Lost my password again....

Yeah, things have not been great in my life the past 6 months or so. Culminating with mouth surgery a week ago. I'm not in a good mood and I have to eat soup and pudding. I won't go into all the problems we have had, but let's just say that the only thing I've really been able to do lately is play WoW.

I suppose I'm still having fun, but updating this blog hasn't been a priority. Frankly I didn't figure anybody would miss it. I mean, I'm not in beta, I don't have awesome info on how to make money or strategy on how to fight anything. I'm just on here whining about how much I suck at this game. Heh.

I suck so much that I now have 14 level 80s. Yes, FOURTEEN. Eleven of them have the "Crusader" title from the Argent Tournament. My 2nd Death Knight will have it soon, just working on that old world reputation(not easy for Undead like it is for Humans). Two more are a few weeks off. Twelve of my 80s have epic flying, 11 of those have Netherwing drakes. Working on getting the "Chef" title for a few of them, but some recipes just refuse to drop for me(damn you Stormchops!).

And still no heroics and no heirlooms and no refer-a-friend.

Anyhoo...

I have been spending a lot of time reading and watching videos on beta. And it is really starting to look like they are pushing people away from soloing, so I am really considering being "done" soon. From mobs being almost quite difficult for players in Tier gear, to all the new perks being only for those who join huge guilds and raid(or join pvp guilds and only do pre-mades with them). I really haven't seen anything for the "soloer" in all of the news coming out. Maybe archaeology(which I am really looking forward too), but if that's it, well that's not much.

Sure the guild perks are just that, perks-meant to be extras. We get by just fine now without the XP bonus and gathering bonus. It is frustrating to see the things like mounts and pets only available to those who put in tons of time in a large guild. It isn't enough incentive to get me to change though. I can't speak for all soloers, but shutting this one out of so much in the expansion is just going to make me quit-not change my evil ways.

I know it's beta, but they have also talked about making the mobs tougher to fight. I've watched the videos from Jesse Cox and the mobs go from being pushovers(expected from someone in his gear) to being so tough that he heals up after every fight. If he is getting to half health after each mob in his gear, what is someone fresh from Northrend going to do? Go raid Icecrown whatever before you can head to Hyjal?

I'll level a Goblin, and a Worgen(and maybe more than one or two of each-I have lots of names saved). But it's possible that once they finish Azeroth, they(and I) will be done with the game. I just haven't seen anything that makes me excited about Cataclysm.

And maybe that's their idea. I keep hearing that I shouldn't be playing this game because it isn't meant for soloers. It was just fine for a soloer for 5 years, but it's starting to look like it's going to change. And I'm sure 99% of the WoW population just look down their noses at me and say "good riddance".

Gah, my mouth hurts. :(

What have I been up to?

Well, I have been attempting to play WoW, through all of the computer problems. And some of the things I've accomplished over the last month:

• Finally finished the Wintersaber training with my human mage. Beautiful cat, though I could never go through that grind again
• 10th character to level 80. And one more at 79, knocking on the doorstep
• 6th level 80 to Crusader with Argent Tournament, and another that will be in a couple more days
• Netherwing Drakes for most of my characters on my main realm.
  
• STILL NO Heroic dungeons done, ever
• STILL NO heirloom items on any character
• Lots of Wintergrasp, since Horde seem to own it on our server, so lots of shiny purple(like I give a crap) gear on several of my 80s

That's mostly been it. Leveling, Argent dailies, Wintergrasp.

As for my characters, this is the breakdown of them:

• 2 80 Mages
• 2 80 Death Knights
• 2 80 Paladins
• 80 Druid
• 80 Hunter
• 80 Rogue
• 80 Shaman
• 79 Hunter
• 75 Hunter
• 75 Rogue
• 74 Warrior
• 72 Druid
• 72 Paladin
• 70 Warlock
  
• 63 Priest
• 58 Paladin
  

...and the rest are not really played right now. Whew, that's a lot of playing. At least I'm still having fun. :)

Computers, ugh.

