Patch day 3.0.3 and one week to go

What's left to do? Lots I suppose. So much that I can hardly bring myself to log in with any one character and do something because I am constantly thinking "I should be doing X with Y!". Gah.

What am I doing? Well, trying to make up a little money with Rayak. He blew it all last week on mounts so he could get the Albino Drake. So I suppose I will be a socialist-just like our country will soon be(sob, that is another story...)-and redistribute the wealth. I mean, my druid makes money hand over fist, but my shaman can't do dailies alone for squat. And Rayak blew all his money. So I will probably send out money from the ones who have lots of it, to those who don't have much. Do I think this if fair? Nope, I sure don't. And I suppose I could stick to my values and let each character make their OWN damn money. But really...it is all MY money. I guess I'm thinking like the government now. Ick....

The other thing I am doing is working on Loremaster with Kickingbird. She is realistically the only one I can do this with I think. She is only 15 away from Kalimdor and about 100 away on EK(but I know of TONS of areas I skipped there). She did the Tier 0.5 quests way back when, is exalted with Timbermaw, and has done loads of quest lines that I just can't imagine doing with any other character(the Scholo key, etc). She is the only one who will be able to finish all of Outland I think(eventually maybe). And once I get done doing this with her, I don't think I will want to do this with anyone else.

Oh, and one more thing...with this patch...my warlock FINALLY gets his Dreadsteed without having to do that annoyingly long quest chain! YAY!

Albino Drake!

Yes, last Friday I finally got exalted with Skyguard and was able to blow all of his money on every mount possible JUST so the achievement Gods would send me an Albino Drake! I have to admit, it was TOTALLY worth it! This is an awesome mount and it ticks me off that I can't use it in Azeroth. I'll just have to be content to /afk in Shat for another 2 weeks. Heh

The Undead of the Necropolises...here comes the Lich King!

I really should take more screenshots of this!

Anyway...the Scourge Invasion is back! The last time this happened was June 2006 when Naxxramas was introduced. At that time I only had one character at max level(60), Kickingbird. My next highest was Wormtongue, he was about level 55 and not able to participate as easily.

Now I have 7 characters at the max level and they are taking their turns at fighting back the scourge each time they spawn. They have all equipped their Argent Dawn Commissions and are doing what they can to help win the battles!

The rewards for doing this? Gear of course! Yeah, not that gear really excites me...but since some of my characters have been wearing the same gear since they hit level 70(and most of it isn't that great) and since this is EPIC gear I can get SOLO...how can I NOT love this??! There is a four piece "Undead Cleansing/Slaying" set-chest, shoulders, legs and gloves. The legs drop from several rare Scourge that show up at each necroplis crystal(most of my characters have gotten these). The chest drops from the elite Shadow of Doom that spawns when the crystal is near death(they only spawn when someone spends the runes to summon them, but the summoners can't always bring them down leaving them open to anyone around who can tag them fast enough)-and so far only my Paladin has his chest piece. The gloves and shoulders are bought with the runes that drop from the mass of Scourge mobs around each crystal. Most of my characters have gotten these already too.

Another thing to buy with the runes, the Tabard of the Argent Dawn! Of course, I had this 2 years ago with my druid and was the one tabard I wore most of the time. Now, I could cry and moan, saying "whaaaa I felt special because I had one and NoOne else did and now EVERYONE will have one...waaaaaaaa". Sort of how those who already had the Sinister Squashling cried because it was changed to be available through trick or treat bags. But no, I'm not like that. Frankly because I don't really care what others have. I don't really care if everyone gets all the special minipets or tabard or whatever-it does not affect MY play in the slightest. And having something rare...does NOT make my feel 'uber' or 'special' or 'better than everyone else'.

And that brings me to the last thing that I do want to whine about...a new minipet that I would give nearly ALL of my minipets for but I simply won't be able to get it. It is a Vampire Batling(and I'm not even going to link it, because it is just that painful to me), and it only drops from a raid boss in Karazhan. Great. Thanks. Being vampire-obsessed makes this one really hurt to know that I simply don't know HOW ON EARTH I will be able to get into a group to get one of these awesome little guys. And it will be gone forever after next week and I will probably cry everytime I see someone with this little guy out. Sometimes I REALLY HATE YOU BLIZZARD! Damn you, Damn you all to HELL!!!!!

Another new pet, sort of...

Another new and interesting pet...sort of...can be found while fighting the undead that are sent from the necropolises around Azeroth. This is one that stays in your bags, called a Haunted Memento. It looks like a necklace, but once you have one you will have a Shade following you around! It is very cool! It does show up on Track or Sense Undead, but you can not target it in any way. Sometimes he goes away, but usually zoning or logging in/out brings him back. He also dissappears when you summon a regular minipet.

He is not soulbound and is an item that can be thrown to another player if they have bag space. They are unique though, so if someone already has one and you throw it to them, it will be gone forever.

One other interesting note...he makes bankers vanish! I put mine in the Scryers bank and then watched as I actually waved goodbye and saw the banker go poof right before my eyes! Yikes!

Zombies can be annoying

It started strangely enough. A few infected crates were in Booty Bay, and others had inspected them and then headed for Orgrimmar. After 10 minutes, they were transformed into zombies and began infecting others. Nobody was really sure what was going on.
But finally we caught on. And we learned that both Alliance and Horde zombies become a Unified Zombie faction! With that in mind, I grabbed my Human Mage, and my kid got her Undead Mage, and we headed to Booty Bay to see where it all began. (ok, we took the unique opportunity to do some cross-faction trading without needing the neutral auction house, which was most excellent for my human's pet collection!) And then we headed for Booty Bay proper to see if we could convince the guards there to join us...and then we went on to Shat'trath to take out some vengeance on those trainees who practice nonstop next to the flight path! It was fun for awhile, and then we died...
And while it was fun, it eventually had to come to an end. After 5 days, and the infection going from 10 minutes to zombification to 5 minutes and finally down to 60 seconds(which was almost instant when my Paladin fought a group in Thunder Bluff). And then it was over, with only the mass of the dead lying about as proof that anything had happened. Oh, but it is not over, so I've heard...

Wyl, the Beast Master

Another thing I've done after the last patch is put all of Wyl's points back into the Beastmaster talent tree and tame one of the exotic pets. I had logged him out on Azuremyst Isle before the patch and was ready to go after the servers stabilized. My kid also had her hunter there, a level 35 who wanted a moth.

After helping her get into the starter zone for the moth, I made my way to the cave to get my hands on the Kurken. I had to wait for two others who had come in to kill him for their quests and once they were gone I began taming. Being level 12, he was an easy tame of course. And then I was out of there. Once I was back in Shat, I gave my new big white puppy his new name-one that I had searched and thought hard over...Orthrus. Orthrus was a two headed dog of Greek Mythology and I knew this name was the one I had to choose. I've seen quite a few of the big white dogs running around, but not another one named Orthrus. And that's fine by me!

I haven't had the chance to level him up yet, but plan to grind on Ogres in Nagrand in order to do so. For the time being, when I need a level 70 pet around(such as fighting the Scourge invasion), I go back to my faithful piggy, Briarsting. But I see lots of Orthrus in Wyl's future!

Sinister Squashling

Ok, so maybe I was a little bummed that this totally cute pet was only rarely available to those who could get a group and kill the Headless Horseman. And then Blizzard threw those like me a bone...and he became available from trick or treating! Hallelujah! Eremit, my Paladin, was the first to be lucky enough to nab one-and was so happy he bent over and started crying! (ok not really...!)

So far the characters of mine that have been lucky to see this guy in their goody bag...Kickingbird, Rayak, Eremit, Tohopka, Wyl, Daneck, Windextor, Geocacher and Wyndampryce. My 'evil' themed characters, Wormtongue, Gediman and Hekubus have not been so lucky and that really bums me out! Also, my hunter, Billiejo has not been lucky either though her travelling partners, Daisyjo and Jojimbob have both gotten him.

Another item, the Hallowed Helm, a no-level cloth helm that looks like a pumpkin head, also drops from the goody bags but those have been rarer for me. So far only Tohopka, Windextor, Geocacher, Kimthescout, Taphophilia, and Rayak of Moonguard have gotten it. And with Tohopka, Geocacher and Windextor being extremely lucky to get both, they managed to get the Sinister Calling achievement.

And there is only until Friday to keep trying!

Stinker!!

Yes, I finally got around to feeling safe enough to learn all of my pets with my 2 mains and they both got their Stinker in the mail from Breanni!

I've posed Rayak here in Orgrimmar with Stinker. Rayak is on his favorite mount, the Swift Orange Raptor, and is showing off his Ambassador title.

Though he has many rare pets, like the Disgusting Oozeling, Hyacinth Macaw and Tiny Crimson Whelpling, Stinker remains the pet he calls to his side the most!



As for Kickingbird, she is posed in an amusing pose after being transformed by the innkeeper in Orgrimmar into a black cat! I thought it might make Stinker get a little too friendly, but he didn't seem very interested. Kick doesn't really have any of the rarer pets, but that's ok, because she loves having Stinker out all the time as well!

