December 7!

Blizzard has officially announced that Azeroth's day of infamy will also be December 7. It's good to finally have a release date. Now we can stop guessing, folks can start arranging to take time off, and there's a definite "finish line" for Wrath of the Lich King.

I've been giving a lot of thought about my goals for Cataclysm. Towards the end of TBC, I decided that I wanted to join a raiding guild and start raiding in Wrath of the Lich King, despite the fact that I had never really enjoyed raiding in the past. That lasted for about 2-3 months after Wrath launched, then I left my raiding guild for a casual guild. While they also raid on occasion, the intensity of the raids has always varied according to guild interest.

Anyways, this time around, I'm going to be true to myself and my playstyle. I'm done with raiding. I'll still happily do 5-mans (but not every night), questing, exploration, reputations, RP, collecting, and crafting. Archaeology is what I'm most looking forward to, and it sounds like it will be right up my alley. I'm still mourning the loss of Path of the Titans, but it's understandable if that concept didn't work out. I have at least 2 alts to level during Cataclysm, and there's a possibility that number might go up to 3. So there will be no shortage of things to do.

I still need to clean out my banks/bank alts, get crafting supplies together and sorted, make bags, and so on. I also think now would be a really good time to clean out my add-ons. There's a good number of add-ons that I likely won't need anymore, so may as well clean those up as well.

I'm working on getting Netherwing reputation on Betsea, 3 years late! I just had never gotten around to doing it before, although admittedly it's much easier now considering that there is zero competition for eggs, ore, and mobs. It's a good mini-goal to get while we're still in waiting mode.

Wild Thing! ... and zombies!

It's a slow, slow time in the WoWiverse right now.

Other than quick log-ins every day or two to check on guildies and see what's going on, there's really not too much to say about WoW at the moment. Oh yeah, there IS this...

Born to be Wild!

Yep, 2 years later, I finally decided that my meager stash of gold could be easily replaced in Cataclysm, so I splurged and bought a bike. I also found a fairly decent set of bike gear, which will be worn anytime I'm out riding the countryside.

I'm excited about flying in the old world, true, but I love this bike so much.

Hmm... what else? The guild is growing with lots more casual players and altoholics. Seriously folks, if you're looking for a good, decent, group of people to play WoW with, and as long as you don't care about raid progression, look no further. GearScore, elitism, and bad attitudes are not allowed here. Unless you're riding a badass bike, in which case you can have a little bad attitude.

Rumor has it that Cataclysm will be out sometime in early December. Well yeah. We're getting down to the wire. It's October now and we haven't yet seen the build-up patches plus BlizzCon is happening later this month, so that rules out October. November is still a bit close as well, considering that it would have to happen in early November due to the Thanksgiving holidays. That leaves early December... unless they push it to early January.

I don't know, right now, I'd be happy for something, anything. As close as December sounds, it also sounds very far away. It's incredibly slow right now. I don't even remember the pre-TBC and pre-Wrath periods being this bad. I'd happily take a zombie event right now. Oh yes, even ZOMBIES.

Speaking of zombies, in my non-Warcraft time I've been playing Minecraft. No, it's not related to WoW. Yes, it is incredibly fun. If you were to mix the Sims, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Dig Dug, and the WoW mining profession together, set it all into a zombie horror survival game, and then put the whole mish-mosh into a world of 8-bit Super Mario Bros. graphics, you'd about have it.

It's currently in Alpha, but you can already order the game at half price, for around $13 US. You'll get free updates and upgrades from that point forward. You can customize your character with player-made skins, and there are a bunch of player-made texture packs that can turn your game into different environments, like an RPG paradise, or an autumn/halloween landscape.

And it's creepy. Really creepy. It messes with your mind. I am a wimp and play in peaceful mode most of the time, because I like to build and I like to be able to sleep at night.

So if you're looking for a good way to pass some time while waiting for Cataclysm, Minecraft might be a good choice! Check out Arkenor's videos if you'd like to see more info on Minecraft.

LotRO F2P - Live Tomorrow!

As of 4am EST this morning, the LotRO servers came down to prepare for the launch to F2P. Most likely they'll be back up sometime tomorrow for the head-start folks. Everyone else will be able to start on September 10th. Even the LotRO website is down for maintenance, presumably to get the F2P shop set up and possibly incorporate some new features.

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine!

I've been playing LotRO for the past week, and it's been enjoyable. Mostly I've been leveling my minstrel a bit and catching up on deeds in the starter areas, North Downs, and Lone-Lands. Yes, I know I'll get Turbine Points for deeds finished after F2P launches, but I wanted to get those out of the way, and as a Founder/Lifer, I'll already be getting a large chunk of Turbine Points tomorrow, which will likely be spent on as much wardrobe space and vault space as I can get.

I also rolled a new Champion alt. Originally my champion was to be a human from Rohan, but the more I thought about it the more I like the idea of an elf Champion (from Lorien). They're a bit more unusual and the elf racial stealth skill should add an interesting element to the class.

