To make a very long and frustrating story short I would just like to warn everyone away from the dir-615 wireless router from D-Link.  Now this is not me judging all of D-Link’s products because honestly this is the only one I’ve ever used, but this router is a pain in the ass.  I’m not a computer wizard but I can hold my own when it comes to setting up basic stuff like installing a video card, adding ram, and other such simple stuff.  But after 2 hours of messing around with this router I gave up and just went and bought the netgear “little cheapo” and while its just the standard g wireless network at least it works.

In celebration for my new found internet I got Hot up to level 46 in the hour I played today so the official count is just 4 more to “awesomeness”  as a buddy of mine described mangle.  I was hoping to have been 50 by now but moving into a new apartment has set me back abit.

In other awesome news I’m probably going to be talking about the Beta now!  That’s right, after getting the new internet up and having my girlfriend be amazed at my technical skills she checked her email and her new account had a beta key waiting in it (sure its not technically mine, but seeing as how I introduced her to the game and nearly had a seisure at the thought of making a deathknight in the next couple of hours I claimed it).

So while Hot will still get leveled and be 70 before wrath hits theres the distinct possibility that some beta musing’s might find their way into the blog now! Woot everyone loves new stuff to play with!

I’ve never been one to deny the existence of “expansionitis”  once people start getting ready for the future, the present doesn’t seem so glamorous or fun.  There are other bloggers out there that can and have talked about this phenomenon much better then I could or will, but damn I just want my warrior to tank one raid even if its just kara!  DAMN!

Ok I feel better.  On a much MUCH happier note today I’m proud to announce something from the real life that’s going down today.  That’s right, its the start of the Ohio State Buckeyes football season. 

You heard me! Ohio State Buckeyes, mmmm it feels so good just to type out that football is starting in just a few HOURS!  I graduated from OSU a little over a year ago so on Saturday’s from now on there will probably be something in here about my buckeyes.  I know this isn’t WoW or PvP related but nyeh!  Its the Bucks!

The major selling points have been the collectible pets, gaining levels so that she can get new clothes for her character, and now thanks to Recruit-a-Friend we’re able to get 300% xp while we level together.  The end product? 

She made a pigtail warlock!  Victory yet again for the WoW team!

A note on my druid is that I hadn’t done the new duskwallow marsh quests when 2.4 (I believe or maybe 2.3) came out because I was deployed at the time.  But going through them they are a great addition to the game.  Besides the problems with goblins being untrustworthy….damn goblins…. the new content is awesome.  The quests help the late 30’s and early 40’s (which I always hated)  plus the quest rewards are decent greens that beat out auction house bought greens.

This is after I killed a giant boss of a water monster that tried taking down Theramore.  Thanks to the druid that came in and dot’ed the monster up and helped dps it down, can’t remember your name to thank you personally. 

After the monster was dead we all had cake and pie and punch courtesy of the grateful people of Theramore.  Huzzah Hot is the hero!

So I was hanging out at the AH getting ready to start ballin today.  But unfortunately there was nothing I could find to buy that would either be ballin.  I.E. no good blues, and nothing on a budget…apparently you have to mortgage your mount to get a green these days.  So hopefully next week there will be a new installment to the ballin’ series because lets be honest, like the Wal-Mart ad’s say.  “Spend Less, Live better”

The thought that sprang into my head today was one that may shake the world to its very foundation!

This may seem like an innocent picture of the town of Mudsprocket.  But what it really shows is that the goblins play us against each other.  Is it any coincidence that when they send both Alliance and horde (yes it stays lower case)  out to quest they send us to the same area?!

The goblins are trying to have us wipe each other out so they can rule the World! (of warcraft) Not too long after accepting one of their quests to rid them of some enemy of theirs pvp happened against an Alliance druid and a horde rogue….damn goblins.

I was in Desolace doing the Kodo Roundup quest.  Which by itself is a fun little diversion from the usual “Kill 10 of X and bring me their gal-bladders..etc” When this Orc started taking my kodos from me, being the druid I am, those kodos are like my children.  So of course I couldn’t let the horde move in on them. 

Now here’s where my nubness of pvp comes into play, I don’t really know how low level pvp works but I figured as a druid the control of when and where the fight took place belongs to me.  So I did hit and run tactics since the warrior was doing a surprising amount of damage to me.  Bleeds are awesome by the way, and I think they ignore armor once they start applying their DoT damage but I’ll have to check on that. 

