Maximum OOM-age

All Steam and No Substance

2010-02-14T12:57:00.013+00:00

Despite the less-than-glowing reviews from everyone who's ever used Steam, including the better half (at least where gaming's concerned), I decided to ignore general advice and had it installed on my machine late 2009.

It started off promisingly enough. Machinarium was the first game to go on, including The Secret of Monkey Island - Special Edition, Half Life, and a few other demos (L2D2, World of Goo etc etc). Easy access to the online store had the effect of almost reducing me to my five-year-old self let loose in a toy shop, particularly over Christmas with all the promos on. It's a good job I managed to resist temptation (just!) since the problems began not long into the new year.

...Problems which have yet to be resolved even after repeat attempts (as can be seen from screenshots below) to contact technical support.

A quick google will bring up a multitude of similar complaints from the gaming collective...I feel their pain like never before.

Steam's standard response seems to focus on shifting all responsibility to third party app developers. Had the errors only involved one game, I would be prepared to accept that. However, none of my games launched (including the ones by Valve). Furthermore, those which did not require Steam to run worked absolutely fine independent of said engine.

It has been almost two weeks since I've had any reply, and I can't say I've much hope of anything constructive attaching itself to this vapour trail of FAIL (nevermind a solution). If this ongoing saga progresses in the right direction, I'll update this post. But I'm more inclined to ask for a refund since Steam's flaky performance is hardly worth the hassle.

PS - Forgot to add...Gong Xi Fa Cai and Happy Valentine's Day to all, whichever one you celebrate. I've already got my Love Fool title. Now working towards Elder.

Updated: 08 May 2010 @ 19:28

A result at long last, though (as you can see from the screenshot below) it had nowt to do with Steam's efforts.

I was on the verge of telling them that Steam wasn't on my blocklist anyway, but did not fancy waiting another month for their response. Why waste precious synovial fluid?

Asking paying customers to disable the most reliable anti-virus/spyware they have on their system does not seem right to me. Surely the onus is on Steam to sort out their engine so it will not clash with commonly-used essential software. It also sounds like terribly bad advice since we all know a system without any protection won't last long before it is well and truly fucked.

Oh, well...one of these days I'll be able to afford an xBox, Playstation and Wii. Then perhaps I will no longer have to put up with this sort of shit.

Or will I?

I can see a whole new set of problems coming my way.

Happy Fuckin' Everything

2010-01-01T16:57:00.001+00:00

Seemed like a good time to get our annual greetings out of the way!

I thought the festive season off-work would give me more time to play WoW, but I should have known better. Real life usually intrudes, especially when you're a casual gamer like me.

Perhaps one day I will be able to take things to the next level, but I don't see that happening this year. I may even find myself blogging less. Already I am plagiarising my other blog so I won't have to keep typing the same things again.

No new year's resolution, although I do have certain projects lined up, such as re-vamping my site and building a Retro Radio PC. We shall have to see...

I have gained many achievements in WoW 2009, but vanity ones aside, I am happiest with finally getting my DPS up to 2K (albeit buffed to the max). It was rather pathetic before.

Here are some screenshots of me testing out rotations on heroic dummies, with recount meter showing a reasonable figure for my gear.

There will probably be much to look forward to in 2010, especially if that's when the next WoW expansion comes out (though that does seem rather quick). But in the meantime, I'd like to wish all the best to everyone, whatever your game is.

Winter Hat - I Haz It

2009-12-29T21:19:00.027+00:00

It had been so long since I'd done Nexus, I was quite worried I'd screw up. Plus, Squawk and Awe didn't seem to be showing my procs properly due to problems with the update for 3.3. But lucky for me, the Red Winter Hat dropped after our first attempt at Grand Magus Telestra and I won the roll.

Only one more achievement away from Merrymaker...All I have to do is acquire 50 honourable kills as a Little Helper. I am a bit miffed that I can't retain my Moonkin form beneath the gnome disguise, but hey ho, I suppose I'll manage somehow.

It can't be more tedious than grinding for Argent Dawn rep.

David became Argent Champion a few days ago, even though I got to Revered before he even started. Damn him!

Oh well, at least I can say I've got the hat, and he can't...so nerr!

I guess I should stop pissing about and get my arse back to WPL. Not long to go now. I'm just a few bars away from Exalted for both Argent Dawn and Argent Crusade.

Will update this blog if I get either one of the above-mentioned titles before the year's out.

Everybody Loves Kungfu Fighting!

2009-11-24T21:15:00.012+00:00

Hyah!!! Pandaren Monk, I has!!!

Isn't he adooooorable? Just watch him in action here...

I simply couldn't resist. I thought I'd see lots of other players with this pet, but he appears to be as rare as the Dwarf Rogues on my server (and I should know since I have been lying in wait to get one for my Turkey Lurkey achievement).

Oh well, maybe people are waiting till it's closer to Christmas...If you're one of them, make sure you make your purchase before the end of December so the Make-a-Wish Foundation gets 50% of the sale!

Santa Hacka

2009-11-17T12:47:00.109+00:00

Getting one's account hacked is generally the sort of situation that ends in a fit of projectile WTFs rather than FTWs. It's not often you hear of anyone in position to rejoice as a result of identity theft, but that was where I found myself a few weeks ago.

I'd not been gaming for quite awhile, so was more than a bit puzzled to receive an email confirming that my WoW account had been merged with a battle.net one under the name of Seymour.

I'm sure some would agree it's a nice enough name, but sadly, not one of mine. Naturally, this was cause for concern.

Had I merged my accounts sooner, you wouldn't be reading this right now, but I procrastinated and paid the price. Blizzard claims that compromised accounts are usually the result of keyloggers on your comp. That is true in most cases, though unlikely in mine.

