Overflowing Inventory

The Auction House is a treasure trove. Just about anything you need can be bought and sold there. The prices take getting used to, which is why I use Auctioneer, but I can generally make a great deal more selling materials and such there than vendoring stuff. And, really, that's the way it should be.

I have bank alts to take care of my finances. The best bank alt I've got is a Death Knight, Ziir, on ED (which I've talked about before). He takes care of all the day-to-day business for Seona so that she is free to work for the Argent Dawn, or whomever is needing her most right now. Unfortunately, she picks up a great deal of stuff, especially greens and cloth, and Ziir has run out of room.

Three possible solutions:

1. Buy him bigger bags. I feel like this is a temporary fix. His bags are all 12-slot, aside from one 16-slot. That's quite a bit of space, and I would hate to just get rid of all his soulbound 12-slotters. The investment is doable however, as most 16-slot bags are affordable on Emerald Dream.
2. Buy more bank slots. This is a pretty big investment. I've already purchased the "cheap" slots, so all the rest cost 25 G each. My current cashflow is pretty minimal. If I did this, though, his extra bags wouldn't go to waste, and I'd still have to do number 1, above.
3. Clean out my banks. Both Ziir's and Seona's, preferably. This is the "best" solution, because it doesn't cost any gold, instead it would actually make me some gold. However, this fix is even more temporary than number 1, because what keeps me from just filling them up again?

It all comes down to whether I want to invest Gold right now, or save it for 3.2 so Seona can get better riding. Truthfully, the money is in crafting professions, if you know what to make. I had always planned on Seona dropping skinning at some point for a crafting profession, like blacksmithing, jewelcrafting, or engineering (which is much better now with the new changes coming, and probably the most interesting profession). I can use the 300 Gold I currently have to get her epic ground riding training and invest in a crafting profession OR I can invest it all right now to hopefully get more inventory space.

I'm not sure what I'll do. Power leveling a crafting profession is tough work. It requires a ton of time and, especially with the professions I listed above, a ton of Gold. Time I've got (to a degree) but I don't have much gold. Ziir has herbalism and mining. I might actually have him drop mining and take up skinning. It's much faster to level up (Seona is already over 300), but the profit isn't as high. Getting her epic ground riding training is important, though, as is flying later on. *sigh*

I guess I'll start with Number 3 and go from there. Clean out those banks, getting rid of everything I don't absolutely have to have. Maybe I'll check the patch notes for potential profits. Hopefully I'll find some high-demand items in my banks that will turn me a nice profit.

Another Down, Three to Go

Seona hit level 55 this morning. After spending so much time in the plaguelands, I needed a break from all the dead things, so I headed over the ocean to Kalimdor. After landing in Tanaris, I left from Gagetzan and made my way into Un'goro Crater. Let me just say, I really, really hate Un'goro. It seems like all the quests are "Go kill a bunch of stuff for things that, logically, every single kill should have, but never ever does so you have to kill 5 times more things to get all the junk I need, etc."

I suppose the redeeming factor is the single quest hub. Having pretty much all the quests in one place makes it a little easier to deal with the zone. Still, next time I level a character through their 50s, I think I'll focus on Burning Steppes and such. I've heard bad things about Silithus, too, but I've never been there with any of my toons, so I think the newness will make it acceptable.

As I was questing, I noticed that I consumed all my rested experience while in the Crater, which will slow me down a bit. Not too much, I hope, as I really would like to make Outlands by next week, especially if 3.2 hits live then. The only thing I still need to do is level up my mining skill. Right now I'm woefully behind, only just hitting 166. As I'm questing, I see lots of ores that I can't mine because I'm not skilled enough, which is frustrating, not to mention stupid. My professions are for making gold, and right now I have to pass up all that potential profit. Gevlon would be very disappointed.

So the "to do" list stands thus: mining, mining, mining (need to hit 300 before Outlands); quest, quest, quest (three levels still to go); sell, sell, sell (I'm going to need gold for my next riding speeds, as 3.2 comes with cheaper fees, but still substantial for my reroll); and fun, fun, fun (it is just a game, you know!) ;)

...And Counting!

Wow, there is some great experience from quests in the plaguelands! After hitting level 53 yesterday morning, I never expected to hit level 54 that evening. If I can keep up a level a day until Outland, I'll be on my way to the other planet by this weekend. I'm fairly certain I have a certain quest chain to thank for my second ding of the day: Mrs. Dalson's Diary. I was on my way to finish up A Plague Upon Thee and noticed the yellow exclamation marks in the dilapidated farmhouse and barn.

