Wednesday (26 Dec) - More Domination Point
News from the Lao team:
12/21 - Not too much new on my end. I am kind of leveling Neekia, apparently I got annoyed with leveling Almond as a healer. Not that Kia is much better, Almond was slow but did not die on me. Other than that I just doing to the Domination dailys in hope to find out more about the story line. The GM of our guild might be starting a guild rbg, mainly because he wants to gear up his alts. He wants Lao to be shadow focused. Lao told him she is happy to use her off dps gear and do shadow but is leveling up her heal gear first.
12/24 - Speaking of Lao she has only two new Domination Point updates. Lao meet up with Theron in Silvermoon to assist him and what it boils down to is this. Theron is not happy, not happy enough that he is thinking about breaking off from the Horde if Hellscream keeps being an ass. He did not say it in so many words, but that is what it boils down to.
Also, Baine had Lao drink an experimental mind memory retrieval brew. She was not too excited about chugging down an experimental drink but trusted Baine not to give her anything harmful. In this she was able to see where the Mongu hid the Bell that Hellscream so badly wants.
This cinematic made Lao think.. Is Hellscream the one they have been waiting for the return of? They hid it in wait for their leader to return.. maybe it is Hellscream. Either way, Lao told Baine what she saw; what he does with the information is anyone's guess.
Oh, and Ding, 87, on Neekia.
12/26 - The Domination Point took a deadly turn in a way that cost Lao her life - twice. Lao, via a brew induced vision, saw the site of the Bell. While Hellscream sent out a hundred scouts to locate it, Vo'jin sent a letter to Lao saying the Alliance was also searching for the Bell.
Ishi laid claim to this prize of finding the resting place of the Bell. Lao was sent to assist Ishi in the Bells recovery. When Lao arrived she found the Alliance had arrived first. It seemed like a trap but orders were orders. Lao and Ishi were to recover the bell.
Once in the cave Lao had to watch her step. The red stone burst into lava sprouts and the blue-white stones could give a nasty case of frost bite. Also she had to be quick on her feet. Stay in the Sentinels sites and the arrows would take you out in two quick shots, she found. Ishi and Lao worked their way in, trying to get to Sarannha Skyglave, who had the Bell. Falling statues or caving in floors, the Bell had to be retrieved. Lao very quickly found out that her orc companion did not even try to gain aggro as she died under the onslaught of four elites.
Death would not stop Lao, however. She worked her way back Ishi and they engaged Skyglave again, but she had already sent the Bell to Darnasas.
What the Alliance plans to do with the Bell, Lao does not know. At this point she is more concerned with Hellscream's reaction to it being in Alliance hands. If he does not kill her he might send her to the front lines of an Alliance invasion. Neither one is an appealing option.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
December Magic (26 Dec) - The Ascendance of Plumrosefist
December Magic (26 Dec) - The Ascendance of Plumrosefist
This is a capsule biography of Plumrosefist in words and pictures.
Plumrosefist, aka "Fist," was born in Eversong Woods, the starting zone for blood elves on the Eastern Continents, on September 27th, 2012. Fist made an impressive first appearance, going from level 1 to level 20 in a single day. As the Wild Family historian, the ageless Rheebah tracked Fist's progression in comparison with the rest of the family tree.
Fist is both nervous and excited to start her journey.
Jocy and Mew deliver the Family heirloom gear to protect her and help speed her progress.
Fist surpasses Alliance cousin Rakta (12) and troll entrepreneur Hapless (16), who are both still learning the Neutral Auction House trade in Stranglethorn Vale.
Fist shows off her "city" clothes at level 20 in Silvermoon City. Jocy helped show her around. Fist already seems to like the city life.
On 30 Sep, 2012, Fist took time off to travel from Silvermoon City to Orgrimmar for Brewfest. She was wide eyed and loving every minute of it! Fist also made it to level 23 just playing all the games offered by Brewfest.
Fist passed Alliance cousin Chaitee (21).
Fist got caught in the above picture drinking beer at level 20. Beer drinking age is level 21 in these parts, friend Lao was quick to point out. Fist was certainly keeping interesting company, as well, looking at those hard cases standing around her.
Fist kept up her swift progress, and Rheebah next caught up on her whereabouts on 3 Oct, 2012. Fist had already swept through Tranquillen and was on her way to The Undercity when she paused for the pic below.
Fist's raven lord mount provided the only color on a grey, misty morning. At level 27, Fist had only begun to think about a future further than the next dawn or the next battle.
Fist saluted the settled Happy at level 23 and acknowledged Bean's level 25 contribution to the family's pvp heritage. Happy gave up the glories of the battlefield for the glory of making gold a long time ago. Bean belonged to a great period of pvp success as part of a troupe of bow wielding hunters.
Over the period of 4-8 Sep, 2012, Fist was a whirling dervish tearing through Hillsbrad Foothills, Arathi Highlands, the Hinterlands, and Desolace. Fist's mentor, Jocy (level 27) smiled in pride as Fist eclipsed her. Fist also waved past Bean's partner Shevils (level 30).
Fist was now level 40, having gained 13 levels in five days.
Fist was told that Desolace was a dusty, dead place, but she found it invigorating. New green life had begun to spread across that land.
By now, most in the Wild family thought Fist would start slowing down. Instead, she doubled down. Over the course of two intense days (9-10 Sep) in Feralas and Tanaris, Fist went from level 40 to level 50.
Oddly enough, there was only one Wild family member in that level group. Shaman EZ (level 47) took a surly bow and retreated back into her self-imposed exile.
Fist wanted to show off a new mount and returned to Orgrimmar for a short - very short - stay. Here she is on her wolf mount.
Fist went from level 50 to 55 killing dinosaurs in Ungoro Crater, and reached level 60 in Winterfell, just as Wild had achieved that same milestone at Winterfell so long ago.
On 15 Oct, 2012 Fist entered the Outlands and the zone of Hellfire Peninsula. She stretched level 60 to level 64, passing Java (61), Mery (62), and Babe (63). Fist was a young woman, now. She showed off a more sophisticated wardrobe at Garador in the Outlands.
With the bevy of level 60s behind her now, Fist had no rivals between her and level 85. Well, except one.
Fist took some time out to re-evaluate her combat skills, and used them with deadly effect on the special beasts of Ernest Hemingway's great safari. It proved anti-climactic, however, as the once elite beasts had been neutered to normal size and proved no challenge at all. Fist cleared another hurdle, though, reaching level 70 on 20 Oct, 2012.
JB then joined Fist for a series of dungeon runs that brought her to level 71. They had such a good time they forgot to take photos. JB did dig up one picture, below. I always thought that JB was short, but Fist is even shorter!
On 22 Oct Fist achieved a milestone of singular importance, but passed by without fanfare of any kind. Not even a single photo.
Quoted from the entry of 22 Oct: "Along about midnight she (Fist) reached level 73. Naithipe made a point to congratulate her daughter Fist. Naithipe doesn't generally talk about her own status or proficiencies, but this was a special case. Fist has now passed her mother (level 72). There is no one left ahead of her other than Wild, JB, and Philly. "
It was certainly a major event for the Wild Family, despite the two of them downplaying it. So an effort was made to dig into the archives to find a photo of the two together. One was found that was taken in Thrallmar in the Outlands. It's a good shot, one that the family thinks Fist and Naithipe are secretly pleased to have. Naithipe even allowed a less formal shot in the second pose.
