I am not sure I will continue this blog as it was intended. I instead am going to change it to be musings on the game of World of Warcraft in general from my perspective as a female dwarven tank in a casual guild. I still plan on finishing these walk-throughs but summer has caused a huge pause in the project just for sheer lack of time/players to help me with it. Firelands came out at a very bad time and my raid group that was struggling with filling spots for a 10 man has taken a month-long break from raiding. We start back up next month and my game playing should be more steady.
Right now I am barely playing in-game at all. When I do, it's mainly archeology while watching a movie or tv show. Blizzard has really let me down this expansion in terms of replay value. I did all the first tier raids when they were new and then Firelands came out so Blizz nerfed the older raids so that anyone could do them with a pick up group. Those raids are already boring to me and Firelands is too difficult when you are having to do a lot of off-specs and fill-ins due to summer. So it put me in the odd position of not progressing. The game itself is not enough to hold me as a player without the people I play with. Not only that but I am tired of killing bosses 'again' like Ragnaros and the ZG heroics, it just seems pointless as I killed those dungeons years ago. It's one thing to revisit a boss here or there but having two recycled dungeons (yes, mechanics were altered) and a 'big baddie' that we've seen before just makes it pretty boring too quickly.
Good news in on the horizon though with another big patch on the way and perhaps Blizzard is listening. They scrapped the water raid because it's story wasn't compelling enough (hello, story is VERY important to me in this game, it's why killing Arthas meant so much to me as a WCIII fan). They have promised us sort of an appearance tab. If they put the dance studio in, I could see myself playing the game just for those features. I used to play LOTRO simply because I could compose and play my own music in taverns and with other people and it was incredibly fun for me. Simple things like that WoW has been lacking. Another feature I would REALLY love to see is world events with open public grouping like other games have. I loved it in WAR and RIFT made it even more amazing as an available feature. Blizz is going back in the right direction with some of these announcements but it still remains to be seen if they can actually push the changes out decently fast as to not lose anymore playerbase.
The last month I have been considering cancelling my subscription to the game as well because I realized how little I have invested in it anymore other than as a time sink. My friends, a way to play with them, share time and a hobby with them will always be worth $15 a month and for now we pay that for WoW. But if my friends aren't online and I find I really don't want to do anything and quickly become bored and log off.
It seems, too, like we get less and less with our money's worth the longer we stay in the game-there is no real reason to be a veteran player, no perks, nothing because you have played for years. If I were to quit today and come back in 6 months, I could catch up with less effort of the people that go through the content today. More unique one time only events with rewards would add some spice to that veteran status I think and would be a worthwhile investment.
I am not sure how to 'fix' WoW for me. Perhaps time has just stretched the game too far into feeling like another job. Perhaps I just have lost the 'fun hobby' part of the game. I am hoping the next patch will bring back the oomph, but then I think I sound like a druggie: Just one more patch, one more patch and then I'll get my fix.
Hopefully in the next month I will be able to finish all regular heroic dungeon walk-throughs and hopefully also the troll instances.
8/18/11
7/12/11
Delayed
This blog has been delayed because I find it hard to find a group that is willing to go slow enough for me to take screen shots of each and every pull.
5/23/11
What healer would you pick? (NOW WITH EVEN MORE POST-ITS)
(This post is a part of several posts I am taking off old content to share on my new blog, so the content might be outdated. This was written in LK expansion.)
My guild has decided since we are retiring 'official' raids to run informal alt 25 mans. This is done mainly so our legendary shard collector can finish out his weapon and it may, in fact, be just farming up to Saurfang every week-though I am sure we will get past that unless we all fall asleep from boredom.
I was looking at the potential line-up for the healers and so far we have two druids, possibly one shaman and 3 priests.
V. 
My guild has decided since we are retiring 'official' raids to run informal alt 25 mans. This is done mainly so our legendary shard collector can finish out his weapon and it may, in fact, be just farming up to Saurfang every week-though I am sure we will get past that unless we all fall asleep from boredom.
I was looking at the potential line-up for the healers and so far we have two druids, possibly one shaman and 3 priests.
V. Mindset of tanking
(This post is a part of several posts I am taking off old content to share on my new blog, so the content might be outdated. This was written in LK expansion.)
