Ardent Defender

Thoughts on Leveling my Shadow Priest

2009-11-10T10:08:00.003-05:00

Ahh maintenance day. I get to have the day off and servers are down for maintenance consuming my day off...... bummer! Unfortunately I didn't get to play much or at all on the weekend either, since was too busy working as well. But did get to play a little before the server shut down for maintenance enough to move my newbie Shadow Priest along to lvl 51. As well he will remain my entire focus in game play till he gets to lvl 80.

Good thing as well the Shadow Priest is my very last Alt I'm leveling up for the rest of WotLK as well and my last time leveling through the soon to to be forgotten world. I will be finally glad to be done with my leveling project as well. So the end is in sight as well.

And so far I'm also enjoying learning the ways of playing and leveling up Shadow Priest strictly for dps and to play around with like my other few 80 Alts as a option to the weekly emotional gyrations to all things Paladin.

I've had my Priest for almost as long as my Paladin has been around. He's was at first my banking mule, then prime banker for way too long. So its good he's finally seeing some long delayed adventure. One the thing whether I was tanking or in a instance I just never see much Shadow Priest around. Holy and Disc Priest for healers but few "fultime" Shadow Priests. I did read 35 pages of thread at Elitist Jerk forum to get up to speed. I cant say exactly what i remember, but I did learn a few things, though I cant really say what exactly that was after 35 pages and I read every one of them.

For leveling up my last Alt I needed something a bit different to play and something interesting to me at least. It was almost a shoe in bet that I would level up my lvl 22 Druid. I was sure it would be my Druid as well. But when I logged onto my Druid and looked at his spells having not played him in forever I just couldn't think of what the spells remotely was used for nor did the names make easy sense to me. My Priest remained a option, but it was my last option.

So I decided I would test run a Mage and a Warlock both to lvl 10 to see if it was something I felt like playing. And I did lvl both to lvl 10 quickly and couldn't quite decide between been a evil Warlock and a nukeum Mage. DPS capability of either class had no really factor to me. Something different and something fun, but something different! Between the Warlock and the Mage, i think i somewhat preferred the Mage. So then I decided to take my lvl 20 Priest for a test spin somewhere. I hadn't played him in years, I wasn't even sure what his spells did anymore or how to use.

He still had quests from Ghostland. So took him on a few quest spin through Ghostland on green quests to get relearn how to use spells and abilities and get a feel for things. Took me at least 2 levels to get the hang of playing things. And at some point playing my Shadow Priest it just seemed like something I would enjoy in a evil way. The style felt like something different and interesting to play. I noticed I never died much or barely ever. So I just kept playing and it seems like fun to me at least and kept playing and all options of possibly leveling my Druid with much versatility evaporated as well as any options of a nuking Mage. I'll level a Druid someday though I'm sure.

So 31 levels later I'm still playing my Shadow Priest. One the odd thing is I play classes that can heal, but you will never see me playing a healer. I like the versatility in utility but I simply don't play healer. I just don't enjoy it as a full time gig. In emergency as a utility yes, but otherwise no. My Paladin can heal, my Shaman can heal, but neither will ever be spec to heal. So my Shadow Priest will just be for pure dps.

My experience so far leveling and learning the ways of a Shadow Priest seems a bit like roguish Warlock. Both use dots and dots but with a few Blasts and Mind Seering that seems fun. And for me it was interesting enough as well and figure out how to use spells. In some way I find a Shadow Priest quite a bit tough even though they wear cloth and can take a few hits. And I guess what i mean they have survivability and seem tough to die vs the other cloth wearing class. And I guess I've always like that as well and was something to grow into liking about my newest alt.

Stuff seem to dies fairly fast leveling as Shadow within use of a few spells. And i guess you have to get use to playing the class and using the abilities as well. At some point at low lvl sometimes it can seem a bit boring but with limited spell options its easy to see why as well. Leveling I never ran into anything I couldn't kill or kill with a bit of strategy and some thinking in how to approach. At best If things seem challenging I could just fear away a mob and tow it about and mind seer it to death which always seems fun to do.

At least I survived which is always a good thing. But I've fought mobs at +3,+4 and fairly easy. At +5 it becomes a bit quite difficult due to spell misses which is tough on mana if spells are missing leveling. But I've managed to win the greater majority of the time still despite that but its usually a close call. But its fun testing out what your limits are and how tough you can be to manage to survive being killed by a mob. And that's something for me to like in playing Shadow.

Until you really pick up Shadowform things can seem a little slower. You do drink a bit after dot dotting a few mobs for a kill in a row for mana. But after picking up Shadowform the spells start getting a bit interesting for talents and abilities. While leveling I could easily stand surrounded in a camp of mobs and take down 3-5 one after another without needing to drink for mana and it can be fun. Sometimes I just play to kill a mob but mostly conserve mana to lessen the down time. Later on you pick up the Vampiric Touch for more Shadow Damage and mana regen and it gets even more fun and have even less of down time but more manageable. But it seems to get easier leveling with the talents and abilities. And that's making it fun to play the class and character. Something about dealing Shadow damage seems fun to me while melting the minds of mobs. Im aware of some the class/spec issues reading around on Elitist Jerk but class changes been at warp speed in WotLK and im sure things will keep changing for improvements and into the next expansion for the better hopefully.

I guess with good skill and gear allot of those abilities get enhanced. In leveling good gear can be difficult as well to come by reliably. For the most part i just make due and not worry about gear to much and just have fun toying with mobs. I can eventually see myself playing or dpsing as a Shadow Priest at 80. It seems fun enough to play despite whatever the class challenge is. Some people play classes just to be epeen on damage meters. I at least like to have fun in what I'm playing while seeing how good i can get playing my class and to work at increasing my damage output in what I'm doing.

So far my Shadow Priest is a Tailor and Jewelcrafter and only manage so far to be working on Tailoring since he had to drop 225 Enchanting since he's had that for forever to pick up Jewelcrafting since my Shaman is a full Enchanter. But so far I'm enjoying Shadow, its seem roguish to me as a caster. I'm not sure if you would enjoy it with a fair amount of play for the class, but I know I do.

For now its fun and I'm sure it will continue to be even more fun as the levels goes by. I'm enjoying the leveling and learning experience and that remain run in learning a new class for diversification

Reflections on 1000 Emblems

2009-11-07T20:00:00.016-05:00

Some days you just going playing the game and something happens that make you reflect on how you've played the game. I've never quite like chasing Achievements. I like when things happen naturally and unexpectedly doing stuff as a surprise for doing whatever it is you were doing. And BAM it happens!

But the other day I hit a 1000 Emblems and I was totally surprised when it happened.
A guildie needed help with a Daily Heroic and couldn't find a tank. He knew I had one, and I didn't want to tank either for him the Heroic. I just didn't want to have to tank anything period! I didn't want to have to log on my Paladin and roll into a Heroic which I haven't stepped foot into for months. I was reluctant to tank to say the least. Ever been there? He was a good guildie and told his to see if he can find someone else since I was playing or leveling one my dps characters and it was what I played daily. So I said if you cant find any tank for Heroic in LFG or Trade I could tank it for you. Most reluctantly really!

Logging on to my Paladin felt a bit wired. I barely recognized my UI, I barely recognized my spells. I had to think for a while what they really did even though I knew what they did in general. But I had to reacquaint my mind with things. I though to my self, its been a while since I've been here. Hope i can remember how to swing a sword and shield. Sounds funny, but really it happened. I felt rusty beyond belief. Numerous reasons why I was reluctant to tank even for a guildie. Ever hate when someone ask you to do something you don't even want to do?

Anyway the guildie just needed me to tank for his group in Heroic DTK for the daily. I could of cared less about the Heroic, I just didn't want to have to play my Paladin. I'm still on vacation from sword and board. I still remember how to tank, but my tank reflexes were slow, i felt rusty going through the motions of things and thinking what this and that spell do and what to use. I could barely remember my macro's and how I had them set up to use. I had to think vs things been a reflex action to things. To most other people on the run I don't even think they could tell the difference though the run went fast. But I knew the difference in my performance.

So tanking Novos the Summoner I saw a flash on the screen for a Achievement. I barely noticed what it said since it was so sudden. But it said Achievement for 1000 Emblems. At that point I started reflecting on things. I thought wow 1000 Emblems really? Big deal some people got 2000+ Emblems since WotLK, most are really progression raiders on content with that much Emblems. WotLK dungeons been open a year now, so allot of time to rack up lots of Emblems/gear for players playing endgame content.

I kept thinking the whole time and reflecting on the achievement. For the most part none of my achievement really mean that much to me, I just don't care that much about them that much. But some do make me thing or reflect on things playing my character. This one made me reflect on my time up to now even though I was just taking my Paladin out for a spin to help a guildie out most reluctantly.

And when I really though about things with the Achievement, my total time playing WotLK on my Paladin is just 3 months including the time going from lvl 70-80. Sometimes Achievements alone don't always tell the whole story of a character or why or how you got to that point in time.

