Once again two weeks have somehow flown by despite my being bored out of my gourde due to lack of internet time. Thankfully I've managed to keep myself semi-busy with a small list of WoW-related projects. Here's a quick run down of what I've been up to!
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First up we have articles. The first of several that I've been working on is posted below this particular post. How to Become a Raider is actually a three part article and I wrote it with a friend of mine in mind. Parts two and three of this particular guide will probably be up either tomorrow or the day after.
I have five total articles/guides in the works right now, though only three are "completed" at this point in time. I hope to have these all reformatted (I highly recommend to NOT use Notepad if you ever plan on transferring something to a different medium...it's not a happy time) with links active in the next few days.
Now, keep in mind that I have been working on these articles sans an internet connection or access to WoW post 4.0.1. If there are any mistakes or information I've missed, please say something! I'd like these buggers to be as useful and accurate as possible, and sadly I'm well aware of the fact that I'll miff something up along the lines due to my currently patchy online access.
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Next on our list of fun things that Saz has been working on is my video! Prior to leaving this last time I managed to transfer all of my old screen shots from my external hard drive over to my laptop (hey, if WoW can't fit, may as well stuff this shell with pictures right?!) and uh, let's just say that I have a few. 17,438 at the last count actually, with only a few duplicates. Honestly there would probably be a few more, but thanks to several viruses and one melted hard drive the number was lowered a bit!
Anyways, I wanted to do something with those screen shots, so I kind of did a memorial video. Despite a few minor formatting issues, I'm rather fond of it. You can go check out Reflection over on my Youtube page.
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The Jenesee Project - I've been doing some minor work on the Jenesee story line, but for now this project is basically halted thanks to 4.0.1. I'll explain why in a bit. Regardless of this project's temporary delay, I've been doing some much needed character development and will be doing some research during my stay.
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Milly Bays - No idea where this project currently stands. Possibly more on this later.
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The OA Project - Still on the edge of the recycle bin due to computer issues. This five part project may never see completion, especially since the original idea behind it needs to be completed before December 7th...I don't see this happening unless some sort of miracle happens. Sad day batman...sad day indeed.
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Mmm, that's it project-wise I think. So, this whole issue with me having to postpone or even think about tossing some projects out...simply put, my laptop and computer luck sucks. No lies. OA is postponed thanks to a blown CPU that isn't replaceable, Jenesee is postponed due to the fact that my laptop only has a 40g hard drive and thanks to 4.0.1 WoW no longer fits no matter how much I strip out of my machine (hence why I had been using Notebook to write my articles in instead of Microsoft Word, which would make things 10x easier. I had completely stripped out Microsoft Office in hopes to make a bit more room, but in the end it simply wasn't enough). It's rather frustrating to be held back by silly things like CPUs and hard drive space, but I'm resourceful, even if I am a bit tapped out at the moment. Much like how low fps has actually helped me in a weird way become a better player in WoW, I'm sure these set backs will somehow shape me into some more clever beast in the future : P
So yes, for now my in game experience is limited and there's unfortunately no time frame as to when I'll make my return to Azeroth. As I said earlier, if you have anything to add or correct to any of my guides, please say something. Thanks to my wonky circumstances I'm certain to miss a few large key points no matter how many times I reread these things or how much digging I do.
I <3 feedback.
I suppose that's all for the moment. More to come after I've slept a bit!
Monday, November 1, 2010
How to Become a Raider - Part 1: Gear
~Congratulations! You have reached level 80!~
Liltimmy: Hurray! I can raid now!!!
Serenitysaz: Hang on there Timmy, not quite so fast. You have quite a bit of work to do before you're ready to raid.
Liltimmy: But I'm 80 now! I can do anything I want!!
Serenitysaz: Not in that gear you can't.
Liltimmy: What's wrong with my gear?
Serenitysaz: While blues and greens are more than fine for leveling, they're less than ideal for raiding. Before you even set foot into a raid, you first must get yourself
into mostly iLevel 200 blues and epics of better.
Liltimmy: Where do I get those?
So you've just managed to level cap your first character within World of Warcraft, congrats! You're probably like our friend Lil Timmy here, excited and unsure of what to do next. That's okay! We all start somewhere. This guide is here to help you on your way to becoming a solid raider.
First things first, we must get rid of your greens and the majority of your blues. You can do this one of two ways: either have your gear crafted, or run instances. Let's break this down a bit.
Crafted Gear - This can be rather costly, and to someone who has just capped their very first toon, this may be out of your financial range. If you have deep pockets though, find yourself the appropriate crafter and get to it!
Blacksmiths - Plate Gear
Defense Plate (Protection Paladins/Blood DKs/Protection Warriors)
DPS Plate (Retribution Paladins/Frost DKs/Unholy DKs/Fury Warriors/Arms Warriors)
Healer Plate (Holy Paladins)
Leather Workers - Mail and Leather Gear
Agi DPS Mail (Enhancement Shaman/Hunters)
Caster Mail (Elemental Shaman/Restoration Shaman)
Agi Leather (Bear Tank Druid/Feral Cat Druid/Rogue)
Caster Leather (Balance Druid/Restoration Druid)
Tailors - Cloth Gear
Healer Cloth (Holy Priests/Discipline Priests)
Caster Cloth (Warlocks/Mages/Shadow Priests)
Instances - This is the best way of obtaining gear. Crafted gear can help out a ton, but instances (both regular and heroic modes) will help you fill in your missing pieces. Not only will instances help you to gear up, but they will also award points which can be used to purchase higher iLevel gear, give you gold, help you earn reputation with certain factions (which in turn will allow you to buy enchants, gear, and various other goodies), and most importantly will help you learn your role better in a team player environment. Tip: make a list ahead of time of which bosses in which instances drop gear that are upgrades for you. That way, once you're finished farming for points, you know which instances to run daily to get your last missing pieces.
Liltimmy: Woahwoahwoah...what does this all mean? Reputation? Factions? Enchants? iLevel?
Serenitysaz: I know Lil Timmy, it's a lot to take in. Just hang in here with me for a bit longer, and I will explain it all!
