**Warning - This one may get a little mushy...I am a girl after all, remember!**
I look back, as Cataclysm draws near, and realize that Wrath has held a lot of happy memories for me. Granted there have been ups and downs...but overall, it's been a very enjoyable ride.
I remember the night I stood in line at midnight to pick up my copy of Wrath. It was my first midnight release and though I kind of felt out of place, the excitement was contagious. The people in their costumes, the excited chatter going on around me...it all played it's part in building up the anticipation. After standing in the cold for 30 minutes, I finally got my hands on my copy and was racing home to install it. Being on the East coast, I was one of the first people on the boat heading to Northrend and one of the first guildies to step foot in the new frozen tundra. It was the beginning of a wonderful journey.
New adventures called for new toons. BC brought about the burnout for me. Constant raiding healing took it's toll and I found it the prefect time to switch mains. Thus was born Kalyina. Matt would tell you it was a very BAD time for me to decide I was ready to switch toons. We had 3 days to level a toon from 12 - 58. It meant many long nights for both of us. Countless run throughs of every dungeon I was able to enter until we were both exhausted. It wasn't until a week AFTER the release of Wrath, that we were actually able to officially experience the frozen tundra of Northrend.
It was the beginning of a new stage in the game but sadly was also the beginning of the end of Last Call. This was the bittersweet part of Wrath for me. Last Call brought Matt and I together. It was a haven of friends and fun. But it was also the stress and pains of being responsible for 100+ people. That stress was the wind that brought about the change. It was what ultimately brought about my break down and the end of my days as the GM to LC.
Wrath was a good time gap filler for Matt and I. It was 8 months after the release of Wrath that we made the move. Or should I say that Matt made the move. We were pretty certain that once we were together full time in real life that our time in WoW would slowly decrease. Oddly enough...this didn't happen. Yes we cut back on our play time since we no longer had to use it as a means to spend time together. However, we still found ourselves deeply involved in the game.
We spent time jumping from one place to another. We never seemed satisfied. This was ultimately the lead up that began my love affair with a Death Knight and the Horde. It was short lived but well played and one of my fondest memories of Wrath.
I had never spent much time Horde side. I hadn't cared much for the races or their zones. But what I was interested in was the story they had to tell. I wasn't disappointed. It was much like finding a new game. New quest chains, new stories and new characters to meet. Sadly, we weren't content to just let things be.
After jumping around from here to there we decided to try our hand at running another guild. Faded Delusions was built from this decision. Now looking back I understand that what I was looking for, what we were looking for, couldn't' be found in simply building a guild. It was the people of LC that we missed, not the guild itself. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't make Faded Delusion be what LC once was.
It took us awhile to realize our mistakes. During this phases I decided it was time for a break. A 3 month break to be exact.
Now I find myself back in the game and amazed with the changes that are occurring around me. We've seen the end of the expansion. I've watched the Lich King fall. And on the wake of that victory I'm watching as our world changes yet again.
I still hold it over Matt's head that I beat him to Northrend. This time around, we'll make the journey together. We'll both be standing in the same line and installing at the same time. We'll be there together when the loading screen plays and our toons start our on a totally new and exciting adventure.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
The End of an Era
It sounds kind of odd to say "we beat the game" since I know it's an MMO and can't really be "beaten". But that's what it feels like.
Matt and I both walked away from ICC last night as Kingslayers. After a lot of ups and downs, we were finally able to watch Arthas fall. The total fight took 12 minutes and 18 seconds. But a lot of practice went into that battle.
Even with the OP boost and class changes, it still wasn't what I would consider a "faceroll". It seemed like we couldn't get the defiles placed right, the valks kept coming almost right on top the defiles, people were DC'ing and locking up. We had arguments and there were fingers pointed when we wiped. We suffered through the stupid bugs left behind with patch 4.0.1; people falling to their death from their flying ghost mounts when trying to accept a rez, zoning into an empty instance, disconnecting for no apparent reason, getting stuck because teleports would randomly stop working. It took more than a couple of wipes to get it right. But we were able to do it and with a 100% guild raid.
I can't begin to express the pride and accomplishment I felt when I watched him fall and heard the vent channel go silent as they all watched the video. Most of the guild had held off on watching it, avoided it in Dalaran, in the hope that they would see it for the first time when we were able to actually kill him.
As I walked away from ICC last night, it hit me that this truly was a bitter sweet ending. It means the end of an expansion for me and the (semi) retirement of a toon.
The List:
1. King Slayer - Kalyina - DONE
2. Exalted Zandlar Tribe - Kalyina
3. ZG Mounts - TIGER DONE
4. 20,000 gold stock pile - DONE
5. Explorer Title - Kalyina - DONE
6. Reins of the Winterspring Forstsaber - Kalyina - DONE
The last thing left for her to do is finish her Zandlar Tribe rep. She's almost there actually. Just a couple thousand points away from exalted. Then that's really it. Will I get that raptor to drop. I see that goal slipping further and further away as each day passes.
But ultimately, I did what I sat out to do. I didn't want to watch another expansion pass by without seeing the end of the content.
I started playing a little ways into the BC era. Most people were already hitting up the end game raids when I got my first toon to 70. I barely knew what a raid was, let alone dreamed of getting into one. Actually, I was pretty scared of raiding. I remember telling the people I met in the game that I didn't want to raid. It sounded too hard. But towards the end of BC when we were running Kara and ZA, I was sad to see Wrath coming because there was so much content I never got to see.
So it is with mixed emotions that Kalyina boasts her Kingslayer title. At least I know when she and Zili are sitting around, relaxing by a fire in the bars of Dalaran with all the other left behind or forgotten toons, she'll have big stories to tell about her amazing adventures.
Matt and I both walked away from ICC last night as Kingslayers. After a lot of ups and downs, we were finally able to watch Arthas fall. The total fight took 12 minutes and 18 seconds. But a lot of practice went into that battle.
Even with the OP boost and class changes, it still wasn't what I would consider a "faceroll". It seemed like we couldn't get the defiles placed right, the valks kept coming almost right on top the defiles, people were DC'ing and locking up. We had arguments and there were fingers pointed when we wiped. We suffered through the stupid bugs left behind with patch 4.0.1; people falling to their death from their flying ghost mounts when trying to accept a rez, zoning into an empty instance, disconnecting for no apparent reason, getting stuck because teleports would randomly stop working. It took more than a couple of wipes to get it right. But we were able to do it and with a 100% guild raid.