After coming back from my long hiatus since WotLK launched, my first Northrend Dungeon starting leveling from 70-80. I was right at lvl 70 then.

That was my first Heroic at lvl 80 while working on my gear. My guild at the time was busy running Naxx 25. They offered to help me gear up or come to Naxx and get somewhat easy gear. Our ubar Holy Priest Jimmy at the time even offered to heal my Heroic runs to help me out. Wasn't my style to get gear like that in raid, I like working for what I have. So I ran Heroic and geared up on my own while my guild ran Naxx 25 at the time for lots of Emblems.

Fairly geared up as one of our guild tank core that was my first time in Naxx and it was a Naxx 25 Raid. I was OT with my former guild buddy and GM our Warrior and another Paladin. A few more Emblems.

My first Northrend 10 man raid. Just a few Emblems.

On our weekly Naxx 25 guild raid progression we finally downed Sapphiron to some degree of effort on our third try or so it was. But raiding was taking a bit of toll on the guild and our GM in the effort. A few more Emblems though. Much drama went down after that raid and the guild fell apart soon after. Was a sad time playing WoW and for raid progression.

Around this point out guild Warrior and GM quit wow due to other guild members lack of dedication and weekly raid progression issues. So sadly guild broke up and I transferred server to a new server starting over. On new server I answered a call for a pugged Ulduar 10 man raid as the OT and got my first Ulduar 10 man progression kill. It felt hollow as it was without my old guild as well. But progression it was and a few more Emblems.

This was my last Heroic ran on my new server even though I was new to the server. I was just loosing all interest to swing my sword and board. The guild break up was rough! But a few more Emblems. Remembering back I didn't really run any more Heroics after since till hitting 1000 Emblems. I was starting over somewhat playing a alt Shaman and more.

Another pug Naxx 25 man raid on the new server. Was finally able to clear Naxx 25. It still felt hollow to complete Naxx 25, as it was in a pug and not with friends. But it was complete the raid dungeon. A bit more Emblems for the effort.

Another random pug on the new server for a Ulduar 10 man run. I was in Dalaran one night with nothing really to do on my new server. Need a OT for Ulduar then gtg. Why not! Hey I'm available. A few more Emblems. Total raid time in Ulduar 3.

After that raid that was the last time I progression raided, ran any heroics or played my Paladin to do anything worth while or just played my Paladin at all up until this point. Its been that long since I've really played my Paladin. So taking him on a around the block tank run I hit a 1000 Emblems for just 3 months of WotLK playtime.

So i reflected on that and things that have transpired since. I would imagine If I had kept raiding or kept at things I could of had double that amount of Emblems/gear and more in raid progression. It just wasn't my focus anymore to raid or stack up Emblems for gear. At some point I just made a choice to just not log in and do anything meaningful on my Paladin for focus. So hence my reluctance as well when the guildie asked me to Tank for his Heroic. I just didn't want to. But eventually I did.

I guess that's the story of my 1000 Emblems where Achievements never tell you the whole story of things or how you got there. I guess i reflected on that and how many patches its been since all that time or how much things have changed as well as class changes. Lots to reflect on as I did. I could of been further along I thought thinking of things and more Emblems and better gear for the count. However I don't have any regrets in the months that has passed since.

In patch 3.3 1000 Emblems can get you a ton of gear. I'm behind much in the gear curve now. I guess I'll need allot more Emblems now and loot luck to catch up. I guess that's something now to think about as well. I guess that Achievement made me reflect on all that. Funny how things are.

Screenshots: Shadow Priest turns 50

2009-11-07T04:58:00.003-05:00

So far its been fun melting faces. I'm enjoying leveling up my Shadow Priest. He turned 50 a little while ago on the road to 80. Never knew leveling a Shadow Priest could be as fun.

Quitting Life on Silver Street

2009-11-03T11:11:00.004-05:00

Hey AD Whats New?

Well I got a office memo a few days ago across my desk. My 3+ year old lvl 20 investment banker who resided in Silvermoon decided to quit his day job. Seems he was tired of banking and bankrolling his other band of brothers but was seeking greater adventures besides being stuck working on silver street.

Sad to see my banker quit his day job. But he's been faithfull at his job for almost 4 years bankrolling his first brother since before he was even lvl 40.

With that my 20 S.Priest decided to pack up his bags and riches and high tail it out of Silvermoon and headed off into a dangerous world seeking his own tales of adventure.

With that I had to quickly find me a new banker. My forever 24 druid that was stuck in Tarren Mills decided he could fill the job spot. Banker position filled!

All is well with the world it seems at the moment and for the last time in WotLK one of my Alts band of brothers will be making his way to 80. This time as a Shadow Priest.

Shadow boy is enjoying his new adventures melting minds and just hit lvl 41. He seems to be enjoying his new life afterall.

State of Things 10/27/09

2009-10-27T10:42:00.002-04:00

I didn't really had any particular post in mind, though I could think of a few or the many on the save to finish list in the blog. But its maintenance day and usually a good day to write something having the day off from work as well. Current state of my gaming in WoW at the moment is totally casual and at the moment. I'm just pretty much playing alts and still on vacation from raiding as a focus. So I guess that can pretty much sums things up.

Well aware of all the content added to the game over the last few months. At this point much of that content seems like old content at this point to many players. I simply haven't done any of it. So even though most the end game content is like old news to most players its still content I have yet to try to see or participate in. And much of the reason is that as stated before that at the moment its just not my focus at the moment to focus on the latest raid content and all that entails.

For the moment my state of play is casually focused on getting other things done as a goal. I'll get back to raiding eventually. For the moment I'm enjoying the down time, as well I usually sleep much better these past months vs sleeping and dreaming I'm still actually raiding. So that's a plus more restful sleep, especially when I'm more tired these days as well from real life work. So I can play or log off whenever I feel like or get tired without having to worry about raiding or the commitment to it at the moment.

State of Altism

My Paladin

When you played one character so long with focus you do need a break to see the world through the eyes of another character. Thus I haven't really raided with my Paladin since around early May 2009. That's almost 6 months now. When I last raided I was in Ulduar 10. My raid progression at that time stopped at killing Freya. Since that time their has been lots of new content and patch changes to the game since. But that's the last time that I really played my Paladin for real endgame content. As well I'm enjoying the break as well. I've run a heroic or two lately just to help out a guildie but that's about it.

I just haven't been inclined to Tank anything else much or answer any of the numerous Pugs on my realm LFM Onyxia, Ulduar, ToC that I see daily. Its been almost 6 months and in that time my current tanking gear on my Paladin seem so outdated. Hell its so out dated that new lvl 80 Paladin Tanks have more HP than me after a week it seems at lvl 80. I'm just not inclined to do anything about it until after patch 3.3 for the effort to try and upgrade any of it especially with Emblems getting changed again in Patch 3.3. No point in wasting the effort right now either.

Shaman

Though my Paladin remain my main character, my Shaman gives him a good run at being that main character. As I do enjoy playing my Shaman allot. Shamans and Totems are fun! I haven't done any raids on my Shaman. Mostly just done heroics with friends and helping a few guildies run heroics mostly. But he has fairly decent gear as a Enhancement Shaman and can do over 3K dps in heroics. Not sure how much that would be in a 10 man raid. But I'm sure its decent. My Shaman has Dual Spec so Elemental as off spec since I prefer it over playing healer plus it gives me a range caster class to play around with or can play as a option.

He has some decent gear for off spec as elemental as well though not as good as my Enhancement Shaman. Overall I enjoy playing my Shaman. At the moment I don't really run Heroics all that much anymore since can't really upgrade all that much else with Emblems at the moment either. But our small guild has a decent Shaman for dps.

My Unholy Death Knight

Playing the DK is fun in some ways as I enjoy a melee class. I also enjoy being most anti-paladin as well so being Unholy Spec suits my taste. He's got decent gear for Heroics and usually always top the dps meters in most my Heroics runs. I can play him at a respectable skill level and much better if I'm playing him daily to tune my skills. Since I don't play him all that much I see no point in giving him Dual Spec either as another spec for me to learn to play when I don't play him all that much currently.

Since I got him to lvl 80 and did a few Heroics to get him some heroics gear I haven't really played him all that much since, probably not much at all really. And since Emblems are getting changed in patch 3.3 I see no reason to expend the effort at the moment to change things till after helping other new guildies at 80 gear up in the process or getting other things done. Though fun to play I don't play him that much. Just a run here and there so my skill at playing him don't totally diminish. I have yet to make him a BlackSmith as well and level up the skill.

My BM Hunter

My Hunter is the newest of my 80's and my 4th. Ive run him in few heroics so far and even though still gearing up in gear and needing a bit of gear I can be 1st or 2nd on the dps meter in heroics with pet and his gear is not all that great which totally shocked me in the few heroics I did. But I did take the effort right after getting him to lvl 80 to get him out of green gear and into some decent quest blues or starter gear and a few crafted epic gear and the rep grind a bit to get him some enchants. Even got him some Ulduar pattern crafted Boots. So, much a process in getting him geared up a bit though not as a priority by any means either.

