Friday, November 27, 2009

Lock gets 80 and fails! More at 10!!!

Hola blog lovers!

I hope everyone had a safe and delicious turkey day. Mine was F'n amazing, but I ate way too much. My family tricked me into stuffing myself....it was not cool. I was about half way done with my first plate, which by the way was pretty hefty. A few of my family members started to say how there isn't that much food left. They then got into a conversation about how they bought the same amount of food that they do every year, but can't believe that it is almost all gone.

So my tubby ass finished my first plate and immediately got another pretty large plate. After I was half way through that one, they all start saying that it was a joke and that there is plenty of food to go around.

Well shit...I already ate more then I wanted to with my first plate and the only reason why I got my second plate is because I thought it was going to be gone if I waited a few hours.

TL:DR - I ate a metric ton of food, watched football, and passed out for the night around 830pm.

Now that I am done boring you with my real life, I will start entertaining you with my WoW career.

Warlock hits 80 and the realization that I suck...

Ok, I don't suck per se. However, I do suck compared to mostly everyone else due to the gear factor. I know, I am a brand new 80, but doing 1500 - 1900 dps is pretty embarrassing as a dps.
Basically, everything needs to be replaced...

EV-ERY-THANG!

When I dinged 80, my best gear was my BoA stuff. Which is horrible for anything level 80.

I was thinking about getting that super sweet item level 245 cloth robe, Merlin's Robe, to replace my BoA xp chest. However, I didn't want to spend all that money on ebon and spellweave cloth for an alt. Crusader orbs I can get from my shaman if I really wanted them, he has over 100 badges just sitting there.

One of my good WoW friends said she would sell me the cloth for half off though!!!

I can't pass up that deal, right? I mean...its a savings of about 650g.

So I went ahead and bought all the cloth from her, traded in my triumph badges for crusader orbs, and logged on to my disenchanter and got 8 shards. Few minutes later I had Merlin's Robe equiped, gemmed, and enchanted and I can't thank my WoW friend enough, Cheers!

However, I still suck due to the fact that I am still under the hit cap. I went ahead and gemmed everything that I could possibly gem with +16 hit gems, but I am still only sitting around 250 hit.

I don't think that is horrible though for dinging less then 2 hours though lol. I know there are some pretty pro people out there that have there newly dinged 80 in full pvp or crafted gear the minute they ding. Those people rock face and it would be cool if I did that because I hate being kicked out heroic or raid because my gear score is only 3000.

and btw...I HATE what the mod, gearscore, has done to WoW....but that is for another time my friends...

yes, another time...

/close_eyes
/deep breath

New Spec, New playing style

I leveled demo. That means that I had an OP pet and 3 dots pay attention to. During the few instance runs I did during my leveling process, I did very good dps for my level. At 74, I was rocking 1300 dps during an AN run as demo.

Well, I leveled my lock because I wanted to be Destro. It looks fun, it has some utility, and they are very good dps. I actually think you can get more dps out of affliction, but that is neither here nor there....

A Destro lock is the whole reason why I transferred my lock and faction changed him. The whole immolate + conflag spell combo makes my eyes get wide and my inner panda giggle with enjoyment. Even with my crappier gear and not being hit capped I am getting 3k immolate and 7k conflags...that is pretty sexy I guess.

Specs, yes...ok...so once I made the switch to Desto from Demo, I felt so lost. Not only did I feel like I was playing a different spec, but I felt like I was playing a different class altogether. The play style of destro is so unbelievably different then affliction or demo that it really does feel like you are playing a different class.

If I would have realized this, I would have leveled 78-80 as destro to become more used to the type of playing style it uses. However, if there is one thing good to take from this, it is that the playstyle is very much like a Mage and I been playing a Mage for a very long time.

You are pew pewing just like one and you only have 1 DoT, Immolate, to pay attention to while you are doing your thang. So atleast that is a plus....right?

Feeling Lost

I definitely feel lost when it comes to anything non single target. I have 4 different AoE spells and I am not sure which is the overall best for every situation. I know that one of my AoE spells, Hellfire, would only be used in a situation where I am getting healed. However, what is the best rotation or spell for AoEing?

I have been casting Seed of Corruption on a few mobs, shadowflaming them, and then Rain of Fire. It just doesn't seem do that type of dmg that I think it should be doing. Again, probably due to the fact that my gear blows...but ya...I already went over that.

AoEing isn't the only thing that I felt losted about with this new spec, but it was one of the main things. It is very easy to get overwhelmed when you first ding 80 and you can make a pretty large list of things that you would like to get accomphlished.

I think the best way to overcome this is to just get in there and start practicing. Yes, you are going to suck no matter what at first, but that is also how you learn. When I first started healing with my shaman at 80...people died...lol. I wouldn't say they died alot, but people definitely died due to me not knowing the best spell for the situation or me not paying attention.

You got to keep at and slowly put surely you will get better. Not only that, but it will also get easier for you because you are upgrading your gear.

So if you are feeling lost like me or afraid to start using that off dual spec that you paid 1k gold for, start getting at it! Don't be a ho, be the pimp.

I like that saying by the way...it holds true and so many faciates of life lol.

Professions

Inscription

I chose to give my lock inscription. I only did this so I don't have to go through the horrific process of unlocking and grinding out Son's of Hodir rep. If you didn't know by now, I hate grinding the AH. I do not find it fun at all and when I spend a large amount of time, greater than 15 minutes, I feel that I have wasted my time.

Thus brings me to my point on the few reasons on why I do not like Inscription. You can only vendor the scrolls for 1 silver! The lowest I have seen a glyph go for is about 1g. So I can vendor it for 1 silver or put it on the AH for a bare minimum of 1g? I can't in good faith vendor my scrolls, what a waste that would be. What makes me mad about this is that most of my scrolls take FOREVER to sell due to the flooding of the market and the fact that people only need 1 of something.