I can't begin to express the pride and accomplishment I felt when I watched him fall and heard the vent channel go silent as they all watched the video. Most of the guild had held off on watching it, avoided it in Dalaran, in the hope that they would see it for the first time when we were able to actually kill him.
As I walked away from ICC last night, it hit me that this truly was a bitter sweet ending. It means the end of an expansion for me and the (semi) retirement of a toon.
The List:
1. King Slayer - Kalyina - DONE
2. Exalted Zandlar Tribe - Kalyina
3. ZG Mounts - TIGER DONE
4. 20,000 gold stock pile - DONE
5. Explorer Title - Kalyina - DONE
6. Reins of the Winterspring Forstsaber - Kalyina - DONE
The last thing left for her to do is finish her Zandlar Tribe rep. She's almost there actually. Just a couple thousand points away from exalted. Then that's really it. Will I get that raptor to drop. I see that goal slipping further and further away as each day passes.
But ultimately, I did what I sat out to do. I didn't want to watch another expansion pass by without seeing the end of the content.
I started playing a little ways into the BC era. Most people were already hitting up the end game raids when I got my first toon to 70. I barely knew what a raid was, let alone dreamed of getting into one. Actually, I was pretty scared of raiding. I remember telling the people I met in the game that I didn't want to raid. It sounded too hard. But towards the end of BC when we were running Kara and ZA, I was sad to see Wrath coming because there was so much content I never got to see.
So it is with mixed emotions that Kalyina boasts her Kingslayer title. At least I know when she and Zili are sitting around, relaxing by a fire in the bars of Dalaran with all the other left behind or forgotten toons, she'll have big stories to tell about her amazing adventures.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
I am so OP!
Or at least that is what everyone thinks now that the patch has hit. I guess it's Blizzards way of making people feel like they are awesome at least till Cata hits.
*sigh*
When did a leisure game, that you supposedly play for fun, become such a big competition? Really. It's all about gear scores and dps meters. It's about who you outgear and who you out dps. It's about being better than everyone else.
Even in my own house, of two players. It becomes dangerous if one of us out ranks the other on the WoW Hero's site. Then it becomes a long discussion about how that happened or "is it showing my latest upgrades!". After that discussion, it's a constant grind to get back on top. That apparently somehow makes you a better player than the other person.
What people forget is that it's like comparing apples to oranges. You are your own player. Are you having fun? Do you dedicate as much time as the player you are comparing yourself to? Are you the same class and spec? Most of the time, the answers to these questions is "no".
So you're raiding 10 man content and you're coming up as 4th or 5th on the dps meter. Does it really matter? Does the boss end up dead on the floor at the end of the raid? Is your group complaining at you that they can't kill the boss because of your dps? Probably not? Then I ask again, does it really matter if you're more OP than me?
Well, the next question to ask is are you having more fun being at the top of the dps chart? Does that make you feel better about yourself? Do you have a point to prove because your dps is 400 points higher than the people below you? Yes, you may spend more time working on your gear, reading Tankspot and studying everything you can find to gain those few extra points of DPS. But are you really having more fun that the person who you are comparing yourself to? Most likely not.
Why do I say that? Well because that person you're outranking probably isn't nearly as worried about it as you are. Unless you're making a point to push it in their face and trying to make them feel bad about themselves, they probably see nothing wrong with their DPS or their gear score. They are just there to have fun.
Every player in this game has their own unique play style. There is over 12 million of them now I hear. That's 12 million play styles. Granted a lot of people are similar but everyone should be playing in order to have fun. If comparing and stressing is part of that, count me out.
I'm one of those players that's there to have fun. I play a demonology warlock. That's pretty rare in a raiding environment. I like to raid. But I want to do it my way. As long as that doesn't hold back the progression of my Guild, I'm ok with being me.
Other than being in pain from an accident last night. I enjoyed toying with the new changes. So what if I changed the spirit on my gear to Haste instead of Mastery. That's my choice and I'm ok with it.
I think if more of the players in wow took a step back and agreed to let people be themselves, they would realize they were happier players as well.
*sigh*
When did a leisure game, that you supposedly play for fun, become such a big competition? Really. It's all about gear scores and dps meters. It's about who you outgear and who you out dps. It's about being better than everyone else.
Even in my own house, of two players. It becomes dangerous if one of us out ranks the other on the WoW Hero's site. Then it becomes a long discussion about how that happened or "is it showing my latest upgrades!". After that discussion, it's a constant grind to get back on top. That apparently somehow makes you a better player than the other person.
What people forget is that it's like comparing apples to oranges. You are your own player. Are you having fun? Do you dedicate as much time as the player you are comparing yourself to? Are you the same class and spec? Most of the time, the answers to these questions is "no".
So you're raiding 10 man content and you're coming up as 4th or 5th on the dps meter. Does it really matter? Does the boss end up dead on the floor at the end of the raid? Is your group complaining at you that they can't kill the boss because of your dps? Probably not? Then I ask again, does it really matter if you're more OP than me?
Well, the next question to ask is are you having more fun being at the top of the dps chart? Does that make you feel better about yourself? Do you have a point to prove because your dps is 400 points higher than the people below you? Yes, you may spend more time working on your gear, reading Tankspot and studying everything you can find to gain those few extra points of DPS. But are you really having more fun that the person who you are comparing yourself to? Most likely not.
Why do I say that? Well because that person you're outranking probably isn't nearly as worried about it as you are. Unless you're making a point to push it in their face and trying to make them feel bad about themselves, they probably see nothing wrong with their DPS or their gear score. They are just there to have fun.
Every player in this game has their own unique play style. There is over 12 million of them now I hear. That's 12 million play styles. Granted a lot of people are similar but everyone should be playing in order to have fun. If comparing and stressing is part of that, count me out.
I'm one of those players that's there to have fun. I play a demonology warlock. That's pretty rare in a raiding environment. I like to raid. But I want to do it my way. As long as that doesn't hold back the progression of my Guild, I'm ok with being me.
Other than being in pain from an accident last night. I enjoyed toying with the new changes. So what if I changed the spirit on my gear to Haste instead of Mastery. That's my choice and I'm ok with it.