I find him fun to play but not over my Paladin or my Shaman but still easy fun to do other things. Will just work on him slowly whenever I can. May pick up a dual spec on him and just make his dual spec a solo tanking pet spec just to solo hard stuff with the pet alone for fun and kicks. Currently he does Skinning/Leatherworking. I have yet to have the time to level him up in leatherworking since he had to drop max mining to pick it up.

Shadow Priest

In the last of my Project goals for WotLK and before Cataclysm, I have started to level up my Shadow Priest. Not to play a healer of course since I don't play full time Healer. But just to play a Shadow Priest!

On the road to Cataclysm most of my leveling Projects in WotLK for Alts is almost done.

Really, Surprised It Wasn't a WoW Player!

2009-10-23T07:29:00.005-04:00

Saw this reading some odd stuff earlier. But apparently a Indian man broke the Guinness World Record for officially playing a Video Game (GTA) for over 40 hours. And he plans to do it again sometime soon to try and break it by going for 48 hours officially.

I was thinking nuts dude. But so are allot of WoW players and especially like the ones that play continuously during WotLK launch leveling continuously from 70-80 and other WoW related stuff.

So I was a bit surprised that a WoW player didn't already have this official Guinness World Record. Yeah not healthy by any means. But I was expecting maybe a WoW player. I mean there is that much interesting stuff to do in WoW for 40 continuous hours +++ if you can stay awake that is.

Was wondering have this guy never heard of World of Warcraft. And then, how come some other WoW player don't have this official record. But then again I'm not sure Blizzard would want that kind of possibly negative publicity either of some young teen playing their game for 40+ hours straight with negative consequence for a already very addicting game. Gamers get enough negative scrutiny as it is for playing online games.

I for more than certainty have played WoW before at least 24 hrs plus on some past weekend before and that didn't seem to take all that much effort and for of all things I was fishing just for fun for the last 6 hours of it and that's even considered quite boring stuff by most WoW players. That was way back when I caught the Turtle Mount.

Just surprised it wasn't a WoW player of all people or some so called anti-social player in Azeroth.

New LFG Random System in 3.3

2009-10-22T20:37:00.005-04:00

Been reading notes on the new soon to come revamped LFG System and Random Instance selection feature of it and reward.

So stated thinking will this system be smart enough to lock you out and not try and group/send you to a Heroic Dungeon your already saved to for that day? Does anyone knows if it locks you out of Random group selection if your already saved to a Instance?

I would have to imagine that this new system has to be able to do that somehow.

Public Service Announcement!

2009-10-21T07:12:00.006-04:00

We all are aware of it, some your guildies just might also do it or have done it. Maybe you too have even done it.

But i'm sure most of us will ask that you don't support those of that perform those services or those that sell that shinny WoW stuff. You know, the shinny stuff. Do it at your own risk!

A word from Big Blizzard, don't support the services or those that sell the shinny stuff. Protect your community and your valuable account. Read it here and there and over there.

Pass the word, protect you and your guildies so they know better!

And with that PSA have a great WoW day.

lvl 80 Take 4

2009-10-18T09:18:00.012-04:00

I've been busy leveling up my Alts some time now and working on my Hunter I finally got Krovon leveled up to 80 last night with my 79 croc pet Crocky. He was at lvl 70 for over a year since back in tBC, so its finally good to finish off what I started. So getting my Hunter to lvl 80 makes my 4th 80 now having leveled 3 of them my Shaman, Death Knight and Hunter up all in last few short months alone.

He leveled up really fast and with 2 pieces of mail heirloom the Shoulder and the Chest piece for the 20% XP as well having rest bonus to spare from lvl 70 all the way to 80. It was often Fun and Fast leveling up since I only leveled my Hunter while he had rest bonus. Still had 80% rest bonus hitting 80 and made it more pleasurable. Often just fun for a change of things.

Got to kill a Rare Elite in Storm Peaks (Vyragosa) on verge of hitting 80. I was totally surprise to even find this Rare Elite as I was the furthest thing from my mind to do. But was flying g up to N.Storm Peaks and spotted this odd looking Blue Dragon flying off to my left which seemed out of place and never seen before. I though to self, how odd that Dragon in this area. Curiously moused over him and said "Rare". So started chasing him down and sent Crocky after him and got the Nothern Exposure Achievement. It dropped a nice Blue 78 BoE leather helm and a Satchel of stuff with 19g for the booty. I got to skin the Dragon for Icy Dragonscale and leave no trace of its existence as well. Was a nice surprise and Achievement find.

Caught Vyragosa traveling the route from south in Western Storm Peaks up the frozen waterfall way up past Frosthold where the flying banshee looking mobs are then straight up past the cave in the area. From there it traveled north past Valkyrion and straight up north into the Snowdrift Plains going the north route as if heading straight north up to Ulduar. I was able to catch it right before it entered the narrow mountain pass on the Snowdrift Plains before it got to the Ulduar ruin area since lots of mobs were around. Think it had around 40K HP and wasn't too hard to kill.

But if you want to catch this Rare Elite for the Achievement that's a route you can travel to maybe a chance to catch it if your lucky. Always fun chasing down a Rare spawn.

Pets I have - Ferocity: 76 Drakuru Raptor, 76 Ghostpaw Alpha Wolf, 75 Dire Raven.

Pets I have - Tenacity: 80 Snowdrift Jormungar Worm, 79 Mangal Crocolisk.

Patch 3.3

2009-10-16T19:31:00.007-04:00

Have you read the PTR patch notes for patch 3.3? Its damn awesome!

Which part? Just about all of it. What's not to love.

Buffs are plenty for almost all classes and lower cooldowns on many major spells.

BoA Helm & Shoulder enchants from faction usable at the correct lvl means the endless grinds are over. "Sons of Hodir" grind anyone? What's not to love? Well maybe less gold in your pocket from less of the grind. With my faction exalted Paladin I can buy any alt their max Helm & Shoulder Faction Enchant if need without them enduring the endless grind. However I would of grinded it anyway, this just saves lots of time.

Shadow Priests getting lots of Buffs. Mages getting permanent summoned pets. Hmm might be worth leveling my trusted banker Shadow Priest for the fun or a Mage. Who knows though.

Huge bump in Northrend faction rep gain. Yeah, awesome, less faction grind! Who doesn't love less grinding. Still kinda Meh! I would be pleased with increased major city reps being available from all faction cities.

Hunters pets take less XP to level up, awesome go to love that. I know I do too with a stables full of pets on my Hunter.

Shamans get to play more with their Totems. Yeah Shamans are fun!

You get to finally kill the main man Arthas because your so bored of everything else.

Game getting so easy even a idiot can play it.

Ok, back to playing WoW....

The Emblem QQ again...

2009-10-08T17:59:00.003-04:00

WoW never cease to have its ups and down with players and their gear, their love of purple pixels and their complain over Blizzard making it easier or too easy for new raiders to get gear up into raiding to see the various content. As well as doing so diminishes their hard earn work and accomplishment.

"It increases the pool of people that are geared enough to raid, I have no problem with that. But it does worry me that it begins to open up the potential for even more poor raiders who don't know the fundamentals of raiding and don't want to learn. That is potentially problematic and is something that is already an issue in the game, things like this increase it.

But like I said, it makes it so that more people are available to do content, which, to me, is more fun. So I'm sort of torn."

Lulia - DK, Tankspot

I'm a bit torn as well, because I also agree with the statement above as well and I'm not even a active raider at the moment. The reason I'm torn is that like some and many players I do take some pride in actually checking in and putting in the work to earn anything I wear. Whatever the work is put the effort into getting it. I used to raid so i know what effort goes into it. In the end though its damn pixels and coding and I choose not to get attached to it, even if i worked for it. Because I'm always well aware things can and will change in and over time.

I'm a fairly highly skilled player and having not raided in months by choice I haven't been on the hunt to try and down bosses with a group of friends or enjoy the content raiding it and earning gear as the reward for beating the content encounters. I guess i decided for a while some time was better spend leveling up a few alts now vs later. As several of those alts have leveled up i too have put in the time to run them through Heroics and get them geared up to a satisfactory level for later raiding.

Does getting Emblems to purchase the vendor gear diminish the the time effort put in to earn my gear? I still had to put in time and effort to get the gear to gear up. What many will say its trivial content. But still a person has to put in time. Some casuals are too lazy to do that as well. Never in my history of the game have I as a player ever been carried by anyone through any content. I never payed for a run, never been run through any dungeon in the game leveling up. I geared up while leveling up through the content. I tuned my gear at 80 to do Heroics. Then did the content performing competently and earning every Emblem for the time doing the content to acquire gear for later raiding when I return to it.

