Friday, March 30, 2007
Drinking from the Fountain of the 40 (WoW)
Guild help is good.
Last night, some of the guild members invited Kurathan along for a Scarlet Monsatery run. They were using alts in the same level range as him.
There happened to be one other person in the group that was not in our guild. A little rogue. I mentioned that he was like a kid with ADHD, running in circles, continuously jumping around. One of the guild members said he did it, too, with his rogue. It was a rogue sickness. Hilarious!
We were going through the library wing of SM. The going was good, the rogue and Kurathan had pretty good DPS. Although there was also a 58 mage (I think) with us. His raining fire pillar from heaven was taking a good chunk of the mobs' health away.
We were right next to the last room, but we somehow started getting swarmed. First, there were three mobs. Then I turned and another two were there. Before I cold even react, there were FIVE more. We got so creamed. By the time we got our ghosts to the instance entrance, the mobs had respawned. Unvelievable. We were almost done.
That was the end of the group.
It was enough to push Kurathan from 52% to about 80% of level 39. So, I took him to Stranglethorn Vale to check out what was available there. There were a few quests in his level range, so I picked them up and started questing. The quests, along with the grinding that came with them, pushed him into level 40.
HOO-FRICKIN-RAY!!!
I took him back to the Undercity so he could head over to Brill and get a horse (does he need to go to Brill or can he get it from the Undercity?). He stopped off in the Gallow's End Tavern and spoke with the warrior trainer and picked up some new skills, including PLATE MAIL! Yay!
That actually took his gold back down. So, even though he has honored status with the Undercity which makes the mount prices 10% lower, he's still 24 gold away. I'll take him back into Razorfen Kraul to make some easy kills and gather some coinage. When the mount is his, I'll start playing Giladen(F) again.
Just as a point, here are the links to my toons again.
Giladen(M) (Madoran)
Giladen(F) (Kael'thas)
Kurathan (Kael'thas)
|
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The Girls of Gaming
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Favicon
I'm a little proud of myself. I finally got off my rear and researched how to do the little browser icon for my web pages. I know, it's not that difficult a project, but I had always wondered how it was done, and now I know. (How many people know what should be said HERE?)
Well, not so much got off my rear as got to typing... While sitting on my rear... Nevermind.
Anyways, the basic, crappy icon is there for all to see now. I'll have Mary make a proper image later that actually looks good.
|
The Call of the 40 (WoW)
I'm feeling the pressure of the level 40.
Kurathan has been at level 39 for the last four days. Every day I've had him logged on, someone from the guild has asked me if I'm getting close.
Yesterday, I decided to get a few items and a bunch of cloth, so I ran Kurathan through Rage Fire Chasm in Orgrimmar. I killed everything in there and picked up a few greens, but I got a boatload of linen cloth. Unfortunately, it was time to log off, so I had him exit the instance and logged off.
This morning, I looked over everything and sold all his grey items. I offered to hand over the greens to any low level enchanter that needed them. No response. I then raised Kurathan's tailoring skill by making bolts of linen cloth. His level was high enough to pick up the next proficiency in tailoring. Which, in turn, allowed me to have him trained to make the linen bag, a basic six-slot bag. He had enough linen to make 18 of those bags!
I regret it now, but I put all those bags up on the auction house this morning... While no one is on... *slap*
I'll probably be picking up a bunch of them and putting them BACK on the auction house this evening.
I've got Kurathan up to about 68 gold now, so it's just a final push to make 100. I think, this evening, I will try to find a PUG to run the Scarlet Monastery with him. He needs the money and the XP (he had 138% rested XP as of log off this morning).
|
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Slow Going (WoW)
Kurathan has not reached level 40 yet.
I had him drop leatherworking and pick up tailoring last night. Got the skill up to about 40 then went on to try to get more gold.
I took him to Razorfen Kraul to kill some lower level stuff and pick up some greens to sell on the AH. Unfortunately, since Kurathan IS a warrior and going solo, it was a little more difficult than I anticipated. He went in with five greater healing potions, but came out with none.
