Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Tale Fourteen: Hacked?!

Have your ever been hacked? Have you ever logged in game to see your poor toon stripped naked and left with 1 copper?

I haven’t but I know people who have. At the time, all I could think about was “Man, that must suck!” and I’d go my merry way.

Today, it was different. And, I suppose, it was all fate.

I’d actually been on my dwarf priest, healing people in Wintergrasp so I could hopefully do Vault of Archavon and hopefully nab some pretty loot. That didn’t happen, however. The Horde snuck by us, and touched the Orb when we were pretty confident that we’d won that round. I was annoyed but decided that since Horde had WG, I might as well find a group for my lock.

I got lucky with finding an awesome group and even luckier at getting my Deadly Leggings. “I need gems”, I thought as I ported back to Dalaran and decided to check out the guild bank to see what we were running low on and to see what I could make to fill it up.

Well, that’s when the panic began to settle in. The first tab was empty. Mind you, this is where we keep all our epic BoE gear and such. I blinked, check out the second tab. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth. All of them, empty except for things that could be considered worthless. I checked the guild money log. 1000g+ had been taken out within that same day. By the same member, on different toons.

I need to make something very clear. This member is an officer. He is one of our most trusted members. He’s close friends with Grimm, our guildmaster. And he and his significant other had just quit the game on Sunday.

Do I believe he nabbed everything before he really quit and left us high and dry? NO! Is it possible? Maybe. Do I want to believe that? NO.

I’d whispered one of his toons, earlier in the day, telling him that it was nice to see him in game still. He never replied, which struck me as odd. I whispered him again, to ask him if he’d still be raiding with us. No answer. He just kept on alting and alting and alting. This was an hour or so earlier, before I saw the guild bank. Before I realized he’d been hacked, and therefore so had we.

I went into an absolute panic. So much gold, items and farming had been done to get those items into the guild bank. Maybe it’s because my toons are always broke, but 1000+g is a BIG deal to me. I whispered a friend, telling her what was going on and she told me to hurry up, to whisper an officer. Being a Raid Leader myself, I couldn’t demote said hacked member or any of his toons. Well, I could actually demote one, but by the time he’d jumped on that toon, he’d taken everything. We demoted his significant other’s toons as well, hoping that the hacker wouldn’t try using her toon to clean us out. The officer couldn’t demoted any of the hacked toons because they were the same rank.

Let me tell you this: it’s frustrating. Those things were ours. We hadn’t all chipped in but it was still ours. I felt helpless, just watching as this toon, right in front of me in the North Dalaran Bank, stealing from us. WoW may just be a game, but you still get pissed off when someone steals a node right from under you, right? Well, I was beyond pissed off. I was hurt, felt betrayed (even though I knew it wasn’t really the person we’d gotten to know) and was so helpless.

In the end, the other officer and I took out as much as we could and sent it to the Grimm. We opened tickets to the Game Masters. I even jumped on my Alliance toon, thinking that maybe by now; he’d gone through the whole neutral auction house route and put them up on the Alliance AH. Nothing. I seriously even went to Gadgetztan, thinking that I could catch them in action. Again, nothing.
As I’m writing this, I still don’t know if we’ve gotten our stuff back. Has said toon(s) been kicked from the guild? Did Grimm get my 2 in game mails, apologizing for not noticing that something was amiss earlier? Has a Game Master been nice enough to hear my plea?

Please, someone educate my naïve mind. What’s the point of hacking someone? Who does it!? I mean, you’re going to get caught. The gold will be taken away and your account banned. That’s how it goes, right?

Right?....

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Tale Thirteen: >:(

Thank you Elmick from Cenarius Server, Alliance (US) for being the kind of elitist asshole I hate. Here's a snippet after the 3rd wipe in H AN. ONE HOUR after I had just dinged 80, we dragged ourselves into H UK (we did ok) and then to H AN.

[p][Hijak]: Sorry guys, don't think we can do this.
[p][Elmick]: no, I don't think you can... lol

Is the LOL suppose to soften the blow? "No, you're right. You suck. Haha." Oh how silly of me. You're right, that makes it a whole lot better.

Your Ulduar gear does not impress me. Get some manners. And don't make newly dinged players feel like shit. People like you turn me off WoW so much that I have no desire to touch my priest for a day or so.

/end rant

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Tale Twelve: Ding 80

Littleprayer the Alliance Dwarf Priest has hit 80.

