ratings shmatings

so, i've done it. i've jumped blindly into a world where i'm not quite sure i fit. a world that leaves me far less jubilant than i was expecting. yep, that's right. i've started doing arenas. and wow, do i suck. some unsuspecting friends who had been fooled by my stellar healing skills in instances invited me to join up. somewhere right now they are probably kicking themselves. i hopped onto their 3v3 team, which consisted of myself, a hunter, and a lock, or myself, hunter, shammy - he used both. we did the whole "mad monday night dash to get our points in" and ended up 3-7, on the matches i played. the thing is, i was expecting immediate doom and death, but it seems like if i stealth in, i don't end up getting targeted immediately. then, as soon as they start taking damage, i hop out and start healing. that way, it seems to take the other team a moment to realize that i'm the healer. but, as soon as they do, it's all over. i have no resilience. zero, zip, none. not one point of it. i'll have to work on that.

somehow, after that painful first experience, i coerced a guildie of mine into setting up a 2v2 with me. we debated on our name, wondering "should we emphasize the fact that we are utter noobs, or that we just don't care?". we opted for indifference, and thus "Whatever with Cheese" was formed. that was even more painful. he is an arcane/fire mage, and a good one. but team us up together and you'd think we had never played before. we tried to strategize. really, we did. we said, "we can sheep!" "let's cyclone!" "let's trick them into thinking i'm a bear and hitting me first!" and then the match would start, and no one was sheeped or cycloned and i'm pretty sure i never went bear. i get all verklempt. he's all squishy. and together we are 0-5. i'm trying to research some druid/mage strategies, and the only thing i've found so far is that....there's really not a lot of strategy for us floating around out there. if we come up with a good one, i will happily share my findings. until then, whatever. with cheese.

operation: karazhan - complete!

HOORAY! now that i've posted something informative, i can prattle on about my first time into kara. the wednesday night group panned out, and i got my invite right on time. i was more relaxed than i was expecting, probably because i woke up fifteen minutes before it was time to go, and didn't have time to panic. the group i was with was so good that i honestly didn't even realize we were on a boss fight until it was basically over. they just took attumen down like it was nothing.

i won't bore you with all the gory details, just the highlights (or lowlights, in some cases). moroes was a lot of fun, and a fascinating place. i did pretty well until the maiden. then, i'm not sure what happened. i thought i was standing in the right place, but i ended up very dead pretty quickly, so i guess not. i was SO excited to see the opera event. it's what i've been hearing about forever. we ended up with the big bad wolf, which unfortunately i had seen before while watching a friend, but i also thought "great, i know what to do!" - and i did, in theory. i'm not sure now what i was looking at, probably everyone else's bars, but at the exact moment i realized i was the first riding hood, i was down. down down down. the rest of the group finished without a problem, but i was pretty mad at myself. i really need to work on watching myself more while healing, as i tend to get so engrossed in watching others, that i often don't see myself going getting completely owned. rookie mistake, i know.

anyway, even though i TOTALLY didn't deserve it, i got red riding hood's cloak! from there, everything is really smushed together in my mind. i ended up with forest wind shoulderpads from the curator , and forestlord striders from the chess event. tree + forest = love. speaking of the chess event, i could not for the life of me figure out how the heck to move. i still don't know how. luckily, i apparently didn't need to. so, everything was great up until the prince. annnnd then we wiped. for myself, i know that i made the mistake of being too close to what i think was the aoe effect that drains your hp all the way down, and then was in range of a fire elemental. again, i thought i was in the "safer spot", but i must have strayed out of it a bit. we executed it smoothly on our second try, though! we finished up with netherspite, and then finally nightbane. and that was it! i got to see every fight finished my very first time in! i think that my favorite boss was probably netherspite - i enjoyed the running in and out, which is weird since i usually hate that. don't get me wrong, tank and spank is fun, but a well-choreographed fight always feels a little more hard won.

i may be going with this group again on wednesday, and it will hopefully become a regular thing, depending on how much longer they need to spend there before moving on to more epic pastures. there are definitely benefits to going with such an experienced group, but i would also love to get together a group of people new to the raid. sera will be attuned fairly soon, bid is attuned, and pedrovi has been ready for a long time but rarely goes. i love running things with friends, and i think it would be a blast to learn together. of course, wrangling in a few patient kara veterans wouldn't hurt either! all in all, it was the most fun i've had playing in a long time, if not ever, and i can't wait to go back!

