A wine, with gentle hints of cat.

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I just bought this wine.



That's right. (PS -ya like the white board behind me to remind me to update mods and get buff reagents?)



Gentle hints of cat.

I haven't drank it yet, but I will soon!



I know this has nothing to do with WoW, but I figure most of my subsequent posts won't. Feel free to stick around anyway. =)

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RealID? More like LolID.

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This actually happened. No, really, it did.

Read this post, pass it along. It's too hilarious/scary not to.

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Nostalgia?

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I was just thinking today about how I actually started playing WoW.

Me [looking over Pete's shoulder]: So what are they all doing?
Pete: Well, they're just hanging around.
Me: But I mean... why? What are they doing?
Pete: Well, this is a city. It's called Ironforge. People are just chilling here.
Me: But why? Is this some kind of arena? What are they actually doing? Can you fight people?
Pete: No, it's a city, it's a safe haven. Unless some horde roll in and own the place, we're safe.
Me: So you can't kill anything?
Pete: Well, you can kill stuff if you go outside the city. There's bunches of things to kill. But you can't kill Alliance members.
Me: So who CAN you kill in the city.
Pete: ....no one.
Me: Huh.
Pete: Uh huh.
Me: How come you can run through people.
Pete: It's just how the game works.
Me: Huh.
Pete: Yup.
Me: But what are they all DOING here?? Why would anyone just stand around in a city. I mean - that guy, that guy right there. On that horse. Why is he going over there. What's he doing.
Pete: ....I don't know. Maybe he's going to go buy some mats, or sell something on the AH.
Me: What are mats? What's the AH?
Pete: Well--
[Pete randomly opens his bags for whatever reason]
Me: Holy crap, what ARE all those things?
Pete: Uh, well, there's lots of stuff.
Me: Do you actually know what they all DO?!?!
Pete: Yes.
Me: [impressed]
Pete [thinking]: Dear god, I just impressed a girl by opening my bags in World of Warcraft.
Me: But they're all DIFFERENT.
Pete: Right. Food, items, gear, mats, whatever.
Me: If I played this game, I would NEVER keep ANY of that stuff straight, ever.
Me: So can you go kill something for me?

[Later, Pete is in Nagrand]

Me: Oh, my god, there's water, falling from the sky!
Pete: Yeah, kind of neat, huh?
Me: OH! There's a lake!!!!
Pete: Mmm.
Me: Can you swim in the water?!?!
Pete: ...uh, yeah.
Me: DO IT DO IT DO IT
Pete: ......
[Pete swims through water]
Me: *squeeeeee*
Pete: You know, if you played a druid, you could swim in the water AND be a kitty at the same time.
Me: [already in the process of DLing the free trial of WoW]

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Mr. O: pwning manatees since right now.

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Tanking?!

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So, like most pre-expansions, I'm finding myself spending far less time on Averna, and spending much more time leveling alts. Here's my spread:

Fiorea, 66 shaman. I've got her dual-specced for ele and heals. I've been focusing on her more than the other alts, just because I'm so close to getting her to Northrend.

Shimai, 40 disc priest. I'm really digging disc as heals. For all I know, low level healing is way easier as holy, but I don't care. I like to shield things.

Maitea, 35 tanky drood. Yup, that's right - I have two druids. And this one is a tank! =O

Leaps, 27 rogue. Leaps is a female gnome who levels with another female gnome rogue, Bounds (played by Pete). Yes: Leaps and Bounds. Also, they look *exactly* the same. It's terrifyingly awesome.

I've learned a lot by playing these different toons. Something that specifically comes to mind is the difference between healing and tanking, even in the same exact scenario.

Imagine this situation. You're in a random 5 man, leveling up on your alt. A pack is pulled in Scarlet Monastery. The mage next to you starts going wild with Blizzard, and the hunter unloads all of his specials on the one mob that the tank hasn't pulled aggro on yet. You look, and three out of five people have aggro. One of the Scarlet Protectors hits 20% health and runs away in fear, bringing back another pack. Pop quiz, hot shot! What do YOU DO!*

On Shimai (my priest): Yawn. Here, have a shield. Want a renew? Sure. *twiddle thumbs* Eh, I'ma curse some shit. Oh, now the warlock has aggro too? Teehee! Fun! Have another shield.

