Bleah

The Axis and Allies night was a snore fest. I got a total of one turn before I had to leave....4 hours and I get one turn. And at that, I had no idea of what I was doing!

I've come to the conclusion that I don't like that game either, Jay.

On the WoW front, I have to give a shout out to Joe, who singlehandedly provided the mats to get Daxie's jewelcrafting from 383 to 421, by cutting some gems and making rings for him to DE. Yay on her and THANKS JOE!!

Today, after work, I'm hoping to get back into the Heroic After Work Before Dinner pattern with Teurion. It'd be nice to start doing that again, M-F, to build up badges and have a shot at some nicer gear.

Speaking of gear, I've compiled another list of Heroic dungeon drops; I just need to put it in a post format and add some links. And, no, this is not the aforementioned project.

80....and nothing changes

Sorry, I couldn't help but reference a former post.

DV hit the big Eight-Oh last night on the last quest turn in of the night. Yay on him! I'm not sure what I'm going to do now (level engineering...run Heroics...level Smoochie, my Herbalist...level Daxie), but I've plenty to choose from. Oh, and grinding rep with dailies too....

But tonight is Axis and Allies over at a friend's house, so no WoW!

Don't Panic

Sometimes I get all wrapped up around the axle due to knowing something about WoW, but not knowing everything about the subject.

The case in point is the Oracle and Frenzyheart factions in Sholazar Basin. I knew I wanted to ally myself with the Oracles, and I assumed that it would be similar to choosing between Aldorks and Scrybabies in Shat. Wrong.

It turns out that you end up doing quests for both factions before choosing your allegiance. You start off doing quests (and earning rep) with the Frenzyheart Puppydogfaces; eventually, you get to a point where you save an Oracle Bigtongue and the Frenzyheart disown you. Whoops.

THEN, you do Oracle quests for a while (that's the point I'm at) and from what I've read, you finally get a quest where you have to choose which faction you'll kill (thereby allying yourself with the other faction). And, the quest is a daily, so you can switch factions at will (well, almost).

So, don't panic when you start down the Frenzyheart road; this is how the path was designed. Just go with the flow, enjoy the XP gains, and relax. You'll get to choose one eventually.

Hunter Rep Rewards

So, until I can figure out how to have two sidebars, I'll make this post and hope to convert it to a sidebar in the near future. This list does not include any craftable or Heroics gear, just Rep rewards.

Argent Crusade
Exalted
- Boots of the Neverending Path
- Polished Regimental Hauberk

Revered
- Zombie Sweeper Shotgun

Honored
- Cloak of Holy Extermination

Knights of the Ebon Blade
Revered
- Arcanum of Torment
- Spaulders of the Black Arrow

Sons of Hodir
Exalted
- Greater Inscription of the Axe

Kirin Tor
Revered
- Mind-Expanding Leggings

Honored
- Spaulders of Grounded Lightning

Wyrmrest Accord
Exalted
- Dragonfriend Bracers

Honored
- Fang of Truth

Oracles
Revered
- Toothslice Helm

Inflexible

I've always been behind the power curve - be it World of Warcraft or just life in general, so it's no surprise that I'm lagging in finding out that Blogger is not very flexible in new formats. I was looking to have two side bars and the main column for my posts, but it appears that I can't get that.

Well, now wait a minute! I just checked Two and a half Orcs, and THEY have three columns with Blogger...hmmm...hey Dammy or Wulfa, how'd you do that??

Where'd that week go?

I just realized that I hadn't posted in almost a week! Sorry 'bout that.

DV is on the cusp of 80; hopefully tonight, I'll fill up the remaining 13 bubbles to get him there. I'm so glad that I invested in epic flight and made my Turbocharged ROFLcopter.

Over my glorious 4 day weekend (thanks, President Bush!!), I also maxed out Herbalism and Mining. I got over the 400 hump of Inscription, bumped Engineering up to 425 (only 15 more points to my new goggles), worked a bit on Tailoring (3 more points to the new bags!), and did a little Jewelcrafting.

