Easily Distracted: Things which aren’t Warcraft

A couple of other games have been distracting me from WoW recently.

First up is the amazing, awesome and hilarious Scribblenauts Unlimited. It has haunted houses, dinosaurs and castles to explore plus the Headless Horseman as an art lover which is absolutely how I envisioned him. You have to help save your sister by creating (by typing) items to solve problems and make people happy. There is no right answer to the problem although there are definitely wrong ones (vampire teddy being one example) and it’s interesting to see how Mr Harpy would solve problems differently to me.

On my phone, I love Aqueducts.

Taking this:

To this is a bit addictive.

Although I’m far from a natural aqueduct builder. Mr Harpy takes a very sensible and logical approach, starting from the far end and figuring out what options work and what does. I take a much more relaxed approach and essentially “wing” it. I suspect Caesar would have fed to me the lions for my attitude and tendency to flood vast areas of the city although I’d probably have already accidentally drowned the lions.

 

Finally, I have found a replacement for the Chibi maker which had distracted me for far too long. This is Avatar Maker: Witches and apparently at heart I’m still the little girl who loved reading about Dorrie the Little Witch and the Worst Witch books.

 

I’m also trying to increase both the amount of fiction and non fiction I read as it feels like I read 100 children’s books to every 1 adult book at the moment. For Fiction at the moment I’m reading “Life and Fate” plus “American Gods“. They do make for slightly unlikely bed fellows I admit. My Mother buys me books for Christmas every year (I know it’s early) but if anyone has any suggestions especially in terms of non-fiction I’d love to hear them. I’m interested in most things, especially the quirky and unusual.

Topic 21: I’m not a hoarder, honest!

I’ve been meaning to join in with Z and Cinder’s fortnightly blog challenge for a while and this prompt is most definitely apt. It doesn’t matter how big the bags and bank get, space is constantly something I seem to lack.

So what is in my bags?

I have a soft spot for Griftah, dubious Troll and seller of possibly useful but probably junk items. Plus if I don’t carry such talismans such as the Infallible Tikbalang Ward and I get carried off by a Tikbalang, well then I’d feel rather silly wouldn’t I.

Who knows whether I get shiny loot because of my Talisman of True Treasure Tracking or not (okay, it’s probably not but would you risk it?).

 

I know they say some people wear their hearts on their sleeve, well Erinys carries someone else’s heart in her bags and bank. It’s okay, she took them from a Forsaken Warlock or two so it’s as not if they needed it to function or anything.

Looting them from a corpse was a bit icky and probably frowned upon when it comes to treating the enemy with respect on the battlefield but sometimes you have to fight fire with soulfire and it’s not as if the Forsaken are known for keeping their sticky mitts off other people’s body parts is it. She also has a couple of vials of Darkspear Troll Mojo which also found their way into her bags from the mostly dead bodies of a few Trolls during those first skirmishes in Alterac Valley.

 

My original Blizzard Baby bear also lurks within a bag. I know I could delete it and that it’s safely captured within my pet tab but I can’t quite bring myself to do so. Apparently it was Blizzard’s 4th anniversary gift to us, so it also acts as a reminder of just how long I’ve been playing.

 

I also carry far too many potions for various things including speed pots (running away from angry Horde, primarily Bloodelf Paladins wielding huge swords) and invisibility pots (hiding is a useful skill). Plus those Darkmoon Tigers and such seem to breed in my bags, get two end up with 20. It’s very disturbing.

 

This challenge has proved useful both in terms of tidying up and also of reminding me how much fun I’ve had playing over the years. It turns out that at some point I picked up a Brawler’s Guild invitation that I knew nothing about, not to mention the small collection of shadowgems my Shaman had been working on and all the old sentimental junk I’ve been hanging on to (keeping the hearts though). I now have bag space although I suspect it’s purely a temporary measure.

Excitement builds

I’ve been testing things on Beta and on the whole, have found myself falling in love with the game again. Of course there are things I don’t like (Snow has massive class hall envy for example) but that was always a given. Unless I designed the game myself, I was never going to like every aspect and if I designed it, there would be a lot of very unhappy Ret Paladins, Death Knights, Arms Warriors and Frost Mages out there.