I'd found a couple of 'new' gaming networks and signed up to test them out, but stupidly registered using the same username and password as WoW. I stopped using the sites almost immediately because I soon discovered they were poorly designed and didn't work properly, but nothing twigged until I got hacked.

Fortunately, I was planning to install Windows 7 that weekend anyway, so an extended session of gaming wasn't on the agenda. By the time my new system was up and running, Blizzard had already wrested my account back from Seymour (not his real name), and reimbursed all my gold and items.

Can't say I was quite prepared for the lovely surprise in store for me though!

That a hacker would even bother with any of my characters, given that my main isn't particularly well-geared, baffled me initially. Well, the reason is now apparent!

Not only were the original items that belonged to me returned, my bags and bank were full of looty goodness, including (but not limited to) Frost Lotus, tons of gems, Deviate Fish and Titanium Ore...One short trip to the AH, and it was like Christmas had come early!

During the 48 hours he played my main, Seymour-the-Hacker did nothing but farm. All he needed was a character with all proffs levelled to the max. Not that I want to seem ungrateful or anything, but Seymour would have been able to farm stuff more quickly for me had he used my tracking macro, which I had kindly taken the trouble to keybind...Just a bit of constructive criticism there!

Still, I'm not complaining. I am now the proud owner of shiny things! Thanks Santa...I mean, Seymour. You should really consider this as a career option.

No, wait...

If anyone is experiencing any gold shortage, I suggest the Hire-a-Hacker route. I know a guy who goes by the name of Seymour. He comes highly recommended.

From Azeroth to Atreia

2009-10-03T15:09:00.175+01:00

One major lament I've always had of WoW is its lack of customisation. My idea of being totally immersed in RP involves living vicariously through the adventures of my AV, and it helps if she somewhat resembles me.

For quite a long while, I thought Second Life filled that niche. But the novelty soon wore off due to the complete absence of decent gameplay (and horrendous lag...never forget that), so post-SL saw me less bothered about what my character, or its environment, looked like.

Then along came Aion...the perfect answer to a WoW-SL mashup...or so I thought.

Let me first make this clear: my experience with the wonders of Atreia only extends so far as the final closed beta (yes, my response is slightly belated). And even then, it was towards the end of that period (shortly before it was officially released in Europe) that I finally got hold of a key, so it's unlikely major changes would have been made to its framework at that stage. Since then, I have ummed and ahhed about whether Aion justifies another monthly subscription, or if I would ever consider it an adequate replacement for my WoW fix.

My rig is still Aion-free...but this is not to say there aren't elements of the game that impress me.

The imagery and animation are certainly the most stunning I have ever seen in an MMORPG. But that's to be expected from any game using the CRY engine. It runs smoothly too, which is a great deal more than I can say about SL.

Despite criticism from other quarters, I haven't found the storyline uninteresting or unoriginal. It will no doubt grow in depth as the game matures. As yet, it has none of the quirks or humour that make a fantasy RPG come to life, giving it a unique identity. Not many games have that standing, and WoW is one of the few (mohawk, anyone?).

Barring a few tweaks here and there, much of Aion is borrowed from the World of Warcraft. There were moments when I forgot where I was, and stopped to wonder when WoW's graphics got so good...and then I realised - I'm not in Zangamarsh anymore.

As mentioned before, being able to customise the way you look, right down to matching gear, is a huge plus. David and I straightaway created AVs that looked like ourselves.

Well, sort of...David had greater success than I did since he says his features are more 'generic'...whatever that means. The options are not quite as varied as Second Life, but I still came away quite happy with the appearance of my character. Sadly, unlike SL (and similar to WOW), modifying your character will cost you, so best get it right to begin with.

There are a few other functions in Aion which I don't quite agree with, such as the way their chat channels work, and the inability to create a character in the opposing faction unless on a different server. How daft!!!

Combat flying is a bonus, but it did spark off a mini tantrum when I found out flight time was limited. You have to go through a process of quests, levelling, and Kinah-spending (Aion currency) to acquire an assortment of gear just so you can keep yourself in the sky for longer. Tsk tsk, you never have to worry about that in WoW! But on further thought, Aion's restrictions make sense. If flying is to be a crucial skill in the game, then it should require some effort.

You can't help but make comparisons with MMOs near and dear to your heart, and since WoW has such a massive following, it's inevitable that it would be used as a yardstick.

Better gamers than me have already highlighted the pros and cons (see links below) of Aion when pitted against the World of Warcraft. Character controls are not as intuitive, while UI and game mechanics are clumsy. Although it does have a few features that can't be found in WoW (such as markings on the map to tell you where you need to go when you click on a quest, or the ease of sending locations to other players), it's nothing that WoW addons haven't already got covered.

Unfortunately, my income places limitations on the number of games I can play, so this is currently an either-or scenario. Both games share many similarities, but the differences aren't enough to make me want to jump ship. Aion simply isn't quite 'there' yet.

Blizzard doesn't appear worried, and this is telling. NCsoft can't have carved a large enough chunk out of its profits then. Aion may one day match up to the old guard WoW (though I doubt it will surpass it). Until then, I'll content myself with just the ambient tunes of Ryo Kunihiko.

Other Sources:
5 Reasons Why Aion Can Take on World of Warcraft
Impressions of Aion Closed Beta 3
10 Reasons Why Aion Will Fail

My two bytes worth...

2009-09-06T13:11:00.014+01:00

On Talents:
After much research and faffing about (not to mention more muchness of gold expenditure), I have finally managed to get my DPS up to 2K. (LOOOK!! Look at pic above! It was taken at the end of my very first OS 10-man attempt!)

