Horde Council

WoW Mosaic

2010-02-05T09:44:00.000-08:00

Right now I am at Barnes and Noble hanging on their complimentary WiFi. It says complimentary but if you don't buy a coffee or something they give you really nasty looks. I don't care. If they don't like it then they can give me a job and then I'll buy a coffee. Or at least a Sobé. I applied for a few more jobs here. Two in the Salt Lake area and one in Portland. I'd love to relocate back to the North West. So frankly, i have not spent a lot of time in WoW lately. I should probably suspend my account until I get a new job. But this week I have not gotten on to play until about 11:30 pm. And then when I do get on I just do some dailies or just bump around getting ganked by late night rogues that have nothing better to do than grief other players.

The World of Warcraft front page is pimping the mosaic board we all have been working on. It's around 60% done. Wonder how many of you out there are have submitted a shot. I have. Well, it was a while ago when i had a job and my own office. I printed out a big Horde poster and dropped it in a frame and stuck it on the wall. Here is a shot of it.

Everyone should contribute. There are some really good ones. Maybe i'll do a more concise post later with some of my favorite but suffice it to say, there are some talented people out there. There are also some really weird ones. The LARPers are hilarious. Especially those Chinese girls with the hot Night Elf outfits. Really funny. My son, Jonah, he's 14. Likes them. There is one of two guys on Jazzy™ motorized carts jousting, one with the Horde logo and one with the Alliance. We laughed hard at that one. Keep that thing bookmarked and check it often. It will be fun to see the finished product. Meanwhile, i think i'll try to do some heroics this weekend.

Thoughts on iPad and MMO's

2010-01-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

Ever since the announcement from Apple™ about the iPad all the world is a buzz about tablet computers and their relationship to MMO's. There has been little coverage of this topic so far but there is certain to be an explosion of controversy soon to come. I did find this editorial from Massively written by Shawn Schuster which covered the pros and cons of the iPad and MMO's and i really liked it. Give it a read for some of his points and here is a picture he used.

Now here is my view on the iPad and MMO's. First, let me talk about the iPad in general. I'm a brass tacks kind of guy, and this is the first generation of the iPad so let's not get too excited just yet. I'm sure there are bugs and kinks that need working out. But they are going to release this with no Flash support? I gotta say, i am really surprised. Every ad online is a Flash banner around the main content of the web page so if the iPad is gonna be intended for internet browsing and social networking it's not going to look very good and i would not spend advertising dollars on banner ads that can't be viewed. This disqualifies any market research that might be done targeting iPad demographics. Let alone the fact that many web sites are all Flash based. For example my very own online portfolio is Flash based. So no one could view it on an iPad.

Secondly, MMO's on iPads are a long way off. Shawn was talking about external blue tooth keyboards and mouses. These would be a must. There is no way i am playing WoW without my WASD. I don't know if there would be a way to navigate without a mouse either. This could stir up a whole hornets nest of controversy. The army of protesters against keyboard turners would most certainly have a collective aneurysm if you take away their mouses. Let alone the computer hardware industry and their endless menu of LED lighted and two million button navigation devices. Let's just say, i am a long way from touch screen turning.

Lastly but certainly not finally, i have one word for you. Apps! I don't mean to over use the exclamation point but this i feel deserves one. The iPad is app driven. It doesn't use the MacOS interface from what i understand. It uses the iPhone operating system which is decidedly different and, i feel, less tried and tested. Apps are the future i think but until Blizzard and other gaming companies design their games using an app platform, i don't think they are going to run well on tablets such as the iPad. Let me throw net books into this fray. Net books are small and inexpensive. They are made to run fast for web surfing and emailing. Social networking and blogging are great on them. But when you get home from a long day of "texting while driving" do you open your 1ghz net book with a 256m graphics card and 60gig hard drive to beat down some unsuspecting dwarf paladin who was AFK on a beer run. No, you go to that tower in your basement with the 1.5gig graphics card that needs a fan the size of an NBA arena air conditioner and an LCD screen you could land a plane on. Net books can't run WoW like i want them to.

