WoW Mosaic

Right now I am at Barnes and Noble hanging on their complimentary WiFi. It says complimentary but if you don't buy a coffee or something they give you really nasty looks. I don't care. If they don't like it then they can give me a job and then I'll buy a coffee. Or at least a Sobé. I applied for a few more jobs here. Two in the Salt Lake area and one in Portland. I'd love to relocate back to the North West. So frankly, i have not spent a lot of time in WoW lately. I should probably suspend my account until I get a new job. But this week I have not gotten on to play until about 11:30 pm. And then when I do get on I just do some dailies or just bump around getting ganked by late night rogues that have nothing better to do than grief other players.

The World of Warcraft front page is pimping the mosaic board we all have been working on. It's around 60% done. Wonder how many of you out there are have submitted a shot. I have. Well, it was a while ago when i had a job and my own office. I printed out a big Horde poster and dropped it in a frame and stuck it on the wall. Here is a shot of it.


Everyone should contribute. There are some really good ones. Maybe i'll do a more concise post later with some of my favorite but suffice it to say, there are some talented people out there. There are also some really weird ones. The LARPers are hilarious. Especially those Chinese girls with the hot Night Elf outfits. Really funny. My son, Jonah, he's 14. Likes them. There is one of two guys on Jazzy™ motorized carts jousting, one with the Horde logo and one with the Alliance. We laughed hard at that one. Keep that thing bookmarked and check it often. It will be fun to see the finished product. Meanwhile, i think i'll try to do some heroics this weekend.

Thoughts on iPad and MMO's

Ever since the announcement from Apple™ about the iPad all the world is a buzz about tablet computers and their relationship to MMO's. There has been little coverage of this topic so far but there is certain to be an explosion of controversy soon to come. I did find this editorial from Massively written by Shawn Schuster which covered the pros and cons of the iPad and MMO's and i really liked it. Give it a read for some of his points and here is a picture he used.



Now here is my view on the iPad and MMO's. First, let me talk about the iPad in general. I'm a brass tacks kind of guy, and this is the first generation of the iPad so let's not get too excited just yet. I'm sure there are bugs and kinks that need working out. But they are going to release this with no Flash support? I gotta say, i am really surprised. Every ad online is a Flash banner around the main content of the web page so if the iPad is gonna be intended for internet browsing and social networking it's not going to look very good and i would not spend advertising dollars on banner ads that can't be viewed. This disqualifies any market research that might be done targeting iPad demographics. Let alone the fact that many web sites are all Flash based. For example my very own online portfolio is Flash based. So no one could view it on an iPad.

Secondly, MMO's on iPads are a long way off. Shawn was talking about external blue tooth keyboards and mouses. These would be a must. There is no way i am playing WoW without my WASD. I don't know if there would be a way to navigate without a mouse either. This could stir up a whole hornets nest of controversy. The army of protesters against keyboard turners would most certainly have a collective aneurysm if you take away their mouses. Let alone the computer hardware industry and their endless menu of LED lighted and two million button navigation devices. Let's just say, i am a long way from touch screen turning.

Lastly but certainly not finally, i have one word for you. Apps! I don't mean to over use the exclamation point but this i feel deserves one. The iPad is app driven. It doesn't use the MacOS interface from what i understand. It uses the iPhone operating system which is decidedly different and, i feel, less tried and tested. Apps are the future i think but until Blizzard and other gaming companies design their games using an app platform, i don't think they are going to run well on tablets such as the iPad. Let me throw net books into this fray. Net books are small and inexpensive. They are made to run fast for web surfing and emailing. Social networking and blogging are great on them. But when you get home from a long day of "texting while driving" do you open your 1ghz net book with a 256m graphics card and 60gig hard drive to beat down some unsuspecting dwarf paladin who was AFK on a beer run. No, you go to that tower in your basement with the 1.5gig graphics card that needs a fan the size of an NBA arena air conditioner and an LCD screen you could land a plane on. Net books can't run WoW like i want them to.

Let's just say. iPad and MMO's are a long way from being a "cute couple". I for one will wait until at least generation five of Apples iteration of the iPad and we'll see where they have taken it. Keep your eyes pealed for the World of Warcraft App expansion. Could get interesting.

Entrapment Tuesday

Well, last week i said i'd try to post every Tuesday while the servers were down for maintenance, but this week Blizzard threw me a curve ball. There was no server downtime. So now it's Wednesday and here is my post. I guess you have to expect these things. Let's talk a little about the new Dungeon Finder. I mentioned last week that i love it and this past week my love for it has only grown fonder. I have had more instance runs in the past couple weeks than i had all year before this latest patch. And they have been fun. I know, weird huh? And look at the progress i have made with my paladin. Here is image number one...



This was not very long ago. Like i said, only a week or so and Riplack (this dwarfs name) was in the low 60's. Now he looks like this... Click here to see his armory page.



Huge difference huh? Well, the gear he has now is regular Utgarde Keep and Nexus boss gear but it is great gear for a level 71 pally. I am running first or second on damage meters most of the time. Specced retribution so he can put out the damage pretty well. And all i have are praises to sing for this Dungeon Finder. Besides the nice plate and a sweet 2-handed axe i got a santa hat, lots of experience and a handful of emblems to save up for even better gear. This is really the way to go for guys like me that have to wait until late at night to run things. I bet a lot of hard core raiders are mad that these are made this easy but suffice it to say. You still have to work and be good at your class to get the gear. So, i guess i'm not saying it's easy but at least the groups are easier to find. That was all that was standing in my way. So thanks, Blizzard. For keeping me addicted.

