[#c.T.] FTW!

Hellz yeah, busted out some fun stuff this weekend.  Kara was pretty cool, we busted through it so fast it was ridiculous.  So funny to think that way back when, it took 2 full nights.  Also hit up some of the others like Zul’Aman.  Magtheridon was a bit harder than the last time I ran it though…  Of course, considering last time we had 25 lvl 70’s and this time only one lvl 70 and like 5 80’s…  That might be why, lol.  But the 500g split among only like 6 people and the challenge of actually getting him down was totally worth it.

In case you can’t tell, it was an achievement weekend for us, lol.  Last few weeks we managed to get Classic Raider, Outland Dungeon Hero, Northrend Dungeon Hero, and then a slew of others such as Emerald Void and Experienced Drake Rider.

And this is why I’m glad that bliz added achievements to the world.  I mean, we could do these things on our own, just for the hell of it, but it’s rewarding to see the thing flash across your screen.  Or when you’re just plugging away and you see it pop up in chat for a guildie.  It’s also a fun way to look at your character and see how many different things you’ve done.  Some people might say ‘I’ve done all the raids in the game and have this awesome gear’ others ‘I’ve got 37 different titles’ and others ‘I’ve got over 75 minipets’.  To each his/her own – it’s one cool way to customize your character and let it reflect what you have done with your char.  Though I tell you, after becoming an Accomplished Angler on two diff chars… I’m not planning on going for it on a third for a while!

So anyway, gratz to those that got the achievements with me this weekend, and thank you for your help.  Teamwork is the only way to get them (either that or a hell of a lot of luck!).

Nostalgia Run

Yeah, doin Kara tonight.  Just for the hell of it on some alts.  Taking some guildies who weren’t high enough to do it back in BC.  Should be fun, can’t wait for the “oh yeah, that used to wipe us!” when people do things like move during a flame wreath and it only knocks them down a little, lol.  Or just to see how fast we can power-dps-down some of the bosses.  Might have to have a priest mele tank on one or two fights, lol.

Cockroach & GF's...

Lol, saw this and thought I just had to share. Specifically for a certain ogre that doesn't blog anymore...

New Class!

I know, long awaited are not only hearing the outline of changes, announced at blizzcon – but also, the inevitable commentary…  So first, the unedited summary, posted on bliz’ site:

Also receiving a massive overall are hunters.  The hunter’s need to rely upon mana is completely gone, and instead they will use focus. This means hunters will no longer care at all about Intellect, mana regen or Aspect of the Viper.

Focus will regenerate continually, similar to how rogues or feral druids regenerate energy. For comparison, rogues regenerate approximately 10 energy per second, whereas hunters will regenerate 6 focus per second.  However, Steady Shot can also be used to improve focus regen, and bring the rate at which hunters regenerate focus to 12 per second.

The hunter will have a maximum of 100 focus, and shots might cost 30 or 60 focus, with fewer cooldowns on abilities. Another exciting and long-awaited change regards the ammunition system. Ammunition will become an equipable item, and will no longer be consumable.

More details on that later!

And now the commentary…

Bliz is removing the Hunter class and has created a new one to replace it – Ranged Rogue!  I can say that I am glad I have alts that are not hunters, so I won’t have to play a ranged rogue.  I mean, I like the ammo change.  Not quite lore-friendly (an auto-replentishing single arrow??) but definitely nice on the bank (don’t have to pay  for more and more ammo – and people say tanks are the only one with big repair bills – heh, hunters don’t pay as much in repairs, but we then also go buy ammo), and nice on the bag space too.

But anyway – focus…  I picked the class because I wanted certain base mechanics.  Like a ranged damage dealer, that very rarely has to deal with spell pushback.  I also like the way mana is setup that you start at max, each thing you do costs some, you regen slowly over time, and if you do it wrong then you run out in the middle of the fight.  I like that we have various abilities that have different cooldowns, so it becomes an art form with timing them properly for maximum effect.