Liltimmy: Okay...but, one question...what type of gear do I need?
Serenitysaz: This is a very good question Timmy! Let me answer that for you!
Here's a break down of all the classes and specs, and what type of basic stats (those are the numbers on items, such as Agility or Intellect) you need to be looking for.
Death Knight - DKs (as they're more commonly known) can fill two different roles: Melee DPS or Tank
Melee DPS - Look for plate items with Strength on them. Two handed weapons are preferred by most DKs, unless they're specced into the Frost tree, which allows them to dual wield two one-handed weapons. If you're a melee DK with Defense or Intellect in your gear, you need to do further reading on how to gear your class. Defense and Intellect are no-nos for DPS DKs.
Tanks - Again, look for plate items with Strength on them, but more importantly, look for Defense! Before attempting to tank instances (let alone raids), please look up how much defense rating you need for your spec. If you are under Defense cap, your healer will hate you, and you will most likely die. DK tanks do NOT use shields, but use two handed weapons. Agility isn't a bad stat for DK tanks by any means, but more often than not Strength and Stamina are the two more important stats after Defense, Hit, and Expertise caps have been delt with.
Druid - Druids can fill four different roles, and each gear slightly differently. These roles are: Ranged DPS, Melee DPS, Tank, or Healer
Ranged DPS - Look for leather items with Intellect and Spell Power on them. If you're a caster (which is what most ranged DPS are), and you have Agility gear on, you need to relook at how you're gearing. Agility does nothing for a caster, so please do not take these pieces from our Kitty/Bear/Rogue friends. Boomkins most often use staves (a staff), but can also use a main hand weapon coupled with an offhand weapon. Please do not use a mainhand weapon without an offhand, or an offhand without a mainhand weapon.
Melee DPS - Look for leather items with Agility on them. If you have gear that has Intellect on it, you are a very bad, bad kitty. Once upon a time, way back in the Burning Crusade expansion you may have seen some cats with caster gear on because back then they had to do something known as power shifting. They no longer do that, thus they no longer need to lay their paws on the gear of the casters. Feral druids most often use Polearms and Staves. Finding offhands to couple a mainhand dagger are an extreme rarity, and ferals do not dual wield. Thus, don't try to steal a rogue's daggers.
Tanks - Much like the cat ferals, look for items with Agility on them. Gear with expertise on it is also extremely helpful! Bears do not use mana except to shapeshift (which if you do this more than what is necessary in a fight, you may be doing something wrong...typically you turning into a "human" form will result in you being smashed into bits!), thus they should never put their big bear paws on a caster's gear. Just like with kitties, bears use Polearms and Staves. Sometimes a bear will have to use Strength neck pieces and rings, and these pieces will have Dodge (which is very good!), Defense (not totally necessary, but not a terrible stat to have!), Block (try to avoid this stat, bears cannot block), and Parry (again, bears can't Parry). These neck/ring pieces are okay to have! Just try to gather as many preferred stats as possible.
Healers - Healers are much like the Ranged DPS Druids, they look for leather that has Intellect and Spell Power. Agility is not a healer stat. Strength is not a healer stat. Healers do not need to be agile nor strong to heal well! They just require the proper gear and quick moving feet.
Hunter - Hunters fill one role: Ranged DPS
Ranged DPS - Look for mail items that have Agility on them. Expertise and Defense are BAD for hunters, and Strength is less than ideal. Intellect is another stat that a Hunter should not have. Hunters can equip nearly every weapon in game, so choose wisely on the weapon(s) that you use! You may use any weapon you wish, but it must have Agility on it, and no Expertise/Defense/Strength. If you aquire a one-handed sword or a dagger, remember to get another weapon for your other hand! Thrown weapons are not for Hunters, please only equip bows/guns/cross bows in your ranged slot.
Mage - Mages fill one role: Ranged DPS
Ranged DPS - Look for cloth items that have Intellect on them. Lucky for Mages (and all cloth classes, really), there aren't any pieces of cloth that won't suit your class. Mages often use Staves, but can also use one-handed weapons coupled with an offhand. They also use wands! Stay away from weapons that have Agility on them!
Paladin - Paladins can fill one of three roles: Tank, Melee DPS, or Healer
Tank - Look for plate items with Defense and Strength on them. Intellect gear is generally bad for a Paladin tank! Items with Defense, Parry, Dodge, and Block are wonderful for a Pally tank. Paladin tanks use shields with Block/Parry/Dodge/Defense for their offhands, and typically a one-handed mace or sword in their main hands.
Melee DPS - Look for plate items with Strength on them. Avoid Defense/Parry/Dodge/Block/Intellect items...you do not need these as a DPS! Expertise is also helpful, but do not fret too hard about this stat, Ret Pallies are not dual wielders. They often use two handed maces or swords, but can also use polearms if need be.
Healer - Look for plate items with Intellect on them. Avoid the pieces with tank stats on them, and do not take Strength items! Holy Paladins do not need Strength to be a strong healer, they need the smarts of great Intellect! Holy Paladins also carry shields, but these shields will have the great Intellect on them instead of the Defense of a tank shield. They also use one-handed maces or swords for their main hands.
Priest - Priests can fill one of three roles: Tank Healer, AoE Healer, or Ranged DPS
Tank Healer - This spec is called Discipline. It gears up much like a Mage, but will not turn its Spirit into Hit. Just like the Mage, it looks for cloth pieces and weapons that contain Intellect.
AoE Healer - This is the Holy spec. It gears up just like its Discipline friend. Cloth with Intellect is king. These clothies, they're so smart with all their Intellect gear and weapons!
Ranged DPS - The Shadow Priests again gear just like their Mage and Healer Priest friends. They look for the cloth and weapons that carry Intellect. Just like their Mage friends, they may turn some of their Spirit into Hit through talents or reforging.
Liltimmy: Hit? Reforging???
Serenitysaz: I'll get into that once I finish this list!
Liltimmy: Okay, good.