Anyway, here are three screenshots which highlight the completely random things I’m especially excited about.

 

Filling the Toybox – Part 1

One of my favourite new additions to Warcraft is the Toy Box. I find myself almost wishing that I didn’t have to wait another few days for the next patch before this feature is released into my hot little hands. It’s first of all a list plus it’s going to free up beautiful and desperately needed bag space across so many of my characters so what’s not to love.

I’ve tried to be a bit systematic here, things I’m currently attempting to farm are green, items which aren’t yet available in game are red and items which come from Trading Cards are purple. Anything which is purchasable for any sort of currency whether gold, Timeless Coins or some sort of token is orange.

• Ai-Li Skymirror – Not yet owned. Drops from the mob of the same name in the Dread Wastes.
• Alliance Flag of Victory – not obtainable until the expansion
• Ancient Amber – Acquired by Fossil Archaeology.
• Ancient’s Bloom – not obtainable until the expansion
• Angry Beehive –  not obtainable until the expansion
• Arena Master’s War Horn – not obtainable until the expansion
• Argent Crusader’s Banner – Not yet owned. Sold by Dame Evniki Kapsalis at the Argent Tournament for 15 Champion’s Seals.
• Arrival of the Naaru – Not yet owned. Draenei Archaeology.
• Ash-Covered Horn –  Not yet owned. Drops from the High Priest of Ordos on the Timeless Isle.
• Autographed Hearthstone Card – not obtainable until the expansion
• Aviana’s Feather – not obtainable until the expansion
• B.F.F Necklace – Drops from Huggalon the Heart Watcher, a level 92 Elite who resides in a cave in Townlong Steppes.
• Battle Horn – Drops from Blackhoof, a rare spawn in the Valley of the Four Winds.
• Black Whirlwind – not obtainable until the expansion
• Blackflame Daggers – Drops from Champions of the Black Flame on the Timeless Isle.
• Blazing Diamond Pendant – not obtainable until the expansion
• Blazing Wings – potentially available at November’s Darkmoon Faire from completing the achievement Brood of Alysrazor which requires you to fly through 50 hoops. My only experience doing this comes from the beta a few builds back but it was fairly easy then as long you mapped out your route as you went.
• Blessing of the Old God – Not yet owned. This is a rare Nerubian archaeology solve.

 

So to sum up page 1, that’s currently 8 items definitely not obtainable until the expansion starts in earnest with a further one item as a maybe. Then we have three things from varying branches of Archaeology, 5 drops from various mobs currently in-game and one item purchasable for Champion’s Seals. As things stand out of these 18, I possess a whopping four items, although I do have enough seals to purchase the Argent Crusader’s Banner so I suppose my current score for page 1 is 5/18.

• Bloodmane Charm – not obtainable until the expansion
• Blue Crashin’ Thrashin’ Racer Controller – Can be bought from Jepetto Joybuzz and his clockwork assistant in Dalaran or Craggle Wobbletop and Blax Bottlerocket in Stormwind and Orgrimmar respectively.
• Bones of Transformation – A rare item from Night Elf Archaelogy. Not yet owned.
• Botani Camouflage – not obtainable until the expansion
• Brazier of Dancing Flames –  purchasable during the Midsummer Fire Festival for 350 Burning Blossom.
• Brewfest Banner – not obtainable until Brewfest 2015
• Brewfast Keg Pony – purchasable from the Brewfest vendors for 200 Brewfest Prize tokens
• Brewfest Pony Keg – purchaseable from the Brewfest vendors for 100 Brewfest Prize tokens
• Bubble Wand – not obtainable until the expansion
• Burning Defender’s Medallion – not obtainable until the expansion. Will require Midsummer Fire Festival 2015.
• Burning Legion Missive – not obtainable until the expansion
• Celestial Defender’s Medallion – Requires revered with Emperor Shaohao. Not yet owned.
• Censer of Eternal Agony – Purchasable from Speaker Gulan on the Timeless Isle for 1,000 Timeless Coins
• Chalice of Secrets – Drops from Urgolax, a rare spawn in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
• Chalice of the Mountain Kings – A rare item from Dwarven Archaeology.
• Cloud Ring – Requires Order of the Cloud Serpent – Revered. Costs 1000 gold.
• Cozy Bonfire – not obtainable until the expansion. Will require Midsummer Fire Festival 2015.
• Crashin’ Thrashin’ Flying Controller – Gift from Winter’s Veil 2013.