Fist did not do all this by herself. She got additional help along the way. Lao did some dungeon runs with Fist in the spider dungeons. Sin also helped out, doing some of the "Halls" dungeons in the wee hours of the morning. With their help, Fist reached level 78 on 26 Oct, a six day march from level 70 to 78. So intent was Fist on impressing Lao and Sin (and not screwing up - much) she failed to take any pictures again!
On 28 Oct Fist reached level 80: "It was a little serendipitous, then, that Fist found herself heading for the Nessingway Base Camp in Sholozar Basin for her next stop. The Nessingway Camp is where Wild made it to level 80. Along about midnight on Sunday, Fist also made level 80."
Fist left Northrend behind her and started her march through Mount Hyjal in the Cataclysm. She pounded through Mount Hyjal and then went directly to the higher level Twilight Highlands. It took Fist a week to reach level 85, on 4 Nov. I have a feeling it took Wild, JB, and Philly a whole lot longer than that to reach that point in their lives.
Fist could have taken a break at that point. She certainly deserved it. However, at 11pm on the night she reached level 85, she was headed for Pandaria.
Pandaria was a whole 'nother level of challenge for Fist. She got some help from Happy to get her gear upgraded, now that she was level 85 and had to give up her heirloom gear. She finally reached level 86 on 11 Nov, a journey of seven days to gain a single level.
It was a bit scary that Fist was now the highest ranking member of the Wild Family. Wild took that in stride, though. It was time to pass the baton on to a younger generation.
The road to level 90 took a few days longer. In fact, it took 26 days until Fist finally reached the new maximum level of 90, on 7 December, 2012. That averages out to almost a week per level, which, all things considered, was not bad at all. Her entire journey from level 1 to level 90 took 71 days. Another way to look at it is that each level took an average of 19 hours to complete.
These days Fist mostly spends her time farming her pretty little plot of land in Halfhill. And fishing. She's happy, and as yet has not been bitten by the raiding bug. She gets regular encouragement from Wild's raiding guild, but so far has graciously declined their invitations. She is always and remains Naithipe's daughter, though. The ambition may be slumbering in a very deep pool, but it's there. One day it may waken.
This is a capsule biography of Plumrosefist in words and pictures.
Plumrosefist, aka "Fist," was born in Eversong Woods, the starting zone for blood elves on the Eastern Continents, on September 27th, 2012. Fist made an impressive first appearance, going from level 1 to level 20 in a single day. As the Wild Family historian, the ageless Rheebah tracked Fist's progression in comparison with the rest of the family tree.
 |
| In her Initiates Garb |
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| Donning her Heirlooms |
Fist surpasses Alliance cousin Rakta (12) and troll entrepreneur Hapless (16), who are both still learning the Neutral Auction House trade in Stranglethorn Vale.
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| Showing off her "City" Clothes |
On 30 Sep, 2012, Fist took time off to travel from Silvermoon City to Orgrimmar for Brewfest. She was wide eyed and loving every minute of it! Fist also made it to level 23 just playing all the games offered by Brewfest.
Fist passed Alliance cousin Chaitee (21).
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| Drinking Age |
Fist kept up her swift progress, and Rheebah next caught up on her whereabouts on 3 Oct, 2012. Fist had already swept through Tranquillen and was on her way to The Undercity when she paused for the pic below.
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| Raven Lord Morning |
Fist saluted the settled Happy at level 23 and acknowledged Bean's level 25 contribution to the family's pvp heritage. Happy gave up the glories of the battlefield for the glory of making gold a long time ago. Bean belonged to a great period of pvp success as part of a troupe of bow wielding hunters.
Over the period of 4-8 Sep, 2012, Fist was a whirling dervish tearing through Hillsbrad Foothills, Arathi Highlands, the Hinterlands, and Desolace. Fist's mentor, Jocy (level 27) smiled in pride as Fist eclipsed her. Fist also waved past Bean's partner Shevils (level 30).
Fist was now level 40, having gained 13 levels in five days.
Fist was told that Desolace was a dusty, dead place, but she found it invigorating. New green life had begun to spread across that land.
 |
| Desolace Greens |
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| More Desolace Greenery |
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| No Changes Here |
Oddly enough, there was only one Wild family member in that level group. Shaman EZ (level 47) took a surly bow and retreated back into her self-imposed exile.
Fist wanted to show off a new mount and returned to Orgrimmar for a short - very short - stay. Here she is on her wolf mount.
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| Fist's New Mount |
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| Winterfell |
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| An Elegant Look |
Fist took some time out to re-evaluate her combat skills, and used them with deadly effect on the special beasts of Ernest Hemingway's great safari. It proved anti-climactic, however, as the once elite beasts had been neutered to normal size and proved no challenge at all. Fist cleared another hurdle, though, reaching level 70 on 20 Oct, 2012.
JB then joined Fist for a series of dungeon runs that brought her to level 71. They had such a good time they forgot to take photos. JB did dig up one picture, below. I always thought that JB was short, but Fist is even shorter!
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| Fist and JB Together |
Quoted from the entry of 22 Oct: "Along about midnight she (Fist) reached level 73. Naithipe made a point to congratulate her daughter Fist. Naithipe doesn't generally talk about her own status or proficiencies, but this was a special case. Fist has now passed her mother (level 72). There is no one left ahead of her other than Wild, JB, and Philly. "
It was certainly a major event for the Wild Family, despite the two of them downplaying it. So an effort was made to dig into the archives to find a photo of the two together. One was found that was taken in Thrallmar in the Outlands. It's a good shot, one that the family thinks Fist and Naithipe are secretly pleased to have. Naithipe even allowed a less formal shot in the second pose.
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| Mother and Daughter Formal |
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| Mother and Daughter Playful |
On 28 Oct Fist reached level 80: "It was a little serendipitous, then, that Fist found herself heading for the Nessingway Base Camp in Sholozar Basin for her next stop. The Nessingway Camp is where Wild made it to level 80. Along about midnight on Sunday, Fist also made level 80."
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| Fist at Level 80 |
Fist could have taken a break at that point. She certainly deserved it. However, at 11pm on the night she reached level 85, she was headed for Pandaria.
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| Flight Path Pandaria Style |
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| A Lovely Land |
The road to level 90 took a few days longer. In fact, it took 26 days until Fist finally reached the new maximum level of 90, on 7 December, 2012. That averages out to almost a week per level, which, all things considered, was not bad at all. Her entire journey from level 1 to level 90 took 71 days. Another way to look at it is that each level took an average of 19 hours to complete.
These days Fist mostly spends her time farming her pretty little plot of land in Halfhill. And fishing. She's happy, and as yet has not been bitten by the raiding bug. She gets regular encouragement from Wild's raiding guild, but so far has graciously declined their invitations. She is always and remains Naithipe's daughter, though. The ambition may be slumbering in a very deep pool, but it's there. One day it may waken.