After fighting my way through to the upstairs room of the farm house and noticing that it was just a wardrobe that required a key, I made my way over to the barn, killed the scarlet crusaders outside, and the undead inside, and found the book on the floor. Thanks to a quick Lightheaded search, I figured out that the random skeleton I had killed not 5 minutes before was the mob for the quest. The respawn was fast, though, so no problem. This one little quest chain got me over 10,200 experience (especially killing all those mobs with rested experience) and only took me about 8 minutes to do.

On top of that, I did the Plagued Termites quest at the lumber mill which got me another 12,000 experience or so. That's two pretty big chunks of experience in less than 20 minutes. In no time I was ready for more training. I hearthed back to Ironforge (which is truly Lagforge on my little laptop) and got my spells upgraded. I suppose I also got Greater Blessing of Wisdom as well, but I haven't been in a group since VC. That's a long time between instances... I plan to run some stuff in Outlands, though.

With only four levels to go until Outland, I've begun thinking about what I'll do about mounts and upgrading my riding skill. The running theory is that 3.2 will be out next week, so I'll definitely wait for it (I may not even be in Outlands by then... we'll have to see how much more progress I make). While the quest line would be very cool, it's just not cost effective. At all. Period. As far as I know, with the patch, training and mount will only be about 65 gold or so. Compare that to the 300+ gold I'd need for the questline and it makes little sense, even if I can get the questline at level 60 (you can't train the mount until 61). Although for RP, it would be very, very cool to do the quests... *sigh*

Speaking of RP, there was a bit of drama last night. Nothing major, but with a guild as large and prominent in the RP community of ED as the Kingship is, there's bound to be some stuff going down. Turns out that a guild that was/is our ally recently kicked a few members for being overall jerks. These kicked members formed a new guild, on that plans to switch to Horde as soon as faction changes come about (until then, they are RPing as Loa-worshipping Alliance... I have to give them some credit for originality, even if their new name is a little... well...). Of course, being on a PvP server, that's easily and justifiably seen as turning traitor.

Long story short, his majesty King Hinik called an impromptu meeting in Stormwind and we walked down to the lake near Goldshire to show support for those who were standing up for us and to let these rumor-spreading traitors know that we're here and if they want to say something they can say it. Needless to say, nothing crazy happened (aside from the god-awful RP of Goldshire/annoying retards that seem to congregate there) and we went on our merry way afterwards.

Regardless, it was fun. It was also a show of force, as Hinik was able to truthfully tell our ally that the force he came with was one that he was able to call forth in less than 5 minutes. That's the kind of loyalty and obedience we show our King, and for good reason. I gladly drop anything I'm doing to come when called, because that's what you do for your group/for your friends. Plus, it's fun to RP. :D

Returning to Routine

I'm back, but it's a bumpy start. Forgetting that today is Tuesday, and thus maintenance day, I spent last night watching my delicious TV instead of playing and catching up (Oh, and it was delicious... my DVR has so much work to do, I swear I'm going to wear it out. I mean, who doesn't love a Deadliest Catch marathon?). I did manage to play a bit yesterday morning and this morning (hooray for minor maintenance!) and ding'd 53 on Seona. Just five more levels to go before leaving the old world behind for good.

My plan to level Seona exclusively in the Plaguelands is falling a bit flat, however. Most of the quests are actually harder than I thought for my level and many of the exclamation marks in Chillwind Camp are still grayed out. Because I hearthed back to Ironforge just after hitting level 53, it's possible a few more have opened up for me and the mobs will be a bit easier to take down. When you get a group of 3 or 4 orange mobs on you, it's tough, even for a paladin. Or, even better, when an elite abomination comes out of nowhere to more or less one-shot you. I was so surprised by him I forgot to bubble. :(

To compensate for the scarce questing, I've been going back to Tanaris and am thinking about hitting Un'Goro for a bit. If the plaguelands are consistently more difficult than I feel is necessary, I'll supplement with stuff from Kalimdor. Still, the plaguelands are kind of fun. Seona definitely has an advantage against the undead (exorcism anyone?) and that's the only mob you'll find out there, just about. She's also smack dab in the center of the Redpath questline, which I've never done before. I hear it's a doozy.