Update on Wyndampryce

So Wesley, er excuse me, Wyndampryce(sorry, I can't help but call him by the character on 'Angel's first name) reached level 10. This was back on October 16, but things have been crazy this past week what with the Halloween event and the sudden onslaught of zombies! So basically he has been idling his time in Darnassus, fairly safe, just trick or treating every hour or so. And yes, he was lucky enough to get a Sinister Squashling pet for a demon-fighting companion!

I am posting his achievements here to check his progress. Level 10, only one quest completed(rogue quest-and before he did a few candy buckets which count also). And on the second it notes that the only mob he has killed is demons! Ok, except for that one rat in the Deep Run Tram. Oops! As you can see, I've been using exploration for XP, and a few of the candy buckets from the Hallow's Eve event. I've almost considered adding Undead to the list of mobs he will seek out and destroy but I really do want to try to keep it to only demons! It is tough with the zombie invasion happening(and his subsequent death to them in Auberdine while trying to go for candy), but no, only demons!
Not sure when he will get more leveled up, for now he will become a bank alt except on the days that my main realm is down and Draenor is up!

The easiest PvP achievement for PvP haters

Make Love, Not Warcraft was one of those PvP achievements that I had almost overlooked. My kid made a macro and was trying so hard in AV to get it and got really excited when she finally did.

But I didn't have to PvP to get the achievement on either of my main characters!

My druid was sitting in Orgrimmar, minding her own business, when a level 70 Draenei Shaman comes Ghostwolf-ing through town. She was killed just as she hit the Drag. I ran to follow out of curiousity and when I noticed she hadn't released after dieing(Shammy, probably waiting for everyone to leave so she could Reincarnate), I went over and /hugged her! No having to do PvP, just an oppurtunity to grab it.

With my rogue, I was sitting in SM, near the portals, hoping for a Headless Horseman group(which never happened), when of COURSE PvP broke out. And to my luck and astonishment, one Night Elf hunter was not releasing after getting stomped. I remembered the achievement and quickly ran over to give him his /hug. Another perfect opportunity and I never had to enter a battleground to get that achievement!

Achievements-what I've done solo

Yeah, I should probably be talking about the Hallow's End achievements, since that is the holiday going on now. But I am not getting into any groups for the Headless Horseman(#1 crappy gear, #2 don't know anyone, and #3 fear of asking for groups...) so I won't be able to finish many of the achievements related to that.

Not to mention that nearly ALL of the Holiday achievements require some sort of PvP. Admittedly the cooking and fishing also sort of require PvP, but those will be much easier to do. I will explain later.

What I want to talk about now is the achievements I have already completed solo(many of these on both my druid and rogue). Many more are partially finished as the rest of the requirements include things from Wrath of the Lich King.

GENERAL:
Shop Smart, Shot Pet-gather 50 minipets, get Reeking Pet Carrer(pet skunk)
Going Down-falling 65 or more yards without dieing(safe fall on both made it easy)
Filling up the barn-25 or more mounts(my rogue is only a few from the next level that awards the Albino Drake)
and the easy ones such as reaching level 70, getting the different levels of riding and owning a tabard
Tastes like Chicken-eat 50 different kinds of food, rather easy, just buy each type of food and each level and sit and eat(I also had all of the Darkmoon Faire food saved too)

QUESTS:
Number of quests-both are somewhere close to 2000 done
5 Daily quests-that went pretty quick
still working on the Loremasters of each continent and zone of Outland

EXPLORATION:
Exploring each zone-these are completely done on both characters, except of course for Northrend

Player vs Player:
While I have a few left over from when my druid got to exalted with Frostwolf for the wolf, these are pretty much being ignored by me

Dungeons and Raids:
As above, these are largely being ignored except for what I can go back and do solo or just duo/trio with my hubby and kiddo(which isn't much)

PROFESSIONS:COOKING:
Chef de Partie-learn 75 cooking recipes(my druid is 1 away from the 100 level, rogue is about 10 away)
The Cake is not a lie-with my rogue, the Rokk won't give my druid the recipe-or the Storm Chops one either
Captain Rumsey's Lager-fishing and drinking? why yes please!
still working on doing each of the dailies and getting all Outland recipes cooked up

PROFESSIONS:FISHING:
Old Crafty-with my rogue, not so lucky on druid, not certain I will be able to get the Ironforge equivelant, we shall see
Old Gnome and the Sea-little too easy, just fish from a pool
Outland Angler-with druid, just waiting on realms to come up to finish rogue's
still in progress in Barlo's quest list, fishing from wreckage pools and still not sure I will attempt to fish in Stormwind or not

PROFESSIONS:FIRST AID:
Master in first aid, easy, the rest is for Northrend

REPUTATIONS:
Ambassador of the Horde-I actually have this on my 3 70 Blood Elves, as well as the Alliance version on my 70 human mage and 41 Gnome rogue(still need Silvermoon rep for other 70s)
The Diplomat-exalted with Sporeggar, Mag'har and Timbermaw-on my druid. But they buffed Timbermaw rep(grrrr) so maybe someday my rogue will have this too
They love me in that tunnel-exalted with Timbermaw, obviously with my druid
The Burning Crusade ones...my druid has SSO, Sporeggar, Mag'har, Netherwing and Skyguard, rogue has Sporeggar, Mag'har, Scryer, SSO and close on Skyguard. Most of the rest require lots of dungeons runs(ie, not gonna happen for me)

WORLD EVENTS:
Obviously Hallows End is going on now. So they both finished Check Your Head, Savior of Hallow's End, and all of the Trick of Treats of Azeroth. Most of the rest won't happen because they require PvP or fighting the Headless Horseman(noted above). Oh well.

FEATS OF STRENGTH:
Druid-both Brewfest steins, Clockwork Rocket Bot, Competitor's Tabard, Spirit of Competition, Sergeant rank, Tabard of the Argent Dawn and Tabard of the Protector
Rogue-both Brewfest steins, Clockwork Rocket Bot, Spirit of Competition and Competitor's Tabard and that's it.


So you can see that I have done quite a bit by myself. I know I probably don't have anywhere near as many points as most people-especially those who pvp and raid out the wazoo-but I don't care. I can still accomplish many things in this game without anyone else but myself. Nobody wants to play with me? Fine, I'll play by myself and be HAPPY DOING IT!!! >.<

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce

So if you have ever seen the television shows "Angel" or "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" then you know the name. And after seeing his first episode on "Angel" I was inspired to create a "theme" character.

There are players who have leveled without killing a single mob, by only killing boars(South Park reference), and almost completely naked(the character, I don't even want to know about the real person!). And I wanted to attempt something different. I've had several ideas, but this is the first I have actually started.

His name is Wyndampryce, and he is a Rogue Demon Hunter.

Yes, I created a human rogue, and I intend to level him ONLY by killing demons. And I will update his progress here.

So far, he is level 10. I took him straight from level 1 in the Human starting zone all the way to the Night Elf starting zone to fight the Grells and Grellkin of Teldrassil. The Grells are levels 2 and 3. The Grellkin are levels 3 and 4. I stayed there until level 6 and moved on to Dolonar in Teldrassil where I fought the Sprites in the cave just north of the town. The different versions of Sprites are levels 5 to 7, with the named mob, Melenas, being level 8.

Once he reached level 10, I did the Night Elf version of the Rogue quest, which involved pickpocketing an item from a Demon.

I will be adding progress screencaps soon as well as links. As soon as he builds up a level and a half of rest he will move on to the level 12-13 Satyrs of Bloodmyst Isle as well as doing as much exploring as possible for the XP.

I have also decided to level him in inscription, only because it seems the most logical seeing as how Wesley was so into books! And picking herbs is probably the easiest gathering skill with the restriction I have placed on him in only killing Demons. Skinning obviously involves killing things for skinning and Mining tends to aggro any mob nearby. Herbalism and Inscription is perfect for him.

More to come...

Not a good first day...

So I waited for the realms to come up. Anxiously. A few realms popped up with some old random characters on them. Logged in just to check add-ons and whatnot. All add-ons were broken. No problem. Turn them off.

Finally Draenor comes up(and thank GOODNESS it was that one and NOT Kael'Thas first!), and I log in with my little Gnome Rogue, with his Ambassador title and all. Sitting there, in Stormwind on his Elekk...I throw my talent points in and talk to the trainer to learn the new disarm move. Cool. Now to learn the mounts, Black Stallion, Gray Elekk, Gray Ram and Spotted Frostsaber. Cool. Check them out on new character page. Cool. Run over to bank to see if I have any minipets to learn and work on my macro for summoning random mounts. And then BOOM...

Server crash..

No biggie, right? It's bound to happen a few times the first day. So I try and try again and finally manage to get back in. And I am back on my elekk in front of the rogue trainer. And my talent points are empty again. And I open my bags and I see the Black Stallion...and no other mounts. I check the character sheet and the 'pet tab' is not even there. BUT I AM ON MY ELEKK! And of course, as soon as I dismount to learn the Black Stallion I get the pet tab with ONLY the horse, and my other mounts are just GONE. Yeah. Poof.

So...that is why I am SOOO glad it was Draenor that came up and I logged in and did this with Hek. At least it was just a few level 30, 8gold mounts. It could have been my rogue, Rayak, and his 52 pets and however many mounts. That would have had me in hysterics.