I'm working on a list of Hunter Rep rewards that I can start working on. It'll also serve me well as a guide for my other Hunters. Hopefully, I'll get that list posted - complete with Armory links and all!

I also have a new project.....more on that later!

An Inscription Pain

Daxe is at 397 Inscription, and his only orange recipe is the Northrend research that has a 20 hour cooldown on it. He has no yellow recipes and just a couple of green ones. AND, the next recipes aren't available until 400.

/sigh.

Adding to that situation is my own impatience in spending 80 gold on the regular WotLK ink and then finding out that the research costs the "special" Snowfall ink, which, on my server, is nowhere to be found on the AH. So, I have to make my own......and get the regular pigments while hoping for the specials. But I JUST BOUGHT A BUNCH OF THAT!!!!!1 Yeah, impatience is a bad thing.

So, now, I'm milling herbs and building up a huge supply of Ink of the Sea (I think that's the one - the WotLK one). I'll just hope that once I get to 400, I can start using it up for skill points.

On the bright side, Smoochie has been getting some sunshine to go pick flowers....

An Army of Alts

So, why have an alt?

For many people, alts provide enjoyment of a different type than their main. Perhaps they get the joy of DPSing rather than their regular job of tanking. Maybe they get the thrill of having nasty monsters beating on them instead of avoiding the beating. The same could be said for ranged vs. melee DPS alts, spell vs. physical (yeah, that's a weak one), squishy vs. armored. All of these issues are great reasons to start and play an alt.

Another motive to start an alt is more mundane - a bank toon. Early on in my WoW experience, I found that being able to consolidate all of my Auction House listings on one character was very valuable. Some people like keeping their alts' finances separate, so this becomes trickier; I am not one of those people, so all my money is in one big pot. This is not to say that my bank toon keeps all of my money; it's just that I feel free to take from one toon in order to finance activities on another.

Bank toons often become the defacto storage facilities as well and even are known to be in a guild of one in order to have even more storage at their fingertips. My bank toon is in such a guild, and yeah, it gets sort of lonely. As an aside, my bank toons have always been paladins - they have great....wait for it.....judgments.

Now, you might say, "But Rusty, (yes, my real name for the first time on the blog), you aren't looking for a different experience with 4 hunters! Why, I know you, and those hunters aren't even spec'd different!!"

True dat.

Of course, everyone who reads this blog knows that I want all of the professions covered so that I can try to take out one of the M's in the MMORPG that is World of Warcraft. Massive Online Role Playing Game is just fine by me.

So, to some end, I'm going to try to start beginning to somewhat communicate and chronicle (ENOUGH HESITATION ALREADY!!) some of the benefits, trials, tribulations, irritations, niceties, ravings, musings, rantings, and jello of alts. Of course, with the mere mention of jello, I'll gain scores of hits from people doing searches with nuts and jello in them. ....creeps...

That, or maybe I'll start posting my extreme right wing views. /shrug.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

It's single digits here in the wilds of Indiana; almost makes it feel like being back home in Alaska.

...almost....

Today is my oldest son's birthday - he's 19. I gratted him on the ding and asked what he was going to do in his twink year. He said he'd be hittin' up the BG's pretty hard...lol. I do know that we'll be going to PF Chang's to celebrate. Mmmmmmmm.....Chinese Bistro!

I did quite a bit of leveling over the weekend - DV and Daxie are both 75, and Nitro is up to 69. I worked a bit on engineering, leatherworking, inscription, blacksmithing, and enchanting. Finally, all of my primary professions are above 375 on all my toons.

Ah, work calls, so I'll have to cut this short. Laters!

Tagged

Joe over at Ramblings of a Learner tagged me. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do, but I think the assignment is to look up who were some of my first commentatorites and thank them (as well as tag them if they haven't already been tagged).

Well, surprise, surprise, TJ was the very first person to come out of the shadows and reveal the sad state of their choices of blogs to read. I mean, really, you guys must have better blogs to read than this one!

But, there's no accounting for some people's taste, so THANKS TJ and consider yourself tagged. I have comments on an earlier post from Rats Hag, but it was one hour later than TJ's. So close, yet sooooo far!

