Between shifting hosting platforms and migrating this blog site, I question whether my first post was truly this Brew of the Month post. I’m sure I did a more introductory post, right?

This post titled The Facts of Life is more of what would’ve expected starting out. To be fair it was only published a couple of days after I got things rolling.

What a journey it’s been and continues to be. Although I don’t really blog much, I still play WoW, and I still play Darkbrew and about 20 other Hunter characters.

When I started this blog, WoW was still a toddler at five years old and was in the midst of Wrath of the Lich King (still my favorite expansion). Blogging was the way to inform folks about the game. Youtube, Twitter, and streaming were all in their nascent stages or didn’t exist at all. Podcasting was a thing though, and it was this same year that Euripides and I launched The Hunting Party Podcast.

While I won’t commit to doing a lot of blogging, I will commit to doing more of the Hunting Party Podcast starting with this – an all-star reunion show!

That’s right, yours truly, Frostheim, Euripides, Michele Morrow, BigRedKitty, Zeherrah, and the current crew of Delirium, Bendak, Ms. Foxxy, and Synthparadox will band together Soon (TM) to catch on up what we’ve been doing these many years.

I’ll share out more details when I have them, but yeah, it’s happening.

If you’ve spent any amount of time reading The Brew Hall these past twelve years, thank you! It means more to me than you’ll ever know.

Stay thirsty and remember to drink your Darkbrew Lager.

I wrote 10-ish in the title not because it hasn’t been 10-years, it most certainly has. But as you are aware the posts have been few and far between these last few years. I’m pretty sure I’ve written something each and every year, but this site has hardly been a den of activity.

I’d love to tell you that I’m about to change all that, but I’ve written revival posts in the past, and they’ve gone nowhere. That said, I’ll likely keep this site alive for at least another year.

Now as to what I’ve been up to, I’m still playing World of Warfcraft, and I’m still playing Darkbrew. But like the previous three expansions, I’m taking a bit of a hiatus. I started Battle for Azeroth full of enthusiam and played every day until our guild cleared Uldir.

Once that happened, I began to lose interest. I haven’t logged in much these days, although I suspect one day soon I’ll wake up and feel that urge to logon and get all caught up.

As for the Hunting Party Podcast, I don’t quite know what to say about it. None of us have really had the desire to get behind the mic. and talk Hunters this expansion.

I’m not ready to call it quits though. You see, the Hunting Party Podcast also turns 10 this year, and if the show is to end, I’d like to do it right. I don’t know what “right” is, but it’s not this.

I’m going to hit up the HPP crew and see what we can do to either carry on, pass it on, or end things in a more dignified and celebratory fashion.

I don’t think we’ll get to episode 300, nor do I think we’ll do anything as epic as episode 100, or the episode 200 send-off, but I’d love to talk a little BfA, Classic WoW, and maybe get a reunion with Euripides, Frost, Arth, and more.

Stay tuned, and thank you to everyone who’s been here the last ten years. Tempus fugit, and Happy Hunting!

• Mage Tower artifact appearance for Beast Mastery? Check.
• Heroic Antorus cleared and violet bird mount obtained? Check.
• Completed the Insurrection questline and obtained the Arcanist’s Mana Saber? Yes, and what a pain in the ass that was. I was still playing and raiding when Nighthold was a thing, so I don’t know why I didn’t complete it then.
• Survival artifact weapon obtained? Done. Is it wrong that I did the quest as Beast Mastery?
• Lightforged Draenei and Void Elves unlocked? You bet.
• Void Elf Hunter rolled? Of course.
• Joined new guild for BfA? See cleared Heroic Antorus above.

There are still a few things I could chase after before BfA. The artifact fishing pole comes to mind. For the most part though I’m ready for the next expansion. I’ve stayed away from the beta, and have only dabbled on the PTR, although I plan to give the PTR a closer look.

As for the Hunting Party Podcast, we’re still on an irregular schedule. We tentatively plan to do a show on the evening of June 25th. Once we get closer to BfA, I hope to get back on a normal schedule.

Until next month, maybe sooner?