And We're Back, Baby!

Internet? Check.

Updated WoW client on my Laptop? Check.

Authenticator? Check.

Looks like we're back in business. I miss the far better graphics and computing power of the iMac, but I'm not going to take it from my parents, since they bought it for themselves. We thought about working out a deal where I bought them a new computer and took the iMac instead (think inexpensive mac mini in exchange for the year old iMac), but when I checked prices I realized it would just be better to buy myself a new iMac and let them keep theirs.

I did a mass AddOn download (damn if Minion from MMOUI still isn't working for Macs...), and did my best to set up a decent-looking UI in the game using an alt. I'm honestly not overly happy with what I came up with but I won't complain too much. It works for now. Ideally, I'd love an all-in-one UI, like Spartan, but it usually ends up being too restrictive. I'm especially missing the giant 24 in. screen from the iMac as my much smaller MacBook Pro is lacking in screen real estate.

I'm surprised at how many AddOns I use. Even with my long list, though, I don't have a decent unit frame AddOn. I've always simply used the Blizzard ones. Something tells me that's something I'll have to deal with later. I've heard good things about Pitbull, Grid, and X-Perl. They all do the job, they're just all a bit different. I've also heard that you can make Pitbull look like Grid. It takes time to set them all up, though. :/ I don't know anything about this stuff.

Pitbull just looks sexy. It has 3D unit pictures, nice-looking bars and looks like it can be set up in a really clean way. It uses icons and such for a more visual way of communicating. The only thing I'm worried about is that for my laptop, it may be too sexy-looking. The poor thing is about ttwo years old now, maybe a little older, and I doubt it can handle all the processing that Pitbull appears to need. Also, it may have so many options that just setting it up would take me hours.

Grid is clean. It's small, light-weight (it appears that way, at any rate), and efficient. There aren't many bells and whistles, though (at least not at first glance). I also would have to figure out how to read it in a raid setting. I like pictures, icons, things that let me know exactly what the hell is going on without having to think too much. I mean, it's a game, not a chore. The little indicators may not be enough for me. Interpreting it in the middle of a fight may not be easy.

X-Perl looks a great deal like Pitbull, but easier to configure. That probably also means that it is a little less versatile. It has an option panel that appears easy to read and work with, so I can probably set it up in a half hour. I'm not sure, though, if my computer can handle it. It's sexy, but, like Pitbull, I'm worried that there is too much going on.

You know, I shouldn't discount an all-in-one UI just yet. Spartan is still one of the absolute best-looking UI's out there. With a few extra items, I bet I could make it work just fine. Or I could get a few extra things, like CBH Viewport, and set something up that will give me some other spaces to work with. If I ever get this all figured out, I'll post a picture. :D

Interwebz Tomorrow!

I'm so freaking excited. AT&T is installing my U-Verse package tomorrow which means I'll have Internet again. :D Good grief, I'm like a crack addict needing my fix... Anyway, I'm ready for it. Going this long without Internet (except for my iPhone, which is no doubt what kept me sane) has been difficult. I'm getting quite a nice package, I think.

For my viewing pleasure, I've chosen U-200. That's 200 channels of cable goodness all for me. Some channels I'm looking forward to include Animal Planet, Cartoon Network (hooray, Adult Swim!!), CNN (hoping it's better than local news...), Comedy Central, Food Network, G4, Spike, and Syfy (why did they change their name? Good grief, it looks dumb now...). I also get some really cool music channels with that, though I doubt it would sound good coming from my crappy TV.

My Internet will be what AT&T calls "Elite," which allows downstream speeds of up to 6 Mbps. Basically they recommend this speed as the minimum for Internet gaming, i.e. WoW, thus I bought this instead of something less expensive. I also get access to all of AT&T's hot spots with this Internet, so I'm excited about that (including Starbucks, not that I go there that often anymore). That's pretty cool, too.

I rounded out my package deal with a home phone, too. I got their "unlimited" minutes plan, which only made sense. What's super cool about the home phone, though, is the Home Manager. This thing is just a really cool gadget. :D I mostly love the fact that it doubles as a digital photo frame. Now, naturally, I had to buy this separately. Thanks to my package deal, though, I got $200 off the price, making this a $100 phone. Reasonable, considering all it does. And yes, I did look at Best Buy and such for a normal land line phone and decided they were all really expensive and totally not worth it for what they did. The Home Manager is pretty sweet, though, so I'm excited to see how it looks when all's said and done.