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| A Farmer's Life |
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| Deep Pools |
Monday, December 24, 2012
Weekend (23 Dec) - Wildshard Goes for a Stroll
Weekend (23 Dec) - Wildshard Goes for a Stroll
It appears that Wild might be starting to get bored with his hammock. He went to the trouble of straightening out his user interface so that he could at least defend himself in moonkin spec and addded access to a few healing spells. Wild had been accumulating windsong cloth and was well along with his Tailoring profession, but was frustrated that he couldn't make the high end cloth, imperial silk. Only one piece can be made per day. Wild had the recipe, but imperial silk can only be made in the Silken Fields of the Valley of the Four Moons.
For want of any better idea, Wild decided he would go to the Silken Fields without bothering to level up first. Phfft! he said, when it was brought to his attention that it was a crazy idea. Wild wondered briefly when he'd started saying Phfft! Hmm, Wild thought Lao might be the culprit. Anyway, Wild brushed aside all the worry warts and entered the portal from Org to Honeydew Village in the Jade forest.
From Honeydew Village, Wild knew he needed to go south for awhile, a path previously trod by only Fist in the Wild Family. Wild had one advantage over Fist - at least Wild remembered he could use a ground mount to get around. Wild still snickers when he thinks about Fist wandering the Jade Forest on foot. The woodland track Wild would have to follow was thick with hostile mobs, but they were only levels 85-86 and even Wild's modest gear should be enough to handle them. He did handle them, for the most part. The problem came when Wild approached the first collection of hostiles at the helicopter landing area. Wild wasn't doing the quests, and the landing area was occupied by the hostile Alliance. Had he done the quests, the landing area would have been cleared and safe. Wild managed to finesse his way around that obstacle, killing a few hostiles on the fringes, and moved on.
Wild was feeling pretty smug about his progress - that is, until he started getting into the area near Grookin Hill. This large village was another place that is friendly to the horde only after a series of quests to befriend the people there. They were nastily hostile to Wild, and he had to make his way literally through a war zone. Wild managed to reach the outskirts of the village, but he was in combat almost full time, and stealth wasn't very effective as the hostiles were too numerous. Hemmed in by hostiles and the terrain, Wild couldn't see a way around the village, and decided to rush it head on. Bad decision. All Wild succeeded in doing was getting to the center of the crowded village and then dying there. It took two suicide runs to find a safe spot where Wild could regain his health.
Wild had gone into the river south of Grookin Hill to escape pursuit, and that gave Wild an idea. The river source near Grookin Hill wound southeast to the sea, but a tributary off that river turned south and then west into the Valley of the Four Moons. Could Wild swim it in fish form?
The answer was yes. Wild got to see a view of the land few bother with - the bottom of the river. The river was deep enough that only twice was Wild forced out of fish form, and then only for a short walk. The few hostiles in the water paid Wild no mind. The river has a series of waterfalls, a couple of them quite magnificent, and it was great fun leaping from those high peaks and splashing into the ponds far below.
Just before the river turned directly west toward the Stormstout Brewery and then to the sea, a very small stream peeled of to the north. The stream was narrow and shallow, but still had enough depth for Wild to remain in fish form, but not deep enough for him to stay fully submerged in some parts. Wild has the glyph which gives his fish form an "orca" look and it was cool seeing the black and white orca skimming up the river with his dorsal fin above the water. As Wild closed in on his destination, he did have to get out of the water once. It was another waterfall, only this time Wild was at the bottom of the falls, not at the top. Wild had to kill some hostile birds to get to the top of the falls, and then in was a matter calling his raven lord mount and riding up the road to the town of Halfhill.
Wild had reached his destination. Wild also located the nearby Silken Fields and crafted his first imperial silk. Despite the odd looks Wild gets from the level 90 crowd that hangs out there, Wild likes it at Halfhill, and just might stay on at the inn for awhile. Wild wonders where he might find a hammock.
It appears that Wild might be starting to get bored with his hammock. He went to the trouble of straightening out his user interface so that he could at least defend himself in moonkin spec and addded access to a few healing spells. Wild had been accumulating windsong cloth and was well along with his Tailoring profession, but was frustrated that he couldn't make the high end cloth, imperial silk. Only one piece can be made per day. Wild had the recipe, but imperial silk can only be made in the Silken Fields of the Valley of the Four Moons.
For want of any better idea, Wild decided he would go to the Silken Fields without bothering to level up first. Phfft! he said, when it was brought to his attention that it was a crazy idea. Wild wondered briefly when he'd started saying Phfft! Hmm, Wild thought Lao might be the culprit. Anyway, Wild brushed aside all the worry warts and entered the portal from Org to Honeydew Village in the Jade forest.
From Honeydew Village, Wild knew he needed to go south for awhile, a path previously trod by only Fist in the Wild Family. Wild had one advantage over Fist - at least Wild remembered he could use a ground mount to get around. Wild still snickers when he thinks about Fist wandering the Jade Forest on foot. The woodland track Wild would have to follow was thick with hostile mobs, but they were only levels 85-86 and even Wild's modest gear should be enough to handle them. He did handle them, for the most part. The problem came when Wild approached the first collection of hostiles at the helicopter landing area. Wild wasn't doing the quests, and the landing area was occupied by the hostile Alliance. Had he done the quests, the landing area would have been cleared and safe. Wild managed to finesse his way around that obstacle, killing a few hostiles on the fringes, and moved on.
Wild was feeling pretty smug about his progress - that is, until he started getting into the area near Grookin Hill. This large village was another place that is friendly to the horde only after a series of quests to befriend the people there. They were nastily hostile to Wild, and he had to make his way literally through a war zone. Wild managed to reach the outskirts of the village, but he was in combat almost full time, and stealth wasn't very effective as the hostiles were too numerous. Hemmed in by hostiles and the terrain, Wild couldn't see a way around the village, and decided to rush it head on. Bad decision. All Wild succeeded in doing was getting to the center of the crowded village and then dying there. It took two suicide runs to find a safe spot where Wild could regain his health.
Wild had gone into the river south of Grookin Hill to escape pursuit, and that gave Wild an idea. The river source near Grookin Hill wound southeast to the sea, but a tributary off that river turned south and then west into the Valley of the Four Moons. Could Wild swim it in fish form?
The answer was yes. Wild got to see a view of the land few bother with - the bottom of the river. The river was deep enough that only twice was Wild forced out of fish form, and then only for a short walk. The few hostiles in the water paid Wild no mind. The river has a series of waterfalls, a couple of them quite magnificent, and it was great fun leaping from those high peaks and splashing into the ponds far below.
Just before the river turned directly west toward the Stormstout Brewery and then to the sea, a very small stream peeled of to the north. The stream was narrow and shallow, but still had enough depth for Wild to remain in fish form, but not deep enough for him to stay fully submerged in some parts. Wild has the glyph which gives his fish form an "orca" look and it was cool seeing the black and white orca skimming up the river with his dorsal fin above the water. As Wild closed in on his destination, he did have to get out of the water once. It was another waterfall, only this time Wild was at the bottom of the falls, not at the top. Wild had to kill some hostile birds to get to the top of the falls, and then in was a matter calling his raven lord mount and riding up the road to the town of Halfhill.