Also, for anybody starting LotRO on the 10th: Paislea will be on Landroval, in the Shire, crafting up fresh organic fruits and veggies, cooking up some yummy buff and healing foods for the new folks, and answering questions in the /advice channel. If I have enough leathers I'll also be happy to craft up some light and medium armor sets, although I don't know how much better they'll be than the quest rewards. I hear that there will be other folks on hand in the various starter areas with music, armor, jewelry, food, and other goodies, so we hope to see you there!

Where in the World is... Moxie!?

::waves::

Time for an update!

In the World of Warcraft: The guild that I'm in, Thunderbrew Guard, has had an amazing few months. We celebrated our 4th anniversary on June 19, with shout-outs on WoW.com and the Casual Warcrafting podcast, and had a big blow-out celebration with cuzzin' Grimbooze Thunderbrew in Westfall, a party at the Thunderbrew Distillery in Kharanos, and hosted a nekkid Zul'Gurub run for old-times sake.

We also went on a recruiting bonanza and found some amazing new guildmates. Things are hopping these days in the guild... lots of people online, instance groups going, weekly raid quests being done and even a little light ICC action for kicks and giggles. People are really excited about the upcoming expansion and are getting ready for it... prepping heirloom items, building gold reserves, finishing out reputation grinds, and so on. After 4 years (we are one of the oldest guilds on our server), TBG is better than ever and we're poised for more good times in the future.

Personally, I've not been playing a ton of WoW lately, other than checking in with the guildies and taking care of a few administrative things. I've got a gold supply ready and have finished out most of the reputations that I'm concerned with, so at this point, there's not a whole lot left to do before Cataclysm. Still, I'm excited about the re-taking of Gnomeregan, whenever they decide to release that.

What HAVE I been doing? Working on a couple of real life ventures for one thing... first, a business partnership that my husband and I are working on with a friend, as well as a personal business project for myself. I finally decided to leave the corporate rat race and strike out on my own, giving myself a creative outlet and pursuing a couple of old dreams at the same time.

In the meantime when I've had a chance to game it's mostly been in LotRO. Yes, LotRO again. I moved my elf Rune-Keeper from Gladden to Landroval and re-rolled my hobbit Minstrel and human Champion on Landroval, and have been making progress there. The move from Gladden to Landroval was a postive one: there's a lot more players there, a much stronger roleplay contingent, lots of community-driven events, and a good server economy.

I also found a fantastic guild, Council of the Secret Fire, and have gotten the Rune-Keeper almost to 50, and the Minstrel to 30. My only real priorities there at the moment are leveling, crafting, and making gold... I don't see myself ever touching end-game and actually to this point haven't done any of the instances either. Mostly I like to farm, particularly because of the regional RP chat in the Shire, which is completely fun and relaxing. The server community on Landroval is the absolute best I've seen in any game, bar none.

So that's what I've been into lately! I'm changing the header and the blog slightly... considering that I've been floating a bit between games, it just wasn't practical to have it be devoted to any one particular game. So stay tuned!

I'm Not Dead... Yet

It's been a while since I posted. I was going through some changes in real life so some things fell by the wayside, my gaming routine changed, and so on. But I'm back so let's do some catch up!

First off, I decided to take a hiatus from WoW. At this point, as long as I've played WoW, I know that I can't just quit for good, especially when Cataclysm is looking as amazing as it seems. But this is a great time to take a break from WoW if you need one, so I went back to a game that I've played before: Lord of the Rings Online. Why LotRO? To be honest, it's pretty much the exact opposite of WoW in many aspects. It focuses on the storyline and the game atmosphere, rather than instances and raids (although it does have instances and raids). It has a wonderful, mature, and generally inclusive community. It has player housing and player music, and is incredibly immersive. It is the yin to WoW's yang, so to speak. And I have to say, it's a much better game and I have a much deeper appreciation for it now compared to 2-3 years ago.

Still, as much as I love their game world and immersion... I love the Warcraft world more, and seeing a lot of news regarding Cataclysm in the past week has gotten me completely excited about WoW again. I'm seriously wondering if I'll be playing two games from this point forward, or if I can even maintain that balance. We'll see how that goes.

But for right now I'm back in WoW. The druid hit 80 two days ago, and since then I've been running heroicals for EoTs so that I can get that sexy druid armor. Seriously, I really don't care that much about the stats on the gear... but the druid T9 appeals to my aesthetic. I'll do almost anything for pretty armor. ;)

After that, who knows? I'd like to get the Guardian of Cenarius title on the druid, and I'd like to do Netherwing rep for the druid and the priest. I also still have yet to get the Salty and Chef titles. Leveling an alt is an always appealing possibility, but I'd rather save that for after Cataclysm. I'm already a Loremaster on my Priest. Raiding & PvP is not an option for me. Even with all that, I still need goals! Do you have any goals that you're trying to hit before Cataclysm? Are you still trying to get the Lich King down? Are you saying to heck with it all and taking a break until Cataclysm?