What a long, long grind it was.

But she's 80 now, and disc specced. She has most of the epic BoE gear she needs, now it's just a matter of heroics.

I haven't played Littlebark in a litte while now. I hate neglecting her, but real life can sure be a pain for getting in the way of my raiding time.

The last thing I did on LB was.. almost kill Hodir. Almost.

Hodir is a fight that requires you to pay attention and keep moving. We had it all down pat and then we stopped. People became frozen, the frozen blows debuff was killer on us healers and we weren't paying enough attention to the icicles.

I'd post a strat about it, but Averna from Nerf This Druid has done it. She's done it so brilliantly that it's humorous and easy to read. So shimmy on over to her site and read them. She's got a bunch of Ulduar boss strats as well.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Tale Eleven: Pre-Naxx Gear for your Druid

Ha! So I'm actually going to writing a DRUID related post! Yep, be proud. Anywho, heres' a list of what I think are some pretty decent gear items to start Naxx with. It might not be the BEST out there, but things slip my mind. If you see something missing, point it out and I'll sneak it in.


Head
Helm of Anomalus: Anomalus in H Nexus
Overcast Headguard: LW crafted
Forgotten Shadow Hood: Salramm in H CoS
Cowl of the Dire Troll: Trollgore in H Drak'Tharon


Neck
Dragon Prow Amulet: Utgard Keep's Trash
Necromancer's Amulet: Salramm in H CoS
Amulet of Dazzling Light: Anomalus in H Nexus


Shoulder
Runecaster's Mantle: Utgarde Keep's Trash
Silent Spectator Shoulderpads: Svala Sorrowgrave in Utgarde Keep


Back
Reanimator's Cloak: Drak'Tharon Keep's Trash (seems to be low drop rate)
Wispcloak: Tailor Crafted
Subterranean Waterfall Shroud: Jedoga Shaowseeker in H Old Kingdom
Ancient Dragon Spirit Cape: Eregos in Hell aka H Oculus

Chest
Ymirjar Physician's Robe: Utgard Pinnacle's Trash (some people say its a low drop rate but I've seen it drop three times in one run.)
Drakewing Raiment: Drakos in H Oculus
Robes of Crackling Flame: Kirin Tor Rep.
Insect Vestments: Anubarak in Azjol-Nerub
Moonshroud Robe: Tailor Crafted

Wrist

Plague-Infected Bracers: Dark Runed Chest in H CoS
Cuffs of Winged Levitation:Egergos in H Oculus
Cuffs of the Trussed Hall: Svala in H Utgarde Pinnacle
Wound-Binder's Wristguards: Ebon Blade Rep.

Gloves
Grotto Mist Gloves: Hadronox in H Azjol-Nerub
Gloves of Northern Lordaeron: Dark Runed Chest in N CoS
Overlook Handguards: Tharon'ja in H Drak'Tharon Keep
Moonshroud Gloves: Tailor crafted
Spellweave Gloves: Tailor Crafted

Belt
Belt of Vivacity: Volkhan in H Halls of Lightning
Belt of Dark Mending: Ebon Blade Rep
Sash of Jordan: World Drop
Sash of Phantasmal Images: Mage Lord Urom in H Oculus
Fishy Cinch: Oracles Rep

Legs
Earthgiving Leggaurds: LW Crafted (I seriously had these until we barged into Ulduar)
Leggings of the Winged Serpent: Tharon'ja in H Drak'Tharon Keep
Skirt of the Old Kingdom: Herald Volazj in H Old Kingdom

Boots
Earthgiving Boots: LW Crafted
Boots of Transformatiosn: Gal'darah in H Gundrak
Sandals of Crimson Fury: Wymrest Rep
Cleric's Linen Shoes: Stoutbeard/Kolurg in H Nexus

Rings
Spectral Seal of the Prophet: Tharon'ja in H Drak'Tharon Keep
Annhylde's Ring: Ingvar the Plunderer in H Utgarde Keep
Titanium Spellschock Ring: Jewelcrafter crafted
Band of Guile: Dark Runed Chest in H CoS
Enchanted Wire Stitching: Meathook in N CoS
Ringlet of Repose: Maiden of Grief in N Halls of Stone

Weapons and Offhands

Staff of Draconic Combat: Eregos in H Oculus
Malygos Favor: Eregos in N Oculus
Handbook of Obscure Remedies: Needs 25 Emblems of Heroism
Temple Crystal Fragment: Novos in H Drak'Tharon Keep
Frostbridge Orb: Oculus's Trash
War Mace of Unrequited Love: Keristrasza in H Nexus

Trinkets
Darkmoon Card: Illusion
Darkmoon Card: Greatness
Talisman of Troll Divinity: Tharon'ja in H Drak'Tharon Keep
Soul Preserver: Dark Runed Chest in N CoS
Tome of Arcane Phenomena: Eregos in N Oculus
Je'Tze's Bell: World Drop

Tale Ten: Hello Baby Druid!