I think if more of the players in wow took a step back and agreed to let people be themselves, they would realize they were happier players as well.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
So little time...so much WoW
It's been a few days since my last post and a few days since Blizzard announced the release date of Cataclysm.
In that amount of time, I've managed to complete my Winter sabre rep grind, pick up 2 Brewfest mounts and almost complete my Diplomat title.
I've also been thinking a lot about my little hunter. I've been reading some of the changes to hunters in Cata and think I may want to put the needed time in to level her to 80 before the release. She's currently at 72 so that's not a huge grind but it still takes time away from the other things I've wanted to do on my bucket list.
So lets take a look at where I stand now:
1. King Slayer - Kalyina Trying for it again tonight!
2. Exalted Zandlar Tribe - Kalyina
3. ZG Raptor/Tiger - Kalyina Tiger complete
4. Pre-BC Dungeon Master - Kalyina
5. 20,000 gold stock pile (I'm odd I know) Close enough
6. Explorer Title - Kalyina
7. Winter saber Grind - Kalyina Complete
8. Diplomat Title - Kalyina
9. Hunter to 80
I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever get this stuff done, if I keep adding to it. *sigh*
On other news, I may have mentioned that Matt and I have put two of our alts into a separate guild from our mains. Kalyista (my shaman) and Minikyn (Matt's warrior tank) are now members of a Solo Act on Shadow Council.
I've never really been one to take my responsibilities in a guild lightly. To me, being a member of any type of group means I have responsibilities and obligations to those people. It's nothing different in WoW.
Solo Act is a small-ish guild trying to work their way through ICC before the end of Wrath rolls around. We went into this guild before we knew the actual release date for the expansion.
Our first weekend in we were pulled into their ICC group. I think I've posted the results of my adventure into Shaman healing in ICC. Now my thoughts for this post aren't actually on the raid itself but more on my thoughts of the type of people this guild houses.
Last night we ran the weekly raid with them. Nothing major, it was a simple Noth run in Naxx. Pretty easy right. Well, yeah it was. But the attitude of the players during this run just kind of blew my mind.
The main tank for the guild (will call her KJ) is a DK. She's not a "bad" tank by any means but her ego is a little over the top for my tastes. So even though we had two tanks in the party KJ asked Mini to go dps. Ok, no big deal. About two pulls into the wing I realize I'm also solo healing the raid. Again, no big deal. But why? If we have the classes in the raid and the instance is well below all of us in gear level, why are we worried about needing that much dps? Is there a point we are trying to prove here?
KJ had the same type of attitude with ICC last weekend as well. She is God and no one else can touch her. I kept my opinons to myself and didn't mention that she was pretty dang squishy for a DK tank at that level of progression. Just rubbed me the wrong way...you know?
Then there is the Shadow Priest who zones in to Naxx with the question "wow, am I the highest gear score here?" Ok, lets stroke our own egos for awhile. Then he commences to posting the damn dps meter after every piece of trash. Dude, seriously? Like we really care what the dps meter says on a raid that we are way over geared for. I won't go into the fact that he was the highest gear score but still fell 5th on the dps meter.
It just really amazes me that people consider themselves awesome based on their guild score. Gear score does not judge talent. This is simply proven with the Shadow Priests that thought he was the almighty but failed to notice that even though his gear score was higher he couldn't back it up with the talent needed to produce the numbers of some of the other dps.
Needless to say, I'm not sure how long we'll last in this guild. Maybe it's just that being a member of a good guild has spoiled us and sheltered us from these types of idiots.
Now don't get me wrong, the GM for Solo Act is a pretty nice (though young if I had to guess) guy. And there are a couple of nice enough people in that guild. But after being an active part of Whispers and now and officer in our main guild. I've come to realize how important it is to enjoy and respect the people you play with.
In that amount of time, I've managed to complete my Winter sabre rep grind, pick up 2 Brewfest mounts and almost complete my Diplomat title.
I've also been thinking a lot about my little hunter. I've been reading some of the changes to hunters in Cata and think I may want to put the needed time in to level her to 80 before the release. She's currently at 72 so that's not a huge grind but it still takes time away from the other things I've wanted to do on my bucket list.
So lets take a look at where I stand now:
1. King Slayer - Kalyina Trying for it again tonight!
2. Exalted Zandlar Tribe - Kalyina
3. ZG Raptor/Tiger - Kalyina Tiger complete
4. Pre-BC Dungeon Master - Kalyina
5. 20,000 gold stock pile (I'm odd I know) Close enough
6. Explorer Title - Kalyina
7. Winter saber Grind - Kalyina Complete
8. Diplomat Title - Kalyina
9. Hunter to 80
I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever get this stuff done, if I keep adding to it. *sigh*
On other news, I may have mentioned that Matt and I have put two of our alts into a separate guild from our mains. Kalyista (my shaman) and Minikyn (Matt's warrior tank) are now members of a Solo Act on Shadow Council.
I've never really been one to take my responsibilities in a guild lightly. To me, being a member of any type of group means I have responsibilities and obligations to those people. It's nothing different in WoW.
Solo Act is a small-ish guild trying to work their way through ICC before the end of Wrath rolls around. We went into this guild before we knew the actual release date for the expansion.
Our first weekend in we were pulled into their ICC group. I think I've posted the results of my adventure into Shaman healing in ICC. Now my thoughts for this post aren't actually on the raid itself but more on my thoughts of the type of people this guild houses.
Last night we ran the weekly raid with them. Nothing major, it was a simple Noth run in Naxx. Pretty easy right. Well, yeah it was. But the attitude of the players during this run just kind of blew my mind.
The main tank for the guild (will call her KJ) is a DK. She's not a "bad" tank by any means but her ego is a little over the top for my tastes. So even though we had two tanks in the party KJ asked Mini to go dps. Ok, no big deal. About two pulls into the wing I realize I'm also solo healing the raid. Again, no big deal. But why? If we have the classes in the raid and the instance is well below all of us in gear level, why are we worried about needing that much dps? Is there a point we are trying to prove here?
KJ had the same type of attitude with ICC last weekend as well. She is God and no one else can touch her. I kept my opinons to myself and didn't mention that she was pretty dang squishy for a DK tank at that level of progression. Just rubbed me the wrong way...you know?