My name is bear and I am a paladin tank. I would like to tell you what it is like to be me, but you really have to play as a raiding paladin tank to know what it is like. However, I keep hearing people with inexperienced paladin tanks asking for advice so I figured I would write a bit about what being a tankadin is. So this advice is mainly for new tanks, not how to tank raids, but how to learn the basic attitude of tanking.
My name is bear and I am a paladin tank. I would like to tell you what it is like to be me, but you really have to play as a raiding paladin tank to know what it is like. However, I keep hearing people with inexperienced paladin tanks asking for advice so I figured I would write a bit about what being a tankadin is. So this advice is mainly for new tanks, not how to tank raids, but how to learn the basic attitude of tanking.
Lowbie Innocence
(This post is a part of several posts I am taking off old content to share on my new blog, so the content might be outdated)
Last night a friend and I were out running the Fire Festival flames honoring and dousing on our second set of 'long strange trip' toons and as I was running us back from Dolanaar, I got a whisper asking 'Do you know what I can feed my pet?'
I replied, asking 'what kind of pet do you have?'
The hunter said she (I am saying 'she' because it was a female nelf) had just got a saber pet and that it was frowning at her and she was afraid it was going to run away. So I told her that she could feed it any kind of meat. Hunter asks 'what should I kill for the meat?' I told her that she could kill other cats or any of the animals around the village. The hunter asked me if her cat would run away if she fought other cats with it. (By this point I absolutely loved this lowbie) I told her no, but she could get the meat from drops or from vendors or whatever if she couldn't get drops.
Then she said 'I don't have enough coins to buy anything, it's why I am out here killing things.'
And it was that sentence that made me happy. I am so sick of standing around major cities on my toons and hearing people screaming about 'GIVE ME MONEY' or being begged for gold in whispers 'U GEEF GOLD NAO K' /glare.
This hunter had just asked how to get her cat food so she wouldn't be frowning at her and she was out killing things to try to make gold. By this time I was already back in Darnassus so I bugged my friend to show me where the AH was (I was originally Horde and that's not an Alliance city I know well at all), so she showed me and I bought a frostweave bag, grabbed it out of the mailbox, told my friend what I was doing and started back to the lowbie. My friend had bought a stack of low level meat for the cat and suggested I get the hunter a pet owl for fun (her main is a hunter and she is more than an avid pet collector and remembers how excited she was to get her first follow pet) so I grabbed both types of owls from the vendor on the way out of town as well.
So we met the little hunter on the road and opened trade with her. A frostweave bag, two owls, the stack of meat and 10 gold. A good little starter kit for a new player.
The hunter was very thankful but I realized I had made a mistake when I saw the little warrior she was with. I had only brought one bag with me! And then I got more whispers from the hunter: Thank you so much, can I give one of the owls to my friend, he doesn't have a pet?
:D It made me so happy to make her happy. I told her she was free to do whatever she wanted with any of it! And she thanked me again and I rode off with my friend to finish our holiday questing.
I checked the armory for her today, seems she made it to level 11. Most of her gear now says Source: Vendor. And that makes me happy because I remember when I first started playing this game how many little mistakes I made (like buying gear from a vendor) but how proud I was to buy that first 'white quality' mace off the vendor with the quest coppers I had saved. And it showed me that she really was new because seasoned players would just run to the AH for gear.
I tip my hat to little hunters who ask politely and in complete sentences for help and here's to new WoW players who will make their own mistakes in their brand new adventures and one day may help a new lowbie to have fun when they are starting out as well. Sometimes I wish I could go back to all the new and exciting instead of the 'I know this zone, Imma RACE THROUGH IT cause it sucks'...maybe Cataclysm will do that for us all once again.
I might keep an eye on this one, I hope she sticks with it, it was a pleasure answering her question and making her hunter pet happy.
Last night a friend and I were out running the Fire Festival flames honoring and dousing on our second set of 'long strange trip' toons and as I was running us back from Dolanaar, I got a whisper asking 'Do you know what I can feed my pet?'
I replied, asking 'what kind of pet do you have?'