 

 

• Crashin’ Thrashin’ Racer Controller – 2008 Winter Veil Gift
• Crash’in Thrashin’ Robot – made by engineering, the schematic is a world drop from various TBC mobs.
• Crash’in Thrashin’ Shredder Controller – Not yet available, requires Winter Veil 2014.
• Cremating Torch – Reward from the quest Choking the Skies in Townlong Steppes.
• D.I.S.C.O – Trading Card item from the “Hunt for Illidan” expansion.
• Darkmoon Whistle – sold by Gelvas Grimegate at the Darkmoon Faire for 90 Darkmoon Faire tickets.
• Darnassus Banner – Sold by Rook Hawkfist, Darnassus Quartermaster at the Argent Tournament for 15 Champion’s Seals.
• Decahedral Dwarven Dice – requires Pickpocking. The best place to try seems to be New Hearthglen.
• Deceptia’s Smouldering Boots – not obtainable until the expansion
• Demon Hunter’s Aspect – Trading Card item from the “War of the Ancients” expansion.
• Druid and Priest Statue Set – Night Elf Archaelogy
• Elune’s Lantern – Reward from defeating Omen at the Lunar Festival.
• Essence of the Breeze – Drop from Ai-Ran the Shifting Cloud, a rare mob in the Vale of the Eternal Blossoms.
• Eternal Kiln –  Drops from the Eternal Kilnmasters on the Timeless Isle.
• Everlasting Alliance Firework – This was a reward from completing the Theramore Scenario prior to MoP being released.
• Everlasting Horde Firework – This was a reward from completing the Theramore Scenario prior to MoP being released.
• Exodar Banner – Sold by Irisee the Exodar Quartermaster at the Argent Tournament for 15 Champion’s seals.
• Faded Wizard Hat – Reward from  quest in Aszhara. Horde only.

 

• Farwater Conch – Dropped by Zai the Outcast in Kun-Lai Summit.
• Firefury Totem – Not yet obtainable.
• Fishing Chair – Trading Card Item.
• Flimsy Yellow Balloon – Currently purchasable from Carl Goodup at the Darkmoon Faire for 10 silver. However will require November’s Darkmoon Faire as it currently disappears after the Faire leaves town.
• Flippable Table – Sold by Nam Ironpaw for 40 Ironpaw tokens at the Half Hill Market.
• Foam Sword Rack – Trading card item.
• Fool’s Gold – Trading Card item.
• Foot Ball – Can be bought from Jepetto Joybuzz and his clockwork assistant in Dalaran or Craggle Wobbletop and Blax Bottlerocket in Stormwind and Orgrimmar respectively.
• Foot Ball
• Foxicopter Controller – Purchasable from Sally Fizzlefury at Nesingwary’s camp in the Valley of the Four Winds for 1000 gold.
• Frenzyheart Brew – Requires revered with the Frenzyheart faction in Sholazar and then it’s a chance to get from a ripe disgusting jar.
• Fruit Basket – not obtainable until the expansion
• Fuzzy Green Lounge Cushion – not obtainable until the expansion (Winter Veil 2014 gift)
• Gamon’s Braid – not obtainable until the expansion
• Gastropod Shell – drops from Gastropod in the Throne of Thunder
• Giant Deathweb Egg – not obtainable until the expansion
• Gin-ji Knife Set  – requires exalted with the Tillers faction
• Glorious Standard of the Kirin Tor Offensive – reward from completing the quest Securing a Future in the Throne of Thunder.

Well based on the first four pages, it’s going to be while before I get my hands on the achievement and reward for 150 toys. So far I have twenty two of these out of a possible 74 with a further 22 unavailable until Draenor aligns itself once again with Azeroth.

A Few of my Favourite Things: Mr and Mrs WoW’s Community Project

Mr and Mrs WoW have proposed an interesting community project to combat the negativity bouncing around as we slowly drift through the doldrums. They are asking the community at large to inform them what we love doing in Warcraft in these slow days before the expansion is released.

