Sideshow & Syrana

It was perfectly fitting that I wore this today, seriously.  We have surpassed 500 #iblamesyrana tweets!

*cheers* *confetti*

I have made our donation for reaching 500.

But it’s not over yet! You still have until December 13th to chip in for the Hearts, Hands, and Voices Child’s Play Charity drive.  And! Don’t forget! The next 500 #iblamesyrana tweets are being sponsored by Killing ‘em Slowly.

At the time I’m writing this, I tallied up a total of 554 blame tweets, so we have a ways to go to reach 1000 yet.

But I know we can do it!  Now, go get yer blame on!

Yes, people are still talking about it and being very passionate about their view points.  Yes, I realize this post may appear late in the game, but I had one major reason for postponing it – hoping some of the hype would die down a bit.  I mean, I love having discussions with you, dear readers, but during the heat of big news… trolls tend to come out of the woodwork.  They tromp through everywhere, leaving signs of foulness in their wake, never to look back.

Don’t get me wrong, you can disagree with me all you want – but there is still a level of respect that I expect in return and trolls (true trolls) don’t follow the rules.  (Hell, they are worse at following them than me.  I at least read and acknowledge the rules, they just chew ‘em up and spit ‘em out.)

So where were we? Oh yes – pets.  More specifically: mini-pets.

Before we move on, I want to give you some choices a la Bioware-esque style:

1. Yes, I’m interested in reading your views and commentary on this whole thing.
2. Please share, I may be interested in some of your points.
3. (Lie) Yes, please tell me what you think! (Mark post as read)
4. I don’t give a crap what you have to say. (Mark post as read)

(continue reading…)

This week’s Blog Azeroth Shared Topic is brought to you by Relevart of Druid Reliquary.

Relevart starts the topic off with posing this:

“I know a few other bloggers have shown interest in the idea of player motivation and I absolutely love the idea of examining the concept of what makes us want to/need to/desire to play.

I thought a neat springboard for such a discussion would be that of the penalty system (or lack thereof, as you might see it) in WoW as well as the recent claims that Blizzard is caving to the casual players’ feeling of entitlement to see and subsequently conquer any and all content, regardless of capability or time.”

I’m not really saying anything for or against, but would like to put forth some different things to consider regarding this topic. (continue reading…)

Woo, queues have significantly reduced over the weekend.  It seems that opening a couple more servers and raising population caps slowly have helped.  Also, the change made to the private stores, where they can’t be afk selling for more than 30 minutes, has helped too.

As I mentioned before, Sideshow and I rolled Asmodian on Lumiel.  It has been a popular server – which makes it busy.  During the headstart, queues for Lumiel were easily 2 hours.  After the live launch, the queues were commonly 1.5hrs.  But Friday night, it was only 20 minutes!  Then on Saturday, there was no queue in the afternoon, and a short one (15ish minutes) in the evening.

See, I think things will be ok.

Character Creation

So, yes, I have an Asmodian on Lumiel by the name of Syrana.

(continue reading…)

Dear Archavon,

I’m sorry to leave you this letter, but I don’t know the next time the Horde will control Wintergrasp so that I can swing by the Vault to talk to you.  You see, I’ve been doing some thinking… and I need to set our relationship straight now so no one gets hurt.

Yes, Arky, I know you are the Stone Watcher and nothing can hurt stone.  But just hear me out and finish reading.

It’s not you, it’s me.

Arky, baby, I’ve enjoyed the few times we’ve hung out.  I really have.  You have given me some really fun times and gifts.  But, I don’t see us getting any more serious or ‘going to the next level‘ together.  I know your attention is usually focused on only me when I come by… but that one party… you know the one.  That one time I wasn’t the only Warlock over? Yeah, I noticed how you ignored me.  If you hadn’t ignored me that night, I probably would already have my T7 4 set bonus, but no.

