BOOYA!

I believe the phrase I'm looking for here is...

BOOYA!!!!

Lyllea, Destroyer's End. Has a nice ring to it. Yay Redeemed for coming back from a series of heartbreaking sub 5% wipes to squash that stupid dragon!

I should write stuff here, shouldn't I?

Sorry about the radio silence. Between a massive serotonin drop (stupid brain) and my new class (whee becoming a certified project manager, boo 10+ hours a week on class and homework), I haven't been very motivated to talk about stuff.  But here, stuff! In more or less brain dump fashion....

1. You can get to the frogs for a chance at Mojo in Zul Aman without being in a group. Here's how I did it on Garetia (my hunter)...
a. Open doors with help of NPC (most annoying part of the process, I swear)
b. Make sure mass of mobs has spawned and is coming towards you. Make a run for the exit. Once outside wait about 30 seconds or so.
c. Carefully sneak back in. The mass of mobs should be gone, and now all you have to do is avoid the wandering elite patrol, kill some of the very squishy trash in your way, and get down to the water. Sneaking and or potions of invisibility are helpful, as is a track humanoids ability (which you can get from a particular food if you're not a hunter)
d. Use up all hex sticks on frogs hoping for Mojo. There's 16 or so frogs, so I'd get as many sticks as you can.
e. Good luck! I'm going to try this on Lyl as well, see how it goes on a character without stealth or humanoid tracking.

2. I've joined twitterland raiding. I have yet to do anything with them, but I like the idea. I do wish there were more Horde raids though.

3. Healers Must Die is really useful for dungeon-running.

4. I'm currently experimenting with seeing how fast I can gear up two toons. One, my much-neglected pally (and I might even make her a holy set), and two, my 84.5 mage. The mage already has a full set of pvp blues, 3000ish justice points (from being leveled mostly through dungeons from 70-now), and a good collection of 308 and 316 gear. I am beginning to think all other dungeons besides Throne of Tides, Stonecore, Blackrock, and Vortex Pinnacle are myths though.

5. I finally have a shaman set I like. I need to go farm the mace that looks like a torch, and I'm still deciding on shields, but I think this is a pretty awesome looking set. I'm not so sure about the shirt, but the armor's a bit too revealing by itself, and I've yet to find another shirt I like.

Speaking of transmog, Redeemed wandered into Ulduar 10 to work on getting people drakes, and Lyl picked up some good gear (including a really cool-looking offhand). I'm hopeful that before Mists, Lyllea ends up with the ICC and Ulduar 25 drakes, as well as the tier 11 and Firelands ones. Eiunn might end up with some as well, since she's my alliance main (and thus the one who's likely to go on the twitterland raids). 

6. Redeemed is beating our heads against Madness of Deathwing. We're only really raiding for 2.5 hours a week, so progress is a bit slow. We did get him down to 5 million health last week, but with 3 healers all oom, everyone went squish quickly.

7. Still having fun with my baby lock. I'm really looking forward to getting her to 85 so I have an alt for alt run stuff, and also because affliction lock is entertaining and reminds me of shadowpriesting. I'm also still having fun with her in PVP. DOT ALL THE HEALERS!

8. I'm in the ongoing process of creating a more or less uniform UI across all my toons. This is taking a while.

9. And I probably should figure out another mage spec besides frost. I'm already getting snarky comments about it, but Angetia's never been anything else, and I don't want to bother learning arcane or fire till there's a call for it (aka putting out decent DPS in the new 5mans and LFR). 7ish K DPS is fine for the leveling dungeons, darn it!!

10. And last but not least, the Mists talent things scare me. The only way I'd want to group heal with Holy Nova is if I could chose where it's centered. Otherwise it's far too dependent on my knowing where everyone in the raid is (and I never do). If it ends up being our only group heal (no prayer of healing), and stays centered on me, I'll be trying Holy again. I love bubbles, but I'm also a raid healer and need to remain viable in that role.

So there you go, stuff I've been up to. Now bed. I'm sleepy, I have to get up early, and I have a ton of homework to get done. Plus knitting, I also have a ton of that to get done, and Anachrocon starts on Friday, so I need to prep for that.  ACK, BUSY!

Adventures in stuff!

Happy Monday everyone! You may be wondering what I, our intrepid blogger, have been up to, or maybe not. Well, I'm going to tell you....