Wild had reached his destination. Wild also located the nearby Silken Fields and crafted his first imperial silk. Despite the odd looks Wild gets from the level 90 crowd that hangs out there, Wild likes it at Halfhill, and just might stay on at the inn for awhile. Wild wonders where he might find a hammock.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Saturday (15 Dec) - Dominance Offensive
Saturday (15 Dec) - Dominance Offensive
The Dominance Offensive is a special set of twelve interconnected quest chains that became available with the last patch. The Priest Lao has been recruited for this dangerous expedition. This is Lao's story:
With the patch that showed up less then a month ago there opened up a new area of exploration, or, as it turned out, exploitation. Lao woke up at the Shrine of theTwo Moons in Pandaria to find a message waiting for her: Get to the Krasarang Wilds and meet with Hellscream. Now. Garrosh Hellscream is the leader of the Horde.
Not that she would ever say this out loud, but Lao is not a big fan of Hellscream. She usually tries to stay off his radar when she can, but the missive was not one to be ignored. Lao went.
When she arrived she found Hellscream with the crew that Lao had landed in Pandaria with. More like crashed in Pandaria, but what's one wrecked Zeppelin or two. The Horde are claiming the lands in the southern area of Krasarang Wilds before the Alliance can take a foothold.
At this point Vol'jin (the Troll Leader under the command of Hellscream) showed up, demanding to know what was going on. In a sneering and condescending voice, Hellscream told him. Hellscream wanted the resources of the Wilds and he wanted to show the Pandarens his might by crushing the Alliance, thinking this would make them side with the Horde.
"It won't work, mon." Vol'jin said. "You will just drive them away with your bloodthirst."
Hellscream sneered back, "This is why Thrall did not leave you in charge. You are weak and don't have what it takes to lead. But I have a job for you, if you want to see what is going on, scout out this cave and report back."
This is where things started to get interesting. Not trusting Hellscream, and wanting to get away from him, Lao joined Vol'jin in the a cave and discovered there was a way to amass an army of "made" creatures of hate. Vol'jin was appalled, but a trusted ally of Hellscream who joined us was not, this is exactly what Hellscream wanted. In the ensuing fight Vol'jin was gravely injured but alive and Hellscream's ally was killed.
Swearing a blood oath to Vol'jin, Lao went back to report to Hellscream, claiming that Vol'jin was dead. Vol'jin tasked Lao to keep close and gather data. She would find allies along the way, but be wary.
What Hellscream has told any of the other leaders, Lao does not know. But, while out at Domination Point, she received a summons from Vol'jin. Flying to him she found him still gravely injured but being tended to by Stromstout. Vol'jin felt that his people were under attack, and to go find Thrall.
Thrall and Lao traveled to the Echo Islands, the home of trolls, and found it under marshal law, by order of Hellscream. The orcs there even attacked Thrall. Lao was not pleased. Thrall and Lao took back the Echo Islands from Hellscream. Lao was sent back to Domination Point, while Thrall thought what to do.
Meanwhile, Hellscream commissioned the Bloodelves, lead by Theron, to find out the secrets of the Ancient Mongu race that once ruled Pandaria. In their digs they uncovered a story of a Bell. The Bell gives the Mongu more hate and anger, and also makes them better fighters. Hellscream wants this Bell, and sent Theron's people after it into areas they were unprepared for, costing them lives. Theron is not happy with Hellscream and, when Theron questioned Hellsream's orders, Hellscream was not happy with Theron, either. Lao cannot tell where Theron's loyalties lay. Is he playing along with Hellscream, like Lao, or is he in support of his activities?
Lao has received missives from Vol'jin, each time getting paranoid that this might be found out. Vol'jin knows about Hellscream's search for the Bell. Baine, the leader of the Taurens, has been keeping close to Hellscream and reporting back to Vol'jin, but Hellscream does not trust Baine, so who knows how open Hellscream will be.
So far Vol'jin has Thrall and Baine on his side. Lao is not sure where Theron stand. As for the goblins, they are pretty mercenary, so they could fall either way, but in the end they will fall probably to the side they see keeping their skins alive. Sylvanas has yet to enter the picture.
Lao is returning to Domination Point daily. She's playing the good loyal Bloodelf, but is also keeping an eye out for further orders from Vol'jin.
More to follow, Lao is sure . . .
The Dominance Offensive is a special set of twelve interconnected quest chains that became available with the last patch. The Priest Lao has been recruited for this dangerous expedition. This is Lao's story:
With the patch that showed up less then a month ago there opened up a new area of exploration, or, as it turned out, exploitation. Lao woke up at the Shrine of theTwo Moons in Pandaria to find a message waiting for her: Get to the Krasarang Wilds and meet with Hellscream. Now. Garrosh Hellscream is the leader of the Horde.
Not that she would ever say this out loud, but Lao is not a big fan of Hellscream. She usually tries to stay off his radar when she can, but the missive was not one to be ignored. Lao went.
When she arrived she found Hellscream with the crew that Lao had landed in Pandaria with. More like crashed in Pandaria, but what's one wrecked Zeppelin or two. The Horde are claiming the lands in the southern area of Krasarang Wilds before the Alliance can take a foothold.
At this point Vol'jin (the Troll Leader under the command of Hellscream) showed up, demanding to know what was going on. In a sneering and condescending voice, Hellscream told him. Hellscream wanted the resources of the Wilds and he wanted to show the Pandarens his might by crushing the Alliance, thinking this would make them side with the Horde.
"It won't work, mon." Vol'jin said. "You will just drive them away with your bloodthirst."
Hellscream sneered back, "This is why Thrall did not leave you in charge. You are weak and don't have what it takes to lead. But I have a job for you, if you want to see what is going on, scout out this cave and report back."
This is where things started to get interesting. Not trusting Hellscream, and wanting to get away from him, Lao joined Vol'jin in the a cave and discovered there was a way to amass an army of "made" creatures of hate. Vol'jin was appalled, but a trusted ally of Hellscream who joined us was not, this is exactly what Hellscream wanted. In the ensuing fight Vol'jin was gravely injured but alive and Hellscream's ally was killed.
Swearing a blood oath to Vol'jin, Lao went back to report to Hellscream, claiming that Vol'jin was dead. Vol'jin tasked Lao to keep close and gather data. She would find allies along the way, but be wary.
What Hellscream has told any of the other leaders, Lao does not know. But, while out at Domination Point, she received a summons from Vol'jin. Flying to him she found him still gravely injured but being tended to by Stromstout. Vol'jin felt that his people were under attack, and to go find Thrall.
Thrall and Lao traveled to the Echo Islands, the home of trolls, and found it under marshal law, by order of Hellscream. The orcs there even attacked Thrall. Lao was not pleased. Thrall and Lao took back the Echo Islands from Hellscream. Lao was sent back to Domination Point, while Thrall thought what to do.
Meanwhile, Hellscream commissioned the Bloodelves, lead by Theron, to find out the secrets of the Ancient Mongu race that once ruled Pandaria. In their digs they uncovered a story of a Bell. The Bell gives the Mongu more hate and anger, and also makes them better fighters. Hellscream wants this Bell, and sent Theron's people after it into areas they were unprepared for, costing them lives. Theron is not happy with Hellscream and, when Theron questioned Hellsream's orders, Hellscream was not happy with Theron, either. Lao cannot tell where Theron's loyalties lay. Is he playing along with Hellscream, like Lao, or is he in support of his activities?