wow podcasts (or "what to do while fishing")

i love wow podcasts. as the title states, they are wonderful to listen to while you fish. but, i love them just as much on long car trips, on a walk, or while i'm cleaning. i've learned countless things from listening to them, as well as been continually motivated to play. in case you're interested in starting to listen, or even just branching out, i'm going to list a few of my favorites with some brief information here. of course, everyone is going to look for something a little different, and you may be surprised by what you like (or dislike) in a podcast. i, for one, tend to be really turned off by a startling intro. others may find it energetic. anywho, enough ramble.

elune's grace podcast: hosted by elly and sal, this podcast is my absolute favorite. it's very relaxed and fun, and they're not afraid to laugh at themselves. it's mostly focused on their experiences while playing, with basic news coverage as well. i also find them to be very relatable, the type of people you'd love to group up with in-game, which makes them great company when you're driving or questing by yourself.

the instance: hosted by scott and randy, a very informative, clearly segmented show. there is a heavy focus on news, as well as "rumors and scuttlebutt", and player advice. regular segment guests are patrick with a mod of the week and mean gene with a PvP tip of the week. great interaction between the two of them, with a lot of humor.

wowcast: hosted by alachia, this is a very different look at the world of warcraft. she focuses on the social interactions that form from playing, and explores them in-depth. updated infrequently, but always worth a listen if you'd like to go a bit beneath the surface. also, her voice is incredibly soothing.

world of warcast: hosted by starman and renata, this was the first wow podcast i began listening to. i think it's interesting to listen to a horde point of view, as well as to hear the input of two people who have been playing MMOs for a long time. (for the record, the hosts of the instance roll horde as well, but it seems to be less a part of the show.) a little negativity seeps in sometimes, but for the most part they balance each other out.

and that's it! those are my regular listens. i've also just started tuning into the wow insider show, but i haven't listened enough to form much of an opinion yet. (so far, i'm liking what i hear.) all of these are available through itunes, as that's my personal preference. also, i always love a new listen, so if you have any recommendations, please share!

lootfest!

so, it's been kind of an exciting week , and hopefully will continue to get even better. i've done quite a few instance runs, which is getting to be less stressful, finally. i was trying to help my in-game friend sera begin his kara attunement, which of course, brought me back to shadow labs. we spent a few hours there friday night, and never got blackheart down. i hate blackheart. i hate mind control. i hate blackheart's mind control. bah! even with the help of some excellent guildies, we just couldn't seem to do it, and finally gave up, drunk and frustrated. and no, the drunk wasn't the problem. :P after that painful experience, he somehow convinced me not only to come along AGAIN the next day, but to come along at 6am. i was reluctant, but eventually caved. and we did it our FIRST TRY. a full run! the only bad spot was when our gnome tank got stuck feared behind a lantern and i couldn't heal him. i love gnomes. who else could ever have that problem? the other bonus of that run was that we had an EXCELLENT boomkin druid (he doubled the dps of every other person), and he was also really helpful. he used to do a lot of raids as a tree, and gave me some really nice pointers. AND! thanks to him, i may be running kara for the first time tomorrow! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) it's still up in the air as of right now, but here's hoping. he passed my name along to a guild mate of his (possibly the leader of the kara run? not sure) who contacted me yesterday. he was incredibly nice as well, even though i confessed that i have zero raiding experience. the group is apparently an established one, which has it's good and bad points. part of me would like to get in with a group that's new to it, so we can all learn together, and part of me wouldn't mind just being an addition to a group that has done full clears. i've been trying to upgrade my gear like crazy, just in case i make it in tomorrow. ..and making lots of golden fish sticks. actually, if you're a resto druid looking to begin getting into kara, there's an excellent write-up on the official forums here.

let's see, what else? oh yes, i had another alchemy DISCOVERY! and this one....woohoo! it's the flask of fortification! i almost peed my druid pants. i was reading on thottbott the other day that you can apparently discover recipes without having chosen a mastery, but i'm a little skeptical, as i've gotten two since choosing my specialization. i amazingly had the mats to make the flask as soon as i discovered it, but i'm holding off until i actually have a use for it.

