Category Archives: Playstyle

Playstyle

No Grind Too Great…

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Original image from WoWheadI finally met my Waterloo, the grind that even I cannot contemplate.

I have a long and grindy history in Azeroth. I thought nothing of doing Revered with the Aldor and then Exalted with the Scryer (requiring a hefty amount of basilisk-killing in the middle) with my paladin because I wanted all the jewelcrafting recipes. I ground my Night Elf priest to Exalted Stormwind faction pre-60 and pre-easy-rep-gains because I wanted a horse. I have maxed-out fishing, for god’s sake.

I didn’t flinch at the idea of grinding my way to Exalted with the Consortium (before all the solo and 5-man Consortium content in patch 2.2, to boot) or the Kurenai. I have every Burning Crusade faction, bar Scale of the Sands and Ashtongue Deathsworn, at Exalted. I’ve just hit Exalted with Stormwind and Argent Dawn, and I’m a couple of days away with Darnassus, Exodar and Cenarion Circle — then comes Timbermaw and Frostspring Wintersaber factions.

But I have met my match: the rep grind that makes me shudder and think “oh god, no“. This terror: the rep grind to get Exalted with the Bloodsail Buccaneers for a swanky Admiral’s hat and parrot pet. This grind would necessitate killing 1,300 level 67 elite mobs (who drop zero loot – not even coins) just to get to Friendly with the damn Buccaneers… and then I’d have to grind my way back up from Hated with all the Steamwheedle factions just so as not to get ganked the minute I set foot in one of their towns.

No. Just no. I don’t care how cool the hat looks. HONEST.

Playstyle

That’s What Now! or, Things To Do In Azeroth When You’re Bored

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Tiny Phoenix HatchlingI recently posted about my difficulty in finding things to amuse me in the pre-Wrath period: everything I could think of to do was either boring, or irrelevant in the face of the upcoming expack.

Well, here’s something that’s been occupying me for the last few days: catching up on Achievements, in advance!

I’m a completionist and an explorer at heart, which means the Achievements system is going to occupy a lot of my time during the lifespan of Wrath. However, there are a bunch of Achievements that I can easily work on before Wrath Day.

First, I logged into the Wrath beta to check out the Achievements panel and found all the pre-WotLK achievements I hadn’t yet completed. (Those of you without access to the beta can do the same thing by checking out the WoWHead Achievement list.) I broke these down into subsets:

  • Achievements I won’t get credit for until Wrath goes live: certain boss kills, a lot of PvP achievements, achievements like ’emote /love to one of every type of critter’, and so on. No point doing these in advance as I’d only have to redo them.
  • Achievements I can’t complete until a certain time of year: these are all the Achievements for seasonal events that I haven’t yet completed, from ‘get all three pets from Azeroth’s Children’s Week’ to ‘discover an Elegant Dress by opening eggs during Noblegarden’.
  • Achievements I can complete, but shouldn’t: yes, I can go and get 15 different non-combat pets right now, but I won’t have bag space for them until Wrath goes live with its new pet-and-mount storage system. I could do it now, but it’d be a lot smarter to wait.
  • Fast and easy achievements I can complete now: mostly finishing off map exploration, chasing down those pesky few unexplored subzones, and making sure Achievement-earning quest chains are finished off (for example, the Nesingwary quests, completing X many quests in a given Outland zone, etc).
  • More time-consuming achievements I can complete now: Can you say ‘rep grinds’? I knew you could! There are Achievements for gaining Exalted with specific factions and groups of factions, as well as getting a certain number of factions to Exalted overall.

And now I’ve been working on them. So far I’ve finished off a few of the individual general Achievements (like buying and equipping the “Gigantique” bag) and finished exploring every single Eastern Kingdoms zone. Now I’m working on factions, and I’ll break that up with some Kalimdor exploration.

None of it has any mechanical advantage, true. But it warms the cockles of my obsessive completionist heart to tick off all these little things I’d always meant to do but never had time to do – now I have time to do them, and a reason to boot.