Lao has received missives from Vol'jin, each time getting paranoid that this might be found out. Vol'jin knows about Hellscream's search for the Bell. Baine, the leader of the Taurens, has been keeping close to Hellscream and reporting back to Vol'jin, but Hellscream does not trust Baine, so who knows how open Hellscream will be.
So far Vol'jin has Thrall and Baine on his side. Lao is not sure where Theron stand. As for the goblins, they are pretty mercenary, so they could fall either way, but in the end they will fall probably to the side they see keeping their skins alive. Sylvanas has yet to enter the picture.
Lao is returning to Domination Point daily. She's playing the good loyal Bloodelf, but is also keeping an eye out for further orders from Vol'jin.
More to follow, Lao is sure . . .
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Monday (10 Dec) - Battle Net Error #112 You're Files May Be Corrupted
Monday (10 Dec) - Battle Net Error #112 You're Files May Be Corrupted
When I logged in this morning (Monday), the Blizzard Launcher had an update to run. It was a small one, and should have taken less than a minute to load. Something went wrong, however, and the installation failed in a weird way - the download stream apparently got choked off and died before it was completed. So, I restarted the launcher and got an error message that the installation file might be corrupt. I then deleted the suspected corrupt file and ran the launcher again. This time the install ran with no problem and I was able to login - well, not exactly. I got a Battle Net error message stating that I was about to be forced into the Battlenet Support website, where all problems go to fester. I had visions of being forced to reinstall the game for the second time in the same month.
Deciding to ignore Blizzard's dire warnings, I ran the launcher for the fourth time, and logged successfully all the way into the game. I think Blizzard is just playing with my head.
The Tuesday maintenance is a long one this week - 1am to 11am. There are a number of hotfixes going in, some of which reduce some pvp stats. It's mostly just bug cleanup, though.
Fist is going to be taking it easy over the holidays. There is a lot of real life activity that is cutting down game time. Wild's raiding guild, MM2, will be disappointed, but Fist will not be joining them any time soon. In addition, Fist just hasn't felt the call to take the step up into dungeons or raiding. She may very well become a full time farmer with the Tiller's faction for awhile, and work on her Dailies now that she is level 90. In addition, Fist will feature prominently in the year end review coming up, and that takes time to research and prepare.
Fist's mother, Naithipe, has been asked by the Wild Family to consider leveling again. Naithipe is a Blacksmith, and the family would benefit from building up and maximizing that skill. Naithipe is considering entering into the PvP challenge, even knowing that it would bring her out into the open. By now, though, Naithipe has to believe that her true identity is pretty much an open secret. A Death Knight pvper is not exactly unique, and the birth of her daughter has altered her harsh outlook on life to a considerable degree. That said, Naithipe has no reason to change her "straight at you, kill or be killed" approach to pvp, or life, for that matter. Whether she will be able to adjust from her very solitary lifestyle to a more open one ... well, time will tell.
When I logged in this morning (Monday), the Blizzard Launcher had an update to run. It was a small one, and should have taken less than a minute to load. Something went wrong, however, and the installation failed in a weird way - the download stream apparently got choked off and died before it was completed. So, I restarted the launcher and got an error message that the installation file might be corrupt. I then deleted the suspected corrupt file and ran the launcher again. This time the install ran with no problem and I was able to login - well, not exactly. I got a Battle Net error message stating that I was about to be forced into the Battlenet Support website, where all problems go to fester. I had visions of being forced to reinstall the game for the second time in the same month.
Deciding to ignore Blizzard's dire warnings, I ran the launcher for the fourth time, and logged successfully all the way into the game. I think Blizzard is just playing with my head.
The Tuesday maintenance is a long one this week - 1am to 11am. There are a number of hotfixes going in, some of which reduce some pvp stats. It's mostly just bug cleanup, though.
Fist is going to be taking it easy over the holidays. There is a lot of real life activity that is cutting down game time. Wild's raiding guild, MM2, will be disappointed, but Fist will not be joining them any time soon. In addition, Fist just hasn't felt the call to take the step up into dungeons or raiding. She may very well become a full time farmer with the Tiller's faction for awhile, and work on her Dailies now that she is level 90. In addition, Fist will feature prominently in the year end review coming up, and that takes time to research and prepare.
Fist's mother, Naithipe, has been asked by the Wild Family to consider leveling again. Naithipe is a Blacksmith, and the family would benefit from building up and maximizing that skill. Naithipe is considering entering into the PvP challenge, even knowing that it would bring her out into the open. By now, though, Naithipe has to believe that her true identity is pretty much an open secret. A Death Knight pvper is not exactly unique, and the birth of her daughter has altered her harsh outlook on life to a considerable degree. That said, Naithipe has no reason to change her "straight at you, kill or be killed" approach to pvp, or life, for that matter. Whether she will be able to adjust from her very solitary lifestyle to a more open one ... well, time will tell.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Friday (7 Dec) - Wild Family Has a level 90
On Friday night at 11:20pm, Plumrosefist, ie Fist, became the first member of the Wild family to reach level 90. It is also the first time anyone other than Wildshard had been the first to reach the latest max level. She also broke tradition by wrapping things up before the bell tolled Midnight. All of the previous max level achievements occurred in the wee hours of the morning.
Fist was still a good bit away when she got in game Friday, still only 57% of the way to level 90. She already had it in her mind that she was going for it, however.
As usual, her quest clues had petered out at one point and Fist decided she'd hoof it along the Great Wall to get to a new quest area. Patterned after the Great Wall of China, it was as tall as it was massive. It was a long, long, ground mount run to it's far end, and when she finally got to where she needed to get off the Wall, there was no way down. Undeterred, Fist climbed out on the outer structure of the Wall, tight roped her way around a small ledge (it was a very long fall if she slipped, and I had no idea how to retrieve the body if she did fall), and jumped down to a lower rampart. There was no way down from that rampart, either, since the single door would not open for her.
Fist studied her options, and then jumped from the rampart down onto some rocks. Two long falls, and she survived them both. From there she found another camp with quests to get her going again.
Her last big xp quest got her to 100% on the xp bar, but she was still short a few points to actually level. She was wrapping up a long chain. Each of the final quests sent Fist off to talk to someone, and gave very little xp, so Fist was literally having to creep up to her goal. It took the third little quest to finally take her over the top.
Bd and Lady Hunter were both in game, and enthusiastically congratulated Fist. We got to talking about old times and how both Wild and Bd were terrorized by Lady Hunter when she ran raids. She enjoyed the teasing, I'm sure. They're eager to get Fist into their dungeon runs and bring her up to raid ready status. Fist will still take her time. I'm still not sure just what Fist will be doing from here on out.
There'll be time enough for all that. Fist is just going to enjoy being a level 90.
On Friday night at 11:20pm, Plumrosefist, ie Fist, became the first member of the Wild family to reach level 90. It is also the first time anyone other than Wildshard had been the first to reach the latest max level. She also broke tradition by wrapping things up before the bell tolled Midnight. All of the previous max level achievements occurred in the wee hours of the morning.
