Distracted

My leisure time is decidedly lacking at the moment and what few moments I do have are somewhat divided.

Reading

My current reading list looks something like this. I’d definitely recommend Heavenly Bodies to anyone else fascinated by the skull beneath the skin, the illustrations alone are worth the price and from what I’ve read so far, it’s the left me with the nagging desire to go wandering across Europe visiting Catacombs.

Gaming

I am still playing WoW albeit with that numbness which comes with the doldrums before an expansion. It’s hard to focus on any one activity when you know that a massive change is en route, so I do a spot of pet battling or play an alt but there is no driving force behind my gaming at the moment. I want to tick more items off my to do list and of course level my little Warlock by wandering around exploring and questing but that’s an hour here and there.

Thanks to Ironyca, perhaps too much of my time is currently being taken by an evil little browser game.

I’m also still playing Candy Crush although my rules are still the same. No cash will be spent on the app and if I run out of lives, then I just have to wait. So far I’m at level 123 and it’s a great way of killing time whilst commuting.

Hearthstone

I got my Hearthsteed but I’m still dabbling.

Although I have to admit I haven’t gone back to playing actual people since I won the mount, instead I’m having fun taking on the computer. That said though, I didn’t actually mind the “pvp” games either, it’s when people feel the need to emote that I get nervous. I love the art work, the cards themselves and their descriptions are amazing.

Dragon Age

Yep, I’m back playing my 10th Mage through her Harrowing and hopefully beyond. There is something addictive about that Mage Tower! This time the plan is seduce Leliana and make Anora marry Alistair but then that’s been the plan before. Usually one of two things happens, I either get distracted writing fan fiction and before I know it, my Mage has fallen head over heels for Alistair which never ends well or even worse, I get into a rut around Ostager and just make a new Mage. I could actually do the Harrowing in my sleep and I’ve been yelled at by the Knight Commander so many times, I’ve explored all the possible dialogue options without having to go back to previous saves. I’m not a hundred percent sure what this says about me, but I suspect it’s not particularly positive.

I’d also forgotten just how pretty Dragon Age is, even Ostager looks beautiful.

Possible Temptation – Games I’m fighting the urge to purchase or play

Wildstar

I haven’t pre-ordered but I’m definitely tempted to try the game. After all it has “tree-huggers”, which sounds close enough to Elves to work for me. I’ve read quite a few reviews and whilst I’m not sure it would hold my attention for long, it’s definitely struck a cord or two.

Windborne

I found this whilst browsing Steam and there is just something about it which draws me in. I’ve always loved sandbox games where you can just wander around building and exploring.

Crafting

At the moment I’m sewing together a cat cushion but have so many ideas of things I wish to try dotted around the house. Matty introduced me to this and I can’t resist to the temptation to turn it into a little lavender pillow or similar.

I also found a book on salt dough when I visited the library last which brought back a lot of childhood memories so I’d like to give that ago sometime soon. Then of course, there is my Warcraft tarot cards to be finished, with the Worgen Harvest witch as the Hermit and of course Tyrande as the High Priestess.

I also need to assemble and find a place to put my Edward Gorey “Dracula” theatre. I picked this up years ago and it’s been sitting in a box just waiting for a home every since.

Finally I’m in the process of  re-organising my button shelf as I think it’s getting a bit out of control.

Essentially as with everything, there are far more things to do than there are hours in the day. That said, I’m always on the look out for new and shiny distractions, so feel free to make suggestions.

Thoughts on Hearthstone

I set out to download the open Beta with one thought in my head, to prove to myself that I didn’t see the point in a digital card game and that I would absolutely hate it and no doubt delete it five minutes after installing. Things didn’t quite work out as planned. I wouldn’t say I’m Hearthstone’s greatest fan, far from it in fact but I did enjoy playing it.

Positives

I love the boards to the point where I’m seriously tempted to pick my favourite and paint it onto the top of an old cupboard. I just can’t decide whether I should go Alliance Pride

or celebrate the beauty of Pandaria.

The tutorial was extremely handy for talking you through the basics (which I definitely needed) and I thought starting with the Mage deck and everyone’s favourite mage was a great touch although I would have preferred a few more female decks, Tyrande or Sylvanas for example or perhaps even Alleria since we’re heading back to Draenor soon.

I might not have managed to beat Garrosh in-game but in Hearthstone….. he went down easy.

Negatives

Why oh why is the Priest deck represented by Anduin? That boy is just bad news, look at what happened to his guardians for example, set on fire by Dragons before being turned into the Lich King and being beaten up by raid groups not only in the original game but also in Wrath and Cataclysm.

I might be doing it completely wrong but sometimes it’s just plain irritating especially when you’re at 10 crystals but keep pulling cards costing 1. The fact that a certain Druid keeps kicking my ass isn’t helping either. Healing for 8 really shouldn’t be allowed although I keep being told Fire Mages can’t beat Feral Druids at the moment any way so maybe I need to take him on with a deck which isn’t Jaina.

Would I pay cold hard cash for Hearthstone? I don’t think so as it’s really not my cup of tea any more than say Diablo turned out to be but I’m glad I tried it and properly wasted a number of hours playing around smashing in faces.