Wednesday, July 30, 2008

12 days

Teurion and VA left the guild last night; they had been a part of Sidhe Devils for 12 days. The guild they went to (Blood for Blood) is one of our allied guilds and, frankly, is a much better fit for Teurion.

This development will change nothing for me, as they both transferred over to Kael'thas to play with me, and not necessarily to be a part of Sidhe Devils. So, in that aspect, there's no big issue with not fitting in at SD. And BBB expressed serious concerns about the fit after the very first instance run that we did with them.

I also think that BBB and Teurion got off on the wrong foot and never did recover from it. They both have their own ideas about how things should be run and are both a little...uh....headstrong about it. Ok, that's just sugar coating it, but, meh... I also think that them both having significant experience as GMs, Raid Leaders, and tanks caused a lot of the friction; kind of like putting two Alpha dogs together in one of the dog's home turf. It wasn't gonna turn out well...

Of course, I see that now, but didn't see it before.../meh again. It doesn't change anything for me - I'll still run with them; in fact I will still prefer to run with them and will pick them over my own guildies. Why? Because I love the way Teurion tanks. I love the military feel to the runs that he coordinates - the killing machine speed runs - the no CC just DPS the heck outta the mobs style - the aggro half the instance and kill the mobs before the healer runs out of mana adrenalin rushes. That's the game I like playing.

And yes, I can deal with CC and can chain trap with the best of them. I can refrain from using Multi-Shot every time the cool down is up. I can play that particular game as well; it's just that I prefer to just provide Massive Quantities of Sustained Ranged DPS (I averaged over 800 for the H. Slave Pens run last night).

So, there you have it. A little guild drama...but not really. I'm not planning on going anywhere.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The Loser Wins!

I took a poll, and the votes said to make those saps pay for the songs!

...but, as far as legal standing, I'm much better off with the donate option. And I'm all about easy!! And less complicated. And lawyer free thanks to Scott's Lawyer Be Gone once a year lawn treatment.

So, if you'd like to help me a bit with buying new tracks to ruin, clicky clicky clicky!

And thank you for your support!

Resolved...for now

So, my wife and I were able to talk out her frustration with me, and things are resolved for now. I have no doubt that we'll go through this same dance again in the future, when I obsess too much about the game and neglect the one I love.

It turns out that we don't have that much in common. I think that through the years, we haven't had to deal with the issue due to child rearing, church activities, and the busy-ness(business?) of life. We've both gravitated toward what we enjoy doing, which are not the same things.

What's the solution? I'm not sure. For a while, we had dancing, but we had to stop taking lessons due to financial reasons. She absolutely refuses to even try WoW (she's not a gamer at all). We are trying to take walks together after dinner. And, of course, I'll need to cut back on my playing during times when she's home and awake. When she's sleeping or away....all bets are off! lol.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Aggro is MINE

Wife aggro that is. Once again, I'll need to cut back on my playing time. Whatever.

(and yes, I deleted the rant before it was published...)

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Friday, July 25, 2008

Oh yeah...

...I probably won't be logging on tonight because....

I'M GOING TO THE TRUCK RACE!!! WOOOOOOOOOOT!!!

ahem....my red neck isn't showing, is it? The NASCAR Craftsman Truck series makes its appearance at O'reilly Raceway Park here in Indianapolis, and I have a ticket to go!

I've been to the Brickyard 400 once (the NASCAR big boys over at the Indy Motor Speedway[IMS]), but there's something I really like about the beatin' and bangin' and wreckin' that the trucks bring to town. Not to mention I like short track racing over the monstrosity that is the IMS.

So, if you're watchin' the race, look for me! I'll be wearing a white shirt and a red Kasey Kahne #9 hat. Go Ron Hornaday!! Wreck that punk Kyle Busch! lol

New song

I released a new song out into the wild today...well, limited distribution, actually. I need to find a home for it so you all can download it and enjoy it. It still cracks me up that some people have Puggin' Kara on their iPods...lol.