I know I've got to get him the next proficiency in First Aid. The bandages I have now, silk bandage, heals only 400 HP. Which is about 22%. So, if he's in the red and applies a bandage, he still has to stand around for a while before he has his health up.
An officer of the guild contacted me last night and asked if Kurathan would be hitting 40. I told him that he probably would not and conveyed my plans for Kurathan. He offered an instance run for me, which I declined. He offered me gold to get my mount, which I declined. I'm really finding this guild to be much better suited to me, now that Kurathan is gaining some strength.
I only logged on to Giladen(F) briefly last night. None of my friends were on, so I immediately logged back off. I think I'd like to see us get a small guild together so we can always see where the others are and what level they are. But that's a little ways off. I don't even know if we would be able to get the signatures for the charter. I'll talk to the others and see.
I'm thinking about dumping the other hunter, Giladen(M). That way, there will be less confusion.
|
Monday, March 26, 2007
Progress / New Adventure (WoW)
There was no Warcraft activity Wednesday or Thursday, we were too busy getting ready for and performing the photoshoot on Thursday. Friday, I had off, so I logged on Friday morning and played till the afternoon. Then played again that evening. Then played more on Saturday morning. Then played more on Saturday evening. Then Sunday morning before getting our taxes done. Then Sunday night before I went to bed.
All day Friday and Saturday morning was all about Kurathan. I'm really trying to push him to 40. He's just getting so close. I can taste the mount already, although I don't have enough gold for it.
Friday, Kurathan was standing in front of the bank in Orgrimmar when I got a quick pst.
"Is this your main?"
"Um, yes. Why?"
"Just trying to get to know some of the guild members."
I took a quick look at the guild roster, and there he was; Freako. That's his name, silly.
He asked me if I needed any help, so I looked at my quest log and found a couple that were green and soon turning grey, but were too difficult for just one. He was glad to help me and the quest grinding in Razorfen Downs pushed Kurathan up to level 39. He then helped me complete the second quest across the way in Razorfen Kraul. Freako was very friendly and was quick to let me know when Kurathan should be standing back.
I was sure to mention his name the next time I saw more of the guild on. I was offered gold by many guild members to get my mount, but I declined. I told them I'd rather earn the gold, but thanks.
Saturday, I attempted to get more quests completed, but found myself just running Kurathan around in circles, not really accomplishing anything.
Then, just as Mary and I were headed to the Saturday shoot, I got... the phone call. It was a call from my good friends in Oklahoma. "We're getting a router today." Sweet.
That evening, when we got home, I called them and they were installing WoW on two machines and had another friend on speakerphone. It was pretty nice as we all created characters Saturday night and started working together. That pretty much consumed Sunday playtime, too.
I stuck with the same race, class, and name, although I changed the gender. Female, night elf, hunter named Giladen. She's already up to 10 and has a boatload of skills I didn't have Giladen(M) learn. She is SO much a better fighter. Since my friends and I will be working together, we all divvied up the professions. I had her pick up tailoring this time, since, I think, tailoring is the profession that allows you to make bags.
Tonight, I think I will try to focus on getting Kurathan closer to level 40. Maybe a couple more runs through RFK. That seems to have garnered a lot of coin. I might actually go so far as to have him drop leatherworking and pick up tailoring. I'm just not sure.
|
Picture This!
This weekend was a whirlwind of activity. It all began Thursday night.
Thursday night, Mary had a big photo shoot. We installed hooks in the ceiling, hung tulle from it, we had purchased 6 foot sections of stained bamboo poles. Parts of the shoot were nudes and implieds. The shoot went extremely well, and Mary was very pleased with the outcome.
Then, Saturday, she had another photo shoot. This one also went very well. She really couldn't believe how many good pictures came of this one. Unfortunately, we had to cut it short. Seems like the main memory card pulled some kind of error and stopped saving pictures. Real bummer.
Overall, Mary had a wonderfully productive weekend with the two photo shoots.
I am so very proud of the work Mary is doing. I can see her getting better at every shoot. She'll be considered a self-taught pro in no time!
|
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
The bells!