Yeah its was fairly easy as a skilled player who been through it before, but one has to put in the time still. Many people are now earning gear that way as well for their entry as well as their second and third alts into raiding. Many the same people that going to QQ about Emblems are the same ones that will use it as well to quickly level up their alts in between the contents they are on.

I'm torn a bit because I know what its worth to work to earn something. Many Raiders get upset because they had to spend lots of time on the content and wipe a bit in between to doing it to earn their gear in the process for their Hey Look at Me and My Purples. And here come along Blizzard and change things giving and opening it up to more casual players to earn higher lvl tier gear without the same effort that they themselves had to endure to get. It shouldn't be any surprise to anyone that this is how WotLK has been all along with what Blizzard has openly said before with wanting everyone in some way to see or experience the content.

As a player I'm not attached to purples, its nice gear but in the end to me its all pixels and code. What some players cant seem to take some enjoyment in is that they did the content earlier than most got to experience it, they beat the content with their friends and guildies and earned the gear. They saw and beat it way before many casuals did. Some cant seem to take pleasure in that. To some its not ok when their newer lvl guild 80's or newer raiders look just as leet as they do with the same gear. Look the same but in no way skilled the same usually. That is not ok to them. Hey you didn't do the same work as I had to do, no fair and QQ more about it. Yeah I'm torn with you at times because i understand the process. But I'm not stuck on it either.

Blizzard wants everyone to see and experience the content so its not hard to expect sooner or later that things will get reset that more casual players will be able in some way at some point to earn higher level tier gear as the content gets older over time. Players alts end up benefiting from this greatly. And much so it will going into the soon to come next expansion. For some players its just not ok for new raiders to look like them in the same gear without the same effort that they put in. Some you raiders get carried on your raids, i have no illusion about that either.

Our young 10 man guild is just gearing up to soon do Naxx 10 as a young guild. While some players put in the time already to earn them some we have though that they didnt had to put in any real effort to get some decent gear as new 80's to start raiding. They were depending on being carried by better skilled and geared players. Yeah I was torn on that too and some the players had to be told that their gear totally sucked and go work on getting better gear along with their spec. Some players will still suck even if getting emblems are easier to earn and makes lousy skilled raiders.

Emblem change mean Its good for alts being able to gear up for fast entry into raiding. That don't in any way make new unskilled 80's good raiders. That's you and your guildies job to help make the new casuals in your guilds better raiders.

I'm a bit torn that that I can gear up my alts a bit faster into tier gear, I'm really torn about it. But don't be so surprised the next time Blizzard changes things in the future Emblem wise.

Unusual Tactics

2009-09-29T13:44:00.003-04:00

I've been meaning to write something about this for a while, but I was just too busy focusing on leveling a few alts. At some point I really did want to write about it because I was dealing with this set of unusual tactics daily. At some point in a wired way it became a competitive game of a sort when dealing with the Auction House.

Of what sort of game I cant say, but when you hate to loose you try to win at all cost or find ways you never though of. In the end I came to the conclusion that my personal time was much better spent doing other things I had as a goal to get done vs battling with Unusual Tactics on my server with a seller.

Everyone makes a huge deal over and about the Glyph Industry and the selling of them on which ever server your on. Each server has its own economy and they are all different. The power sellers that tend to control or manipulate whichever words you like, they tend to find innovative ways to dominate their own server AH in various ways. So you can make a bit of money selling glyphs. It can take a bit of investment as well. As well you can go broke big in that market too depending on your server economy and a few good goblins there as well to break you.

If you want advice of the sort to selling glyphs or other AH tactics you can go read Greedy Goblins blog whether you like him or not as a goblin. I've read his stuff too like allot of other stuff i read.

I've been a AH seller for as long as I've played WoW. I've always made plenty of money on AH but i don't need to gobs of it either. I learned that way back leveling up my Paladin back in tBC doing Alchemy when I would park myself at AH in Undercity and makes potions and elixirs for hours vs leveling. I figured out how to make money at my own bootstraps in WoW and with my own professions. So in WoW I've never been broke for money. But i'm not much of a spender either or for fluff stuff.

Even though I make a bit of money through various things I never have much use for making tons of it either. Simply in WoW I'm not a big spender nor am i as a player a huge consumer either. There really isn't anything in game I really spend money on or choose to. So even if I made lots of money and I do it becomes moot after a while since you never spend much of it on anything or anything I care for. So when it comes to making money on AH I just do it for profession activities and just fun.

Which leads to the tale of my DK selling Glyphs on my server. Back in March/April or so after returning to WoW and playing again I rolled a DK since I hadn't before for WoLK. So I leveled one up eventually to lvl 65 and made him skilled in Inscription. Parked him in Org, leveled him up in inscription to 450 milling/selling glyphs. I have a few toons skilled in Herbalism so it wasn't too difficult to do. Nothing to that.

I mentioned several times here on the blog before that I was doing that as well and that I did rather well at it. I did it just as a daily hobby especially since I wasn't playing my Paladin much or doing dailies on him. So it was my way of just one of several ways of making daily side income in the AH economy by using my DK. So he sold glyphs in peaceful existence with a few other regular sellers on our server AH. So in the months I was selling glyphs you recognize the major server power players who do it daily. There was less that 5 major ones and many many minor floaters by. I would say I was a player just by sheer activity on AH.

Did well and made money. AH for me is just playing around making money as a mini-game. At some point literally over night I noticed the glyph market changed on my server. It was due to one particular seller/player that started selling glyphs and changed the balance of things. And of all the names in the world his name was the exact name of the enemy to the Horde. Cant imagine what that name was do you? Yeah that one.

Couldn't care less if the seller name was Mightymouse. But he named him self after the enemy and started doing over time what i noticed was unusual tactics in a huge way. If i ever hated a damn player this one shot straight to the top of every list i had in mind in game.

This one player on my server became in my opinion thorn in the ass that sold glyphs. I cant say i had a problem with any the sellers before. I didn't with the guy that would put up what seem like almost 2000 glyphs on AH daily. Na didn't have a problem with him. We both sold stuff and he even stopped selling a while with the new seller on the block that was upsetting the balance. But the new seller had ruthlessness that was goblinistic if you ask me.

For a while it depressed the market in price as well as affected how many items I sold daily with lots of returned unsold glyphs. It became apparent when I started noticing lots of stuff expired returning to mail unsold. That became suspicious as it didn't happen before. I still sold stuff and was still doing glyph research on my DK as well learning new glyphs at the time as well.

This one new player on the server was trying to corner the AH glyph market. He just about sold ever glyphs under the sun. So literally he obviously sold more glyphs than I could since some I hadn't learned as yet. As well he was competing with the other sellers. I started paying attention to the sellers daily and to the tactics this seller was using. Slowly a few of the regulars on the server over weeks seem to stop selling. Even the guy that was listing 2000 glyphs a day on AH for mass listing. A few kept at it. A few sellers I had heard was bought out by the new seller. Some the sellers I could see around Orgrimmar so i knew in some way who they were by name from AH.

The Tactics.

What i started noticing about this one seller/player was initially he started selling on his main which was obvious by name to his entry on the market. He was a lvl 80 Druid. He was never there before, so i suspect a person who server transferred. Then he started selling on his alt which had the name of the enemy and the one that was obvious. How I was able to tell that both was that they used the same pricing always on everything as well underbid the same with the same price underbid priicing. Always by 1c on everything bid and buyout.

Next a few other glyph sellers seemed to enter the market as well which seemed like there was allot of competition as well. What became obvious from how the pricing was listed on items and underbid was that they were like 5-6 new sellers but really it was the same person/account but selling on 5-6 different lvl 1-10 toons. Each toon was selling glyphs and seem to be competing with each other. I'm sure they weren't. Few of his alts was even listed in the same guild. The others was in a tiny one person banking guild.

But whenever this one guy was underbid whichever of his low lvl 1-10 toon he as on he would underbid right back by 1c. Over time it seems like their was 5-6 different sellers, when actually it was just one player. That all caught my attention since when I was at AH i would look at the seller names and the price, bid, buyout price and by how much. In time you figure its the same person generating competition on various random glyphs or underbidding as it happen.

When my DK was selling before he entered the market he sold glyphs since all he was using was inscription bags to hold allot of glyphs. But some time back I had started leveling my DK as more focus and made a new Alt to handle all that storage and selling of glyphs while leveling up my DK.

So on my new lvl 1 glyph seller I started tracking this one seller that was a AH thorn. On the glyphs sellers that sold glyphs I suspected that was him I added to my lvl 1 seller friends list. Based on the log in and out it turned out that this one seller had 2 mains that sold glyphs. A 80 Druid and a 80 DK and about 6-7 different alts that all sold glyphs under various names on AH underbidding everyone else around the clock based on login and logouts. His alts did nothing else but stay at AH as they never ever changed levels.