Rogue - Rogues only fill one role: Melee DPS
Melee DPS - A rogue will gear up much like a Druid kitty would. Look for Agility leather. Expertise is also a very good stat to have as a Rogue! If you have Intellect gear, you are not a very smart Rogue at all, despite your stats. To be a good Rogue you must be agile! Rogues are dual wielders, and can use a variety of weapons. Quick daggers or maces are common, as are fist weapons. Swords and sometimes axes are used as well. Just be mindful of what spec you have, and which weapons and weapon speeds will benefit that spec the most. Thrown weapons are the most common ranged weapon for a Rogue, though guns/bows can also be used. Defense weapons/ranged items are not for Rogues! Do not take these from your tank friends. They will get angry and let you steal aggro, letting you die. Then they shall laugh at your foolishness.
Shaman - Shaman can fill one of three roles: Ranged DPS, Melee DPS, Healer
Ranged DPS - An Elemental Shaman will look for mail gear with Intellect on it. If they use Agility gear instead of Intellect, they will singe their fingers on the elements that they call upon, for it takes great Intellect to wield lightning and to command the flows of lava! Elementals often use shields that have Intellect on them coupled with a main hand, but can also wield staves. A totem in their ranged slot that helps boost the damage of their elements is best to have.
Melee DPS - An Enhancement Shaman will gear up much like a Hunter, and looks for Agility mail. Expertise is also a much sought after stat. They do not need to take the Elemental Shaman's Intellect gear, for they gain the respect of the elements and their Spirit Wolves through their sheer warrior like strength! An Enhancement Shaman will not take the Strength gear of the plate DPSers, nor will they steal the Defense gear of a tank. They also do not require the shield of the physical type. Enhancement Shaman are dual wielders, and will be found swinging a pair of very slow one-handed axes or maces or fist weapons (2.50-2.70 speed). Staves and two-handed weapons are not for Enhancement Shaman. The totem in their ranged spot will either be one that improves their Attack Power, or perhaps even increase their elemental damage, or may even increase their Haste!
Healer - A Restoration Shaman will gear much like its Elemental cousin. They look for mail pieces with Intellect on them! In order to call upon the healing powers of their great ancestors, the Resto Shaman must use their all of their Intellect. They also can use staves, but most often will use a shield paired with a main hand weapon. Their totem for the ranged slot will be one that helps increase the effectiveness of their heals.
Warlock - Warlocks can only fill one role: Ranged DPS
Ranged DPS - A Warlock will gear just as their Mage and Priest friends do...they look for cloth!! They like to deviously outsmart their foes, thus they prefer items that contain Intellect on them. They will not take the Agility and Strength pieces that are best suited for their melee team mates. They can use staves, swords, offhands, and various other weapons. They also like to use wands.
Warrior - Warriors can fill two roles, though two different specs fill the same role: Tank, Melee DPS
Tank - Protection Warriors gear just as a Protection Paladin would. They look for Defense/Parry/Block/Dodge gear. Agility is not a bad stat to have, but Strength is generally prefered. Expertise is also not a bad stat to have if you can get it. A Warrior does not use mana, thus if you're a Warrior who has Intellect on his/her gear, you are a very stupid Warrior despite your so-called Intellect. A Prot Warrior will use a shield that has Defense/Parry/Block/Dodge on it, with either a sword or mace with similar stats on it in his/her main hand. They either use a thown weapon or gun with Tank stats on it for their ranged weapon.
Melee DPS (Arms) - An Arms Warrior will gear much like the Ret Paladin or Unholy DK. They look for plate items with Strength on them. They do not generally take items with Agility on them, but this stat is not bad to have. They certainly do not run around wearing Intellect gear, nor do they wear the gear of a tank. An Arms Warrior will use a two-handed weapon, generally a sword, but can also use a polearm or two-handed mace. While they may look for a Strength based thrown weapon, gun or bow, something that's Agility based should fine for their ranged slot as well.
Melee DPS (Fury) - A Fury Warrior gears just as an Arms Warrior would, with two rather large differences. They look for much more Expertise, for this is a very important stat as a dual wielder, and they look for two different two-handed weapons. Yes, two TWO-handed weapons. Fury Warriors be furious, and their titanic grips make them wield big weapons that take a normal person two hands to hold!
Serenitysaz: So there you have the full run down on what types of gear you generally look for.
Liltimmy: Cool! So...what about this thing called Hit?
Serenitysaz: Hit is the stat that lets you...well...hit the boss!
Liltimmy: Oh!! I wanna be able to do that!! How much Hit do I need so I don't miss?
Serenitysaz: It depends on your class. Generally casters need 17% Hit and melee need about 8%. Expertise acts much like Hit as well, though instead of just letting you hit the boss, it ensures that the boss cannot dodge away from your attack. 26/26 is the Expertise cap.
Liltimmy: Okay...so I have talents that convert stuff into Hit for me, how much do I need from my gear?
Serenitysaz: Take the cap numbers I just gave you and subtract the amount your talents give you. This is how much Hit you need to gain from your gear.
Liltimmy: Alright, that clears that up. What about reforging?
Serenitysaz: Reforging allows you to take one unneeded stat, and turn it into another, more useful stat!
Liltimmy: Ooooh, I wanna do that! Can I have all of one stat?!
Serenitysaz: No, you cannot simply take all of your Haste or Crit and turn it into, say, Agility or Intellect. It doesn't quite work that way. But you can turn some of your crit into a stat that you may need, like Hit.
Liltimmy: That's kind of cool I guess.
Serenitysaz: It's way cool. Instead of running around like an under capped nub, you can be sure to hit those bosses always no matter what your gear!
Liltimmy: You said something earlier about iLevel...what does that mean?
Serenitysaz: iLevel refers to the item level of a piece of gear. The bigger the iLevel number, generally the better the piece. An item with an iLevel of 232 is generally better than one with an iLevel of 200, provided it a) has the stats you're looking for and b) it's actually for your class. If you're...say, an Arms Warrior, an Intellect piece with an iLevel of 264 will be much worse for you than a Strength based blue with an iLevel of 187, despite the fact that the item level is far greater than your blue piece. If the piece doesn't have the stats that your class/spec require, then it doesn't matter how high the iLevel may be, it's not for you.