Yeah.

So I wait to see if I will get my mounts back. And others hope they will get back much MUCH rarer things than I lost.

And I am still so glad it wasn't Rayak or Kick.

Patch Day! 3.0.2

So I've been sitting here-all day-reading the forums over and over, checking every blog, rereading the message boards...WAITING for the realms to come back up! It is 2:30pm, so they should be up in about 1 1/2 hours...SHOULD be....LOL! We shall see. I hate to sound like a loser, but I am so excited and anxious to log in today that I may be physically sick to my stomach today from it(or else dinner last night just isn't agreeing with me!).

But hey, I did some laundry-though I really should put another load in. And I really should do the dishes-though dinner tonight will have to be soup and sandwiches!

I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve...I even dreamt about the game last night...I was working on my Cenarion rep with my Druid(at least I think I was, I was in Silithus doing quests...gah, that is more like a nightmare than a dream!).

Sigh......

Stinker!

I am so looking forward to the patch tomorrow for one main reason...Stinker! He is acquired when your character has at least 50 of the mini pets learned. And my two main characters have more than that!!
Kickingbird has 54...

And Rayak has 52...

And I can't wait until I get my little pet Skunk tomorrow!
(assuming we are able to get on the realm on patch day!)

Add-ons and the patch

This next week I need to go through all of the add-ons I use and find new versions or keep my fingers crossed that they will still work.

The ones I use include:

Ackis Recipe List
Altoholic
Atlas
Atlas Loot Enhanced
Auctioneer
AutoDecline
Bagnon
Cartographer
CEnemyCastBar
ChatTimeStamp
ClearFont
Comix
DiggKarma
FloTotemBar
FuBar: Ammo, Bag, Clock, Duratek, Experience, FactionItems, Factions, Farmer, Guild, Innbound, Mail, Money, Professions, Quest,
Informant
Lightheaded/TomTom
Minipet
MobInfo2
Monkey Quest
Necrosis
NoDuel
OmniCC
Professions Book
SCT
XPerl


With adding Altoholic recently, I may get rid of Bagnon. I sort of miss having the old look of the bags and bank. I sort of miss the old look of the character portraits, but Xperl just adds so much more that I hate to lose(though I may see if I can deal without it). I hate that MobInfo takes up so much space too, I just love the info I get from it though. I don't even remember what Comix does anymore-I turned off the sound becuause it got so annoying! And DiggKarma I love, I hope it still works or I will have to find a replacement(it's nice to see who is a jerk months later from making notes on them that I see on mouseover!) And I will never be able to play without Autodecline/NoDuel!

Time to work on updating them all!

Testing Shadowstep

So I logged in to the Public Test Realm today with Rayak and see that my talent points have been wiped again. Cool, maybe it's time to try something different. So I specced up to Shadowstep in Sub. I miss Blade Flurry, but dang having ShadowStep along with Hemo and Ghostly Strike, plus Prep and Premed was incredible!

So I flew out to Isle of Quel'Danas and was killing those manaburners quite quickly! Yes, I know they aren't hard to kill, but Rayak is in crap gear and I've never been able to kill them consistantly without taking a single hit of damage before! Premed(adds 2 combo points), Shadowstep to get up behind them, Cheap shot to stun-and usually I now have 4-5 cp, Hemo, wait for CS to tick down and energy to build back up, boom Kidney Shot and then GS or Shiv or SS and either they were dead or a quick Evis took them out. Taking no damage at all, complete stunlock!

I'm sure this is the PvP set up, and I don't PvP at all, and I do miss Blade Flurry(and wouldn't be able to get it until at least level 71 depending on how I put points). Blade Flurry is a great way to fight two targets at once and really helps while solo grinding. But I think I may be trying out the Subtlety tree once the patch hits. If I can kill a single target quicker, maybe I can get to the second mob quicker. Should be fun to try out anyway!

I may go back to Combat after awhile if Sub doesn't work out in long time grinding though. I do LOVE that the new talents in the first tiers of Sub make the stealth cooldown down to 4 secs rather than the current 5! I like getting back to being stealthed much quicker. :)

Post Your Bank

So another blog out there challenged WoW bloggers to post their banks. This is Rayak's bank, since I just got a screenshot of it. Can you tell I am anxious for the next patch to get here?

I use the Bagnon inventory addon. This is what Rayak has in there:

Row 1: Halaa crystals and tokens(he already has the 18 slot bag, have nothing else to spend these on; Arcane Runes; Halaa Battle Tokens(2, big woop they will never be spent either); Winterfall Firewater; Lifelike Mechanical Toad; extra fishing line from daily; tabard(others listed below); pumkin heads from last year; Haliscan outfit; Blue Overalls; Blood Elf Bandit Mask; my big whopping 13 BoJ

Row 2: Necklace of the Deep; Charm of Alacrity; Ninja wand; Winterfall beads; Xmas cookies(lol); EoTS and AV tokens which will never be spent; Reindeer things; extra fishing hat(wearing one in picture); old belt; Spectracles(?); Felsteel neck; Scroll of?; old gloves; Darkmoon tix?

Row 3: several daggers I kept; Winterfall quest totem; Stormshroud shoulders, legs; Zombie Skin leggings; original shirt; Gold Wedding Band; tabards(Competitors, Scryer, Maghar, Sporeggar, guild, Scarlet)

Row 4: more old gear, can't recall what; Orb of the Whelpling; Candy Heart from my kid:) ; Nat Pagle's Guide to Extreme Anglin'; Red Rose; plain letter(about the orphan kid I think); Steamy Romance Novel; Rogue's Diary(I love being a rogue!); flash powder; Hallow's eve candy!?; Lucky Charm, Rabbits feet

Row 5: lots more old gear, especially hats and masks that I really liked; some old trinkets; Black Tabby; Blue Brewfest mug

Row 6: Sleepy Willy; more old hats; Green Wing Macaw; Mech Squirrel; various holiday outfits;

Row 7: Slow and swift Brewfest Rams; slow raptor, kodo, horse, wolf, wyvern; Snowman kit(dumb); Mech Chicken; Senegal; Cockatiel; Blue Dragonhawk; Manawyrm; Brown rabbit; Ancona Chicken;

Row 8: lots more pets

Row 9: and lots more pets! including my Disgusting Oozeling! If you are counting, there are 42 minpets in the picture, several more BoE ones are on an alt-oh and currently 13 mounts!

And you can see my actual bags too and how full they are! I will be SOOOOOO happy when the patch gets here! So much bagspace, I won't know what to do with it all!

The Pacifist

While reading another blog, The WoW Pacifist, I got to thinking about how another achievement would be an interesting idea. I suppose it doesn't really apply to the person writing that blog, as they spend time in battlegrounds in order to get experience-even if they don't actually do any of the killing. However, I have at least one character that has made it to level 70 with 0 Honorable Kills. I would love them to add an achievement for that and add the title "the Pacifist" to it. I would be proud to wear that! Or something similiar(though not derogatory!).

Wyl is my Pacifist. Yes, he is a hunter and has no problem killing mobs. But he has never once stepped foot inside a battleground nor ever even been flagged(except for that one quest in Hellfire Peninsula which force flags you when you talk/fight that guy on the chicken). I am very proud of that blank pvp page on his character sheet. I wish I had that on all my characters, frankly.

I hated the grind way back when for AV rep to get the Frostwolf with my druid-but that wolf was SO worth it back then. My rogue only did bg's recently in order to get the Spirit of Competition minipet. Actually managed to get that on about 6 or 7 characters, despite my loathing of pvp.

But Wyl, I think he deserves recognition for being a peaceful guy. Just saying...

More preparing...

Things I am doing while waiting for the patch and LK:

Exploring-my druid and rogue are fully explored, want to work on my human mage also being fully explored; don't really have time for the others. As soon as I hit Northrend-well as soon as possible-I will be stealth discovering as much as possible with my druid and rogue in order to get the achievement, title and tabard.

Collecting: mini-pets(to get the achievement and new mini-pet skunk for hitting 50 pets); mounts-to get to 50 for the Reins of the Albino Drake; and reputation. Need rep for Skyguard for more mounts, and rep for Silvermoon on my pre-BC characters(it isn't easy). Currently my rogue has access to 46 mounts-getting the Skyguard rep will put him over 50. My druid however cannot ride most mounts and will be stuck at 40 until LK comes out. That sucks. My mage is full Alliance exalted for 25 mounts, but does not have epic flying and isn't exalted with Kurenai yet so no Talbuks. It won't be happening for him for awhile.

Money: I was hoping to have all my characters at at least 2k gold each for LK, but I am thinking I will need to work on that. Oh, I'm already pretty much there, but buying mounts when the patch hits will put a big dent in that so it's time to start hitting up dailies again.

Herbs: to level inscription on my rogue. At least the glyphs are mailable to my alts AND it makes my enchanting more viable to my alts. I LOVE that. Fill up on some +7 weapon damage vellums and mail them to my rogue so he can pop one on any new weapon he gets instead of waiting for hubby to log in to his character for the enchant. Basically.

So what I am doing sitting here writing? I've got lots to do!