What also became obvious was that he would log in on his prime glyph seller screen name and relist his his glyphs up to 3-4 times a hour. That's about every 15 min's he would relog to check prices and if he was underbid he would mass delist and relist again underbidding everyone else by 1c-5c. I used to wonder how I was being underbid so fast and getting so many things back unsold. This particular guy did it all day long. Literally all day long.

In my job I work odd hours sometime at days and sometimes at nights on shift. So at times I can be logged on on WoW real late at night or real early in the morning based on work schedule that week. It wasn't unusual at various times when i logged on to check stuff i had on AH that this one guy was also logged on at AH or at the Mail box in Org or in Undercity depending on which of his low lvl alts he was on.

His alts were all at AH or at the mailbox. It wasn't unusual when I logged on to my Paladin in Dalaran to transmute the new epic gems that his main was sitting at a mail box making glyphs or something else as well looking at my combat log to see who's crafting what around me. I have no idea what this guy did other than WoW. But he had the AH literally cornered what seemed 24hrs a day just about almost every day with this presence selling glyphs and not for cheap baring no competition.

I used to think, hey this guy cant be awake at real early in he morning like at 0330 and times like that. So I relisted stuff on AH sometimes during that time of slow server activity. Before I was logged out he was logged on and changing his prices. At 10AM same thing. At mid afternoon, early evening, later at night. He was logged in and out at AH doing the same thing at different times listing glyphs, delisting glyphs and changing prices. This guy never sleeps it seems. And anyone that has that much time to be at AH around the clock 24 hours a day it seems aren't doing anything else in life i suppose.

One weekends at times he would depress the entire market which can mean dropping all glyphs to around 4-5g each flat. But on the times he did that I often noticed that he wasn't around for several hours either whenever he did. So he would depress the market so no one else can really underbid or underbid at really low profit while he was away from the game. When he was back later the redid all his prices.

When this guy had no competition on AH he would jack the price of glyphs and everything he sold up to around 60-65 per glyphs and every glyphs across the board. You notice this stuff over time. If you underbid him at say 50% price. Whenever he logs on he underbid you back by 1c-5c. And he would do that all day long no matter how low you tried to underbid. Whenever a particular glyphs was not being sold he would then jack the price back up to 60-65g per glyphs. That seemed to be his default high limit price. The average price I sold my Glyphs was much lower than his was for my own conscience. I don't need to make a a ton of profit, its just a hobby for fun. This one seller had other motivations. Each seller and why they sell are motivated by different things and probably not all the same reason.

Whats unusual about all this is this one glyph seller on AH would do this on 6-7 different lvl 1-10 alts all would do this all day long. And if he needed to keep underbidding someone to kick them out the market or bankrupting them by constant underbidding no matter how low the underbid price was he was doing it all daily.

Over time I noticed some the regular sellers that used to sell no longer sold. Some was leveling up their characters, some quit selling. Some sold on and off. This one guy kept at it. I did as well as was making a game at trying to compete with him for a while. And it became that. I just hated the thought of being beaten out on the AH or being pushed out by this one seller tactics.

I was starting to level up my DK around the same time. I eventually got him to 80 and was running Heroics a bit. But leveling up my DK i realize I didn't have the time to keep playing that game at AH with this one seller. It was literally wasting allot of my time. He watches the AH like a damn paranoid hawk and as much as he logs in and logs out on his characters to watch the AH their aren't much ways I choose to want to waste my time competing just to sell something that i just did for fun. It wasn't fun anymore at the price of time to relist stuff on AH. It was more a headache. It became a damn time waster dealing with this one guy and his unusual tactics. In that time I leveled up my Shaman and DK to lvl 80 and geared him up a bit.

I still make and sell glyphs and I do sell a few for just side income with this one seller competitor around. I could really care less in some ways. I'm just as much a annoyance to him as he is to my low lvl seller as well. But the thing is I sell for fun, the money don't mean all that much to me since I really don't buy anything much and not a big spender. This other AH seller seems to have some form of goal maybe. As what drives a person daily to spend literally so much time manipulating AH item prices just to sell some glyphs and act that paranoid to log in literally all day long to list, delist and change prices.

Since then of recent this one seller has switched to using new lvl 1 alts to try and hide on AH with different new names. But its the same person using the same tactics. And based on log in log out tracking Ive found its the same account/seller as well. He would list and log, i would come behind him and delist and relist. That was a mini-game as well. And he did it right back to me and much more often. I just aren't got that much time to waste doing that. Neither would anyone else.

I just found one or two ways to deal with this one seller guy around, though not always as successful since as well their is a flood of glyphs sellers on the market all trying to use goblin tactics on each other. I put up several glyphs on AH whenever I feel like login on my alt to list them up. Because I just do it for fun and not a focus. Working on my character goals is my focus, wasting that much time battling with that AH seller aren't in my book of good use of time while playing the game.

I don't keep as much tabs on this seller daily anymore, not sure how much he is around daily. But when I list a few things on AH I know he is still around. I check the competition names so see who's there. He may not be as often as he used to weeks back for whatever reasons but he still logs and use all the tricks of the trade with his unusual tactics.

When everyone knows the various secrets to making money in a certain market its no longer as good as a market potential as it used to be. Still good, but its no longer a secret as the word is out and not as good as it used to be. Before long that market itself is just flooded by new players.

I Got It....Both!

2009-09-22T16:10:00.012-04:00

Best way to ensure you get the drop you want is to do it with your guild if you can, at least your helping your own guildies out vs another. So three of us in our guild a Death Knight, Paladin and myself as the Shaman went and smack down the Brewfest Boss a while ago for todays run. Our young tank Paladin got himself the Stamina Trinket on the first go that he needed. On the second go the other AP Trinket dropped and our DK didn't need it though I had already passed on it. He didn't need it, so I ended picking it up on my Shaman. Great!

On the third go he dropped the new Mace Tankard. I got the Mace! It replaced my lvl 78 OH the Unholy Persuader on my Shaman which really needed replacing. I've been running H ToC almost daily and for the life of things i've never seen Aledar's Battlestar drop ever. If it ever did drop i'm sure I be unlucky enough to have a Rogue or a Druid in the group and loose the roll as well probably. But sweet I was able to get the Brewfest Mace and upgrade my Shaman OH which was much needed! I don't really care it looks like a Stein, as long as it can kick out dps. But it look even more humorous to be beating down a boss with a Stein or double Steins.

I relogged on my Paladin and did another go and our Death Knight got the Dodge Trinket that he needed.

Everyone was happy on our little guild run and a good day it was. Much better than doing it in a server PuG and at least the drops benefit someone in our little guild at least.

I be even happier if before Brewfest is over doing it with the guild daily I can get the other Mace for my Shaman.

Did you need it and did you get it? Probably some PuG horror stories out there already for someone that needed it and lost it i'm sure.

Updated 09/29/09: On the other daily runs of Brewfest Boss Coren so far with the guild smacking the boss daily the other Tankard mace I needed just wouldn't drop. Was getting worried and started to think I would have to pony up on AH and buy one listed at anywhere from 1k-2.5k on AH as insurance policy for one on my Shaman. Uhh. Prices on my server for Tankard maces float anywhere from 1000k bit to 1500 buyout and up to 3k so far. I just didn't feel like dropping the money unless I really had to though I kept a eye on the daily AH prices.

Voodoo curse be to Coren and so fortunately he has finally dropped the Tankard mace again on another guild run and I was able to pick it up. So I now dual wield double Tankard O' Terror maces on my Enhancement Shaman. My dps rocks dual wielding and slapping around a mob with those things! Woot!

Daily runs of Coren for Brewfest we have done with a few of out young 80's and almost everyone so far has got something they needed or all of the trinkets themselves. So great for guild runs to Coren daily. As well I picked up the Swift Brewfest Ram too from Coren on my Enhance Shaman. A Kodo Mount would have been better. But I'll take any mount as its better than no mount at all as well. only one other guildie was lucky enough so far to have seem or gotten the Kodo Mount so far for Brewfest. Like wise the Swift Ram as well, so far.

Raid Progression?

2009-09-22T10:25:00.010-04:00

Honor's Code on his blog some time ago asked where are you at in WotLK Progression as a poll. I remember looking at that some time ago when he posted the poll. But I've thought about that the whole time since as well.

Every time I log in to play WoW I've thought about it. Its not that I don't know the answer, Its that the answer has been rather clear to me some time ago and at the moment I remember seeing the poll asking the question as well. We all play this game in our own way. I'm a very caparable and good raider.

Currently........ I'm not on ANY current Raid Progression Path! After completing Naxx 25 my Raid progression last ended at Ulduar 10 at Freya Boss.

As well that's the last time I really played my Paladin as well in a real tanking fashion.

That is at my own choosing and as a choice. I've written my thoughts at various times as it relates to raiding. At times I like to do my own thing and whatever that thing is.

I do enjoy raiding and have. When i'm raiding I'm core! I'm dedicated to it. I show up early, i show up repaired, I stay late. I show up fully stocked with my consumables. I read strats and do my own research. I come prepared. I've always done that. When it comes to regularly raiding in WoW, TIME is my enemy for a weekly regular schedule!