So now they’re going to want me to play a new character.  Instead of the things above that I liked, and the reason I picked the class (well, and for the pet too, d’uh!) they want me to change styles completely.  Now I get to cast any spells I want and not worry about cooldowns or anything – rather, I get to wait until my focus comes back, then burn it, then grow it, then burn it.  (I know, there’s more to it, but I’m simplifying here).  Seriously?  Like, you just gutted the class put someone else’s insides in it, then sewed it up and thought we’d think it looked like a present?  And on top of that, we’re supposed to be happy about it.  Like, happy about how one of the stats on our gear… is now useless to us…  Happy about how we have no choice in the matter…

This is basically like saying “hmm, we never got Paladin Tanks quite right.  Instead of using mana, we’re gonna give you rage instead, so you’re more like the Warriors.  Sorry, you’re going to have to learn how to build up rage instead of managing your mana.”

I mean, seriously?  Like, you’re actually planning on doing that to hunters?  Wtf?  Fine, whatever, since I can’t really influence their decisions, I’ll have to live with it.  But if you’re gonna f with us that bad, can you give us a stealth while you’re at it?  You know, so we can be more like hunters and sneak through the forest instead of running through it yelling “here I am!”  You’re making us ranged rogues anyway, so why not just include that with the “massive overhaul” too?

Simply put – my only rogue character is a lvl 13 because that’s how far I got when trying the class before I got annoyed with it and stopped playing.  I didn’t like how focus works then, and I don’t now.  Leave my character alone bliz.  I understand tweaks, like adjusting spells and abilities as needed, but don’t change one of the base mechanics of the class.

BlizzCon 2009

I had been planning on putting up a bunch of random theories about what they’d announce, what they’re planning, etc.  However, most would’ve been wrong, way off, though albeit very humorous.  However, I didn’t get the time, and BlizzCon 2009 is already here…  So instead I’ll wait like everyone else, lost in our own speculations.  Ghostcrawler has made many comments about revamping the Hunter class, so we’ll have to see what they plan to do.

Btw, did anyone else notice a patch today?

Cleaning the place out!

It was a good night for Galoriar.  After something like 4 months of no new drops, he picked up a new helm (first non-engineering goggle in like 1.5 years), new 2H, and new gun.  Yay!

Can’t complain too much that it’s been ages.  That was back when I had the time to run Naxx & OBS & such more regularly.  It was also before I got Datouv up to 80, since we needed tanks.  And since we needed tanks, it meant I never got to play Gal.  Then I finally got Kurandel up to 80, and since a bunch of guildies hit 80 too, we were all gearing them up together, so again no Gal.  So after a long wait… 3 Cheers for Gear!!!

Oh, and also thx to guildies for the drake!  Yay!  Told you Galoriar cleaned house…  Now time to get everyone else more gear too.  And another drake…

Drop Rates

Yeah, they’re predictable. It’s all done with RNG’s, but I figured out the formulas! Stop reading – this post may contain bliz spoilers…

Still here? Ok, here goes – the loot you want won’t, and the loot you won’t want will. At least, that’s the quick version. The real math behind it is related to who is in your group. So if you take a clothie healer, clothie dps, plate dps, plate dps, and plate tank – leather will drop. Similarly, if you have all mail & cloth wearers, plate will drop. But it gets more complicated, because sometimes trinkets cross over those lines, but it still follows the same general rules.

Thus it’s because of those crossovers that on occasion, the RNG gets all confused and accidentally drops something you want – like the helm or axe Datouv needed! Heck, we also got bracers for a guildie! I think the RNG must have been having a bad day or something because I think we got a couple other things too, I just can’t remember what they are, lol.

All joking aside, you must admit its cool when you run an instance to pick up gear, and you actually get something you can use.

//UPDATE// So today was the crocalisk fishing quest and the rumors are true - bliz messed w/ the RNG's because they realized how rediculous they were, and now the RNG's are confused. Not only did we test on 6 characters and all of them received a croc, but 1 of those was even Galoriar! Interestingly, 8 months ago I posted that I got a croc after 9 months of trying and predicted it'd be another 9 months or so until I got my next...

