Every once in a while I can’t resist a photo op!
I had to swerve to miss them!
I like getting new gear, and I like knowing what gear I need. Specifically, I like knowing what bosses, dungeons, or raid bosses I no longer need to worry about. Back in 3.3, I reached a point where I was very rarely seeing anything drop that I needed. This was when I decided to start tracking gear upgrades.
Because I wanted to complete Loremaster of Pandaria, running dungeons only once I reached them in a story, I didn’t really need to worry about gear until I finished questing. That happened on the 4th, and I quickly made this spreadsheet. By the 10th, about one week later, my item level was high enough to queue for LFR. While I’ve run every instance, I actually haven’t run every heroic. I keep queuing for random heroics, but I haven’t been given heroic Shado-pan Monastery yet. That doesn’t bother me; it’s just an observation. I’ve completed the LFR of Mogu’shan Vaults and am hoping to be able to continue in LFR soon.
There are some areas that I’ve barely touched. For one, I haven’t PVP’d much. When I don’t need to run heroics so much, then I can run battlegrounds. I’ve only done one scenario. Again, I’ll do that later. Dailies are something that I really need to tackle more. I’m focusing on the Klaxxi first, but I’ve only spent a few days on them really.
Regardless of the amount of content left, I like seeing my gear spreadsheet shrink. It lists all possible upgrades, where to get each upgrade, notes BiS per raid level, and ranks each item. The nice thing about ranking is that when I get a new piece of gear, I don’t need to compare it to any thing else. If I get a piece ranked 4th in my spreadsheet, I can delete the items ranked 1st through 4th and update the numbers accordingly. (Maybe I should have ranked them the other way, but it is what it is until I change it.) There are only 22 more items I need from heroics! That sounds like a lot, but it’s nice to see it shrink. Hopefully it gets a lot smaller this weekend! (And really, there are only 214 more upgrades in the game for me. That’s only a handful, right?)
Lost!, Chris Pearson, Confessions of a Grown-Up Gamer, 11/14/12.
WoW let Chris know that he was in the wrong zone. Unfortunately, it didn’t elaborate.
Mists of Pandaria and the new age of World of Warcraft, Mike Schramm, WoW Insider, 11/9/12
How Mists of Pandaria represents a new era of WoW content.
Know Your Lore: Dailies and story development, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 11/11/12.
A look at how story progression and dailies have changed.
Know Your Lore: The mysteries of the pandaren, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 11/14/12.
What do we know about the pandaren? More importantly, what don’t we know?
A thought about the Brawlers Guild, TyphoonAndrew, TyphoonAndrew’s – Eye of the Storm, 11/10/12.
Why do you fight in the Brawler’s Guild? To fight.
Brawlers Guild Invitations, Rohan, Blessing of Kings, 11/9/12.
Rohan explains the Brawler’s Guild and gives some alternate ideas for inviting players to join.
Blizzard Talks about Brawler’s Guild, Olivia Grace, WoW Insider, 11/8/12.
Blizzard responds to questions and feedback about the Brawler’s Guild.
After obtaining Loremaster, doing all the dungeons, and gearing, Mooglegem and I were finally able to enter Mogu’shan Vaults. It was an enjoyable raid, although I’d probably need to run it a few more times to fully form an opinion.
When Mooglegem died, I took it upon myself to cremate my body. Don’t worry; no trolls were hurt in the recording of this picture.
We wiped a couple times on The Spirit Kings due to some bugs. We couldn’t get everyone in the room at the start of the fight. That’s fine except that when you get the boss down to 0% and people are locked out of the room, it counts as a wipe. I took the time to transform the entire raid using Hallow’s End wands. I almost got through all my wands!
When all was said and done, I managed to score two items from LFR. I’d call that a success!
I made a lot of progress in World of Warcraft this weekend, but there’s something more important than my progression that I wanted to talk about today.
Saturday my friends Kristine and Justin were in town, so gem and I had dinner with them and our friend Nate. The three of them our people we met in our guild, Carpe Flux Capacitor, and Kristine’s our guild leader. As usual when I see them, I had a great time. We went to California Shabu Shabu in Costa Mesa, CA, which is a fantastic shabu shabu restaurant featuring vinyl toys, game-inspired art on the walls, and a generally fantastic atmosphere.