I never enjoy raiding for the Epics! I just enjoy it for the fun, seeing the content and being able to beat it with a group of good friends. I do have a love hate relationship with raiding as it relates to time. My work schedule is not raiding friendly since i work shifts both days and nights. So that's not friendly to a regular raiding schedule weekly.

As well when my old guild on Zangarmarsh server died it was was my guild of a long time. It was the friends as a guild I raided with much. Sometime I pugged it and often but it felt hollow raiding in pugs with people you don't really know or will ever see again pugging things. But when my last guild died I decided to move on to a new server, so i did. I started over on a new server. I didn't care to go about looking for a new raiding guild, i just hate the process! As much as it is I've always hate joining guilds as well. I didn't feel like getting all that much back into raiding at that time. So i didn't. I wasn't driven all that much by shiny purples all the time. Though they are nice as a reward. If I raided it was for fun and being able to get through the content.

So I simply started over on my server a few months back and decided to do something different for a change to avoid my burnout again. I started to level up a Shaman to lvl 80 and I did. My Shaman started his own little guild as well when he was leveling up which became somewhat his preoccupation as well. I spent time deciding to level up my DK which was at lvl 65 for what seemed forever. So I got him to lvl 80 as well just like my Shaman and geared them up both in decent gear running Heroics and H ToC for lots of Emblems. They are both in somewhat decent gear along side with my Paladin.

Those things were goals for me which i wrote about before to tie up loose ends and get done before the next expansion. I decided to level up my lvl 70 Hunter who's been at lvl 70 for over a year. So after getting my lvl 80 Shaman and Death Knight in both I decided to lvl up my 70 Hunter who is now at 72.

So the answer is I'm not on any current raid progression path. That is purely my choice. I'm spending time doing what I want and choose to do. Don't mean I don't like to raid or given up raiding. I enjoy raiding for the fun aspect of it and to see the content.

Raiding just haven't been my Focus! And that too is by choice at the moment.

In short Burnout is a bitch! So its good to focus doing other things at time. I guess I've been doing that. So right now I'm busy leveling my Hunter at 72.

Brewfest 2009

2009-09-22T10:12:00.001-04:00

So Brewfest been going strong a few days now and so far its one the event that I more enjoy in WoW. Allot more fun than the last holiday event because I can't even remember what that was either.

Most fun so far with Brewfest is just going to kill the daily lvl 80 Elite Boss. So far I have killed the boss on my Paladin, Shaman and my Death Knight. My Paladin got the Bitter Balebrew Charm on the first day and ended up just running a few people that needed a tank for the event. He already has the Mirror or Truth for Retribution spec so didn't need the Chronium Coaster Trinket.

I ran my Enhancement Shaman through and only ended up with the Mithril Pocketwatch which I can use in my Elemental Spec since I already have a fairly decent set of gear for that as well for Elemental. However didn't get the Chronium Coaster trinket on my Shaman eventually I'm sure but he does already have the Mirror of Truth trinket though.

On my Death Knight I got the Coren's Chronium Coaster trinket. He already as well like my Shaman did have the Mirrow of Truth also. So now my DK has both trinkets which is cool unfortunately they don't stack though for effect though.

I just heard that Blizzard added this in just late last night as a drop on the Brewfest Boss Tankard O' Terror. Ya Mon! I'm really going to have to try and get that on my Shaman. Its much better than what I'm still using in my OH and it rocks for dps.

Did some other Brewfest events on my 3 lvl 80's and only thing I really cared to buy with the Tokens was to get the Brewfest Pony Keg since its always usable and just something fun to have in Heroics and Raids. So I got that on all 3 characters the Pony Keg. Have yet to get the Pint Sized Pink Elekk for the pet, but at just 100 Tokens won't be that long. Rest of the Brewfest stuff I can't say I really care all that much about to spend more time to do or get or for the Achievements also. I just don't care that much about it to want to spend any more time at it.

Still one the funnest of Blizzard WoW Events though. Hopefully you been enjoying Brewfest as well so far.

Screenshots: Shaman Weapon Skilling

2009-09-22T09:29:00.004-04:00

I really enjoy playing my Enhancement Shaman. Its also amazing how fast a Shaman can level up weapon skills on not frequently used weapons. Windfury Totems down and Windfury on all weapons rock to speed up the rate of every attempt at hitting something. Nice to have a self healing tree druid in the Crystal Forest around to practice on. In no time at all your low level weapon skills are up there. So I got the Achievement for 4 Weapons at max skilled.

Nerf Hammer Strikes

2009-09-14T19:10:00.009-04:00

I haven't been playing my Paladin much or have barely played him at all. I haven't really tanked anything significant since before patch 3.2. So all those nice changes we got back then some time ago. I've barely had time to try things out myself since all the changes came due. Now I hear the pendulum has swung to its limits and swinging back with a Nerf.

What? I'm getting nerfed! I haven't even used that shinny ability yet and I'm getting nerfed. Yeah since I haven't been keeping up much on things I was reading up over at pal Honorscode to see whats been up on things and I read for Protect Paladins aka Tankadins Ardent Defender talent is now getting nerfed. So tried to hop over to the Maintankadin Forum to see what was up as well and the site was down, I wonder why.

But really nerfed! I haven't even used it yet since patch 3.2. I haven't even really played my Paladin since before then. I have no idea what people been doing to make AD seem like its OP in some way. Damn Nerf Bat swung back for a nerf and I haven't even used my own ability yet.

Bummer.

I guess I can maybe stick to playing my Shaman and my DK a bit longer so I don't have to worry about this. Not like I been playing my Paladin much anyway. Only thing really done on my Paladin lately was solo Onyxia for the Achievement before patch 3.2.2 comes which was really easy and just doing some World Exploring for all the Achievements on my To Do List.

Back to playing my Shaman and my DK..... I guess its what I been distracted recently playing anyway for a change.

Finally lvl 80 on my Death Knight

2009-09-10T08:40:00.005-04:00

Well its taken some time since I first created him but Alithas my Death Knight (DK) finally made it to lvl 80 last night in Icecrown. To some degree I enjoyed leveling up my Unholy Death Knight more from the point of learning and skilling in playing my DK and the class. As well I was really quite happy to be finally done with the leveling process of leveling him up to say the least though. So another one of my goals is complete for now and that makes my 3rd lvl 80.

Repetition in leveling gets really old fast going through much the same content. But I just tried to find other ways to enjoy the leveling aspect while doing so to make it fun. I made my DK somewhere back in early April 09 after I came back from my long hiatus from WoW just to get the experience and feel since during the time I was actually in WotLK Beta I never spent any time playing one since I was just focused on Paladin stuff back then in beta.

It was fun to get the feel of the class playing a DK but I was never fanboy as WoW goes about playing one. Looking cool is one thing, but play mechanic is still something you have to actually enjoy after you get beyond the look of a class. What did appeal to me was that DK were a melee class which I liked and more easily understood to various degree. As well they were just anti-paladin and since I played a Paladin for what seem forever it was just good to play something opposite or anti class wise how I always played as my Paladin.

So started my DK Alithas and just leveled him up slightly to lvl 65 just to play around with Inscription at the time mostly. So for months he quietly made errands in Ogrimmar just milling/inking and selling Glyphs as side income. He did well in peaceful coexistence with the market at the time. Market has since changed a bit.

So since one my goals preparing for WoW Cataclysm was to get my current Alts leveled up so in action I had to level up my DK. A old friend rolled a DK and was now playing on my server so that played a bit into that since we both was playing one. So I spec'd and level my DK as Unholy because I found it appealing and just to be anti-paladin and anti what I've always played. Spread disease and pestilence vs curing it. Sometimes I really just swimming against the tide of things.

Leveling my DK I actually had to relearn how to play one since my DK sat for months not played. Was fun to level but more so learning and skilling part and going through the paces vs just going through the content. So the learning and skilling part was fun. Leveling is still and was much a pain. Nothing new leveling but it seemed easier to level. Dealing with casters leveling was a way to get revenge as a DK vs back when leveling my Paladin when casters were always a pain. I still found leveling my Shaman more fun overall vs a DK. But that's just my playstyle.

The last level was a pain just because it was one level more to go and just wanted to get it over with. Leveling without rest bonus sucks as well especially when you been through the content before also. But I'm finally glad to be done with leveling up my DK for now and maybe can do more fun stuff with him when I have the time. Only profession he's skilled in is Master in Inscription and First Aid, everything else is at lvl 1 so that's allot of work to skill him up.

Have yet to decide on another profession for him. More less can't decide really. I'm not one to like heavy crafting professions, I tend to prefer gathering overall vs heavy crafting professions. But Jewelcrafting have some appeal and I don't have a alt that does that. So that have some appeal. Overall lots of loose end stuff to do on him let alone put him in some semi decent gear when have time.

