Silly

Welcome to the Year of the Tauren

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Lunar_festival_2

The Lunar Festival is well under way in Azeroth. But you might be wondering which animal this year belongs to.

Well my friends, I proclaim this the Year of the Tauren (or Ox)

Great! What’s that mean?

Characters created during the Year of the Tauren tend to evolve into strong leaders. The Tauren is a symbol of reward through perseverance and hard work. Such characters are dependant and level headed. They are able to endure through many wipes knowing full well that is what it takes to achieve their goal. Taurens do not complain. They are calm and collected under pressure.

When coming up with strategy, Taurens tend to work best when they are at peace. Every thought and every action is methodical and systematic often revolving around logic. They are often quiet. But when they speak, everyone listens.

The Tauren does not like to borrow gold because they abhor being in debt. They don’t like obtaining lots of epic mounts or other such status symbols. They prefer the security and stability of being in a guild.

Taurens are honest people. They do not like undercutting or being competitively nasty. When it comes to loot, they are not driven by the prospect of singular or material gain.

When interacting with Taurens, don’t forget that they are social when there is nothing for them to worry about or if they feel unthreatened. Taurens care and love all of their friends but if they become annoyed, they will whip out the Totem of Whupass in anger.

Image courtesy of Cadistra

The 6 Signs of Raiding Burnout

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We’re just a few weeks into a new expansion, so it feels a little strange to talk about burnout. However, Blizzard made a critical miscalculation when they worked on Wrath. They lavished most of their time and energy on quest and 5-person dungeon content–which is essentially single-view for many players. I know I certainly haven’t brought my alts through Northrend yet. However, they spent very little of their design energy on new raids. Naxxramas, which I never saw pre-Wrath, feels dated to me–it was already old the day I stepped in there. It’s something that was very cool for its time, and is fun even now, but just looks like Classic WoW. It’s like Eastern Plaguelands, part 2. For example, take a boss like Grobbulus. He looks like a butt with a face on it, or a face with a butt on it…or just a butt, with a gas mask. How can I help but be a little disappointed, especially when Blizzard is capable of creating a boss as beautiful as Malygos?

The fact that the new Naxx is tuned to be rather easy isn’t the biggest factor in how I feel about it. After all, I loved Karazhan–it was the unique mechanics and the enchanted-castle look of that place that kept me going back for more, not the difficulty level. The only two new raid instances, Obsidian Sanctum and the Eye of Eternity, are one-boss wonders. They’re cool and challenging, but there’s just not enough new bosses there to get the blood pumping.

I, for one, am very disappointed that Ulduar hasn’t hit yet. At the end of BC, I was on top of the world–Illidan and Archimonde fell for my guild right before the patch. Pre-Wrath, I got a little peek at Sunwell up to Felmyst. I had started to love raiding, and I wanted bigger challenges. . . like an entirely new instance full of beautiful, sad giants and lovely starscapes. I hope that’s Ulduar. If it had been me, I would have held Wrath entirely until at least one new full-length raid dungeon was ready.

Are you suffering from early burnout, dear reader? If one of the following six signs applies to you, you may want to see your nearest priest, who will probably prescribe a healthy diet of alt leveling and shameless achievement-chasing.

The 6 Signs of Early Burnout

1. The first time you ever saw one of the Naxxramas bosses, you said to yourself: “Not this guy again.” That, for me, was Heigan, who looks suspiciously like a lot of the trash mobs in Northrend. Hey! I think I killed that guy in Dragonblight. And Zul’Drak.

2. When your fellow raiders drop a train set, you wish that you could teleport them to Stranglethorn arena and kill them all. Choo choo? I hate you. Note to self: learn to PvP.

3. You’re tempted to send the Four Horseman a little note telling them how to better coordinate themselves for easier kills on overconfident adventurers. Note to the 4H: go for the healers, especially the druids. Wait no, scratch that . . .

4. When a boss dies, you run to get another beer–or in my case, Bailey’s–without bothering to see what he dropped. Purples, schmurples.

5. You and your friends have each incurred a repair bill of approximately 1589 gold this week because you’ve been trying for the Heroic dungeon achievements. After all, achievements are the real game, and all the leet players ride red proto drakes.

6. Tuesday is the high point of your week–not because it’s the start of the raid week, but because that’s the day your egg from the Oracles always hatches. I just got my baby Cobra–how did you do?

Know what the Worse Thing in Wrath Is?

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serious

Nevermind that Retribution Paladins are overpowered.
… of that class balance is non-existent.
… or that herb prices are off the charts.
… or the mount and pet disappearing bug.
… or messed up UI’s.

There is one major problem that trumps them all. Did you know this issue has been prevalent since the era of Molten Core? It wasn’t an issue then, sure. But it always represented a thorn on the side of raiding Guilds everywhere.

In Burning Crusade, Blizzard has proven yet again they glaze over severe problems. They addressed many mistakes since Vanilla WoW and showed some savvy in raid design in Burning Crusade.