Then there is the Shadow Priest who zones in to Naxx with the question "wow, am I the highest gear score here?" Ok, lets stroke our own egos for awhile. Then he commences to posting the damn dps meter after every piece of trash. Dude, seriously? Like we really care what the dps meter says on a raid that we are way over geared for. I won't go into the fact that he was the highest gear score but still fell 5th on the dps meter.
It just really amazes me that people consider themselves awesome based on their guild score. Gear score does not judge talent. This is simply proven with the Shadow Priests that thought he was the almighty but failed to notice that even though his gear score was higher he couldn't back it up with the talent needed to produce the numbers of some of the other dps.
Needless to say, I'm not sure how long we'll last in this guild. Maybe it's just that being a member of a good guild has spoiled us and sheltered us from these types of idiots.
Now don't get me wrong, the GM for Solo Act is a pretty nice (though young if I had to guess) guy. And there are a couple of nice enough people in that guild. But after being an active part of Whispers and now and officer in our main guild. I've come to realize how important it is to enjoy and respect the people you play with.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Let the Count Down Begin!
December 7th...we are 63 Days, 8 Hours and 10 minutes away from the release of Cataclysm!
Now I know Blizzard reserves the right to change this day...but they did make the announcement so it officially starts the count down.
Still doubting...you can verify here:
http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/press/pressreleases.html?101004
and here:
http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/
I, for one, am so excited I can't stand it! I've been waiting since Blizzcon last year for this date! Come on December!
Oh, but maybe not...still have a few things to wrap up before the date hits.
We're currently 11/12 into ICC. I hope this doesn't kill our push to finish off Lich King with my lock's guild.
My shaman (yes you heard me right) was able to successfully heal ICC up to Blood Council. I'll be curious to see if her guild keeps chipping away at ICC too.
I know, I hated that shaman. I even remember telling you guys that. But that was before I gave resto a try. I slowly feel in love with that Holy Cow. Has anyone else ever noticed when Tauren do their jesus beam and they get a proc, your toon throws her hands up in the air like she's praising the God? Well, once I figured this out, it became a habit for me to yell "Holy Cow" every time it happened. Now that she's back to being Alliance, I miss that "Holy Cow".
It always seems that expansion time is like starting over for players. We get a chance to relearn the game, to switch toons, try out new things, new guilds, etc.
It took me awhile to decide what I was doing in Cata. But after thinking about it long and hard, I've decided I'm going back where I belong. I'm going back to my first love...healing. Kalyanna is going to be my main again. As much as I love my lock...I've just really missed healing in this expansion.
Anyway, what are you plans for the Cataclysm? Changing mains, rerolling? I'd be curious to see what people are planning to do.
Now I know Blizzard reserves the right to change this day...but they did make the announcement so it officially starts the count down.
Still doubting...you can verify here:
http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/press/pressreleases.html?101004
and here:
http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/
I, for one, am so excited I can't stand it! I've been waiting since Blizzcon last year for this date! Come on December!
Oh, but maybe not...still have a few things to wrap up before the date hits.
We're currently 11/12 into ICC. I hope this doesn't kill our push to finish off Lich King with my lock's guild.
My shaman (yes you heard me right) was able to successfully heal ICC up to Blood Council. I'll be curious to see if her guild keeps chipping away at ICC too.
I know, I hated that shaman. I even remember telling you guys that. But that was before I gave resto a try. I slowly feel in love with that Holy Cow. Has anyone else ever noticed when Tauren do their jesus beam and they get a proc, your toon throws her hands up in the air like she's praising the God? Well, once I figured this out, it became a habit for me to yell "Holy Cow" every time it happened. Now that she's back to being Alliance, I miss that "Holy Cow".
It always seems that expansion time is like starting over for players. We get a chance to relearn the game, to switch toons, try out new things, new guilds, etc.
It took me awhile to decide what I was doing in Cata. But after thinking about it long and hard, I've decided I'm going back where I belong. I'm going back to my first love...healing. Kalyanna is going to be my main again. As much as I love my lock...I've just really missed healing in this expansion.
Anyway, what are you plans for the Cataclysm? Changing mains, rerolling? I'd be curious to see what people are planning to do.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
ICC Updates and Newly Post News
Raiding News:
ICC last night went better than I expected, especially since 2 of our raid members had to drop as soon as we walked in the door. After bringing a couple of back ups we decided to give Putricide a try and if we couldn't down him, we'd just reset.
Well we downed him, on our first try this week. Granted most of the raid had tried him a few times before but we always decided to skip him since he was such a pain. But anyway, that was a guild first.
So, we're now locked to the raid for this week, may as well give Dreamwalker a try. Guess what? We one shot that fight too...another guild first! Oh yeah, we're on a roll! Let's move on.
The gauntlet went smoothly and we're in the courtyard for Syndragosa. First try 8/10 people get phase 1 and 2 down with no problems. We have her health down below 50% when we decide to wipe it, rez our 1 dead healer and 1 dps. The RL discusses phase 3 and we give it a go again, second time doesn't' go so well, we loose 3 or 4 people in her first yank because they got them selves turned around and didn't away from her fast enough. So, wipe it up and try a 3rd time. This time we make into phase 3 and she is at about 28% health when the entire raid gets encased in a tomb of ice. *sigh*
I think we could have made it past her on the next try but one of our healers (a last minute add because of the 2 lost raid members in the beginning) had to go to work.
We've extended the raid lock out again and I feel confident we'll get Syndragosa down next week. Then it's off to visit the Lich King!!
NEWS:
Looks like patch 4.4.0 is up on the back ground down loader. That means we'll all be seeing pre-Cataclysm changes in the next couple of weeks. From my experience, things usually go up on the down loader 2 - 3 weeks before they are released. Then the pre-expansion events are usually up 5 - 6 weeks before the release of the expansion. That all plays very well into MMO-Champs predictions of a November release.
I expect we'll be hearing something from Blizzard in the way of an announcement soon. Or at least I am keeping my fingers crossed. I could totally be wrong, I have been known to be a time or two in the past, so don't quote me on anything. It all my wishful thinking.
BUCKET LIST:
My bucket list doesn't seem so large anymore but it does have somethings on it that seem impossible.