Only real thing I found slightly interesting leveling my DK is their self healing ability. Funny almost all the classes I play have some form of healing yet I don't practice the art of being a healer in any real fashion. But leveling up my DK I barely used Bandages or had to eat all that often to regain health unless soloing something difficult. I just ran off found a mob and Death Strike it back to full health often vs Bandaging or eating. When I leveled my Paladin way back then, eating and drinking for mana was all too common as well as using a ton of Bandages leveling up. Much different leveling a DK mechanic wise.

After learning and skilling and learning DK mechanics to some degree leveling up I think I can enjoy playing a DK to some degree vs letting him sit in a corner gathering corpse dust..... again. DK's are a very easy class to play right out the box, but can seem a more challenging time to master play properly mechanic wise. I still prefer playing my Paladin vs a DK. But Shamans are fun and enjoy playing a Shaman more than I enjoy playing a DK. All different play styles. One of those is going to win out eventually.

Blog Fix

2009-09-07T20:28:00.005-04:00

Seems some visitors to the site been experiencing a login popup with the tag Claymorehill.com for the login box that came up. Appears that blog which was in my "Blogs I Read" section was causing a site login box to pop up as the RSS Feed tried to update from all the blogs in that section for some wired reason.

Also appears that blog above is now limited access or authorization required as well just checking. Anyway I removed the blog from my "Blogs I Read" section and that seems to have fixed the problem since the RSS don't have to try to pull updated info from there.

Thanks for the feedback letting me know about the login popup related to that.

Faction Change?

2009-09-06T03:34:00.004-04:00

The recent announced new Faction Change service is amusing with the amount of Faction swapping going on. Blizzard sure will reap some huge profit from this new added service as well. What a way to reap some huge profit.

What does Faction Change service mean to me?

It don't mean a Damn Thing to Ardent Defender!

All my characters are born and raised in the Horde. I love the Horde. You couldn't get me to switch sides to join the Alliance. No Way! Absolutely Not!

For the Horde! May all the Alliance commit grant treachery to their faction and come join the growing Horde!

I know the Horde got many of you for sure.

Working on my Goals

2009-09-04T13:21:00.006-04:00

Right now just working on some my "Immediate" goals and leveling up my Unholy Death Knight Alithas. I've got my Goals in order and I'm kicking them in gear to get them done........... before the next expansion of Cataclysm. So my current project is getting my Death Knight leveled up at the moment. So he's at 76 and moving on. Stopped to have a chat with the man Arthas. Don't our names seem so similar?

It really took me a while to get a hang of playing a Death Knight again after months. He was at 65 for quite a while just doing AH business in Orgrimmar. After that much time I had completely forgotten how to play a Death Knight. So it took me a while and with some EJ Forum research reading over some time. But I got the swing of things going after a while. I still prefer playing my Shaman for fun vs my Death Knight that's my personal flavor. But the DK is still fun and just a different play style. Getting the rotations down took some practicing but I got it down as well pretty much. As well as relearning how to properly use some abilities though still working on most.

Ran a few instances when I had some time so done several. Did a DTK run last night with a few 75-77 as a lvl 75 DK last night. I was most leet on the DPS meter. Duh I'm not even a real DPSer from a experience point of things. But I did make my best effort to just do DPS and give my best effort like I always do. I remember being in some Heroics on my Paladin where dps didn't even break 1K DPS or barely. My gear is just regular gear and nothing impressive. I couldn't believe I topped the DPS meter the entire run and usually on my previous Instance run usually #1 or 2. No loot, but it was just fun to know where I score among other people that DPS as well.

Did a regular Hall of Stone run didn't pick up any loot either nor did i have any the quests for it since I was lvl 75 as well when I did. I beat the lvl 78 Hunter for DPS by a few points. I think I can DPS i guess then seeing my numbers are up there.

We had a Paladin tank the run which seem like a new Paladin or a inexperienced one. I haven't played my Paladin for a while but still keep up with stuff. The young healing Priest healed the run fine. The Tank used Seal of Light to tank the almost entire run and drank for mana often. Never once did he ever use Seal of Corruption or did I even see him use Divine Plea or kept it up. He always pulled with throwing Avengers Shield and then stood right there as the mobs came to him and then right there and when mobs was on him dropped a Consecration then attacked. Was just funny to notice these things. Never say a Judgement drop on the pull either. But he was always out of mana it seems. Anyway we finished the run ok. A view from the other side looking at the mirror.

For now working on getting my Unholy Death Knight to 80 as one my immediate goals that needs focus in getting it done before the road to the next expansion in Cataclysm gets shorter and shorter. Just one of many things working on to get done before the next expansion. If you have stuff you need to do before the next expansion start working on it now if you haven't completed it yet.

Maintenance Day Post 09/01/09

2009-09-01T10:16:00.003-04:00

Reason I haven't been posting as much is I'm just more focus at the moment with playing the game and trying to get a few goals done. Thus I've been a bit focused on doing that and a few other things that have me a bit tied up time wise.

For the most part I'm kinda working on some more immediate goals while planning for the future in WoW and instead of doing certain things later given all the news of recent BlizzCon in relation to the next expansion I'm doing them now and get them out the way of things first. So after leveling up my Shammy to 80 which I quite enjoyed allot I put him in some decent blues and one or two pieces of Epic. Overall his gear is ok for now.

I did pick up Dual spec on my Shammy so he's now Enhancement/Elemental so in my off time I can practice being a range caster in mail when I may not feel like doing melee. My Shaman stands a good chance of being my #2 behind my Paladin. For all that's uncertain I like playing him enough that he can be #1 some day possibly. Why don't more people play Shamans? Playing a Shaman and Dropping Totems is Fun!

In the past 3+ years I've never been much to devote allot of time to playing alts. But at the moment it will occupy some degree of my time considering the next expansion as well and how I will choose to continue to play the game if I do. One of my focus at the moment is getting all my alts that I plan to play ducks in a row and getting it all straighten out now vs later before the new expansion gets here for Beta and more. I should have to worry less about getting a alt leveled up later in prep for the new expansion and be able to focus doing other things. So i have chosen to do things now!

Dusting off the Death Knight

So I finally decided to blow the corpse dust off my 65 DK who been brewing up business for some months with Master Inscriptions selling Glyphs in Orgrimmar since early April. It was a hard choice considering other battles he's been fighting at the AH which in itself is another story I have to ink here. I'd forgotten how to play a DK as well. So did some research reading over several threads at the EJ forum to catch up with things and theory. But for other reasons also I started leveling up my DK which is spec'd Unholy. How opposite can you go from playing a Paladin. Holy to most Unholy!

So far I really an undecided as what to choose for my DK profession along side Inscription. So much undecided.

An Old Dear Friend

One the games I used to play before playing WoW was that I used to play SecondLife. I still do, but mostly just to log in and check up on friends that still play there and see what's happening. I probably started playing that around the exact time WoW started. But I had never heard of WoW back then. Back then SecondLife was interesting to me, more so for just being able to create your own stuff, model stuff, designing stuff and just creating whatever you wanted on a blank canvas. I enjoy being able to create stuff and actually enjoy rendering models as well as enjoying texturing and texturing model creation. So I played that for a while. During that time I remember meeting several friends some of whom also happen to also play WoW as well today.

One of my Secondlife friend Val who helped me learn that game and someone I used to build stuff with in Secondlife when I did plays WoW as well. On another server she played as a Alliance raid healing Priest. She asked me to join her on her server as .... Allaince. But I couldn't agree to play Alliance as a die hard Horde. So she eventually decided to roll Horde on my server as a DK and level up on my server but be fun as well leveling up with her. So one the reason I reluctantly dusted off my DK and started leveling him up for more the social game of things. Its been a bit fun leveling with someone else for a change vs my usual solo leveling atmosphere which I usual enjoy.

So its been able to run a few Northrend dungeons with Val for fun as well a few guildies leveling up as well in the same level range which was rather fun. So last night we had all guildie run doing UK, Nexus and AN. Was all fun as a young small guild group leveling up. Somewhat more important since its my Shaman's guild as well which he started somewhere around lvl 5 or so with all low lvl players mostly. My Shaman mostly out leveled everyone else. So coming of age playing my DK a few of us ran some new Northrend dungeons last night, so was fun.

Other Stuff to Do

I'll probably go ahead and level up my 70 Hunter when I get my DK to 80 since he has 2 pieces of Heirlooms the shoulder and the chest piece of mail to use left over from leveling my Shaman to put to good use. Hunters level pretty fast so it should also be another minor detour on my off time. I'll probably get my 22 Druid out of Tarren Mills and attempt to level him up to 60+ as the last character I'll ever level in the World of Azeroth as it is today before the next expansion changes things. That will be my collection of playing characters, none of whom wear cloth. As well all the minor alt distractions will be out of the way ahead of time for the next expansion so can just focus on things at lvl 80 with whichever character in the game at hand.