I haven't posted in awhile-computer problems. First my old computer got to the point where it just didn't want to play WoW anymore. At least not while it was somewhat warm in our computer room. To the point where I was being disconnected every few minutes. So, though we can't really afford it right now, we get me a new computer. And then the REAL fun starts.

The new computer freezes up every so often. Just freezes everything. No matter if it's in WoW or a screensaver. Had it for a week and was ready to tear my hair out. Finally took it back to the store and said "FIX IT!" They ended up giving me a new computer, something about the hard drive being screwed up.

So I've had this computer for about a month now. Here's the thing. While I was having problems, I began using my kid's computer. And I took my password helper to her desk. And I lost it. So for the last month I've been guessing at passwords in hopes of getting in to even my own e-mail and all the places I frequent. It's frustrating. Since I try to use really sort of random things for passwords so that aren't easy to crack(and change them often), I hardly remember most myself. So getting back into my fave places has been a trial. Not to mention that I am terrified of downloading anything to this computer for fear of it crashing on me like the last one and losing it all again.

So I'm taking my time. Just playing WoW and staying inside away from the heat. And praying.

Children's Week

There's something very wrong with this photo. Doing the Daily Chores achievement, my Gnome Rogue is turning in the quest Planning For the Future. "Here ya go, Mr Walrus, and I've got one extra for ya!"

Hah.

Anyway, I love this week-lots of free pets for all of my multitudes of alts! Yay!

And I said I hated PvP...

and I still do. Really. But I have been doing a LOT of PvPing lately. Especially in Wintergrasp. Well, it helps when your faction has had control of Wintergrasp about 95% of the time for the past 2 weeks. Winning every two and a half hours really piles up those marks and the honor.
(for a good read-up for someone new to WG, check out this blog post!)

And it's funny because we actually finally lost two in a row last night and you wouldn't believe the amount of name-calling and accusing. Right...we've won about 30 straight and suddenly when we lose all of those awesome players are noobs and idiots who should delete their accounts. Amazing.

But I don't do this to find friends. I'm just trying to get a different look on my characters since a few of my 80s have been in the same crafted gear for over a year now. My Rogue went from Trollwoven Spaulders, shown here:

to the Furious Gladiator's Leather Spaulders, shown here:

As someone who refuses to do dungeons, raids and arenas, even a small upgrade such as this is HUGE in how you feel about your character. The shoulders are one of the cheapest items to get, and I'm pretty sure it's because they want you to upgrade those so you can SEE a difference in your character when first starting out. I may still be a noob on the inside, but I sort of feel like I am not seen as such by others at first glance. Not that I care one iota what others think, but it can help your self esteem, even just a little to not feel like you LOOK like a noob.

My Druid also upgraded to the Druid version of those shoulders, and also got the gloves and pants. For the first time in 4 1/2 years of playing WoW, I actually have a character that is wearing ALL EPICS!! ZOMG!!!1! Shocker! Sure some of them are still iLevel 200 crafteds, but who really cares. Hmmm, maybe it's time to finally put aside my Master Builder's Shirt and get one of those Rich Purple Silk Shirts that I see so many of the elites wearing. Nah.

I also managed to get enough honor for my human mage to get him the Furious Glad's Silk Cowl, cos it looks just too cool to pass up. Of course, I wasn't going to get them in Wintergrasp while the Alliance was sucking so bad. I waited until Strand of the Ancients weekend and spent some time in there. Not as easy as WG, but still sort of the same principal. And I found it quite funny in one where a guy on our boat at the beginning said this(basically) "it sucks that there are people in here who arent even geared for Naxx trying to pvp". I figured he meant me, sitting there in my Frost Savage gear and Hat of Wintry Doom. And then I was the one who managed to get in and grab the relic for the win. Noob indeed.

Eighty number Eight

And number 8 character reaches level 80. Yes, it's another Death Knight, which really isn't an accomplishment in my eyes, but no biggie. And he will now sit, maybe do some Tournament dailies, and wait for the next expansion. That's what my 80s do, and that's okay by me.

I've also gotten my little Gnome Rogue to level 74, and to Dalaran. Now he can sit and do Cooking, Fishing and Jewelcrafting dailies every day. And be able to do the Dalaran Children's Week quests when it comes back in May. Yay!