Liltimmy: I've been hearing people in Trade talk about Gear Score...what is this?
Serenitysaz: Gear Score is the number that you get when you add up the iLevel of all your items. It's at best a very general way to judge how well you're geared. It's better to have a low GS (short hand for Gear Score) and the proper items equipped then to have a high GS and have improper items equipped. If you're a Ret Pally with a very high GS, but are wearing Tank and Healer pieces as a DPS, chances are no one will want you in their raid anyways. Having a high GS is nice...but it's not the most important thing. Take your time and gear up properly.
Liltimmy: Wow, this is a lot to take in.
Serenitysaz: I know it is Timmy, that is why we'll take a break for now. We'll go over gems, enchants, reputation (and why you need it), rotations, and strategy at another time.
Liltimmy: Cool, thanks! See you tomorrow then?
Serenitysaz: You bet!
Liltimmy: K, my mom wants me to go to bed now. Bye!
Liltimmy has gone offline.
World of Saz 2011
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tier 11
Edit: Now available here at WoS, a full Tier 11 list, complete with images and links!
Here is a preview on some of the tier sets and my opinions on them.
Here we have the Shaman Tier 11 set. Uh...I think we look like Rogues. Wasn't there an old Rogue set that had the spiky shoulders like that? I mean, yeah, it looks cool, I'll happily sport it, but definitely not..Shamany. I'm kind of sad, especially after Tier 10 being so epic.
This is the Druid set. I love the blue one, and I love the visuals that this set gives off. I can't wait to get my Druid into this Tier set, no lies!
I don't have a high level Mage. I don't plan on having a high level Mage. But this? This set?! Absolutely epic! This really looks more like Warlock tier to me, and it's certainly not Magey in any way, but it's a very sick looking set. Out of all the tiers that I've seen thus far, this is definitely my favorite. Mages, be prepared to see a little Draenei following you around, I will be stal...mmm, observing you in an approving manner.
Perhaps at a later time I'll just do a post on all the new tier sets and do reviews, but for now with my limited time, this is what you get : P
So, better post coming soon? Yes, I think so.
Here is a preview on some of the tier sets and my opinions on them.
Here we have the Shaman Tier 11 set. Uh...I think we look like Rogues. Wasn't there an old Rogue set that had the spiky shoulders like that? I mean, yeah, it looks cool, I'll happily sport it, but definitely not..Shamany. I'm kind of sad, especially after Tier 10 being so epic.
This is the Druid set. I love the blue one, and I love the visuals that this set gives off. I can't wait to get my Druid into this Tier set, no lies!
I don't have a high level Mage. I don't plan on having a high level Mage. But this? This set?! Absolutely epic! This really looks more like Warlock tier to me, and it's certainly not Magey in any way, but it's a very sick looking set. Out of all the tiers that I've seen thus far, this is definitely my favorite. Mages, be prepared to see a little Draenei following you around, I will be stal...mmm, observing you in an approving manner.
Perhaps at a later time I'll just do a post on all the new tier sets and do reviews, but for now with my limited time, this is what you get : P
So, better post coming soon? Yes, I think so.
Hobbies
We all have them to some extent. We use them to distract ourselves from real life, or to simply pass the time. Some are casual, some obsessive, and some become our daily jobs if we're so lucky. That's right, I'm talking about our hobbies.
Chances are that if you're reading this blog right now, we have a common hobby: World of Warcraft. That, or you know me in real life and are nosy enough to come look at my blog. It's probably pretty safe to say that WoW is one of the more, if not most, popular online hobby...at least in the gaming world. It's quite the amazing online community in itself, there's no debate about that. In game it supports the casual player, the hardcore raiding maniac, the role player, the tear-your-face-off PvPer, the problem solver, the leader, the follower, the team player, the lone wolf, the collector, the spender, the buyer, the...well, you get the picture. No matter your play style chances are pretty good that you'll find something that you can have fun with.
Just outside of the game though there exists even more hobbies, all just based off this one little online game. You have song writers, singers, movie makers, in-game photographers (as I like to refer to those of us who are screen shot shutter bugs), blog writers, number crunchers, painters (all art mediums really...paint, digital, pencil, charcoal, whatever), sculptors, and of course there's the millions of people who simply support those who I just mentioned.
Okay, so World of Warcraft not only provides entertainment through a variety of play styles in game, creative stimulation for a large variety of artists, but it also revolves around a huge social community. While I'm a huge fan of both the game play and of the inspiration that WoW gives, I must say that it's the social community itself that keeps me coming back to this game. In my neck of the woods, the only way to really meet new people is either through work, or at a bar. Well, I'm out of the former, and really not into the latter, so WoW for me personally has been quite the social outlet. It's honestly made it possible for me to meet and become friends with people who I may have completely looked over had I met them in real life.
WoW has such a terrible stigma with the general non-gaming public. It's viewed as addictive and unhealthy. While to an extent this may be true...yes, it is addictive, what hobby isn't addictive though? Some people work out a ton, some drink, some build hundreds of bird houses. Perhaps it is unhealthy, at least to those who never bother to leave their computer chair, who never bother to shower, or live primarily on hot pockets...but for those who embrace this game while actually taking care of themselves, I think WoW has some very positive things to share with the world of online gaming, whether that was its original intent or not.
TL;DR
I love World of Warcraft. It's my current favorite hobby. I'll take my nerdy online friends over your obsession with building bird houses and bar trolling any day ^_^
Chances are that if you're reading this blog right now, we have a common hobby: World of Warcraft. That, or you know me in real life and are nosy enough to come look at my blog. It's probably pretty safe to say that WoW is one of the more, if not most, popular online hobby...at least in the gaming world. It's quite the amazing online community in itself, there's no debate about that. In game it supports the casual player, the hardcore raiding maniac, the role player, the tear-your-face-off PvPer, the problem solver, the leader, the follower, the team player, the lone wolf, the collector, the spender, the buyer, the...well, you get the picture. No matter your play style chances are pretty good that you'll find something that you can have fun with.