Preparing for Cataclysm

I've been thinking about the next expansion much and what I'll probably roll as a character to level in the new experience of Azeroth transformed anew. Horde will get the new Goblin race. I Worgen just looks more roguish and evil fun to play. But I'm for the Horde! And Goblins do look roguish as well. Sticking will all things melee I'll probably end up rolling a Rogue. I did level a BE Rogue once to 20 so I somewhat played the class before. So what that means I'll have to prepare and get me a set of lvl 1-80 Heirlooms in preparation for the new journey from 0-80 in Cataclysm.

My 22 Druid already have 1 piece of Leather Heirloom Shoulders which I can eventually use for my future Goblin Rogue. Will just need to collect the rest gaining lots of new Champion Seals. Then preparing for Cataclysm will be complete and out of the way as well as worrying about leveling any other alts based on current proposed classes.

If your going to be playing the new expansion, it really will be a damn smart idea if your already lvl 80 to start collecting a full set of Heirloom for your future character. I guess it helps as well knowing just what your going to play so you know what to get or how much Seals you will need to complete a set whichever you decide if you cant already decide.

I can tell you for sure 10% XP rate with one Heirloom Shoulder piece is nice. 20% XP rate with Heirloom Chest is awesome. If Blizz adds a 3rd piece for 30% XP rate leveling a Alt it will be Damn sure Awesome leveling from 0-80. Go get you some if you aren't already got some.

Too Funny

2009-08-27T07:50:00.003-04:00

That was a real good one Tobold. It was too damn funny for sure!

Yes Tobold, I Do Read Your Theory Posts to!

2009-08-26T07:40:00.009-04:00

And actually Tobold, I even read everything else as well on your blog. Hell I even read all the comments when I read your post at the moment I'm reading it. Most of the time I read your blog at work while working and when I'm bored for something to read as well I go catch up on your old posts I may have missed. But often I really don't comment as often, sometime its just silent agreement why I don't really have a reason to comment. At other times I don't have a point of view on the matter.

But I figure since I have a blog, why just leave a comment on your blog about your Theory Post. I can make a post right here about it because for some unclear reason I feel compelled to respond when at other times I haven't to a post you so intelligently though of and wrote.

This was from one commenter on his blog on the theory post by Pangoria Fallstar.

"A couple of points for you, you post ALOT, since the last time I checked your page you did 4+ posts.

2nd, sometimes you say something that people don't have an opinion on, or they're opinion matches yours.

3rd, I had wanted to add to what was said to the why we play series, but what I had to say was already said by someone else, so no opinion was needed.

I guess if I could just vote a comment up it would work out, but I don't think blogger allows for that."

Their are lots of other commenter's that I can agree with some more than others but I do agree with this one above as well in my own personal opinion.

I've been reading Tiebold's blog a very long time. I may not always read it everyday or as soon as a post goes up, but I do catch up when I can and go back and read the posts I miss if I haven't read it. I do that for other blogs as well I read. Often I read his blog at work or in just dead time when I'm not doing much which falls into the same time I usually catch up with allot of blogs I often read as well. So I do go back and read old post as it will be new to me when I do eventually read it.

As a blogger Tobold and in the time I've read your blog I've grown to respect your opinion and the intelligence as well as time you put into the things you write about if it be game or theory or something else worldly. I may not always agree with 100% of everything you write. Sometime I agree and sometime I differ but I'll respect your opinion as to why you believe what you do. I find much and most of what you write a good and often very interesting read which spurs many different sets of thoughts.

Sometime as well I really don't have any prior point of view on the subject and sometime when I do my opinion is also limited thus no reason to respond to your post but to just roll what you wrote around in my head and think about it finding it all interesting. For the times you do write things that I have some knowledge or opinion on then its somewhat something I can respond to. Any other blog as well. But then someone already wrote a response what I agree with and nothing more really I choose to add to your comments.

Tobold you think and ponder allot of interesting stuff about MMO games and game design as well as write interesting points of view that are often very interesting to read and ponder. Sometime more less often its a interesting point of view I haven't had before and now something new to ponder. So a response to what you may have written I really don't have a opinion one way or the other on the subject though it remain interesting all the same to read and be made aware.

Its much easier to respond to a point of view that your passionate about or have some experience with the point of view or opinion. Making a comment is much easier as thoughts are not hard to find. So in response to your series of "Why Do We Play?" I did read and really enjoy your series posts just like any other posts you often write. It was allot to take in. Though long, I found them intelligently written and made me think about things as well game design wise. Actually I'm still thinking. Sometime its like reading a White Paper on a technical article I often read for work stuff.

I enjoy reading your post because its often something interesting that no one else or few bloggers writes about from the point of view that you write or ask questions about games and game design like you do. I'm not a person that studies game. I just play games, yet I do find game design and the social science of it all interesting as well. I like and enjoy things that makes me think about things or a opinion piece that makes me think or even to make me be a bit informed on that which I'm unaware and now made aware.

I'll probably read whatever you choose to write about because I do enjoy reading your point of view on things or being informed on things I didn't know I might be interested in. So don't stop writing what you write just because you don't get a blog full of comments when you take the time to write something very interesting. There will always be much more people reading your blog than who will ever comment even if its something really interesting you wrote. If you want allot of comments fast just write something controversial like "Why WoW Sucks as a game"or something that gets people stirred up like a few popular bloggers in our community. You will get hundreds of comments for sure. But keep posting what you often post and I'll keep reading......even if I don't comment as often. I'm sure many others do as well.

So Tobold, keep keeping me and many others informed with intelligently written post and opinions. I can't speak for others, but I'll be sure to keep reading maybe comment when I have a opinion I can express.

I got lurkers around here as well. I know they are there but they never really ever comment. I'm perfectly fine with that as well since I never worry to much about comments. I just write about whatever I want to write or whatever interest me to write.

And with that "Why do I play"? Hmm I keep pondering that myself..........

Too Much Excitement!

2009-08-24T09:20:00.007-04:00

I guess if you haven't heard about the new expansion for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm by now I really don't know what to say. You probably been stuck in another realm maybe, because the last week and weekend been packed with the new expansion news and its damn exciting. And I'm flat out excited as well. Yet 2010 seem like a long time away as well to wait.

But I did try to keep up with all the BlizzCon 2009 news from the start all over the weekend and tried to read most all of it. Just allot of excitement all around about allot of things and so much to be excited about as well you almost forget the game is currently WotLK and almost seem outdated already.

To me it all sounds like World of Warcraft is getting a Reset!

Same characters and players, old races and a few new ones, new alliances but a whole new game world of World of Warcraft. That's really exciting for everyone with new stuff to do, new races to play and revamped professions, classes, talents and abilities for the theorycrafters to comb over because sooo much stuff is getting changed. Guild Talent are even very cool and exciting.

Can you say its just about a new game?

I'm excited though 2010 seems like along time to wait with all the news sizzling hot especially if its in the 2nd half of the year as well for the expansion.

Ah well I'm excited! I think I may stick around for the expansion just in case I was thinking about quitting. I need to start preparing for that starting now as well for the next expansion. Hopefully Blizzard sends me a Beta key when its ready, so Blizz please if your reading my small blog please send me one.

In Other News

Though haven't posted much was just busy playing my Shaman. But did get my Shaman to 80 last week just didn't have much time to play otherwise till the weekend but was just busy reading BlizzCon news as well. So that makes my Shaman my 2nd lvl 80 and i really stuck with leveling him up all the way from 0-80 all in one go.

So to say the least I do enjoy playing my Shaman! So far his gear at 80 so far is not too bad, mostly blues and and a epic or two. Ran my first two Heroics last night as another class other than as a Paladin and got several upgrades and a epic bracer in the Nexus. Was just fun even though wasn't expecting any new loot. Was just there to take my new 80 Shaman though the paces of doing DPS in a Heroics. Loot was the bonus.

So after getting my Shaman to 80 with his 2 pieces of Heirlooms the Shoulders and Chest I had no other alt to really send them to to really use, so send them off to my 70 Hunter that's been gathering lots of dust. I may start leveling him up just to get him somewhere close to 80. As well I may level up my DK a bit to at least get him up into Northrend. My Last remaining project for a touch of altism would be just to level up my 22 baby Druid who has a pair of Heirloom Shoulders and quietly hibernating in Tarren Mills.

To do before WoW Cataclysm Expansion: lvl 70 Hunter to 80. lvl 65 DK to 80. Project Druid: Get my baby Druid to 80 for sure it will be my last trek through the old world content before its gone in Cataclysm. The only other class i'll ever level after that will be in the next expansion and I have no idea what that will be.

Since I haven't really played my Paladin during the time I've been taking a break and leveling up my Shaman I logged on to my Paladin and headed up to the Argent Tournament for the first time in months and to see the new 3.2 stuff and do a few of the new dailies.

No joke, I Just About Almost Forgotten How To Paladin!

Oh Well exciting times for WoW. Are you Excited?