This weekend, Mary and I travelled to Pittsburg, Missouri... twice.
'Why?' you may ask. Because Mary's friend was getting married, and Mary was the photographer.
'Why twice?' I still hear you asking. Well... I'll tell you... *group chimes in* He's going to tell. He's going to tell. Stop that, stop that. NO SINGING!
Well, the first thing to note is that the wedding was on a Monday evening. The rehearsal was on Sunday.
We went down on Sunday to attend the rehearsal, but we arrived too late. We still sat with them for the rehearsal dinner, at which, the grooms mother paid for EVERYONE'S meal. I had to go thank her myself.
That evening, we had to come home, though. Mary still had to put a couple hours in on Monday morning. Then we drove back down to Pittsburg to prepare for the wedding. The preparation went well.
The bride had decided to take pictures before the ceremony so people would not have to wait for them before the reception. I was pretty surprised at how quickly the pictures went by. The ceremony was beautiful. Long, but beautiful.
We got to the reception hall and it, too, was beautiful. Plenty of food for everyone and everyone had lots of fun.
Overall, I think Mary got about 500 or so pictures, so she's got a lot to sort through.
Previously, Mary had decided to make the veil for the wedding. When we took our trip to see my parents on their 50th, we picked up some of the necessities at Basket Market in Oklahoma City. Last week, the veil was completed with the help of a friend of Marys from work. Also, the wedding dress had a damaged sleeve that had to be repaired, and the bride decided to add some trim to the dress. Mary and the bride had not spoken, but, miraculously, the trim on the veil and the trim on the dress were EXACTLY the same. Not just some ribbon, but lacey with tiny white roses and intertwined pearls.
|
Bloody Monastery (WoW)
Kurathan was so not ready for the Scarlet Monastery. I walked him in, no problem, but he got creamed so fast.
When I say, creamed so fast, I mean, literally, creamed... so... fast.
He stepped into the instance and there were immediately two mobs. Arrow shot to pull one, pulled both. He couldn't even get one of them to half health before he was ready for the triage. So, I ran him around on the inside of the monastery, but outside the instances. Just a little fighting there.
Before he found out the stuff he was made of in the Scarlet Monastery, I had him train the next level of leatherworking. Which allowed him to learn the next step up of leather. It goes like this: 3 Ruined Leather Scraps -> Light Leather, 4 Light Leather -> Medium Leather, 5 Medium Leather -> Heavy Leather. I just got that last recipe. Along with that, I picked up Heavy Leather Armor Kit, which adds 24 armor each to the chest, legs, hands, and feet.
I spent too much of his money yesterday. He actually ended up about 25 silver lower than where he started. Although, I ended up putting his crafted items on the auction house, so I guess we'll see tonight how they did. Even if they don't sell, he'll more than make up the deposit cost by selling to a vendor.
|
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Upcoming Mount (WoW)
The entire weekend has been devoted to Kurathan. I spent all my time with him.
He has now advanced another level and is sitting pretty at 38, about 70% to 39. I'm ran him through the Wailing Caverns to pick up a quest or two and some items. But the money is not, as I'm told, in the Wailing Cavern items, it's in the Scarlet Monastery.
I'll have him give that a try soon, but the last time he went through there, everything was too high level for him. Thankfully, there was a group of two hunters, a frost mage, and a paladin that took him through. It WAS noted by the group, however, that the tank was low level.
Even with what little he was able to loot from the Wailing Caverns, I've been able to accumulate 35g for him. Hopefully, with the addition of drops in the Scarlet Monastery, I'll be able to get him up to 100g by the time he reaches level 40. Time to get a mount. :-)
As soon as the mount is secured in Kurathan's inventory, I'll start working on Giladen again.
My friend, Kareem, will be up and running on WoW sometime soon, so I'll have someone to start grouping with. Yay!
|
Friday, March 16, 2007
Something Fishy (WoW)
Giladen was the focus last night.
Not much combat, just a little to garner a few coins. Mostly spent my time fishing.