All in all, tomorrow can't come fast enough. I really hope the AT&T technician arrives relatively early in the day so I can make the most of my new Interwebz.

Wanting a Rogue

Today I woke up and really wanted to play a rogue. I'm certain it's just a minor issue with my altoholism, it will pass, but I find it funny. I have a warrior at 80, a Paladin well on her way to 80 (especially once I get my nice internet this weekend... I'm excited!) and a slew of alts. Far more alts than I'll ever be able to play, or want to play. The new Armory app for my iPhone has made that exceptionally clear.

I have two rogues, though, that I've created and actually played in the last 6 months or so: Loem, a male human rogue on ED, and Untainted, a female Belf on Gul'dan. Loem is only just over level 10 or so and is Leodry's brother (RPlol). Untainted is sitting pretty at level 39 and I've run a few battlegrounds with her, but I'm not sure how I want to work her. Patch 3.2 will bring battleground leveling, but something tells me it won't be nearly as efficient as regular leveling. Honorable kills don't count towards the experience, for example, so it makes me wonder just what does.

I'd love to level at least one of them in the battlegrounds, just to see how it would be done. Instead of dungeon drop blues, I'd get some nice PvP rewards. Instead of questing, which requires tons of travel, I could just stick in a major city at all times (thanks to queuing from anywhere now). That would mean lots of rested experience. If I could get some BoA shoulders, too, it would help. I hope this battleground experience thing works out. It would be a really interesting way to level up a toon and I'd be able to focus entirely on PvP for once.

Rumor: New Races

Apparently MMO Champion is claiming/strongly suggesting that Goblins and Worgen will be the new races in the next expansion.

As if it hasn't been posted a million times before... still, I find it interesting.

I know that Pandaren will never become a playable race, so that really only leaves a few races that are already in the game as options. The other thing that Blizzard could do is introduce something else entirely, although that didn't go as smoothly as they liked when they crash landed the Draenei on Azuremyst the last time.

MMO is making the claim based on four Hallow's Eve masks they discovered: male and female versions of Goblin and what looks like new Worgen faces. This is significant (according to them) because all of the current masks are playable races. They make a good argument, honestly. I'm one of those that believe that, if this is actually true, Goblins will be aligned with the Horde and the Worgen with the Alliance. Goblins already appear to be more buddy-buddy with the Horde anyway, and the Worgen were once the Human nation of Gilneas, so it makes sense. Also, less important, but should be taken into account, it would give a small race to the Horde and a bigger/furry race to the Alliance.

What remains to be seen, of course, is whether or not Blizzard will confirm this information at Blizzcon. I'm actually hoping they do. I have one level 80, and another toon on the way towards 80. One is of the Horde, the other of the Alliance. Rerolling doesn't bother me much. I'm a dedicated altaholic. Expect to see me roll at least one of each of these to play around with them if they come true.

Interwebz?

So I don't get Internet at my house until the 25th (that would be next Saturday, I guess). This makes me a sad panda, mostly because this means I have to play something like Sims 3, as that doesn't require Internet. I've come to the conclusion that all games are better with the Internet, though, so I'm still sad. If I could just log on for an hour it would make me happier, but I'm not sure when I'll get the chance.

On top of that, my Wii is still busted because I'm lazy as all hell and still haven't sent it in for repairs. I'll probably do that this weekend, or maybe this afternoon, but I've got to find a small box for the console. In the meantime, I've got an old PlayStation 2 around here somewhere, so maybe I'll finally finish that Final Fantasy game or Kingdom Hearts or maybe Sly 2.

Or maybe I'll do a Harry Potter marathon and watch all 5 of the movies so that this weekend I can go see the new film and be all caught up. That should take up quite a bit of time in between housework. I've still got boxes all over the place, while I try, little by little, to move into my house.

Clothes need to be washed, boxes recycled, old things from my childhood dealt with (ever heard of Playmobil? I used to collect the stuff, so I have bags/boxes of that and I need to figure out what to do with it all...), exercise equipment cleaned off and brought in from the garage, a sleeper-sofa to overhaul... the list goes on and on and on. And that's just inside. Don't get me started on my garden out back. After the scorching TX summer, most of the plants are dead.

