Level 49 Battlegrounds = suck

I though I would start the battleground mark grind a little earlier on the Shaman than I had on the Druid. With Bumwaller I really didn't do any BGs unit I has 70 and then I did the honor grind for marks for the mount raptor mount and the Vindicator set. I never have done it with Namenivob, I'm just not a PvP guy unless I see the goal of it...gear usually, and I like the Black War Raptor for my Tauren herd.

I went in to Warsong Gulch at 49 with Okole, figuring I was the top of the bracket and it shouldn't be too bad. Ha. I got pounded by all the 49 twinks in there, which surprised me a bit. I thought, wrongly, that the twinking stopped at 19 and 29. I was wrong.

Apparently these 49 twinks are toons that people got tired of leveling so they twink them out. level 49 is high enough to get a formidable PvP spec and completely "pwn" the casual PvP player looking for honor.

I will be leveling and doing the grind later, or at least movig to Arathi Basin or Alterac Valley to see if they are better.

Deadmines - I wanna be a pirate

I was bored the other night and decided I would run Deadmines and try to get Defias Rapier for my "pirate" around town outfit. I ran all the instance all the way to the end, just to do it and disenchanted all the boss drops. There are only 2 mobs in Deadmines that drop that rapier and they are adds to the 1st boss. I reset the instance went in again, killed them and the rapier did not drop. I kept doing this until it wouldn't let me back in due to too many instances in the allotted time frame.

Still no drops.

Bit I did get Blackwater Cutlass, 2 of them, and I actually think they are slightly more pirate-y. I put a Minor Beastslayer enchant on to give them a slight red glow. Oh yeah - I got a Green Wing Macaw drop too.

The ban hammer...or is it a frontal cleave?

There is an interesting discussion going on with many of the bloggers that gave me my "inspiration" to start blogging. It all starts here "Shenannigans are afoot" written by TJ.

Basically what has happened is a member of their guild has been hit by the latest wave of mass bans for, what appears to be, nothing more than having the software for the Logitech G15 keyboard installed. I do not know the player in question and cannot vouch for him or his actions, but many people are shocked by his banning.

The big problem that seems to be surfacing is that he is getting no response from Blizzard customer service. If the ban has hit people for using a certain keyboard, and that is the only reason for the ban, I would think it would be pretty easy to figure out who was affected by that and review those cases for possible reinstatement, or at least shoot them an email to let them know they are being reviewed. The lack of customer service response is damaging to a company like Blizzard that relies on an active user base for revenue.

The second issue that has come up is whether the various blogs should be used to help this matter get attention. I this I will say, why not? We blog for all kinds of reasons and to bring this issue to light is a legitimate use, I think. I will not proclaim guilt or innocence of this particular user and really don't want to get into the debate, TJ's site is the place for that. But blogs have become a powerful way to check the pulse of the community, and right now there certainly is some unrest in the community regarding the Blizzard customer support.

Leaked Wrath of the Lich King?

A lot of information is floating around the web and blogosphere lately in regards to the new expansion. This includes new talents, spells, abilities and even screenshots of what appears to be in game footage of toons using the new abilities in the new zones.

What this means is either -
A) Some "friends and family" are not following the NDA that we have been told they are required to sign
- or -
B) this is a calculated move on the part of Blizzard to keep people interested and build hype for WotLK with Age of Conan coming out this week.

I'll leave it up to you to decide for yourselves how much of this information is accurate or whether you believe it is an elaborate hoax. There does seem to be some very interesting talents and changes that address a lot of concerns that certain classes have had in the past. Looking at it from a resto Druid perspective, I like what I see so far. There is no Shaman information in the leaks yet, but I'm sure we will see it eventually (unless Blizzard sends the lawyers after the sites that are still posting this information).

Keep in mind though, even if it is a legitimate leak, a lot can change between an alpha and what we actually get at release.

Did this get easier?

Maybe I got better at playing, maybe the Shaman is just that OP or maybe these quests got easier. I have noticed, as I go along leveling the Shaman, that the quests seem easier. Especially the ones that used to be a pain in my arse, now seem to be a breeze. I really don't know why. I'm not complaining mind you, just observing.

In particular are the last stage of Bloodsail Buccaneers (killing the 3 captians on the ships) and Bloodscalp Clan Heads (killing the Trolls in the large ruins). I remember doing these as a group before and either having lots of trouble or abandoning them in frustration. This time - no troubles, no deaths, easy as can be. The biggest shock to me was Stranglethorn Fever, that one got much easier and now you only have 3 gorillas TOTAL to kill, not the waves of 3-4 that it used to be. Also only needs 1 Fang to start the quest, used to be 10 and it was tough to finish even with a friend. I hated that quest in the past, but now...barely even lost HP or mana.