With Littleprayer almost 80, I'm getting pumped about starting from rock bottom again. Hijak (the fiancee's warrior) and myself have started to collect epic BoE items for when we hit 80 which has left a big hole in our gold bag.

Enter Artaius!



Yes yes! Another druid. This one I shall be leveling on my own, without the fiancee telling me "we have to get to 80 by tomorrow!" (didn't happen by the way. I totally slacked off. I did /played and when I saw that I'd been playing the same level for 7 hours, I cried.)

Another justification for this druid is this: we were idiots when we made professions on Hijak and Littleprayer. They're Alchemist/Engineer/Jewelcrafter.

NO gathering proffesions!

That's where Artaius comes in. She'll be my miner/skinner or maybe even miner/herbalist though that could be tricky when trying to track two things...

Anyways, I'll let you know how this goes. She's already level 3 and I'm banging my head agaisnt the keyboard. I just want my kitty form!

:D

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Tale 9: Legendery Mace + Grimm

Oh jeez. I’ve barely started and I have already begun to slack.

Bad LB! (And no! That does not mean Lifebloom)

Alright, allow me to catch up real quick.

Belated happy 4th of July, all you Americans!

Michael Jackson, dead.

Farrah Fawcett, dead.

Oxy clean guy, dead.

Erm, some coup d’état in Honduras.

And I can’t think of anything else.

Let me start of by saying: grats to my guild leader and awesome shammy healer, Grimmstone. He got the first drop (I think… I’ve kind of been absent from raids lately) of a
Fragment of Val’anyr. I honestly can’t think of anyone better to go to (in our guild). Here’s why:

1) Grimm (or Grimmy as I love to call him) is always there for us. Like always. If he’s online and we need his help, he will come help. Unless he has other plans or like… his kids dies (God forbid! =O) he will say, “sure!” and come to a wipefest with us.

2) Grimm has like…5 level 80 toons. Whenever he accepts a raid that I lead, he always says, “I’ll go on whatever toon you need me.” Unlike me, who would much rather play who I want to play, he will always put the raid make up’s need before anything.

3) He’s always at the top of the healing charts. Yes, I know healing charts mean nothing because blah blah blah. I’ve heard the arguments thanks very much. (ie for those of you who haven’t: a disc priest who is healing the MT. Their arsenal is their bubble/penance/divine aegis. Which prevents the damage, therefore the MT doesn’t need as much healing. Meaning they show up last on the healing charts because they’re technically not healing rather preventing damage done.) Anywho. Grimm. Top of Charts. I know I tease him because he spasm his chain heals ALL THE TIME! But I can never beat him. Ever. Even if I put my HoTs + Heal the MT/OT/Raid even though my job is the OT + using Nourish more than I have too. I can never beat him. He’s just… ubber. And deep down I know that the only way I’ll beat him is if…hmm… I can’t. *grumble* I hate him sometimes *grumble*

4) He’s a troll shaman. Enough said.

5) He has every profession imaginable. His inscription is maxed (with all the new glyphs too!), he has an Alchemist, a Jewelcrafter, an Enchanter and a bunch other things. He’s like the Go-To Guru or something. And again, I don’t think he sells this stuff. It’s always for the guild.

All in all, Grimm’s a great guy when he’s not randomly demoting you or hitting on Apadwa (long story. Just don’t ask). He really cares about our guild and our progression. He gives us nicknames. (Mine’s LB or Lovebug. My fiancée’s is Jerkface. And there’s this dude in my guild whose nickname is Piss Boy. Should I be jealous? =P) He doesn’t act like an a$$ whenever we do something stupid in the raid (other than demoted us to Turd). He makes us feel good when we down a boss. And I couldn’t be happier that Fragment went to him.