So what does this mean for Hunters? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but if you don’t like these new looks then “Fluffy” the gorilla will have undergone a transmogrification of the worst kind when you call her from your stable. This change is retroactive and affects all existing pets. Like it or not, you’re pets are changing.

I encourage you to head over to Petopia to see the full list of updated pet models, but here are a few of note.

I like the black gorilla, but I’m not fond of the other variants. The only gorilla that I have tamed is the white one. He’s named Lightbrew, and there are only two pets with that skin in the game, Tsu’Kalu in Stranglethorne and  Uhk’loc in Un’goro. I checked the Battle for Azeroth alpha and both of them are updated to the new model.

Crabs are another pet that got updated, and I’m dying to see what Karkin looks like after the update. I don’t know if the image truly captures his new look, but if it’s accurate he’s quite different in Battle for Azeroth.

My favorite update is the Hyenas. They look fabulous. I’ve always preferred the red one from the old model, but now there are several colors that have my attention.

It’s fashionable to say “it’s only Alpha and things may change”, but I’ve got a feeling these changes are here to stay, and I wouldn’t be surprised if more are on the way.

Anyway, I’m in. I’ve barely had a chance to kick the tires, but Alpha is definitely the right term to use to describe things. Don’t get me wrong unfinished World of Warcraft is still better than a lot of games, but the lack of polish and detail is noticeable. Most notable is the lack of sounds. The opening zone is much too quiet.

Character copies are disabled so I’m running around with a premade Void Elf Hunter. Add-ons are also disabled so I’m stuck with the default UI, which looks a lot like it did when the game launched in 2004.

Battle for Azeroth doesn’t go live for six months, so it’s still early in the process. I look forward to seeing how Hunters evolve.

I took the picture just this morning. It’s the view from my tiny place on St. Thomas. I’m there now, and I was there in March of 2009 when I hatched up this little idea for a WoW Hunter blog called The Brew Hall.

It’s hard to believe that we’re about to turn nine. Time does indeed fly. I’ll have more to say about the site and how it got started next month. For now, I wanted to let you know where things stand today.

If you look at my latest posts, you’ll see that the last time I wrote anything about World of Warcraft was September 6, 2016. That’s by far the longest I’ve gone without writing a word about Hunters or World of Warcraft.

That’s something I wish to correct, but it won’t be easy. My interest in World of Warcraft is at an all-time low. My subscription is still active and I intend to keep playing. It’s just lately I haven’t been logging into the game. In fact, I’ve yet to set foot in the Antorus raid. That’s just one of many things left undone right now. I hope to begin correcting that when I return home.

So why the falling interest in World of Warcraft? It’s partly due to that fact that I’ve been playing the game since 2004. Thirteen years is a long time to be doing anything, let alone play a video game.

The other reason is Star Wars. With the revival of this historic franchise by Disney, I found myself writing and podcasting about a Galaxy, Far, Far Away. Star Wars is my first love, and as I started reconnecting with it, I spread myself too thin.

You probably noticed that in the last couple of years I expanded The Brew Hall to include topics on Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) and Star Wars. You also probably noticed that I was publishing more articles on those topics than I was World of Warcraft.

My interest in Star Wars hasn’t waned. In August of 2016 I started a SWTOR podcast called State of the Old Republic. It’s doing great, and my efforts got me into BioWare’s Influencer program. I get to work with other content creators, talk to the game’s developers about their plans for the game, and test out upcoming content. It’s a great gig, even if most of the information is subject to an NDA.

The work that I’m doing for SWTOR isn’t going to stop, but I do want to put more effort back into The Brew Hall and World of Warcraft. With that in mind, The Brew Hall will once again be World of Warcraft only. I don’t know how often I’ll write, but I’m going to set a goal of at least once a month.

Regarding the Hunting Party Podcast, well that’s still going on as well. Like The Brew Hall it too has seen a lull with one and two month gaps between episodes. This is something we plan to correct as well.

Nine years is a great milestone, and I want to see the blog turn ten, but I want to do it in way that reflects more than just a decision to keep the lights on.

Thanks to all of you who have supported the blog and podcast all these years.