Mission Statement

I've wanted to do an updated one of these for awhile. I'm bored at the moment, so I will do it now. :)

Why I play World of Warcraft:
Well, duh, because it's fun! And addicting. It's another world(pun intended, I suppose) for me to go to. There are tons of reasons. I have no 'real life' friends(aside from hubby and daughter) as I basically have Social Anxiety Disorder. I have an intense fear of talking with people I don't already know and rarely talk with those I do know. And yes, it carries over into the game. More about that later.

When did I start playing?
October 2005. Way back when! To be honest, Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005-my mom's home in Mississippi was destroyed(as in gone completely) and she came to live with us for awhile here in Tennessee. A few weeks later we were introduced to the game by a former co-worker/friend. With not being able to do much at all and gas prices starting to rise, well it made since to play this fun game and stay at home. And still, as gas prices rise, it makes more sense to pay for this game than the amount of money we used to spend travelling each weekend like we used to.

What is a 'misanthrope'??
Someone who dislikes other people. And generally I very much do dislike other people with a very few exceptions. There is my mom, my husband and my daughter. I love them. I somewhat get along with my sister. The 'friend' we had that introduced us to the game no longer speaks to us in-game and only rarely speaks to hubby over the phone(we aren't 'leet' enough). I generally do not have a good attitude towards anyone else. DON'T GET ME WRONG...I am extremely nice person-very polite, never EVER rude, hold doors open for people, smile a lot-I just don't want to converse with anyone at all. With me, 'Silence is Golden'. I just don't do well in 1v1 conversations-which is why I am horrible at answering e-mails but can blog all day long or post on message boards(as long as it isn't in confrontational threads).

And this is why I play 99% of WoW SOLO
Yes. For example, this happened recently while playing my Night Elf Druid. In Wetlands, headed to do the quest to fight the Orc tank things and then the boss Orc. Easily soloable quest. But there was another person there who invited me to a group. I declined. They whispered asking if I was on the quest and instead of answering, joining group and getting the quest over quickly...I logged out. I cannot bring myself to group with random strangers. It's why I generally don't do instances.

So why play an MMO??
Because this is still a really fun game! It's just that the aspects of it that I find fun are quite different from most players. And I don't really care. So I can't spend weekends travelling all over Tennessee or going other places, but I can still log in and run around anywhere in the world I want to go! I like pets, I have lots and lots of the mini-pets. I like the different mounts. I like attempting to gain reputation with many different factions(but only the ones I can do solo!). I also *obviously* like to level up alts! Small goals are whats fun, getting a certain level or looking forward to the mounts and such. I don't need purple gear to make me happy, I'd rather show off the rare mini-pet that I farmed like crazy for! I also can't stand the PvP aspect of the game, but that's a whole other post!

And why blog about it?
Well, I like to blog. I have several others I work on too about different things. I basically like talking to myself. And this is an opportunity to talk about a different take on this very popular game. To show how much of this game can be played solo. I'll be talking more about my progression through WotLK when it comes out too. And it is fun to go back and read old threads and remember when or how things happened. :)

My Philosophy on PvP

Or "Why I don't like it at all"!

I played Diablo and Diablo II before WoW. And even then I never fought other players, only the monsters. I signed up to play WoW to fight the monsters, not other people sitting behind their computer.

Because that is what it is...another person sitting there at there computer. If I win a battle, is that other person sitting there fuming? Getting angry? Throwing things? Kicking their cat? For me, dieing over and over to other players makes me angry and feel foolish and generally all around horrible. It is NOT fun. And to think that someone else is cursing me out or getting angry because of something I did, does not sit well on my conscience.

Because while I may hate most people, I can NOT bring myself to hurt anyone in any way, shape or form. I don't call people names, I don't use the /slap or /spit emotes, I don't ninja items/chests/nodes. I'm an overly nice misanthope. Weird, I know.

And when someone else does these things to me it sends me over the edge. I honestly don't understand how someone can be 'out of the blue' RUDE to someone they do not know at all. And being /spat on in battlegrounds is about the farthest thing from fun I can think of-I'd rather listen to fingernails on a chalkboard. Just the thought of spending time in a battleground sends my heart racing, I break out in a cold sweat and get seroiusly sick to my stomach. Oh, and I've almost broken my foot from kicking a stack of boxes after a bad day, I have broken a keyboard, and have thrown more soda cans than I care to admit.

I just don't want to fight other players, just give me the good old computer generated monsters that fight the same way every time and I know aren't getting as ticked off as I get when they die.

Public test realm -patch 3.0

So I've transferred a few of my characters over to the PTR. Basically I did it to test out the achievements and see what areas I had missed exploring. And to try out Inscription with my rogue who is picking it up. So far it looks very interesting-but a lot of work. I didn't have my cache of herbs with me when I transferred, so I've been running around and picking herbs while doing the leveling-but at least this gives me an idea of how much I will need of each herb before this goes live. A rough estimate anyway.

But I can't really comment on a lot of things from the PTR. Obviously because I don't raid, instance or pvp, so I don't know how those things are different. I'm to busy running around finding critters for the "For All The Squirrels I've Loved Before" achievement. And finding out how many cooking recipes I have/need.

Yes, I'm weird.

I'm not ready!

So the Patch 3.0.2 is on the PTR now meaning it is maybe 2 or 3 weeks away! This patch will do several things...

Good:
Add achievements, I LOVE this new addition!
Some really cool changes for my Druid, including using items in forms, Feral Kitty Charge!, and entangling roots and feral swiftness usable indoors
Inscription being added!
Hunter pet changes, plus being able to tame a Devilsaur or other exotic pets!

Not so good:
with achievements...lots of things I'm not done with yet in order to ACHIEVE some achievements!
need to farm LOTS more herbs for inscription that my Rogue is taking up
and the big ones...
Paladin class getting a HUGE change, I'm not sure I'll know how to play him anymore
Rogue changes that I'm not real thrilled with
Hunter changes that I'm not real sure about
ARGH!


So recently I went back and got my Pally and Hunter to exalted with Thunder Bluff, so they are both full exalted with Horde factions. In fact, all three of my Blood Elves are full exalted-and they will get the "Ambassador" title. Cool. Only I can't manage to do this with my 2 Taurens and Undead. Too many quests were done before rep changes and before Silvermoon was added. They are all exalted with Orgrimmar(and my Druid is also with Trolls), but the rest are proving tough. And I feel like I've done dern near every quest possible for rep with them. Will just have to hope for more rep from holiday quests and Lunar Festival.

Even more to do...finish exploring Kalimdor with my Druid(need the NElf and Draenei islands). Farming more rare pets. More more more.

Sigh....

Exalted with Timbermaw!

It took awhile and was amazingly boring most of the time-and annoying when others showed up in my grind spot and ruined my rep-per-hour formula...BUT I finally got it done with my druid, Kickingbird! Pretty cool seeing your name announced by Thrall throughout all of Orgrimmar. :) The trinket is cool, but the little Timbermaw guy doesn't last very long.

This brings me to todays topic of being Exalted. With the new achievements coming with Wrath, these just might mean something more than vendor discounts. For example, the aforementioned Kickingbird, being Exalted with Timbermaw as well as Sporeggar and The Mag'har in Outland, will recieve the title of "the Diplomat". I rather like the sound of that! It also looks like anyone Exalted with all 5 of your home factions, such as my rogue, Rayak, will get the title of "the Ambassador". That's cool too. I'm fairly close to being full exalted on several of my characters and will spend the time in the next few weeks getting them there.

I'm not certain I can get the "exalted with 25 or more factions" title, because many of the seemingly easy ones(the ones most people have exalted on it seems) are Outland factions that require continuous instance runs(Cenarion, Thrallmar, Shat'ar, Lower City, etc) and I am barely above honored on all of those simply because I do not do instances. Oh well. I hope there aren't too many of those in Northrend and that most factions will have a way to grind rep solo.

Also looking forward to the titles and tabards that go along with many achievements. Aside from those I mentioned above, I think my rogue may be able to get the "Chef" title at some point, as well as a title of "the Explorer" and an Explorer's tabard. I am also hoping for the title of "the Seeker" on at least one other character(preferably Wormtongue) by finishing 3000 total quests-but I need to get him back to every zone and make sure nothing has been missed!

Hmmm, WoW finally making this game fun for me. Which means I simply CANNOT quit the game EVER now! Argh.

More WotLK things-to-do

I am so looking forward to Wrath-and yet I feel like I'm nowhere near ready. I am currently working on getting Kickingbird to exalted with Timbermaw(7300/12k right now) as there is a title of "the Diplomat" for being Exalted with Mag'har, Sporeggar and Timbermaw. Kick is already exalted with the other two, and I think "Kickingbird the Diplomat" fits my style quite nicely. I'd prefer something like "the Loner" or "the Quiet", but not sure how those would fit in.

There is also a title, "the Explorer" for having your full map filled in. Kick is done with Outland and Eastern Kingdom, with just a few places in Kalimdor to grab(the NElf and Draenei areas-fun). Rayak is pretty much done except for one spot I missed on Bloodmyst Isle. I suppose it will also include the new zones, so I don't expect to get that one on launch day.