There has been raiding, LFR (with amazingly fail DPS on occasion), and Twilight heroics. There's also been me being told that 15k dps is not enough to be in the new heroics, and that if I'm not willing to switch specs to Survival, I should go farm old raids for gear. Since Garetia is almost entirely decked out in older raid gear (mostly bought with points, but still), I found that confusing. Also, if there are rogues trying to do Ultraxion (which is still a DPS race in LFR) with under 10 k DPS, I feel that 15 is more than adequate for any heroic. MARKS FOR LIFE, DAMN IT!

Redeemed continues to kick arse and take names in Dragon Soul. We're extending our raid lockout to work on Spine of Deathwing, and hope to kill Deathwing this week or next, before one of our tanks takes a much needed break. On that note, Redeemed is currently recruiting, mostly melee DPS. I should point out that the current raiding plan involves killing Deathwing, then taking it easy, doing fun runs, and relaxing a bit before the pandas attack. But if that sounds good to you, you don't mind slightly insane in the entertaining way, and you're on Shadow Council Horde-side, look us up!

In other news, I've wandered over to Norrath. Yup, a new year, trying a "new to me" MMO. My conclusions thus far:

EQ2 feels far less polished and more buggy than WoW. I've seen bugged animations, gathering nodes in midair, and my favorite bug, the ever popular "zone in, can't interact with anything, get kicked back to character selection screen and wait for a bit then try again". Best part is that I've had this happen on two different computers, running different operating systems, with the game installed two different ways. In other words, it isn't me, it's the game.

On the other hand, the world feels so much bigger than Azeroth does. I love the crafting (and I can gather all the things!). There just feels like there's much more to do, and the game is more complicated. Remember when WoW had weapon skills and spell ranks? Well, EQ2 still does. There's lore quests, where you find out about particular types of creatures by studying stuff they drop when you kill them, language quests, collections (shells, butterflies, that sort of thing), and crafting's more complicated too.

And here's screencaps!

 Leveling in the frozen North with a class, well, think elemental warlock with pet.

 My wizard looking at her home city (it's inside the volcano).

 Heehee, I'm a fairy! Also, this is the most relaxing starting zone I've ever encountered.

Wizard again, in her starting zone, Timorous Deeps

MMO Reviews from a Wow Addict (games I tried in 2011)

Figured rather than write a sum-up of 2011, I'd sum up the MMOs I tried and what I think WoW players might like or not like. So, without further ado...

Lord of the Rings Online
LIKE:
Free to play
Gorgeous world
Lots of character customization
Appearance tab (so you can look like you're wearing an awesome outfit no matter what mess you're actually in)
Epic Lore
Housing!
Semi-sane community (less STFU NOOB sort of thing)
You can PVP as a monster

DISLIKE:
Limited Storage Space (need to purchase)
Free to play is more like free to play till level 20 or so
Lack of actual wizards (for lore reasons)
Travel's much more complicated than WoW (though you can buy stuff to make it easier)
PVP is not free to play

COULD GO EITHER WAY
Leveling's much slower than WoW, but endgame doesn't feel as important
Loads of achievements (and you get abilities from said achievements rather than from talent trees)

WHY TO TRY IT
If you're looking for another fantasy MMO, like Middle Earth, or are just looking for a slightly slower pace, this is a great game. I still stick my head in now and again.

Champions Online
I played this for about 3 hours before uninstalling it, so I don't have much to say

LIKE:
Yay Superheroes
Free to play

DISLIKE (personally):
Art Style
Combat

WHY TO TRY IT
I'd say it's worth a try if you like the superhero genre and want more active combat. I'm not a huge superhero person, and I hated the combat (but that's a personal taste thing).

Kingdom of Loathing
You can argue that this isn't a true MMO. I'm reviewing it anyway.

LIKE:
Great humor
Runs in a browser window
Free to play
Nice crafting system

DISLIKE:
Limited amount of actions at a time because you have a limited amount of adventures and once they run out you need to go do something else

COULD GO EITHER WAY
Art Style. I think the stick figures are great, but they're not everyone's cup of tea.

WHY TO TRY IT
You don't have to install or download anything and it's free.

City of Heroes/Villains


LIKE
Character creator. Best character creator ever.
Loads of Customization Options (including the ability to customize what colors your powers use)
Great-looking world
Free to play

DISLIKE
slower-paced combat for the most part
can get grindy
there's only so many sewers, warehouses, and office buildings you want to go into
Very limited character slots for free to play
PVP not a big thing (from what I experienced)

COULD GO EITHER WAY
Loot (or lack thereof). You get stuff to customize your powers, potionlike stuff, and crafting stuff, but no gear.