And you thought that first date you were sooo slick… giving me two pairs of gloves… one for PvE and one for PvP.  Yeah, I know.  I know you were feelin’ me out to see what I liked.  You saw how I gushed over the PvE gloves and made sure to only bestow PvE gifts upon me after that.  The leggings were nice (and a not-so-subtle hint).  But the robes, oh, the robes! How I love them!

But, it’s over between us, Archavon.  You know that new guy that moved into your building, Emalon?  I hear he’s bigger, badder, and gives out better “rewards.”

I need better rewards, Arky.

And you know I’m a sucker for badass boys.

We can still be friends though.  Maybe even friends with benefits.  But, the next time I stop by the Vault, don’t be surprised if I stay at Emalon’s place, alright?

~Sins & Souls~

Syrana

As many of you have noticed around here, there aren’t many posts that talk about boss downage.  Our guild is small and focuses on community first and are not what you’d consider a ‘raiding’ guild.  We do have a lot of really great and skillful members, so the fact that we consider ourselves a ‘casual’ guild does not = bad players.  If I wasn’t so biased, I’d say we have one of the greatest mixes of new players and veterans alike.  Until more recently though, we’ve never really had the fortune of having enough guildies geared to attempt some raids.

So, you may see a few more of these types of posts from time to time.  We’re talking about scheduling a weekly raid night, which I’m really hoping for.  (continue reading…)

Yay, I am feeling muchmuch better.  Thank you all for your warm get well wishes and not starting a riot.  Oddly enough, Tuesday marked the highest site visits we’ve seen thus far.  This still boggles my mind because I didn’t post anything earth shattering!

For my RP fans, Part 9 of Aerissa’s adventure will continue next Tuesday, just to keep on the Tuesday schedule.  Think of yesterday as a rerun day with the new season about to start.  Or something.  I’m also working up a story in my head (they like to hide there a lot) to enter into the Blizzard writing contest!  I’d love to enter Aerissa’s story thus far, but it’s far from finished and beyond the word count limit of the contest.

Anywho, I figured since I’ve been slow at posting lately, I should give everyone an update on what exactly this crazy lil warlock has been up to.  And let me tell you, I was a busy bee over the weekend! (Despite the creeping in of the head cold, I was playin’ my heart out!)

Bam.  Look at all those achievements!  There’s a few missing actually.  I was in Heroic Utgarde Keep too, which was fun.  I know the RFC achievement looks odd in the mix, but that was part of finishing up the Orgrimmar rep so I could get my new pack of wolf mounts.  I also got my little penguin finally! (I’ll be doing a separate post with an update on the pet collection!)

What was really awesome, was last night.  See, over the weekend I was in several runs… way more than I usually do in a period of a couple days.  It was fun.  I had a blast.  It was primarily with all guildies.

Monday night I didn’t even log on, I felt so horrible.  But last night, shortly before logging for bed, I was asked if I wanted to go to 10man VoA.  I was particularly tempted because several guildies were just in the 25man version and a warlock piece dropped…. but they had no ‘locks in the raid.  A couple rogue pieces had also dropped… and no rogues.  So, Sideshow and I decided to go with.  We prayed to the lewtgawds that they’d bestow us with more epicy goodness.

We down that boss like he was nothing.  (Although Sideshow got whomped a good one )  It was mostly guildies with a few pugged spots.  It was great too, because I was in the top 5 for DPS as well… despite the fact I’m still working on upgrades and such.

Noc, fellow guildie, the raid leader, and master looter checks out the goods.

Both pieces were warlock pieces.  Both gloves.  PvP Gloves and T7 Gloves.

I was the only warlock.

Sometimes, it pays to be the unpopular one.

/hairflip

Lay Your Weary Head to Rest

At the beginning of January I wrote a post speculating on the State of the Warlock and feeling as though I was headed for the endangered species list.  Unfortunately, it looks like I am on there.  I can handle that… being special… just as long as we don’t become extinct.  I really, really love playing my warlock!