Why does owning and maintaining your own place take up so much damn time?

Poloma: The Spare Time Toon

After talking about the faction switch change and bringing up my old hunter, I decided to log on to Quel'Thalas and check on Poloma. She was still in Winterspring with a quest log full of green quests, some of which were completed, nearly all of which required extensive travel.

Man, I had forgotten how slow Tauren seem to run thanks to their size. It's like watching her wade through molasses, I swear, especially after spending so much time on a dwarf. One of the quest lines she's on is a Hunter-only questline that takes her into Sunken Temple. I probably won't get her in there. Finding a group of old quests is impossible and I've never been in Sunken Temple before. Like, ever. On any toon. So that's probably out.

Really, I think I'll be taking her to Un'Goro and then Silithus. Honestly never really gone that route so it would be new and refreshing. She's still in really bad shape, though. She has no glyphs, some of her gear does indeed still have some strength stats on them (really embarassing, seriously), her mining is only around 110... it hurts my soul, really. At least the gear with strength has agility, too. I guess I had kept a bunch of quest chainmail thinking that armor was more important than having good stats. Obvisouly I've learned the true path, now.

It's interesting, though, to have a way to look back in time to see how I used to play. I've come a long way since I first decided that my tauren hunter would be my main. I like to say that Poloma taught me how to play World of Warcraft. That doesn't mean she taught me how to play a Hunter... but I understood the game through her point of view.

So, she's sitting around level 56, hopefully in my spare time I can get her to level 58, thus outlands, and fix her gear. Quest greens from there are huge upgrades and maybe, just maybe, she'll eventually become worth the $25 fee to transfer her to one of my main servers.

P.S. Her name, "Poloma," is a Choctaw name meaning "bow." Fitting, no? Well, except for the fact that she uses a gun. But that'll change, no doubt, as soon as I get to Outlands. :)

Video Games Live!!

Last night, I attended Video Games Live, a video game music performance. It was spectacular! If you get a chance to attend this event, do it. Totally go for it, as it was amazing. The lights, the music, the talent, the audience participation, everything was fantastic. This is what video games are about, the community coming together to experience some of the artistic talent and beauty inherent in creating a video game. This is the entertainment of the future.

I took my dad along. He enjoys video games. He's played the old arcade style stuff, like Centipede and Space Invaders, is strangly addicted to Bubble Bobble from way back when I had my original 8-bit Nintendo, and he loves my Wii. He and my mom bought a Wii of their own, in fact, just a couple weeks ago. Last night, he experienced a small slice of the local gaming community... and at first he wasn't so sure about the event.

If you try to talk to him about games like Final Fantasy, or Halo, or even World of Warcraft, you'll just get a big, blank stare. At least he is aware of WoW, since I play, but he has no real interest, at all, in any of these games. One day he might take a shot at some sports stuff, but it's a stretch. I can say, however, that last night opened his eyes a bit at the possiblities that video games bring these days.

On the drive home, he asked me about the music in the games, if what we heard was actually heard while you played. I told him, yes, of course. In WoW, the music plays in the background, unless you turn it off (something far too many people do right away... it's beautiful music that really sets a certain mood and should be expereienced at least once the way it was meant to). I honestly believe it's made him think about games as less of a "time-waster" or "for kids" and more as a true entertainment option that's as healthy and normal as watching tv or going to the movies.

I doubt he'll be running out to buy a Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 anytime soon, but at least he's more aware of the joy of gaming.

P.S. This event has opportunities to win stuff. One of those is a Guitar Hero competition, and I want to congratulate the winner last night. YOU GO GIRL! :D

That's right, the winner of the Guitar Hero competition, the one who beat the pants off every guy there, was a girl gamer. She got up on stage in the second half and played Aerosmith's "Sweet Emtion" on Expert mode. In order to win the prize, she had to get a score of 220,000.

She rocked out, earning over 250,000 points with a 96% accuracy! It was fun, I cheered and shouted, and loved the fact that last night, a girl proved we can game just a good, if not better, than the boys.

Poloma: The Hunter I Forgot

I want to start this with something seemingly unrelated: The upcoming faction switch option. I don't like it. I feel that choosing a faction is one of the most important aspects of creating a character, and not in an RP way, but a simple game mechanics way. I mean, c'mon... when you sit down to create a new character you have to choose which side you want to be on.