Not 2, not 5, not 10. They only need one scroll of the glyph. Which brings me to my next point...

Unlike most professions were you can sell stacks of your product. Inscription wants to be difficult and only allow you to sell one at a time. I mean, people don't want to by multiple scrolls of the same glyph. They just want one to use for themselves and they will be good to go. This would be ok for money if somehow the scroll only lasted few hours or days...but its FOREVER! It makes it very frustrating for a non-goblin type of player like me.

If that wasn't bad enough, I don't even know what my other profession should be...

Currently, its herbalism. That is only because it is what I had when I transferred him. Its pretty low level and I have been too lazy to go back and level it up during my leveling process.

Now I am 80 though. I can't be a noob and have my professions low level. I have some sort of pride...keyword being SOME.

Lets go through the list of possible professions that I can choose from...

  • Blacksmithing - One of the best professions to have for a raider. The bonuses and the two extra sockets you get are an EXCELLENT upgrade. However, it is one of the most expensive to level. Estimates are 3500-4000g to power level.

  • Tailoring - I always liked this profession, but I already have it on my Mage. Not only that but I actually dropped this profession for Inscription on my Lock when she first transferred. So, like any stubborned male, I refuse to admit my mistake and level it again. Moving on!!!

  • Engineering - Estimate power leveling price of 2000g-2500g. Not terrible, but there isn't anything really benefictial to me. I want my second profession to be a great money maker or makes me a better melter of faces. Unfortuntely, Engineering doesn't do either. It is a shame too because I really want a ROFLCHOPPER.

  • Jewelcrafting - Estimated to be around 2500-2800g to power level. A little high, but out of the ones that I have talked about so far, this one might be the best due to super gems you get to equip yourself with. Not to mention JCer's can make some decent gold with their cuts. I already have an Alchemist, so again, this seems like a very good option.

  • Mining - If you want to power level it, it is going to set you back roughly 1400g. However, the good thing about that guide that I just linked, is that it also gives you maps and tells you where to go to level up the profession the farm way. Out of all my toons, I still do not have a miner. It is a sad, sad, thing. Mining will help out my alchemist and my blacksmither. Not to mention make me alot of gold.
So there you have it. Those are my choices. All other professions I already have or don't want to level again, such as enchanting. I could just keep herbalism and level it up from its current level of 250ish. That will be alot less work and it would still help me out with my alchemist and inscriptionist.

Damnit...I have no idea which one to choose, this is going to be tough. If anyone has any suggestions or thoughts on this subject...please comment and help a brother out!

Long post is long...I could probably go on and on about this, but I will end you misery and stop here.

Have a good rest of your weekend and if this is your first time visiting my site, please take a look around. I have alot of posts archieved that you can look up via tags or by date on the right hand side of my blog. Go take a look at it, if you are reading this far into this article, you know you are bored lol....might as well feed the need to be noisy and poke around.

Until next time, I'm WTFout!!!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Patch 3.3 = 1400 new PvE items = WTF

Hola blog lovers!!

The time has finally come my friends, its Turkey week here in the States. I for one can't wait to eat a bunch of stuffing, green beans, turkey, rolls, while drowning it in some gravy, watching football and yelling gobble, gobble, until I pass out from consuming too much alcohol.

It will be epic and it is what being fat American is all about. I do have to work the next day, but that is neither here or there. For this is a WoW blog and just incase you haven't been playing or keeping up with news, a HUGE patch(3.3) is coming out soon.

I have a HUGE, RAGING, clue right now...

When I say huge, I do mean HUGE. There is going to be three new 5 man instances all dropping item level 219 (Normal) and 232 (Heroic) epic loot. That's right, Blizzard is spoiling us with these three brand spanking new instances. I already wrote about this a couple months ago, so go check out that post and then come back...

Pretty dope right? This is history in the making folks. Blizzard has never released more then one new five man instance unless it was an expansion. Not only that, but if you read my post that I just linked, the return of attunements and a pretty decent and lore-filled quest line?

So why am I talking about it again since I already wrote a post about it? Good question and it is because I have obtained this map of what the new 5 man Frozen Halls are going to look like.


So from my understanding and my best guess, the gate to Icecrown is going to open. I am assuming that the X on the map is the entry point to the Frozen Halls. The skulls on the map represent where the three new 5 mans will be located, Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection. I am also willing to bet that this 17 part quest chain (no link, MMO-Champion is blocked at my work =(...) has us killing stuff within the Frozen Halls as well as in the instances. You know its getting close when stuff like this is being released.

Makes me /giggle in anticipating....

I mean /manlylaugh...ya, that sounds better...


I think the patch would be pretty big just those changes, but no. They are also releasing a new raid. Both 10 and 25 man versions will be available and information about it is everywhere. Check out sites like MMO-Champion for loot tables and more spoilers like that. Interesting thing about the release of this new raid is that it is going to be gated. Check out my post a few days ago about my and other bloggers thoughts and overall how it is going to work.

LFG Tool and my thoughts...

One last thing in regards to the 5 mans and raids is the new cross server LFG tool. I am torn currently with this new addition...I can't tell if I am excited for the change or think its going to ruin stuff.

Before I get into how it works, I want to share a few thoughts on it. WoW, is indeed a fantasy world. One of the biggest things that got me addicted to this game is how huge and how much it is really like world. Let me explain further.

You want to do some raiding or some 5 man instances to kill badies and save the world. Cool, go travel or get summoned to the entrance and do your thing. You want to kill some opposing faction in some pvp? No biggie, go or get summoned to the entrance and do your thing.

But wait...