When I went into Wrath with the intent of beta raiding, I prayed long and hard that this monstrous issue would be fixed. To my utter dismay, I have discovered they have not. Do you realize what this means? This could potentially kill Guilds everywhere before they even get off the ground!

The colossal problem that I’m referring to?

chest-loot

It is the looting of chests.

In Molten Core, it wasn’t a problem as raid leaders could master loot items.

In Karazhan, there were only 10 players to worry about with everyone wanted badges.

But in Naxxramas, the 4 Horsemen drop a chest. With Badges (or Emblems). They’re lootable by everyone. That’s 25 players who want badges. 25 players that will be spam clicking the chest.

This is a serious problem.

25 players each taking 10 seconds to loot a chest.

That’s almost 4 minutes of pure chest looting.

Which means it’s 4 less minutes to save the world.

Something must be done!

Image credits: coolza

7 Cliche’d Ideas to Jump Start Your WoW Related NaNoWriMo

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nanowrimo

For those of you that might not be aware, November is National Novel Writing Month. So what exactly is it?

According to Wikipedia:

National Novel Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo) is a creative writing project in which participants attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in one month.

Unfortunately, I cannot participate this year. School, WoW, and blogging keep me fairly busy. If I were to tackle another project, I know I’d probably get yelled at by a few of my friends.

That doesn’t mean I can’t help participate in my own way, however. In my off time when I’m not thinking about blog posts to write, I think about stories I’d like to tell (Yeah. I know. I can’t find an off button).

So here’s a few ideas Anna inspired and ones that I came up with the other day.

Important leaders kidnapped

A summit meeting has been planned by all major faction leaders. They have all agreed to use Shattrath as the meeting point. The war against Illidan has taken its toll. Neither faction can unseat him without the help of the other. Suddenly, a leader from the opposing faction has been intercepted and kidnapped en route which has sent talks to a virtual stand still. Not only that, but a bomb plot has been discovered. Explosive Mana bombs have been planted in various capital cities in Azeroth. You have to uncover the plot and rescue the captured dignitary (Inspired by 24).

Special teams working together

You are the leader of task force Echo, one of your faction’s special forces units. Your unit was important in the take down of Kael who subsequently disappeared. New intelligence from SI:7 (or the Horde equivalent) has reported that Kael is still alive. Your team has been asked to lead the charge in establishing a beach head on Quel’Danas. The catch? You’ll be working with the opposite faction. Can both teams work together and overcome their differences? (Rainbow Six)

Framed for murder

Several officials arrive at your residence, serve a warrant and proceed to arrest you. Taken to court, you discover that you have been framed for a murder you did not commit. You suspect that one of your rivals are behind this but you don’t know which. You must escape from the Stockades and find out the truth to clear your name.

Doomsday scenario

When you get to Illidan and you look up, you can sort of see Azeroth. It looks rather large, doesn’t it? And it’s getting closer. Gnomish and Goblin scientists have independently verified that Outland is about to intercept Azeroth’s orbit. Time is running out. You have to find a way to save both Azeroth and Outland from destruction before the world’s collide (literally). (Armageddon)

Unstoppable monster

A sentient Ooze-ling from Wetlands has been gaining strength and momentum from devouring other Oozes and creatures. After traveling through the zone and absorbing (eating) just about everything in its path, it has set its sights on the closest township. It’s a race against time as you and your friends must come up with a way to stop Oozezilla from wiping Menethil Harbor off the map. (Random monster movie)

Vengeful hero

All your life, you have been nothing more than a simple farmer. You dreamed of a life of glory and adventure but the love you had for your family has prevented you from pursuing this opportunity. You return home one day from business in the city to find your home destroyed. Your wife and child have been mutilated and murdered. With nothing more than a pitch fork, you swear vengeance intending to bring these brigands to justice.

Forgotten evil

An expedition has been commissioned by your faction to explore the Maelstrom closely. You are a retired veteran who has been chosen to lead your team and explore it. A ship is being built combining the brute strength of Goblins and the ingenuity of Gnomes. A crew needs to be assembled to venture into swirling unknown. When you arrive, you discover that a great and terrible evil has been awakened. With no hope of backup and reinforcements, its up to you and your crew to contain and banish the threat back where it came from.

Good luck to everyone who is participating this year! I know there are a number of WoW bloggers that are involved (Ego, Bre, and Ratshag at least, though I’m sure there are more).

Do you plan on taking part this year? Have you gotten your story ready?

Post Your Haircuts!

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mattshair

Old Matticus on the left, new (old-er) Matticus on the right!

I can easily explain the hair and color change. The buzzcut is a result of dodging Fireballs and various Shadowbolts. The color is from the age and stress that comes from the weary campaigns against Kael, Vashj, and Illidan’s forces. Mallet is older. Much older. The new look helps reflect that. The beard is longer from the lack of contact with civilization. Hasn’t had time to properly get a beard cut (trim).

What about you? Let’s see your haircuts!

* Syd, Wyn, feel free to edit this post if you like to include yours along with descriptions.