This is in no small part thanks to a group of guys who have sacrificed their lives (well, it is obvious they have none! ) so I can find out the best way to spend my talents. All the work's done by them (even if they do bicker quite a bit along the way...it's a wonder they ever got past the calculation stage!) so we don't have to.

I haven't quite shifted myself off the bottom of the DPS chart yet (and the 2K stat is pretty sporadic), but the amount of damage is at least acceptable for now. Until a few weeks ago, I had no idea how badly I'd screwed up. But after noticing on my IMBA page that I wasn't hit-capped, I did a bit of googling and realised I had my priorities the wrong way round. Instead of Hit>Spell Power>Everything Else, I was going for Crit>Spell Power>Haste>Hit. Whoops!

Apart from re-doing talents, I've had to replace some gems and enchants to rectify my appalling HR (spell rotation is still clumsy at best). My gear turnover is quite high, so a lot of this is pretty much rinse-and-repeat. Just you wait and see...By the time I get everything I need, the new expansion would be out, and then I'll be right back where I started.

On Cataclysm:
I do like some of the new features (such as Guild Levelling and Cross-Faction PUGs), but can't seem to get as excited about this new expansion as much as I did the last one. Meh, perhaps it is early days yet...I just hope the name Blizz came up with doesn't turn out to be ironic. Because that would just be...er...cataclysmic.

On Mysterious Egg:
Why?! WHY?! Why do I keep getting the same pets over and over again?! No! No more Aged-bloody-Yolk again please! I want my Green Proto-Drake!

Still, I am glad I got the Whelp...It hatched last night, much to my delight! It does seem to have issues keeping up with me in flight though.

On Exploiting Flaws in Game Mechanics:

Do it naked, and expect lots of jumping around (for me anyway since it's not exactly my strong point)...Ok, the second image (of us on the battlements) isn't so much to do with a defect as it is the result of boredom and a goodly amount of time on our hands.

And about the jumping thing...We've noticed something rather odd about my main. She can't seem to jump as far as David's. Well, we initially thought it was just me being crap at it, but then David had a go on my rig and the same thing happened! Not sure if it's something Blizz has done, or it's to do with my machine, but (in terms of hardware) it can't be the mouse since David and I have the same one. Bizarre!

On Mining Saronite:

Waste of time...Switching to Cobalt from now on since it goes for more in AH. Plus, if you mine in Borean Tundra, you can easily farm the meats needed for Cooking when doing your circuits.

On Patches of Colour:
FFS! If it appears on the floor during combat, don't stand in it...Doesn't matter what you are doing, just stop...and MOVE!!!

On Ventrilo (or Similar):
More people should use it, including myself. Who's gonna be paying attention to the chat window when there are more important things to do?

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Enough of WoW...I may take a short break from it tonight and play Dreamfall. I've been wanting to DL the trial eversince it came out, so perhaps it's time I did something about it!

Frozen Tear of Elune

2009-08-17T12:53:00.041+01:00

I HAS IT!

After a marathon session of doing HCs from yesterday afternoon to late night with some other players from my guild, I have finally managed to get enough emblems for the Frozen Tear of Elune. Other stuff dropped as well, but this item was most significant since it replaced the Choker of Binding...Massive difference!

As of today, I no longer have any greens!!! WOOT!

Yes, I know I am a long way off from being IMBA, but I'm getting there!

Like I said, I am now in a guild (my hubby introduced me since he joined first), and it's called New Moon. Everyone's been very friendly and helpful, so I'm really grateful to have got the invite from Neolyn (and also thanks to GM Haduken). Plus, I've noticed members often raid...a lot.

Being in a guild has also taken care of the random solicitations. It seems most people can't stand the thought of a level 80 not having that extra tag under their name. Oh well, I knew for awhile that David would soon ask if I could be a part of New Moon, so I held out...An added bonus: ex-GM Arcadiu from Leap of Faith is now a member too! Aaaaw, it really is great to be able to team up with old friends again!

On another note, though not completely unrelated, I've just remembered that I've got a few other posts about gaming on my main blog. This split has confused matters slightly...for me anyway. I can't really import them to Maximum OOM-age (nor am I bothered enough to find out how!), so I'll just include their links here, in no particular order. Thankfully, there aren't that many of them!

Eat fish...
W.A.S.D.
Fire in the Hole!
SL Odyssey

Updated: 19 August 2009 @ 10:26

Our guild now has a site! Linkage has been included above.

Banging your head against a brick wall...

2009-08-13T18:47:00.006+01:00

...or a purple swirly thing in this instance!

Blizzard ought to sort it out...I'm sick of being told that "additional instances cannot be launched" everytime I want to do a HC.

Entry to VH last night was a bit of a 'mare, with people threatening to leave the group if we couldn't get in. (The suggestion to attempt AN instead did not go down all that well...no idea why.) Anyway, we got lucky in the end. A good thing too, because I was only three bars away from being Revered with Kirin Tor.

So a big /thanks to everyone who helped, including hubby David and another friend Extactos, I now have my Head Enchantment and more emblems (of course!) to add to my collection!

By the way, for those who use wowTwitter, this is me. If I do update it often enough (or find a way to do it from within the game), I might include a feed in the right-hand panel, but that's a project for the future.

Right now, I have a bit of a 'situation' with my addons!

Patches make me go 'Arrrrr'!

2009-08-07T20:15:00.036+01:00

Or perhaps it ought to be 'Aaaaarrgh'!!!

Prior to 3.2, there was a rumour going round that Druids would have their talents re-set, but I needn't have worried 'cos that turned out to be untrue. Then, as if to make up for something NOT going wrong, my addons got all messed up with error codes popping up left, right, and centre.

