The state of a small guild

I hear people talk about being in "small guilds", and then they talk about what raid they are doing that week. That isn't a "small guild". Our guild is small, three -3- active people: myself, my husband and my kid(who isn't all that active). And this past week we hit level 5.

I know I b*tched and moaned previously about how unfair it is for us small guilds-and I still think it is-but I think we've done alright. Yes, I really think we should be much higher at this point-and I wouldn't give two hoots if every other guild were already level 25. Five levels in three months, so maybe, just maybe we will hit level 10 by May or June. That is of course as long as we keep doing dailies, because we are running out of characters to level up to 85.

So a three person guild has hit level 5. It really makes me think twice when I see any guild at a lower level attempting to invite me on realms where my characters are guildless. And I have joined a couple of guilds on other realms. One on my Dwarf Shaman, which is the same guild my old Dwarf Paladin was in many moons ago. That guild is around level 13 right now and they have many 85s, and they attempt to raid. My Undead Death Knight(level 83) just joined a mega guild, level 18 I think, just for the hell of it. There are so many people on usually, I never need to even acknowledge them.

Not only has our little guild managed to make it to level 5, but we also went around and knocked out all of the Classic Dungeon Master achievements last week. Requirements were changed to only need 3 out of 5 people for the achievement, so we lucked out in that one. We might eventually attempt to do the Outland Heroic achievements, though I still don't even know where all of the dungeons are in Outland. Shame there isn't a "regular Outland dungeon" guild achievement-those would probably be easy.

The biggest news of all though-we actually managed to kill Zul'jin in Zul'Aman! We went in just to farm Hex Sticks so my kid could get the Mojo pet(success!), and we just kept attempting each boss and succeeding! Of course, there was no guild achievement, we would need 8 people in the group-but we got the individual achievements, which will be nice if they happen to take old Zul'Aman away. But still...we killed Zul'jin! Us crappy little players in our less than 333 gear! (I'm sure many are laughing at how they soloed it during Wrath, but hey it was pretty exciting for us!)

So little guilds can accomplish, we will just be years behind every one else(which sucks). Now if we could just find a Human Hunter and Night Elf Mage in battlegrounds to get that Alliance Slayer achievement and have that little Guild Page minipet!

Loremaster at last!

I finally finished up Loremaster on my Druid last week. I already had all of Eastern Kingdom and Kalimdor done(and nearly complete when achievements were introduced way back when), all of Burning Crusade, and all of Northrend except for Icecrown. Finishing all of the Cataclysm zones were easy. Finishing the last 20 or so quests in Icecrown was the hurdle.

Since I rarely group outside of family members, the 5man quests in Icecrown had been a sore spot in my Loremaster trip. Being 85 and having more hit points than most of the NPCs you have to fight now made it trivial. That didn't mean I didn't have fun in the process. My daughter and I took an hour or so hunting down the leftover quests and knocking them out.

And viola! I had my title and silly looking tabard(well, silly looking on a Tauren female). I think I will be using this title and only this title for a long time to come. This feels like quite an accomplishment for me, an unabashed altoholic who spends time playing on at least 6 or 7 characters a day-doing dailies and an hour of questing here, hour of questing with someone else there. I have one other character who is somewhat close to getting the title, but none of my others is even in the ballpark.

But it feels nice to have it done. Now to wait and see if they ever add an addition to "the Seeker"(3000 quests completed), seeing as how my stats say I have around 4800 quests complete with her! A new title at 5k quests would be a cinch since I have barely touched any quests in the new and improved low level zones! Bring on "the Quester"! (or whatever might sound much cooler than that!)

Still solo after all these years

Despite my distaste for Cataclysm when it first came out, I'm still rolling along just fine. As can be seen here-I'm playing so much I don't find the time to post! (but today is patch day, so...and the death of power shifting for my beloved Druids, /cry)

So far to this point I've...

• Have 4 characters at level 85
• Most of the rest of my 80s are at least level 83(only 2 of them haven't really been touched)
• Troll Druid is level 74, Dwarf Shaman is level 65
• Goblin Rogue is level 40
• Worgens are still lagging behind, just not thrilled with them
• Doing as many of the Holiday achievements as possible with as many characters as possible(only the easy ones and any that give mini-pets)
• All four 85s have their Tol Barad weapons, working on the Ghost Wolf mount with my Druid
• Main Druid is at 14 archaeology rares, ready to make the push to "Professor" after the patch hits and makes it somewhat easier
• Still NO dungeons done except for holiday bosses and any that can be soloed at a higher level

Of course, we've had mass amounts of snow and bad weather, and our car doesn't run well, so there's no going anywhere anyway.