Just outside of the game though there exists even more hobbies, all just based off this one little online game. You have song writers, singers, movie makers, in-game photographers (as I like to refer to those of us who are screen shot shutter bugs), blog writers, number crunchers, painters (all art mediums really...paint, digital, pencil, charcoal, whatever), sculptors, and of course there's the millions of people who simply support those who I just mentioned.
Okay, so World of Warcraft not only provides entertainment through a variety of play styles in game, creative stimulation for a large variety of artists, but it also revolves around a huge social community. While I'm a huge fan of both the game play and of the inspiration that WoW gives, I must say that it's the social community itself that keeps me coming back to this game. In my neck of the woods, the only way to really meet new people is either through work, or at a bar. Well, I'm out of the former, and really not into the latter, so WoW for me personally has been quite the social outlet. It's honestly made it possible for me to meet and become friends with people who I may have completely looked over had I met them in real life.
WoW has such a terrible stigma with the general non-gaming public. It's viewed as addictive and unhealthy. While to an extent this may be true...yes, it is addictive, what hobby isn't addictive though? Some people work out a ton, some drink, some build hundreds of bird houses. Perhaps it is unhealthy, at least to those who never bother to leave their computer chair, who never bother to shower, or live primarily on hot pockets...but for those who embrace this game while actually taking care of themselves, I think WoW has some very positive things to share with the world of online gaming, whether that was its original intent or not.
TL;DR
I love World of Warcraft. It's my current favorite hobby. I'll take my nerdy online friends over your obsession with building bird houses and bar trolling any day ^_^
What the...
This here is the new druid Tree of Life form.
Uh...they took away the lovable grumpy tree form for this? Now, don't get me wrong...I don't have a whole lot of room to complain since I'm mainly feral, but I have gone resto from time to time. Gone are the days where I could grind instances for badges, angerly waddling around in circles, spamming my HoTs. No more epic ass-tentacle shaking dance, no more heart breaking /cry emote.
Blizz, what did you do to the life giving druids?!?! Whyyyyy!!!!
/sigh
Damn, I'm glad to be feral.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Patch 4.0.1
Ahhhh patch day. How I look forward to all of your changes, yet dread how much space you take up.
That's right, today is officially patch day. The new talents system goes live, as does reforging, the changing of stats (ArP -> Crit, Sp -> Int, etc), our spell books will look completely different, we can track multiple things now, and our new glyph system will come into play...along with a very nice list of other things that are being implemented.
While this is all incredibly exciting (really, I think as soon as I can I'm going to go pet farming on my hunter), I'm sitting here wondering about what I can strip from my laptop's memory in order to fit this rather hefty patch. Most of my images have been backed up, so I could easily dump most of that, but I doubt that alone won't come close to giving me the space this patch may require. So far I've pulled out Warcraft III and Warcraft: Frozen Throne (I was nearly finished with Frozen Throne >.<), and even that hasn't given me enough download room. Microsoft Office, I think you're next. Back to the days of relying on Notebook! Sigh. I wonder if there's anyone else who runs on horribly outdated machines (not by choice) that are having to scramble to try to find somewhere to put these epic new changes. Ah well, such is life!
In other news, I'm still online (obviously) and this has let me do a few things. For one, I've been tinkering a bit with Project Jenesee. I haven't been doing any writing in the past few days, but I have kind of worked out how I'd make Jenesee and her sister, Gypsy, look for the story. I'm not 100% on their gear yet, and that may change later on depending on the different gear/gear sets I come across, but I am rather sure on how they look facially in game at least. I've also managed to get Gypsim up to the massive level of 5 in my free time, so I'll have a rather useless armory link up for her in the Jenesee blog soonish! In hindsight I almost wish that I had rolled these two on a role playing server just for interaction with other characters, but Hyjal was just too convenient. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more work done on these two prior to having to finally go offline.
So yeah, babbling. I do it a lot.
Here are the current images of Jenesee and Gypsy. Think more of later on in the storyline, where the actual juicy and entertaining bits will finally come into play!
I really love both of these item sets. I may go for an old(er) school set of 'lock tier for Gypsy, but for now the current tier 10 works well for her I think. I'm sure the gear will change as the story progresses, but for now these are my "official" placeholders, I guess you could say.
Yes, they're gingers. Learn to love it! How can you have a warlock that isn't a ginger? (Ginger love!!!)
*Ahem* Anyways...yeeeah! Hopefully if all goes well, more on the Scepter quest line later on tonight! If not, well, just know that I will be a sad panda. A very, very sad panda. Those book pieces are reeeeally heavy, and by that I mean they take up too much space in my already limited inventory after all. That, and I'd love to see the end of this quest line, pronto ; )
Okay, enough almost pointless babble. Time to strip!
...by that I meant this laptop. Dirty people.
That's right, today is officially patch day. The new talents system goes live, as does reforging, the changing of stats (ArP -> Crit, Sp -> Int, etc), our spell books will look completely different, we can track multiple things now, and our new glyph system will come into play...along with a very nice list of other things that are being implemented.
While this is all incredibly exciting (really, I think as soon as I can I'm going to go pet farming on my hunter), I'm sitting here wondering about what I can strip from my laptop's memory in order to fit this rather hefty patch. Most of my images have been backed up, so I could easily dump most of that, but I doubt that alone won't come close to giving me the space this patch may require. So far I've pulled out Warcraft III and Warcraft: Frozen Throne (I was nearly finished with Frozen Throne >.<), and even that hasn't given me enough download room. Microsoft Office, I think you're next. Back to the days of relying on Notebook! Sigh. I wonder if there's anyone else who runs on horribly outdated machines (not by choice) that are having to scramble to try to find somewhere to put these epic new changes. Ah well, such is life!