Fist was still a good bit away when she got in game Friday, still only 57% of the way to level 90. She already had it in her mind that she was going for it, however.
As usual, her quest clues had petered out at one point and Fist decided she'd hoof it along the Great Wall to get to a new quest area. Patterned after the Great Wall of China, it was as tall as it was massive. It was a long, long, ground mount run to it's far end, and when she finally got to where she needed to get off the Wall, there was no way down. Undeterred, Fist climbed out on the outer structure of the Wall, tight roped her way around a small ledge (it was a very long fall if she slipped, and I had no idea how to retrieve the body if she did fall), and jumped down to a lower rampart. There was no way down from that rampart, either, since the single door would not open for her.
Fist studied her options, and then jumped from the rampart down onto some rocks. Two long falls, and she survived them both. From there she found another camp with quests to get her going again.
Her last big xp quest got her to 100% on the xp bar, but she was still short a few points to actually level. She was wrapping up a long chain. Each of the final quests sent Fist off to talk to someone, and gave very little xp, so Fist was literally having to creep up to her goal. It took the third little quest to finally take her over the top.
Bd and Lady Hunter were both in game, and enthusiastically congratulated Fist. We got to talking about old times and how both Wild and Bd were terrorized by Lady Hunter when she ran raids. She enjoyed the teasing, I'm sure. They're eager to get Fist into their dungeon runs and bring her up to raid ready status. Fist will still take her time. I'm still not sure just what Fist will be doing from here on out.
There'll be time enough for all that. Fist is just going to enjoy being a level 90.
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| Fist at the Great Wall |
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| Fist After Second Jump |
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| Did It Make It? 01 |
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| Did I Make It? 02 |
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| Did I Make It? 03 |
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| Did I Make It? 04 |
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| I MADE IT! 05 |
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Monday (3 Dec)- Pandaren Toys
Monday (3 Dec)- Pandaren Toys
Note - Oops, This should have been posted before the Auction House Post
Pandaria is crazy for toys. "Use" toys on trinkets are kind of cool, and Fist has several that she keeps around for no reason but to have fun with them. Then there are toys that are ... just toys. Here is a random sampling of toys that Fist has. She has Silversage Incense when she wants to meditate around a smelly stick of burning incense. Then there's the Golden Banana, which can be thrown at any person. It just sort of lays there, though. The coolest so far is the Hozen Idol. Target a critter and activate the idol - a yellow beam lances out to the critter for a few seconds - and then BOOM! the critter explodes. That's so much fun they had to put a 20 minute cooldown on it.
On Monday night I got back to back screen lockouts - after playing almost two hours straight - while Fist was actively battling mountain rams up in the mountains. How Fist managed not to die either time during the reboots amazed me. After the second crash I got another idea. I've wondered if there is a program running in the background that is setting it off, but I can't check on that since the game takes up the whole screen. Well, duh, why not run the game in a window instead of full screen?
When I play WoW, I want as much visual real estate as possible, so I always play in full screen mode. For trouble shooting, though, running WoW in a window allows me to have task manager running next to it so I can see what background programs are running, and I can see what activity is going on the next time the screen lockup occurs. I played for another hour with the game in windowed mode. There was no lockup. That doesn't tell me much, yet, but I am going to keep running in windowed mode.
Fist came across some additional quest hubs in Kun-Lai Summit that kept her busy Monday night. Fist has stayed away from dungeon runs because of the screen lockups. I don't like the idea of having my screen freeze in a dungeon in the middle of a boss fight, or having the other four players have to sit through a long wait for Fist to get back in game or find a replacement.
Fist did find enough to do, though, to DING! to level 89.
Note - Oops, This should have been posted before the Auction House Post
Pandaria is crazy for toys. "Use" toys on trinkets are kind of cool, and Fist has several that she keeps around for no reason but to have fun with them. Then there are toys that are ... just toys. Here is a random sampling of toys that Fist has. She has Silversage Incense when she wants to meditate around a smelly stick of burning incense. Then there's the Golden Banana, which can be thrown at any person. It just sort of lays there, though. The coolest so far is the Hozen Idol. Target a critter and activate the idol - a yellow beam lances out to the critter for a few seconds - and then BOOM! the critter explodes. That's so much fun they had to put a 20 minute cooldown on it.
On Monday night I got back to back screen lockouts - after playing almost two hours straight - while Fist was actively battling mountain rams up in the mountains. How Fist managed not to die either time during the reboots amazed me. After the second crash I got another idea. I've wondered if there is a program running in the background that is setting it off, but I can't check on that since the game takes up the whole screen. Well, duh, why not run the game in a window instead of full screen?
When I play WoW, I want as much visual real estate as possible, so I always play in full screen mode. For trouble shooting, though, running WoW in a window allows me to have task manager running next to it so I can see what background programs are running, and I can see what activity is going on the next time the screen lockup occurs. I played for another hour with the game in windowed mode. There was no lockup. That doesn't tell me much, yet, but I am going to keep running in windowed mode.
Fist came across some additional quest hubs in Kun-Lai Summit that kept her busy Monday night. Fist has stayed away from dungeon runs because of the screen lockups. I don't like the idea of having my screen freeze in a dungeon in the middle of a boss fight, or having the other four players have to sit through a long wait for Fist to get back in game or find a replacement.
Fist did find enough to do, though, to DING! to level 89.
Tuesday (5 Dec) - The Neutral Auction House
Tuesday (5 Dec) - The Neutral Auction House
Happy had his alliance counterpart, Lost, do some house cleaning recently. To Happy, "housecleaning" means sending him stuff across the Neutral AH for Happy to sell or use. Lost grumbles that she never gets anything back from those exchanges. That's not entirely true, but with most the alliance side of the family on semi-retirement, they don't need much gold.
On Wednesday morning, Hap and Rakta happily got some game time in at Booty Bay in Stranglethorn Vale, manning the Neutral AH at separate locations. Weekday mornings are best for the transactions, since that is when the fewest people are likely to be using the AH. So, it was pretty surprising to find that the area where one of the Auctioneers hawked his wares, there were four other players hanging around. They hung around, and they hung around ...
Hap is a little new at the process (due to a certain death in the family no one speaks of), so he was going by the books - no transactions if there are other possible buyers around. Rakta is the vet, and she decided to do some testing to see if it was possible to get some business done without losing stuff to buyers stalking the AH for bargains.
Rakta's first surprise was that the neutral AH was empty! There was not one single thing for sale. That was a first, never seen before situation. Just to make sure the AH was functioning, Rakta posted a cheap recipe to see what happened. It posted and appeared in the AH. Ok, so it seems to be working.
The only player hanging around that Rakta took particular note of was a low level alliance with a "bank-like" name was standing right next the Auctioneer and had the Auctioneer targeted. His nameplate said he was "Away" but that did not mean he wasn't watching. Rakta monitored the player for five minutes, but no transactions appeared on AH. Thinking that the ally was watching Rakta, Rakta left the area. Hap, all by himself at the other location, monitored the AH instead of Rakta. Still, no transactions were being made. For all the players about, none of them seemed to be using the neutral AH.