Dunno why I'm so bothered...I should be used to it by now. This happens every single time since it does take a few days for the updates to catch up. A justifiable wait, but nonetheless a pain, made more so when you find out some developers have decided they just can't be bothered anymore.

Oh well, nevermind. There's always an alternative.

I can't say I've found this current patch as exciting as the last. Sure, there're new Druid forms, but none for Moonkins. No significant changes to our spells either, though I guess I just ought to be thankful the existing ones didn't get nerfed.

What I am pleased about though, is the expansion of Argent Tournament. It really is worth doing when you get to that level, and not just for the Mounted Squire (8 mins CD? Forget it!).

This is a phase of 'firsts' for me. I've completed my first Heroic in Gundrak, a success in more ways than one since Slithering Slippers dropped. Being the worst-geared in my group, I got to roll Need for it. Since then, I have done other Heroics, including Halls of Lightning, which is apparently one of the toughest 5-Man (we wiped on my very first attempt, but then I was mainly still in 70 gear at the time).

But you know, all of them have been very difficult for me, so I haven't really been able to tell the difference. I'm just happy that most of the players I've grouped with have been very good (like our friend, Goemon), and thankful that they didn't mind doing runs with me.

I wish I could say my team's also won our first match in Arena, but PvP has gone down in my list of priorities. However, David (aka Gumpert aka Eldorand) and I did do something we've been meaning to for quite awhile. We went Dragon Whelps a-killin, and finally got the Jenkins title. Another milestone!!! Did I mention I've got the Darnassus one too?

I've now reached Grand Master in all my professions, which means I've been able to start on Katherine Lee's Cooking dailies to earn more Kirin Tor rep for Arcanum of Burning Mysteries.

Despite the shiny new Achievements I've gained, it's not been WoW all the way. After my new GPU got installed, I gave EVE a go, and also explored Twinity.

My thoughts so far:

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EVE - A great game, although not one for which I will give up WoW since I have already invested so much time in the latter. But EVE does look really good, and appeals to the Sci-Fi fan in me. I like the fact that you can make the game whatever you want it to be, and so far, soloing is very much feasible...even the shooty-shooty bits didn't get me as flustered as I thought they would. WoW will still be my main game, but I'll log into Warp Heaven from time to time.

Twinity - A mirror universe of Singapore was the catch, and what better time to experience that than National Day 2009 when corresponding events were launched? But seriously, that was the only characteristic I liked of the game. The lag was almost as bad as Second Life...except SL has much more going for it. Better controls and more flexible AV design options for one...No wait, that was two. What I am hoping for, though, is Twinity to link SIMs to real world shops. How great would it be if I could enter a virtual Ngee Ann City to interact with stores (eg. Takashimaya) that are in the actual building thousands of miles away?! ICHIBAN!!!

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Back to WoW.

Druids may soon get some good news if I've read this Q&A right...It might be a long time coming, but it will give us something to look forward to!

WANT!

2009-07-26T19:02:00.022+01:00

There's a reason other players rarely ask me to join them in Heroics, and who would blame them?

Even my poor husband (who I am certain loves me dearly) hesitates when I offer my meagre assistance.

One look at my gear and you'd instantly know what kind of DPS I'm capable of...There's only one answer to that, which unfortunately places me in a catch-22 situation. I need decent gear to do raids, but the only way to get them is to raid.

I have very few options open at this stage...either grit my teeth to do what needs to be done, and suffer the humiliation that's coming...or shut up and stick to fishing.

Or is there another way?

Since doing the Argent Tournament dailies, I've come across other items, like the Dagger of Lunar Purity which I could have for 25 Champion's Seals. I don't think it's a terrible replacement for my crusty lollipop of a Staff (conspicuously 10 levels lower than it should be, especially to seasoned PvP-ers, nevermind looking like the bright pink beacon that it is)...for now anyway.

It's not a solution, but a quick fix, and a damned sight less laughable compared to what I'm equipped with now.

UPDATED: 27 July 2009 @ 12:29

Change of plan...I made about 500 gold last night and found a Titansteel Spellblade in the AH, so I decided to buy it. That wasn't my original intention, but then I thought there was no point hoarding all this gold, especially as I've also been doing dailies regularly, so yeah...sod it! The upside is that I can now carry something off-hand to make up for the tiny spell crit-deficit, and realised I had Faces of Doom in the bank (can't even remember where that came from!) which can now be put to good use.

Still gonna finish off the Argent Valiant / Champion quest chain though, 'cos it's fun fun fun!

Some time much later...

2009-07-14T12:41:00.106+01:00

Anyone following The Lava Trolley will not be surprised to see another post on here with the same heading...I have not blogged for quite some time.

A lot has happened in my life this year, greatly affecting my gametime. It's actually been almost two weeks since I logged into WoW, which must be a first for me - someone so desperate she took the trouble to download it to her dad's old machine when on a three-week holiday in Singapore last month...It didn't run very well, as you'd expect.

Withdrawal symptoms haven't quite kicked in yet, but it won't have time to since I intend to make good use of my subscription again before the end of July. Anyway, I haven't been completely idle.

Since my last entry, I have finally managed to get hold of that long-anticipated epic flappy, as you can see from my pic.

5K gold, thank you very much...And of course, Patch 3.1 had to come out straight after that, along with Dual Spec...Another 1K gold. Great. Fabulous. Fortunately, there wasn't the cost of a mount to top it all off.

It seems all I've done lately is farm for gold to replace whatever I've spent...and grinding for rep (never forget that!). At least I now have the Sons of Hodir shoulder enchantment and Pengu to show for it! Oh, and my herbie is now 450 too...Result!

Since WotLK, I have become a big fat (and feathery) Achievement Whore addicted to festival quests and Argent Tournament dailies...Somewhere along the way, I must have lost the plot because that appears to have taken over my goal to increase raiding and PvP.