I like titles, that's one thing I like about LotRO. My Hobbit Hunter uses the title "Shire Brewmaster"-doesn't get much better than that!

Still need to farm more herbs. Need loads more mageroyal(as seen from early recipes on Wowhead, and need to work on middle of the pack and high end herbs.
Have gotten 2 points of the 7 needed for Kick to get 375 enchanting.
Helped hubby farm up some BoP BS recipes, but really need more Khorium and some other things for him to get those last 10 points.

The only other thing I've been doing is leveling up my NElf Druid. He is a level 42 Moonkin now and I am LOVING Moonkin! Not enough to switch Kick to it, but that is what Geocacher is for. Wouldn't mind getting him to 60 in the coming weeks, but not really rushing-more of other stuff to do.

One thought about JERKS...

Just wanted a little side post to talk about the JERKS I came across in quick succession yesterday in Eversong Forest.

I went to see if the Blood Elf low level quests give full rep now and YAY they do now, since the last patch! So off to Eversong with Wormy. Doing one of the first quests, the Dead Scar kill 8 skellies. I went away from a low level doing the quest, further out and tried to get it done quickly and get out. I even at one point SAVED this little punk from a group that was chasing her when she was almost dead. And what do I get? A whisper telling me to "STOP KILLING ALL THE QUEST MOBS!!" I explained I wasn't killing them ALL and that I got the ones I needed for the quest and had moved on. This jerk then proceeds to tell me I have NO reason to be doing this quest, I couldn't POSSIBLY get any rep from a low level quest and there was no point in getting the rep anyway. I tried to politely explain that I DID indeed get full rep and that I wanted to get to exalted with Silvermoon and that there are PLENTY OF MOBS!

Don't try to tell me where I can play the game! I wasn't stealing any mobs and I have every right to be there. These are times I wish I was playing in the game ALONE. >.<

THEN...not five minutes later this happens...

Picking up the armaments from the quest near the docks. I then head upstairs to get the named mob for that quest. I get near the top and two level 9s have just finished killing him. No problem, I sit down to wait. One of them comes over and just starts /slapping me! So I ask "did I do something to you?" and I get the response "no im just joking around". WhaWhaWhat?? Joking? So I reply with "oh sorry I don't joke around by being RUDE". I await the named repop and kill him and then head down to turn in the quest. This level 9 Troll rogue is now there also and begins the /slapping again! Do children NOT have any manners anymore??? Yes, I put them on /ignore. I am just SHOCKED(or maybe not really) how absolutely RUDE people can be to someone that don't even know at all.

Losers.
Another reason why I HATE this game!

Fine tuning before WotLK...more

Want to check out my Scryer/Aldor rep on each character-posting them here so I don't have to keep checking the Armory or each character...

Kickingbird-Scryer 9655/12k
Rayak-Scryer Exalted
Tohopka-Scryer 4255/12k
Wormtongue-Scryer 4860/6k
Eremit-Scryer 390/21k
Wyl-Aldor 7660/12k
Dane-Aldor 1747/12k

Conclusion: need to get the last 1k or so just to get Worm to honored; would like last 2.4k to get revered on Kick; not too concerned about the rest with Wrath coming.

• Need to farm more herbs with Rayak to prepare for him switching from skinning to inscription. Buy several bags and bank slots on one of the kid's extra characters for bank space to hold them.
• Need more Greater Planers and Eternium Ore to get Kick the last 7 points in Enchanting and then get a Runed Eternium Rod made.
• Mine loads of Adamantite to get hubby's Pally her last 10 points in Blacksmithing.
  
• Mine loads more raw ore for power-leveling mining with Death Knights.
  
• Help hubby get Shammy last 20 points in Leatherworking and his hunters last 3 points in LW
  
• Get more mini-pets switched over via neutral AH
• Get Daneck to exalted with Shattered Sun(currently 4964/12k) and at least revered with Kurenai(10297/12k) and farm the last 3 tokens I need for an 18slot Halaa bag.
• Level up Dwarf Hunters(62) and Undead Warlocks(63) more.
• Maybe level up NE Druid(now 40) a bit more.
  

Will add more when I think of it later...

Another 70!

Yes, I've finished leveling another of my characters to 70. This time it is Daneck, my human mage. Started him on dailies and he is already close to honored with Shattered Sun. Nothing good in either the cooking or fishing daily though.

Got REALLY lucky and found the Hyacinth Macaw on the AH Saturday for only 1g. I was stunned. It is quite possibly the rarest and hardest to get minipet and someone put it up for 1g! Oh well, their loss!

Started a Draenei priest on Draenor realm. She is level 10 now. Named Deschanel for the actress Emily Deschanel from the awesome show "Bones". I sort of have a thing for her partner, Booth, but since this character is a female, I wanted a female 'doctor' name and since this show is on my current 'hot list', well there ya go.

Anyhoo...

Mini pets

Ok, so I've gotten a little obsessed with collecting the mini pets lately. I look them up at Warcraft Pets, and keep track of what I have on my profile there.

With the Spirit of Competition pet available now(see post below), and the news about a new pet with the "Achievements" that are coming in WotLK, I am much more aware of which of my characters has which pets. Before I basically bought whichever ones suited the character. And skipped many because of bag space. With Wrath comes all pets becoming spells and no longer taking up bag space so now I want ALL the pets I can get on most ALL characters!

With Spirit of Competition, so far I've gotten him with Kickingbird, Wormtongue, Tohopka, Daneck and Gediman. Rayak has not been very lucky.

Today I stealthed through LBRS with Kick to get the Smolderweb Hatchling, and will go back with Rayak to get it as well.

I stealth ran Underbog who knows how many times(it was about 5 hours worth) to get enough Sanguine Hibiscus to turn in to get Kick to exalted with Sporeggar for the Tiny Sporebat. Also went back with Kick to do the chicken escort quests for the Mechanical Chicken!

Gotta have them all!

Well, except for the ones you have to pay real money for. I will not spend money on e-bay to buy the rare pets from there. Frankly because I cannot afford it and because I would have to have 2 of them, one for me and one for my kid! As it is, it is tough to go out and get rare pets and also trying to get one extra for my kid. Tough with the really rare ones.

Oh well, back to farming...

Spirit of Competition

Blizz sure knows how to make someone crazy. Aside from my almost daily attempts at farming some rare dropped pets, now comes a pet that you get from doing something I really, really hate-pvp.

Spirit of Competition is a very cute little Chinese dragon that was released to honor the Olympic games going on now in China. You participate in a battleground(and stay to the end, and don't be dead at the end of the game) and you get a Competitor's Tabard. That is cool and easy enough-even though I loathe pvp, hanging out in just one game can't be too bad, right? Well, Daneck was dead at the end of his first 2 AV's and didn't get his tabard until the third game! Ugh.

Now to the pet...you have to WIN the battleground and THEN you have about a 1 in 8 chance of getting mailed the mini pet. So my first toon taking through this(Wormtongue) actually went about 5 wins and 11(or probably more) losses before getting his. Luckily Kickingbird got hers after her first win, Tohopka after her second and my Daneck after his 2nd. Rayak has not been so lucky. He simply isn't geared well enough to be a 'rogue in a battleground'. He did four AVs, won only one but did not get the pet. I do not know if he can handle going through that enough to get the pet. He may just be out of luck.

Wyl will not participate-he is fully against fighting other players. Eremit might, but I still have not decided yet.

Frankly, after kicking some boxes and putting a huge bruise across the top of my foot after just a few games, I just don't know if my nerves can handle anymore stress. I will just go back to fishing for Mr Pinchy-that's more my speed.

Wyl

Wyl is my level 70 male Blood Elf Hunter. He was my last to level 70(currently). He was started April 19 of 2007, a few months after BC came out. He is named for the soul name of Elfquest character, Strongbow. Fitting name I think. He has reddish hair like Strongbow as well.

Wyl is a hunter, and half the hunter is his pet. Wyl's best friend is Briarsting, a little yellow boar he ran all the way to Westfall to tame back at around level 15. It was a long trip but it was well worth it and Briarsting is rarely far from Wyl's side.

Wyl was my third Blood Elf, and also third to be able to buy another faction mount at level 40-he had a skeletal horse and a wolf. He now spends most of his time choosing between his Swift Brown Wolf and Swift Blue Raptor. The blue raptor looks best alongside his favorite little mini companion, the Azure Whelpling.

Wyl likes to spend time farming and hunting. He is leveled 375 in both mining and skinning. His first aid is up to par, but his cooking and fishing skills lack a bit(74 and 31). He has never killed another player and hopefully never will. And the only faction he is exalted with(aside from the Horde ones) is Shattered Sun Offensive.

He is looking forward to all of the hunter changes coming in the new expansion and just might have to tame a Devilsaur just to say he did!

Tohopka

Tohopka is a level 70 female Tauren Shaman Engineer(proud of that last one too!). She was started March 4, 2006 alongside my hubby's male Tauren Shaman, Otaktay. 'Tohopka' is Native American for 'wild beast'(and 'Otaktay' is NA for 'kills many'!).