Rakta returned, and tried slipping in a few things, to see what would happen. Hap saw them pop up on the AH and bought them as he was supposed to. No other player jumped in to try and buy the items, which Rakta posts for a single silver piece each to minimize the high cost of transactions charged by the neutral AH.
For the next fifteen minutes Rakta posted items and Hap bought them, moving many stacks of mats between the alliance side to the horde side. The two of them could have been all alone in the world. When the two finished up their business and left, the neutral AH was again empty.
The experiment with a Windowed WoW setup (instead of full screen) has been working well. There were no screen lockups Tuesday night, and Fist was pretty busy, mostly on the Townlong Steppes, where there is a war going on. Fist seems to have picked up a good quest thread, and has been happily bulling her way through them. I'm using about 90% of the screen for WoW and I can't tell any difference in response between windowed and full screen. In fact, logging in and screen swapping seem to work even faster in windowed mode.
Another side benefit of all the scrubbing, deleting, and reinstalling I've done, is that it gives me a chance to standardize a user interface that all of the toons can use. The UIs for each have been built as needed at the time, and don't follow any common template. I will keep the number of addons to those I feel are essential, but I'm not overly worried about the addons anymore. I don't think they were the problem. Fist will be the guinea pig, of course, since she gets the most game time and needs to be the best prepared.
The use of the default game UI was an interesting experiment in itself. I learned that it's workable, when necessary, but comes up well short of what addons can provide. I would not want to use it in a raid, for example, with the expanded number of spells and abilities I would need to have ready access to, versus just questing. The default UI did have one unexpected benefit - without my 3x3 grid of spells (the default UI spells are in one long line) I was pretty much forced to memorize what spell was assigned to what button since I did not have the visual 3x3 array as a crutch to look at. I'm not quite sure whether I will incorporate that into the standard UI, though. I do intend to try to keep the clean look that the default UI enforces. I really do like the way it looks.
Fist's efforts in Townlong Steppes got her to 30% of the way to level 90.
She was also excited to learn she had reached Exalted status with her first Pandaren faction, the Forest Hozen. She was very disappointed, though, to learn it was an empty honor. The Forest Hozen faction does not have any special rewards.
Raiding Update - Fist spoke with MM2 guild leader and raid leader, Bd, Tuesday night. The guild has one raid group that is pretty stable. They have one boss on farm, Bd said, but no other bosses down. They also have a weekly Looking For Raid (LFR) event that pulls in 10-15 players to help improve gear for real raiding. In addition, the guild has two contests coming up - one is a competition in doing Scenarios, and the other is an ambitious pet battle contest. Fist will look into the LFR once she hits level 90, but will probably need to do her dungeon runs to get her gear level high enough for the LFR. Lao caught Wild in game on Wednesday morning and .. well, she wasn't exactly impressed with Wild's gear, calling it "oh so last expansion." Lao was more than half right, since Wild's gear score is only i422, but Wild had to point out that ALL of his gear is Pandaria level. And it's not that pvp stuff, either. So there.
For all the work Fist has been doing, her gear level is not all that much better than Wild's. Fist's equipped gear level is i426. She's being held back by an i384 trinket and an i399 cape. The cape may be taken care of shortly, but the trinket will continue to deflate her gear score until she can get something solid to replace it.
Happy had his alliance counterpart, Lost, do some house cleaning recently. To Happy, "housecleaning" means sending him stuff across the Neutral AH for Happy to sell or use. Lost grumbles that she never gets anything back from those exchanges. That's not entirely true, but with most the alliance side of the family on semi-retirement, they don't need much gold.
On Wednesday morning, Hap and Rakta happily got some game time in at Booty Bay in Stranglethorn Vale, manning the Neutral AH at separate locations. Weekday mornings are best for the transactions, since that is when the fewest people are likely to be using the AH. So, it was pretty surprising to find that the area where one of the Auctioneers hawked his wares, there were four other players hanging around. They hung around, and they hung around ...
Hap is a little new at the process (due to a certain death in the family no one speaks of), so he was going by the books - no transactions if there are other possible buyers around. Rakta is the vet, and she decided to do some testing to see if it was possible to get some business done without losing stuff to buyers stalking the AH for bargains.
Rakta's first surprise was that the neutral AH was empty! There was not one single thing for sale. That was a first, never seen before situation. Just to make sure the AH was functioning, Rakta posted a cheap recipe to see what happened. It posted and appeared in the AH. Ok, so it seems to be working.
The only player hanging around that Rakta took particular note of was a low level alliance with a "bank-like" name was standing right next the Auctioneer and had the Auctioneer targeted. His nameplate said he was "Away" but that did not mean he wasn't watching. Rakta monitored the player for five minutes, but no transactions appeared on AH. Thinking that the ally was watching Rakta, Rakta left the area. Hap, all by himself at the other location, monitored the AH instead of Rakta. Still, no transactions were being made. For all the players about, none of them seemed to be using the neutral AH.
Rakta returned, and tried slipping in a few things, to see what would happen. Hap saw them pop up on the AH and bought them as he was supposed to. No other player jumped in to try and buy the items, which Rakta posts for a single silver piece each to minimize the high cost of transactions charged by the neutral AH.
For the next fifteen minutes Rakta posted items and Hap bought them, moving many stacks of mats between the alliance side to the horde side. The two of them could have been all alone in the world. When the two finished up their business and left, the neutral AH was again empty.
The experiment with a Windowed WoW setup (instead of full screen) has been working well. There were no screen lockups Tuesday night, and Fist was pretty busy, mostly on the Townlong Steppes, where there is a war going on. Fist seems to have picked up a good quest thread, and has been happily bulling her way through them. I'm using about 90% of the screen for WoW and I can't tell any difference in response between windowed and full screen. In fact, logging in and screen swapping seem to work even faster in windowed mode.
Another side benefit of all the scrubbing, deleting, and reinstalling I've done, is that it gives me a chance to standardize a user interface that all of the toons can use. The UIs for each have been built as needed at the time, and don't follow any common template. I will keep the number of addons to those I feel are essential, but I'm not overly worried about the addons anymore. I don't think they were the problem. Fist will be the guinea pig, of course, since she gets the most game time and needs to be the best prepared.
The use of the default game UI was an interesting experiment in itself. I learned that it's workable, when necessary, but comes up well short of what addons can provide. I would not want to use it in a raid, for example, with the expanded number of spells and abilities I would need to have ready access to, versus just questing. The default UI did have one unexpected benefit - without my 3x3 grid of spells (the default UI spells are in one long line) I was pretty much forced to memorize what spell was assigned to what button since I did not have the visual 3x3 array as a crutch to look at. I'm not quite sure whether I will incorporate that into the standard UI, though. I do intend to try to keep the clean look that the default UI enforces. I really do like the way it looks.
Fist's efforts in Townlong Steppes got her to 30% of the way to level 90.
She was also excited to learn she had reached Exalted status with her first Pandaren faction, the Forest Hozen. She was very disappointed, though, to learn it was an empty honor. The Forest Hozen faction does not have any special rewards.