My Warrior is up to level 66, and my Priest is now 60. No dungeons at all.

So I now have at least one of every class to at least level 60. Whoopee. I'm okay with them, but don't have as much fun with them as I do with my Rogue. But that's me, I just like being invisible. I think I might talk about that in another post. Why playing a Rogue is exactly how my life is, i.e. I am completely invisible wherever I go. It's been that way my whole life. I am not an attention getter, and frankly I don't like attention getters. Like the guy on Family Feud yesterday, who had to make a show of every single answer he gave. I was so glad that they lost. People like that can get off of my TV NOW! Anyway, where was I? Don't know, don't care. Another Tuesday. Ugh.

First egg!

That's right, first egg from those lovely little Oracles nabs my Paladin the sweet Reins of the Green Proto-Drake. And I was just hoping for four new minipets! Hee. :)

And it came just one day before getting exalted with Netherwing. They must have known.


So what I've been up to soloing? Well, *when* I've been playing, I've mostly been playing my 80 Dwarf Paladin. Lately I've...

• Soloed the Zuluhed the Whacked quest in order to start the Netherwing dailies. I think it took about 2 weeks total to get exalted, but I wasn't doing all of the quests(because I didn't feel like going all the way to Nagrand every day)
• Soloed the Battle of Crimson Watch quest in order to get the awesome Illidari tabard
• Soloed the quest A Hero's Burden in Scholozar Basin in order to get started on those Oracles dailies(and get that sweet mount up there!)
• Just a couple of days from my Paladin becoming my fifth "Crusader" from the Argent Tournament

I know these things may not seem like much to those running around in their itemLevel 264 gear and whatnot, but my Paladin doesn't even have the Superior achievement yet! Anyhow, just saying that there is still plenty to do for a soloer who hits 80 besides just leveling another alt.

I'll be heading to Nagrand to get those Talbuk mounts next.

Love stinks!

I'm so glad that holiday is over. I was really getting tired of being peppered with bonbons and perfume every time I wandered through any major city. And now onto Lunar Festival-a holiday that I only use to gain reputation points with any of my characters who might still need it. I absolutely refuse to do the achievements that require fighting my way through enemy towns. I've never, in 4 years, killed an opposing NPC outside of a battleground, and I don't intend to ever do so.

...and so I won't be getting the fancy schmancy purple dragon flying mount. Whoopee. I'm NOT going to change my ways just to get something like that.

And I've STILL NEVER ENTERED A HEROIC DUNGEON! Yep, with 7 level 80s, and 9 more over level 70, and never been in a heroic. I nominate myself for worst WoW player ever. Whatever.

I have gotten my Undead Warrior to level 61, and Draenei Priest to level 53. And NO dungeon groups joined on them at all. I have always been solo, I will remain always solo.

I really wish I wasn't playing as much WoW right now, and I may soon have to give it up. My husband has been out of work since mid-January due to a neck injury. And I had a bit of a medical scare recently myself. Things like WoW don't look all that fun or important when you are staring at something like that.

So I may be "outdated" because I refuse to use the new dungeon crap thing, but sometimes you have to stick to what you are comfortable with, especially when life around you isn't very comfortable.

Love is in the Air-NOT!

And they had to go and ruin another holiday. I know, it hasn't even started yet(where I am), but I've read up on how it has changed on all the sites, MMO-Champion, WoW.com and Wowhead. The big change:

A new level 80 'gimmick' boss. And of course, he drops a mini-pet that you can only get there. Which means another mini-pet that I will never get.

Yes, he drops an epic flying mount that looks like only 12 year old girls should want(but people seem to be having fits wanting it-must be that 'I gotta stand out somehow' gene that I don't have). I wouldn't ride that thing if you paid me.

And he drops high level necklaces. Whoopie for someone who doesn't 'need' the high end gear(remember, if you aren't going to be doing dungeons and raids, you don't need the gear for dungeons and raids-well that's what people keep telling me!).