(Tangentially, in one of my next few posts I’ll talk about some tips and tricks for levelling old-world factions, for those of you stranded in the doldrums of Revered reputation.)

Playstyle

Bear Mounts – Awesome at Any Price?

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I started thinking about this after seeing yet another “WTS ZA Bear Run, 10K. PST!” in Trade channel tonight, and the resultant discussion of “I’d never buy one!” “Good for you!” “That’s such a ripoff!” “n00bs!” “Chuck Norris!” “Murlocs!” (It is Trade channel, after all.)

Zul’Aman bear mounts from the timed chests are, as most people know, no longer available once Wrath goes live, because they were intended to be a reward for completing a non-trivial challenge and doing the run at 80 will be far from challenging. Bear junkies will be able to get polar bear mounts from another source, but the Zul’Aman bear will remain a reward for those who got them at 70.

So, that’s got me thinking. My guild is doing Zul’Aman, but not all the time, and we haven’t conquered the timers yet – but we’re not far off. Do I want a bear mount? Yep. Do I want one enough to pay for it? ….I’m not sure.

How about you?

[poll=8]

Playstyle

Three – Er, Two – Things I’d Love to See in WoW

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A couple of months ago, I asked what you’d change if you had the ear of Blizzard’s dev team for a day, and I promised my own answer to the question – which I am now, finally, getting to.

My top three wishlist:

1. Achievements. Done! I’ve long lamented the lack of recognition in-game for non-mechanical achievements – exploration, world events and the like. Star Wars Galaxies, my first real MMO experience, handled it very well; LOTRO does a good job with it too. I’d hoped for something similar in WoW, and it’s good to see Blizzard are answering my prayers!

2. Meaningful Crafting. I really enjoy tradeskills. I like working on them, improving them, learning about them, and spending time on them. Unfortunately, in WoW there’s little reward for doing that; one crafter is much the same as another. I compare this with Star Wars Galaxies or EQ2, where a dedicated crafter could produce items that were better – in terms of stats or effects – than the items produced by other people.

The trouble is, even if Blizzard introduced a ‘quality’ differentiation, they’d be likely to make it a reward for time expenditure or a random uncontrollable reward (like alchemists learning recipes via discovery, or the new random ‘perfect gems’ for jewelcrafters). I want a system that rewards knowledge and good decision-making, not spending four hours a day on profession quests or random luck.

3. Web Chat Interface. This is something EQ2 did from launch, nearly four years ago; logging into the EQ2 website allowed you to talk in guild chat, custom channels and whispers.

As a guild leader, this would be a godsend – I have a certain obligation to be online and available for my guildies, at least to talk to, if not to play with. Web chat would allow me to stay in touch easily without having to be logged into the game itself, which would be incredibly handy.

Playstyle

The What Now? Dilemma

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I hate this time in the game’s lifecycle: that last couple of months before an expansion, where everything you could do is viewed in light of “well, is it worth it?”

It’s not that I’m not playing, or that I don’t want to play. I’m doing weekly Karazhans and 3-5 heroics a week on my priest, for badges; I’m doing dailies a few times a week for the cash injection. I’m still enjoying WoW – I’m not burnt out; I have no desire to stop or take a break.

But every time I think of a goal to shoot for, I can’t help but think “but that will be meaningless any day now”. I know, of course, that every goal is made obsolete sooner or later – gear is always replaced, level caps are always increased – but it’s right now with Wrath looming that it starts to affect my motivation.

There are certainly things I want to finish before Wrath Day, but most of them are, well, tedious prep-work – stockpile Honor and Arena points on my main, build up cash, et cetera. None of them are particularly exciting or motivating.

…I guess it’s back to levelling another alt.

What about you? What are you all doing to keep yourselves involved and motivated, as Wrath Day draws ever-closer?