Another note, our little guild of 3 is level 4. It isn't much compared to most, and it is disappointing still that it is taking so long to get higher, but it's getting there. We might fill up a 1/5 of a bar per day, depending on how many dailies I feel like doing(and whether I'm playing on another realm altogether). The perks we have so far #1 faster leveling(haven't really noticed), #2 faster mount speed(haven't really noticed-except that my Swift Flight Form is slower than everyone else-at least that changes with the patch today), and #3 Increased rep(this one helps since quests and dailies are our only way of gaining rep).

I'm still not as thrilled with this expansion, but that can always change. The Argent Tournament didn't come in until well into Wrath, so there is still hope for more fun and dailies in the future. And at least they made the one "group" quest in Tol Barad available without joining the group. If only they would do that with the named mobs on the other island. I am so sick of the fighting over the named mobs, my ignore list is filling up by leaps and bounds. >.<

Oh and "Boo" to the Packers. Just "boo". Bleh, the Puppy Bowl was more interesting.

The newest mini-pets

First of all, I'd like to apologize for the lack of images with posts lately. New computer, no photoshop, old computer isn't hooked up to a monitor yet. Man it sucks.


Anyway, this morning I logged into my Druid and FINALLY the elusive Jadefang was there for me! I've been sitting in that nook for 4 days, logging in and out, hoping beyond hope. Jadefang drops the Tiny Shale Spider pet. Cute little thing. I'd thought I'd list the new mini-pets and how hard they are for someone like me to get them. I won't go into great details, Warcraftpets.com is great for that!

From the Shattering and before Cataclysm:

Withers-fairly easy, For Alliance, do quest line from the starting town in Darkshore up to fighting the boss in the Troll Village; for Horde simply make your way to the cave above the huge whirlpool in Darkshore and buy it from the Undead vendor in the bottom of the cave.
Brazie's Sunflower-quest reward in Hillsbrad from doing the Peaceblooms vs Ghouls mini game thing. Somewhat easy once you get the hang of it.
Mr Grubbs-Doing the first few quests in Eastern Plaguelands can get you a "Lucky" buff that will make some mobs drop and extra loot bag. It can contain this little guy. My druid got it on the 5th bag, my Shaman grinded a whole level out, dozens of bags, no Grub.
Tiny Flamefly-quest reward in Burning Steppes. Fairly easy, though lengthy, level 50-55ish.

There are of course the 2 from the Blizz store, I got the Moonkin Hatchling, but not Ragnaros.

With Cataclysm:

Tiny Shale Spider-drops from spider, Jadefang, a rare in Deepholm. She spawns on a special ledge that isn't easy to get to. There are guides on Warcraftpets and Wowhead.
Rustberg Seagull-Somewhat easy. Honored from the Tol Barad faction, plus 50 tokens. Doing the dailies, no pvp required. If your faction controls TB, you get quite a few more dailies(though some are challenging due to mega instant repops). Level 85 only. I've been slacking, but I'm fairly close to getting this one.
Personalized World Destroyer/De-Weaponized Mechanical Companion-Buy from Auction House or have an engineer-one if for Goblin, one is for Gnomish. Engineering 475(mine isn't that high yet).
Enchanted Lantern/Magic Lamp-Buy from Auction House or Enchanters made. I've yet to see one on the AH, and my enchanter isn't high enough. One is Alliance, one is Horde.
Blue/Gold Mini-Jouster-quest reward from Mt Hyjal. Annoying quest, but still fairly easy. Near the end of longish quest line. Can only get one color on each character.
Elementium Geode-Rare drop from an Elementium Node, can be bought on AH. I need to mine more...
Fox Kit-Rare drop from Foxes on Tol Barad upper island. BoP, and no luck for me here yet either.
Pebble-Cute little rock guy, achievement reward for finishing the daily quest to rescue him 10 times. I'm at 2.

Fossilized Raptor-Archaeology reward. Two of my characters got it early on, two others have yet to see it(grr)
Clockwork Gnome-Archaeology Reward. Dwarf Rare, higher level than Fossil. I have it on my Druid, but not on my others. A bit rarer than the Fossil.
Crawling Claw-Archaeology Reward. Tol'Vir rare. At least level 425 Arch, and Tol'Vir sites are quite rare themselves.


Armadillo Pup-Guild achievement reward, kill 50,000 critters. Ugh. I'm at 5,000 so far, and this is so boring. Maybe someday I will dedicate a few hours to finishing it off. ***UPDATE-You have to be exalted with the guild in order to buy it. At the rate my Druid is going, that might happen in the year 2015. Lovely.
Dark Phoenix Hatchling-Guild achievement reward, United Nations(55 exalteds). Yeah, not gonna happen with us.
Guild Pages/Heralds-More guild achievements. I'm not sure what they are, but I am pretty sure someone in such a small guild as myself doesn't stand a chance at these.