You see, with battlegrounds and arena...no one goes to the entrance anymore. You go to your battlemaster and get thrown into a pool of hundreds of thousands of players wanting to do the same thing. When the game starts there is a great chance that you are in there with few to no one from your own server, then you do your thing.

This takes away from being in a fantasy world and makes it seem like any other multiple game...such as Halo or Counterstrike. Where you just zone in and start killing people. The lore kinda gets lost and again, the feeling that you are in this fantasy world game in character gets lost. It just feels like a video game rather then a video game experience. Its hard to explain in words...hopefully you get what I mean.

Now, with the cross server LFG tool, you will again most likely not be in a group / raid with anyone from your server. Instead of flying to the entrance or getting summoned there, you just click accept and you are ported to a server dedicated for it with people that you have never seen or will ever see again.

It takes away something from the game for me. Yes, I know that you will still get the option to do it how you currently do it now, the LFG channel is not going away and Blizzard isn't forcing you to do it...so I am just going to have to check it out and see what I think about it.

However, I am not going in with a positive attitude. I was a big fan of non-cross server battlegrounds. The environment was thick and filled with a sense of responsibility to your faction. You didn't just want to win, you wanted to kill the SOBs and make them suffer for all the battles you had with them in the past. When cross-server BGs went live...all of that was lost. You just wanted to win, kill people, and get your marks instead of having that heated rivalry between factions and guilds.

I fear that cross-server LFG might do this too, just in a different way.

However...

It is a god send from the leveling and off hour point of view. Lets dive further into it shall we?

Currently, the level max is 80. That is 80 levels that you have to complete before you can get to the content that the majority of your server population runs. I just leveled up a druid and lock. Druid is 60, Lock is damn near 79. I barely found a group for Ramps and Blood Furnace during my outland leveling process. Before that I could only find 1 group for ZF and before that I coudn't find a group for anything besides level 18 WC.

I missed SM, Mara, BRD, Scholo, UBRS, LBRS, ect. All due to the fact that no one runs these anymore. Couple that with my playing time, off hours / low traffic, and no one is even in those instances.

You would think that it got better when I got out to Northrend. I remember on my Mage and my Shaman that there were people running the new 5 man instances all the time. Not anymore. I found a few groups for Nexus that were super fails and the same thing happened with AN. I kept on trying with AN due to having 4 quests in the instance, but I almost leveled out of the instances level range before finding a group.

Cross server LFG will be amazing in the regard that I will now be able to find groups for lower level instances with much more ease then I can currently. So hooray for that, but in regards to level 80 instances...I think I will stick to the old way of doing it by pugging in the LFG channel or running it with friends / guildies.

Ghostcrawler: 1400 new PvE items in Patch 3.3

Yes, that is correct. Ghostcrawler is a mad man, but atleast he has some humorous personality. Here is his post were he talks about all the new items and jokes around about how all items are going to change in the upcoming expansion.

More importantly, there is going to be 1400 new PvE items in this patch. Holy shit batman! I mean, doesn't that seem a little nuts to anyone besides me?

To put it in perspective when 3.1 dropped, there was 800 new PvE items between Ulduar and the begining of the Argent Tourney. Now we are adding 1400 items in this patch alone. I mean, I am not pissed or upset. I am just shocked more then anything. 1400 is alot of loot to look through for all my toons. That is alot of loot to go through to find the "best in slot" gear.

I am excited and overwhelmed at the same time, but thinking more about it. I guess it isn't too crazy. I mean there is going to be three new 5 mans, both with normal and heroic versions. A new raid with 10 and 25 man versions...not to mention heroic versions of both of them. You can't forget the new craftables and all the new loot for the new badge vendor.

Tis going to be crazy in 3.3 mon...WILD.

I think I have excited bored you enough for one day. Don't forget to vote for you favorite race in my poll. There is only a few days left and the Blood Elfs are still in the lead.

Until next time, I'm WTFout!!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

ROFLMAO!

Its Saturday.

On Saturday's I like to post videos.

Sometimes they are about WoW.

Sometimes they are about Muisc.

Sometimes they are about Sports.

No matter what they are about, you can always count on them being random.

So enjoy and have a safe rest of your weekend, CHEERS!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Friday's Food for Thought - Why do you raid?


Ahh yes, Friday.

Let me say that again because it feels so damn good to say it....

Ahhhhhhhhhhh yes. Tis Friday brother and sisters. Hoo Ray

Ok, I feel better now

Alot of information has been released this week about the upcoming patch, 3.3.

I am not going to go into much detail about it due to half of my blogroll has already talk about it and has some great insight in their articles. Larisa, PvD, and I think Clearcasting will have a post up later today about it...so go read them about the how the new raid, ICC (Icecrown Citadel) is going to work with the gated release.

However, I do want to write down and share some of my thoughts before I get into the subject line of this post.

Basically, a blue post stated that the first wing, 4 bosses, will be released and the rest of the instance will not be accessible for "several weeks". Then the second wing will be released, followed by another break. Then the third wing...and so on and so on.

Not to mention, the last boss of each wing will have only 5 attempts a week! Very interesting stuff and as a casual / mid level raider...I dislike the 5 attempts a week. The WoW forums and the blogmosphere is booming with statements about how this is going to kill so many guilds and ruin their personal freedom on how they want approach progression.

What do I think? I agree that it is going to kill alot of guilds. However, I do not think that this "new age" of gated raiding progression is going to be the smoking gun, it is going to be the raid instance itself.

Just like when Ulduar came out and everyone was QQing about how hard that it was before it got nerfed to the ground. Alot of guilds broke up due to it. Alot of people quit playing because of it, ie fellow blogger "Heal'n Hoofs" . It happens with every major patch that has a new raid instance. Guilds that are struggling with the current or old content and fail with the new content usually break up due to raiders leaving for other guilds that can hang in the new content.