In other news, I'm still online (obviously) and this has let me do a few things. For one, I've been tinkering a bit with Project Jenesee. I haven't been doing any writing in the past few days, but I have kind of worked out how I'd make Jenesee and her sister, Gypsy, look for the story. I'm not 100% on their gear yet, and that may change later on depending on the different gear/gear sets I come across, but I am rather sure on how they look facially in game at least. I've also managed to get Gypsim up to the massive level of 5 in my free time, so I'll have a rather useless armory link up for her in the Jenesee blog soonish! In hindsight I almost wish that I had rolled these two on a role playing server just for interaction with other characters, but Hyjal was just too convenient. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more work done on these two prior to having to finally go offline.
So yeah, babbling. I do it a lot.
Here are the current images of Jenesee and Gypsy. Think more of later on in the storyline, where the actual juicy and entertaining bits will finally come into play!
I really love both of these item sets. I may go for an old(er) school set of 'lock tier for Gypsy, but for now the current tier 10 works well for her I think. I'm sure the gear will change as the story progresses, but for now these are my "official" placeholders, I guess you could say.
Yes, they're gingers. Learn to love it! How can you have a warlock that isn't a ginger? (Ginger love!!!)
*Ahem* Anyways...yeeeah! Hopefully if all goes well, more on the Scepter quest line later on tonight! If not, well, just know that I will be a sad panda. A very, very sad panda. Those book pieces are reeeeally heavy, and by that I mean they take up too much space in my already limited inventory after all. That, and I'd love to see the end of this quest line, pronto ; )
Okay, enough almost pointless babble. Time to strip!
...by that I meant this laptop. Dirty people.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Old School Screenshots
Last night was another one of those nights where I got to sit around and bullshit about the good old days with some of my oldest and dearest WoW friends. This got me to thinking about my old screen shots (I pretty much have a whole library documenting my WoW experience, minus a few months due to computer issues), and I managed to get the ol' external hard drive up and running. I was expecting to find just old Wrath raid photos, but instead I ended up finding baby Saz photos too!! I figured I'd share some of them here, not only because I think it's cool, but I'm sure that it'll be six months again before I steal the power cord from the internet router to make the external hard drive work again, and I'm sure this laptop will probably die on me in that time : P
Anyways, on to the photos!
Anyways, on to the photos!
Quest line for my water totem, I think.
Yeah, I used to rock that mask ; )
Drinking by the moonlight in the Wetlands.
I lived in Ghost Wolf form.
Zangarmarsh! One of my more favorite zones.
After defeating Illidan in Black Temple. Rockin' the miss matched T7 set, and my new lvl 70 dagger.
In Stratholme farming for the mount. Full T7.5 sexiness.
This last shot really makes me miss my Mac. To run freely in Dalaran again! And to have addons too!
So yeah, finding these really made me happy.They brought back some memories, but good and bad (more of the former and less of the latter, thankfully). These screenshots really make me think back on the last two expansions...what I've experienced, the people I've met, how much things have changed (or in some cases, haven't). I think it's definitely a good thing to reflect back on things now and again, just so you can take note of past mistakes so that you don't end up making them again.These photos kind of do that for me.
While I didn't get to experience a whole lot of Burning Crusade raiding/BG wise, that expansion still holds a ton of memories for me. Wrath of the Lich King has likewise held a ton of memories for me, through raiding, guilds, and even making some pretty damn good friends through just a little bit of mild PvP. I'm really interested in seeing what Cataclysm will bring.
I'm really looking forward to the fresh start on many different levels.
Videos
G4's The MMO Report kind of made me giggle a bit. It's also the MMO Report that I've been waiting on for months now about Cataclysm's release date, but of course I've known for quite a few days now thanks to WoWInsider. I'm kind of enticed by Star Wars: Old Republic despite the fact that I've never been a huge Star Wars fan...perhaps I'll give it a go eventually, just to shake things up a bit.
I saw this video a while back on some of the zone and graphic changes happening in WoW. I'd also recommend checking out Reznik's other videos. He seems to do a lot of, erm, exploiting (which I do not recommend doing), so if you've ever been curious about how GM Island really looks, or what it's like in the unfinished version of the Emerald Dream, take a look at this guy's profile.
Lately I've been listening to a lot of WoW based music. By WoW based I mean that this music is written and/or performed by actual factual WoW players. Some specialize in parodies, some do original works. While I've been a fan of Gigi and Nyhm for quite some time now, lately I've really been getting into Abandonation and especially Sharm. Check these guys out. If you enjoy WoW related media, these folks shouldn't disappoint!
Eventually I'd really like to get into machinima. What is machinima? Well, it's more or less you taking WoW (it's scenery, characters, etc) and turning it into a video. This video may be a music video, or it may have a story base to it much like a normal movie would. There are many talented machinima artists out there, but my current favorite is Quix0tica. Definitely have a look at her work if you're at all interested in WoW machinima.
For a full list of my current youtube favorites, head over here. I'm always looking for new inspiration, so if you have anyone new for me to check out, let me know! And yes, that is my youtube page...hopefully sometime in the next few months it'll contain videos that aren't just favorites, but actually made by me.
Project Update
- Milly has a voice, and it's cute! Hopefully she'll be making her official debut in the next month or so.
- Jenesee didn't get any work done on her today, and possibly won't see any further progress tomorrow either. Updates on her may need to wait a few weeks, depending on how long I'm offline for.
- That's it for right this second. The list may look short, but it's keeping me busy! I'm rather excited about these two projects, and I can't wait to see them develop and see the finished products.
That's all for now!
I saw this video a while back on some of the zone and graphic changes happening in WoW. I'd also recommend checking out Reznik's other videos. He seems to do a lot of, erm, exploiting (which I do not recommend doing), so if you've ever been curious about how GM Island really looks, or what it's like in the unfinished version of the Emerald Dream, take a look at this guy's profile.
Lately I've been listening to a lot of WoW based music. By WoW based I mean that this music is written and/or performed by actual factual WoW players. Some specialize in parodies, some do original works. While I've been a fan of Gigi and Nyhm for quite some time now, lately I've really been getting into Abandonation and especially Sharm. Check these guys out. If you enjoy WoW related media, these folks shouldn't disappoint!