Let's just say. iPad and MMO's are a long way from being a "cute couple". I for one will wait until at least generation five of Apples iteration of the iPad and we'll see where they have taken it. Keep your eyes pealed for the World of Warcraft App expansion. Could get interesting.

Entrapment Tuesday

2009-12-23T13:13:00.000-08:00

Well, last week i said i'd try to post every Tuesday while the servers were down for maintenance, but this week Blizzard threw me a curve ball. There was no server downtime. So now it's Wednesday and here is my post. I guess you have to expect these things. Let's talk a little about the new Dungeon Finder. I mentioned last week that i love it and this past week my love for it has only grown fonder. I have had more instance runs in the past couple weeks than i had all year before this latest patch. And they have been fun. I know, weird huh? And look at the progress i have made with my paladin. Here is image number one...

This was not very long ago. Like i said, only a week or so and Riplack (this dwarfs name) was in the low 60's. Now he looks like this... Click here to see his armory page.

Huge difference huh? Well, the gear he has now is regular Utgarde Keep and Nexus boss gear but it is great gear for a level 71 pally. I am running first or second on damage meters most of the time. Specced retribution so he can put out the damage pretty well. And all i have are praises to sing for this Dungeon Finder. Besides the nice plate and a sweet 2-handed axe i got a santa hat, lots of experience and a handful of emblems to save up for even better gear. This is really the way to go for guys like me that have to wait until late at night to run things. I bet a lot of hard core raiders are mad that these are made this easy but suffice it to say. You still have to work and be good at your class to get the gear. So, i guess i'm not saying it's easy but at least the groups are easier to find. That was all that was standing in my way. So thanks, Blizzard. For keeping me addicted.

Entrapment Tuesday

2009-12-15T07:51:00.000-08:00

I am going to try this. Every Tuesday, while Blizzard™ is doing whatever it is they do while the servers are down, I am going to drop a post on my feelings for the week and what might be coming up when the servers return to active status. So here would be my maiden voyage, so to speak. My thoughts since patch 3.3 last week...

First of all, Totems. Are the troll and orc totems cool or what? I particularly like the troll totems.

I have a level 75 orc shaman but i think i like the troll ones better. So i rolled a troll just for fun. Leveling is easy these days so it might be fun to run this toon up. I still intend to get that 75 orc to 80. So, like many people, i am not quitting WoW anytime soon. I still enjoy my 80 hunter and lately i have really been enjoying my dwarf paladin. Very fun. Speaking of dwarfs, WoW.com posted finished art for dwarf shaman totems. Projected to be released in the Cataclysm expansion.

Now that will be cool.

Secondly. This latest patch released a new dungeon finder. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this new finder. I have gotten numerous groups thru this finder and the groups are good. There is a voting system to drop unwanted players from the group. It helps if you think you may have a ninja on your hands, Just last night i was on my paladin doing Slave Pens (he's level 66 now) and there was a DPS druid rolling with us. There was a defense/stamina cloak that dropped off of one of the bosses and this druid rolled need against our tank. Said she it was better than the one she had. But everyone knows you pass on that or roll disenchant and let the tank have it, especially if the tank rolled need. Anyway, we voted her out and there was a death knight ready to go. Easy finish and no more QQ after that. So use the new dungeon finder. You'll love it.

Thirdly, and certainly could not be further from the least, the very name of the patch. The Fall of the Lich King. I have done the Forge of Souls with my hunter but have not progressed beyond that yet. Maybe this weekend. But here is a look at Icecrown Citadel. There was a great staff that dropped from the last boss. And i got it. It's called the Tower of the Mouldering Corpse. Sweet staff. Is it for hunters, i don't know but it got me almost to my hit cap and improved my DPS by a large margin.