So I am not going to blame any guild breakups over gated progression. In fact, I think its rather ignorant of people to assume that.

I know, ignorant people posting on the WoW forums? Unheard of...

/end_sarcasm

Like I stated before, I didn't really want to get into that much detail about it...so I will stop talking about it.

Now to the good stuff

Why do you raid?

Pretty straight forward question. Why do you raid...is it boredom and because there is nothing else to do? Is it for the phat loots and nothing else?

This question is a GREAT question to use for your guild's application if you are a raiding guild. I have used it before when I was an officer of a guild and it really shows you what type of person you are dealing with.

Now, the majority of people raid to continue the process of upgrading and improving their toon, i.e. MOAR EPICz! The whole concept of WoW since you created your toon was upgrading and improving your gear. You might not have made it your number one priority or a priority at all...but don't kid yourself and think that isn't the foundation of the game.

I know plenty of people that play the game just to mess around at the AH or to be social with friends. Hell, I have a guy on my server that is a level 10 paladin and all he does is joke around and (depending on who you ask) annoy the hell out of people or entertaining and make people laugh in trade chat. He is the most well known character on our server....and he is only level 10. He has been level 10 for well over a year as well lol.

Back to my point...I was reading CriticalQQ's post today and he stated that he only raids for a challenge.

Loot is good and all, but he looks at loot as a way to make the encounter less challenging. Tis an interesting point and I know that the way he feels is the minority, but I know there are hundreds of thousands of players like him out there.

So, what about me? What do I raid for?

Well I am glad you ask! I mean, this is my blog and stuff. If you don't care then you can go BE FEET!

You know, kick rocks, gtfo, ect...

right...


Thats right, I made a visual chart. I kinda rock face like that.

I will say this about my chart. It changes every time I go into a place more then once. Let me explain

I have been playing WoW since URBRS was THE ONLY end game raid. Roughly 2004. I have experienced atleast 90% of the content that Blizzard has put out over the 5 years I have been addicted.

When new content comes out, I fiend for it. I do research and find out if it is going to be possible with my casual / mid level raider playstyle. An example of content that I was knew that I wasn't going to be able to experience was level 60 Naxx at level 60.

One of the reasons why I love the WotLK expansion so much is because Blizzard has made it possible for me to experience and see the content. I only have a handful of hard mode raid achievements, but I have almost all of the normal mode raid content down....haven't killed General V or Yogg in Ulduar =(

However, once I have beaten a boss, that fiend that I felt slowly goes away until I never want to step back into the content again...ie level 80 Naxx.

The "Lore / See Content" portion of the chart overall is 30% for me when it comes to new content. At max, it is only 30% of the reason why I raid and that number decreases by 1-5% everytime I go back after it has been cleared or 80%+ cleared.

Loot is always going to be atleast 50% of why I raid. This number goes up 1-5% as the Lore / Content portion decreases. Say what you will...but here at WTF, we KEEP ITZ REAL! I can not help it, its part of the fun for me. If months go by without a single upgrade or just a small side-grade, I get upgradetis and it takes ALOT to motivate me to raid. Add in the fact that it is farmed content and you have a better chance to find a cure for Pteronophobia (Fear of being tickled by feathers).

The challenge and social part are always an important part and without them I wouldn't like raiding. They are essential to my raiding career and if either one ever gets below the 10% threshold...I lose interest and stop raiding the content or stop altogether. However, to me they are the least important when it comes to the big picture.

I want to hear from you!

You don't have to make a fancy pie chart or anything....just break it down into percentages. I for one am very interested in reading your comments so please, if you have something to say...

SAY IT!

Until next time, I'm WTFout!!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Blood Elfs are Winning? WTFmate!?!

I am not a hater, it is not something that I like to do. However, out of the 170ish votes so far on my poll, Blood Elfs are winning. My poor Dwarfs are damn near last place, but I was ok with that because Taurens were winning.

Now the frost tipped, Napoleon Dynamite dancing, Blood Efls have taken the lead...

I am shocked....I really am...


Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Refreshing...

Like the delicious candy "Airheads"

mmm...so delicious...especially the watermelon ones.

Ok, sorry, that was the fat side coming out of me.

This weekend was pretty simple for me. My girlfriend was working all weekend, so I was pretty bored during the day. Without her being there, I didn't feel the urge to do anything productive besides getting a haircut and ended up playing WoW most of the weekend.

I thought you were a MAGE!

I know, my main dps class for the past 2 years has been my pew pew laser beaming Mage. Mages are fun, very direct and simplistic. It is what I love about them. However, all of my alt time...which has pretty much been all of the WoW time minus 6 hours of raiding I do on my Shaman...has been devoted to leveling my Warlock.

/gasp!

I know, this IS coming from an old school Mage. I am suppose to want to kill all Warlocks on sight and them bathe in their tears while making a post on the WoW forums about how lucky I was and that they should be nerfed more.

They want green fire?!? F that! Way too OP!!! /wrist

Well...F that. I never had any hatred towards Warlocks. I take that back, I did hate all Locks during the 4-5 months they were the flavor of the month class back in the day during TBC. It felt like 30-40% of all DPS was fucking Locks.

Anyway...what the hell was I talking about? Ahhh yes, leveling a Warlock.

I did this weekend what the "homies" would call "PUTTING IN WORK SON!!"

I leveled my evil little witch from 67 to 74 and I am truthfully amazed how quickly it is going by. However, I am tired of leveling and I want to get to 80 and melt faces. That sounds bipolar doesn't it?

Eh, that is a whole different post...

Outland - Owned in 3 zones
  • With the 10% more xp from both the shoulders and chest piece, you only have to do 3 zones in the Outlands.