Tohopka and Otaktay did a bit of WSG back in their teens and were a tough pair. She earned the title of Sergeant, but hasn't really done any pvp since then. She is specced some to heal, but has learned enough of the elemental arts to do quite a bit of damage with it. But one of her favorite things to do is gather up a large group of enemies and throw down her trusty Earth Elemental and stand back and heal him while he waylays the baddies!

Now to her Engineering-it is by far a huge accomplishment for her! Having 375 in that(along with 375 mining of course) means she gets to those nodes and gas clouds in her nifty Turbo-Charged Flying Machine! To heck with global warming! She also loves being able to zap those motes and sometimes spends hours a day doing so. And she is never without her appropriate companion, her Pet Bombling! He is a little noisy, but thats ok.

She is full up on first aid, but her cooking(109) and fishing(173) could use some help. She has friends to do that though. She is exalted with Orgrimmar, putting away her kodo in favor of a Swift Brown Wolf for her transportation needs(when she isn't in her Flying Machine!). The only other faction she is exalted with is Shattered Sun and now proudly sports their tabard and the beautiful shield they sell. And she is never seen without her Gadgestorm Goggles on!

Rayak

Rayak my Rogue. Level 70. Started a few weeks into TBC, on Feb 3, 2007.

Mostly started as a project-to see if I could get a Blood Elf to Exalted with another faction before level 40 so that he would not have to ride one of those chicken/ostrich things. And he did it. Hit Exalted with Undercity at level 36 and Exalted with Orgrimmar at level 38. He then went on to get Exalted with Darkspear Trolls and Thunder Bluff before level 45. He rolls on all mounts except his own factions. These days the mounts he carries also includes a Swift Brewfest Ram and a Silver Talbuk, along with his Epic Red Windrider.

Aside from being exalted with all home factions and Mag'har, he is also exalted with Sporeggar(nabbing himself the cute little Tiny Sporebat), the Scryers, and was my first to be exalted with Shattered Sun(he also bought the title 'of the Shattered Sun', why not?). He wants to be exalted with Skyguard(nearly revered now), but with only the one bombing quest open, it is taking awhile).

He enjoys cooking and fishing(375 and 350) and has been rather lucky in the daily quests. He has gotten all of the cooking recipes and from fishing he has gotten the Fishing Hat, Eye of the Sea gem, Truesilver Line, and baby crocs Chuck and Snarly. He has been trying for Mr Pinchy lately, but he gets bored easily. He likes the little pets who accompany him-though he has yet to teach them to stealth along with him, and sometimes they give him away. Most recently he found a Tiny Crimson Whelpling to add to his menagerie.

He doesn't do instances either(unless it is stealth runs for Ancient Lichen or Sanguine Hibiscus), and his only epics are the Shattered Sun necklace and a Cobrascale Hood he found on the Auction House! He bought the exalted Scryers dagger, but he prefers swords so he doesn't use it often. But he probably has the most fun of all the characters, hanging out in Shattrath his Haliscan hat, jacket and pants, with his Worg Pup and fishing pole.

Eremit

Eremit was my first Blood Elf-started the very night Burning Crusade came out(Jan 16, 2007)-bought at midnight and begun! A male Blood Elf Paladin, dark hair, very mysterious and quiet.

Eremit roughly means "hermit for religious purposes", and that is essentially what he is, he stays to himself completely, having taken a vow of silence. And he is deeply proud of being a Blood Knight. The Blood Knight Charger is the one mount on all my characters that I think I am most proud. And the Blood Knight tabard. Though he does hop on his Skeletal Warhorse every now and then when mana is low(he would NEVER ride one of those chickens!). And he has the plainest of the Windrider's, the Tawny one.

Eremit is a Jewelcrafter, getting started early. He is at 375 with 375 mining. He doesn't have too many of the rare Gem recipes, but only because he is rather tight with his money and can't see spending more than 300 gold on something like that! Crazy.

His first aid is up to par(375) but he never bothered to learn cooking. And one day on a whim he decided to learn to fish and attempt to catch that Croc in Orgrimmar. Getting his fishing to 11 that day, he reeled in the Croc and took it to turn in and the quest giver gave him a bag that had a baby croc named Toothy in it! 'Beginner's Luck' he says, and he hasn't fished a bite since then! He is also frequently seen with his buddy, Egbert, who is the polar opposite of Eremit's calm and quiet demeanor!

Eremit spends most of his time in Shat'rath, cutting gems and prospecting stacks of ore sent to him by Kickingbird.

Wormtongue

Wormtongue, level 70 Undead Male Mage. Yes, named for the character in 'Lord of the Rings', however at the time Wormy was started(December of 2005), I had never seen or read any of the LotR movies or books. However, I do have a massive crush on the actor who plays him, Brad Dourif! I also have other characters using his characters names from other movies.

Wormy was started to play alongside an Undead Priest my hubby started(named Dourif...get it?!). They duoed all the way to 60, rarely playing with other characters. Wormy is an alchemist/herbalist, 375 in both. He was the first of my 60s to buy his epic mount back when the MOUNT was close to 1000 gold! Selling herbs and potions, yeah buddy!

He is 375 in first aid, but doesn't bother to cook(cannibalize ftw! Oh and free food from the head chef, Kickingbird!) and only fishes on the rare occasion(186 in that-he did get the Fishing Hat from the daily quest!).

Wormy hasn't chosen an alchemy specialization yet(though since he doesn't do instances, it would have to be Transmute) and he is my last to getting to Exalted with Shattered Sun(only about 6500 more to go). His only mounts are his (very expensive)Green Skeletal Warhorse, Swift Brewfest Ram and Green Windrider-though he is trying to get to exalted with Orgrimmar because he desperately wants a wolf!

The last things about Wormy...he did a bit of pvping back in his 20s. Sadly it was only enough to earn "Grunt" status and now he is stuck with it. I wish he had been stuck at "Scout" but no, "Grunt Wormtongue" is what he is.

Oh...and he is a hat freak. Yep, I'd say close to half his bank is full of hats-he loves them! I really wish he had more room to be able to collect more of them!

Kickingbird

I've decided each day to put an biography on each of my characters-at least the ones I play the most. First up is my first main, Kickingbird, level 70 Tauren female Druid.

Kick was started in November 2005. Named for the character in "Dances With Wolves"(yes, he is a male, but he is the 'medicine man' and 'Stands with a Fist' didn't fit in the namer) and first character started on my new account(yeah I played a few on hubby's account before I decided I wanted my own). Rushed through leveling up to about 15 by hubby's Tauren hunter and friend's Troll hunter. First instance I attempted to heal was Wailing Caverns and I got chewed out when one person died at the last boss so I said "screw being a healer" after that and have been full Feral. That also pretty much turned me off instances(among several other horrible outings, I don't think there have been any good instances with your regular-type groups that I have attempted-so I just don't do them now).

After dabbling in several different professions, she settled on Enchanting and Mining, currently at 366 and 375. Fishing, Cooking and First Aid are all 375.

PvPed enough way back when to get the Frostwolf Howler(she does not like Kodos!) and a Senior Sergeant title-but hated every minute of it. Eventually went back to do quests to get exalted with Orgrimmar when reputation gains were changed. She now chooses between her Frostwolf, a Swift Gray Wolf, Swift Brewfest Ram and a Cobalt Talbuk(being Exalted with Mag'har). She has also managed to get to Exalted with Netherwing and Skyguard and chooses to fly either her Onyx Netherdrake or Purple Nether Ray. She is on the last step of the epic flight form, but I seriously doubt she will ever see the inside of a heroic instance so it will never happen.

In her spare time she likes to fish for Mr Pinchy(and cook up any food to sell on the AH), complete the daily fishing quest(only managed the truesilver line so far), and go mining. Oh, and attempting to get to exalted with Timbermaw-about 4k from Revered right now-but she gets bored easily with that.

Most recent accomplishment: Exalted with Shattered Sun Offensive. Soloing Culuthas for "Full Triangle" quest in Netherstorm(probably not that hard for most, but I have really crappy gear!) and the follow-up turn in to get to honored with Shat'ar.

UPDATE 10/3/2008
In the past month...Exalted with Timbermaw for "the Diplomat" title; gained 375 enchanting; still no good rewards from cooking or fishing dailies.

Death Knight names

So we have our Kael'Thas Death Knight names saved now. Mine is...

Krevsun...literally "Blood Sun" in Czech. Also the surname of a Russian hockey player who was drafted by the Nashville Predators. He only ever played here in training camp, but he was a nice kid. Unfortunately he passed away during practice one day a few years ago. Very sad. Oh, and my KT DK will be a male Blood Elf.


Granato...my kid's female BE DK...taken from the best female hockey player ever, Cammi Granato, sister of former LA King, Tony Granato. Cool.

Lebentag...hubby's female BE DK...it means "life day" in German. Get it? Death=life, (k)night=day? Heh heh.


I really, really cannot wait to get them started!

What I did yesterday

So I got a wild hair yesterday and decided I need to get some things cleaned up with some characters.