i also ventured into the mechanar last night. we didn't get too far (one mini-boss, and one real boss), but it was a great run for me. i ended up with new boots, shoulders, and some green healy bracers. the bracers and shoulders were both upgrades from cloth to leather, and the boots finally got rid of my last piece of tanking gear. so, now i'm up to 900 and change bonus healing (so close to the kara benchmark), and 106 mp5. after we called it quits in mech, we decided to try a short shattered halls run before the server shut down. in between, i made a quick run to stormwind after honor had reset and picked up my very first piece of purple gear! i went with the gladiator's idol of tenacity. i debated between that and an off-hand item, but decided that 1) i already have a good off-hand, and 2) investing in an epic off-hand will limit me to one handed weapons. granted, i just bought my first one-handed mace, but it something better comes along, i don't want to have to sacrifice one or the other. as far as the quality of the idol goes, there is one that drops in shadow labs that is more beneficial (increasing the lifebloom ticks rather than the final bloom), but should that drop for me sometime in the future, i'll just kick myself then. anyway, we didn't get very far into shattered halls, but we had a blast. i was actually pretty sad when the server shut down simply because i was having so much fun, and laughing so hard. as a related note, here is what happens when selphi marks:



also known as, general mayhem and hilarity. that's all for now, i'll be back with something besides my loot for the week later, i promise. (:

yeah, i can cook that

i spent most of yesterday leveling some much negelected professions. essentially, i spent a lot of time standing around listening to podcasts and fishing (and fishing...and fishing). i did bring it up from 160 or so to 225 before my eyes started crossing. with the kind help of a guildie, i also crawled the last bit of the way to cooking 300, hooray! it's up to 340 or so now, since cooking with outland recipes makes it fly by faster than an episode of rachael ray! i've done two cooking dailies already, albeit, the same one twice. the recipe for skullfish soup came in my very first barrel of fish, hooray again! now, if only i could catch skullfish to cook. i'm so excited by the food buffs from these recipes. it's a great change from the old stamina/spirit standbys. +spell damage, +agility, +pet buffs, oh my!

in other recent news, i'm kara attuned! i wish i had made a written wow to-do list so i could physically check this off. in fact, i still might. i'll probably post a little something from my experiences in attuning, the more information that's out there, the better. so, i'm dying to go...seriously. sometimes i just /who karazhan so i can imagine the day my name is on that list. that's how bad it is. but. this young grasshopper is not prepared. as i spent most of my time leveling to 70 soloing, i haven't spent a lot of time running even 5-mans, let alone raiding. which adds up to, basically, that i get a bit nervous in instances overall, and aside from that, i'm also fairly undergeared. which, is also a direct result of my own indecision. as a druid, i've always found myself with a bit of an identity crisis. i literally didn't know what any of my bear abilities were until recently. i know! BAD DRUID! take my funny-bear-dance card away! i spent levels 10-55ish as balance, 55ish-70 as feral dps (meow), did a brief stint as a tank for the past couple of weeks, and a few days ago finally rolled to a stop at resto. i actually enjoyed being a kitty the most, but i feel like i'd like to bring a more straightforward part to the table. and to be honest, i think i enjoyed it the most because it was often the path of least pressure. "hey, wanna tank _____?" nope, sorry, can't tank my way out of a paper bag. "hey, can you come heal ____?" nope, sorry, i'm feral. "hey, wanna come just claw at some stuff until it dies?" well, sure! and that is the rut i need to get out of. and not just because i was walking around in damn rogue pants. literally.

i love the versatility of playing a druid, and maybe i'm all alone here, but i often find it to be a bit of a love/hate relationship. (i think maybe i'll delve into that topic a little more another time.) at any rate, i'm enjoying being healy, but i'm not sure how well i'm doing yet. i healed an excellent underbog specced feral with some hodgepodge gear, re-specced and had a full, but very painful run that included a wipe or two, and then a mediocre mana-tombs (my first time there) that i think involved my dying more than everyone else. there were some tank/pulling/aggro issues thrown into the mix as well, but i feel like overall if anyone's dying, i've failed somewhere. i think there's a definitely learning curve - not a huge one, but a curve nonetheless, and that's something i'll need to work on. i'll add that to my non-existent list. on the plus side, this recipe dropped and i was lucky enough to be the only alchemist, so that was nice! speaking of, running black morass a few times while attuning and trying to get others attuned allowed me to complete my elixir mastery. get your procs here! i'm actually surprised that they proc so often, i thought it would be less. and! i got my first DISCOVERY! just a few elixirs in. interestingly, it was a transmute discovery (primal life to earth), which for some reason i wasn't expecting, but i guess maybe those are the only discoveries to be had? i'll have to look into that. being an avid wow researcher is all win, kids.