  • That is what I did and I started out in the Outlands at level 58 and left for Northrend at level 68.
  • It is pretty sweet to be honest. I am not a fan of the TBC expansion when it comes to the zones. Some are cool....but mostly it just pisses me off leveling in the Outland. Everything is just weird and out of place to me. A bunch of floating islands with demons, boars, and unflattering / boring environment? LAME.

  • I got the achievement for doing most of the quests in Hellfire...something along the lines of 90 quests. I then moved on to Zangarmarsh and did 45 out of 54 quests....I didn't get the achievement for that one, but it is only because all of the mushrooms freak me out. That and the fact that I hate Naga infested zones. Lets be honest..."Da Marsh", as my Troll brothers like to call it, is full of fucking Nagas. So I got out of there as soon as I dinged 65.

  • Then it was off to my favorite least hated zone in the Outlands, Nagrand. This is the only zone where I don't feel out of place and weirded out in the Outlands. Plus, our favorite mass murder Dwarf is there, Hemet Nesingwary.

  • I completed 60 out of the 87 quests for the achievement in Nagrand. I actually dinged 68 and decided to finish up a chain before making the leap to Northrend.

  • I didn't do ANYTHING else in besides quest in those 3 zones the whole time I was in the Outland. I didn't do the choose your side quest in Shatt. I was only in Shatt to fly off to Hellfire or Nagrand. It was fantastic.
Northrend - I tried, I really tried...

I wanted to, I really wanted to do the Northrend zones that I haven't touched with my other two max level toons. I had never quested in Grizzly Hills or the Fjord. Come to think about it...I have only leveled in Borean, Dragonblight, the Basin, and finish it up with a few quest in Storms Peak.

So like I stated, the plan was to explore and quest in the areas in Northrend I haven't been yet. However, that just isn't happening. Its 80 time...and I want to get 80 asap!

I don't have time to be confused or lost....I need epic gearz ok?!?

I got the achievement for doing 150 quests in Borean and so far I am at 118 out of 130 quests in Dragonblight. I figured I would rock out the last of them in Dragonblight and hopefully be 75. That way I will be able to go straight to Sholazar Basin, but that is highly doubtful. I will probably have to do some quests in Zul Drak or w/e its called.

Who knows though...I might just get a wild hair up my ass and decide to roll into the unknown. Grizzley Hills is 74-75ish I think...

...I'll probably just stick with the plan and try to power my way to 80, I am a lazy loser like that.

I rock, you guys fail...

I been trying to avoid regular 5 man instances like the plague itself. Mostly due to the fact that most people are idiots and REALLY need to L2Play. Plus, I get more exp per hour if I just stick with my questing thing I got going on.

However, what about if I get quests to go into the instance? I used to love these...currently they piss me off and this is because...

Lately...the people that I have ran with are just PURE FAIL.

Got into a Nexus run with very good dps and a twink level 70 DK tank. Yes, a twink level 70 DK tank. You heard me right....this tank had 20k hp and a ton of level 70 epics from everything besides Sunwell.

We killed one boss before the healer accidentally pulls a group and wipes us due to the tank not picking the pulled group up.

The healer and tank say that our dps sucks and leaves.

Got into another Nexus, we can do anything and dont even make it pass the frozen hallway where the mobs are frozen because our healer is fail.

I give up on the Nexus quests...I abandon them.

I then get 4 quests for AN. SOB!!!
  • First run...2 wipes and we haven't even made it to the 1st boss. Tank leaves.
  • Second run...4 wipes and we haven't even made it to the 1st boss. I leave
  • Third time...OMG I have the same healer that was in the first run. I might as well leave now. He did gain a level, and it showed. We barely got through AN....I was happy.
Also...I rocked 1300 dps as a level 73 warlock with a Felguard through the whole run. Everyone else was around 600-700ish. It made me feel so warm and fuzzy inside that I just logged for the day.

The point of this story? None. Oh oh, you can count me out for regular 5 man runs and overall I suggest the same to you. Like I stated earlier, you can get more xp per hour if you just stick with questing. F the nonsense until you can get into some heroics at 80.

mmmmm.....badges....mmmmmm

Until next time, I'm WTFout!!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Winging it

Morning Blog lovers! I checked in this morning to take a look at the Monday morning Warcraft post but alas, it was not there. It's always disappointing when we have to miss out on the magic that is the doctor. I know the guy in real life and still can't get enough of his wisdom. So I guess we will just have to fill the Monday slot with a story of my weekend in the world... of warcraft.

Before I start with the Wow talk I need an opinion. I am a huge fan of hockey. I love the sport. A coworker sent me a picture this morning and I need to know if it is hot. Not that I don't have my own opinion, I just am curious what everyone else thinks.



It's got to be a little cold.


Trial of the Crusader

So I post last weekend that I have no raided since my last guild folded. Between not wanting to find a guild and the lack of desire to raid, I have just missed out.

I log on Sunday morning hoping to continue my quest to do all the Outland heroics. One of the guys I ran with last weekend wasn't on and the other is on an alt mission. So I figured I'd just finish my dailies and go watch some football. As I am logging off I get a message from a former guildie (who I completely love btw). She asks if I mind tanking 10 man TOC. I told her that I had never been before and not taken the time to read up on the fights either (fail!). She tells me that it is no big deal, they will teach me the fights.

After zoning into the instance I get a nice little surprise. Most of the group is made up of former guildies! By this point I am completely stoked. With all the "how have you been" chat going on in vent and the raid chat it gets lost that I don't know the fights. We buff up and the ready check comes up. I get a message from the other tank telling me he is going to be the main tank. Then he asks, "you no the fights, right?". I respond, "nah, I am just going to wing it. You can imagine how well that went over. Luckily at the same time the raid leader gets in vent and calls me out and starts explaining the fights... Either way I could only imagine what the other tank was thinking at this point.