On Maitea (my tank): OHHH MYYYY GODDDD WHAT THE EFF ARE THEY DOING WHY ISNT MY TAUNT UP WHY IS ENRAGE ON CD WHY DID FAERIE FIRE MISS WHY DID THAT OTHER PACK PULL AHHHHH KHAAAAAAAN

On my healer, a dpser will pull aggro and it is no. big. deal. In fact, I expect it. I don't think the tank is a bad tank, or the dpser is a bad dpser (unless it is chronic throughout the run). As a healer, I'm ready for any type of pull - I have my oh-shit buttons ready, my mana at a reasonable level (usually), and a sharp eye on who has aggro when.

On my tank, if a dpser pulls aggro, it is a catastrophe. I am *certain* that the healer hates me, that the dps think I can't hold aggro worth shit, and that they think I am pulling either a) too fast, or b) too slowly. So I panic and click on the big red Threat Plates nameplate (the one that screams at you "I am big and red and you should taunt me because I'm wailing on someone else right now!") and mash taunt, or faerie fire, or panic because both are on CD, and inevitably accidently hit survival instincts which is the button right next to those two, which I am sure makes the other 4 people in my group snicker and think "noob, why's she popping that now?" and then frantically try to get enough rage to swipe my Scarlet Crusaders' guts out. Panic city. Whoever said tanking was a yawnfest is an ass. Luckily, I have posts by the Bear to guide me. =D

After all is said and done, however, I actually really enjoy tanking. I just need to put a lot more mental energy into it. I could do 10 instances in a row on any of my healers, and be watching TV at the same time, or eating dinner, or whatever. With my tank, I can really only do 2 or 3 before my brain starts to fry from the intensity of my concentration. Funny how that works.



So I've got my hands full with all this alt leveling. I considered saving one or two for Cataclysm, but honestly, I just know I'm going to want to level a Worgen. Yo dawg, I herd you liked aminals so I made you aminal toon that you can turn into an aminal so you can aminal while you aminal. BRILLIANT! Makes me want to roll a Worgen druid, but can I really have three?!

So the question is, what class should be Worgen be?

Druid: Ixnay. I already have two.
Hunter: Quite possible. I already have an 80 hunter, but I had a total blast leveling her.
Warlock: I've tried leveling a warlock twice and it always got deleted.
Mage: Maaaybe. I have a level 50 fire mage that I kind of stopped leveling. She was fun, though.
Priest: Nope.
Warrior: Ew, no. Most boring class I played to level 20. Sorry, warriors.
DK: Nope. I want to experience "old" (new?!) world content.
Rogue: I'm satisfied with Leaps at the moment.

After listing them out like that, I'm thinking mage. Really, my mage is the only "fun" class that I've abandoned (oh, poor Airalee. I got stuck/bored in the Searing Gorge, which is the worst place for a fire mage to play). Unless I give up on my priest or something, I'm thinking I'll go mage. Maybe frost this time. Airalee was totally a fire chick. She had red hair and looked bad ass. It was only fitting to have her throw fire balls.

Are any of you guys making a worgen? Do you healers get stressed out when you tank? Any pointers you want to give me? (I can use any and all!)

(*at John P: I had to, I just had to. :P)

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Captain Octopus!

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Captain Octopus: making sure octopi get the ice cream they deserve, all the time, every time.




I really should come up with a better layout than just post-it notes and tape. Hm.

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Lich King down!

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Yup, that's right - our ten man achievement run finally did it! After weeks and weeks of figuring out how to coordinate the heals on infest, work out the timing on horrors, burn down raging spirits, move out of defile, heal through/mitigate Soul Reaper, snare Val'kyrs, avoid/take (depending) vile spirits, and rock out in the LK's Frostmourne, we FINALLY did it. 10 man, no buff, clean kill. Not only that, but it was the first attempt of the entire night. We totally rocked it. =)


Onto heroic mode!
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