With Kick, I still needed about 500 Shatar rep, and had the final triangle quest up in Netherstorm to do. Only it's a 70 elite rated g2 quest. So I loaded up on potions and whatnot and went at it and soloed it. No problem really. Had to frenzy at one point and finished at about 60% health. But got it done, turned in and got the 1000 rep. The blue reward pants are decent, but not better than the Consortium revered pants I am wearing. I did go buy the blue Dragonhide shoulders from the Shatar quartermaster and will gem them to be tanking shoulders. Doesn't really matter much, I don't tank much. Lol. Also went to SMV to knock out a few quests. Did one Scryers quest, did not feel like doing anymore. Attempted some stupid "tuber" quest to call a pig or something but couldn't figure it out so abandoned it. Have pretty much cleared out her quest log.

Same for Rayak. Went to SMV, finished the Akama quest line up to the point where you go to some instance. Also finished the Enraged Spirits quest up to the same stupid tuber quest-and didn't even bother to accept that one. His quest log has 2 quests right now, and one is the Shattered Sun gathering quest. Nice.

We also went on a search to see if my Shaman/hubby's hunter had any more quests that bring Shatar rep-each being at that 1 point away from honored. Had already done the ones in Netherstorm, already killed Levicus(whatever I guess), but FINALLY found that we had not killed Terebus, the skeletal dragon in the Bone Wastes. Did that easily and got honored with Shatar. The shoulders look great on his hunter. I am not trading out the things I am already am wearing on my Shaman, but it's nice to get over that hump anyway.

Also, on another realm, I managed to solo stealth run to the Lady Naga in BFD to get the Naga Heart Piercer bow with Hekubus, who is level 36. Sure beat the heck out of the crossbow he had been using since about level 15! Took 7 runs to get it. Now going to attempt to get Thornspike from the boss in RFK-hopefully I can solo that one too.

Wrath of the Lich King

It's been a busy last few weeks. No, I'm not in Beta(darn it!), but good gooogly moogly am I reading a LOT about it!

In the past few weeks I've taken a short vacation and several day trips. Got a bit bored and wasn't anxious to log in and play though I knew I wanted to. However in the past week, with all of the info from WotLK Beta coming out, well I'm getting super hyper excited about this expansion! And now I can't decide who I want to play when I log in because I want to play ALL of my characters!

Where to start...ok, things accomplished in the past 2 weeks:
Wyl is now exalted with Shattered Sun. That makes 5 of my 6 70s at exalted. And Wormy is revered. :)
Got Snarly with Rayak from fishing quest(and another fishing hat, didn't need another one, my Druid needs one!). Now Rayak has Snarly and Chuck, Eremit has Toothy.
Created the Gyro-Balanced Khorium Destroyer gun for hubby's hunter(my hunter uses a crossbow). He is happy. It looks awesome!
Ran Scarlet Monastery a few times(gy and lib only) with my Gnome Rogue-got one set of Bloody Brass Knuckles and the Dog Training Gloves. Nothing else decent. Nearly level 33.
Ran Strat several times because the kiddo has decided she wants the Deathcharger. Sure, so does everyone and their dog. We killed Baron I think 5 times, no drop of course. I did get a Piccolo of the Flaming Fire on one run and kiddo got the Crimson Felt Hat-she likes dressing up. That place is not all that easy even with 3 70s(albeit we are in crap gear for 70s)-we used my Paladin, hubby's Priest and kiddo and her Mage.
Oh and I almost forgot! We managed to run that new quest within Old Hillsbrad to get the cool sombrero hat by fighting the character Don Carlos. We were able to 3man it and get the hat for every single one of our 70s! It is pretty cool looking. The heroic version would be nice, because it comes with a Coyote pet, but none of our 70s can ever get into the heroic version. Oh well.

NOW...to talk about WRATH and the things I am aching to see when it gets here!!

Mounts and mini pets becoming spells and not taking up bag slots! I will be going on a shopping spree once this hits! Must have all mini pets possible(except the roach. No thank you)!!

Achievements! So the things I think are cool will be rewarded(like exploration and collecting mini pets) and then people can see that I don't so instances. So frekin what. Like I care about that! Don't pvp either. So what. Maybe I would instance more if the people I THOUGHT were my friends would instance with us. Haven't heard much from them lately. And that's more of a loss on a REAL LIFE level, the only friend we had. Oh well, at least we won't have to attend that stupid fantasy football crap this year.

DEATH KNIGHTS! OH-EM-GEEEE! Just looking over the Deathknight.info website over and over makes me want to make one so frikkin bad I could just scream! Ya know, at first I was like "cool", then for the longest I was like "nope, not gonna make one, who really cares" and NOW I'm like "GIVE ME NOW!!" The starting gear looks a million times better than any crap I am wearing on my 70s, the mount they ride is beyond cool, and the fighting looks incredible! I can NOT wait. :)

Patch Day

Woohoo! Mounts at level 30! My level 30 Gnome rogue will be riding his Spotted kitty. I also have 3 other level 30ish: Geocacher, druid, will definitely get his cat; the other two I can't decide if they will get deleted at some time and I would hate to waste the money on it if they are. Level 34? hunter-may delete and start a Troll Priest. Maybe. Level 30ish Orc warrior may be deleted for the Death Knight-well someone has to go. Sigh.

And new outfits for bank alts, cool. Netherwing pet, only for my druid who is the only one I managed to get to exalted with Skyguard. Green gems back in mining, yeah!

Not much else of excitement except the new clock system. But yeah, patch day!

This week sucked

Ok, so yeah I got my 6th character to level 70, Daneck to level 65 and our Dwarf Hunters to level 60 and finally bought our epic mounts(Swift Mistsaber ftw). But now it sucks. The only person I considered a friend has run out on us. He kept backing out of trips to come over for all day LAN parties(basically) with WoW, twice in the last couple of weeks. And then he goes to visit his brother and decides while he is there to quit our guild and join this big one so he can raid. Fine.

First of all, he hiked a buttload of Primals right last week. Don't know what for. *I* am the one who spends all day farming 99% of those damn things. Yeah he is in full epics from pvping(which I KNOW he doesn't actually do most of the time, his kid or other friends log in and play his character). So fine, wanna hang out with other FULL PURPLED people, FINE. What gets me is they won't have anything to do with any of my characters because me gear is crappy. Wouldn't a friend HELP a friend get better gear if they wanted to play with them more????? So apparently nobody WANTS to play with me because I SUCK. Fine. I figured as much. This just PROVES it. I'll just go back to my soloing.

Another reason to HATE this game. You find out who your friends are. :(

Six Seventies....

Yes, Tuesday after maintenance, I logged in with Wyl and within an hour or so he was level 70. Put on all the Stalker's gear(yeah, I know it ain't meant for pve, but it's better than what I had on and I'm pretty much only soloing with him, so I'm not hurting anyone or trying to top the DPS charts in some mega-guild. So who cares-it looks cool!), bought my flying mount.

And then headed off to start the Shattered Sun dailies. And here it is, three days later(Tues, Wed, Thur) and I am into honored with them. Looking forward to the crossbow at revered and necklace at exalted. Shouldn't take too long as long as I keep at it. And I've pretty much already made back what I spent on my flying mount. Sweet.

Now to get Daneck to 70. He is at 64 and 1/3.

Sigh.

A few more bars to go

Wyl is ready for 70 with only three bars to fill. Got to honored with Lower City and Shatar yesterday(also got to honored with Aldor in the process). Have four parts of the blue pvp set(not that I will pvp with it). Just need a few more gems to fill the slots. And then decide if I want the Felstalker Armor-which I think I might, though I do like the Breastplate of Rapid Striking that I have. Then I get hubby to enchant everything and start him on the Shattered Sun dailies. There isn't much there for hunters, but the head enchant at revered is nice. The one from Cenarion would be nicer, but they aren't as easy to get to revered with. Oh and need Enchanted Felscale Boots. Then he will need a blue ring and the trinket from the hfp quest(*still* haven't done, hehe) and he will be in all blue! Woot!

Hunter weekend!

Played my Blood Elf Hunter, Wyl, some time this weekend. He is at 69.5 right now. Attempting to get to honored with Aldor, Shatar and Lower City for the last half level. Looking to get the four parts of the blue set from the factions. I don't plan to pvp with him, but it is good looking gear and probably better than anything he'd get from just questing. So what the heck. He will sit after getting them while waiting for Wrath of the Lich King anyway, so... .

Also played our Dwarf Hunter trio this weekend. They are now level 56, close to 57. Going to attempt to get to Morphaz in Sunken Temple ourselves to finish the hunter quest. And then just over one level to hit Outland! Can't wait.

Exalted now!

When realms came back up around noon, I logged in with Hekubus. One note-Wowhead does NOT have reputation gains correct!

From Astranaar I went to Maestro's Post and turned in Tower of Alth. Got 250 rep, expected that. Accepted next part. Went up to Master's Glaive to do level 17ish escort that I forgot. Easy as pie. Then went to Tower of Alth, turn in next part(25 rep) and accept part to get head of guy in Tower. Stealthed up, killed him, died to all those stupid Warlocks on the way out. Turned in head, 250 rep! Back to Auberdine, fly to Astranaar. Turn in escort quest at Shrine of Assenia(?) for 250 rep! Then over to Maestro's Post to turn in last quest of Tower of Alth for *another* 250 rep and BOOM exalted!

Yeah!