This new song is "Aggro is Mine (The Tank Song)" and here are the lyrics sung to "I walk the Line" by Johnny Cash:

I keep a close watch on this threat of mine.
I keep my taunts on cooldown all the time.
I sunder armor, mangle, judge their crime,
Aggro is mine, I hold the line.

I find it very, very easy to get hit
I get the mob's attention, every bit.
I charge into that deep dark scary pit.
Aggro is mine, I hold the line.

I am a tank that serves to protect you
I keep you all from being squishy goo
And you will find that when our time is through.
Aggro is mine, I hold the line.

I have a high repair bill all the time
I find my armor never keeps a shine.
But you will never hear me cry or whine
Aggro is mine, I hold the line.

I keep a close watch on this threat of mine.
I keep my taunts on cooldown all the time.
I sunder armor, mangle, judge their crime,
Aggro is mine, I hold the line.
Aggro is mine, I hold the line.

Heroic Badge Runs

Last night's badge run didn't turn out the way I wanted.

Firstly, VA, our healer, was out for the evening with an allergic reaction; she's feeling better today, but last night she pretty much slept.

Secondly, we only completed one instance instead of the 3 we had plans to slam through.

Thirdly, while we still completed Slave Pens in a little over an hour, there were at least 3 wipes, some of which were preventable.

We had all of the components for a successful run (and we still got our badges, so it was somewhat successful), but we had some trouble getting our stuff together. I chalk it up to some communication issues, some pride issues, and a little bad luck. Meh, it turned out to be a high order PuG instead of the usual crappy PuG.

So, Teurion and I were talking, and we are on the same page (as well as VA) in that we'd like to put together a team that slams down these badge runs. So far, we haven't had a smooth run since he transferred, and I know that it's really bugging Teurion that he hasn't been able to really show how capable he is. I told him not to worry about it; he'll have plenty of time to tank for people.

I may have said this before, but I'm too lazy to look back in my own archives. We like to keep things moving in an instance. As soon as the last mob in a pull dies, we move to get in range of the next pull, sit and drink, and pull as soon as Teurion has enough mana. We don't use any form of CC. As a DPSer, I blast the crap out of the current target and take very little time to go from 0 to Max DPS on every pull. If Teurion has to drink, then I might as well drink along with him! And pulling with half mana is not unheard of when we are on our killing sprees.

Is it exciting? You bet your boots, Granny!
Is it fast? Uh....YEAH!!
Is it fun? I have the most fun in an instance when I am able to open up on the mobs with no fear of getting clobbered. Yes, it is most definitely fun! (As a side note, I love healing on these runs as well! It's more of a "Holy crap, I healed him through that!!" sort of fun)

But these types of runs aren't for everybody (and I am not singling anyone out; don't you dare assume anything!). The fast pace, the huge pulls, and the quick thinking needed sometimes put people off as not enjoyable. I can definitely see where the pressure cooker environment would be too much for some people, and I have no problem with someone saying that it's not for them. We're all different (No two people are not on fire), and we all have different ideas about what is enjoyable in the game (Fran could play linebacker for the Raiders).

And so, as we continue to put together these badge runs, we'll see who likes them, who wants to "CRANK IT UP" with us, and who would rather not. One thing we have to make sure is that the group is on the same page, and like I said, they're not for everybody, but they sure are for somebodies...lol.

(So, hopefully I worded this in such a way to not offend anyone who does not like the pressure of fast Badge Runs. I see it as something different about the game, much like some people like PvP and others can't stand it. One is not a lesser or greater person because of their personal likes/dislikes regarding PvP or badge runs or any other aspect of the game, and I hope that is the attitude that I have conveyed. /disclaimer off)

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The one where Rysteranch brags

So, last night, Teurion, VA (Teurion's Healy wife), and Rysteranch took on regular Shattered Halls. We asked in GChat and our ally channels if anyone wanted to do the Heroic, but nobody was interested. We then asked if anyone was interested in the regular, but got the same response.

