Bitchin’ Camaro

Okay, it’s not a Camaro, but I still think its bitchin. What is it? Why my Azure Netherwing protodrake of course. Every day for about 3 weeks I’ve toiled in the netherwing mines, searching for eggs, skinning monsters, poisoning workers, and throwing a booterang at the lazy bastards sleeping on the job.

And the time came, when I hit exalted status, to meet Illidian, who seeing through my disguise tried having me killed.  A mysterious gnome turns into a protodrake and rescues me. As a result I’m able to fly around on one of these…

1000 Posts, 1500 Quests, 5250 Dollars and 3 Weeks

In other words, the numbers that have popped up in my life over the past week. 

1000 posts

I made my 1000th post over on SL this morning, and have learned this: nitwits aren’t limited to SL. On each and every forum I go to there are nitwits aplenty, always ready to share their ignorance on a global scale.  Fortunately the legion outside of SL tend to not take it outside the forums into blogs, or other websites. However, I have yet to see a forum run as badly as Matt runs SL, with his constant snipping, thread deletions and obvious way he play favorites and coddles the nitwits.  If Matt’s intent on doing this is to drive SL into the ground he is indeed doing a splendid job.

1500 quests

I recently got the achievement for completing 1500 quests in Warcraft, as well as doing 5 daily quests consecutively and 50 daily quests total. Hey being 80 has advantages; you can go back and cleanup all those low level quests you skipped or missed as you leveled up. 

I also want to say it’s been a blast playing with Cussedness and chatting with her over ventrilo as we play. Stay away from the lava Cuss!

5250 dollars

Is the average amount of money it’s going to take to have all my lower teeth removed. Due to the expense and my mother not being able to pay that much, I’m looking into other dental plans to see if it can be done for something more manageable. 

And no, a reach around isn’t included in that fucking the dentists are giving me.

3 Weeks

Is how long I’ve been unemployed. I’ve been on two interviews despite my creating a blizzard of resumes. Unemployment is behind and I still haven’t gotten my first check yet, but at least I did get the 401K check yesterday.

2 Podcasts

I’ve recorded segments for two podcasts for my warcraft guild. One is up and the other will be released later this week. If you’re interested, it’s available as an itunes download, simply search for alea iacta est. My segment is on episode 18.

1 new pet

Not being happy with how my corehound was working, I abandoned the drooling green mess in favor of a cat, a cursed child of Har’Koa and I’m very pleased with her so far. I named her Gilead, from the area where Roland inKing’s Dark Tower series hails from. Here’s a pic of this oh so sexy beast.

The Last Bell For Kharisi

It was a moment I anticipated and dreaded. For the past week I’ve been grinding on Kharisi to level him up before the great Hunter Nerf of 2009 comes in the next patch. I did some dailies, sold everything I found to get my cold weather flying and head to IceCrown and Storm Peaks. I flew to the highest mountain tops and to the lowest basins in a continent covered in snow, mountains and nasty creatures. I restored a Taurens memory, fought some elite creatures and fell in love with my surroundings.  And then it happened.

I hit 80. My excitement was palpable.  It’s been a long journey for Kharisi, starting out as a piece of meat with a rickety bow back in April of ’08.  however with the help of my guild, and a pretty casual play schedule I took him as far as he can go, level wise. Now comes some end game content, rep building, and completing quests that I’ve missed or abandoned. And then he rests for awhile. 

For me the content in Northrend is so compelling, I can’t wait to get my other characters ready to go there. Vanilla WoW and Burning Crusade may have made me a fan of WoW, but the Lich King expansion captured my heart. And though I still consider myself a casual player, after all I have yet to do any PvP, my desire to play hasn’t waned. 

One of the reasons is my guild. As big as it is (4000+ and counting), it has a sense of community like nothing I’ve seen. About 3 days ago, I was on at about 4 AM (couldn’t sleep at all) and someone was about to turn in a quest to Lady Sylvanas in UnderCity, where she goes into the Lamentation for the HIghborne, a beautifully sung song that gives me chills.  A few of us met him in the Throne room, kneeled in respect on the steps and listened.

It’s the small moments like that, which make this game an incredible experience.  As I gear up for some raids, I’ll be working on a piece for our guild podcast as well. As for Kharisi, well my hunter is near retirement, and will undoubtedly show up in an upcoming fantasy novel I’m working on.  He’ll live on, as well as Bobo, Spanky, Detta and my Rhino.

For the Horde!

Glyndoom at your service

Yes, another alt. Yes, another hunter. No, not Horde, this time  I went for a dwarf.  Glyndoom wouldn’t have been created had it not been for Cussedness. When she switched servers, she became a guild master, and I just had to join.  I’m having great fun playing a hunter again, which of course means dying a lot. However, I really like playing a dwarf.  To me, they really should have been a Horde race, and the Taurens should have been Alliance. No matter, I will always be part of the Horde, always remain a servant to Thrall, and always walk that dark side.