First impressions

I enjoyed the first fight. The main tank made the fight pretty simple for me. Gormok was exactly like Gluth minus the annoying decimate. After that all I had to do was pick up Acidmaw. I was shown before the fight exactly where to stand. I didn't pay much attention to the debuffs because every time one of us got it the other tank ran to me. Right as Acidscale went down Dreadscale destroyed the other tank and a couple dps. There were some concerns on vent that we might not make it but I was able to step up and we downed Dreadscale and Icehowl with no problems.

Jaraxxus was a lot of fun too. I of course was stuck on adds. I for some reason always get stuck with adds. After a quick wipe I got a tell from my friend telling me that I had actually been invited to their "B group" and that's why the dps was so bad. Which actually explained a lot. I told her it was no big deal, that I was glad to get the opportunity to learn the fights.

The next attempt ended very much the same as the first. This time after the main tank went down I was able to pick up the boss with a mistress on me. Next thing I know I have infernos after me. I love nothing more than to go out in a blaze of glory. We actually got him down to 5% this way. After this attempt the other tank had to leave. Once he was replaced I found myself main tank. Jaraxxus didn't stand a chance at this point and was downed the next attempt.

The faction champion section was a different story. I don't even want to tell you how bad that went. Apparently we got a bad combination. With our lack of dps we gave it a few attempts then called it a day.

Overall I had a great time. I think this may motivate me to start raiding again.

The Brood Mother

After my brief trial in TOC I received an invite to Onyxia. I never attempted this raid before. Well actually I two manned it with a buddy of mine a few months ago but that was the wimpy version. Luckily I read the doctors explanation of this the fight and had no problems with the strategy. After arriving I was informed that I was to be the main tank. This of course made my day. I love nothing more than to be the main focus of the group. Of course I didn't tell them that I had never done this before and I was winging it.

After clearing the original trash I got my first look at the Brood mother. I am not going to lie, I was a little intimidated. Luckily I had the calming presence of the tree standing next to me. I don't know if I have mentioned it before but I love Druid healers. After seeing my hots go up I was all pumped up and charged in head first.

It's a pretty simple fight if you're not a moron. It was a ton of fun too. I am just glad to get it out of the way so I can say I've done it.

So it was a pretty eventful day. Almost enough to get me pumped up to do more than dailies. Almost...

Thursday, November 12, 2009

At a standstill

Sometimes having a real person job can have a negative affect on my WOW career.

I have a job that I am required to do quite a bit of traveling. With the economic slow down things have been slow at work for the last six months and I have had a lot more time at home. This has allowed me to get a lot accomplished in the game. I have got to see a lot of content, get a ton of achievement points, level a few alts and even start blogging a bit.

The last few weeks things have picked up a bit and it couldn't have happened in a worse time. I have come to realize that hotels have some of the worst internet connections ever. Most of them if you can connect at all, you get disconnected at regular intervals. This is devastating to my WOW time. I wish that I wasn't so lazy and short on time. I could probably look around and find a local cafe or some place with real wifi that I can sit and play. Since that hasn't been the case I just haven't played while I am out of town.

Fail

On my first post on this blog I mentioned how I was going to try to get all of my seasonal events done before the Doctor. I even let him miss one so that I could laugh at him later. Due to fail internet during my recent trips I was unable to get all of my drops from the Headless Horseman. I had just the last three days of the event to try to scramble and get it done and it just did not happen. That's right... I completely failed!!! I haven't gotten too much lip from the doctor yet but I know it's coming. I have a feeling he is going to wait until he gets every one of them before he gives me a hard time.


What now?

Since my mad dash to get my Halloween achievement I have logged my account only one time. I have just been way too busy and unmotivated. My only log in was this past Sunday. I spent some time with some real life friends doing Outland heroics for fun. I am not usually one to waste time on nonsense but I am a sucker for achievement points.

I keep telling myself I need to get into TOC and Onyxia. Believe it or not I have still not made the attempt to do either. It's not that I don't want to. I have just been too lazy to find a guild and most pugs I see want you to link your achievements. I also need to spend some times with my alts. I started my Druid shortly after the doctor did. After getting a few levels ahead I have let him collect some dust. I need to get on that before he does so I don't have to do any all nighters to stay ahead.

Until I can get motivated to do all of this I guess I am going to continue to mess around here and there and do misc achievements and my regular dailies.

What fun things are you doing? There has to be something out there for people who are too lazy to raid, bored with heroics and short on time to play...

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Tuesday Maintenance Boredom - I have a Disease

I haven't really been updating my blog with "update" posts that much recently. This is kinda strange for me because I do enjoy reading other people's "update" posts. I find it interesting to get a glimpse into what other players actually do with their 15 bucks a month and due to that fact...maybe people like reading about my fun, interesting, hardcore, and fantastic boring WoW career?

You know you want to hear about it! Plus, there is nothing else to do. If you are reading this then there is a very good chance that you are...
  • at work and not able to play
  • at home and not able to play due to the servers being down
  • in the bathroom dropping a deuce and on your iphone, again...not being able to play

That last one I might edit out, because who really does that??
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Don't you lie! WTFspaghetti is a large group of friends. Telling lies, half truths, and keeping secrets, does not lay the foundation that is WTF....

That was odd, lets get back on subject...MOVING ON!

Shaman Tier 10

Yes, this time I am not F'n around with you. Blizzard has finally released something to shut up all the Shamans who been freaking out. It is not complete...but hey...at least its something.

Pretty cool! Also, very un-Shaman like don't you think? I mean it has bones, antlers, and tusks...all that is pretty normal for Shamans. However, it looks evil. It has some sort of demon-like skull with what to appears to be ghosts of antelopes. Maybe the images of these "antelopes" will appear on random, such as the Warlock's tier 5 (I think?). The one were they had wings pop out at random times.