Well, these are just some of my thoughts on last weeks patch. One more thing to mention is the new map system. It's a lot like QuestHelper. A very good addon, but you don't need that addon now. The in-game map system shows you right where to go for quest objectives and sports a large multi-paned window that shows the quest text and a separate pane for the rewards. Check it out.

Lastly, this weeks maintenance promises the Winter Veil holiday event. Very good time for throwing snowballs and disguising yourself as a snowman. These are the things that keep geeks like me playing and paying that subscription. LOL. It's worth it to me.

Until next week. Look at these fun things i have mentioned until the servers come back up and rock the Lich Kings robe off.

Patch Coming?

2009-12-02T07:20:00.000-08:00

Heres a question. Why does Blizzard™ only patch on Tuesday? Could Blizzard™ apply a patch on any other day? Maybe it would be to weird. Anyway, here is a shot of my launcher this morning and there is data available for 3.3. I hope it comes this week.

Regardless, I guess you could say i'm looking forward to it. More later!

No patch yet!

2009-12-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

There was a big pre-patch download a week or so ago but today is Tuesday and there is still no patch. This is going to be the 3.3 patch. The best thing about this patch for me will be the new map and quest tracking features. This will let me eliminate both QuestHelper and Cartographer addons. Nice. So we have to wait at least one more week.

In other news, there was a huge meteor that fell from space and flew over Utah. Really crazy stuff. There was some pretty neat video caught of it. It flew over at about 12:07am and it was a dark night. This thing lit up the skies. Let's see if this little video works.

Where have I been?

2009-11-24T14:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how time flies. Well, it's been a busy year. I guess you can say that there have been other things to do this year. I have not stopped playing WoW but i just haven't blogged about it. I love it as much as ever. I have been playing my hunter continually and she remains my only 80. The events have been fun. The newest and most recent one is the currently running Pilgrims Bounty. All i can say is, if you have low level cooking here is your chance to run it up. I went from level 1 cooking on my rogue to level 300 in about an hour. so go do it.

Oh, and go get your Night Elf Mohawk Grenades, Foo!!!

Thoughts on Wrath

2008-11-18T08:19:00.000-08:00

All i can say is... I Love Wrath. This is a great expansion. I have come across very few bugs. There a lot of people complaining in general chat about quests not working. All i have to say about that is, READ THE DAMN QUEST TEXT!!! Blizzard™ is trying to make things interesting. And i really appreciate it. It's not just go kill 12 crows and then come back. It's more like "Here, take this cage. Release the dog. Kill some crows and gather their meat. Feed the meat to the dog and then return to me." I praise Blizzard™ for making things fun. But then all you hear in general chat is "Where is the dog i'm supposed to have and what do i do with him?" AARRGGGG!!! Sorry - drives me crazy. I mean take 2 minutes. Carefully read the text and follow the instructions. Too many people get a quest and then hop right onto the general chat and start complaining that the quest is bugged. Anyway - i'll stop complaining myself. Overall, i love this expansion better than The Burning Crusade expansion. The new Blood Elf and Draenai races were fun and new content is always welcome but Wrath is really better. Even if you don't intend to run up a Death Knight i highly recommend starting one and running thru the starting quests. Well worth the lore and the screaming citizens is hilarious. It's fun to be feared by your very presence. You just get close to them and they cower and run away screaming. A total laugh riot.

Northrend is very well done. As far as i have delved into it. I am just beyond the point i got to in the beta, so it's all new now. I have my hunter to 72 already and my warrior to 71. I know, i know! You're saying, "So what, my rogue is 79 already." I am a slow grinder but hey, i have a job and kids and a wife and kidney problems. This is fast for me and besides. I read quests. I like to take my time and move thru the content with precision. Exploring and mining and looking at the scenery. I really am appreciating the terrain and art that i think so many people overlook. Keep it up Blizzard™. There are many of us that really do love what you have done. 