WHY TO TRY IT
Because the character creator is beyond awesome. Seriously, it alone is worth the download. Also, it's the granddaddy of all superhero MMOs. Oh, and you can fly and beat up bad guys (or good guys).

So there you have it.  This year I'm hoping to continue trying new to me MMOs, starting with EQ2, and possibly hitting up Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, and whatever else sounds shiny and free. If you'd like to suggest a free to play MMO (or you want me to try a pay to play and are willing to pay for a subscription and box), comment or hit me up on twitter or email.

the Gear Gap, and Suggestions on Stopgap Solutions

Yet again an alt has run full tilt into the gear gap between Northrend normals and Cataclysm normals.  And rather than rant about it I figured I'd try to be constructive. I know that in the long run Blizz is trying to figure out what to do about gear inflation, but that doesn't help people right now. So here's some stopgap solutions in the meantime.

1. Have crafted gear that fills the gap. My tailor can't make a full set of Cat greens for a level 80, and neither can my blacksmith or leatherworker. Add some patterns and fix this. You could even have them drop from the level 80 Wraith dungeons.  This isn't an ideal newbie solution, but it'd couldn't hurt.

2. Give the heirlooms that scale to 85 an i level (like 282). Heck, if you wanted to be really nice, you could make it a scaling i-level. It'd be nice to be able to queue with my cloak and helm of YAY XP, instead of queueing in greens I am just going to switch out as soon as I get in there.

3. Get rid of the XP gap between Northrend heroics and Cat normals. At least that way I could go farm Northrend stuff for XP (even if gear farming them is pointless). It just makes the gap a bit less painful.

4. Lower the ilevel requirements for the first two Cat normals.

5. Drop Cat greens in level 80 dungeons.

6. Make quest rewards from the level 80 dungeons equivalent to Cat greens.

Now, why am I harping on this? Well, imagine you're a new player. You've decided that you want to tank or heal at end game, so you've leveled through dungeons, or you've leveled through dungeons cause you like them. You're learning how to play, you've kinda got the gear thing down, and then you hit level 80 and lookie, you can't keep progressing the way you have been.  You have to hope that a) you know that Cat greens can be bought on the AH and that you have the gold or that b) it occurs to you to go quest or that c) you have helpful and friendly guildies.

Otherwise, I can see a misinformed newbie thinking "okay, guess I need to run more Wraith normals" never realizing that they will never get to a high enough i level that way.  And that could easily lead to a rage quit. If it's annoying to me (who has the gold and the knowledge to go get what I need from the AH), I can only imagine how frustrating it might be to a new player.

Stuff I've been up to in WoW

Other than transmog? Okay, quite a bit of transmog. Lookie at the newest outfits!

 Monera's new outfit, based around that pretty leather skirt. All pieces except belt and staff are low-level AH stuff. The staff will be replaced, once I find one I like better.

 Garetia's new mail outfit. Not ideal yet, but I like the green theme. Based around the tunic, a dungeon quest reward from Auchenai Crypts. All other bits were either already in bags, purchased on the AH, or crafted.

 And here we see Anput, my rogue. She's also rocking a chest from that same quest as Garetia is, just leather instead of mail. The pants are again AH, found while I was trying to put together Monera's outfit. Otherwise it's a mix of heirlooms, level 60 pvp gear, and the dagger is Fangs of the Father, a dungeon drop (don't ask me which dungeon, she's run 7 in the past few days and they've all run together).

Otherwise, there's been a lot of gearing up Eiunn the shaman, who is now 3/8 DS 10 as elemental and 4/8 DS LFR as resto. I've run a lot of the new 5 mans, and come to some conclusions.
1) caster mail is a myth
2) Echo of Sylvannas stinks
3) Thrall is this expansion's CoT Arthas.

Lyllea's 8/8 in LFR, and 4/8 in DS 10. We're running hard into the DPS check on Ultra (due to 3 healing it in normal Firelands gear), and have developed a great dislike of Warlord Buggy'McBuggyPants. I've gotten some tier from LFR, and while it looks like Lyl's 359 boots are never getting replaced, I did get a new main hand, so I can't complain much.