So, we were about to PuG two DPS, when I suggested we try to three man it. They were up for it (and we all hate PuGs....), so we proceeded to take pulls....and pull......and pull.....before we knew it, we were at the door to the first boss. Unfortunately, we couldn't open the door, so we had to go through the slimes.

And we had our first scary moment as Teurion gathered up the mobs, and I DPS'd like mad! Teurion got pretty low on health, but VA did a great job of keeping him up, and I ...uh.....DPS'd like mad!

The first boss was pretty easy; we all knew to move out of the circles so none of us took very much collateral damage. After that, we got quite a bit of confidence that we could actually trio the instance!

The gauntlet was somewhat of a joke, the two headed ogre guy hit like a kitten, and the assassins were easily exposed by Flare and a low level Consecrate. Then suddenly, we were at the last boss, who we dispatched fairly easily despite having him kill VA when he was at 12% or so. Even at that, Teurion didn't have to use his Lay on Hands, although I think he popped his Lucky Pocketwatch.

We only had one other scary moment when we took a pull of the fighting guys, you know, the ones you pull when they're at 50%. And not only did the pull land late and they healed back up to 75% or so, but also, we got 3 adds from somewhere.

Eight....mobs......Holy Crap! I managed to trap one of the adds, and we BURNED THEM DOWN!!! It was pretty exciting, and once again, VA did an excellent job keeping Teurion healed!

So, VA got her rep for her Head Glyph. Rysteranch only needs 13000 more rep for his Nethercobra Armor Kit recipe....OUCH! And we three manned a level 70 instance.

Pretty productive night!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Fishing quest - PWNED!

Sure, last night, we put a pox on Ulda...ho hum. I think we sharded all the blues and only got one upgrade someone's gear. No wipes and only one hairy moment where I accidentally aggroed a group after Harisan had already gathered up a bunch...whoops. But we lived, and I didn't learn any lessons...lol.

After the instance, though, we had set up to do the fishing quest together. At each of the different locations, we ended up spending about 10 minutes waiting for someone to catch their stinkin' fish. In Swamp of Sorrows, that someone was me, and I know that Madja and Wara each got a turn at being the hold up. The crappy (haha, get it?) part of it was that my fish weren't getting away, so lures had no effect on the drop rate. meh, oh well.

We're looking ahead to ZF now and have gathered up the quests for at least the first half of the instance. It stinks that the mallet is not easily attainable for level 41 toons, so I think we'll be making at least two trips in there with maybe a trip to Mara in between.

And, that said, we're still looking for a challenge. The problem is that if the mobs are too far above our level, the resists are too much, and if the mobs are our level, we just devastate them. I realize that these beginning instances won't have the more complex/interesting pulls, so I need to be patient. I'm sure we'll find a challenge out there, even if it's Ramparts.....

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Epic hats

Over the weekend, both of my hunters got some epic hats. Daxe gathered all of the mats for Dwarfvader to craft his epic engineering goggles, which he can put on next level (62); and Rysteranch got his last few badges for the Warpstalker Helm, which is all gemmed and glyphed and ready for use.

In other news, it took 40 primal manas, but Daxie finally got her jewelcrafting up to 375 and picked up several of the Isle of QD recipes. It will be pretty easy to max out this skill at 380 (Draenai, FTW) due to cutting several of the epic gem recipes from the Isle.

Daxynn is level 31 now and has a shiny FREE mount. She's been duoing Gnomer with her healer, Healifeelie. We never did make it all the way to the last boss, but took down all of the other bosses with just the two of us. I'm getting a good idea of what Pally tankin' is all about and really enjoying it.

And lastly, Teurion (formerly Turion) the Pally Tank hit the ground running on Friday as he, his healing wife, me, BBB and his stabby stabby wife went to HMech. We were not all on the same page. See, Teurion, his wife, and I were thinking speed run, but we didn't communicate that to BBB and Cassie. So at the end of the run, there were some very concerned whispers regarding what went on, some mis perceptions, and how the new folks were going to fit in.