A little fun in Ramparts

The guild's level 70 rogue, and Bumwaller, my 70 Druid, ran two guildies through Ramparts last night and had a blast. One was the main of our resident altoholic, finally getting his first toon to 60 and the other was the 60 Mage alt of our main tank. We only had one death, which was mostly my fault on a late heal. Overall though I had a blast, I knew there would be no gear for me and I didn't care. There was so much less stress than healing the raids lately.

I finally got a bit of fun in again. I kind of poorly tanked, healed and finished 2nd in DPS behind our rogue. But, I did get a stack or two of Runecloth for my bank alt tailor and a couple greens to disenchant.

Shaman - Windfury freaking rocks

I have been leveling the Shaman lately and let me tell you - I love Windfury. I haven't played melee classes much and that in itself is pretty different, but when Windfury procs on mainhand AND offhand strikes - awesome!

My plan is to level to 60-65 with the enhancement spec and then see what I want to do when I get more serious about instances and maybe raiding with this toon. I already have Bumwaller to handle the heals and usually take him raiding. Fewer groups seem to want the melee DPS lately though, so maybe I will go Elemental with Okole. Either way, I'll probably drop some points into resto so I can fill in as an off healer when needed. I guess I'll wait and see when the time comes and what the guild status is at that point.

Thoughts on Lich King info

By now most people have seen, or heard from friends, a lot of the details that are circulating about the upcoming expansion. There is something for everyone to get excited about among all that information, I'm sure.

So, what am I most geeked about seeing? It would have to be the 10-man raid versions for all raids in the game. I prefer a small tight knit guild and part of the reason our guild has faltered of late is the 25-man progression. I think a lot of smaller "social guilds" will welcome this change more than many others - and there are a LOT of changes.

There have been concerns that this change defeats some of the accomplishment of downing a boss with 25 players when you can down the same boss with 10 players. It has been stated that the loot tables will be separate between the versions, so for those that want the best gear the 25s will still be the target.

From a business standpoint, I think this is a great move on the part of Blizzard. I personally know of many players who have quit the game because they felt phased out of the game. These are the players that run 5 mans, heroics and 10 man raids - but can't dedicate the time required by most 25 man raiding guilds.

Some WotLK info is making the rounds

Raids & Dungeons

• All raid dungeons in Wrath of the Lich King will have both 10-person and 25-person versions. So at level 80, every major encounter and every big boss fight can be experienced with a group of 10. (Gamespy.com)
  
• 25-person raiding progression is not dependent on 10-person raiding progression. (Gamespy.com)
  
• There will be no attunements or keys to obtain, and you won't be locked out of a 25-person instance if you decide to attempt the 10-person version, and vice-versa. (Gamespy.com)
  
• 25-person raids will earn more, higher-level rewards, in what should be the equivalent of one "tier" of loot quality. (Gamespy.com)
  
• A new instance focused on the different dragonflights "The Chamber of Aspects" might be added to the game, but this isn't confirmed yet. (Gamespy.com)
  
• Zero raid bosses have been designed at this point. (Gamespy.com)
  
  

Others

• Players will unlock their flying mount at level 77. (Gamespy.com)
  
• You can use your Outland flying mount, and new flying mounts will be available. (Gamespy.co

State of the Guild

The transition to "social" status is going pretty good so far. We have had a few more folks leave with their main toons but have left their alts. I think the shakeout is about done and the stress is already lessened, I hope everyone is happy in whatever choice the make.

I have also had some invites to help out with the healing in the progression guilds that the players have moved on to, so that is nice when I am in the mood for raiding. It seems there is always a desire for that extra healer.

I've been playing with the Hunter and Shaman a lot more lately too, and that is keeping enough variety to prevent me from completely burning out.

Transition to a "Social" Guild

As I have noted previously, the attempts to get the guild back into 10 man content were unsuccessful. I have decided, with support of the co-leaders, to transition the guild to a more social atmosphere. We may do some instances and fill in raid spots when needed, but I will not be planning any additional raids until the Fall.

Today, 3 of my class leaders pulled their mains from the guild to join an up and coming raiding guild. I wish them luck, I really do. I have gotten to know them as individuals and I will miss them. They have decided to leave the alts in "our" guild and will be playing, leveling and chatting as before and using the mains to raid.

"Limited Warranty" is the name of the guild and it is living up to it's name. And you know what - after a period of soul searching - I'm okay with that.

Orcs are terrible parents

Once again Children's Week is upon us, and have you noticed it only seems that Orcs have produced the orphans. The noble Tauren do not have this problem with abandoned children that need to be shown around the lands of Azeroth by kind adventurers. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and sometimes it takes the whole Clan.

It is a fun event and can get you a non-combat pet if you like that type of thing or some Gold if you like that kind of thing better. You also get some easy rep with all the major factions of the Horde, so it's definitely worth doing.