So there we go. Most of them are somewhat easy, though at the very least time consuming. And that I don't mind, as long as they ARE obtainable by someone like me. Right now my Druid is at 114 companions. I love them. :)

So many new alts

And I don't know who to play!

Aside from the 14 level 80+ that I have(only 1 to 85 so far), I have started a new army of alts, thanks to the new races and race/class combos. At this point, I have:

63 Troll Druid(got to 62 before Cataclysm came out, stuck there)
50 Dwarf Shaman
25 Undead Hunter
23 Goblin Rogue
12 Tauren Paladin
11 Gnome Priest
14 Worgen Rogue
13 Worgen Druid
17 Worgen Warlock
13 Worgen Druid(yes, another one, different realm)
16 Human Hunter
12 Goblin Hunter(mainly just a bank alt)

Sometimes I log in and just work to get one level or hit the rest pin and then log out. Right now I am determined to get my Goblin Rogue to exalted with Orgrimmar(5k to go)-I haaaaate the Goblin Trike(I don't have a Chopper on any of my characters either, don't want to spend the money and I just hate how it looks and sounds).

Part of me wants to level the Troll Druid, but Outlands is just so...ugh. I also have a 49 Human Rogue and 43 Undead Rogue that I have had forever and would like to level also. But when I play these, I feel guilty for not leveling my 80s up to 85. And then I just get this urge to log in with someone and do Archaeology!

And to top it all off, Santa brought my kid a Wii for Christmas and I'm either playing Wii Sports(tennis ftw, at least I'm getting some exercise now!) or she wants to me to play some other game with her.

So much to do, so little time.

Archaeology 315

...and still no Baby Raptor. /sad

My now level 50 Dwarf Shaman has managed to find one rare, the Chalice of the Mountain Kings, so I do have the title of Assistant Professor.

Headed to Un'Goro and Kalimdor in hopes of opening up some more fossil sites. Getting lots of duplicate common fossils. Getting very, very frustrated. Grrrr.

Archaeology thoughts

Archaeology is the one thing I was looking forward to in this expansion. It is fairly interesting. It satisfies my love of travel and exploring. But it is extremely frustrating-as it is in real life, of course. But in real life, I wouldn't go looking for raptor fossils in the Valley of the Kings, nor would I look for mummies in Utah. But I'll get to that in a moment.

My main, my Druid, is level 85, and most of those levels were gotten from Archaeology. At 525, with 10 rares solved, I am burnt out on it with her. No level 85 epics, but I don't really care about those. Got the Raptor and Gnome mini-pets, Raptor mount-those are what I wanted.

Then I started up with my Dwarf Paladin, level 80. Got to level 81, somewhere around 200 in archaeology. Got the raptor mini-pet. And I'm done there for now because I am really into my Dwarf Shaman right now...

My Dwarf Shaman is level 42. I named him for famed archaeologist Dr Zahi Hawass. I have leveled him from about 30 almost exclusively on Archaeology. I don't mind all the travel. What is driving me crazy is the number of Troll digsites I keep getting! He is at 255 and hasn't seen a single rare project pop yet. From the numbers and the levels of zones that dig sites are in, the Eastern Kingdoms should have Dwarf and Fossil about 50/50 with Troll(there might be more fossil on Kalimdor, but they are in Un'Goro and higher than my current level). There are 7 Dwarf sites, 9 fossil sites, and 19 Troll sites. But 95% of the sites I get at any time, for hours, are Troll. It is a rare thing to actually get a dig site that ISN'T Troll. I've solved 13 common Troll things and I've decided to just stop solving them. I've got 6 Dwarf and 8 Fossil solved. Oh if only the stupid Troll ones would stop showing!

The same goes on my Druid, who is at 525. I'm looking for Troll now, and all I get are fossil! I have solved everything possible for fossil, but those are the only sites that keep popping! Argh!

At least the "outside the boundaries" bug has sort of been fixed. I went back to the Orc area in Shadowmoon Valley 3 times and finally the placing changed to a completely random other place so I could get that site finished.

As for just storming into Aerie Peak on my Horde character to get those digs-I just don't do that. I've been playing for over 5 years and I have never, ever, not once killed an opposing faction NPC(outside of battlegrounds). Never done it, not going to start now. But at least the placements do change, so if it is in town, I can always come back later.

Now if I could just get that "Assistant Professor" title for my Shaman-I would be much happier! Hey it's almost Christmas, C'mon!!!

Cataclysmic mess

Cataclysm is a week old now. I'm sure most people are already 85 and decked out in their epics and whatnot. And I'm not sure I want to play much more.

I knew, from reading about beta, that the game was going to be very different. For a soloer, it is.

First of all, the mobs are tough, really really tough. I wasn't having too much trouble with my Druid, but some of my others are barely getting through most fights. We went from fighting level 80s in Northrend with 12k HP, to level 80s with 30k+ HP. And obviously they hit much harder-and the many instant respawns are horrible. But I'm sure these mobs are tuned to someone in their ICC epix, and not to some noob with barely iLvl 200 gear.

