Just In Time To Curl Up With

I can has teddy bear transport?







Yes, but only at the cost of catching the flu, it would seem. *sigh*

In other news, Skinning has reached slvl 375 and I have Aspatha the white moth to level and test for DPS. At least I can keep myself busy while I'm sick.

Xanthelei the Argent Champion

Has such a nice ring to it, I must say.

When In Rome...

Pike at Aspect of the Hare was recently tagged for a meme to show off the 6th screenshot in her folder, regardless of what it is, and in turn tagged anyone who wanted to. Well, I happen to like my 6th screenshot, so I'll share. :)

This is the coolest picture I have ever taken, bar none:

The view of Light's Chapel from the Death Knight staging grounds, just before charging in for a one-sided fight. But while I love the DK starting area - and it's quests! - I just can't get that into my DK. So he's probably going to be stuck as my auctioneer.

/comfort Tenderizor

How Blizz Got It Wrong By Getting It Right

It seems these days that poor Blizzard just can't win one. As the title says, they got something very wrong in getting something very right in Wrath.

Achievements. Love 'em, hate 'em, ignore 'em; whatever floats your boat. Me, I'm a completest. When I was younger, I was so into Pokemon I actually caught all of the originals on my Yellow cartridge - just to find out that you did not get Mew, or the ability to buy some super awesome item for $10, but instead you got to print out a certificate that says "I have no life!" On a Gameboy printer neither I nor anyone else I knew even had heard about.

Yeah, I started over.

But back to World of Warcraft's Achievement system. In Burning Crusade (and possibly in Vanilla) end game, there wasn't really anything to do other than PvP, raid, or level another toon. To combat this ending of the game syndrome, Blizz decided to copy Xbox and give you titles, items and mounts for doing certain things in the game. Uncovered all of the map while herbing? Have an Achievement! Reach level 80? Have another! Mastered your craft? Here you go - a fancy ding! just for you. Got the Bloodsail hat, pointlessly making all of the goblins south of Northrend hate you in the process? Erm, yeah, have a ding, a title, and seriously - go get some fresh air.

On paper it sounds like a ton of fun. And I'll admit, it's nice to see something for doing something you'd do anyway, like train a craft or hit a new level. But there's people in this world where the casual, "Oh hey I got something done" mentality just doesn't work. People like me.

I have already decided I will have the Admiral title, the Loremaster title and tabard, that little skunk minipet, and as many proto-drakes as I can stuff in my digital bags. And when they decide what to do with the points that come along with the cool stuff, I'll be able to buy everything in the store. And since my work is keeping me from raiding right now, this gives me a nice reason to keep playing my toons.

The real problem comes in deciding what I'm going to work on. In the past week, I've powered Blacksmithing and Jewelcrafting to 300 on my Paladin (yes, I am crazy), leveled Leatherworking on Xanthelei from 1 to about 370, started collecting items for turn ins with Cenarian Circle, gone through a third of the quests needed in Ice Crown to inch my way to Loremaster... and a bunch of other stuff I can't even think of right now.

How am I supposed to DO it all? I can't even keep track of what I was working on two days ago, let alone filter through all my "dailies" for rep, items, and such today!

The solution? Permanent Achievement tracking. Blizzard is on the right track in making Achievements filterable, and allowing you to track a certain one per session. What they really need to do now is fine tune this. I would love to see Achievement (and quest!) tracking saved between sessions (and in fact Overachiever has already proven this can be done), as well as letting you track more than one Achievement at a time. Even if this meant you could only track up to six Achievements and/or quests at once, I would be happy with that.

So what's the bottom line, in my opinion? Love the Achievement system, but want to buy better basic tools for working with it. And I'm really hoping the rep returns in Booty Bay have increased, because 5 per kill is cramping my Steady Shot finger...

A Letter From Thrall

I been keepin' busy dis mornin', what with runnin' round an' grabbin' herbs outta da ground. Got me a few shinies for dat, too.

I had just returned ta Razor Hill when de inn keeper, Grosk, told me a letter had come for me. He seemed ta tink it be important, so I checked de mailbox - an he was right.