Eventually I'd really like to get into machinima. What is machinima? Well, it's more or less you taking WoW (it's scenery, characters, etc) and turning it into a video. This video may be a music video, or it may have a story base to it much like a normal movie would. There are many talented machinima artists out there, but my current favorite is Quix0tica. Definitely have a look at her work if you're at all interested in WoW machinima.
For a full list of my current youtube favorites, head over here. I'm always looking for new inspiration, so if you have anyone new for me to check out, let me know! And yes, that is my youtube page...hopefully sometime in the next few months it'll contain videos that aren't just favorites, but actually made by me.
Project Update
- Milly has a voice, and it's cute! Hopefully she'll be making her official debut in the next month or so.
- Jenesee didn't get any work done on her today, and possibly won't see any further progress tomorrow either. Updates on her may need to wait a few weeks, depending on how long I'm offline for.
- That's it for right this second. The list may look short, but it's keeping me busy! I'm rather excited about these two projects, and I can't wait to see them develop and see the finished products.
That's all for now!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
In Game Changes
I feel like jabbering about some of the upcoming in game changes that are about to happen. Now keep in mind while you read my rambling that I am not a huge number person. Never have been, never will be...numbers and I just aren't huge pals. We associate out of necessity, but we don't get along too well. If you're the type of person to run Sims and that always does the number crunching in order to get the most out of your character, that's cool. I've always been more of the type that goes with my gut on how my set up is performing, and which direction I should go in order to improve my DPS (or on the occasion heals and tanking too).
Now, today Totem Talk put up this post on the upcoming changes that will be effecting Enhancement Shaman. There's not a ton of huuuge ones, save for the changes to Searing Totem and Lava Lash, but the one that's slightly bothered me was the fact that we're going to be stacking Agility. Now, anyone who's known me for any amount of time, and has looked at my gear, has known that I've been an Agi stacker for most of this expansion. Yes, even though for the longest time AP, AP/Haste, or pure Haste were the fads. I loved my Agi. I even had a few Haste gems in there just to be able to keep up, but most of my red sockets had my beloved Agility in there somewhere. A month or so ago I finally started to play around on Rawr. I knew that I was over the melee crit cap once I had a proc or two pop (unbuffed), so I started to tinker with the idea of going more of an AP and heavy Haste route. This had Sim'd out pretty decently, and showed a rather decent increase in potential DPS numbers. Convinced that this would help improve my in game DPS (I was looking for a few new pretty numbers, since raiding has become something on the far back burner due to computer issues, and I was feeling adventurous), I spent the money to get AP/Haste and Haste gems. Honestly, I wasn't floored by the results any, and almost feels as if though I've had a DPS decrease, instead of the apparent increase I was supposed to have. Now I find out that we'll be stacking Agility once again thanks to Attack Powers more or less demise in the gemming world, and I'm kind of sad that I had diverted from what I've always preferred. Oh well I suppose. At least I have Armor Pen being converted into Crit to look forward to!! Yes, I'm verrrrry excited about this. I can finally stop being so damn picky about gear!
RIP Magma Totem, hello to Searing being useful, and new talent trees!!! (Indoor Ghost Wolf, I approve.)
Also on the note of change, I'm looking forward to and yet a bit saddened to see ArP going away for my Druid. Armor Penetration was such a delicious stat as a Feral cat. She's currently ArP capped with her trinket proccing, so despite her not being geared to the teeth, she pulls some rather nice numbers. Thankfully she only has 5 gems that will need switching once this next patch goes live, but it will still be a bit of a sad day.
Upside of this incoming patch though for cats is Skull Bash. An instant interrupt that doesn't require combo points like Maim?!?! Thank you Blizz!!! While this has some nice practical uses in PvE, I can see this being incredibly useful in PvP. I'm really hoping that I have some luck with my computer issues soon, because I really can't wait to be able to hit the battlegrounds and Skull Bash some fools in.
The cat feral druids don't seem to have a whole lot of change coming up in this next patch, save for easier talent trees (sooo much easier than the mess we had before, trying to sort which were cat talents, which were bear, which were useful to both, etc). The only change that I may find strange at first is the fact that Savage Roar is apparently not so much of a priority. This will be a rather hard, yet somewhat welcome, habit to break. Honestly, I've been playing a little Rogue lately, and I keep wanting to use Savage Roar. Yes, it really is that much of an obsessive habit. I really like how that even though they're dumbing down talent trees a bit, the Feral Cat will still be the king of juggling bleed timers and energy. I think my biggest love of cat DPS comes from its complexity, and from the fact that if you can master this complexity, you do very well as a cat. If you don't, you often find yourself going Resto or Boomkin.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with kitty DPS, here's a handy chart.
It's really not all THAT hard ; )
As far as other class changes are concerned, I've really only peaked at a few changes. The new Shadow/Disco changes for Priests look kinda fun. Learning how to use Hunter focus may be something I save for a really rainy day (though come on bigger stables! I want an army of Hunter pets!!!). Warlock changes are...interesting. I'm not sure if I'm sold on the new Demonology set up, so I might end up going back to Affliction. I may end up tinkering with my Warlock once I get the Shaman and Druid settled.
So yes, a lot is changing, yet just enough is staying the same to help make at least a few things seem recognizable. It should be fun to have such a large change...or it may just end up being a huge pain in the behind. Guess we'll find out soon enough!
Now, today Totem Talk put up this post on the upcoming changes that will be effecting Enhancement Shaman. There's not a ton of huuuge ones, save for the changes to Searing Totem and Lava Lash, but the one that's slightly bothered me was the fact that we're going to be stacking Agility. Now, anyone who's known me for any amount of time, and has looked at my gear, has known that I've been an Agi stacker for most of this expansion. Yes, even though for the longest time AP, AP/Haste, or pure Haste were the fads. I loved my Agi. I even had a few Haste gems in there just to be able to keep up, but most of my red sockets had my beloved Agility in there somewhere. A month or so ago I finally started to play around on Rawr. I knew that I was over the melee crit cap once I had a proc or two pop (unbuffed), so I started to tinker with the idea of going more of an AP and heavy Haste route. This had Sim'd out pretty decently, and showed a rather decent increase in potential DPS numbers. Convinced that this would help improve my in game DPS (I was looking for a few new pretty numbers, since raiding has become something on the far back burner due to computer issues, and I was feeling adventurous), I spent the money to get AP/Haste and Haste gems. Honestly, I wasn't floored by the results any, and almost feels as if though I've had a DPS decrease, instead of the apparent increase I was supposed to have. Now I find out that we'll be stacking Agility once again thanks to Attack Powers more or less demise in the gemming world, and I'm kind of sad that I had diverted from what I've always preferred. Oh well I suppose. At least I have Armor Pen being converted into Crit to look forward to!! Yes, I'm verrrrry excited about this. I can finally stop being so damn picky about gear!