That being said, I understand exactly why they've done it. For one, they're a business and they want to make money. Best way to make money is to provide services that your customers want and are willing to pay for. If Blizzard can figure out how to code the transition to change achievements that are faction specific, mounts that are faction specific, reputations, etc. then go for it, whatever. I don't have to change factions, it's entirely optional.

I can see the appeal, though. I have a tauren hunter by the name of Poloma. She used to be called Baress and was my first main. I moved her when free server transfers opened up for her server months and months ago. Opalandra the druid may have been my very first toon ever, but Baress/Poloma was the one I leveled. I made it to level 20 before the trial I had downloaded expired and got her to just over 40 before quitting the game for a bit to study abroad in Italy, and since then have gotten her to 56. She's hanging out in Winterspring, sitting on 300 skinning because I'm too lazy to take her to Northrend (dumb, I know). Mining is her other profession, for gold, but it's really low level, only around 110.

I was the true huntard so long ago, even carrying some gear with Strength on it (oh, the horror!) and probably had never laid a trap in my entire existance. I still find the hunter class very complex to master: easiest to level and get into, hardest to master, truely. The faction change would benefit her most, I think. I've gotten rid of the pure strength gear (yeah, burned that stuff fast, man it was bad... well... except for her gloves and pants... they still had agility and I was tired of spending gold...), upgraded what I could without breaking the bank seeing as Outland is so close, and gotten her rested up. I don't play her often, though, because of her server.

Know how I said that I moved her during a free transfer period? Well, I didn't read the fine print. Turns out she was moved to a new Latin American server. I wouldn't care too much, except my Spanish is terrible and I have no hope at all with Portuguese. I feel like the dumb American tourist intruding on their space, and I hate it. It makes playing not so fun. I have options, though, especially with the upcoming faction switch.

As much as I dislike the idea, as much as I despise the concept of transforming her into something she's not, the fact that I could change her into a dwarf or a Draenei and move her to Emerald Dream or some such appeals to me. She has hours of work put into her, pets that I fell in love with (my first pet is a wolf from Mulgore named Karo) and she's whethered all the hunter changes throughout. She's from pre-BC for goodness sakes, just like Opal. She deserves a second chance.

There is another option, of course. One that may appeal even more, simply because it would require a great deal less work, and I could do it today, if I wanted. I could delete my orc hunter on Gul'dan and bring her over. I've thought about doing this hundreds of times. It would get rid of the whole "I don't speak Spanish well enough to play here" problem I'm having with Quel'Thalas (the server, not the zone, of course) and would get her on a server with my level 80. She'd have gold and a bank alt to send stuff to, and everything.

I haven't done it, yet. I haven't taken the plunge. It's on my mind, though. I'd hate to just ignore Poloma forever. Like Opal, she deserves better.

Countdown to Outland

Seona is rolling right along, achieving level 52 plus a little extra over the weekend. The only real drawback is that a great deal of that experience came from killing mobs, so her rested experience was depleted. Hopefully with some rest in Ironforge, she'll get that back this week in between me working and dealing with the house.

Getting to 52 just means that I only have seven levels to go until Outlands, which is exciting. All my gear consists of quest rewards, meaning I'm mostly in lower-level greens. I mean, I bought some new shoulders because she was still wearing chainmail ones that a very kind warrior had made for her in Lakeshire. Since level 25 or so! Way too long. Thankfully I got them for a really good deal, only a few gold. I hate to get any really good gear, simply because I know I'll replace it within a few hours of hitting Outlands.

She also finally replaced Verigan's Fist with the Ice Barbed Spear. It was way past time. The best part? I only had to do the battleground one time, and the whole time I was in the harpy cave, attempting the opening quest for the trinket. The rest of the raid sitting at level 59-60 did most of the work for me. Thanks, you guys, for my new polearm!

Otherwise not much to report. I'm a little sad that Seona hasn't stepped foot in an instance since the Deadmines. She got a random whisper yesterday asking to heal something or other, but dinner was on its way, and I wasn't going to start an instance right before dinner. Plus, Sunday nights are Merlin nights, so she politely declined. She did wish them luck, though.

Oh! Speaking of the house and new loot, I got a Roomba as a housewarming gift! I named it Dirti. Yes, named after that Dirti. I think I'll find a picture of the little guy, print it out, and tape it to my vaccum robot. I think it would be cute. And adorably annoying because no one else I know would get the reference.