P.S. – In The Lady of Sorrows chapter there was a flirt option for Senya. I really hope it was one of those “choices that mattered” that will come to bear in Knights of the Eternal Throne.

“A sniper in hiding, the marksman unleashes arrows and bullets with deadly precision, exposing the weakness in whoever—or whatever—passes through their crosshairs.”

If that’s the case, then why is it whenever I go out into the world or enter a dungeon, I feel less like a Windrunner, and more like Tony Montana from Scarface? I feel like I should start every pull by yelling

SAY HELLO TO MY LIL’ FRIEND!!!

Show me a Marksmanship hunter that doesn’t have a bead of sweat dripping from their brow whenever they walk into a dungeon, and I’ll show you a Hunter that doesn’t give a rat’s ass about who lives and who dies.

All of the “Marksman’s” abilities are centered around indiscriminately shooting everything in our sights and doing so with extreme prejudice and reckless disregard for all life. Instead of a beautiful bow, our artifact should be a giant hand cannon.

Sidewinders – [insert rapid fire gun noises].

Marked Shot – [insert more rapid fire gun noises].

Barrage – [insert that scene from Aliens where the marines panic and totally lose their sh**t].

I single-handedly wiped our group in Eye of Azshara because I pulled a flock of seagulls while fighting Serpentix. Yes, that’s right, Seagulls!

We’re like the Oprah Winfrey of Hunters. You get a mark, you get a mark, you get a mark. Everyone in the freakin’ dungeon gets a mark! And all in one pull.

I watched Lady Sylvanas do a backflip and then take aim, and deliver a near fatal blow to Genn Greymane while upside down and in the air. The only reason it wasn’t fatal is because she probably has a soft spot for dogs. Were he a feral druid I bet she would’ve landed two arrows right in his heart. Seriously, when do I get that ability?

Well at least they got one thing right, the marksman does indeed unleash arrows. Lots, and lots of arrows.

Earlier today, I opened up the launcher and the game began patching. When I logged into the game I got a message stating my game was out of synch. Clicking the message closes the client. After doing a little digging I found out that you could ignore the message and click play on any of your characters. When I did this I noticed elements of Game Update 4.7 were live; most notably the Pack Viewer and Guss Tuno recruitment mission. I logged out and immediately alerted an authority figure.

@swtor @musco Did part of GU 4.7 get pushed? I DL’d a small patch, my game is out of synch, and I see this in-game. pic.twitter.com/sc8ZaUjalj

— Darkbrew (@TheBrewHall) August 8, 2016

I wasn’t the only one having this issue, but a short-time later, BioWare announced the following.

All #SWTOR servers will be going down shortly for an emergency maintenance. More info: https://t.co/h7b5WDoj5r

— The Old Republic (@SWTOR) August 8, 2016

The servers are down for maintenance as I write this, but if all goes well, they’ll be up early this evening. I’m on the East Coast so I’m hopeful they’ll be available by 9:00 PM.

When they do come up, Game Update 4.7 will be live and we’ll get to see the final chapter of Knights of the Fallen Empire.

Will we defeat Arcann and Vailyn? What will become of the Eternal Throne? Will Valkorian’s true plans be revealed? Who lives? Who dies? We’ll find out soon enough.

I’m still getting things organized and set up, but Episode 1: Here Goes Nothing, is in the books. The podcast has its own site – sotorpodcast.com, and there is also a twitter account you can follow, and the show’s e-mail address is sotorpodcast@gmail.com.

The content of the show is news and information about SWTOR. I’ll do a segment about something I’m doing in-game, and there will also be a topic of the week.

Moving forward, the plan is to publish a new episode once a week on Tuesday. Episode two will be released on August 16th. I’m the only host, so my goal is to keep the show length at 30 minutes or less.

For additional information on SOTOR, you can check out this F.A.Q. as well as this introductory post on the show’s website. I’ve also embedded Episode One in this post, but if you check out the F.A.Q. you’ll see a list of all the places you can find the podcast.

I hope you enjoy my new podcast, and as the title of Episode One says, here goes nothing.