The hunter said she (I am saying 'she' because it was a female nelf) had just got a saber pet and that it was frowning at her and she was afraid it was going to run away. So I told her that she could feed it any kind of meat. Hunter asks 'what should I kill for the meat?' I told her that she could kill other cats or any of the animals around the village. The hunter asked me if her cat would run away if she fought other cats with it. (By this point I absolutely loved this lowbie) I told her no, but she could get the meat from drops or from vendors or whatever if she couldn't get drops.
Then she said 'I don't have enough coins to buy anything, it's why I am out here killing things.'
And it was that sentence that made me happy. I am so sick of standing around major cities on my toons and hearing people screaming about 'GIVE ME MONEY' or being begged for gold in whispers 'U GEEF GOLD NAO K' /glare.
This hunter had just asked how to get her cat food so she wouldn't be frowning at her and she was out killing things to try to make gold. By this time I was already back in Darnassus so I bugged my friend to show me where the AH was (I was originally Horde and that's not an Alliance city I know well at all), so she showed me and I bought a frostweave bag, grabbed it out of the mailbox, told my friend what I was doing and started back to the lowbie. My friend had bought a stack of low level meat for the cat and suggested I get the hunter a pet owl for fun (her main is a hunter and she is more than an avid pet collector and remembers how excited she was to get her first follow pet) so I grabbed both types of owls from the vendor on the way out of town as well.
So we met the little hunter on the road and opened trade with her. A frostweave bag, two owls, the stack of meat and 10 gold. A good little starter kit for a new player.
The hunter was very thankful but I realized I had made a mistake when I saw the little warrior she was with. I had only brought one bag with me! And then I got more whispers from the hunter: Thank you so much, can I give one of the owls to my friend, he doesn't have a pet?
:D It made me so happy to make her happy. I told her she was free to do whatever she wanted with any of it! And she thanked me again and I rode off with my friend to finish our holiday questing.
I checked the armory for her today, seems she made it to level 11. Most of her gear now says Source: Vendor. And that makes me happy because I remember when I first started playing this game how many little mistakes I made (like buying gear from a vendor) but how proud I was to buy that first 'white quality' mace off the vendor with the quest coppers I had saved. And it showed me that she really was new because seasoned players would just run to the AH for gear.
I tip my hat to little hunters who ask politely and in complete sentences for help and here's to new WoW players who will make their own mistakes in their brand new adventures and one day may help a new lowbie to have fun when they are starting out as well. Sometimes I wish I could go back to all the new and exciting instead of the 'I know this zone, Imma RACE THROUGH IT cause it sucks'...maybe Cataclysm will do that for us all once again.
I might keep an eye on this one, I hope she sticks with it, it was a pleasure answering her question and making her hunter pet happy.
Stuck as a Tank
(This post is a part of several posts I am taking off old content to share on my new blog, so the content might be outdated. LFG system has changed a lot since LK days...)
Help, I'm tanking and I can't get up!
And now my friends the time has come to talk of other things, of shoes and ships and sealing wax. Of cabbages and kings.
My tank is in need of a vacation.
Help, I'm tanking and I can't get up!
And now my friends the time has come to talk of other things, of shoes and ships and sealing wax. Of cabbages and kings.
My tank is in need of a vacation.
Regarding Tier
(This post is a part of several posts I am taking off old content to share on my new blog, so the content might be outdated)
BOSS FIGHT!
I love running old content. Granted I love 2-manning old content.
I do MC weekly for lulz and GOLD and Tuesday while beating up on Rags-or rather having him knock me into lava over and over again-I started wondering what other people's favorite old bosses are.
Of course I can't make a post without making some sort of stupid art...today you get 'sketches between business phone calls in 10 minutes or less' versions! Enjoy (or not, they aren't that good)
BOSS FIGHT!
I love running old content. Granted I love 2-manning old content.
I do MC weekly for lulz and GOLD and Tuesday while beating up on Rags-or rather having him knock me into lava over and over again-I started wondering what other people's favorite old bosses are.
Of course I can't make a post without making some sort of stupid art...today you get 'sketches between business phone calls in 10 minutes or less' versions! Enjoy (or not, they aren't that good)
Blast from the past! BANANA PHONE
(This post is a part of several posts I am taking off old content to share on my new blog, so the content might be outdated)
BANANA PHONE!