obligatory introduction post?

i often create blogs with grand ideas of the endless paragraphs i will roll out, the issues i'll explore, the photos i'll include, and on and on and on. and i say often, because i am something of a blog whore. however, without fail, when i'm starting out i click "new post" and am at a loss of where to begin. i generally stray away from introducing myself or making any sort of point, and just kind of dive right in. this has it's merits, don't get me wrong, but i thought i'd try a change of pace. so. this is intended to be a blog about my adventures, experiences, and general time spent in the world of warcraft. if you don't know what that is, i invite you to click the "omgbackthisblogsucks" button on your browser. really, it's okay, i won't be offended. although, if you stay around, you might end up intrigued. you could always stick it out and see. we'll find out together. who knows, i may eventually be clicking my "omgdeletethisblogsucks" button. but, hey, this is the first post, let's be optimistic.

for those of you who are still with me - hello, i'm lux! or, more officially i'm luxiia, a level 70 night elf druid. i play on a pvp server, and have spent much time in-game cursing that decision. generally while corpse running back to my poor body. (i hate undead rogues.) it's all pedrovi's fault. he was hooked before the rest of us...although, it's not like any of us pushed the crack spoon away. crack spoon, is that right? maybe it's a heroin spoon. whatever, anyway, he started it. he would out his shiny macbook , while [the girl who would later become] bidelia and i were playing halo or something, and say "do you guys mind if i play some wow?". i remember he used to ask with such anticipation and excitement. like "hooray! i thought i wouldn't get to play since i'm hanging out with these guys who have no interest - but look! now they're distracted and i'm so glad i brought my computer just in case!" seriously. his eyes would light up at the very thought of getting in some azeroth time unexpectedly. and so, one of these times (and yes, there were many) i sat down and watched him play. he had told about it as he'd begun leveling and i'd been as interested as someone who has never seen it or played any MMO can be. you know, intrigued but still a little unclear.

i remember the first thing that fascinated me was his action bar. all those colorful boxes between two little gryphons. all those icons representing spells and abilites that i knew meant something, but couldn't decipher. then i watched him just...pressing buttons to make things happen. to those who have been playing computer games or the like for years, you can roll your eyes now. i was ignorant. i'd never played any complex game that didn't involve some long annoying series of drop-down menus. i was in awe. why, a button for everything! how novel! instead of hopping in, i relegated myself to watching him play, thinking this was all far too advanced for me. it stayed that way for a few months. he'd always offer, i'd always say "oh no, that's okay, i just like to see it." i'd make him explain what he was doing and why, and probably would have generally annoyed the hell out of him if he hadn't been so thrilled just to have someone who wanted to listen.

finally, one morning, or afternoon or something, he convinced me to try it. we went and got bagels for reinforcements, and he set me upon reading the race and class descriptions. i had seen him shadowmeld, and knew i wanted to do that. okay, night elf, check. then he said "...something something shapeshift something something..." and that was it. i mean, i read the other class descriptions in the interest of being thorough, but nothing could beat that. and so, a blue-haired druid named...well, her name isn't important. in fact, it's embarassing. let's just say, a blue-haired druid was born. she wrathed and gathered her way along, often befuddled (where is that damn red crystal?! WHERE!), and always on borrowed time. pedrovi was often kind enough to feed my addiction, sending his macbook on sleepovers at my house. i'd send him texts throughout the night, like "i'm a bear YAY!" or "i'm in IRONFORGE!!". but, alas, she was not to be. eventually, when i was graced with my own laptop, she was stripped down, and her wares were shipped or sold off to fund the beginnings of a new blue-haired druid.

and so began luxiia.