Thrall, de great warchief o' da Horde, had summoned me ta Orgrimmar for an audience.

O'course I went immediately! Kneeling before da great warchief was thrillin', mon, even if it be a bit scary. He told me der be a corruption near Orgrimmar, and asked me ta find and kill a person o' rank in dis Burning Blade cult. His idear were ta get whatever marker dey use ta identify der higher-ups, den test an ally o' his - Neeru Fireblade - an' make sure he not be one o' dem nasties. So I done it and got meself a stone rune what say I be important, den go talk to dis Neeru fella.
Les just say, I can see why Thrall be da warchief. Sure enough, Neeru starts tellin' me how we be part o' da Shadow Council and rippin' on Thrall's honor. Was all I could do ta not shoot an arrow in his eye right dere, but Thrall said to just get his reaction to da rune. My pet Scorpid, Bloodtalon, sure picked up on me bein' outta sorts, so I got outta dere 'fore he decided ta sting dat filthy liar in de foot.

I were surprised ta see Thrall was bein' so cheerful 'bout all dis when I reported back. I told him all dat Neeru had said ta me, an' I was told ta head into dat Chasm in de city ta shoot arrows in de faces o' two leaders o' da Searing Blade. I weren't ta let Neeru know it were me, o'course, since dat'd blow my cover 'n all, but I be happy ta oblige de warchief. Jus' as soon as I know I ain't gonna die in dere, yanno?

Show And Tell

'Ello mon. My name be Nykol, and dis be my story 'bout runnin' round Azeroth. Now, Xanthy dun know 'bout my talkin' to ya, so keep it down-low, ya?

It took me a while ta get outta dat valley where dey make ya do chores for your allowance, but now I be on my own in Durotar. Lotsa runnin' mon, and I tell ya, someone need ta make shoes we Trolls can wear. Dem rocks hurt!

One o'da first tings I wanted ta do was ta go and train up in de arts of skinnin' and herbin'. I figure if I's got gold, what I need craftin' skills for mon? I can just buy what I need! Besides, dem mounts ain't free, and I ain't walkin' my whole life. Anywho's, best place ta train up in somethin' be Orgrimmar, so dat's where I headed. Found a few tings ta do along da way, so I had a few silver which ta buy some trainings with when I got der. But, heh, what's a girl ta do when some goblin promises a whole new look for under a silver? So I let 'em chop off da mane and add some ogre spit, and I must say, dis be sassy.


So after blowin' half my moneh at dis place, I got around to da trainin'. And whaddya know, some orc be runnin' round Org tellin' everybody 'bout some fairground outside of Thunderbluff. I knows an opportunity when I sees one, and dis be an opportunity for fun, so off I go.

Problem is, I forgot about da runnin'. /grimace

Fairs always seem to be more hype dan dey are fun. After all dat runnin', all I could do was turn in the voucher that fashion-deprived orc gave me for five tickets, then hearth back home, where I celebrated my 10 season milestone. At least I found a few flight paths for later.

Now I gotta snag a few beasties for dis orc what be trainin' me ta befriend 'em, so I better get to it. Later mon.

Comma =/= Period

So I've been on a small hiatus from WoW the past, oh, three days, while I get my finances in order. It's hard to enjoy shooting things in the face with a bow an arrow when you're screaming inside about a bill bigger than rent, electricity and internet all rolled into one (yes, I'm glaring at you, Sallie Mae!).

Meanwhile, I have found another blog I may read sporadically that serves a dual purpose, the first being to enjoy reading. Lienna the Belf Huntress is Surviving well in Northrend, it seems. Love the down to earth style of writing, but the run on sentences make me cringe inside. Ah well, not everyone is anal about writing like I am, and I can live with that. Check her out, random Pike-person who apparently checks my blog every so often. (Seriously gal, you came back? I'm impressed!) :P

Meanwhile, I shall return to crunching numbers and shortly fall into bed. I am blessed, I have a job... too bad it's an hour's drive from here. =(

And yes, I've left off the second purpose off on, well, purpose. I'm not ready to share with the class yet. :D