I'm not going to get into the details of all the other changes. It's hard to say whether or not getting some of the achievements will be easier or harder that they were before. My druid has the "Love Fool" title from last year, I don't really care if any of my other characters get it.

-----------

As to my lack of posts lately, well I haven't really had much to say. I've gotten my Draenei Priest to level 46, and my Undead Warrior to level 50. My level 80 Paladin dropped skinning and has leveled up blacksmithing(up to 370), without buying a single item from the auction house. I've been working on getting "the Seeker"(3000 quests completed) title for my 80 Rogue-he's about 450 quests short right now, and I got bored with it.

And then my big mistake, I screwed up with my "Rogue Demon Hunter". While fighting the demons on the west side of Desolace, I aggroed a warlock with imp, twice, and before it dawned on me I had killed the two-and then realized I had killed 2 humans. And now I'm not sure whether or not to continue with him or scrap it now. So bummed.

On the plus side-I love those little Raptor pets in their little nests! Thanks to how they are acquired now-by finding the raptor nests and getting the egg with the baby raptor minipet, now I have gotten many of those pets for tons of my characters! I seriously wish they were bind-on-pickup, but even though they aren't, they have got to be some of the easiest mini-pets to get out there. Love them!

Self portrait

Lol. I made this. I hate those stupid lolcats things normally, but I took this photo at the zoo a few months ago and this saying just stuck in my head when I looked at it.

End game

That's my hunter. He's sleeping. That is what "end game" is for my level 80s. Reaching the pinnacle for me, as a completely solo player, means "the end". When I climb a mountain, I don't stay up there to throw parties, I look for another mountain to climb. So my version of "end game" is clearly different than most World of Wacraft players. I might actually climb the same mountain again, but I'll be looking for another trail to get there. No two trips are ever the same. And I don't need anyone to help me climb that mountain.

That's what my level 80s achievements look like for the Northrend group stuff. And I'm sort of proud of that actually. It's not so much a "badge of honor" as it is a "badge of 'look how much I really suck'" kinda thing. That's sorta how I feel about it anyway.

With that said, I think I'm gonna let this lie like my hunter now. End game. Until those darn earthquakes wake me up.

I'd like you to like me

I am stuck in a conundrum. I don't like people, but I want them to like me. I know, I'm weird. It's the same way in-game.
I hate seeing 'yellow names'. 'Yellow names' mean one of two things:

1. These NPCs don't hate me, but they don't really like me yet
2. An opposing player who is flagged for PvP and I am not.
   

The first thing, NPCs. I just hate seeing the yellow names. I usually do what I can to get 'Friendly' with factions as soon as possible when it can be done. Seeing 'yellow' in Dalaran inns until I can get to the Argent Tournament at level 77 in order to gain their favor drives me up a wall. I have so many characters that have come through Shat since Wrath came out, that it is literally a sea of yellow when I go there for some reason. I just have to do something about it.

The second thing, players. It's no secret that I can't stand PvP. And when I see a 'yellow name' on a player it usually means one thing-that player is probably killing NPCs that I need to use. Wasting MY time. I don't care if you think this is fun, because ruining someone else's game time should not be "fun". That is sadistic. To get pleasure from someone else's pain. And I just don't get it. And there is NO chance of turning that 'yellow name' to red to do something about it-those players almost always outlevel my character by too many to count. Although seeing that Dwarf Hunter get pwned by Sergra Darkthorn recently was quite amusing, I still had to sit and wait to turn in a quest for quite awhile because the idiot just stood there and killed them as soon as they spawned.

So to the conundrum. I generally, as a rule, hate all people. I've been overtly shy since I was a kid. I also grew up being blamed for everything. I actually had a tshirt as a 12 year old that said "Go ahead, blame it on me, everyone else does". Now mind you, I was an extremely good kid. I never once, ever got sent to the Principals Office. I made straight A's throughout school. I was always "Teacher's Pet". The thought of doing something "wrong" was abhorrent to me. I aimed to please. And still got blamed for so many things.