Anyhow, you make the game whatever you want it to be...Not that this has improved my gear (and consequently DPS) in any way, shape, or form (literally).

Perhaps my playstyle just needs some adjustment...Perhaps I'm stuck in a routine.

You hear a lot of people slating Balance Druids, and I do agree with them to a certain extent. It's a pretty difficult class to master, but once past that stage, it's also a pretty tough class to beat. Rarely do I see a Moonkin hold its own against Feral, but it truly is a joy to watch when the beaked one does kick ass (even if he is Horde) because it means someone really (and I mean REALLY) knows what he's doing. You can learn a lot from that.

You're probably wondering why the hell I didn't roll a Mage if I'm so crap at melee. The simple answer is that I was a lazy noob then (more so than now...yes, that is possible), and couldn't be bothered doing a bit of research beforehand. Also, I was new to gaming so I actually didn't know what playstyle would suit me. A hybrid seemed a good choice.

Big mistake.

Obviously, now I do know I am shit at everything but spell-casting (and only mediocre at that), it's a bit too late...about 80 levels too late, I should say. The very thought of putting myself through the whole process again makes me want to stick a very large pitchfork through my very small eyeball.

I console myself by saying I like the challenge.

Be that as it may, I find myself no further forward and so will welcome any advice coming my way.

PS - My guild Leap of Faith (oh the irony!) has also dissolved (kind of), so I'm on the lookout for another one...preferably semi-casual, with enough friendly and reliable 80s who are around regularly and keen on raiding, though not quite fanatic enough to do so 24/7...I would like a life that's not entirely pixel-dependant.

The story so far...

2009-02-15T10:00:00.003+00:00

Since I last blogged my to-do list here, I’ve had to re-build my rig, and help my husband build his new one too (which meant we only had one working pooter between us). I know, excuses...excuses...Anyhow, I did manage to squeeze some stuff in before the end of January, despite this colossal setback.

~~Get to 80~~ Check
Yeap, I mentioned this in my previous post.

~~Get mining to 400~~ Check
Acshuly, it's 450 now, and I made my first Titansteel Bar last night. Oooh, exciting times! Sadly, I have heard the price has recently dropped from 500g to 130g. Do you think it's because more people can make it now? =(

~~Get Explorer title~~ Check
It was a pain doing this, but it did at least force me to make a start on levelling my Herbalism.

~~Get a Wintergrasp victory~~ Check
I’ve done that twice now, and I still have no idea what’s going on half the time…It’s very different from SOTA.

Get my first 80 BG gear – Erm…Non-starter…
Not had a chance to do much PvP. As soon as my comp was up and running, we were halfway through the Lunar Festival thingy and not long after, the V-day equivalent, so I’ve just been too busy faffing about with non-consequential Achievements (which is also why it's taken me till now to blog this)…LOL

I’ve not got any plans for the rest of February as yet, but getting better gear (along with related activities, such as grinding for rep) is definitely an on-going thing...Plus, I still haven't got my epic flappy. Hopefully, Dual Spec will be out soon…It'll solve a lot a lot of problems in my guild, particularly with regards to our zero-healer situation!

I keep hearing conflicting info about when Dual Spec is coming out. According to this interview, it’ll be in the next content patch. As far as I know, the major one we’re all waiting for is 3.1. However, I distinctly remember Ghostcrawler mentioning in one of his forum posts that Blizzard doesn’t want to commit to that specific event. Mind you, it's been quite a few weeks since I read that, so perhaps things have changed since then. Does anyone have an ETA on when 3.1 will be out?

Ding-a-ling-a-ling!!!

2009-01-16T13:44:00.004+00:00

Me <<< Cries tears of joy upon reaching 80

*Sob* Finally! It's been such an emotional experience...I even made a little speech right outside the bank in SW, thanking all my loved ones…starting from my great-great-grandfather right down to my youngest cousin on my mother's side (thrice removed).

Ok, that's utter BS...The speech, I mean (not dinging 80), though this blog could possibly count towards that as I am immensely grateful to those people who have developed some very clever little addons, without which this momentous occasion would never have come to pass…I am quite prone to exaggeration. Can you not tell? But jesus…those last few bars REALLY did drag!

I'm sure everyone has a few addons they swear by. However, these are the ones I've stuck with because they haven't let me down.

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Cartographer + TomTom + Atlas + AtlasLoot
Me has no sense of direction whatsoever, so you can imagine how handy these came in. Plus, I like the idea (in theory, since I hardly ever get what I want) of being able to check out what might drop before deciding if I want to do an instance.

QuestLevel + EveryQuest + LightHeaded + QuestJunkie + DoubleWide
Seriously saved me from having to google every five minutes...LightHeaded even works with TomTom / Cartographer Waypoints. Admittedly, DoubleWide isn't really necessary, but it just makes the whole set-up easier to view. QuestJunkie is also brilliant if the people in your group have it as well, since it shows you what quests others are on.

MikScrollingBattleText + Capping + Quartz + Recount + DurabilityStatus
Helps me keep track of what's going on (whether PvE or PvP) when in combat, and warns me to repair or sort myself out when my DPS falls to a crap level.

EquipCompare + RatingBuster
So much easier for me to assess my stats without having to actually equip myself with new gear, particularly those of the BoE variety…And yes, both of these addons do sync.

Gatherer + GathererDB
Without which, my mining level would probably still be in two digits.

Auctioneer
A tad bloaty, but it's my lazy way of scanning market conditions. (Price of Saronite has gone down apparently!)

LinksList
Maximum droolage over stuff I hope to acquire...

