend 1 - 2 if you can, why else are you here? If you can make all 4 that is cool too, but you may need to stay back some to help others progress. It may sound complicated, but this is what works for us.

There was some minor tension over the split, and I am sad to see this. However, I have been through quite a few guild splits and mergers and this has been one of the better ones.

Hope your LK plans go well for you.

Side note for the previous post. I in no way meant to sound like an ungrateful prick. I realize that there are a lot of people without the luxury of the internet. I realize I am blessed to both own a laptop and have access to the internet where ever I may go. I have just become used to (read spoiled) to having the internet right there. That is all.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Lazy Traveler

I am a lazy traveler. It is just that simple. I neglect my blogroll, I never make it to any blogs when I travel... even my favorites. I usually neglect my guild forum, where normally I am the most active. I get in a routine and just do not want to deviate. I am in a word... Boring. I am in Cuba. This is a very cool island country even with just the small base I am able to see. What have I done? Zilch. Nada. Nothing.

Each day after work I rent a movie from the local NEX (Navy Exchange - Read Walmart). I then walk to the MWR (Read Soldier Net Center / Library). I check my mail. I update my blog. I check my mail again in case my wife wrote. I log in and grind some gold on my Lock. I check my mail. I log my Druid and grind some gold. I check my mail. I leave the MWR. I go back to the room do some PT (Read exercise so I do not become a fat slob... If you are fat slob this is not a jab... I would like my wife to enjoy looking at me... That is all). I watch my rented movie. Somewhere in there I eat really fast, because dinner is important.

Yea.

What does this post have to do with WoW? Not much really... although I did bring it up somewhere in there. Tomorrow maybe... Short time in game leaves me not much gibberish to provide you with. Meh :P

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Dailies x 2

I am sure I am not the first person to ever notice this. I am sure I will not be the last. Doing dailies on two different toons at the same time is painful. I do not mind doing them daily, but back to back is horrible. The gold is nice, but not sure how many more days I can do this. I may have to have daily rotation or something. Do the dailies on one toon, while doing something else, then switch the next week... perhaps.

I have most of my starting "Kara" tank gear for my druid now. I have most of my sockets still empty, went broke... hence the hard dailies grind. Even with that oversight/issue I am still uncrittable. I am sitting at 18.5k armor and 13.5k hp. I know that I am not uber, but not bad for someone who just dinged 70. I would be raiding tonight too if I were only back in the states.

I have a question.... Maybe a demand. Where are the +ARMOR gems. I want a gem that gives me like 50 armor & + 4 Stam as a green, +100 armor + 6 stam as a blue. You see. Something like that. So I can shoot my armor right to 35k and collect my $200 for passing go at the same time.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Iguanas....

I am in CUBA right now and it is kind of a neat place. Not as cool as I thought it would be, but then again I can only see the US held side, GITMO. There are lots of igaunas here. I see them everywhere. The problem is I usually see them in an area where I am not allowed my camera... BAH!

I will keep trying... those buggers will not escape me for long.

Now for some WoW info...

My goal was to take my Druid into Kara this week and tank lower Kara. My dreams were crushed as I have no internet in my room and have to use the MWR cafe. MWR is a military term for keeping the soldiers busy :) I am pretty sure it stands for Morale Welfare Readiness... but it has been a long time since I saw it spelled out. The MWR facility is nice, but the hours kind of stink. I do not have the time to raid here. The latency is pretty bad too, but not so much that I could not still raid something easy like lower Kara.

My Coworker and I are trying to get an upgrade to our rooms but so far not looking good.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Another one bites the dust

I finally hit 70 with the Druid last night. It feels good. Now I can begin the lengthy gold farm to get him his epic flyer then I can go for the epic bird form. Looking forward to that greatly.

Minor note today... busy busy...

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Further thoughts on Bird Form

I realized several things last night about bird form.

1. I currently have 3 70s with epic flyers. It has been a while since I had a non-epic flyer. I like the bird form, I really do... but flying around I get the feeling I am doing more soaring than actually point A - B flying.

2. Part of my current xp rush has come from random slaughter. By this I mean I usually travel in cat form as I go from quest to quest killing whatever gets in my way. I use Titan as my guideline and try to keep my xp per hour at over 10k. I will gather up as many quests as I can and drop them all at once before I log. With Bird Form I find myself gracefully soaring to and fro and denying myself all that delicious xp.

3. Gathering. I am an herb / skinner. I had no idea that you could skin and pick flowers as a bird. The time saving is great. Just swoop down, pick your flower, and flutter away.

4. Kind of a throw back to point 1. I think level 68 should be a giant butterfly. I feel more like I am fluttering...

5. I am a Tauren. I am brown. While this is not terrible... I do not want to be a brown bird. Please oh please give us Druids a Pet Salon...

6. Where is the poop button? I mean come on... I want to strafe someone!

7. Was there a 7? I have no idea...

8. Go level a Druid and become a bird.

9. My guild is only 2 Druids away from a Kara attempt...

10. I think I lost track of where this was going.....

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Sportmanship

Something has been bugging me for a while now. Little comments here and there that just build up. You see it in the BGs. You see it in PUGs. You see it in General and other chat. Last night I saw it in Guild chat.

/sigh

"We are already losing, lets just quit."

"I will play again after the expansion."

"I am not wasting my time with this content anymore."

"At this point if you have not made progress, why bother?"

There are many other ways it has been said. We all know the sentiment behind it. Spoiled individuals that do not get what they want so they infect others with their negative ideas.