In the end, Teurion and BBB ended up talking it out, and hopefully, everything is resolved. I, for one, enjoyed the heck out of the run. It was relatively quick, just a few wipes, and 4 badges. What more could I ask for? Oh, yeah, and I got to blast the crap out of everything!

So, in the future, I'm sure we'll do a lot more of these "seek and destroy" type Badge assaults, but we'll have to make sure that the other two DPSers that we bring along are on the same page.

Oh, and tonight....is POXING!!!1

Friday, July 18, 2008

Doh!

I just realized that it has been a while since I wrote a meaningful post....and that's not about to change.

BUT, there has been some news....Teurion (formerly Turion) the Pally Tank and his wife are officially moved over to Kael'thas and have been initiated into Sidhe Devils! If you are with The Iron Ring over on Baelgun and reading this as news...uh, sorry.

So today (and tonight hopefully) we're goin' badge farmin'! HMech right after work and then maybe after dinner - Bot and the daily. Rysteranch is gonna get some GEAR!!! Yes!!

Oh, yeah, and DV dinged 61 last night. He's looking at accumulating some rest xp as the end game content will probably push him to the back burner...poor dear....

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The Real Deal


Here is a nice pic of me and the Mrs.....Hummina hummina!!

Ding

Yep, I went ahead and leveled DV to 60. I did it mostly by leveling my cooking and grinding on Shattered Hand mobs for Honor Hold rep. Now, I wouldn't mind running Shattered Halls over and over again at 70 to grind out the rep to Exalted, but since I'm really in no hurry to go anywhere, I figured I'd get the most out of killing for rep before starting the questing process.

...But I did cheat a bit. I picked up the "Through the Dark Portal" quest line and took it all the way to Trollbane. That was about 850 rep. The reason I did that was I didn't know if that would still give rep at Friendly; yes, I suppose I could have looked it up.....meh.

So, I have 110 more Shattered Hand dudes to kill before I can start on the Honor Hold quests; luckily, Shrinnpoof the Mage has been helping me out as my bodyguard and all around badass! Big Ole Fireball + Concussive Shot FTW!!

Anyways, after dinging 60, I became eligible for CE rep turn ins for unidentified plant parts, of which I had 221. Our Guild bank had quite a bit more, so I put in a request for 139 of them so I can ding Honored with those guys. Now that is really worth doing as my Glyph of Ferocity will be attainable much sooner.

Also, at 60, the Survival spec really starts to shine. My trap cooldown is 24 seconds and my traps last for 26 seconds. So, if the trap doesn't break early, then I can keep a mob on ice all....day.....long! And even if it does break early, I have Readiness, Concussive shot, and can kite fairly well.

And, so, I think the BG's will have to wait a bit. Or maybe not, we'll see. Since I've gotten over dying, maybe I won't put it off....

Monday, July 14, 2008

Totals

I did a little PvP on Sunday to add to my totals and ended up with:

Honor: ~4850
Kills: >700
Loot: Alliance "fear break" trinket (2805 honor)
WSG Battles: ~27
WSG Wins: 2
AB Battles: 2
AB Wins: 0
PvP gear hitpoints: 5000

If I started the battle at the beginning, then I usually placed #1 or #2 in at least one of the Honor Kills/Killing Blows/Damage Done categories. I always left on Offense and usually went to the hot spots. If there was fighting going on, I tried to be there for it.

I did try to slow/stun/kill flag carriers as I ran across them, but for the most part, my self appointed role was to kill or hinder the Horde forces as much as I could. After a number of battles, I found that I had made a name for myself and started getting targeted much more...lol.

My PvP spec included Scattershot, which is essential for me doing well. Can you PvP as a Hunter without it? Sure. Would I want to? Not on your life! That thing is irreplaceable in WSG, in my opinion.