For me it’s a fairly simple list and I hope my little diagram gives a few hints!

Up there at number one is Archaeology because it gives me the opportunity to wander around Azeroth just as I used to do whilst herbing in the original game. It’s an excuse to relax, look at the scenario and perhaps kill a few mobs or do a spot of fishing as you meander past. On top of that, you also make things which provide the opportunity for either toys or grey items to muse over, perhaps sparking a story or two.

My second choice is exploring old dungeons, the ones I’ve run a thousand times before but never used to stop and take in the scenery. Blackrock Depths is a definite favourite because I like hanging out in the Grim Guzzler picking up Dark Iron Dwarf outfits (my old raid leader really hated these) and the odd pickled egg. The music isn’t too bad either and you can always pick up a few items of clothing to help transform your latest outfit into something even better.

Third I’ve picked Festivals, those annual excuses to get out of the cities and wander about visiting zones you haven’t seen in ages, dressing up and generally being silly. My favourite of these is Hallows End with it’s broomsticks, headless horseman and candy but really I’m a sucker for all of them, even the weekly Wanderer’s Festival.

My final choice is a bit a cheat really. It’s not so much something I do in WoW but something I do in between playing and that’s catching up on what the rest of the community are doing and saying. Sometimes it takes someone else’s perspective of something like Pet Battling to change your own perception of it (Thanks Navimie and Cymre). I hated archaeology when it was first introduced but I remember reading someone’s almost ode to the wonders of digging in Azeroth’s fertile soil (can’t remember who wrote it) and became hooked. The Godmother helped alter my feelings towards Garrisons and so on. Playing a multi player game is one thing, but diving into the community shows a whole new world out there.

Pre Warlords to do List – It’s Panic Time!

So we have three months almost to the day and it’s time to start panicking in this neck of the woods.

My list can essentially be broken down into 2 parts:

• Things which having played the Beta I feel are things I want to have achieved
• Things which would be nice to have but won’t make a huge difference either way

I am however trying to keep both lists relatively short to save myself getting distracted.

1. Level a Warlock to 90 and attempt to get Green Fire. I’ve no idea how possible this is, leveling itself won’t be an issue as I have multiple Warlocks to choose from but whether I can level, gear to a decent enough standard and beat the boss in time I’m not sure.
2. Acquire as many of the items on the Toy Box List as possible. Due to the sheer size of this, I’ll probably do a separate post or series chronicling my attempts to achieve this.
3. Sort out Snowflower’s transmogrification requiring items from UBRS asap as the dungeon will clearly be changing prior to Warlords being released.
4. Attempt to get Dulcamara to the end of the Brawler’s Guild. She’s rank 7 at the moment but has received a few upgrades since my last attempt at beating the fight she was stuck on. If I keep failing as a Mistweaver, I will try speccing dps to have a go.

My focus with List Two is more to keep things ticking over, for example when I’m running UBRS I’ll try and remember to use a tabard to finish up my Panda Rep and whenever the Faire rolls into town, I’ll do a couple of dailies and my profession quests.

1. 60 exalted reputations on Snowflower. Whilst this would be great before November, there are new reputations coming with the expansion and I’m not missing that many.
2. Enough Darkmoon Faire tokens tucked away to purchase the new clothing coming with the expansion.
3. Farm the other 8000 Dinosaur bones I need for the White Raptor. Riding it on the Beta has shown me how lovely it is.
4. Farm around 300 Oshu’gun Crystal Powder to get the two Halaa mounts. I have the kill tokens I need so slaughtering some Ogres in practice for the expansion should be easy enough.

I’m sure there are a thousand and one other things but to begin with at least, these eight should keep me out of mischief.

ALT:ernative Chat’s 10 years, 10 questions: Looking Back at the Last 10 Years

Just before I went away for the weekend, the Godmother raised an interesting set of questions on our WoW experiences over the last 10 years and whilst wandering around an art festival and trying not to be sick on people for the last two days, I’ve been mulling over my answers.