Raiding Update - Fist spoke with MM2 guild leader and raid leader, Bd, Tuesday night. The guild has one raid group that is pretty stable. They have one boss on farm, Bd said, but no other bosses down. They also have a weekly Looking For Raid (LFR) event that pulls in 10-15 players to help improve gear for real raiding. In addition, the guild has two contests coming up - one is a competition in doing Scenarios, and the other is an ambitious pet battle contest. Fist will look into the LFR once she hits level 90, but will probably need to do her dungeon runs to get her gear level high enough for the LFR. Lao caught Wild in game on Wednesday morning and .. well, she wasn't exactly impressed with Wild's gear, calling it "oh so last expansion." Lao was more than half right, since Wild's gear score is only i422, but Wild had to point out that ALL of his gear is Pandaria level. And it's not that pvp stuff, either. So there.
For all the work Fist has been doing, her gear level is not all that much better than Wild's. Fist's equipped gear level is i426. She's being held back by an i384 trinket and an i399 cape. The cape may be taken care of shortly, but the trinket will continue to deflate her gear score until she can get something solid to replace it.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Weekend (2 Dec) - The Incursion Huntress
Weekend (2 Dec) - The Incursion Huntress
Fist was out and about for awhile on Saturday night. On Friday I got a screen lockout, the first since I did the PC scrub and the reinstall of WoW. Sigh. I was only using two addons, Auctioneer and Postal, and now they are both gone, too. It's likely a computer problem, though, having tried everything else.
Fist, it appears, has fallen into an in between position again. She has no quests and no clear idea where to head next. The last place she was dropped at was in the Valley of Eternal Blossoms. Fist took a ride with the flight master at Mogu'shan Palace, but it dumped her into an area of burning buildings with no one about - and no flight master, either. Apparently, Fist has missed a quest chain somewhere. A little frustrated, Fist hearthed to Honeydew and called it a night.
Before she left, Fist did have an interesting encounter in Four Winds (Thunderfoot Fields, I think) prior to the above. She was rescuing people, which entailed killing their captors first. In the middle of one such battle Fist was ganged up on by what she assumed was two more of the usual level 87/88 mobs she'd been slaughtering all evening. They weren't. They were level 90 pvp npcs, and they were elite. The name of the mob was "Incursion Huntress."
I looked it up in wowhead. It's an alliance npc, and they hang out in Krasarang Wilds, well south of where Fist was. All I can think of is that a player kited it over to where I was. Unfortunately, I didn't think to grab a screenshot. Fist made a fight of it, getting the elite to about 25% before Fist died.
Fist is 40% of the way to level 89.
Saturday - Got another scare on the computer late Saturday night. Fist was in Halfhill doing some farming - it's not quite as simple as Fist had thought - when an urgent message popped up on the screen. "Microsoft Security Essentials has detected viruses on your computer. Click ok to clean."
That was alarming. But, hmm, I have a virus checker, Avast. It didn't have any warnings to impart. I managed to do an online check to see what Microsoft Security Essentials was all about despite some intrusive attempts to take over my browser and force that click. The program in question is a valid Microsoft product, but it is a voluntary free download, not something installed by the operating system. I checked my system files and it isn't even installed on my computer.
There was no way I was going to click that button, but I also couldn't get it to go away. I could kill the browser, but when I opened it back up the message would be back. So I restarted the computer and it went away. I had Avast run a virus check just to be sure and it came up clean. I had read that Microsoft recently lost it's seal of approval for their virus checker. It wouldn't surprise me if that was an attempt to get me to install their virus checker, trying to convince me that I needed it to get rid of a virus. The good news is that Fist was in game for almost two hours with no screen lockout.
However, Fist spent more time than she wanted doing little more than looking for something to do. It's really weird, but she has been forced to start flight path jumping to try and find quests to do. She finds pockets of three-five quests, but once they are done there are no suggestions leading to another set of quests, such as "take this chicken to Kentucky Fried and talk to Colonel Sanders." I'm used to having to delete quests from my quest book because all 25 quest slots are full. Not in Pandaria. Fist rarely has more than a dozen open quests, and way too often can count her open quests on one hand.
She called it a night in Kun-Lai Summit at a little out of the way place called The Grummle Baazar. There are three quests there, which is the sum total of her open quests.
Fist creeped along, increasing that 40% to 56% of the way to level 89.
Fist was out and about for awhile on Saturday night. On Friday I got a screen lockout, the first since I did the PC scrub and the reinstall of WoW. Sigh. I was only using two addons, Auctioneer and Postal, and now they are both gone, too. It's likely a computer problem, though, having tried everything else.
Fist, it appears, has fallen into an in between position again. She has no quests and no clear idea where to head next. The last place she was dropped at was in the Valley of Eternal Blossoms. Fist took a ride with the flight master at Mogu'shan Palace, but it dumped her into an area of burning buildings with no one about - and no flight master, either. Apparently, Fist has missed a quest chain somewhere. A little frustrated, Fist hearthed to Honeydew and called it a night.
Before she left, Fist did have an interesting encounter in Four Winds (Thunderfoot Fields, I think) prior to the above. She was rescuing people, which entailed killing their captors first. In the middle of one such battle Fist was ganged up on by what she assumed was two more of the usual level 87/88 mobs she'd been slaughtering all evening. They weren't. They were level 90 pvp npcs, and they were elite. The name of the mob was "Incursion Huntress."
I looked it up in wowhead. It's an alliance npc, and they hang out in Krasarang Wilds, well south of where Fist was. All I can think of is that a player kited it over to where I was. Unfortunately, I didn't think to grab a screenshot. Fist made a fight of it, getting the elite to about 25% before Fist died.
Fist is 40% of the way to level 89.
Saturday - Got another scare on the computer late Saturday night. Fist was in Halfhill doing some farming - it's not quite as simple as Fist had thought - when an urgent message popped up on the screen. "Microsoft Security Essentials has detected viruses on your computer. Click ok to clean."
That was alarming. But, hmm, I have a virus checker, Avast. It didn't have any warnings to impart. I managed to do an online check to see what Microsoft Security Essentials was all about despite some intrusive attempts to take over my browser and force that click. The program in question is a valid Microsoft product, but it is a voluntary free download, not something installed by the operating system. I checked my system files and it isn't even installed on my computer.
There was no way I was going to click that button, but I also couldn't get it to go away. I could kill the browser, but when I opened it back up the message would be back. So I restarted the computer and it went away. I had Avast run a virus check just to be sure and it came up clean. I had read that Microsoft recently lost it's seal of approval for their virus checker. It wouldn't surprise me if that was an attempt to get me to install their virus checker, trying to convince me that I needed it to get rid of a virus. The good news is that Fist was in game for almost two hours with no screen lockout.
However, Fist spent more time than she wanted doing little more than looking for something to do. It's really weird, but she has been forced to start flight path jumping to try and find quests to do. She finds pockets of three-five quests, but once they are done there are no suggestions leading to another set of quests, such as "take this chicken to Kentucky Fried and talk to Colonel Sanders." I'm used to having to delete quests from my quest book because all 25 quest slots are full. Not in Pandaria. Fist rarely has more than a dozen open quests, and way too often can count her open quests on one hand.
She called it a night in Kun-Lai Summit at a little out of the way place called The Grummle Baazar. There are three quests there, which is the sum total of her open quests.
Fist creeped along, increasing that 40% to 56% of the way to level 89.
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