In the middle of guild chat last night, right before our OSN raid took over, a guildie that I do not know well spouted off some of this garbage. Rubbish. Nonsense. If that is how you truly feel then just do not participate. Do not play until the expansion. Find a guild that meets your needs. By all means, do what you have to do.

Why do these people become social parasites and try to bring others down? Why do they have to sulk because others have found joy where they have not? When we have 4 or 5 70s smashing through UBRS just for the fun of it, getting others ready to raid BWL / MC / Ony... and you do not want to, why does that bother you? Let us have our fun. Let us enjoy the game any way that we can. If we find value in old "stale" content, then so be it.

If I choose to hang out in Ghostlands at level 70 leveling unarmed and getting exalted with Tranquilen, it does not mean I have too much time on my hands. It just means that my allotted time to play the game for that evening will be put forward to that goal. If I have fun doing it then fine. I help lots of lowbies out while I am there with the two main elite quests and have a laugh or two.

Just a small rant. Perhaps you too have "enjoyed" these people. We will continue to enjoy these people, sadly, as sometimes they act normal and lure you into a whiner ambush....

OSN AUG 8th

Last night was Tuesday. In my guild that means OSN. What is OSN? Bah... Old School Night of Course! We had our best turn out yet with a full raid of 10 people at one point. We crushed UBRS and had several near wipes and one real wipe on the Tier 1.5 summoned boss. He still hits hard... It was loads of fun. At one point someone asked who was on heals... Heals... just kill things... we will deal with that later :P







Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Can I Has an Update Plz.....

I have made some changes. I changed the template as I wanted all the "stuff" to be on the right. I can not find the perfect template so expect this to change too. I have added a sitemeter count and a feedburner thing as it seems to be the current trend...

Do you like? Any suggestions on what can make it better? Feel free to comment, negative or positive of send me an e-mail.

D&D

I have not forgotten the D&D that I mentioned. I will be out of town until the end of August first of September and do not want to take the books with me. Upon my return I will check to make sure there is still interest and we shall proceed from there.

Pondering the Pox

I have been debating this idea for a while now. Not sure how to go about starting or even if it would really work out, but it seems like an awesome idea. When I first made Tsar, he was made in a group with this idea in mind. The group fell apart and most of our druids were abandoned.

I will give it some more thought. Have to find others in need of me, or willing to do it with me. I am thinking either a BE Paladin, Orc Hunter, or Undead Priest for tank, dps, or heals.

/sigh

Too many cool ideas out there.

I'm a Little Birdy too....

After 50 long years of waiting I finally got bird form on Tsar last night. What? I know that game has not been out that long. I know I am no where near 50. It just feels like it has been that long...

What did I do upon hitting 68...

I Clicked on Teleport : Moonglade.

Trained in my 4 new skills.

I then hopped on a bird to Thunder Bluff.

I checked the AH for the Badge of Tenacity... still no luck

I picked up a few things on the AH.

I flew to Shatt, turned to a bird and wasted the next 45 minutes....

Priceless

Monday, August 4, 2008

Time to Kill...

Recently my good man... err... Orc Ratters mentioned how he was bored one day and leveled his unarmed skill. Well... I have needed to do this for a while now. I finally broke down and did it last night while doing all the quests in the Ghostlands.



As soon as I pick another old zone to do quests in I will finish up Unarmed and work on my swords. Woot!

My Starting Feral Tanking List

This is by no means original. I have looked at many many sites and feel this is the quickest easiest way for me to semi-gear my druid. This posting, I guess, is more for me than for anyone else. This way I can come back to it at my leisure.

Braxxis Staff of Slumber (AH @64)

Belt of Natural Power (70)
2 Nether Vortex
10 Primal Air
10 Primal Life
2 Heavy Knothide Leather


Badge of Tenacity (70)

Stylin’ Purple Hat (69)
6 heavy Knothide Leather
2 Cobra Scales
8 Primal Shadow
4 Purple Dye

Necklace of the Deep (65)
3 Mote of Water
10 Jaggal Pearl
1 Shadow Pearl

Resolute Cape (70)
10 Primal Mooncloth
12 Primal Earth
1 Primal Nether

Heavy Clefthoof Vest / Leggings / Boots (70 / 70 / 69)
6 / 6 / 4 Heavy Knothide Leather
40 / 34 / 20 Clefthoof Leather
4 / 4 / 4 Primal Earth

Delicate Eternium Ring (70)
1 Eternium Bar
5 Mercurial Adamantite


As of right now I have the Braxxis Staff of Slumber, Necklace of the Deep, Resolute Cape, and Heavy Clefthoof Boots. I am getting there.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Realizations

I have been deluding myself. I have been one of those locks that have thought… “Most of my dps is from dots… therefore spell hit is a lesser stat.” Yes sir… That was me. I had lots of crit. I had lots of spl dmg. I had lots of mana regen, over 200 to be exact. Where was my spell hit? 89.

I have been reading around lately and had some spare gold so I started working on that issue. Most of my gear is geared towards damage so I am going with spell hit gems. I got some new enchants for my gear… and I am slowly working back towards that magic number of 220.

I realize this comes a little late in the game, with WotLK right around the corner and all… However, there are still plenty more Kara clears in store for me. There are lots more ZA runs. There are lots more runs where we as a guild try new content before it becomes “stale.”

My goal with the Druid is really just to get him to 70, and get him in Kara. I am not after gear… I just want to know that my Druid did Kara too. I have myself an “easy” to acquire gear list to get in the door. I want to tank with him, but would be fine as dps or even as a tree. I will see what the guild would prefer, although we have plenty.