Paddle Boats and Other Musings

Okay, I have to admit that the boat rides that have been added for the Love is in the Air holiday are pretty flipping sweet. They're located in Stormwind, Darnassus, and Undercity, and once I get past the idea of taking a romantic ride down a sludge of toxic goo (in the case of Undercity), I think they really add something to the game. True, I don't think people are going to repeatedly be riding these things all the time, but it does add to the richness of the game world in those cities. It also makes me think about the mini-games we've seen in WoW so far (Frogger anyone?) and I'm wondering if maybe those boats are a test or a pre-cursor to something else they're working on either for Cataclysm or for the Mystery MMO.

I've almost completed Love is in the Air on my main, the dwarf priest. I've started it on my mage, druid, and horde priest, but we'll see if I actually finish everything. That's a lot of grinding to do to get all the Love Charms required... I stopped doing kill-quest dailies long ago so I'm having to re-adjust my strategies. I would love love LOVE to get the pink rocket bot mount on my main. Maybe one day. :)

I transferred my night elf druid over to the Horde and moved her over to my horde server this week. I found that I was really struggling to get through a lot of the quests, since this will be my fourth 80 and I've done the same content so. many. times. Now I have a fresh perspective and it's great to be able to see the content from the other side. I'm working my way towards the Wrathgate and I'm excited to see how that will play out.

There is one problem I'm having though: making the transition from Alliance to Horde, as far as actually BEING Horde. I've gotten so used to seeing the Horde as the "bad guys", that now playing on that side I keep feeling a bit... evil. Granted, the Tauren are about as good of a race as you can get. But questing in the Forsaken quest hubs (Venomspite, I'm looking at you) just feels wrong somehow. I'm sure I'll get over it and eventually I'll look at both sides equally, but in the meantime it feels like wearing your shoes on the wrong feet.

Blue Moon-kin

Good morning starshine! 
The earth says hello!

You twinkle above us, 
We twinkle below!


After taking a break from my Alliance server to try playing a baby orc shaman for a while, I went back to my night elf druid refreshed and rejuvenated. I had been playing her in a kitty spec this entire time, not really trying out the other talent trees at all, because, really, it's just so much fun being a cat! But I was burning out, and it didn't feel like the kitty's damage was scaling very well with her level.

When I came back, I decided to try a different spec... boomkin, moonkin, thunderchicken, whatever you want to call it. To be honest, the only thing really keeping me away from moonkin form before was a dislike of the form itself and the desire to do something other than ranged casting DPS. But after trying it I have to say... it's actually really fun. I don't have Eclipse yet, so I'm still missing out on that mechanic, but I'm digging the DoTs and the Nature/Arcane-based damage. The most difficult part has been trying to find affordable AH greens (seriously people, 75+ gold for a lvl 64 leather casting chestpiece?), but even with a mix of spellpower and attack power gear, her DPS is better than it was in kitty form.
  
I'm having to reconcile myself to the moonkin form though. I know they're not supposed to be "pretty". They're big and lumbering and seem a bit clumsy, although the lore behind them suggests just the opposite. They were actually created by Elune by mixing her most favored bird, the owl, with the fierceness of a bear. These wildkin were the guardians of sacred places (there's a nifty quest from a night elf in Winterspring regarding this) and allies of Cenarius himself. How's that for a higher calling? Of course, some have been corrupted since then, just like anything else in Azeroth.

So right now she's up to 66.5. I'm hoping to get her to 70 by the end of this weekend now, and then onwards to Northrend! After that, I'll be switching back to horde for some rogue action. Muahahaha...

Ze Mood of Luv...

To some, Naxx is an unholy fortress of evil and undeath. To others, it's merely a bump on the road of gear progression. But to some... well... let us say that it is akin to Paris in the springtime...

You have no idea how distracting those two mammalian lovers are during a Patchwerk fight.

Mmmm... Tier gear!

Last night was a good WoW night. We gained a new guildmate, hosted a manhunt (one guildie hides in an undisclosed location, everyone else has to find him and stand exactly on his spot), and then had two guild groups going, one doing retro Molten Core and the other doing chain heroics. I was in the heroic group, and got my first-EVER piece of tier gear, Velen's Handwraps of Conquest. I also manged to get the Bone Golem Scapula as an upgrade to the Titansteel Guardian that I've been carrying around for months. Yay!

I also managed to do a run or two as shadow, finally. Shadow Priest DPS is my favorite playstyle, but it's also had it's ups and downs. In Vanilla WoW, it was the leveling and PvP spec. In TBC, we suddenly became wanted in PvE because of amazing mana battery abilities. Now with the implementation of "Bring the player, not the class" in WotLK and the homogenization of mana replenishment, suddenly shadow priests found themselves in an awkward spot: Not as much DPS as other DPS classes, with very little to make up for that imbalance. We started out okay at the very beginning of WotLK, but our DPS hasn't scaled well at all.

They've started taking steps to fix this problem with 3.3. Haste now affects more of our abilities, and we received several buffs to our damage. Last night was my first chance to try it out. My DPS had shot up an average of 300-500 or so from what I last remember. I wasn't #1, but I wasn't always dead last either, and keep in mind that I'm still almost entirely in heroic-level gear. Right now I'm quite happy with the changes, Shadow priests aren't such a liability anymore but they're also not insanely overpowered. And that makes for a very happy Betsea.