Now he sits at the cat vendor/trainer waiting for the patch. Cheers!

Exalted with Darnassus

My Gnome Rogue, Hekubus of Draenor, hit level 30 last night. And he is at 20152/21k Revered with Darnassus. I am pretty much out of quests in Ashenvale. I have to turn in the Tower of Althalaxx(free the highbornes) for 250 rep. The next and last three only give about 150 rep, but I think I will do them unless I can find something else. I missed an escort in Darkshore(Therylune's Escape) that will be good for 150 rep. And I'm in the middle of the Scythe of Elune quest with 188 rep left. That still leaves about 250 points to get without hitting level 31. Could be tough. Although I think a few of the first easy quests in Wetlands might give me just enough without giving too much XP.

And once he hits Exalted(hopefully before level 31), he will then be parked in front of the Cat trainer/vendor and will sit there until the next patch hits. Then I can log in first with him and get his cat mount. Sweet.

Hunters

This weekend we got our Dwarf Hunters to level 54. Started out Friday at level 50. Did Flame quests to get to 51. And then quests in Felwood and Un'Goro to get to 54. Killed three Devilsaurs without any trouble. Anxious to get them to Outland!

Midsummer Fire Fest....yawn

So yesterday started the two week holiday Midsummer Fire Festival. Wake me when it is over.

There are "flames" to honor in most zones. Cool. At level 51 with our Dwarves(dinged while seeking them), we were getting I think 3500xp and 40 silver. At 61(warlocks) we were getting about 4850xp and 1gold. You also get 5 Blossoms. Blossoms are used for currency for "Summer" items. Here is a list...

Summer Robe-nice, I bought this with a few characters, cool "on use" effect-your hands glow with fire while you dance

Summer shoes-waste of blossoms

Flaming shoulders-look rather dumb, but I got them with loads of my characters last year and the year before, don't really need them with anyone new

Flame mini-pet-Also got this last year with those that mattered. It's not that interesting a pet anyway

Dancing brazier thingee-dumb, just dumb. Well I guess if you want to stand around and watch a dancing fiery Draenei, go for it-I think it's dumb

Buff food-the only thing really worth spending the blossoms on, for me

So some people want lots of this crap. And you get MORE Blossoms from stealing the other faction flames. Which of course makes you flagged for PvP which I LOATHE. I don't need them blossoms, THANK GOODNESS!

There is also the matter of this new instance boss. Level 70. My level 70s are so poorly geared I don't think any of them would be asked to go into the instance. So I miss out on the cool epic gear he drops, the chance at the little mini flame elemental pet, and the cool tabard you get after killing him. That all sucks. Really. But I will live.

It's crap like that, that make me HATE this game! Oh, yeah, BRING ON BREWFEST! Kodos for my Alliance characters! WOOT!

Uhm, heh.

I am on a mission!

My Gnome Rogue. I want to get him a cat mount from Darnassus. I've stated that before I think. BUT...they just started testing the next patch on the test realm and the big new thing...mounts at level 30! LEVEL THIRTY! Yikes! And now a rush to get to exalted with Darnassus before the patch! Well here is the scoop at the moment...

Ding level 28 today, 15155/21k revered at level! Not too shabby but I am running out of quests my level or lower that give rep. At log out at about 28.3 level I am 16080/21k. Only 4920 to go. I have gathered Redridge gray quests and hope I do not get much xp from them.

Had to log out, for some reason computer kept alt-tabbing for me as if something else was running and I couldn't figure out what. I wasn't kicked from game, just tabbed out. Weird. Now I have to figure this out. >.<

Father's Day weekend

So hubby wanted to play lots of WoW this weekend. No problem! We got our hunters from just at 48 all the way to 50.5. Spent lots of time farming for thick leather on gray mobs, got his leatherworking to 265 or so. My engineering is at about 215. Got up early to get kiddo's herbalism up, now at 202. My mining is at 240.

Also, he ran my Gnome Rogue through Stockades. Mainly to continue Seal of Wrynn questline. Got lucky, first time through the rare mob was there, dropped fist weapon "Iron Knuckles". Would rather have had the dagger drop, but will not complain. Turning in quests levels him up to 24. Three bars into Revered with Darnassus. Oh yes, he will be exalted before level 40. Sweet.

Weekend Summary

It was hunter weekend!! First we started with my boy, Wyl, in Nagrand. Hubby got one of his 70s to help finish most of the group quests there. He is up to 67 1/2 now.

Then we got kiddo to play our Dwarf Hunters. First of all, we went from level 45 to 48. We finished up some quests in Tanaris, Feralas and the Hinterlands. Managed to get the chicken escorts for TN and HI(had already done Feralas) and got ourselves the Mechanical Chicken mini pet! I think hubby does not want his. I will have him send it to my rogue. Sweet. :) Then we decided to have some fun. We went to Scarlet Monastery and ran through there several times, for the silk(kiddo needs help on tailoring and first aid), and the drops to help our money situations. We had loads of fun and no real problems getting through each of them. Then for a lark, we attempted Uldamen!! And imagine our surprise when we managed to finish it with NO deaths! (ok, I got real close once when hubby aggroed a scorpion pit and then his pet somehow pulled half a room of those dwarves!) Kiddo got the shoulders from the Ancient Stone Keeper, but most of the rest of the drops were crap. Well, I did get the Emberscale Cape, which is ok, maybe no *really* an upgrade(and fugly for a cape), but I put it on. AND we did get the quest at the end finished so we got the 14slot bag, HUGE help! All in all, lots of fun...I can't wait to get these guys to Outland!

Ding 60!

Yeppers, our Warlocks hit level 60 last night. Good lordy they gave Locks alot of things to learn at 60!! On top of spending for an epic mount(we will get around to getting the Dreadsteed eventually), I don't know how much we spent on training but it was a LOT. And then back to Outland. First up, the Assassin quest line. Excellent xp for little work and good reward at the end. Yeah it is an excellent robe for the level, but my boy Gediman has NEVER worn a robe!! Gah! I prefer tunics and he looks absolutely AWFUL in this dress!! Need to do more quests and get something better to wear, this is FUGLY!

A little rogue, and a little warlock last night

First off, we ran our Druid/Shaman 70s around the Dire Maul courtyard until we had enough Runecloth to finally get our Locks to 300 in tailoring. Took about an hour, but it was fun. The only decent drops came when one of those rares showed up in the Arena and we jumped down to take him out. It was Skarr the Unbreakable, and he dropped Lady Alizabeth's Pendant(meh) and Sword of Zeal. I'm not even sure I'll be able to sell these on the AH, who knows. I suppose I could save it for my rogue on Kael'Thas, but she is only 45 and this is level 58 and she may never see level 58! The pendant will probably be disenchanted for a Large Brilliant Shard.

Then we played our Locks for awhile. We actually went back and fought Blazerunner for "It's Dangerous To Go Alone" in Un'Goro, piece of cake. Then a few more quests in Winterspring. We ended up about 2 bars from 60. Still not certain if and when we will do the Warlock Epic Mount quest. Don't have any of the mats for it yet, but it wouldn't take too long to put them together. Right now we just want to go buy a mount and go back later for the quest. And I'm still about 50g short of buying a mount. Though my 70s have got loads, so no worries there.

Then hubby took his 45 hunter over on Draenor and ran my little Rogue through Shadowfang Keep. Dinged 21 while in there and got the Rugged Spaulders and Fenrus' Hide cloak. Two pretty big upgrades to what I was wearing. Will need a run through Stockades soon too, just to continue the Seal of Wrynn quest line. Also have gotten to within a bar of Revered with Darnassus...at level 21. Sweet!

The two hour level

We get home from a weekend out of town with just a few hours to play(and rest from the trip too of course). We had our Warlocks only about 3 bars from level 58. We scared the three friends of that weird Goblin in Winterspring and turned in that quest. Then made our way to Eastern Plaguelands. Turned in the book to that guy, ran to Darrowshire and found sister Pamela, and then went on to the Bulwark and turned in the Everlook Report...boom DING! (well, ok I was a few points behind, we went into WPL and killed on spider and then DING!) Went back to Undercity, trained and headed for the Dark Portal!!

Inside the Dark Portal and onto Thrallmar. Getting the early quests, we did the 'kill several demons', 'close the demon portals', 'bomb the two big portals', 'bomb lots of demons and cannons', 'kill Razorsaw and some other demons', 'gather wood and metal', 'gather Bonechewer blood' and 'burn the Alliance cannons'(yeah I don't remember the quest names, if you've done them you know which ones I mean!) and two hours later were level 59!! Yes, and about 500 hit points and 1000 mana points higher! I don't even remember what our spell damage went up to!

And now I have my 8th character in Outland. Wow.

I've also come to grips with the fact that I will probably have to delete my level 32 warrior in order to start a Death Knight on Kael' Thas. I know I don't *have* to start them there, but that is where our resources are so why not. And if Blizz isn't going to give us another character slot with the expansion then someone has to go. My two lowest on my account are the 30ish hunter and warrior. Since this hunter is played rather different than my other hunter, and the DK will basically be sort of a warrior-the warrior will probably be the one to go bye-bye. Now I have all this time to decide what race it will be and come up with a name!