Whoa... Level 51 Already?

Yep. Seona is at level 51 already. I can't imagine how fast I would have leveled if she would have heirloom shoulders. Can you imagine? It's no wonder you can level an alt in no time, especially with Recruit-a-Friend, if you have access to it.

The Thorium Brotherhood got her very close to 50. With a shipment of silk cloth from her Estate Manager (read: Bank Alt), she was able to help a dwarf who was stuck in an outhouse in the Burning Steppes. Also, at some point in her travels, she had looted a key from one of the Dark Iron Dwarves' corpses. The key just happened to be for the outhouse, thus, she was able to free the poor dwarf from the little shack, earning her level 50.

Yep, that's right. Seona got to level 50 from an Outhouse quest. I feel dirty. D:

Still, level 50 meant a trip to the Plaguelands. So, off she went (after killing some spiders for their legs... some goblin wanted them, and she was there, you know?). The gryphon landed in Chillwind Camp and her first tasks for the Argent Dawn were started.

She's equipped with her Commision trinket, now, and killing undead goes quickly, provided they're only 2 or 3 levels above her. I've quickly come to realize that anything over that, with a red number, takes forever to kill due to missing. Regardless, she was able to knock out several quests, including the first two cauldron quests, which managed to bump her all the way to the next level. So, sitting pretty at level 51, she's well on her way to getting ready for Outlands.

Oh, and yes, she's picked up the Redpath questline. I've heard it's a bit of a tearjerker, so I'm ready for that. The other thing I've noticed? Now that I'm over that hump and in an area so steeped in Paladin lore (Uther's Tomb, anyone?), I've slowed down again. I read the quest text (most of the time) and do my best to be all "Paladiny" and glowy.

One last little note: Patch 3.2 is still on the PTR, and they appear to be having a few issues with it. Since that's the case, Seona will probably hit level 59/60 before it goes live. Because of the mount changes, any new Paladins will never do the quest for their epic mount, but, luckily, I think I'll be able to do so with Seona. In fact, it'll probably be one of those instances where I'll just be squeaking by before the patch hits live. How cool that my RP pally will be able to do the quest as was intended? It'll be worth it, I think, for the Feat of Strength alone.

Of course, if I don't get to 60 before the patch then it's all moot. The questline requires expensive, rare mats, and at least 350 gold. If the patch hits first then it's 50G for the training and maybe 20G for the spell. RP opportunity or no, I'm not going to spend the 350 if I can get it for 70.

On Her Way to 50

Seona, my paladin, had been caught in a slight leveling rut since around level 46. Nothing major, but not great. It seemed that I had spent a great deal of time questing through full storylines, completing every quest in a zone before moving on (which makes sense from an RP point-of-view, as you wouldn't really leave an area until you had helped all those who had asked for your aid). It also meant that by the time I arrived in the next zone, I was leveled a bit past the normal starting point.

Stranglethorn Vale, for example, had nearly every quest in green, which meant less experience. Also, I came to the conclusion that I didn't much like the goblins. Or, rather, I should say that I decided Seona wasn't overly fond of them, thus making it difficult to quest for them. Yeah, yeah, dumb, I know, but that's that. I took care of just enough quests to make it to level 48, then decided I should move on.

According to WoWWiki, I guessed that the Blasted Lands would make a nice questing hub for me, as the zone was labeled at being Alliance-favored for levels 45-55 or so. "Nice," I thought, "I'll head there next." Yeah. Not one quest available. The only exclamation point I see is grey, and nothing else is showing up. Super. Glad I wasted my time.

Instead, I looked around at the Eastern Kingdoms map again and realized that I hadn't yet gone to the Burning Steppes. So, after a quick gryphon ride to Lakeshire and a run through some rather dangerous territory, I arrived in the volcanic zone. Well, now, look at that. Lots of people could use my aid here, especially the Thorium Brotherhood. Fair enough, I'll help them out, at least until I hit level 50.

Level 50 = Plaguelands.

Seona is a paladin. As a paladin, it is her solomn, sacred duty to stamp out undeath and the Scourge everywhere. As a paladin, it is in her best interests to make contacts early on with the Argent Dawn (and, thus, the Argent Crusade). And, most importantly, as a paladin, she's freaking overpowered as hell when it comes to fighting the undead, so I should be able to power through the plaguelands in no time to 58, and, in the end, that's all I'm starting to care about, RP server or no.