At the end of said post (if you didn’t catch it, you can go skim it if you want quick), I questioned if there was a decline and why this was so.  Some people claim warlocks are broken, nerfed, too complicated, too easy, etc. etc.  I’d also made a decision to revisit this topic once I hit 80 to see if there has been any change or not.  It has been 2 months since that other post, so let’s take a look, shall we?

Now, I apologize that I had not taken screenies of the stats at that time, so I will copy over the text with the population information for easier comparison:

Overall Eitrigg (Horde and Alliance) “warlocks and rogues are tied at 8%.”

Eitrigg Horde side, warlocks are considered to be tied for 3rd of the most represented classes.  Huh.  Death Knights still top the charts at a whopping 19%.  Hunters are second with 15%, but warlocks are tied with paladins at 10%.

So what do the numbers look like now?

7 7 7 - The new number of evil?

I got these figures from Warcraft Realms.  Granted, the Eitrigg census warns that there has been a lack of Horde side data uploaded in the past 2 weeks, but all three ways I looked at it showed warlocks steady at 7% among level 80s.  Now, don’t get too excited just yet.  When I wrote the last post, I was looking at levels 10-80.  Although, when I bring up 10-80 the numbers are not much different.  Warcraft Realms show 8% over all servers, both factions; 8% for Eitrigg, both factions; and 9% Eitrigg Horde.

What this is showing is that there aren’t a lot of warlocks being  leveled to 80 since the representation drops at 80.  This is sad to see.  Very sad indeed.  It can’t be because we suck, can it?

Don’t You Cry No More

Guildie: Why dps as a clothie if you can wear plate?

Syrana: I’m eviler in cloth.  No one expects the squishies.

There have certainly been speculations about warlock DPS.  And we have heard that Blizz is working on us (and those darn soul shards!).  We also know that Blizz intends for pure DPS classes, like ourselves, to be rockin’ the top of the meters.  Now, I know meters aren’t everything.  I also know that putting up numbers can be heavily influenced by who is in your group.  But, my first attempt at a heroic (with others that are geared for it while I know I was NOT) less than 24 hours after dinging 80 gave me some hope because I know there is room for improvement with gear and enchants/gems.  Now, for this chart, please keep in mind that we did not clear Heroic Violet Hold.  We got stuck with the 2 hardest bosses spawning and decided to call it after wiping on the 2nd boss instead of going through the first one ALL over again.  So, considering the running and stuff I had to do on the first boss…

Not too bad, amirite?  This was before the upgrades I have now and NO enchants.  I had very little hit at that point.  Since that attempt, I’ve crafted Ebonweave Gloves and Wintry Hat of Doom.  (I’d link all that, but you can see ‘em on the right by hoverin’ over my armory stuff if ya want.)  I also got a new belt from the Wyrmrest and a new cloak from the Kirin Tor.  I’ve also gotten a few enchants.  I mean, honestly, I didn’t go in there with all level 80 equivalent gear on.  Yes, basically all blues – but quest blues and crafted blues…. and not much of anything from instances.

Are warlocks gear dependent for top numbers? Uhh, yes.  And a good rotation makes a difference too.  There’s some great info over at the Warlock’s Den on gearing for hit cap in Wrath.  The other raiding gear guides don’t appear to be updated for Wrath, unless I was looking in the wrong place.  But the hit guide should definitely be helpful for me, at least!

We’re Not in Kansas Anymore

Just wanted to give a couple updates!  I’ve tackled a few more zones in Northrend, so we’re on the way to finishing those quest achievements up and getting closer and closer to “the Seeker.” I also hit revered with the Oracles and was called a savior or somesuch.  I bought my first egg and am waiting anxiously for it to hatch.  I’m close to maxing out tailoring and getting closer and closer on alchemy.  (Thank you, Noc, for the herbs!)