 

1. Why did you start playing Warcraft?

Wandering the aisles of our local supermarket, Mr Harpy picked up WoW from the shelf and suggested we give it a try. We weren’t long back from almost a year of travelling and were looking for some sort of distraction to help us readjust back. He had played all the previous Warcraft games and was a big fan of the franchise. I on the other hand had only played Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne which we had picked up whilst travelling through Canada the previous year. I had no idea what a MMO was and certainly no clue what we were getting ourselves into. At first we just bought one copy to see if we liked it and at first, I quickly bored of the whole thing. In fact it was only by level 10 or so that my interest was sparked again and I think that was by the sheer size of the game, oh and the sea monsters off the coast of Darkshore. In my absence Mr Harpy had managed to join a Guild full of Female Nightelves and imagine my surprise when I discovered that 99 percent of them were played by guys (I may have been slightly more naive at that point) and once I got over the shock of chatting to “real” people through a game, I started to enjoy myself more and more. In the end buying my own copy seemed like the right thing to do and we did, driving an hour to track down another copy.

2. What was the first ever character you rolled?

The first character I rolled on my own account was a Human Female Warlock. I still have her and by coincidence she was on the realm which was recently joined to my current server so ideally I would like to level her from 62 to the cap at some point.

She reached Knight-Captain in those early days of the Honor system before being abandoned for a Priest and a  PvP server, thus wears her PvP gear with pride and a certain amount of snark, reminding me that she could have gone all the way had I not left her for bloodier pastures. Her bags do make for an interesting time capsule with their Darkspear Troll Mojo (apparently I really didn’t like Trolls) and her Thrash Blade though. Whilst I did love playing a Warlock, the whole soul shard thing in world pvp was a pain especially given that you had to travel quite a distance to find high enough level mobs from both Hillsbrad and the Barrens plus the summons whispers… grrrr.

3. Which factors determined your faction choice in game?

 So whilst Mr Harpy was busy installing our first copy of World of Warcraft, I was flicking through the manual making important decisions like faction, race etc etc. I wanted us to roll a Druid and looking at the pictures, Nightelf catform beat Tauren catform hands down. I know, I know…..  We have since then played both factions and I am rather partial to the Forsaken but we still play Alliance primarily.
4. What has been your most memorable moment in Warcraft and why?

After lots of reflection, I think three person healing the end of Anub’arak 25 man Heroic to our first kill has to be the most memorable. Killing C’thun at the time was amazing but we had weeks and weeks of preparation leading up to a sensible kill, clearing Ulduar and getting our Proto-drakes was pretty good as was getting my legendary and of course my Benediction but Anub’arak wins out because it was such a close run thing. Half our healers were dead and people were thinking it’s wipe but somehow, the three of us managed to keep ourselves, the two tanks and enough DPS alive in order for us to get a kill. My hands were shaking so much that around 8 seconds after the giant undead bug keeled over, I died too having too excited to bother healing my debuff any more. Although beating an Arms warrior in vanilla on my Priest for control of the mine in Arathi Basin was pretty sweet too.

5. What is your favourite aspect of the game and has this always been the case?

The sheer scale of it. Feel like Healing, join a battleground or dungeon queue. Feel like wandering around by yourself, go for it, there’s plenty of places to go. There was a time when I would have instinctively picked Healing as an answer to this and I do still love it but my anxieties mean that I have increasingly found it hard to partake in this social aspect of the game. I’m hoping that with this new expansion I’ll be able to conquer that, but the truth is, I suspect that I’m just too emotional fragile at the moment.

6. Do you have an area in game that you always return to?

Duskwood has held a fascination for me since I first set foot across that rickety bridge almost 9 and a half years ago. I hang out in the Scarlet Raven or wander it’s boneyards visiting old friends. I especially love to visit at Hallows End when all the spooky decorations are out.

On the Horde side, I’d say Silverpine Forest is a clear favourite again especially at Hallows End.

7. How long have you /played and has that been continuous?

On my mostly main Snowflower I have 197 days played although I suspect if I logged every alt and added it all up, the total would be far more scary. It hasn’t been continuous as unfortunately I’ve witnessed more than I’d argue my fair share of in-game Drama. What with Guild leaders who hacked their own websites to read private messages, GMs who did a fair impression of Jekyll and Hyde, turning from a good laugh into a psychopath kicking people for nothing more serious than a slight mistake which they apologized for and just other general nastiness. There was a time when Mr Harpy ran a guild and was accused of running a Cult of Personality by the other officers because the rest of the guild didn’t respect them enough. This would have been funny if it wasn’t for the fact that rather than approach him, said officers thought that coming to me accusing him of being unfair made more sense. Sometimes you just need to run away before the madness gets to you. That’s before I even get into the loot drama, the general rows and spending most of vanilla in a top end raiding guild where everyone hated everyone else and healers were on par with Mages in Dragon Age, useful but best locked up somewhere and denied any loot which might encourage them into unholy ways.