Even if we stopped playing World of Warcraft, I’m very thankful (hey, this is sort of a connection to Thanksgiving, eh?) for the friendships I’ve made in the game. Thanks for dinner and the friendship guys!
A weekend without WoW, typhoonandrew, TyphoonAndrew’s – Eye of the Storm, 11/7/12.
Sometimes it’s good to take a break.
Over the Haste Cap: What keeps Olympic gold medalist Aries Merritt hurdling raids?, Lisa Poisso, WoW Insider, 11/1/12.
Yes, you can totally win an Olympic gold medal and still be a hardcore raider. Well, okay, probably not you.
Patch 5.1 PTR: Upgrading items with justice and valor, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 11/6/12.
This is going to be very important soon.
Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: When is a well not a well?, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 11/4/12.
What if the Well of Eternity was the remains of a fallen Titan?
WoW Archivist: Blizzard’s hot and cold attitude toward weather, Scott Andrews, WoW Insider, 11/2/12.
Why are people excited about weather in Pandaria? This might give you a clue.
The economics of perfect gem cuts, Basil Bernsten, WoW Insider, 11/2/12.
If you’re a jewelcrafter and don’t know about perfect cuts, this is important.
Maine’s “World of Warcraft” candidate Colleen Lachowicz appears to win State Senate seat, Adam Holisky, WoW Insider, 11/7/12.
I honestly don’t know a thing about her political opinions.
Around Azeroth: Dragon envy, Elizabeth Wachowski, WoW Insider, 11/3/12.
I just thought this was pretty.
The Terrible Turnip is a pet collector’s best friend, Alex Ziebart, WoW Insider, 10/31/12.
I would like this pet, please.
With the presidential election behind us in the United States, I thought it’d be a good time to discuss the future of the Horde. We still don’t know have confirmation of what Garrosh does to make Horde and Alliance decide to unseat him, but we’ve been told that he “has become corrupted and has been doing some really nasty things beneath Orgrimmar.” I suspect this is sha corruption, and my guess is that he’s trying to control and use sha underneath Orgrimmar. At this point though, who knows? What I’m anxious to find out is who his successor will be.
Thrall
J. Allen Brack, lead producer, claimed that Thrall would be reinstated, although Blizzard later backpedaled. I really loved Thrall, but lately I’ve been disappointed in him. More and more I think that his legacy will be founding the Horde, but that he doesn’t really have the ability to lead. I don’t think Blizzard should go this route.
Baine
Baine has been thrust into a leadership position after his father fell in battle to Garrosh. It’d be fitting if Baine took Garrosh’s position after taking his own father’s as well. He’s strong and willing to fight, and he loves the Horde. He’s also willing to talk to the Alliance and very much wants peace. My character would love for him to become Warchief, but would the Horde be too friendly with the Alliance?
Vol’jin
Vol’jin promised Garrosh he’d be the one to kill him. I’m very confident that that will come true. I see Varian acting honorably and pulling back from landing the killing blow before Vol’jin shoots an arrow through Garrosh’s heart. Vol’jin is aggressive and has been more and more willing to get his hands dirty lately. He’s willing to work with the Alliance, which is great. While I could see Baine wanting to unite with the Alliance practically, I don’t see Vol’jin going that far. Vol’jin would make a good leader, but he’s also one people expect.
Sylvanas
Then there’s Sylvanas. If Blizzard wants to keep tensions high between the Horde and Alliance, Sylvanas should be the next Warchief. Garrosh is bad, and most people dislike him. Sylvanas is bad, and many people like her. She’s a much more interesting character in that she doesn’t have personality shifts (Garrosh demands people act honorably and then uses the mana bomb) and is simply who she is. You may not agree with her actions, but you’re not surprised by them. This would also give the story an interesting twist. Imagine the Alliance’s response when they find that Varian led a fight to unseat Garrosh only to have Sylvanas fill that seat. If they did this, I’d suggest they make the Undercity the capital with portals to the new zones in the next expansion, but leave old portals set up the way they are. This would keep Orgrimmar an important hub for some content but spread most of the population into the Undercity. (However, this wouldn’t be mirrored to the Alliance unless a new reason is introduced to make Ironforge the primary city.) Is this likely? I don’t know. But it would be very interesting!