'lock just about to pop fear? Scattershot
Rogue got you stunlocked? Trinket + Scattershot
Flag Carrier spotted? Scattershot
Kiting that warrior? Mix in Scattershot

I always tried to stay at range, so strafing and kiting were the order of the day. I rarely got the chance to stand still and pewpew. I tried to use Viper Sting (mana drain) more and more, but found myself automatically hitting Serpent Sting (health drain). I soon found out that not only are manaless Pallies = dead Pallies, but also, manaless AnyClass = dead AnyClass. Of course, I also felt that if I died and still had mana, then I just didn't do enough.

And a little more preening: To the Troll warrior that I kited and killed 2 times in a row.....don't stop to try to kill my pet. I was able to do the same thing to this poor lad right in front of the Horde base around the big tree. I got going in a strafing circle around the tree, sic'd PuddyTat on him and used CC shot, Scattershot, Serpent Sting, and Arcane Shot to kill him. When it looked like he wasn't going to reach me, he stopped to kill PuddyTat; unfortunately, I have this little spell called Mend Pet....After the second time, I went off to join another battle and found that this guy was gunning for me the rest of the battle. He still couldn't kill me alone, but several times, he had some friends along, and I went down.

And a little humble pie: There was one particular BE Rogue that was awesome! I killed her one or two times because I caught her at range and was able to kite her, but if she got close to me (and my trinket was on C/D), I was toast! I got the Webster's version of stunlocked. And, of course, I couldn't leave her alone, so I was gunning for her every time I saw her...lol, who says PvP doesn't have an aggro table....

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Another screenie for you


Here's one of my better battles.

Reality



Much to my delight, my PvP skills from a year ago are still intact! Last night, I logged my first real Warsong Gulch game in over a year, and I did very well! It took 12 games for me to win my first match, but I've accumulated over 2200 honor so far. My Alliance trinket is not that far away for a level 59.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

PvP part two

OK, you guys need to school this noob. I can't for the life of me find the brackets break down. I know that in general, the groups are x0-x9, but is that the same for level 60? Do 70's get a bracket of their own?

I really can't believe I'm considering doing PvP....cats and dogs living together....

PvP

Anyone who knows me is very cognizant of the fact that I hate PvP. A long time ago, and a whole server and faction away, Rysteranch the Troll was a Warsong Gulch junkie. I spent nearly a month grinding out honor and tokens for the level 49 welfare epics.

My spec really had no focus (mostly MM), I had no guidance on playing my class, and I did a fair amount of dying.

However...I did learn, if not about specs, about WSG PvP. I was also good enough to top the damage done, honor kills, and killing blows totals on one occasion.

And now, with DV's survival spec, I was wondering just how I would do in a BG. I'd have to get in there at 59 so that I'm not totally blown away by people with godlike resilience. I'd also have to significantly up my stamina, at least at the beginning, until I figured things out. Hmmm, need to research some specs......

.....and seriously get over dying....

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Back

Yes, last week, I was on vacation, so no blog posts...well, very little blog posts. And where did I vacation? Azeroth! My wife was away visiting her friend (having girl time...ew), one son was in Oklahoma visiting relatives, and the other was in YMCA day camp. Woot for free time!

I'm still debating on how to update you all on the progress of my toons, because I know you are so very interested. For now, I'll just give you the highlights.

Dwarfvader is 55, respec'd Survival, and is LOVING Wyvern Sting.

Rysteranch dinged Exalted with CE and Sha'tar, ran Steamvaults a billion times, and still has no Beast Lord shoulders.

Daxie went to Kara, tried to tank Maiden, wiped the raid, and generally irritated BBB. Good Job.

Daxe dinged Exalted with SSO...hohum.

Daxynn teamed with Healifeelie (and sometimes Wulfi) to take down SFK and part of BFD. Three man FTW!

There ya go. Now that THAT is written down, I don't have to bore you with more details. Let's see, survival specs...survival specs.....ah there we go.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Purple Power!!


Ah, 40! I didn't get the necessary rep from the Trolls, so I settled for the KFC Blackened Chicken.