8. Admit it: do you read quest text or not?

Always and much to the annoyance of Mr Harpy who doesn’t care about lore but just wants to know that he can aoe grind and get healed, not die whilst my nose is buried into quest text. To me the game is a bit like a choose your own adventure game and therefore you have to read the quest text otherwise you’re blundering around in the dark killing for fun and gold and fancy clothes not because X is bad and deserves to have their head cut off and carried back to Stormwind.

9. Are there any regrets from your time in game?

There are a few occasions when I should have spoken up sooner and louder. On the whole though, there might be a lot of blood on my hands but I think my Nightelf Priest would be semi proud at least of the way in which I have carried her through Azeroth.

10. What effect has Warcraft had on your life outside gaming? 

Very little. My parents, my Mother in particular see gaming as some satanic ritual guaranteed to condemn you into a life of sin so discussing it with family is completely out. I have after all, enough to argue with my Mother about already. Blogging about the game has helped me keep my hand in with writing, something which was always a massive part of my life and I do have a Wind-rider club guarding my monitor.

A Vision-wrapped attempt at a personal WoW revamp

I’m in a funny place with WoW at the moment. I want to play, in fact I even have a mini list in my head of things I want to do but when I log in I find myself randomly staring into space and doing nothing at all. Today for example I logged my Monk and went Timeless Isle. Once there, I rode around aimlessly for a bit, had a go at killing something and discovered I’d completely forgotten my keybinds. Smarting slightly from my narrow escape, I logged my Priest and attempted to do some archaeology. This to be fair, was marginally more successful but now I’m in the “interesting” position of making rares on almost every type and they take too long for my current WoW attention span.

• I want to level a Warlock to 90 but questing feels stale.
• I want more achievement points
• I want to become exalted with 60 reputations on Snowflower.
• I want to make a Horde character now that our server has been merged and level it to 90 in preparation for the expansion.
• I want to make more gold because I never enter expansions with enough

These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to things I want to achieve when it comes WoW and yet I just can’t find the enthusiasm to push myself forward. In some ways I feel I’ve spoilt the current game for myself by dabbling away in the Beta.

So rather than sink into self pity, I decided that what I needed was transmogrification to cheer me up.

I’ve tried to pick items that require dungeon runs or quest chains that Snowflower hasn’t completed yet like the Chillwind chain in the Plaguelands and of course the Polychromatic Visionwrap since UBRS is being revamped in the expansion. The plan therefore is to attempt to farm these or similar items over the next fortnight and hope at the same time that this re-wakes my enjoyment in the game.

Liebster Love part 4

Here are the answers to my next 22 questions.

Mon of Mon Plays WoW:

