Finaly Forty

It seemed like it took forever, but I dinged level 40 last night. Thanks to fellow guildmember Asmodiuss, who is a sixty-something warrior, that ran me through the Scarlet Monestary Cathedral. I was about to log out with about 10k XP to go before my ding when he gave me a pst, asking if I wanted join his group that power leveling the Cathedral. Even though it was already 12:30 am, and I work early in the morning, I went. Twenty minutes later I was there.


After choosing the dire wolf for my mount, I went to buy my new skills. When I opened up my talent window, that mortal strike was looking sweet, but was another 10 points away because I had put enough in Fury to get piercing howl. It only took a moments consideration (and realizing I've used piercing howl only a handfull of times) to decide to pay the 1 gold and re-do my talents. Now I am 31 arms with mortal strike, and I also maxed out axe AND two-handed weapon specializations. Can't wait to try it all out tonight.

World of Warcraft Patch Day, Addons & Mods

Today is patch day for 2.1. Since February I've been using an Addon Compilation called MazzleUI, that I am totally addicted to and can't live without. I'm hoping that the patch won't affect my MazzleUI. The creator, MazzleFizz - pictured on the left, said she (he?) isn't spending as much time on it and isn't sure how/if it will be affected by the patch.

All I can do is keep my fingers crossed, and keep my eye on the Mazzle forums. If it doesn't work with the patch, I'll have to re-learn the general World of Warcraft interface. {:-(

Update: Some on the forum said it works pretty well if you download the Ace2 update.

Update2: June 2, 2007. At this point, Mazzle works properly on only my higher level toons. It has to do with bongos and how mazzle compresses the bars that do not yet contain spell/talent buttons. Because the low level toons have a lot of empty bar buttons, it screws things up. I don't mind no mazzle on my AH/bank mule, and the kids don't seem to mind playing their low-level characters without it. Hopefully Mazz will be able to fix the issue soon. From the forum, it seems this problem only happens with Macs. :-(

3-Man Scarlet Monastery Library Run

Friday night I was looking for a group to run Scarlet Monastery or Razor Fen Kraul. Two of my guildmates were up for SM (Aquavitae, lvl 35 Mage, and Palatinus, lvl 42 Pally,), but we couldn't find anyone else (see my earlier post about trying to find groups at 3:00 am server time).

So . . . we decided to head out and maybe try the graveyard at least. Once the group was there, we decided to see how far we could get through the Library. Aquavite sheeped and DPS'd, I tanked, and Palatinus healed, buffed, sealed & judged, and jumped in with me to whack away.

It surprised me how well we did with only a three-man group. Even when we pulled three or four at a time, we seemed to handle it pretty well. We did wipe twice when we accidentally pulled a whole bunch or were surprised by a patrol (I'm not sure which).

After the second wipe, which was close to the end & Arcanist Doan, all the mobs in the Library had respawned, so we had to fight through them again.

We laughed about how all the mobs respawned, but none of the chests had (lesson learned: if the mobs have respawned, you should go ahead and reset the instance, so the loot will too).

We ended up making it to Doan and finishing him off. I died, because Doan sheeped the healer, but I watched from above my corpse as they finished him
off with great style. I was quickly rezzed and we celebrated our three-man victory.

It was one of the most fun instance runs I've had, and I was pleasantly surprised that three appropriate level players could pull it off.

The World of Warcraft that You Play !

I love this video!

Hey Where is Everybody ??

I live in Hawaii, and play on Earthen Ring, a US server who's "time" is 5 or 6 hours behind my own. Since I typically logon after my kids go to bed (~9:00 pm in Hawaii, 3:00 am server time), the server is usually pretty deserted. This doesn't bother me - it is actually nice when solo grinding/questing - but it can make it very hard to find a group for running instances. During my usual playing time there are few guildmembers (maybe 6 to 12) playing, and only a couple in my level range. The LFG system is often deserted too. This week I've been using the LFG system each night for RFK, Gnomer, and Scarlet Monestary, with no groups at all.

I've tried /who, and am considering trying the "polite whisper" addon, but I don't like to bother people. I'm continuing to level through questing, but I love the instances in the game and don't want to level past them, and their typically better gear drops.

My other option would be to use an oceanic server. I do have a couple of low level toons on one of them (Jubei'Thos), and their population is much higher at the time I usually play. I really don't want to leave Commish or the Alea Iacta Est guild behind though. = - (

My Kids and World of Warcraft

I've been playing World of Warcraft for nearly two years, and my kids (now 13, 11 and 8) have grown more computer literate over that time. At first they would just watch me play. Then they would suggest where to go, what to do, and give advice. Then they had fun just creating new characters. And now they have started adventuring on their own - when I'm not playing that is. They have several characters progressing into their teens, use my bank alts (when on my servers), and are exploring different servers (PVP in particular). My son (11 year old) loves to duel, which is something I never really got into. Their playtime is extremely limited because of other activities, but it is fun to help them out and watch them enjoy the game. I also find it interesting that to them, playing World of Warcraft is as natural as emailing, AIM-ing, and getting their school assignments online. They find it hard to comprehend that there were no such things as computers when I was growing up. LOL!

My main playing time is after their bedtime, and on most nights I have to ask them to get in bed when I realize they still are watching over my shoulder. They complain to me and their mother, saying that its not fair that I get to stay up and play WoW. I guess Dad's DO have certain privileges . . .

AIE Guildmember Links

Some great stuff here.
A compilation of AIE guildmember sites. At least those that I've found so far. Please let me know of ones I've missed.
Role Play Blogs
- mostly in character

RoleCraft (RP blog & guide from the resident AIE expert. "Witchdocta")
Deadlei's Character blog
Aiyume's blog
Artanas' blog
Secondaid's blog
Desdemina's blog
Ye Olde Man's blog
Pithius' blog
Nikkolai's blog
Noble Adela's blog
Tippthis' blog
Canilia's blog
Aprillian's blog
Kalisynth's blog
Ranondayo's blog
Thragmol's blog
Ixxi's blog
Brother Vyk's blog
Wa's blog
Faeline's blog


General Blogs
- gameplay, news, events, thoughts and general ramblings

The Thoughts of Artanas
Asleep at the Wheel
Clockwork Dementia by chwith - WoW comics & more
Orc Life
Commish's blog
Crucifudge's metal music myspace page


Podcasts
- WoW themed
The Instance
Ctrl + Alt WoW
WoW Addons
Women of Warcraft

- other
Buzz Out Loud
Jawbone Radio


Others
- anything goes (almost)
Warcade deviant art