I also want to take the time to thank everyone who stops by to read my musings. I've been very busy at work as of late and haven't had the time to provide the quality posts that have never been a part of this blog. That or some other lame excuse - maybe you guys can make some up for me.

Done!...well...almost

So, yay on Nitrodax, who dinged 68 and is headed for Coldlands. I went ahead and pushed through the last of the level without the benefit of rest XP and expect that levels 68 and 69 will go even quicker with the larger quest XP rewards available in Northrend.

I've decided to hold off on getting her flying due to the fact that 1) She doesn't have any gathering skills and 2) She can't fly in Coldlands until, what 76? 77? Either way, a level that is a bit farther down the road.

Since Teurion has da burn to level, Daxie will probably be my first level capped toon. But, now that I'm done with Outlands, I will be concentrating more on my other hunters.

Recent Dings

Daxie at 74

Nitrodax at 66

That is all for now. Ok, well, maybe not.

I really need to add more diverse content, but I've been lacking the time at work. I'll get to cognizating on that.

Synergy

Teurion and Daxie haz it.

Daxie hit 73 and is about three bubbles shy of 74. Teurion is still trying to figure out what he's going to do as far as where to stop leveling and switch to leveling VA, but it really doesn't matter to me, I'll tag along either way he goes.

If Teurion, then Daxie.
Else if VA, then Daxe.
Else
Switch How do I feel:
Case "I feel like Ryst": Rysteranch;
Case "I feel like DV": Dwarfvader;
Case "Gimme a Smooch": Smoochie;
Case "Getter dun!": Nitrodax;
Default: Sleep;

From running with the big T, I've learned a couple of things about myself. One of them is that I actually like to read the quest text.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am enjoying the free ride on Teurion's coattails; it's just that my first time through a quest, I'd like to take the time to read and decipher what I'm supposed to do (as well as read the story!). There hasn't been a lot of that....lol. We do, however, get stuff done quicker...arguably...when we don't need directions....or quest helper isn't borked.

I reckon I'll just have to do that on Rysteranch or DV or whoever is my solo trailblazer...

Toon update

So it's been a little bit since I updated the status of my toons.

Rysteranch is now 73 and pluggin' away in Dragonblight. Still haven't seen much in the way of gear upgrades.

Dwarfvader is almost 73 (two bubbles left), finished up all of Borean, and pugged The Nexus last night (from which he got some nice boots). He's almost out of Addy Stingers, so he's in Nagrand, mining.

Daxie is 72, currently leveling with Teurion in Borean, and pugged Utgarde Keep yesterday as well.

Smoochie, Daxe, and Nitrodax are unchanged at levels 71, 70, and 65. Nitrodax is at least getting a number of Coldland items to DE and has gained an Enchanting skill point or two.

All in all, my plan is working out pretty good. I'm only playing on rested XP, and I'm able to level my toons concurrently as well as keep up with their professions. As soon as Nitro fills out this level with rest XP, I'll probably bump her up to 66 and keep with making her a priority to catch up to the others.

I've decided Nitro will be doing both starting areas due to A) Arriving in Coldlands at level 68, and B) Getting quest rewards for Enchanting mats. I still will only play her when she has rest XP.

So, the plan is continue to teaming up Daxie with Teurion, eventually team up Daxe with VA, and playing my hunters when Teurion isn't on. I'll probably get DV to 73 and then switch to Smoochie in order to finish up Borean with her.

VA Update

So, last Friday, VA had brain surgery to address a mass the docs found in the MRI. Thankfully, once the surgeons opened her up, they found the mass to be a mess of blood vessels and not cancer! Praise the Lord!

They were able to clean up the genetic miscue, and she's already gone home from the hospital. As an aside, this might be the cause of her frequent headaches over the past years, so that might be cured as well! Twofer!

With the specter of cancer gone and the trials and tribulations associated with it gone also, Teurion decided to renew his and VA's WoW accounts.

VA is still not able to play, so Teurion and Daxie have started playing together. Last night Daxie caught up to DV and Smoochie at level 71! Yay on her.

And, DV is two bubbles away from 72; now, if he can only get some play time away from Daxie....