Overall, I am happy. I think the set so far looks great and I for one will not name call Blizzard. I will now also stop crying myself to sleep every night wrecking my mind on what the set could possible look like since every other class has already been completed.

Altism...

Hi, my name is Tek and I have always been an altoholic. I have tried to change and stick with one main character, but every expansion that comes and goes....I seem to have a new main and a new main alt.
Background

In Vanilla WoW, after the 5-6 toons that I leveled to 25-40ish. I got real and made my warrior, Teknine. This was my first toon to hit a max level and my first toon that I ever raided on.

During non-raiding times, I leveled a lock, Chillibean (yes, he was a gnome =P). I got him to level 46 before I rerolled to a different server and to the horde.

When TBC came out my new main, my mage, Lilwhezzy, was 60 for about 3 months. I raided with my mage through Kara and Gruul when it was the only thing going on...it was fun, but at this point...I quit WoW for about 8 months.

When I come back I leveled a Paladin to 70 and raided up to Black Temple. I didn't really mess around with my mage, but I did use him for farming and pvp. This is where I decided I needed another toon...so I leveled a Shaman.

He was 70 about 3 months before WotLK came out. I made him my main, abandoned my Paladin, and made my mage my main alt.

Currently...

In WotLK, I have been really good in regards to my disease. It has almost been a full year and I have keep with the 1 raiding main, 1 max level alt, platform that so many people in WoW do.

However, I fell to the temptation. Back in August, I started leveling a druid. I was having a blast enjoying leveling through the world one more time before everything changes with the new expansion. I hit 60 about 3 weeks ago and all I have to say....

Flight form = OMFGWOOTWITHSUMTANGYBBQSAUCE

Seriously.

Tangy bbq sauce...I know...it was that amazing. All I did for 15 minutes is fly around dropping in and out of flight form. It was way too much fun.

Then it kicked in overgear...

I got a wild hair up my ass and wanted to play a desto lock. I remember back in the day of Vanilla WoW and playing my little gnome, Chillibean....wrecking faces in pvp.

37 killing blows, 70 honorable kills, 18 deaths, 2 flag returns....not terrible for a level 46.

We lost, but I my stats made me smile. 23 killing blows, 8 deaths, 70 honorable kills.

I have about 15 more screenshots of Chillibean melting faces, but you get the point. After looking at these screenshots and remembering how much fun they are...I decided to do the unthinkable.

I performed a race, server, and sex change on Chillibean. I know right? The altoholism always wins out! DAMN YOU!!!

Chillibean is no longer a gnome, he is now an undead. He is also not a he anymore, he has turned into a she. I figured since I already had a male undead, I'll roll with the female for different animations....which I do like.

Also the name Chillibean just didn't fit with a evil female bitch that steals people souls and uses them to hand out cookies for boss encounters in case they get close to death.

Whats the new name? I think this is quite clever really and I can't believe it was still available. "Triplesix" is her new name.

Get it?

Triplesix = 666 = sign of the devil = underground rap group = I'm a genious

Now what?

I have been having a blast leveling the lock. In three weeks, I have leveled from 46 to 67. That is not counting the time that I have been raiding on my Shaman. I have just devoted all my "alt" time to leveling my lock. Hopefully I can get her to 80 just in time for patch 3.3.

That way when I do my heroic farming, I will be getting triumph badges! Sexy thought I know...=P

The only toon I have abandoned is my Paladin. Poor Bonquesha....all she does is sit in my old guild disenchanting all the greens and unwanted gear that my other toons don't want.

She passes the time by /dancing on the mailbox in her red Christmas costume.

I still haven't given up on my Druid, but I can only do what my altoholism dictates.

Who knows, maybe this new expansion I will have another new main and a main alt...

Thanks for reading and until next time, I'm WTFout!

Monday, November 9, 2009

FYI

Being sick sucks.

Its crazy...

My girlfriend got really sick and I took care of her for a few days until she got better. The whole time I thought to myself, it can't be that bad...she can't be in that much pain right?

I mean, the last time I was sick was well over 3 years ago. My immune system is just gangsta like that I guess.

Well, sure as shit I got whatever she had plus nasty cough....it is definitely the flu and it sucks hardcore.

This is why I haven't posted in 5 days. My apologies....<3

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

18 Questions - A Response to a Tag

Morning blog lovers

Last week I got tagged by Ruhtra over at Holy Shock. Nothing spectacular, just a some questions about healing and my thoughts on the subject. So if you don't like reading about Shaman healing, I will still try to add some entertain value to this post and my answers.

Such as this random quote...

When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.

I know, I know, that was distasteful...but don't act like you didn't chuckle a little bit.

I won't tell anyone...me promise

Anyway....onward to the questions!

1. What is the name, class, and spec of your primary healer?

Teknizzle, Shaman, Restoration

2. What is your primary group healing environment? (ie raids, 5 man, PVP)

Raiding. I used to be a 10 man healer solely, but I have since moved on to the 25 mans. At this point, all 5 mans are a joke to heal with everyone over geared for them. I usually ask the tank to take off his pants and tank to make things interesting, but most of the time they think I am joking.

So I mostly dps when I heal 5 mans. Riptide + totems are sufficient most of the time.

3. What is your favorite healing spell for your class and why?

My favorite healing spell is Riptide. I know, its not chain heal...

Ok, you're right...its chain heal. I like seeing lots of numbers and in a 25 man raiding encounter like the Twins Val'kyr fight in ToC....it really makes me giggle uncontrollably. Especially if you been stacking haste like a fat kid stacks pancakes during the early morning special at IHOP.

4. What healing spell do you use least for your class and why?

Well, Shamans don't have a ton in there arsenal, but I would say that I use Healing Wave the least.