Mooglegem and I worked on Townlong Steppes and the Dread Wastes this weekend. Here we were looking for a yak in Townlong Steppes. This one was quite mean… and smelly, angry, and, dare I say, very bad. He was a cute too.
I loved this quest, The Terrible Truth. While investigating the Sha of Fear, this quest led me to some infested catacombs. When I saw my screen go red and my health drop to practically dead, I panicked. I felt the fear of dying, and I quickly used CDs and began to spam heals. When my health didn’t increase, I realized the truth. I, the player, had succumbed to the Sha of Fear just as my character had. I love it when games play with emotion, and this one of the best I’ve experienced.
We also found the missing Titanic Watcher, Huggalon! Of course there needed to be another watcher! He drops the B.F.F. Necklace, which lets you put a B.F.F. buff on someone. We waited for him to respawn so we could each get one, and then we gave each other the B.F.F. buffs (because we’re B.F.F.’s).
At Niuzao Temple we made sure to stop and play with Niuzao, the Black Yak. He’s cute too. He seems to spend his days running in circles around the temple.
After finishing Townlong Steppes, we ventured into the Dread Wastes where we met the Klaxxi. This was a very interesting zone. It’s not very often that we get such detailed lore about an enemy race.
When we were tasked with walking Dog the sea lion around the waters off the coast of the Dread Wastes, we had to take a picture. I want to take Dog with me everywhere!
And before you say that Dog wouldn’t like the dry land, look here! He’s totally hanging out on dry land with Mooglegem and looks very happy about it.
Not all of the Dread Wastes looked like a wasteland. Here’s a very lush, bright picture showing the other aspect of the zone. For a place called the Dread Wastes, the zone was actually quite beautiful. I think there’s a sense of elegance to the sha-twisted trees even.
With the completion of the Dread Wastes came Loremaster of Pandaria. I’ve never finished a loremaster achievement so early! It’s nice to see the story in the correct order.
Horseman rise…
Your time is nigh…
You felt death once…
Now, know demise!It is over,
Your search is done.
Let fate choose now,
The righteous one.
The Headless Horseman is my favorite holiday event in any game. His poetry probably has a lot to do with it!
We waited until the 30th, but Mooglegem and I managed to earn Tricks and Treats of Pandaria in time! I’m not sure why we cared, honestly, but it’s fun. I really wanted (as usual) the Headless Horseman’s Mount, but it wasn’t to be for either of us this year.
Here we are in front of the Wickerman in the Ruins of Lordaeron. That’s Mooglegem in front and me off to the side. Yup, totally.
Know Your Lore: Pandaria’s great oppressed, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 10/31/12.
Virmen. Yup.
Know Your Lore: Why do we fight?, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 10/28/12.
Why do the Horde and Alliance fight? This article not only discusses each factions’ reasons but also discusses their perspective on their opposition.
PSA: Ninja or Not, Arioch, clearcasting, 10/26/12.
Arioch comments on gearing, especially in lower levels, and argues that people shouldn’t be so quick to through around the term “ninja.”
SWTOR F2P Model Thoughts, Rohan, Blessing of Kings, 10/25/12.
Even though I haven’t played TOR much recently, I still like to read about it.
The effect of persistence, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 10/30/12.
A discussion of persistence and change in World of Warcraft.
Patch 5.1: Vol’jin gets a new model, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 10/31/12.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
How to keep world bosses away from the pesky Horde (or Alliance), Matt Low, WoW Insider, 10/25/12.
A few tips for dealing with the opposing faction when fighting (or wanting to fight) a world boss.
Around Azeroth: Out of the sea, wish I could be part of that world, Elizabeth Wachowski, WoW Insider, 10/27/12.
This was cute.