And then, once I got to High School, I became the "Invisible Girl". I had no friends, never talked to anyone, but I STILL did not lose sight of "always doing the right thing". I did make one friend. And when we were 17, we were walking across the street and she was hit by a car and killed. It could have been me, so easily. I've never made a friend since then. And that was 25 years ago. Oh I had 'acquaintances', so-called 'friends', roommates. When I moved out of state 12 years ago, guess who never once bothered to keep in contact with me? Of course not, I always knew they hated me. I do thank God every day for my husband, I still don't know how I managed that one!

But I am really a really, really nice person! I always let others go ahead of me, I smile a LOT at other people, I hold doors open, I always say "please" and "thank you" and "yes sir" and "no ma'am". I obey all rules(including road rules, I come to a complete stop and use turn signals in an empty parking lot!). I'm not like "House"(on the tv show), in that he is a misanthrope who hates people AND enjoys making their lives miserable. I hate people because I know they will not really like me and will disappoint me at some point. Because they always have.

I see 'yellow names' all around me, every day. The idiot on the road who wants to tailgate me because I won't drive over the speed limit is just like the PvP jerk. The people at the store are like the people in Shattrath. I want people to like me, but I'm just not sure why I should bother most of the time. In my mind, I am doing everyone in WoW a FAVOR by remaining solo, because I am giving them one less person to blame everything on or one less person to ruin their game time. Just the thought of someone yelling at me or being mad at me for any reason makes me sick to my stomach. Really, I'm getting ill right now just thinking about it. I'm no philosopher though, but there is an excellent blog out there about WoW and philosophy. I wonder what they'd think of me? Never mind, I don't want to know.

So maybe I have a gene that makes me too sensitive. I cry at everything from country music songs to Hallmark commercials. Everything reminds me of my only friend and that is making me tear up now just thinking about that. I take everything said as an personal insult even if it isn't directly said to or about me. When nobody bothers to comment on the photos I post to Flickr, I take that as "my photos suck, everyone hates them". And then I talk to myself. I have 4 blogs: this one, a photo blog, a travel blog and a cemetery blog. And I rarely get comments. And I've gotten used to that. I've said it before, this isn't more of a "I've got something important to say so I hope millions of people read it", it's more of a 'travel journal'. Something that's fun to look back on and see where I've been and what I've done. Maybe others won't mind reading it, because maybe sometimes I do have something important to say. Or maybe it's just a cry for help. And yes, I said "cemetery blog", because I like to photograph cemeteries(notice the one in my header?). At least the dead people won't judge me.

So, to sum up, WoW is a lot like life. Well, my life anyway. And maybe I'm just a weirdo loner with far too much to say and yet always saying nothing. Geez Louis, when is Diablo 3 gonna get here?????

Wyndampryce turns 36

It's been awhile since I posted about my Rogue Demon Hunter, Wyndampryce, since it's been awhile since I actually played him. In the last week I've gotten him to level 35 and then 36. Still fighting only Demons! The last few levels have taken him to Desolace and the Satyrs there. At 36, the ones near Nijel's Point are all green to him so I will be moving across Desolace to the Mannoroc Coven. The demons there range from 37 to 40, so I'll need to watch my path. Almost died on first test there yesterday by aggroing a level 40 Warlock and his imp pet while fighting two Succubi! Thank goodness for Vanish and Sprint!

I'd like to do some more exploring with him to gain a few XP from that, but most of the areas I have left to explore are going to be difficult at his level. I think I will wait 4 more levels and that epic mount!

What to do when bored

Run around all of Azeroth finishing off your To All the Squirrels I've Loved Before, To All the Squirrels that Shared My Life, and Pest Control achievements. Easy cheap achievement points. May be done while working on Explorer achievements.

Yeah. I'm bored. I'd write up a guide on the easiest way to get these 3 achievements done-but I'm even too bored to do that. Sorry.

If you are bored, you could look through my photo blog. That's what I do when I'm not playing WoW.

I admit...

I still have a can of Horde Mt Dew sitting in the back of the fridge. Can't bear to drink the last one!

Maybe I'm a cheapskate...