• Why do you play WoW? This is actually a question I’ve been putting a lot of thought into recently. I’m not even sure I’d call my current WoWing “playing” as it mostly consists of tiny snapshots these days. I log and talk to my cooking apprentice on Dulca. I might do the odd spot of PvP on Snowflower. Sprout might get an outing to make cloth for another bag. Random alt number 17 might gain a level or two but I have no real purpose. I don’t raid (too anxious and if I’m being honest, I feel raiding without being willing to get gear from other sources plus cloak is lazy and unfair to the rest of the team), random battlegrounds show you the worst of humanity more often that not and there are only so many pet battles I can stomach. Mr Harpy thinks I’m an optimist desperate to the see the best in things and personally I suspect it’s stubbornness. In my head I’m not ready to quit, I want to play through Warlords.
• If you had to play one class, and one only, what would you pick? Priest. I’ve deviated away from this on many occasions only to find myself running back to the comfort of the one class I’ve always been happy playing.
• How long have you played WoW for? February 2005… although there have been breaks along the way.
• What is your favourite meal or delicacy? (Gaming related or not) What I’m cooking right now, whole chicken roasting slowly in the oven. It’s buttered skin sprinkled with paprika, oregano and with slices of fresh lemon tucked up beside it. I’ll be serving it with flat breads, red wine and a spicy tomato salad. 
• What got you in to gaming? I got my first computer when I was quite small but then as a teenager I decided it wasn’t cool and abandoned gaming completely. It was only when I met Mr Harpy that I got sucked back in, primarily playing first person shooters over a lan with him and his friends. Turns out I had a shed load of aggression and loved shooting his mates repeatedly in the head. From there I graduated to Age of Empires and Dungeon Keeper I and II and haven’t really looked back since.
• Why do you blog? I’ve always loved to write. I won my first ever short story competition as a rather precocious six or seven year old (for the record it was terrible) and was always encouraged to write by my mother. She with a tiny bit of imput from me created scrapbooks for me starting when I was two or three, which I still have and blogging is a continuation of that.
• What is a strange habit you have when playing WoW? To completely lose track of time.
• What is your ideal next expansion? One with strong characters, both male and female, compelling and interesting quest lines and stunning scenery. 
• If you could create a mount, what would it be? A giant bug a la Princess Huhuran. 
• What is your favourite raid or instance? Hmm a toss up between Karazhan or Ulduar.
• What could you never live without? Books, bacon and and long hot baths. (I’ve love to say Mr Harpy but I know life is not like that).

Chatmay of the WoW Debutante:

1. How long have you been blogging?  Why did you decide to start a WOW blog? Scarily enough, I’ve been blogging since the end of May/start of June 2008 which surprisingly enough means this year is my 6th anniversary.  I must admit when I started, I never thought I’d last this long. It took me another year to force myself onto Blog Azeroth and another year and a half before I managed to make a twitter account.
2. What has been the highlight of your blogging career? Discovering that people do actually choose to read my ramblings.
3. What games do you play besides WOW? At the moment I’m playing Dragon Age: Origins and trying not to fall for Alistair, Candy Crush because I have a disturbing need to get three stars on every level and Harmony Isle just because…I’m also fond of Transport Tycoon. 
4. What hobby do you spend the most time on besides gaming? Reading, crafting, sewing, gardening and cooking all divide my time fairly equally at the moment.
5. What kinds of foods do you like and when do you snack the most? I prefer savoury over sweet although I found a fascinating sounding recipe in an old cook book the other day for a mashed potato chocolate cake and I’m definitely going to try that.
6. What period of time/expansion have you enjoyed the most in WOW and why? Probably Wrath. I loved the bad guy, the zones and the quest chains leading up the Icecrown Citadel. Also it played host to some of my favourite five man dungeons in Halls of Reflection and the Culling of Stratholme.
7.  What is your favorite profession in WOW?  What is the rarest pattern you have made in a profession? Herbalism so no rare patterns just that peace of mind which comes from wandering around picking flowers and taking screenshots.
8.  How often do you twitter about WOW?  In one day? I’m not the most prolific tweeter out there, in fact I probably on average tweet less than once a day.
9.  Do you attend any conventions for comics, anime, WOW, gaming, etc.? No. If Blizzcon was closer, I might be tempted but in reality I’m awfully shy.
10. Tell about a close friend you have had in WOW and whether you are still in touch. Because of the above, I wouldn’t say I’ve ever had that many close friends in WoW. None of my real life friends play or at least they’ve never admitted it to me and whilst I’ve always got on with most of my guildmates, I wouldn’t say we were particularly close. 
11. Random WOW fact or adventure you have been on. I couldn’t think of a WoW adventure I’ve been on that I haven’t already described at some point or another so instead I thought I’d show you some photos of a real life adventure I went on.

The view from the roof of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary of Mexico City (and yes, I was up there legally).

A Mayan Ruin

The only surviving monument to a town laid to waste by a volcano

Liebster Love Part 3

Here are the answers to the next 22 questions I was asked as part of the Liebster Lovage.

Amerence’s Questions

• When did you start blogging , What it’s all about and why? My very first post was in June 2008, which looking back is a surprisingly long time ago. I’ve blogged about various things including food, books and computer games but writing about Warcraft has definitely taken up the bulk of my efforts.
• Post your most favorite Screenshot of all time!