Well the coup de gras was done with an entangling root and some moonfire action (just cause I could)

Since I don’t like the idea of corpse camping or griefing people, I figured I beat him, he’ll leave me be to quest and that would be that….of course the Horde doesn’t know when its beaten.

Funny thing that I found out about the kodo quest during all this.  If you have a kodo tamed, and you stealth trying to get away from a warrior, the kodo follows you so the warrior knows where you are at all times.  I mean not that it helped him the second time he had to get whooped either.

But like the ganking incident I talked about last week, this feels like another step in my druids evolution into becoming part of a PvP server.  And a druid seems to be the perfect fit for someone who is new to leveling on one.  They are versatile enough to handle many situations or if the need be escape since travel form works while in combat.  Hot is slowly but surely becoming one of my favorite characters to play and I can’t wait to get him to max level and start doing some serious pvp’ing or raiding, whichever suits me at the time.

The PVP Nub is about to bring you a new feature to the blog!  “Ballin’ on a Budget”.  Once a week I’ll buy something new and ballin’ for my druid but I’ll make sure to either get a deal on it or get it cheap enough that its a more budget item (Yet still Ballin’).

Today on Ballin’ on a Budget we’ll be looking at my, the awesome http://www.wowhead.com/?item=29158.  For those of you who can’t click on it, it is the Truesilver Commanders Ring.  This is a little blue ring that I wish I had been able to get ahold of back in my leveling days with my rogue pre-bc.  For a feral druid leveling every aspect of this ring help out.  That plus is being blue makes this ring Ballin’.  But it can’t just be ballin’ or we wouldn’t be saving money for later down the line, if I was just ballin’ I’d end up level 70 with a bunch of gold plated teeth and nothing saved away for an epic flying mount. 

I checked the auction house for this ring and found the best price available was 14g buyout or wait a few hours to get it knocked down to 10g.  Well I placed the order and a few hours later BAM!

So awesome blue ring that makes my rogue cry.  Check!

Saved 4g (or more counting the other rings for sale).  Check!

That’s defiantly *insert crowd chanting here*  BALLIN’ ON A BUDGET!

Stop by next week when we look at a new and exciting new item for druids!

Not suprising that it’s called this because apparently if you own a level 50 or above you spend your free time killing low levels in the jungle.

Well here’s some little things that have helped me out of a few situations that would have led to me getting ganked somewhere in the face.

1. Make sure you keep your situational awareness.

– This is pretty obvious that you want to pay attention to you surroundings at all times. Is there a gaggle of dead mobs just lying around? Chances are that some one else killed them and they might have friends.

2. Always leave yourself an escape route.

– When you’re killing those raptors and panthers make sure you have a path of exit incase you get some unwanted company. Don’t let yourself get boxed in with mobs or geographical items such a ridges. And try not to get caught in a valley.

3. If you do get caught with your pants down by that 70 and get…well you know give it a couple minutes before you rez.

– I’ve found that like the guy at work that keeps making an ass out of himself to get attention, body campers lose interest if you just ignore them by waiting to respawn.

These are just a few of the common sense things I’ve found to make leveling in “stranglegank” a little easier. It’s a dangerous world (of warcraft) out there. Be safe.

Well it finally happened.  I just got ganked by a level 70 (rogue nonetheless) in my questing zone.  I was just standing there getting ready to accept “Shadow Magic” and all I see are the twin gladiator blades swiping once and then it was over.  Honestly I’m sure it will get old really fast once I start leveling in more diverse zons, but for right now I feel that this is an initiation and now my druid has arrived on a pvp server. 

Not too much else to report, now that he’s in the 30’s and stranglethorn is right around the corner I’m sure there will be more pvp to be had, its been awhile since I’ve leveled a charecter through stranglethorn but if its anything like it used to be its a big melting pot of horde and alliance toons. 

Just hit level 30 today, and am aiming at 40 by the end of the week.  Just trying to burn through these levels so theres time to get some gear for Hot for leveling in Wotlk.  Though in all fairness after reading about Death Knights that where my mind seems to be set (along with everyone else and their grandmothers).