RIP Magma Totem, hello to Searing being useful, and new talent trees!!! (Indoor Ghost Wolf, I approve.)
Also on the note of change, I'm looking forward to and yet a bit saddened to see ArP going away for my Druid. Armor Penetration was such a delicious stat as a Feral cat. She's currently ArP capped with her trinket proccing, so despite her not being geared to the teeth, she pulls some rather nice numbers. Thankfully she only has 5 gems that will need switching once this next patch goes live, but it will still be a bit of a sad day.
Upside of this incoming patch though for cats is Skull Bash. An instant interrupt that doesn't require combo points like Maim?!?! Thank you Blizz!!! While this has some nice practical uses in PvE, I can see this being incredibly useful in PvP. I'm really hoping that I have some luck with my computer issues soon, because I really can't wait to be able to hit the battlegrounds and Skull Bash some fools in.
The cat feral druids don't seem to have a whole lot of change coming up in this next patch, save for easier talent trees (sooo much easier than the mess we had before, trying to sort which were cat talents, which were bear, which were useful to both, etc). The only change that I may find strange at first is the fact that Savage Roar is apparently not so much of a priority. This will be a rather hard, yet somewhat welcome, habit to break. Honestly, I've been playing a little Rogue lately, and I keep wanting to use Savage Roar. Yes, it really is that much of an obsessive habit. I really like how that even though they're dumbing down talent trees a bit, the Feral Cat will still be the king of juggling bleed timers and energy. I think my biggest love of cat DPS comes from its complexity, and from the fact that if you can master this complexity, you do very well as a cat. If you don't, you often find yourself going Resto or Boomkin.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with kitty DPS, here's a handy chart.
It's really not all THAT hard ; )
As far as other class changes are concerned, I've really only peaked at a few changes. The new Shadow/Disco changes for Priests look kinda fun. Learning how to use Hunter focus may be something I save for a really rainy day (though come on bigger stables! I want an army of Hunter pets!!!). Warlock changes are...interesting. I'm not sure if I'm sold on the new Demonology set up, so I might end up going back to Affliction. I may end up tinkering with my Warlock once I get the Shaman and Druid settled.
So yes, a lot is changing, yet just enough is staying the same to help make at least a few things seem recognizable. It should be fun to have such a large change...or it may just end up being a huge pain in the behind. Guess we'll find out soon enough!
Fail? Possibly.
http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/community/contests/writing2010/
How did I miss this! Bah, damn being offline.
Anyways...uhhhh right! Body and Soul (the Jenesee Project) is live, but I don't know if I completely like it yet. I ended up not leaving when expected, and had some time to work with Jenesee a bit. There's also not a whole lot of content so far, but expect that to fill up sometime in the next month or so. You know, whenever I get the chance to come back on and dump all the material I've written up online : P
Kind of random, but the animations for the camel mount? Win. He's ploppy and gross, and I absolutely have one! Camel!!!
You may see a little gnome in the post below this one. She's Milly Bays. No you cannot have her, yes she's for an upcoming project. You *might* eventually see that one pop up in here, but for now, just "ooh" and "aah" at her cuteness.
News on the scepter quest! Today we managed to both finish off the quest involving the 500 pound chicken. Go go epic recipe! I decided to keep mine, since I like collecting things. After having done this, we ventured off to BWL to gather a part of our Draconic book and to begin the red portion of the three part quest line. Well, we both got our book bits, but sadly only one of us was able to complete the quest offered for the red line. So, off we go to BWL again so I can complete it, and also for more Elementium Ore. Noooo fun! *Makes a grumpy face at BWL*
Next we went into MC to try and retrieve the last part of the Draconic book. Once again, only one of us was able to loot it. I gotta kill that bugger again! Oh well, I needed more Sulfuron Ingots and Blood of the Mountains for my legendary mace anyways! Rep of course is always a plus too.
Scatter brained entry from a scatter brained mind. Fun, eh?
How did I miss this! Bah, damn being offline.
Anyways...uhhhh right! Body and Soul (the Jenesee Project) is live, but I don't know if I completely like it yet. I ended up not leaving when expected, and had some time to work with Jenesee a bit. There's also not a whole lot of content so far, but expect that to fill up sometime in the next month or so. You know, whenever I get the chance to come back on and dump all the material I've written up online : P
Kind of random, but the animations for the camel mount? Win. He's ploppy and gross, and I absolutely have one! Camel!!!
You may see a little gnome in the post below this one. She's Milly Bays. No you cannot have her, yes she's for an upcoming project. You *might* eventually see that one pop up in here, but for now, just "ooh" and "aah" at her cuteness.
News on the scepter quest! Today we managed to both finish off the quest involving the 500 pound chicken. Go go epic recipe! I decided to keep mine, since I like collecting things. After having done this, we ventured off to BWL to gather a part of our Draconic book and to begin the red portion of the three part quest line. Well, we both got our book bits, but sadly only one of us was able to complete the quest offered for the red line. So, off we go to BWL again so I can complete it, and also for more Elementium Ore. Noooo fun! *Makes a grumpy face at BWL*
Next we went into MC to try and retrieve the last part of the Draconic book. Once again, only one of us was able to loot it. I gotta kill that bugger again! Oh well, I needed more Sulfuron Ingots and Blood of the Mountains for my legendary mace anyways! Rep of course is always a plus too.
Scatter brained entry from a scatter brained mind. Fun, eh?
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