I come to you today with another EPIC tale of awesomeness and embarrassment to my guildies since now my idea of good fashion is bright yellow and really glowing!
BANANA PHONE!
I come to you today with another EPIC tale of awesomeness and embarrassment to my guildies since now my idea of good fashion is bright yellow and really glowing!
Re: When I faced the 'end boss' of WoW pre-level 10!
(This post is a part of several posts I am taking off old content to share on my new blog, so the content might be outdated)
For something different: NOOB TALES!
Tell me your noob stories!
My first toon was a night elf druid, but I played her enough to forget how to shapeshift so you know I didn't play her much at all. My first REAL toon though that I really cared about and was excited to play was a female troll shaman. I was so excited to be able to heal and turn into a wolf and AMG rez myself! So I started off on my new little girl killing all the beginning area baby quests, killing pigs...
And killing scorpions...
And killing those dudes that are such a pest in the cave and run away and call their friends-you know who I am talking about, they killed me, too, stupidhead.
Continued for more mishaps!
For something different: NOOB TALES!
Tell me your noob stories!
My first toon was a night elf druid, but I played her enough to forget how to shapeshift so you know I didn't play her much at all. My first REAL toon though that I really cared about and was excited to play was a female troll shaman. I was so excited to be able to heal and turn into a wolf and AMG rez myself! So I started off on my new little girl killing all the beginning area baby quests, killing pigs...
And killing scorpions...
And killing those dudes that are such a pest in the cave and run away and call their friends-you know who I am talking about, they killed me, too, stupidhead.
Continued for more mishaps!
4/22/11
4/13/11
Tanking 101
In this blog, I will attempt to show every pull in Cataclysm 5-man heroics to give beginning tanks an idea of what to do when first stepping into a dungeon. The blog is a work in progress and I will try to show pull tips, marking tips, mob ability tips and even a few ideas of when to pop cool downs. I do not plan on explaining boss strats on any bosses in this guide, but I will provide links to wowhead for each boss as you will come to them.
It's a big project, and while experienced tanks are most likely not going to find helpful information here, beginner tanks just might. The goal is to help beginning tanks become confident in themselves even if they have never stepped foot into the dungeon before.
This is not a blog that will focus on gearing and rotation, each class is different in that aspect and it's vital that every tank knows the recommended stats for themselves. Tankspot is a great place to start for this type of information. Here is a sample link for gearing advice: http://www.tankspot.com/showthread.php?72068-Cata-Pre-Raid-Gear Tankspot is also a very good place to go for general tanking tips, rotations, boss strats for raiding, etc. I highly suggest any tank take the time to read a bit there and watch the videos for ideas on how to tank properly.
It's a big project, and while experienced tanks are most likely not going to find helpful information here, beginner tanks just might. The goal is to help beginning tanks become confident in themselves even if they have never stepped foot into the dungeon before.
This is not a blog that will focus on gearing and rotation, each class is different in that aspect and it's vital that every tank knows the recommended stats for themselves. Tankspot is a great place to start for this type of information. Here is a sample link for gearing advice: http://www.tankspot.com/showthread.php?72068-Cata-Pre-Raid-Gear Tankspot is also a very good place to go for general tanking tips, rotations, boss strats for raiding, etc. I highly suggest any tank take the time to read a bit there and watch the videos for ideas on how to tank properly.
About the bloggers!
The main blogger's nickname is is Bear. She is a main raid tank for a casual guild on the Dalaran US Alliance World of Warcraft Server. She plays a female dwarf paladin tank (with holy offspec) who stays busy with 10-man raiding encounters in one of the three raiding groups her guild has to offer.
Assisting in the blog graphics, walk throughs and screen shots are Wee and Gnome Tank Girl. Wee tanked through BC and LK as a tauren feral druid and Gnome Tank Girl has a gnome warrior alt currently tanking Cata heroics. They are both members of the dark side and have DPS specced mains.
None of the bloggers currently have max-level Worgen characters.
Assisting in the blog graphics, walk throughs and screen shots are Wee and Gnome Tank Girl. Wee tanked through BC and LK as a tauren feral druid and Gnome Tank Girl has a gnome warrior alt currently tanking Cata heroics. They are both members of the dark side and have DPS specced mains.
None of the bloggers currently have max-level Worgen characters.
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