Prat + ArmoryQuickLink + QuickChatLink + ChatBar + LinkMe
Because we can't always solo...Everyone needs a boost now and again! (Besides, the whole social thing makes levelling a lot less boring!)

BagMeter + EasyMail
The other little things I probably take for granted, but would really miss if they suddenly stopped working!

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I lurve playing around with new addons, but am simultaneously wary of installing them in case error messages start popping up left, right and centre…I can’t say I’ve had any major problems with the above...yet. Did I also mention I'm such an optimist?

Now that I’m a big, bad 80, I’d best concentrate on getting myself some decent gear. I had to sacrifice half of my epic flappy fund to get some new armour yesterday as I felt that was more important…Not exactly the best, but they’ll do until we get enough people to do Naxx…I really really want to do it, but our guild has no healers above lvl 40, and I hate having to rely on PUGs.

On a happier note, my mining has gone up to 400, so that's two items I can strike off my list...Hey! This resolution thingy is actually getting me somewhere! WOOT!!!

2009 WoW Resolution

2009-01-07T15:00:00.002+00:00

Actually, this reads more like a to-do list for my main to complete before the month's out...If I pay as much attention to my own blog as my task manager in Outlook, everything in this post will most likely still be marked red mid-February...

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1) Get to 80
Still not level 80 yet...Shameful, I know. But to be honest, I haven't felt the need to rush. However, now that I'm 78 (8 bars in) and so close to end-game, I might as well make a concerted effort to get it out of the way just so I can raid more with the rest of my guild mates (hence get better stuff), and start doing 2v2 Arenas with the other half (who is already 80).

2) Get Mining to 400
I have also switched my professions from Enchanting and Tailoring (was masters in both too!) to Mining and Herbalism. All that Mining power-levelling over the holidays have paid off and my Mining is even higher than my Tailoring used to be, though Herbalism (sadly) is still 1...LOL...That will be on next month's agenda most likely!!! Oh well, at least I now have more gold, which is the whole point...I earned back what I paid for Cold Weather Flying in Northrend (with interest) and may now actually be able to afford a faster flappy in the hopefully near future. YAY!!!

3) Get the Explorer title
It's one of the easiest, and doesn't rely on grouping so I thought it might be a good place to start. Next will most possibly be the Jenkins title.

4) Get my first 80 BG Gear
A bit of a long shot, but thought I'd go for it anyway...I'd prefer Season 5 Arena stuff for PvP, but do not see myself earning any of it anytime in January, so it's more realistic for me to aim lower.

5) Get a Wintergrasp Victory
Not even been there yet, so it would be interesting to see how that pans out!

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This is it for now...I tend to make plans all the time, but am not exactly the best at sticking to them (no matter how well-thought out they are). If I achieve even half of what I set out to do, it will be a result!

Stop hanging around the beach...It's not a party!

2008-11-21T13:30:00.005+00:00

The novelty of having a Death Knight has finally worn off (I'm quite sick of seeing them everywhere now, if truth be told), though I must admit they're pretty challenging characters to play.

What's got me gripped in WLK is one of the new BGs - Strand of the Ancients. Most of us are still very new to it, and you'd be amazed at the number of players who keep asking what they're supposed to do as soon as they enter...Perhaps they have never heard of Google.

I haven't got a strategy as such, but have observed a few things which a lot of people don't seem to be aware of (judging from the number of them milling about)...I guess this blog is more in the nature of Handy Hints (albeit a fairly basic one).

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OVERVIEW

The battleground consists of a beach, beyond which are three terraces (for want of a better word). The first two terraces have 2 gates each - Blue and Green for the first, then Red and Purple (or Amethyst if you want to be pedantic) for the next. The final terrace has only one gate which is Yellow, before you get to the last gate which leads to a room that holds a relic. The objective of this BG, if you are attacking, is to get to the relic within 10 mins. If you are defending, then you must stop the other team from getting to the relic. There are two rounds in all. Your team either starts as attackers or defenders before you swop places in the second round. To help the attackers along the way, are tanks and bombs (stored in barrels). The defenders get guns on top of turrets (two on either side of each gate, except the final one for the relic). There's a ray of light in front of each pair of turrets that can teleport you behind the gate, where there are stairs which take you up to the guns. If neither team gets to the relic in time, the match will be a draw. You'll still get one Mark of Honour though.

IF YOU ARE ATTACKING

1) Use tanks on gates, not enemy players
You will be able to get hold of your tanks as soon as you land on the beach. Just jump on and steam ahead...Ignore turrets and enemy players on the way as you need to save time. Defence should be left to the other members of your team (similar to how you would support FB in WSG). If you are operating the tank, start firing at the gate once you are within range (make sure you keep moving...don't stop for anything), and when you actually get to the gate, alternate between firing and ramming (cooldowns are separate). The tank acts as your armor, so you won't need to worry about your personal HP (only the tank's, which is quite massive).

2) Only one gate per terrace needs to be destroyed
Quite self-explanatory...For the first two terraces, you only need to take down one gate each (doesn't matter which one). Eg. If the Blue gate on the first terrace is already destroyed, DON'T waste time on the Green one. MOVE ON! Remember, you only have 10 mins (and by this time, you'd have even less!). It sometimes helps if your group decides which gate they want to focus on before they get off the ship. In total, you only need to destroy 4 gates.

3) Protect your tanks
Without tanks, it would be more difficult to bring the gates down, so non-driving players must keep the enemies from trying to destroy your tanks. Stop them, distract them or slow them down. Apart from killing those players running after your tanks, you can also take down the ones shooting from the turrets (work out where their blind side is so you can hit them from there) and destroy their guns. The tanks can carry 2 other passengers, apart from the driver, which I have found can be quite useful positions for ranged characters.