My Druid is level 84. And the only quests I've done have been finishing Mount Hyjal. The rest has been from mining and Archaeology.

Archaeology can be fun, but it is extremely annoying at times. Running in circles while the green light points in a different direction 5 different times is ridiculous. And yes, I know all about triangulation. I spend quite a lot of time with a GPS and I study maps as one of my main hobbies-like USGS maps, not just street maps. This profession is right up my alley. The only other problem is the bugs. Right now, at level 42o, I have 2 sites I can't finish which means I'm down to looking for 14 sites at a time rather than 16. One in Dragonmaw Village in Shadowmoon points to a spot outside the zone, so you get "you can't use that here" when you try to step closer to where the green light is pointing. The second is smack dab in the middle of Aerie Peak-and I'm Horde. I'm not going INTO an Alliance town to get an artifact. Screw that. Otherwise, it's sort of fun-I have the Raptor and Gnome pets, and the Raptor mount-they are pretty cool.

My biggest beef is with the guild leveling nerf that hit yesterday. My main realm has the guild with most of my 80s, my husband and kid's characters. The first few days we never got near the cap, but we were making progress. I thought we might actually hit level 2 next weekend. Then the cut back to 25% of XP and the progress has grinded to a halt. I don't want to hit level 25 in a month like most guilds, I'm not asking for the SAME THINGS AS HUGE GUILDS, I was just hoping that maybe we could actually hit freaking level 2!! in a few weeks! Is that REALLY too much to ask?? I suppose it is, judging by comments made by so many in the forums. It's either "join a huge guild or GTFO or STFU".

Don't get me wrong-I really honestly don't give two shits about the guild perks. I have 80s on 3 other realms that are guildless and I don't really care if they ever join a guild. I don't need the "perks" and I don't need other people. But I was really hoping our little family could at least make a LITTLE progress. At this rate, we probably won't hit level 3 until the next expansion hits-if we are still playing by then.


At least with Wrath I had something to look forward to when I hit the max level-there were tons of dailies with lots if interesting rewards. I worked towards the Hodirs to get the Mammoth(that I never rode). I even did those 3 measly dailies for Wyrmrest to get exalted and the Red Drake-it took me months and months, but it was worth it! What dailies are there now? I'm not 85 yet and haven't opened any, so I don't know for sure, but I think it's just Therazane(with no reward worth bothering for) and Tol Barad(which will require your realm to have control if you want to get the extra dailies). Oh and one little daily for Tolvir, for 150 rep-it's not like I really wanted that camel anyway. There might be a few in Twilight Highlands(haven't been there yet), but no interesting rewards there either. No dailies for Earthen Ring or Gaurdians of Hyjal-disappointing. I crave another Argent Tournament!!

I know, it's stupid of me to want to get exalted with a faction just for a mount or something cosmetic-even if it's something I'll never use(Mammoth and Red Drake)-but I have no real use for the end-game gear. Even the little achievement for being exalted is a nice thing to strive for. I see now that they are trying to reinforce that the BIG GUILDS and RAID/HEROICS/ARENA or GTFO. I guess it is time for me to move back to the Sims or some other shit like that. Can't really kill anyone to get your frustration out in the Sims-unless you place them in a building with no doors and no food. They will die eventually. It's torture and just not as satisfying as bashing in some big ugly Ogre skulls.


Worgens/Goblins-I just can't get into them. Haven't gotten one past level 13. The Goblin areas-ugh. I'm sure I'm the only person playing the game who drove their little hot rod around as carefully as possible, never using the speed boost, looking for the talk radio station, and avoiding the people like crazy. I drove it like I drive my real car. Can't help it. And then I get to Lost Isles, and the leader guy yells out every few minutes how EVERYTHING IS YOUR FAULT! Naming YOU by name! Great, for someone with self-esteem issues, who has thought everything was my fault ever since I was a kid, it makes me want to take my character to the water and drown it, just get it over with and end it all. Thanks game.

The Worgen I just find boring so far. The architecture is AMAZING. I could run around Gilneas all day. But I can do that with any of my 80s, without the annoying mobs. I'm not sure why I just don't really like the actual characters so far. It could also be the absolute massive amount of others in the zones that turns me off. Perhaps if I was running around alone, I'd be more into it. Right now I'm either AFKing or rushing through to avoid the random jerk who wants to spam duels or group invites or just talk about stupid shit. Go away!

So a week in and I'm not having fun. Not to mention I get absolutely hounded and ridiculed on the one message board that I used to frequent. So this will be my only vent portal. If ANYTHING positive happens for soloers, I'll post about it. If not, well I might just not be playing much longer. Doesn't seem like they want my kind around here anymore.

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?????