No excuse now

Over the weekend, I accomplished my goal of catching Nitrodax up to the others...well, profession wise, that is.

She dinged 65 and picked up the Grand Master levels for Blacksmithing and Enchanting. She's earned a well deserved rest for a time while I start back with my other three hunters. DV has the nod to finish up Borean and try to get Engineering up to a level where he can make the next level of bullets and arrows.

With the last piece of the team finally getting up to the XPac level, I am pretty much self sufficient. Now all I have to do is level 6 toons to 80...lol.

No real decision

I got Rysteranch to 72.5, and he's done with Borean Tundra. I took the rest of the night "off" by playing Nitrodax, who is almost 62 and should hit it today.

I think I'm going to go ahead and push her to 65 so I can get the Northrend enchants. I'd really like to use my skill ups to enchant my other toons' gear, so that means enchanting a number of vellums. Which means Daxe needs to make some. Which means Smoochie needs to pick some flowers.

Ah....I love having alts!

A conundrum

Well, not really.

Last night, Smoochie hit 71 and Nitrodax hit 61. Now, I'd heard that the 60-70 xp requirements had been nerfed, and I'm pretty sure they have.

Firstly, the requirement for 61 was 290,000 XP; I'm pretty sure it was over 500K before the nerf.

Secondly, anecdotal evidence provides that I quested in HP from 58.75 to 61 and have not even finished half of the quests there. In fact, I have only done quests from HH, Expedition Point, Shatter Point, and The Front. I haven't touched the crashed zeppelin, the Longbeards, Telhamat, or the CE dudes.

Yes, it was a mix of rest XP and normal XP, but still, it seems really fast.

So, I'm boogieing out of HP and headed into Zangarmarsh! I hate HP anyways...lol.

EDIT: Haha! I didn't even present my conundrum before pressing publish! My issue is a desire to catch Nitrodax up to the rest of my toons, but she's almost out of rest XP. I want to be efficient, and that demands that I make the most out of rest XP on my other toons.

hmmm...what to do.....what to do.....what to do.....

I'll probably just do whatever I feel like at the time...lol.

Motoring along

Rysteranch: 71

Dwarfvader: 71

Daxie: 70.75

Smoochie: 70.5

Nitrodax: 350 enchanting

And, that last post must have been looking into the future, 'cause Smoochie died at the hands of the D.E.H.T.A. zealots. I didn't think they'd actually kill me because Dwarfvader (the gorilladin) had the Animal Blood debuff on him, and while the zealot quest giver did a lot of shouting, she didn't actually attack him. So, I figured I'd get yelled at and probably couldn't turn in quests, but I didn't figure they'd kill me. So much for thinking.

And as much as I hate the smelly hippies, I really like Borean Tundra better than Howling Fjord. I plan on doing both areas eventually, but it seems like the quest grouping is better over in BT. Daxie is committed to leveling in HF, so I'll get a better idea over the next couple of days. Oh, and the falconing quests...hated them!

And, speaking of Daxie, she's teamed up with...Teurion! Yeah, he renewed his account and has a limited amount of time to play. VA is hurting too much to play, so the plan is to level Teurion and Daxie, then level VA and Daxe together. This Friday is VA's surgery, so I'm not sure how much play time Teurion will have after that - he shouldn't have much!

And, finally, the scenery! I absolutely love it! As many of you know, I lived in Alaska for 17 years, so I've seen my share of northern latitudes. Blizz got it right for the most part.

I've walked on the grey sandy beaches of Homer.

I've seen the calving icebergs of Prince William Sound.

I've passed through the towering fjords of Resurrection Bay.

I've biked Resurrection pass through the high land tundra.

I've seen caribou, marmots, and orcas in the wild.

I tell you all this because I've seen all those things in game as well. Another thing Blizz got right are Native names. The wharfmaster at the walrus village in Borean is named Agloolik, which is a very Alaskan sounding name (reference the village of Shaktoolik). Of course...there's no penguins in Alaska, except in the zoo, but, hey, it's a game, right?

All in all, I'm very impressed with the new continent...and a little homesick....