1. King Slayer - Kalyina
2. Exalted Zandlar Tribe - Kalyina
3. ZG Raptor/Tiger - Kalyina
4. Pre-BC Dungeon Master - Kalyina
5. 20,000 gold stock pile (I'm odd I know)
6. Explorer Title - Kalyina
7. Reins of the Winterspring Frostsaber - Kalyina has been gathering her mounts, would love to add this one to her collection.
That's about it for me today. Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow to talk about more interesting things.
Happy Hunting,
~Kaly
ICC last night went better than I expected, especially since 2 of our raid members had to drop as soon as we walked in the door. After bringing a couple of back ups we decided to give Putricide a try and if we couldn't down him, we'd just reset.
Well we downed him, on our first try this week. Granted most of the raid had tried him a few times before but we always decided to skip him since he was such a pain. But anyway, that was a guild first.
So, we're now locked to the raid for this week, may as well give Dreamwalker a try. Guess what? We one shot that fight too...another guild first! Oh yeah, we're on a roll! Let's move on.
The gauntlet went smoothly and we're in the courtyard for Syndragosa. First try 8/10 people get phase 1 and 2 down with no problems. We have her health down below 50% when we decide to wipe it, rez our 1 dead healer and 1 dps. The RL discusses phase 3 and we give it a go again, second time doesn't' go so well, we loose 3 or 4 people in her first yank because they got them selves turned around and didn't away from her fast enough. So, wipe it up and try a 3rd time. This time we make into phase 3 and she is at about 28% health when the entire raid gets encased in a tomb of ice. *sigh*
I think we could have made it past her on the next try but one of our healers (a last minute add because of the 2 lost raid members in the beginning) had to go to work.
We've extended the raid lock out again and I feel confident we'll get Syndragosa down next week. Then it's off to visit the Lich King!!
NEWS:
Looks like patch 4.4.0 is up on the back ground down loader. That means we'll all be seeing pre-Cataclysm changes in the next couple of weeks. From my experience, things usually go up on the down loader 2 - 3 weeks before they are released. Then the pre-expansion events are usually up 5 - 6 weeks before the release of the expansion. That all plays very well into MMO-Champs predictions of a November release.
I expect we'll be hearing something from Blizzard in the way of an announcement soon. Or at least I am keeping my fingers crossed. I could totally be wrong, I have been known to be a time or two in the past, so don't quote me on anything. It all my wishful thinking.
BUCKET LIST:
My bucket list doesn't seem so large anymore but it does have somethings on it that seem impossible.
1. King Slayer - Kalyina
2. Exalted Zandlar Tribe - Kalyina
3. ZG Raptor/Tiger - Kalyina
4. Pre-BC Dungeon Master - Kalyina
5. 20,000 gold stock pile (I'm odd I know)
6. Explorer Title - Kalyina
7. Reins of the Winterspring Frostsaber - Kalyina has been gathering her mounts, would love to add this one to her collection.
That's about it for me today. Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow to talk about more interesting things.
Happy Hunting,
~Kaly
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Could it really be?
I know, I know...I've been gone for AGES!
Well not really gone. As it turned out I have been playing wow. I've been dabbling around in various things here and there and ultimately I've ended up back on the Alliance side of the fence (more or less) for the last few months.
Turns out, I just wasn't happy Horde side and that was probably a huge reason I lost interest in the game. So you may (or may not) be wondering, where I am at now.
My time lately has been divided between my beloved lock, priest and my now RESTO! shammy. Yes, you heard me right that shammy that I so hated, is now resto and I love, love, love her.
The break down:
Kalyina - She's still demo. I can't bring myself to change this. And believe it or not, with our Alliance side guild, she's only 3 bosses away from her King Slayer title.
The entire guild took a raid break for about 6 weeks and we made our first run since then, last week. We decided to extend our raid lock out and tonight we have Dreamwalker, Sendragosa and the Lich King to pick up on. It's one of the only things I wanted before the release of Cata. I wanted my little gnome to have the King Slayer title. So we'll see how that goes.
Kalyanna and Kalyista - Both of them have transferred back to the Alliance side and have been happily gathering emblems here and there for their gear. I have yet to raid past ToC with either of them since I'm mainly focused on ICC with my lock. I would love to get some ICC love for my priest but with the pending release of Cata I doubt that will happen.
Now for the big topic of discussion. I'm assuming everyone has read the MMO-Champs prediction for the release of Cataclysm. For those of you that have not..they are guessing the first week of November!!
Now I'm not one to spread rumors and Blizzard hasn't announced this themselves but if anyone has been following them for long, you'd know they were spot on with the BC release. Not only BC but they have also been right about the patch release dates as well.
What does all this mean? Well, we could all be playing Cataclysm in a little less then 2 months! Even if they are off a little, well that's still pretty damn close!
So it's got me thinking about all the changes. I find these exciting and actually, a little bit sad.
Exciting for the new content and renewed excitement in the game. Excited to see all the new stuff that will come along with the changes they are making.
Sad, well for many reasons really. For the obvious, because of the things that will be going away. ZG for one. I have always loved that raid. As a matter of fact, my DK got exalted with the Zandlar Tribe last night. We've been running ZG on every reset and will continue to, in order to get our fill of a place that will soon be long gone and a chance at giving my tiny gnome a giant raptor mount as well.
Other reasons I'm sad? Well, for out of game reasons. Since my break from WoW I have been doing more of the crafty type things I love to do. I know this will decline for awhile. And then there is all the other things I want to do. Mainly, the Sims 3. I've had the game for awhile and it's sitting on my shelf calling my name.
The world doesn't give me enough to time to do all the things I want/love to do. I know I need to learn to balance it all. I also know that as the excitement of the expansion wears off that will become easier to do. However, it still makes me a little sad.
That bucket list I created awhile back...well we'll talk about that in my next post. I have lots of thought I need to put into that one. Lots of consideration for what's important in the next 6 weeks and what's just not.
Hope everyone is as excited as I am for the upcoming expansion and I hope you all have a wonderful Hump Day!
Well not really gone. As it turned out I have been playing wow. I've been dabbling around in various things here and there and ultimately I've ended up back on the Alliance side of the fence (more or less) for the last few months.
Turns out, I just wasn't happy Horde side and that was probably a huge reason I lost interest in the game. So you may (or may not) be wondering, where I am at now.