Playstyle

I love it when a plan comes together…

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Recently I talked about my indecision over how to have my cake and eat it too. I have since achieved enlightenment!

This was also a Blog Azeroth shared topic from two months ago! With all my indecision, though, I had no answers for it – until now.

What I’ve Decided

  • My main will drop Alchemy just before Wrath’s release, and pick up Mining. At some point between Wrath Day and level 80, she’ll drop Mining for Inscription. She’ll have enough herbs to get Inscription to 375 or beyond, and hopefully by then I’ll be able to find time to get the mage out for a run around Northrend picking pretty flowers.
  • All my alts will retain the same tradeskills, except my rogue, who has been Engineer/Skinner until now – she’ll be Engineer/Alchemist (so I can at least make my own mana pots).

What I’ve Done So Far

  • Started stockpiling gold and tradeskill mats – cloth for First aid, herbs for Inscription, gems for Jewelcrafting (so I can get 5-10 skillpoints off Outland gems before having to start on expensive and hotly-contested Northrend mats)
  • Got my priest’s enchanting to 375 so she’s ready to be a DEbot for Northrend BoE drops.
  • Got my rogue’s Alchemy to 375.

What I Still Have To Do

  • Stockpile more gold. I hope to have at least 10K put aside by the time WotLK hits – preferably more. I have a chart labelled “Goooold!” stuck to the side of my computer, with cash milestones I can cross off – a good incentive to stop me spending money.
  • Set up my UIs and the CloneKeys app so I can comfortably dualbox my pally and mage while levelling, if I choose.
  • Sell off anything high-value I have that I don’t need, if I’m not going to need it in WotLK and it’s going to loseWeight Exercise its value. Surplus primals, for instance.
  • A week or so before Wrath Day, drop Alchemy on my paladin and skill Mining up to 375.
  • Finish my Inscription guide, including a powerlevelling guide, and make sure I have herb stockpiles to cover all my Inscription needs.

What I’d Like To Get Done

  • Get my 68 rogue and 59 shammy to 70, so they’re available to level as alts in Northrend if the fancy takes me.
  • Get my rogue’s engineering to 375 (it’s at 365 now). I’m not sure why, it just bugs me having it uncompleted.
  • Get my shammy’s skinning to 375, so she can farm for leather if I need it.
  • Stockpile honor points and arena points up to the cap on my paladin, in hopes that they’ll carry over to level 80 (which I think they probably will).
  • Likewise, stockpile as many arena and honor points as possible on my alts – particularly the mage, who’s likely to remain my primary alt.
  • Level my poor little druid, who is still sitting at level 38.

Is that it? I can’t help but feel like I’m missing items off the to-do lists. What am I forgetting?

Playstyle

What will I do on launch day?

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Because I’m kind of twitchy about planning for things in advance, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’m going to tackle the early days of Wrath of the Lich King. I didn’t do too well when TBC was released; I was burnt out on levelling from a last-minute push to get an alt to 60 (she dinged 60 literally 8 hours before TBC went on sale), and health issues made it difficult for me to concentrate or focus properly during the early days of the Burning Crusade. As a result, it took me nearly six weeks to hit 70 on Sailan, my main (although two weeks of that was a hospital stay, to be fair).

Obviously, I don’t wish to repeat that when Wrath of the Lich King is released, and as a guild leader I can’t afford to. So I’m trying to decide how best to meet my goals.

Logically, that would mean playing Sailan and no-one but Sailan until she hits 80, and then starting on the instance-and-rep-grind gearing treadmill until she’s ready to enter Naxx.

However, I also really enjoy crafting, and this is where it gets complicated:

  • Sailan is currently a jewelcrafter & alchemist.
  • Alchemy is handy, but our guild has a lot of alchemists, and I’m pretty bored with it. Even before the Potion Sickness debuff news, I’d been seriously contemplating dropping Alchemy.
  • I’ve been planning on replacing Alchemy with either Blacksmithing (if it has decent craftable epics akin to Tailoring and Leatherworking’s star performers) or Inscription. Unless Blacksmithing is insanely good, it’ll probably be Inscription.
  • My mage, Sathandra, is my gatherer (a miner/herbalist with an epic flying mount, hooray!).