Redick-oo-lus

So I’ve determined, ToC is just plain crazy.  Not the instance itself.  Actually, I find it rather fun.  Kinda nice to have the champion-style dungeon, similar to VH but better.  Essentially no trash to bother with, and if you wipe – you get to start from where you left off.  So it’s basically boss fight after boss fight.

No, the ridiculous part is the loot.  I can’t believe how long it took to gear up before the latest patch.  I mean, badge farming or raid farming was about all your choices.  And with the lockouts, that meant it took weeks before you got a drop.  Or even had a shot at it!  Galoriar ran Nax regularly for a bit, and there’s still plenty of upgrades in there for him.  Kurandel, on the other hand, will soon be able to run ToC on heroic, and pick up gear better than Nax.  And he can farm it for the gear too! (If I had the time).  I mean, I know bliz is trying to make it easier for people to gear up so they can do all the end-game content, but seriously?  Other than just for nostalgic runs, achievements, or to show some newbies the zone, will anyone even bother with OBS or Nax?  What’s the point if you can take 30 minutes and get better gear off H.ToC?

Sry, it’s just frustrating to me.  Yes, it’s nice to be able to gear up my alt quickly.  But half of the fun is in actually earning the gear…

New Dungeon

Nope, haven’t had a shot at it yet.  One of these days…  Gotta love it when life gets in the way and you don’t have time for it.  Or when you do finally have the time, and no one else is on.  Oh well.  Just 1 more year and the MBA is done.  Then we should have a little more time on our hands.  You know, like 30-40 more hours per week…

In lighter news, I picked up Jeeves this weekend!  Well, I don’t have him yet.  Got the schematic on SAT and actually had almost all the mats on our various characters.  Only needed to farm a little Adamantite and Thorium and that was it.  And buy the stones, but that’s because we’re saving our Titanium for a couple other things, so we don’t want to prospect it yet.  So why do I not quite have him?  Well, we only have 4 Titansteel cooldowns among our chars, so we used all 4 on SAT.  Then we didn’t log in on SUN evening (when the cd was up) because of the MBA, so the next time I log in we can burn the 4 again and I can finish Jeeves!  Yay!

Then I realized I hadn’t made Moll-E yet, so I made him too, lol.  It’s nice to be somewhat useful as an engineer!

WoW & Pre

Ok, this one I just have to share. I mean, I like my pre a lot. I enjoy playing WoW (even if I don't care for bliz). And yes, my pre sits on my desk most of the time, next to my computer (it gets service there, lol). But not quite this obviously...



Think that battery is big enough? Sure, a time or two I wish mine lasted longer, but no way in hell would I get one that big! I did like the nice touch of it sitting on the mousepad. Especially considering it's bigger than the owner's mouse no doubt...

Not so bad...

Well, for a patch day, last night wasn’t too bad.  Most addons continued to work.  Lag was bad, as usual, but it wasn’t too terribly bad and instances still worked so I guess bliz was above par there.  The one thing that bliz needs to learn though, is that patch days take longer than they expect.  They need to tell the guy at the fast food place “we expect to be down until 3PM eastern – when you think we’ll be back up?” so he can go “at least 6PM dude”.  Now, we all know this, so we expect them to be down longer than they say, but they really should look at being more accurate from the start.  It’s called customer service…

I’ll tell you the most annoying part though – arkinventory was broken L.Amazing how useful an addon can be, and how you only really think about that when it’s broken…

Draenic Pale Ale

Ok, I think this beer is by far the best virtual one around, lol.  One char it did nothing but get him a little tipsy.  Always a bit of fun right there.  Like the time we played drunken chess in Kara…  Another character saw pink elephants.  Never had that happen in RL, so it was fun to know that at least my char can see them!  But then my third char actually wound up riding one!  What could be cooler than that?!  Ok, well, lots of things.  But still gotta give bliz props for 5 min of fun.