Don't freak. Yes, I said, 'fishing.'
It's actually been kinda nice to see that my fishing skill is rising so rapidly. I'm almost up to 100 skill level and am working on a fishing quest as it is. Hopefully, at some point, I'll get the skill up pretty high. It helps me keep food on hand for the kitty.
|
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Finally Completed Quest (WoW)
Kurathan has had the warrior quest Brutal Armor for quite some time. I think he picked it up at around level 27. It's touted as a level 30 quest.
He had three of the four ingredients necessary to complete the quest. All three were fairly easy to obtain. The fourth, however, posed quite a problem. It was within Razor Fen Kraul.
Since I tried the instance just a couple days ago, I decided that Kurathan was well ready to solo the final item for his quest. So, I took him in.
He was so ready for it. He didn't die a single time. Came close a couple times, but no death. He was high enough level that even walking next to some of the mobs didn't even pull them. Using his bow, it was a cinch to pull mobs one at a time.
Even at points where the pull aggroed additional mobs, he could easily take two and could manage three. He's not quite ready to complete the last quest he has for RFK, but will be after he gains one more level.
I played Giladen for just a few minutes last night, too. Just a quick run back through town to turn in quests. Then, I took him back to Darnassus to up his leatherworking skill. After that, it was time for a little fishing to get pet food. By the time his shiny bauble buff ended, it was time to log.
He didn't end up with a lot of fish, though. Another player came by, low level hunter with an owl, and asked if he had any meat or fish. I know, I should have just told him to spend a few copper to get a fishing rod, but I handed over Giladens fish, 10 all told. I had already clicked the Trade button, but the other player threw on a silver piece for my trouble.
|
Lock Bumping
This looks pretty interesting. I haven't done much research on it, but there seems to be quite a few videos about how to do it.
YouTube
|
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
A warrior's adventure (WoW)
Last night was all about Kurathan. I logged on pretty much as soon as I got home (~7pm) and didn't log off until 8:45.
I've been a little frustrated with a quest I was on that takes me into Razorfen Kraul. I haven't been able to do it since I'm not quite high enough level to solo it and I haven't been able to PUG it.
Right after I logged on, I finished up in Orgrimmar and was about to head towards Dustwallow Marsh. I'd just picked up my flight from Org to Camp Taurajo when I saw a message flash across the screen I just couldn't pass up; 'LF2M RFK Tank'.
Sweet.
I instantly messaged the poster that I needed to pick up some stuff there and asked him if I was high enough to be their tank. Plenty. I didn't realize RFK is a 25-30 instance.
When I got to the entrance, I found out that I was the only melee toon. Everyone else was a caster. Two mages, a warlock, and a priest. All were levels 28 and 29. I walked in with two quests, one for bat guano, one for vial of phlogiston, but was 'shared' another, retrieving a heart.
I was surprised at what a breeze it was. We were wiping this dungeon like mad. Only once did my HP go under 50%. I was able to get the guano, but the other two quests went unfinished. I wish I had done a little research in the down time before we entered the dungeon. I would have known that the phlogiston was a left at the fork instead of a right.
Oh, well. In a couple levels I'll be able to solo this dungeon. I don't know if the quest rewards will be worth it, but I'll give it a shot anyways. Reputation doesn't hurt.
|
Monday, March 12, 2007
Weekend Update
Well, this weekend started out nice, turned to crap, then back to nice again.
I just haven't been fulfilling a proactive enough role in taking steps to fix things. I'll just have to take small steps across chasms that seem so wide and treacherous.
On a lighter note, we received our copy of a DVD my uncle made at my parents 50th. I didn't want to post on here that we were having a surprise party for them because I wasn't sure who looked and who talked.
The party on the 4th was great. My parents were caught completely by surprise. I can't wait to watch the DVD and experience it all over again.
|
Die Hard the Hunter (WoW)
A thousand points for those that recognize the title of this post.
My hunter, Giladen, has been the primary focus of my WoW activity the last few days. I have, however, spent some time with Kurathan, though. Don't want him to feel left out.