My time lately has been divided between my beloved lock, priest and my now RESTO! shammy. Yes, you heard me right that shammy that I so hated, is now resto and I love, love, love her.
The break down:
Kalyina - She's still demo. I can't bring myself to change this. And believe it or not, with our Alliance side guild, she's only 3 bosses away from her King Slayer title.
The entire guild took a raid break for about 6 weeks and we made our first run since then, last week. We decided to extend our raid lock out and tonight we have Dreamwalker, Sendragosa and the Lich King to pick up on. It's one of the only things I wanted before the release of Cata. I wanted my little gnome to have the King Slayer title. So we'll see how that goes.
Kalyanna and Kalyista - Both of them have transferred back to the Alliance side and have been happily gathering emblems here and there for their gear. I have yet to raid past ToC with either of them since I'm mainly focused on ICC with my lock. I would love to get some ICC love for my priest but with the pending release of Cata I doubt that will happen.
Now for the big topic of discussion. I'm assuming everyone has read the MMO-Champs prediction for the release of Cataclysm. For those of you that have not..they are guessing the first week of November!!
Now I'm not one to spread rumors and Blizzard hasn't announced this themselves but if anyone has been following them for long, you'd know they were spot on with the BC release. Not only BC but they have also been right about the patch release dates as well.
What does all this mean? Well, we could all be playing Cataclysm in a little less then 2 months! Even if they are off a little, well that's still pretty damn close!
So it's got me thinking about all the changes. I find these exciting and actually, a little bit sad.
Exciting for the new content and renewed excitement in the game. Excited to see all the new stuff that will come along with the changes they are making.
Sad, well for many reasons really. For the obvious, because of the things that will be going away. ZG for one. I have always loved that raid. As a matter of fact, my DK got exalted with the Zandlar Tribe last night. We've been running ZG on every reset and will continue to, in order to get our fill of a place that will soon be long gone and a chance at giving my tiny gnome a giant raptor mount as well.
Other reasons I'm sad? Well, for out of game reasons. Since my break from WoW I have been doing more of the crafty type things I love to do. I know this will decline for awhile. And then there is all the other things I want to do. Mainly, the Sims 3. I've had the game for awhile and it's sitting on my shelf calling my name.
The world doesn't give me enough to time to do all the things I want/love to do. I know I need to learn to balance it all. I also know that as the excitement of the expansion wears off that will become easier to do. However, it still makes me a little sad.
That bucket list I created awhile back...well we'll talk about that in my next post. I have lots of thought I need to put into that one. Lots of consideration for what's important in the next 6 weeks and what's just not.
Hope everyone is as excited as I am for the upcoming expansion and I hope you all have a wonderful Hump Day!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
*sneeks in quietly*
Soooo, looks like I renewed my WoW account last weekend. :-)
Not sure where the urge came from but I was driving home from work on afternoon and something triggered it. The urge to play again. I held off, didn't renew till the weekend rolled around.
I played some. Nothing major really. Cleaned up inventory, created a real Horde side bank toon since I was using my goblin name holder toon as a bank toon. Moved inventory around, figured out the emblem situation for the BoA gear, did the Noblegarden egg hunt, etc, etc, etc.
It was kind of nice. No pressure, just casually playing around in the game. Had a mailbox full of items that had been pulled out of our guild bank after one of our members account had been hacked. But other then that, really nothing guild wise to do.
Obviously we had lost a member or two in our absence. We expected that. Actually, expected the majority of them to be gone. But it was only a couple.
We did a lot of thinking...about this guild business while we were on sabbatical. I think we have both come to the realization that we can't build full time guild leaders anymore.
We finally sat down and asked ourselves..."why were we trying to build up Faded Delusions?" The sad answer...we were looking for another Last Call. The grim reality of it is, it wasn't the guild we were missing, it wasn't being GMs that we missed, it was the people, the friends, the relationships, the good times we had in the past. All of which was related to Last Call.
That's not something we can get back no matter how hard we try. Those people are long gone, no longer playing or on other servers now. We can't recreate a guild that has long been dead.
Don't get me wrong, the people we met and played with in Faded were a blast. They are all wonderful people. But it will never be the same and we have to accept that.
So, long and painful reality, in a nutshell...we're not going to push for the guild build again. We're not going to throw people out of Faded, we're not even going to quit ourselves. But the guild itself, is what it is. We have to accept that.
Most of the original Faded members are back on their home servers now, playing back on their mains and that's ok with us. Honestly, I spent most of my playing time this past weekend...Alliance side. I played on my lock and some on Tiki (if you remember from previous posts, the baby gnome mage I rolled with Matt's S-Priest on the Oceanic Server about a year ago). So my time was limited Horde side. It will probably continue to be that way.
Matt still prefers Horde. He played a lot on his Horde toons. But as for me...the only reason I'm Horde side at all is for the future Goblin. I've all but lost interest in my DK. I hate the news that was posted a couple days ago about the changes to DK tanking in Cataclysm. Not being able to tank as frost...has turned me totally off to her.
The upside, I have successfully been able to balance WoW with other things for this past week. I don't find the constant draw to play all the time there, not the way it use to be. I can play when I want and turn it off when I don't. I like this.
So for the time being...I'm back! And...happy about it. So looks like I'll be back to blogging some too.
Hopefully, I'll that post up soon about my feelings on the DK and Warlock changing coming during the Cataclysm!
Happy hunting!
Not sure where the urge came from but I was driving home from work on afternoon and something triggered it. The urge to play again. I held off, didn't renew till the weekend rolled around.
I played some. Nothing major really. Cleaned up inventory, created a real Horde side bank toon since I was using my goblin name holder toon as a bank toon. Moved inventory around, figured out the emblem situation for the BoA gear, did the Noblegarden egg hunt, etc, etc, etc.
It was kind of nice. No pressure, just casually playing around in the game. Had a mailbox full of items that had been pulled out of our guild bank after one of our members account had been hacked. But other then that, really nothing guild wise to do.
Obviously we had lost a member or two in our absence. We expected that. Actually, expected the majority of them to be gone. But it was only a couple.
We did a lot of thinking...about this guild business while we were on sabbatical. I think we have both come to the realization that we can't build full time guild leaders anymore.