So I have two choices. I can try and level Sathandra concurrently with Sailan (probably dualboxing) so I can keep those steady supplies of herbs, ore and gems flowing in. Or, I can sit on my hands while I’m levelling Sailan, keep the tradeskill addiction at bay, and then turn around and level Sathandra as soon as Sailan hits 80 (when I’m not instancing, anyway).

Neither is a great option, and I’ve been going back and forth on this issue for months now. I’m starting to think my best option is to save up a ridiculous amount of gold in advance and just buy Sailan’s tradeskill mats until I can start gathering on Sathandra, but that nearly bankrupted me in TBC!

Decisions, decisions…

Playstyle

For Arthas!

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I’ve just played through the Death Knight starting area and quests on Siaka, my Draenei Death Knight. I have to say it: this is the single most fun and immersive in-game experience I’ve ever had. I tend to think almost everyone should roll a death knight – even if they have no desire to play one long-term – and at least play through the starting area, to experience this for themselves.

For those of you who want spoilers: rather than reinvent the wheel by trying to show off the content myself, I point you to Lume’s blog; he’s posted an in-depth review, including videos of some of the pivotal scenes.

Playstyle

SSO Dailies the Efficient Way

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Following a few questions from Nuetralise of Spirit Is Your Friend in the Blog Azeroth chatroom, I thought it might be useful to add a companion to my Guide to the Shattered Sun Daily Quests. To wit: how best to tackle the quests once they’re all available. (Note that I’m giving the “ongoing” quest names, not the original quest names. Check my full guide for details if you’re having trouble identifying the quests.)

There are plenty of ways to go about the SSO dailies; here’s the rotation I find most efficient. This is purely a suggestion, of course; I find it stops me running back to the same spot over and over. If you’re on a PvP server you’ll need to be careful about this circuit as it does tend to take you far afield; you might want to stick closer to home.

Part 1: The Isle

Batch 1: The bombing runs, The Air Strikes Must Continue (bombing the Dead Scar) and Keeping the Enemy at Bay (bombing the boats and killing blood elves).

Batch 2: Arm the Wards! (killing the Wretched for mana remnants), Further Conversions (killing Sentries and converting them), and start Open For Business (gathering Bloodberries) now – you can finish it off during later batches.

Batch 3: the Dawning Portal; The Battle Must Go On (kill demons and put a banner in the Emissary of Hate) and one node of Know Your Ley Lines at the portal.

Batch 4: the Nagas. Don’t Stop Now… (kill Myrmidons for keys and gather ore from locked chests), Disrupt the Greengill Coast (kill Sirens for orbs and free murloc slaves), and another node of Know Your Ley Lines at the shrine.

Batch 5: the Blood Elves. Crush the Dawnblade (kill Blood Elves) and the final node of Know Your Ley Lines at the bloodcrystal.

Part 2: Outland

In order:

  1. Hit Nagrand for The Multiphase Survey.
  2. Catch a flightpath to Evergrove and then fly up to Bash’ir’s Landing for Maintaining the Sunwell Portal.
  3. Fly east to Manaforge B’naar in Netherstorm for Sunfury Attack Plans.
  4. Fly south to Throne of Kil’Jaeden in Hellfire Peninsula (across the Twisting Nether) for Blood for Blood and Blast the Gateway.
  5. Fly south-east to Razorthorn Ridge for Rediscovering Your Roots.
  6. Fly back to Shattrath, or: if you want to do Ata’mal Armaments, hop on a flightpath to the Scryer or Aldor town in Shadowmoon Valley, and hearth back to Shattrath after you’re finished.

All done! That lot accounts for over 4,000 SSO rep every day; you’ll be Exalted in no time!