But like I’ve said earlier, I’ve been missing raids. The fiancée is all like, “hey LB! We’re too nerdy. We never see friends anymore. We don’t have a social life. WoW shouldn’t be our top priority! And it’s my Dad’s birthday dinner so we can’t go to Ulduar.”

To which I counter with: “RAWR!”

Yes yes. Social life and friends, and all good fun. BUT! You can have a social life in WoW! You talk to people in Vent! You guild CHAT! You want dinner? PIZZA!

Hehe.

So to recap. Grats Grimm on being awesome. Guildwise, the fragment rightfully belongs to him.

I haven’t given you guys my views on Val'anyr, Hammer of the Ancient Kings, so here it goes.

The mace is a healing mace. Yay Healers. So basically every Paladins, Priests, Shaman, and Druids will be able to equip it.

Here are the stats at the moment:

Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings
Binds when picked up
Main Hand Mace
93-298 Dmg
(108.8 damage per second) Speed 1.80
+52 Stamina
+54 Intellect
Durability 125
Requires Level 80
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 47
Equip: Improves haste rating by 46
Equip: Increases spell power by 587
Equip: Your healing spells have a chance to cause Blessing of Ancient Kings for 15 seconds allowing your heals to shield the target absorbing damage equal to 15% of the amount healed."The power of creation courses through this weapon."

See that red there? That’s what makes this a legendary weapon. You shield the target. And that absorbs the damage equal to 15% the amount you healed? Awesome!

I won’t go into detail about the beauty that this mace is because all other bloggers have done so in one way or other. But it is worth mentioning, of course.

The stats don’t really blow me away. The spell power is very yummy…. Hmmm… maybe I’ll just jump Grimmstone in Dalaran while he’s afk and take it from him.

=D

And guess what? Congratulations Snuggleme from the Kil’jaeden server! He formed the first
Val’anyr ever!

A really good site for it is
http://valanyr.com/. And of course www.mmo-champion.com , or www.wow.com

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Tale 8: QQ over Faction Change

Happy Belated Canada Day, all you Canadians!

I jumped on my level 49 Draenei Goatadin (her name is Briee) yesterday after the servers came back up. She’s in one of those lowbie guilds that make you feel all superior even though you’re a noob yourself. Anyways, I was killing the insects in the Tanaris desert when someone started talking about the faction changes.

Immediate uproar.

QQ. Celebration. Speculation. QQ.

When someone asked how that would happen, one of the most talkative (meaning he just wont shut up!) members said:


[guild][Talkalot]: It’s going to be like whoever is the opposing faction on the screen when you create a character.
[guild][GM]: so a human pally would be an orc pally?
[guild][Talkalot]: Yeah.
[guild][Someoneelse]: so human to orc. Dwarf to trolls. Night Elfs to Blood elves. Gnomes to Undead. Draenei to tauren.
[guild][Briee]: Um, guys? I don’t think so. If you read the post it says the service will basically let you transform your toon into a roughly equivalent character of the opposing faction.
[guild][Talkalot]: Exactly!
[guild][Briee]: Haha, that’s not what you said. Here’s a for example: All paladins that do the faction transfers will become Blood Elves, since they’re the only class in the Horde Faction that can be Paladins. If you want to be a Horde druid, you’ll be a Tauren. I’m assuming it’ll go by class, rather than race.

And… cue more QQ!

[guild][GM]: NO FREAKING WAY WILL MY PALADIN BECOME SOMETHING EVIL! NOT EVER! AHHH!HH!H!HH!
[guild][Briee]: So… don’t do the faction change.


So to conclude! Everyone take a deep breath. If you don’t like the race you’d be converted to if you do the faction change then don’t do it! It’s as simple as that.

So let’s break this down shall we? Again, this is my take on the Faction changes, so I could be wrong!


Paladins can only be played by Human, Draenei, Dwarf and Blood Elves.
Priests can only be played by Human, Draenei, Dwarf, Night Elves, Trolls, Undead, Blood Elves.
Shamans can only be played by Draenei, Orcs, Trolls, Tauren.
Warriors can be played by every race, expect Blood Elves.
Druids can only be played by Night Elves and Taurens.
Mages can only be played by Human, Draenei, Gnome, Trolls, Undead, Blood Elves.
Warlocks can only be played by Human, Gnome, Undead, Orc, Blood Elves.
Death Knights can be played by every race.

Let the speculation begin! And don't be afraid to share with yours truly!