But I would never pay this much for a green level 26 item!After my recent trip through Scarlet Monastery, I had a few things left over to sell. My little Priest is an enchanter, and even when being run through, it was a nice addition to be able to just hit "Disenchant" on most items and skip the whole open the bags and figure out what to disenchant. I do know there are some things that will sell on the Auction House. I just didn't realize for how much!
This item was the Emblazoned Hat. There was already one on the AH for 250g, which made me nearly spit out my soda. I figured what the heck and posted mine for 150g and it sold within an hour! Another leather helm, Insignia Cap, sold for 15g, probably because it is level 30, just above the "twink" level.
I suppose "twinks" haven't gone away, or the economy has gotten really, really out of whack because people have so much money these days. While this is good for lower level players to MAKE money, if you are in serious need of an upgrade and all the items are 50g, well it's just ridiculous.
While I am not bad at making money, it may be because I am a cheapskate and refuse to spend this kind of money on items at the Auction House. In fact, I recently leveled up Jewelcrafting from 1 to 350 and didn't spend a dime on the Auction House, I farmed every single item I needed. And then sold the items I made and extra mats on the AH for gobs of money. Of course, I had the time to do that. I suppose some people just don't have the time-and I'm there for them, supplying them with what they need, and netting the profits!
Time is indeed money, my friend. :)

New Year's Resolutions

It's that time of the year again, time to set the big goals. I have all the personal ones of course, including making a friend. I'm not sure how I'll be able to afford the parts for it, but I'm working on that. As for WoW, my resolution is pretty much the same as it was last year...play less. That was my resolution last year, but I didn't really meet that one. I think-at least for awhile-I may be able to meet this one. At least until Cataclysm comes out.

Another resolution is to continue to play MY way. That is only solo-completely solo. No group quests, no dungeons. I still duo a few characters with my husband, and trio a few with husband and kid, but the majority of my characters are 'me' only. And I like it that way. Truly solo. Completely alone. It's no accident that I have characters on several realms named Eremit, which means "hermit". It's how I live, it's how I play.

When I do 'play less', what will I do with my time? I've thought about going back to my Lord of the Rings Online character. I need to work more on my personal photographs website. I can clean house more often(HA!not!). Maybe read some books-I do miss the library.

Will I be quitting? Oh no, of course not. Like I said, I still have characters that my husband wants to play alongside with me. And there are always holidays that can be fun to log in and see how much you can get done. And besides, I got a 20" widescreen monitor for my birthday, and WoW looks AWESOME on it!

When is it too much WoW?

I've been wanting to start answering WoW.com's "Breakfast Topic" on here lately, but lately most of the questions have been in regards to the new dungeon system and frankly I don't really care about that.

But today I will start. The question is "When is it too much WoW?" And I think I may be at that point. They really want to know how much time you take off when you've had too much. My answer in the past would have been maybe a few days at most. But things are different right now.

I woke up early this morning and couldn't find a character that I really wanted to play. My 80s are done until the next expansion. I don't care if they get any better gear than the iLevel 187ish gear that they have now. If that puts me way behind the curve, then so be it. I don't really care how my characters look or how they perform, as long as I'm having fun with them. Right now I'm not having fun. Part of me feels forced into a section of the game that I can't stand(grouping) and I hate that I avoid logging into characters if I feel like I'm going to be harassed into doing that.

And I think a big part is just burn out. I recently got my 16th character to at least level 70. That's a LOT of levels and quests. And while the ones who are leveling are the only ones I want to play, right now I just don't want to play them. Or maybe it's just the Winter "Blues", because really, I don't want to do much of anything else either.

I don't mind logging in and playing alongside my husband and daughter, but other than that I just can't figure out what to do. I think I'll go back to working on my photography website. Or I'll read some books that I've been meaning to read. I miss the library. And the treadmill is just screaming my name now that it's January again. We'll see.

Year in Review 2009

The end of the decade. The end of the year. And my birthday tomorrow. Whoopee. This is a look back at the past year. Nothing too insighful, but probably more rants.

The year started out with some major drama. I had a 'friend'(actually friend of my husband) pretty much just stop talking to us because he left for a "raiding guild" and evidently we just weren't good enough for him anymore. It hit the fan in February during the Lunar Festival when they(friend and son) flat out refused to help my daughter with an achievement when all times previous we would jump at the chance to help them with whatever they need. They went on to our ignore list and things have been very quiet in the game ever since. No big loss I guess.