We finally sat down and asked ourselves..."why were we trying to build up Faded Delusions?" The sad answer...we were looking for another Last Call. The grim reality of it is, it wasn't the guild we were missing, it wasn't being GMs that we missed, it was the people, the friends, the relationships, the good times we had in the past. All of which was related to Last Call.
That's not something we can get back no matter how hard we try. Those people are long gone, no longer playing or on other servers now. We can't recreate a guild that has long been dead.
Don't get me wrong, the people we met and played with in Faded were a blast. They are all wonderful people. But it will never be the same and we have to accept that.
So, long and painful reality, in a nutshell...we're not going to push for the guild build again. We're not going to throw people out of Faded, we're not even going to quit ourselves. But the guild itself, is what it is. We have to accept that.
Most of the original Faded members are back on their home servers now, playing back on their mains and that's ok with us. Honestly, I spent most of my playing time this past weekend...Alliance side. I played on my lock and some on Tiki (if you remember from previous posts, the baby gnome mage I rolled with Matt's S-Priest on the Oceanic Server about a year ago). So my time was limited Horde side. It will probably continue to be that way.
Matt still prefers Horde. He played a lot on his Horde toons. But as for me...the only reason I'm Horde side at all is for the future Goblin. I've all but lost interest in my DK. I hate the news that was posted a couple days ago about the changes to DK tanking in Cataclysm. Not being able to tank as frost...has turned me totally off to her.
The upside, I have successfully been able to balance WoW with other things for this past week. I don't find the constant draw to play all the time there, not the way it use to be. I can play when I want and turn it off when I don't. I like this.
So for the time being...I'm back! And...happy about it. So looks like I'll be back to blogging some too.
Hopefully, I'll that post up soon about my feelings on the DK and Warlock changing coming during the Cataclysm!
Happy hunting!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Hello!!!
It appears, that possibly my burn out isn't just around WoW but around MMO's in particular.
I haven't played WoW for so long I can't remember exactly when I logged in last. I haven't played Allods either. So what have I been doing?
Well, long, long, long time ago, I had an addiction to city building/tycoon types games. Zoo Tycoon, Zeus, Pharaoh, Emperor, Caesar...all of them. I played them non-stop. Any and every tycoon game I could find, I bought it. Some where good...some where just plain bad.
But the general concept was the same. Build over and over again, to make the city functional and pretty. Disaster struck, do it all again. Then I found WoW.
Well I found that I had gotten board with WoW. Three years of playing the same game and nothing more. So I tried Allods. It's a nice game, pretty graphics, fun content...but it's still an MMO. So I stop playing it too. Reload Caesar IV on my computer and start playing it again.
Then one day, I come across a game on line that looks pretty interesting.
Settlers: Rise of an Empire.
Turns out, it's REALLY good. Not your standard Tycoon/City Builder game. There is a lot more to it then that. But the graphics are unbelievable for a city building type game.
You basically are sent on various missions, helping settlers, capturing land, building armies, etc, etc, etc. It has a storyline, that is somewhat compiling. But it's very addicting.
Build up the basics for you city, promote your knight to gain rank to allow you to build more, develop your armies and then it's time to capture objectives.
It's not heavy on the battle side nor heavy on the city building side. It's a comfortable mix of the two. Yes it's a little glitchy at times. Somethings are hard to figure out and it would be great if it had better tutorials. All of this is easily overcome and after a mission map or two, you've gotten the hang of it.
Best of all, it's easy to pick up and easy to put down. So I'm able to do other things as well. Spend time with my family, play some Dokapon Kingdom with Matt and Zack, hang out with friends and just relax. There is no schedule to keep, no raids to remember, etc. Just some relaxing fun times.
Who knows, looks like I'm getting back into scrapbooking again too!
I know the big question now is..."are you ever planning on coming back to WoW?". As of now, my answer is still a resounding YES! I have preperations to make for Cataclysm, toons to prepare. But it will be awhile. I'm enjoying my break. I'm enjoying other games.
Everyone has to break for life every now and then!
Happy Friday!!
I haven't played WoW for so long I can't remember exactly when I logged in last. I haven't played Allods either. So what have I been doing?
Well, long, long, long time ago, I had an addiction to city building/tycoon types games. Zoo Tycoon, Zeus, Pharaoh, Emperor, Caesar...all of them. I played them non-stop. Any and every tycoon game I could find, I bought it. Some where good...some where just plain bad.
But the general concept was the same. Build over and over again, to make the city functional and pretty. Disaster struck, do it all again. Then I found WoW.
Well I found that I had gotten board with WoW. Three years of playing the same game and nothing more. So I tried Allods. It's a nice game, pretty graphics, fun content...but it's still an MMO. So I stop playing it too. Reload Caesar IV on my computer and start playing it again.
Then one day, I come across a game on line that looks pretty interesting.
Settlers: Rise of an Empire.
Turns out, it's REALLY good. Not your standard Tycoon/City Builder game. There is a lot more to it then that. But the graphics are unbelievable for a city building type game.
You basically are sent on various missions, helping settlers, capturing land, building armies, etc, etc, etc. It has a storyline, that is somewhat compiling. But it's very addicting.
Build up the basics for you city, promote your knight to gain rank to allow you to build more, develop your armies and then it's time to capture objectives.
It's not heavy on the battle side nor heavy on the city building side. It's a comfortable mix of the two. Yes it's a little glitchy at times. Somethings are hard to figure out and it would be great if it had better tutorials. All of this is easily overcome and after a mission map or two, you've gotten the hang of it.
Best of all, it's easy to pick up and easy to put down. So I'm able to do other things as well. Spend time with my family, play some Dokapon Kingdom with Matt and Zack, hang out with friends and just relax. There is no schedule to keep, no raids to remember, etc. Just some relaxing fun times.
Who knows, looks like I'm getting back into scrapbooking again too!
I know the big question now is..."are you ever planning on coming back to WoW?". As of now, my answer is still a resounding YES! I have preperations to make for Cataclysm, toons to prepare. But it will be awhile. I'm enjoying my break. I'm enjoying other games.
Everyone has to break for life every now and then!
Happy Friday!!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Second Chance
So, decided this weekend to give Allods a second chance. Not that the game was bad the first time I played it but it was so crowded you couldn't really get a feel for the true game. It was so bad you couldn't get a feel of what the combat was really like because there were no mobs to kill. Just waltz in, pick up your quest items off the ground and walk back out again. The mobs were already dead from the mass of people that came in before you.