Entrapment Tuesday

I am going to try this. Every Tuesday, while Blizzard™ is doing whatever it is they do while the servers are down, I am going to drop a post on my feelings for the week and what might be coming up when the servers return to active status. So here would be my maiden voyage, so to speak. My thoughts since patch 3.3 last week...

First of all, Totems. Are the troll and orc totems cool or what? I particularly like the troll totems.


I have a level 75 orc shaman but i think i like the troll ones better. So i rolled a troll just for fun. Leveling is easy these days so it might be fun to run this toon up. I still intend to get that 75 orc to 80. So, like many people, i am not quitting WoW anytime soon. I still enjoy my 80 hunter and lately i have really been enjoying my dwarf paladin. Very fun. Speaking of dwarfs, WoW.com posted finished art for dwarf shaman totems. Projected to be released in the Cataclysm expansion.



Now that will be cool.

Secondly. This latest patch released a new dungeon finder. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this new finder. I have gotten numerous groups thru this finder and the groups are good. There is a voting system to drop unwanted players from the group. It helps if you think you may have a ninja on your hands, Just last night i was on my paladin doing Slave Pens (he's level 66 now) and there was a DPS druid rolling with us. There was a defense/stamina cloak that dropped off of one of the bosses and this druid rolled need against our tank. Said she it was better than the one she had. But everyone knows you pass on that or roll disenchant and let the tank have it, especially if the tank rolled need. Anyway, we voted her out and there was a death knight ready to go. Easy finish and no more QQ after that. So use the new dungeon finder. You'll love it.

Thirdly, and certainly could not be further from the least, the very name of the patch. The Fall of the Lich King. I have done the Forge of Souls with my hunter but have not progressed beyond that yet. Maybe this weekend. But here is a look at Icecrown Citadel. There was a great staff that dropped from the last boss. And i got it. It's called the Tower of the Mouldering Corpse. Sweet staff. Is it for hunters, i don't know but it got me almost to my hit cap and improved my DPS by a large margin.

Well, these are just some of my thoughts on last weeks patch. One more thing to mention is the new map system. It's a lot like QuestHelper. A very good addon, but you don't need that addon now. The in-game map system shows you right where to go for quest objectives and sports a large multi-paned window that shows the quest text and a separate pane for the rewards. Check it out.

Lastly, this weeks maintenance promises the Winter Veil holiday event. Very good time for throwing snowballs and disguising yourself as a snowman. These are the things that keep geeks like me playing and paying that subscription. LOL. It's worth it to me.

Until next week. Look at these fun things i have mentioned until the servers come back up and rock the Lich Kings robe off.

Patch Coming?

Heres a question. Why does Blizzard™ only patch on Tuesday? Could Blizzard™ apply a patch on any other day? Maybe it would be to weird. Anyway, here is a shot of my launcher this morning and there is data available for 3.3. I hope it comes this week.


Regardless, I guess you could say i'm looking forward to it. More later!

No patch yet!

There was a big pre-patch download a week or so ago but today is Tuesday and there is still no patch. This is going to be the 3.3 patch. The best thing about this patch for me will be the new map and quest tracking features. This will let me eliminate both QuestHelper and Cartographer addons. Nice. So we have to wait at least one more week.

In other news, there was a huge meteor that fell from space and flew over Utah. Really crazy stuff. There was some pretty neat video caught of it. It flew over at about 12:07am and it was a dark night. This thing lit up the skies. Let's see if this little video works.

Where have I been?

I can't believe how time flies. Well, it's been a busy year. I guess you can say that there have been other things to do this year. I have not stopped playing WoW but i just haven't blogged about it. I love it as much as ever. I have been playing my hunter continually and she remains my only 80. The events have been fun. The newest and most recent one is the currently running Pilgrims Bounty. All i can say is, if you have low level cooking here is your chance to run it up. I went from level 1 cooking on my rogue to level 300 in about an hour. so go do it.

Oh, and go get your Night Elf Mohawk Grenades, Foo!!!

Thoughts on Wrath

All i can say is... I Love Wrath. This is a great expansion. I have come across very few bugs. There a lot of people complaining in general chat about quests not working. All i have to say about that is, READ THE DAMN QUEST TEXT!!! Blizzard™ is trying to make things interesting. And i really appreciate it. It's not just go kill 12 crows and then come back. It's more like "Here, take this cage. Release the dog. Kill some crows and gather their meat. Feed the meat to the dog and then return to me." I praise Blizzard™ for making things fun. But then all you hear in general chat is "Where is the dog i'm supposed to have and what do i do with him?" AARRGGGG!!! Sorry - drives me crazy. I mean take 2 minutes. Carefully read the text and follow the instructions. Too many people get a quest and then hop right onto the general chat and start complaining that the quest is bugged. Anyway - i'll stop complaining myself. Overall, i love this expansion better than The Burning Crusade expansion. The new Blood Elf and Draenai races were fun and new content is always welcome but Wrath is really better. Even if you don't intend to run up a Death Knight i highly recommend starting one and running thru the starting quests. Well worth the lore and the screaming citizens is hilarious. It's fun to be feared by your very presence. You just get close to them and they cower and run away screaming. A total laugh riot.

Northrend is very well done. As far as i have delved into it. I am just beyond the point i got to in the beta, so it's all new now. I have my hunter to 72 already and my warrior to 71. I know, i know! You're saying, "So what, my rogue is 79 already." I am a slow grinder but hey, i have a job and kids and a wife and kidney problems. This is fast for me and besides. I read quests. I like to take my time and move thru the content with precision. Exploring and mining and looking at the scenery. I really am appreciating the terrain and art that i think so many people overlook. Keep it up Blizzard™. There are many of us that really do love what you have done. 