4) Get GY ASAP
I can't stress enough how important this is...Once you get past each gate onto a terrace, there will be GYs you can access. Capping them unlocks more tanks and bombs nearby. (Moreover, watching players run past an undefended flag without doing anything about it is a surefire way to get me yelling abuse and subsequently, my neighbours complaining...This must be avoided at all cost.) It's not a difficult concept...No GY means no tanks (unless you want to go all the way back down to the beach and back up again...those tanks don't move terribly fast, you know!) Once a flag is capped, it cannot be changed back, and the Goblin Workshops to the sides will open. Tanks and bombs will appear, and continue to spawn for the duration of the round so you can (and should) have a steady stream of tanks attacking the gates.

5) Make good use of bombs
ALWAYS carry a bomb, even if you might end up driving a tank. Bombs are not as effective as tanks, but they can serve as back-ups in the event that your tank is destroyed before you bring down a gate. If a tank falls apart at the gate itself, I usually try to plant the bomb within the rubble, hoping that the enemy will be so busy trying to kill me they won't notice the bomb...It's been known to work once or twice. Furthermore, if loads of players keep planting bombs, one of them will eventually go off since the opposing team may not get enough time to disarm all of them. Don't forget that any bomb you carry will drop when you die, so you'll have to pick one up again. Some people claim that continuously rushing the gates with bombs alone will work, but I have yet to notice any group succeed at that strategy on my server. A combo of tanks and bombs seem to work best, I've found.

IF YOU ARE DEFENDING

1) Smash their tanks
Make life difficult for the other team as soon as they get off their ship. This is a time game, so employ whatever tactics you can to delay them from getting to their siege engines. Once they do get on their tanks, keep whacking their vehicles with your highest DPS shots. DOTs don't seem to have much effect on these vehicles (apart from the initial hit.) Tanks only spawn in certain areas (eg. Beach and Goblin Workshops)...Start ganking the enemy there. It is actually possible to destroy tanks even before they get anywhere near a gate, but even if that does not happen, you would have lowered its HP to such an extent that it would take next to nothing for a turret (or more specifically, the gun on it) to finish the job.

2) Guard your GY from enemies
Force them to keep running to (and from) the beach. It slows them down even more. They may eventually get to cap it, but hopefully, many minutes would have passed by then, without them getting anywhere nearer to the relic. The more time it takes for them to get to the objective, the closer you are to winning. The turrets on the second wall are actually within range of the GYs, so you can keep firing at them when not otherwise occupied (with blasting tanks)...Keeps rogues out of the way too.

3) Always man your turrets
It's not a good idea to be rushing to the turrets only when there's a tank ramming at the gate! You need to be prepared all the time. When operating the gun, a certain element of guesswork is involved. As the missiles take awhile to land on your target, you need to predict which direction a tank is heading and aim for the area slightly ahead of it.

4) Always defend your turrets
Turrets are easy targets, but there aren't really enough players in this BG for that many to be standing around defending them, so everyone closeby will need to learn how to keep an eye out for members from the opposing team attempting to attack your turrets. It's also quite a good platform for ranged characters to fight from.

5) Watch out for bombs
As mentioned before, someone sneaky might try to plant it within any rubble that's by the gate. I've done it myself, so I know it's possible to get away with it. Also, if an enemy player not with a tank makes a beeline for the gate, there's a pretty good chance he's only there for one reason (since he's unlikely to be using his head as a ram)! Attackers can also get hold of bombs to the side of the courtyard that's in front of the final gate that leads to the relic.

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Everytime I reach the end of a post, I get this awful feeling that I've left out something crucial...And knowing me, I probably have. Feel free to remind me of anything I've forgotten. I've tried to keep things simplified as much as possible, but if you have any questions, just ask...Be patient though, I am a little slow when it comes to feedback. As I learn more about Strand of the Ancients, I'll add to this blog from time to time. But until then, I hope this is of some help.

Finally!!!

2008-11-01T12:30:00.002+00:00

I've got my helm, my helm, my helm...and also a spanking new chest piece lalala...

I swear I was beginning to despair of ever getting any decent gear, but I got some eventually...Staff is next on my list, but now I'm wondering if there's even any point.

By the time I earn it, 13 Nov will be here and there'll be kick-ass stuff for 80 which means I'll probably have to start all over again!

Sod it...Anything's got to be better than the crap I'm currently wearing. I'll worry about this again when I've levelled up.

Turning Purple

2008-10-20T22:30:00.004+01:00

I'm still fairly new to the gaming scene, but have noticed that I am increasingly spending more of my free time playing WoW than doing...erm...I can't actually think of anything else I'd rather be doing...Hehe

Although I'm chronically incapable of keeping my onlife self divorced from real life, I'd been toying with the idea of setting up this separate site just to catalogue my gaming XP...Hmmm...the verdict is still out on how well I can multi-blog. Thing is, updating the main one has proven to be a struggle (due to all the time I spend in WoW)...which makes me a little dubious about the upkeep of yet another blog. My reasoning - less time writing equals more time gaming.

But then again, it's nice being able to post a few snippets of what I've done, if only for the sake of posterity.

My main has reached 70 at long last, and will soon have to look foward to levelling up again by the time WLK comes out next month. You'd think I would have got all noobish mistakes out of the way by now, but nooo...I've predominantly been soloing, telling myself that other players wouldn't be held back by my general crappiness this way. The result is complete lack of experience in PvP, and plenty of green gear. I've finally seen sense in entering BGs, and got myself some purple stuff, but it's slow-going. Plus, I'm playing a Boomkin, which I have been advised doesn't perform the best in Arenas (considering my partner-in-crime will be a hunter who is MM).

Oh well...Nevermind, you live and learn.