 

Jumping for joy I rolled an Alliance character

Shameless Promotion for The Instance

About two weeks ago I posted about the podcasts The Instance and ExtraLife Radio. As fate would have it, on the most recent episode of  The Instance, they’re running a contest, where you post something about the show in order to win some loot cards. http://www.myextralife.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=17368

You can also check out the official instance website at www.theinstance.com. I love The Instance, and it’s what got me into wow in the first place, so for all you wow players, check out the podcast, visit the website, and have some fun.

Meet Charrdd

Meet Charrdd, my newest alt in Warcraft. 

 

Wave to the camera!

Charrdd is a Tauren Druid, level 6 at the moment, and currently running errands in Bloodhoof Village.  I chose a Druid, for one simple reason; shapeshifting. Druids get to change into various forms, inclusing, bear, cat, seal, moonkin, cheetah to name some.  It’s one of the most versatile classes in the game, and sure to always have a spot in a raid or instance for it’s ability to tank or heal.

So why am I mentioning, let alone devoting a blog post to a shape shifting cow? Well, because I can, of course.  I’m also planning on updating his progress, chronicling his adventures, and getting him leveled to 80 as well.

I’ve not forgotten my hunter Kharisi, my Death Knight Khonstantine, or my other alts. They’ll still be played, and interesting things will be written about them in the future. However, I wanted to take some time and do something a bit different in the game.  There are many things I missed in the original game that I want to do. Many places I’ve never explored. It’s time to go back to the old world, pick up the old quests and do something new.

And with the nitwits being a bit quiet, it’s also something interesting to write about. So say hello to Charrdd, and if you see him in game, be sure to give a wave. 

Warcraft Retrospective

As I was searching for a warcraft movie to link up to, I cam across this gem. Well a 3 part gem. Gametrailers.com has done an amazing job of not only chronicling the warcraft games, but also explaining the lore as well. check out this 3 part series and be amazed. 

http://www.gametrailers.com/game/10434.html

Epic Battle, Epic Gameplay

 

A hero dies. Alliances torn asunder. Betrayal  thick as the smoke of war. A city to be reclaimed. Legends come alive. Victory, however short, is still sweet.

for the past three weeks I’ve been doing the quests in DragonBlight, to get here. The Wrathagte quest. After flying on the back of a dragon taking out enemies, I’m summoned to see Sauerfang’s son, to begin the assault on the wrathgate. 

****SPOILERS****

If you haven’t gotten here yet, or don’t play Warcraft, then I’d skip this. Here is the cinematic which starts and ends perhaps the greatest piece of gaming ever created.  Even if you don’t play, check out this clip, as it’s still some great storytelling.

 

What follows are some screenshots (naturally), followed by my closing thoughts.

 

Wrathgate on fire, right after the cinematic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following orders to see Thrall, in a VERY empty Orgrimmar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attack on UnderCity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A long, long LONG fight...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's go home, old friend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The absolute Epic feel of fighting with Thrall and Lady Sylvanas in order to reclaim UC, is something many games try to accomplish (the epic feeling I mean), and few ever do. To be able to do so in an MMORPG, is nothing short of amazing.  By the end of the this very long fight (close to 25 minutes) I felt I had aaccomplished something. I FELT like a hero. That my fighting actually meant something. It’s not something I’ve ever felt in a game (the closest was Planescape: Torrent) and dammit, I want to do it again. 

After a month of release, Wrath of the Lich King is nothing short of phenomenal. For those who quit, start again. For those not in Northrend yet, get on over there, it’s a trip you’ll never regret.

Flying Carpets, Dwarves Brains and Murloc Suits

I’ve reached 72, almost 73, and I’ve never had so much fun in WoW as I have with this Lich King expansion. In the last 3 weeks, I’ve ridden on a flying carpet; been ejected out of a tank after mowing down some undead; killed some dwarves and then sawed open their heads to collect their brains and donned a murloc suit, Here are some pics from recent adventures. For some reason wordpress won’t let me make a gallery, so I have to upload each pic one by one, so excuse the odd layout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s good to be a death Knight

While playing my death knight, I got to become the persona of evil. I slaughtered soldiers, civilians, peasants and priests. I’ve shot a cannon at a shore full of soldiers with their own weaponry. I’ve spoken with the lich king and gotten some nifty gear. I’ve killed innocent prisoners, and rode a frost wyrvern as I set fire to a town. 

The quests for the death knight raise the bar for any type of game, MMO or otherwise. Had I not added him to my guild already, I’d start another one just to go through them again. 

And, I’m happy to report, the only major glitch I’ve come across was the long, long queue to get in the game. There was little lag, only one disconnect and some good teamwork. Given all the problems that were experiences over the past few weeks, this comes as a relief. I’ve got some new screenshots I’ll post later tonight or in the morning, as I’m in another damn queue.