My DK's next in line for gearing, but it's hard to convince myself to run those 5 mans another 7 times after running them on Lyl (to cap valor if I don't want to deal with the stupid of LFR) and Eiunn (damn you caster mail, DROP!). So instead I've actually been leveling. In fact, at this point all of my alts on Shadow Council have run through all their rested XP. My mage is almost to 80, the rogue's 66, and even the warrior got some love (and a Blackfathoms run of "hit all the buttons because EJ has either failed me on a fury guide or I'm very tired and looking in the wrong place"). I also rolled a lock Horde-side to help Redeemed with Stay Classy. I'm looking forward to getting her into PVP, mostly because a) 7 heirlooms=OP, and b) an undead running around with gnome pigtails just seems extra evil.

Other than that, I've gotten into some achievement runs on various toons, and I'm dabbling my toe into the crafting transmog market. Eiunn's picked up both Ulduar and BT leatherworking and/or tailoring patterns, so I'm planning on making one or two, see if they'll sell. All this transmog is a bit hard on the old gold reserves, after all, and if I don't do something I might have to *GASP!* do dailies.

So that's what I've been up to during this radio silence. Now, off to bed, and before I forget...



HAPPY MIDWINTER HOLIDAY OF YOUR CHOICE!!

Transmogging without a set, how to create an original look

So, I've been doing a lot of trying to figure out how to transmog stuff so I get unique and also nice-looking gear. And I figured I'd write up what I've come up with.

First, and foremost, get a addon that shows you what gear looks like on your toon. I love MogIt, but I'm sure there's plenty out there to choose from.

Second, run old stuff. My server has a lovely channel called achievements, and you can generally find at least one old raid going on at peak times. Look for mount runs, achievement runs, that sort of thing. Personally I don't pick my raid based on what it might drop, I pick it based on how much I like going there. That way any cool drops are just a neat bonus. But it is best to go in without a preconceived notion of what you're going for, so that you're more open to new things. I didn't go into Black Temple thinking I was going to get a shield, but I did. Also, I discovered there's a kick-arse mace in there, so it looks like my DK may be doing some farming.

Third, keep an eye out while leveling alts. I've already found a sword that I want to get on as many toons as possible, simply because it looks cool.

Now, you should hopefully have a good selection of gear at this point. Now comes the hard part, creating a look from this selection. Here's one way (the way I find the easiest) to do it...

Step 1) Find your favorite piece. Ideally you want something that's going to be obvious on your toon, like a chest or shield or staff or shoulders.  This piece is what you're going to build your set around. In the case of Lyl, I started with the current priest tier shoulders.

Step 2) Gather all that gear you've been collecting. Hit the transmog guy and start experimenting. Keep in mind a few simple things, like matching colors and keeping the ornateness/simplicity of the gear more or less equivalent to your favorite piece. Generally you'll want to go with simpler looking gear than your favorite piece so the rest of the set doesn't distract. Also keep in mind that enchants on your gear will still be visible, so you generally don't want to transmog your nice sword with the glowing red enchant to the blue lightsaber.

Step 3) Now hopefully you've got at least the beginnings of a set. Start farming to fill in any slots, and don't forget about hitting the AH. Cheap leveling greens often have a nice look, and your friendly tailor can make some nice things too (like the black mageweave headpiece, or the admiral's hat). Heck, the Fel Iron sword is pretty darn neat-looking too, and that shouldn't be too hard to hunt down from a blacksmith.

Now, to put my money where my mouth is, here's my current looks...
Lyllea, starting with the current priest shoulders, adding a splash of Ulduar, tier 11 (the boots), and even a staff from Scarlet Monastery, which you'll have to actually go to the Armory to see, since I can't figure out how to change her pose to show it. I have no idea which tabard that is, since I don't have one that matches.

Eiunn, who is still a work in progress, first in what she's currently wearing (and yes, I need either a top with green or pants and shield with blue)...

And second, in an earlier version...(yes, that's not the best screencap ever, sorry). Since this cap, I've picked up a shield from Black Temple, cursed my legs for not matching, and gotten rid of the helm. Cool helm, but I didn't have anything else that matched it.

Here's my DK, Llonya. She's my only toon in a precreated set, and that is her original DK greens (never getting rid of stuff finally came in handy)

And here's MogIt in action, showing me what that offhand (in Black Temple) looks like on my toon.

And I have no idea why all my space goats look so grumpy! Didn't there used to be a way to customize the pose of your toons in the Armory? Did they get rid of that or am I just too tired to see it?

I hope this makes transmogging a bit less ACK! and a bit more fun for you. Sure, there's tons of great sets (I saw a lvl 60 dressed as a SW guard tonight), but I think half the fun's making your own, plus there's loads of resources on sets.