For now, I'm just happy to have all my gaming AVs residing in one place. It would be great to see more people here on the same server as myself, but I guess it doesn't really matter. Feel free to look me up in-game (I really will try NOT to get us all pwned!) or post a comment here. (Oh yeah, hello to all...neglected to do that earlier, sorry!)

I'll admit I'm very slow at replying to messages, but I do get there eventually!

Ok, in-game is definitely better...

Hmm...All this waffling has probably fulfilled my monthly blogging quota to overflowing, so I think I shall go do something about earning that helm I was hoping to get tonight.

PS - As of today (12 July 2009), my hubby has abandoned the Hunter, and rolled a DK and Pally, both of which are now 80. Whew!

My first attempt...

2007-03-22T13:06:00.001+00:00

...at building.

A few days after I joined SL, I started playing around with the tools and the end-result was this construction.

It's a changing room, in case you missed the great big capital letters in bold.

The platform for this type of modelling might be pretty primitive, but I've always been amazed at the kind of SIMs people have been able to create despite that.

Not done much since this architectural foray, but will get my arse into gear when I finally get more time on my hands.

My first SL job...

2007-02-12T14:47:00.003+00:00

...as a model!!!!!

And here's a pic of me fronting a shop!!!

Want to see what nice things you can buy from this place? Just TP over to GT HQ where I often hang out.

Yay!!!

Fire in the Hole!

2007-02-04T20:55:00.001+00:00

Sexyteen Robson might very well be a middle-aged woman in RL trying to resurrect her youth in SL, but since the very nature of this game obscures the real identity of all players, there's no absolute way of telling for certain.

Nothing gets karate-chopping and fang-baring AOs activated as quickly as the bête noire of Premium members - profiles with the 'no payment info on file' insignia.

Although many Basic members do end up bearing the brunt of this animosity, it has to be noted that not all of them are unverified entities. As a resident which falls under this category, I have to point out that I spend almost as much Lindens (possibly more) on my in-world pursuits as Premium Second-lifers...and very little of this comes from camping.

Well, that old cliché is true...You have to speculate to accumulate.

The resentment of verified members can be justified, however. Apart from the obvious (such as the prospect of unknowingly engaging in BDSM SIMs with a precocious child), there is all that lag to consider...This mass exodus from 1st to 2nd has got to be very heavy on the grid...

I'd wager that a large proportion of residents online at any one time are really spotty kids seeking cheap thrills because they just haven't the patience to wait for the day they can graduate from Teen Second Life...a lack of discipline which only vindicates the prohibition of under-18s in SL. Personally, I find it debatable as to whether that age is an appropriate cut-off point, but that's another matter entirely.

Let's face it, Second Life doesn't have any official form of strict policing, so it requires some self-control.

We see enough noob activity going on in-world without juveniles trying to spoil the gaming experience for everyone else, simply because they don't know what is or isn't bad form...And there's always the one...

Not so long ago, Davey got jumped on for no bloody good reason whatsoever.

He was testing out a cute monkey AV which he got for free (see pic above for his usual look), and went around asking some residents if they had any bananas, when some guy (later joined by his girlfriend) started with the abusive name-calling and bitch-smacking...They were virtually sinking their claws into him, so there was a diaspora of body parts and blood (mostly Davey's until I came to the rescue) flying everywhere.

Granted, it was a bit daft of Davey to have been doing that and doubly so, since it's never a good idea to approach anyone sporting blood-stained apparel and sharp talons when you haven't got shields on...

...Thankfully, I did.

So there was a bit of a role reversal going on that night which saw yours truly defend Davey with a few magic spells and caging devices...A particularly novel situation since David's usually the one who bails me out in RL.

Jesus, I really kicked ass that night!!!

YAY!!! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

As far as I'm concerned, the only good thing that came out of that scenario was the discovery of some pretty cool scripting. Those tits didn't even know what hit them (took them quite awhile to work out who as well).

But seriously, the attack on Davey was unprovoked. Any normal person (ok, as 'normal' as can be for someone who spends a percentage of his or her time in SL) would think he's being a bit silly, but not offensive, and hardly deserving of assault.

He's a monkey; it's a role-play game...Get with the program!

Clearly, these people have never heard of Eddie Izzard either.

Anyhow, back to the real issue at hand...

I don't believe there's a good excuse for anyone not to get verified. All SL gamers should do so, if not for any other reason, then based on principle alone. This method may not be fool-proof (I have to admit it's not all that difficult to nick Daddy's credit card), but it's a start in the right direction...

Everyone benefits from it, and the risk you take is no higher than opening a RL bank account in the high street. Second Life takes no money from you without your prior consent. However, if your main concern is resisting the temptation of buying Lindens, that is not anyone's problem but your own.

An aggressive campaign to get everyone verified (or GEV for short!) is long overdue, but since no one thus far has got the balls to do it, I will...If you want summat done, you gotta do it yourself.

There is only one objective:
Basic or Premium - All accounts should be verified...NO EXCEPTIONS!

IM me if you want to sign the petition...Leaving my 1st life in the next few minutes, but you can always reach me wherever I am, even in RL.

...Now morphing into Lyondra Eun.

Say hello to the NEW ME!!!

2007-01-03T05:34:00.005+00:00

I was never happy with the avatar I started out with...I know AVs aren't exactly real, but it is possible to make them look as true-to-life as possible...My old AV did not possess that characteristic whatsoever (as you can see below).

I looked almost deformed, if anything.

However, David found a modifiable AV of an Asian woman and sent it to me to use as a base, and the result is far better than I expected. I'd say that with just a few exceptions (such as the nose not being long enough etc), my AV is almost a spot-on image of me! Or rather, it looks a hell of a lot more like me than my original one did!

I guess I'll be sticking with this one (top pic) from now on.