This weekend was a little better. Nothing like I would want it be. We were still standing around at times waiting for named mobs to spawn so we could kill them. We didn't have to kill many trash mobs to get to the quest items. But we did actually make it out of the starting zone.
I decided to reroll a healer class. Since it seems I'm never content with a straight DPS class. I opted for the humanish type race since they get a racial ability similar to a WoW priests bubble. It's not as easy to use but it's still helpful. It has a 3 minute cool down and will block ALL damage for 12 seconds. Looks and works more like an OS button.
So far the healer class isn't impressing me. My heals are very very puny. But I keep telling myself to be patient. I'm sure Kalyanna didn't have great heal ability at level 7 either. But the really cool thing? I can wear leather at level 10 and then plate at level 30! Oh yeah!
Interestingly enough, you get thrown out into the real world pretty quickly in this game. Shortly after we dinged level 6, we had finished up all the starting quests and were literally, thrown in pretty little bubbles, out of the zone.
Novogrand was our final destination. It's the major faction city for the League. It reminds me a lot of Stormwind as far as the layout goes. But that's where the similarity stops.
It's broken into districts, one for each race and a trade district. There is one central "Castle" where the king is located. (Note* As a healer, this is also where I picked up my class quest to learn to bubble)
If you ask Eto I'm sure he'd tell you I was just like a kid at Christmas. The sheer size of the city alone was enough to have me running and squealing with chants of "oh, I want to go in there", "LOOK AT THIS" and "Soooo pretty"! I'm sure it was similar to seeing Stormwind or Darnasus for the first time.
First look at professions....they are pretty basic. Alchemist, Blacksmith, Tailor, Leatherworker, Miner, Herbalism and Disassembler. Disassemblers take high quality items (green or better) and break it down into parts that can then be used by Leatherworkers and Tailors.
I haven't picked my professions yet, but it appears you can only pick one. There is a series of quest lines that send you around to visit all the profession trainers and at the end of each you visit the "Grandmaster" of the gathering profession and the creation profession. The last thing they both say to you is something like "Should you choose your path on a gathering/creation profession, come back and see me, I will have many tasks for you to complete." I'll test this tonight and update for sure.
Up to this point, here are my standings on the game:
LIKE:
Zones/Graphics/Locations - The game is beautiful and the more I explore the move I'm captivated.
Music - The music is pretty constant in the game, so if you don't like that, turn it off. But the music is very calming in nature.
Combat System - It's standard MMO as I know it, so easy to follow
DISLIKE:
Controls - Only because they are a little "sticky" at this point. I'm sure after I get use to them and realize what buttons are causing my camera angle and movement controls to jump around, they will be second nature to me.
Raid/Group Frames - It's hard, as a healer to tell who's got aggro and who's health is dropping based on the party frames in group. I hope that eventually I'll be able to easily distinguish who needs healing...or better yet, maybe someone will create a "Healbot" type mod!
Character Creation - Seriously, I would love for a game to give me the ability to really customize how my toon looks so that not everyone I pass looks just like me!
Over population! - More servers soon? I hope!
As always, when I learn more, I'll update more! Happy Monday everyone!
This weekend was a little better. Nothing like I would want it be. We were still standing around at times waiting for named mobs to spawn so we could kill them. We didn't have to kill many trash mobs to get to the quest items. But we did actually make it out of the starting zone.
I decided to reroll a healer class. Since it seems I'm never content with a straight DPS class. I opted for the humanish type race since they get a racial ability similar to a WoW priests bubble. It's not as easy to use but it's still helpful. It has a 3 minute cool down and will block ALL damage for 12 seconds. Looks and works more like an OS button.
So far the healer class isn't impressing me. My heals are very very puny. But I keep telling myself to be patient. I'm sure Kalyanna didn't have great heal ability at level 7 either. But the really cool thing? I can wear leather at level 10 and then plate at level 30! Oh yeah!
Interestingly enough, you get thrown out into the real world pretty quickly in this game. Shortly after we dinged level 6, we had finished up all the starting quests and were literally, thrown in pretty little bubbles, out of the zone.
Novogrand was our final destination. It's the major faction city for the League. It reminds me a lot of Stormwind as far as the layout goes. But that's where the similarity stops.
It's broken into districts, one for each race and a trade district. There is one central "Castle" where the king is located. (Note* As a healer, this is also where I picked up my class quest to learn to bubble)
If you ask Eto I'm sure he'd tell you I was just like a kid at Christmas. The sheer size of the city alone was enough to have me running and squealing with chants of "oh, I want to go in there", "LOOK AT THIS" and "Soooo pretty"! I'm sure it was similar to seeing Stormwind or Darnasus for the first time.
First look at professions....they are pretty basic. Alchemist, Blacksmith, Tailor, Leatherworker, Miner, Herbalism and Disassembler. Disassemblers take high quality items (green or better) and break it down into parts that can then be used by Leatherworkers and Tailors.
I haven't picked my professions yet, but it appears you can only pick one. There is a series of quest lines that send you around to visit all the profession trainers and at the end of each you visit the "Grandmaster" of the gathering profession and the creation profession. The last thing they both say to you is something like "Should you choose your path on a gathering/creation profession, come back and see me, I will have many tasks for you to complete." I'll test this tonight and update for sure.
Up to this point, here are my standings on the game:
LIKE:
Zones/Graphics/Locations - The game is beautiful and the more I explore the move I'm captivated.
Music - The music is pretty constant in the game, so if you don't like that, turn it off. But the music is very calming in nature.
Combat System - It's standard MMO as I know it, so easy to follow
DISLIKE:
Controls - Only because they are a little "sticky" at this point. I'm sure after I get use to them and realize what buttons are causing my camera angle and movement controls to jump around, they will be second nature to me.
Raid/Group Frames - It's hard, as a healer to tell who's got aggro and who's health is dropping based on the party frames in group. I hope that eventually I'll be able to easily distinguish who needs healing...or better yet, maybe someone will create a "Healbot" type mod!
Character Creation - Seriously, I would love for a game to give me the ability to really customize how my toon looks so that not everyone I pass looks just like me!
Over population! - More servers soon? I hope!
As always, when I learn more, I'll update more! Happy Monday everyone!
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