Let’s see…oh! I also hit honored with Sons of Hodir and despise that stupid spear.  I want to stab the developer of that daily quest in the eyes with that spear.  I read up on it and followed the suggested strategy and still seem to have issues with my grip before getting to Phase 2.  I can get the bastard down to 30ish%…. grrrr.

I think that was all I wanted to update on.  If not, I’ll make another post!

Oh! Thank you, Fin, for helping me to farm eternal shadows in Wintergrasp.  I have enough for my ebonweave robe…now to wait patiently to utilize mine and others’ cloth cooldowns!  It was also my first time really going into Wintergrasp to battle.  Unfortunately, I showed up shortly before the Alliance finished bashin’ the door in.

Now I’m done!

Woo! Yes! Almost there…

Sideshow and Syrana dinged level 79 Monday night.  We’ve been taking our time, seein’ the sights, working on professions, working on achievements, working on alts, and taking care of daily life.  But, last night, I definitely wanted to forge ahead since I knew were were so close!

Oh and speaking of achievements…. Syrana has completed 2000 quests!

Here a Zone, There a Zone

I must say that Northrend and all the new quests and lore it holds has been wonderful.  There are still a few zones I haven’t touched much, such as Storm Peaks, Zul’Drak and Grizzly Hills.  Although I dinged in Storm Peaks, we only completed about 3 or 4 quests there.  I’m definitely enjoying the phasing and progression of the Icecrown quests, too.  I also have a lot more questing to do in Dragonblight on Syrana.  My hunter, on the other hand, has done A LOT in Dragonblight.

You’ve come a long way, baby

On the road to 79, I  finished up the Basin (exploring and quest achievements).  This also lead to replacing some epics.  A lot of my Burning Crusade epics lasted me a long time.  To be honest, I was a bit surprised.  Granted, I haven’t ran many dungeons lately, so I’m sure there would have been more upgrades there.  But still!  When I finished the quests from the Avatar of Freya, I replaced my Frozen Shadoweave Robes with the Lifewarden Rainment.  I had previously replaced some trinkets and rings, but nothing hurt going from purple to green than when my T4 pieces started getting replaced.  That’s when the realization really set in that my gear and stat chasing/stacking were going to start all over.  So, at that moment, it was one more purple I had to say good-bye to.  At 78.5, the only 2 epic pieces left were my Belt of Blasting and Vindicator Silk Cuffs.

Blue is My New Favorite Color

Then, as the experience bar got closer and closer to 79, I had more time to work on my tailoring.  (Which is up to 435 now, yay!)  I made myself the Black Duskweave Robes, Wristwraps, and Leggings.  I was looking at my Belt of Blasting and somewhat shocked it hadn’t been replaced yet.  My timing of having it crafted was a bit iffy, since it was only a few months before the release of WotLK, but it was worth every copper.  One of my guildies made me an Eternal Belt Buckle and another guildie cut a Runed Bloodstone gem for it.  (Thank you Gabb and Ambar!) I’m seriously thinking about upgrading the other 2 gem sockets to give the belt some more mileage.

6.66 *snickers*

So, all in all, I think gear and stats-wise, I’m sitting pretty decently for level 79 and for my lack of dungeon loot.  1 old school purple, 2 greens (a ring and a trinket), and the rest blue.  I’m also feeling my stats are pretty decent at this point.  I know soon my spell damage will be dipping some as I stack hit, but I figure I can worry about hit when I reach 80.  For my purposes now, spell power serves me well.

Bombs Away

You’d think by now I’d have the hang of bombing quests.  I bombed monster kaliri eggs in Skettis, bombed cannon balls in Ogri’la, and blasted baddies on the Isle.  But, the bombing quest in Icecrown didn’t go as smoothly.  I think it’s more about the awkwardness of the vehicles for me and will take some getting used to.  But why did it have to keep track on my buffs that I made 3 flights before completing it?  Thanks for making me feel like I don’t deserve to fly in your nifty bomber again!