Pre level 40, I used to painstakingly read every quest before I accepted it, so I knew exactly why I was about to go off and do whatever I was being asked to do. I wanted to know the story, the reasoning, behind everything.

Now I just want level 80, bad. Like, really bad.

It's sad. :'(

Quick Post: Bloody Gauntlet

Just a real quick post for today, as I haven't been playing much due to moving into my house, you know, for realz now.

Last night, Seona joined the Kingship in watching a dueling contest lovingly called "The Bloody Gauntlet." Honestly, there are some great PvPers amongst the citizens of the Kingship, as I was fascinated by the skills portrayed during the duels.

While one on one isn't usually terribly balanced, it was fun to watch. In fact, I'm thoroughly impressed with a certain priest in the guild who was able to make it very far in the competition. I've never seen a discipline priest do things like that before, and it was amazing. The final fight ended up being between a Paladin and a Warlock.

The Warlock used the terrain to his advantage (Fray Island was the setting, if you're interested, right off the coast from Ratchet) and gave it a good go, but in the end, the paladin won.

Congratulations Heimdel! Very well done indeed, surviving all the rounds and coming out on top!

Midsummer: Alliance Flames

Yrovi finished Outlands this morning for the Midsummer festival and immediately headed back to the old world to extinguish a few more fires. The Alliance fires in the Blasted Lands, Duskwood, and Westfall were soon put out. She then headed into Elwynn forest. She was there, you know? She figured a quick jump into the Alliance city of Stormwind wouldn't be an issue. She just wanted to steal their flame.

Yrovi rode straight through the front gates of the city, past some rather bewildered-looking guards, through the trade district to the canals, and made a beeline for the fire. Thanks to being uncrittable (hooray defense!) she was never dazed or dismounted. That was so easy, she decided to take care of a couple more while she had time.

No mount now, due to being in combat, she ran on foot to the docks and took the boat to Auberdine. The guards were pretty pissed at her at this point, but she just let them hit her a few times. She figured they had some personal issues and just needed an outlet. Once the boat docked in Kalimdor, she hopped over to the Auberdine fire, then back to the docks to take the boat to Teldrassil. Boom, another fire done, and she was able to get back to the boat before it left her on the giant Nelf tree-island.

Back in Auberdine, she boarded the boat to Azuremyst and ran down into the bowels of the Exodar. This early in the morning - aw, hell, anytime really - the Exodar was deserted. Aside from the guards (who were little more than an annoyance, even when about 6 or 7 were beating on her), she didn't see a soul and was able to steal the flame without issue. At this point, she ran out of the city and hearthed to Dalaran. As simple as all that was, she'll hit Ironforge tomorrow morning, probably. All four flames, and they'll be done in less than an hour total, if all goes well.

I love being uncrittable. :D

Midsummer: Flying Around Outlands

I decided to log onto Yrovi for a few quick minutes this morning before work. Turns out she has a great deal less accomplished for Midsummer than I thought. The only achievement she's completed from last year was Honoring the Flames of the Eastern Kingdoms. Frankly, that sucks. I have less than a week to complete the meta or I'll have to wait till this time next year to get the purple proto-drake. That's just unfortunate, to be honest.

She was hanging out with the fel-orcs in Shadowmoon Valley, still in the process of getting that Netherdrake, so I decided to take a quick spin around Outland to take care of that part of the achievement right away. Turns out it's not so bad on an epic flyer. I was able to get Shadowmoon, Terrokar, Nagrand, and Zangarmarsh in about 20 minutes, both honoring and the extinguishing the flames in those zones. I had to stop on my way to blade's edge, but I'll get there again after I do some packing tonight.

That's right, I'm moving into my house this weekend, more specifically Friday. I feel stressed, though, because I haven't packed nearly enough. Well, at least the furniture will be there and the empty house will start feeling like a real home again. 'Till then, though, I'll have to squeeze playtime in when I can. Thankfully Yrovi has plenty of fast mounts to get her where she's going.

Kalimdor and Northrend are still on the list, as well as taking out Ahune and buying all the clothes... which actually means I'll have to do all the flames to have enough blossoms... Plus she needs to steal the fires of the Alliance cities... Oh, man, I thought I had more done than this. I'll really have to hurry up if I want to take care of this meta this year. D:

That's just all kinds of unfortunate.