As of yesterday, the two casters I started have been deleted. They are no more.
My hunter is now a staunch level 16 and rising quickly. I've been doing almost ZERO grinding. Almost every bit of my XP has come from questing. Nice, considering I still have a slew of quests to complete, many of which are actually one or two levels below me. Some more difficult than higher level quests.
I'm very pleased with the progress of my pet also. He's been a wonderful tank for me. I 'Hunters Mark' the target and send him out to play. When the target is down to about 50%, I'm pretty much in the clear to take it out from long range.
Just for future reference, Blizzard now has a section of their World of Warcraft website up called 'The Armory.' In the armory is a database of characters (and other stuff I haven't even looked at) that play on WoW.
Kurathan
Giladen
|
Friday, March 09, 2007
Variation (WoW)
After trying a few different classes, I think I've settled on sticking with the hunter. I've gotten him up to level 13 now and am progressing quite nicely.
The other characters, the casters, I have diablerized to feed the hunter.
Since I have, and plan on continuing, begun limiting my play time, I will be sticking mainly with a solo character. I felt like the hunter was a fairly decent solo class.
|
Monday, March 05, 2007
Weekend Trip
This weekend, Mary and I took a trip to Oklahoma to visit my parents. Tuesday is their 50th anniversary.
My uncle planned everything out. It was to be a surprise party for them at their (our) church. My brother, Mary, and I let on nothing the whole weekend. At the end of the morning service, the pastor called them up to the front of the church. They were completely taken.
Pastor Klepper took them through a renewal of their vows, before their friends, church family, and blood relation (many of his siblings from around the state came to attend the ceremony). After the renewal ceremony, they had already set up a reception in the small meeting hall.
I could see my parents' eyes light up as they realized the whole morning was about them.
|
Friday, March 02, 2007
Bloated
It's stuff like this that just ticks me off.
I was looking to get a couple UPSs for our computers at home, since we are in the midwest and we both have critical business information stored on our machines. I did a search directly on APCs website, the industry leader in power backup systems.
Here's what I found: @APC.
I figured I could get a good deal on this item if I just searched around on the net at other retailers, maybe wholesalers and dealers. Generally, I was finding a pretty similar price, though CompUSA has a GREAT deal on them right now.
Check the listed retail price of one of the others that I found: @SJGreatDeals.
WTF!?
Some great deal, huh? How someone inside their company decided it was ethical to list the price you see there is beyond me. This makes me think of how bloated prices really are in the department stores.
Department stores typically inflate prices, as is the usual practice if the company is looking to make any money at all. In a study of cost v. price of items it was found that, generally, the inflation was around 75%. No big deal. Just as a reference, I think Wal-Mart came in at around 40%. It was found, in this study, that many of the department stores in the mall had an inflation markup of around 1600%!! You read that right. Sixteen hundred percent.
This means, the shirt that costs you $80, cost them $5.
For how much do you think Nike really has to sell those $200 shoes just to make a profit? $75? $50? Try $20. That's right, those smelly sneakers can be purchased from a Nike outlet store for $20... for profit.
Think about it.
|
Thursday, March 01, 2007
WoW Update (WoW)
I pushed Gizmodo up past level 11. He's now got 2 talent points, both of which are in the Demonology talent tree. I'm already wondering if that's where I need to go with him. I'm actually not sure I want to stick with the warlock anyways.
I like some of the abilities, but I'm just more of a hack-n-slasher than a caster. I might try the hunter or rogue next. I think I'll steer away from the clerics.
I won't be able to play this weekend as I'll be on a trip. I'll just pick up on it on Monday.
|
The Storm
Last night, Kansas City was struck pretty hard with a nice tornado-producing storm.
The wind was strong and the rain came pouring down. There were even parts of KC that were hit with hail.
Thankfully, for us, the main part of the storm was on the south side of town. Everything is okay here, although there were a couple close calls. Sounded like lightning struck nearby twice.
This morning, the air was light and there was a sprinkling of rain coming down. Very peaceful morning.
|