Riptide + Lesser Healing Wave isn't as fast as it used to be, but it gives me 30% more chance to crit. A crit gives the person I was healing a 10% less physical dmg buff....so I tend to try and kept that buff up at all times.

I use Healing Wave alot, but it would definitely rank lower then my other spells in terms of use.

5. What do you feel is the biggest strength of your healing class and why?

The buffs we bring and how much we rock face in terms of healing assignments. Raid, single target, free lance...we excel at all of them.

Not to mention all the buffs we give people with our totems. Need more haste Mr. Caster? Sure...here is 3% more haste...nbd.

Need 200 more spell power? I got you. What about more strength/ap? Yeah, thats right...you know the big sexy cow has your back.

6. In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel is the best healing assignment (in general) for you?

That all depends on your healing core and what classes you have. Truthfully, the best healing assignment for me as a Shaman is the melee group (including healing the tanks, but not on tank duty solely) and free lancing.

When I say free lancing I mean just an extra healer doing whatever is needed. I don't dislike straight raid healing or single target healing, but I think the best healing assignment for me is to take care of the melee group while doing my own thing for everyone else.

7. What healing class do you enjoy healing with the most and why?

I don't really have an opinion on this one really. In a 25 man I like to have atleast one good druid and some sort of priest for fort. Other then that I could care less.

All healing classes bring something to the table and if the player is skilled, it should be smooth no matter the combo.

8. What healing class do you least enjoy (hate) healing with and why?

Well, like I just said...I don't have an opinion. As long as the healer is skilled and knows what to do. If I had to pick one I would say Paladins because there are just too many of them who are down right horrible...atleast on my server.

9. What is your worst habit as a healer?

Not paying attention to my own health bar...lol. Sometimes I just get into that mode of looking at health bars and because of my UI setup....usually in 5 mans...I forget about myself lol.

I used to do this all the time when I first started healing 5 mans, but now it rarely happens.

10. What is your biggest peeve in a group environment when healing?

People killing themselves and then blaming the healing core or myself. Look, I will take the blame if something is my fault. However, when people run out of my line of sight or stand in fire for too long and die. Then they talk shit about the healers?!?

I start seeing red and the nerd rage comes out of me. I am not proud of this, but my nerd rage has single handedly destroyed a 25 man pug before. As well as countless 5 mans and a few 10 mans.

You know the kind...everyone is doing good. We are killing shit for over an hour with no wipes. Then we wipe twice on a boss. Some dumbass wants to blame everything on the healing core.

The other healers (aka normal people) just let it slide because they don't want piss anyone off and have them leave the raid....

WELL F THAT!

I will start it off with a sarcastic comment like..."yeah...you healers fail. I can't believe you let all those people that were standing in the fire die...."

That will get it started and depending on how far the guy who originally made the comment takes it, is how far we are going.

It is a bad habit, but F it....I am a healer. Without me you would still be standing in Dalaran with a thumb up your nose waiting for the raid to find a healer.

ok...end rant....NEXT!!!

11. Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other healers for PVE healing?

I do. Given the same gear I think I will be able to hang with anyone given the situation. The Druid 4 piece T9 set bonus is slightly OP and even in the best gear I don't think I could touch 7k HPS in a 25 man.

12. What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a healer?

I know a few Shamans on my server that are excellent healers, so I armory them to see what they are doing. I do research at places like "plus heal" and Elitist Jerks. Healing meters, ect...

13. What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your healing class?

That people think that we are not good single target healers and that we can only be assigned to the raid.

You can say what you will about other Shaman failing at it, but that is because they didn't know how to do it or were geared completely wrong.

14. What do you think is the most difficult thing for new healers of your class to learn?

Urm....

I would have to say learning how to balance your stats and how your stats actually work. Basic theorycrafting.

15. What add-ons or macros (if any) do you use to aid you in healing?

I can not live without clique. Seriously....if I don't have that little addon, you might as well consider me dps, because I have gotten so accustom to it that my hps would DROP dramatically.

18. Do you strive primarily for balance between your healing stats or do you stack some much higher than others? Why?

Mostly a balance. I do have several sets of healing gear that I wear depending on the healing assignment and the situation. Such as a mana regen set, throughput set, raiding healing set, ect.

There was a few more, but I didn't like the questions or I felt like I was repeating myself. If I had to tag someone I would be interested to hear Kry over at Casual Hardcore responses. Only because he has a healer of every class I think....

Until next time, I'm WTFout!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Shaman Teir 10 is Finally Here!!!

Nope

I am sorry for getting you excited and letting you down. I know, that was mean. Here, have a brownie and take 50% off coupon to I.H.O.P. as a token of my apology.

But when I saw this picture here I felt an overall feeling of /sigh


I hope it becomes the most badass out of all of them after keeping us waiting this long. I mean, cmon! We already knew lore, new races, and the destruction of the world as we know was going to happen 2 months before they released the information at blizzcon this year.

Can't we get a glimpse of WTF the shaman tier 10 looks like? Do you think they even started to draw it up yet? My guess is that there first proto-type was fail, so they had to start all over.

Maybe this is a good sign....yes....think positive.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Sunday Update

  • Added new poll. I know that Dwarfs are going to win, but I figured that I would leave it up to the people. Again...Dwarfs ftw...fyi
  • Updated the Shout Out of the Week, Sideshow and Syrana are going to get some love from me. They really run a fantastic blog.
  • I got tagged by Holy Shock. Expect to see my 20 questions about Shaman healing this week.
  • I also tried Aion out for a week and will have an article comparing WoW to Aion. What my thoughts and experiences were about them, ect.
  • Plus, you know that I got a ton of stuff to tell you about what the hell I have been doing in WoW. Pssst...I have come down with a slight case of Altism.
  • My St. Louis Rams are playing in about 8 minutes and this might be the only chance we have to win a game this season. So with that note, I'm WTFout!