• Favorite city in WoW you hang out to and why? I spent most of my time hanging out in Stormwind, it’s got easy access to all the amenities plus the different districts mean that regardless of your mood, there is somewhere to sit. 
• Do you play other games besides WoW? Any console you using besides your PC? At the moment I play WoW, Hearthstone, Transport Tycoon Deluxe (nothing beats building a transport network when it comes to chilling out), Dragon Age Origins and a couple of app games regularly. 
• What’s your favorite Trasmog gear? My Benediction teamed up with the Virtuous set.
• How many WoW characters in game do you have? Do you equally play them a lot? I have a lot, around 45 I think but I tend to only play a few at any one time. 
• What’s your current achievement score? Whats the most favorite one and why? 14100. Choosing a favourite is tricky because all of them conjure up memories, some positive and some negative.
• What was the most memorable experience since you started playing WoW? The two most positive experiences which stand out are getting my Benediction and killing C’thun for the first time. On the memorable for all the wrong reasons side it would be have the various guild dramas I experienced, especially during the original incarnation of the game and then in The Burning Crusade. GM’s “hacking” guild forums to read your personal messages to other guild members being just one example of “interesting” behaviours.
• How many total deaths of critters do you currently have? What are your thoughts about these creatures since they can battle now with your own Pet collections too. On my mostly main, 7605. I suspect most are casualties of Holy Nova and Mind Sear.
• First word comes in mind when you think about WoW and why? Time sink. Yes I know it’s not technically one word but hey… 
• Warlords of Draenor is coming up soon, its the new expansion everyone is talking about, What are your expectations and why? I’m hoping it will grab my imagination all over again. At the moment I’m struggling to find a reason to log for longer than half an hour at a time. I don’t enjoy PvP much at the moment, random battlegrounds are really hit or miss with far too many premades going up against pugs. I can’t raid due to my self loathing although how I’m expecting the expansion to fix that, I’ve no idea and there is a limit to how many characters one wishes to level. Plus the few character slots I have left on my server are already earmarked so I’m a bit hampered there.  

Sofia at Altoholic Anonymous

1. What other games do you play? Dragon Age, Dragon Age II, Transport Tycoon, Diablo III, Harmony Isle and various other app games which catch my interest.
2. What else do you like doing apart from gaming? Reading, sewing, sketching, cooking, gardening. Our garden was a big factor in selling the house to us and it’s fast becoming an obsession. I’m actually excited that my father-in-law is going to give me some tomato plants. I already have strawberry plants sitting in the green house waiting warmer weather and I can’t stop adding to my herb collection.  My latest plant related interest is trying to create little gardens in tubs and plant pots and I’m working on a Gnome garden at the minute. I’m planning on painting a stone to resemble a cottage, adding a bit of height at the back and possibly some blue/green glass to suggest a pond. Then it just needs a little path and my Gnome’s home from home will be done.
3. What is your best WoW (or other game) memory? Comprehensively owning my brother in law at Age of Empires not just once but twice. He’s never asked for another go… I can’t imagine why.
4. What is your favourite colour? Azure blue, the colour of tropical seas.
5. Read all the lore or speed level? Read it all. I’m usually the person running into walls reading the quest text whilst the rest of the group are off slaughtering things.
6. Are you a one character kind of person or an altoholic? I’m trying to become a one character person at least until I’ve achieved everything I want to but I’m not convinced that it’s possible.
7. If you could design one aspect of WoW, what would it be? Quests. Long complex quest chains of the sort that Blizzard probably never wish to see again.
8. Horde or Alliance? Alliance for real (as opposed to undead) horses, Gnomes and the Deep run Tram.
9. Do you have any pets in RL? Not any more but I grew up with a slightly mad spaniel.
10. What inspired you to start blogging? Reading other people’s, realising that I had enough screenshots to paper the house and knowing that I desperately wanted a reason to write regularly but that I lack the discipline to do that without a proper purpose.
11. What is the first video game you ever played? Harrier Attack. I can’t remember how old I was but I know it was Christmas time and despite everyone telling me that girls couldn’t play computer games I demanded a go because it had Harriers in it.