WotLK Addon Gathering

2008-11-11T13:30:00.001-08:00

WoWInsider has put together a great list of addons that work with WotLK. I hope there is minimal trouble with addons on Thursday morning. But here is something you might like to look at to prepare yourself. You can see the article here, it includes links to Curse and WoWInterface that are very concise. Try it out.

Pre-Expansion Trouble

2008-11-11T13:24:00.000-08:00

Is this a bad sign? Blizz brought down servers for regular Tuesday morning down-time. But this is rediculous. It is almost 1:30pm PST and the servers are all still grayed out. They say its some problem with the mail system. This makes me feel a little uneasy. This kind of stuff happening this close to a major release is, to me, disconcerting. C'mon Blizz - i need to get my steady fix of daily quests.

Monkey Love

2008-11-06T07:54:00.000-08:00

I must take this chance to profess my love for the Gorilla pet and thanks to the website, Big Red Kitty They have a videos out there on the intertoobs that are AWESOME!
One specific one is the Gorilladin 101 video that shows you how to use a Gorilla like a pally tank. Gather up 5, 8, 22 mobs and let the volley fly. I love it. After watching this i went to Un'Goro crater and tamed me a monkey. It has only been 3 days and i got him from level 65 to level 69. It was easy. Just doing 10 dailies or so and grinding a little Mag'Har rep and boom. This monkey kicks the ass of all asses. I will use Monkeedin (so i named him) to level to 80. I see no other viable option. With less than a week before WotLK i am as ready as i can be.

LOL! Cons has her eyes closed in this shot. Just bad photography.

Mechno-Hogs

2008-09-24T15:02:00.000-07:00

I am hoping that these are only beta mounts. In Dalaran you can just walk right up to one of the NPCs and just buy one of these. They are cool but do they really fit into the WoW story line. But at second thought i guess they are just as viable as the engineering rofl-copters huh? Anyway, thought i'd share a shot or two of these.

The creeping dead

2008-09-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

Check out this little video i took of some of the non-combat ghouls lurking around Death's Breach. They climb walls and they are just generally creepy. When we all finally get the X-Pack make sure you have the sound up or some earphones on. Especially when you play a Death Knight. Arthas the Lich King is continually talking to you. Like he has some super-natural connection to your brain. But besides that, when you are killing some of the civilians in the Scarlet Crusade area it sounds like crowds of people screaming in horror and running. The distant screaming is really funny.

Lich King Beta

2008-09-24T14:47:00.000-07:00

I got my invite to the Wrath of the Lich King beta this week. It took about 2 days to get all the patches and stuff setup. But i am in it now. All i can say is - COOL!!!! I met Arthas face-to-face. Had to sell my soul and promise to exterminate any and all living Scarlet Crusaders. The job of a Death Knight is never done.

The Lich King is neigh

2008-09-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

So the Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack for WoW is coming out Nov. 13. Oh boy - i guess i better get ready. I'm scrounging for PTO forms now. When Burning Crusade came out i took a week off to enjoy it. My browser is giving me trouble. I got an invite the the beta last night and i am currently trying to download all the patches right now. I'll post more later, maybe with pictures.

Rumors of the Lich King

2008-08-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of rumors going around but tell me if i'm wrong. If you go to amazon.com or gamestop.com you can look up Wrath of the Lich King and it says that the title will ship on November 3, 2008. So can this be true? I hate it how Blizzard™ will not tell us anything. Not even a hint of when they are going to release things. I guess i just don't understand the marketing behind it but if GameStop can tell us when to come and get it, why can't Blizz just tell us? Anyway. I am a big idiot for the collectors edition. I didn't get the vanilla version of WoW in the collectors edition but i did get the Burning Crusade collectors edition. I love it still. I never have regretted the extra $30 or so. Very well worth it. That being said, what about the Wrath of the Lich King collectors edition. Well, as per usual, Blizzard™ wouldn't tell us if they were gonna release a stiff fart let alone the expansion and especially a collectors edition. So the rumor has it and WoWHead, a very reliable and very well used by me web resource, has some compelling proof of the Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack Collectors Edition. One sure sign is this, the baby frost wrym non-combat pet.