Around March I started a 'Rogue Demon Hunter' named Wyndampryce who would only level by grinding on Demons. If you've seen the tv show Angel you'd get the joke. If not, well there have been plenty of people who have leveled with various restrictions and I thought I'd try one just to do something different. And here at the end of the year he is still only level 34. Grinding is not an easy way to level.

April brought Patch 3.1 which brought the Argent Tournament, a real boon for solo players. And a great source of minipets and mounts. As of the end of the year, I have gotten 4 characters to the 'Crusader' title(exalted with all 5 home factions and Argent Crusade), and have done some work with others on it. Frankly at this point though I am quite sick of jousting.

July was a tough month. I almost flat out quit thanks to some real jerks who thought that only their happiness was important in a game full of millions. I don't know if I can ever really quit though. I'm not sure what it will really take. And I lost a hero in a tragic way. And that's all I really wanna say about that.

August brought Patch 3.2. The biggest thing about that was lowering the level at which everyone gets mounts-20 for regular, 40 for epic, 60 for flying. I can't tell you how awesome this has been for someone like me who spends most of my time on alts. Incredible. Also was the news of Cataclysm, the next expansion. And the coming of Worgen and Goblin races, and other new race/class combinations. Again, for someone who loves alts, this looks to be a great expansion.

In September I took my new little Dwarf Paladin and joined a real guild. And then got to run some old raid dungeons with them(Molten Core, Zul'Gurub, Onyxia). There was tons of adrenaline rush going on, and then I realized later that I had given myself an ulcer from worrying so much about how I was going to do. It made me realize that raiding, even low level, is not for me and my old self.

November brought my 7th level 80. And I recently brought up my 16th character to at least level 70. That means I have 9 more to get to max(which are currently at 76, 76, 76, 75, 71, 71, 70, 70 and 70). And maybe I'm getting burned out.

December brought Patch 3.3 and probably the biggest change in WoW since the beginning: the new Looking For Group mechanic. It's simple, choose your job(tank, healer, dps) and hit the "Find Group" button and voila, you are in the dungeon and getting your new awesome loots. But I can't/won't do it. I won't be a solo player anymore if I'm getting "phat lewt" from dungeons. I like being a solo player. I don't like grouping-no, I flat out refuse to group unless it's with my husband or daughter. And then there's the family member who decided to roll on our server and I'm now hiding from by not logging in to any of my characters on my main server anymore. This may finally be the straw that breaks the camels back.

It's been a very roller coaster year for me. And I'm in a real slump right now. I even loaded up my old Lord of the Rings Online character yesterday. Maybe I'll feel better Monday when I post some New Year's Resolutions.

And that makes level 70 or higher #16

Yep, that's right. My Gnome Rogue hit 70 and that makes Number 16 for me. And all without the aid of heirlooms or 'refer-a-friend'. Uh yep, I have a lot of time on my hands.

Who will be next? Well, I am working on a Warrior who is level 33, and a Priest, who is level 34. I just can't really get into playing them though. Knowing that at max level(and even now) they are EXPECTED to be THE tank and THE healer is annoying I suppose. Probably what holds me back most as a soloer. Since I have no interest in grouping at any time, these two classes hold the least amount of interest to me. And they are still really difficult to level at this point. But then I suppose neither were meant to be leveled solo which is why it is so tough.

My next highest characters, as mentioned before, are hunters and rogues-which are also the last two classes I got to level 70. Maybe it's time to go back to my leveling my Nelf Moonkin who is 71.

One other note: my rogue dropped skinning and took up Jewelcrafting. I farmed every single bit of my mats, and by selling the items plus the extra mats, I've made over 1500g this week. I've been limiting how much I actually put on the AH at a time so as to not flood and still have loads extra to sell. And after finding some that don't sell, I send those to an alt to disenchant. So his jewelcrafting is currently at level 342 with only a few points to go before starting Northrend materials.