There is trouble uploading images. I think i need to restart my computer or go take a fire axe to my ISP. I HATE THEM!!!!

Wu-Tang Name

2008-08-05T06:17:00.000-07:00

My Wu-Name is Masta Hunter. Funny huh?
Take Wu-Tang Clan Name Generator today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

WotLK Pet Calculators

2008-07-31T07:18:00.000-07:00

Now this is cool. An update from the forthcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion. I had heard that pets will have their own talent trees. WoWHead has posted a preview of the Pet Talents and it looks awesome. Any hunters that want to see what they might want to do with their pets can start to plan for it now. I am really looking forward to this. Rock on.

Sad Development

2008-07-29T21:46:00.000-07:00

This is sad. My laptop is getting old and i think from hours, nay, months of play time on WoW, i think i have fried my graphics card. WoW looks like this...

...it's not like this laptop ever really ran the game well anyway. So, i felt very fortunate to have a great computer provided me by my employer. They have indeed spoiled me with a Quad4Duo Mac Pro. It has a 512 graphics card and other bells and whistles. Runs WoW like a dream. I have had permission to take it home with me occasionally as long as i did indeed get some work done while i had it. But yesterday i was informed that i am no longer allowed to remove my tower from the premises. So i am officially WoW-less at home. It is unplayable on this laptop. Can't see anything. The good news is that i can still do my free-lance work and browse the internet. But most games are unplayable. i.e. Diablo, StarCraft and Warcraft are all too hard to see. Even Halo and Unreal Tournament are too taxing to this machine. A tear was shed after hearing that news. Yes, the sky is a little less blue. That means no more Wednesday night raids with my friends and stuff. I need a Coke™. I'm gonna go drown my sorrow. Wish i had something a lot harder than that tho. It's gonna take something really strong to get me thru my withdrawls. Wish me luck.

Summer Lag

2008-07-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, i know it's been a long time since i posted. I suppose if i blogged for a living or others were relying on me to keep them informed, i would be more diligent. But since this is just kind of a fun thing for me, the posts tend to be a little sparse. That being said...

... there has been a lot of information coming out about the forth coming Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack. Still no date but there are official and still subject to change before the actual release talent calculators. So check those out. Kinda cool. You can kind of get a feel for the way you might want to spec your new Death Knight.

In other announcements, the public beta is in full swing. There is ongoing random selections for the beta. Blizzard™ released an opt-in page from their main sight. That means that when you opt-in you are making yourself more likely to be picked from the random account selection process. I don't think it really helps you get selected any sooner than anyone else. I think it just tells them that you would indeed play the beta and provide viable feedback.

I think thats all i have for now. If i think if more i'll be sure to get another post done. It's kind of slow right now. A lot of my RL friends are taking breaks because of summer activities and people are bored with grinding on the Isle of Quel'Danas. There are only so many times you can free murloc slaves without bouncing your head off your keyboard from sheer lack of caring....

...Blizzard™! PLEASE! Give us a date for the release.

Merciless Shoulders

2008-04-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

My hunter now has some cool shoulder armor. Consarnit is by far my best geared character.

Gotta get me one of these.

2008-04-01T07:46:00.001-07:00

Blizzard™ announced a new Hero Class for the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Check out the Bard Hero Class here.

I gotta have this axe.

P.S. Please don't be fooled. Remember it's April 1st.

More Cow Bell.... LAWL!

Vengeful Gladiators Plate Helm

2008-04-01T07:34:00.000-07:00

I finally got enough arena points to get this Season 3 helm. Love it. Besides it looks great.

And now Plumbman and i will carry on with our 2v2 arena battles.

Great Video

2008-04-01T07:25:00.000-07:00

Machinima is making movies using an existing game engine. Such as World of Warcraft.... this guy is really good at it.

Holy Lag...

2008-03-10T14:16:00.001-07:00

You ain't never seen LAG like this.