I have a personal guild for my Banker Alt that sports a Guild Tabard that proudly recalls the gold earned by selling cookies for the You'll Feel Right as Rain achievement. It's a cute, happy cookie! What could possibly go wrong?
Aldonza was not afraid in the kitchen
Well, do you know what happens when you change your bank alt to a Worgen that crouches over, obscuring part of the Guild Symbol?
How dirty is your mind?
Gee. What craft makes those? Maybe there's a market for that...
My renewed enjoyment with Kallixta led me to review what I might enjoy doing with some of my alts. In particular, Aldonza, the Coward, had managed to get to Draenor and build a Garrison, but I wasn't enjoying PvE content as a mage. I'm not sure why, but I did know I enjoyed leveling her using alternate means, especially Pet Battles. Therefore I made certain she ran through the Pandaren Trainer dailies and at least Ashlei. Following this path, she dinged 94 this weekend and has her garrison at level 2 and is careful to work on her profession cool downs. I expect to add other Draenor Pet Tamers as soon as she can get her courage going.
Between reviewing my pet collection and questioning why my Mage wasn't more fun, I considered poor Kallifornia, my neglected shaman. I had carried her into Pandaria as a low level, battling wild pets in the western part of the Valley of Four Winds. She's managed a few levels and does things like leveling up the lowest level pets so they won't be one-shot when being carried in a trainer battle. I really think I'd enjoy taking her back into PvE exploration. In preparation, I freshened her heirlooms.
This spoiled her old Bronze Fenclaw transmog. She has sat so long, it's strange to see her in anything else. I absolutely need to change her shirt.
If the only K-pop you've ever seen has been synchronized dancing, you have never seen a "Dramatized" Music Video. Here the boy band Super Junior put together one that I think folks might enjoy.
The stars aligned and I had nothing prevent me from joining the planned OLRG run on Saturday. I think the last time I was in ANY dungeon or raid was when OLRG got me to join a Molten Core during the Anniversary and earning a Crown of Desolation.
To start, I discovered I didn't have a quick method of travel to the Caverns of Time. Without quick access to Dalaran, I might have been faster to port to Ironforge and sail to Theramore!
Setting up on Mumble was easy for me. I just asked my new son-in-law for help. Five minutes later, I was GTG. I'm not sure what he uses as a serious StarCraft player, but he had a spare microphone for me.
The computer location is not optimal for a raid. It's in the family room and next to the kitchen, which is great when all I'm doing is Pet Battles or Dailies or whatever, but in future there are better locations in the house that would be less disturbing for me and for my family.
It was great to talk to Matty and Helke. I'm sorry Tome was silenced. In retrospect, I'm surprised our conversations didn't have more digressions.
As far as raiding, Dragon Soul was easy until he got to the Spine. At that point, nothing we did seemed to work. I think we've all revisited strategy guides since and should be better informed next time, but as it was, we spent too much time on it.
I did manage a selfie while there! I know someone wanted to try the PhotoBomb toy, but I don't think we coordinated properly. I was aiming to include the others in this snapshot!
I was happy to continue with Matty after Tome and Helke ran out of time. We decided to do Firelands. I say "we", but I had very little opinion. Matty could have talked me into anything. At least with Firelands, I'd been inside before. Our only problems came from things like staying "In Combat" after a boss went down. It mostly was a problem because we couldn't mount up for a time. The only things I'm short on for the Glory of the Firelands Raider now are "Bucket List" and "Only the Penitent". Both of these are a pain and our purpose was fun instead. And we had a good time.
All of this activity made me feel more welcome than I had in ages, more so than the WoD activities in my guild. I had "Come Back Home".
In general on runs like these, I only bother to pick up loot no one else wants. I ended up with one Tier 13 Plate item from Dragon Soul and another Tier 12 Plate piece while in Firelands.
I thought my Guildies had be encouraging when we split up loot, but when Spaulders of Recurring Flame dropped, things went in a new direction. It's not like I avoided Transmog nor do I dislike it. Instead I was starting from a single piece that unexpectedly dropped. It has a really cool animation. It deserved solid treatment.
Now "I gotta Do what I gotta do". So I spent almost all my time on Sunday researching the Molten Giant Lookalike set. I loaded more Addons with better see what I already owned in my Banks and Void Storage. I then needed to change my default ground and flying mounts to match my new outfit, choosing the Black Drake and the Fossilised Raptor for now.
I'm using a Trident with good animation, but I'm not thrilled with it. I also am not happy with my navel showing. Did y'all know the Scarlet Filigree Shirt, while the correct color, is too short? Thankfully with my cloak, there's no chance of showing the T-back of a thong. That'd just be embarrassing to all.
The music stuck in my head today is the Korean group 2NE1 and their song "Come Back Home". Instead of the usual M/V of this song, I'm linking their Unplugged version.
While the rest of my family love 2NE1, I'm not thrilled with most of their stuff, but if you want the English translation (using the "plugged" music)
Some times things build and the pile gets so big, it's easier to ignore and let it fester.
Time to pull the band-aid off.
To Do List
Make a To Do List (X)
Check off the first thing on the To Do list (X)
Realise you've already accomplished two items on your To Do list! (X)
Reward yourself with a nap (In Progress)
Kallixta has been happy in Draenor, running around and doing things, some new some old.
But once Aldonza got her Garrison up, she wouldn't leave it. She's sent her four followers out, but her cowardice had returned and she wouldn't budge.
Aldonza'd log in, clear some old missions and start new ones with her four followers, but now they're all Level 100, but only with only four it goes slow.
Under Kallixta anything-but-subtle coaching, the Mage returned to her roots and is leveling via Pet Battles. She can teleport to the Shrine, run the circuit of top Trainers, and level at least one pet to 25. She can port to Kalimdor and excavate a few Archaeology sites. She can port to Dalaran or old Shattrath or any number of places at the twitch of her fingers. I forgot how fun and easy Mages have it.
We have 67 pets at level 25. There are a bunch of rares waiting their turn and a handful of hopeful non-rares. Actually, I still have 4 level 25s in need of stoning, but I keep forgetting. I see the Molten Corgi, Frostwolf Ghostpup and Soul of the Forge in my queue, which also remind me I haven't been collecting the newest pets.
Obviously I have some decent teams for all the current Trainers in her circuit, but I think I'll solicit suggestions on folks favorites among the newest pets. Have you a Draenor Pet that you think should be a regular?
I was looking for a response video for Matty about the thug raccoon problem I have and found this. Don't be put off by the Hangul! These 3 boys are Americans (The Raccoon Boys!) that were competing in a Korean "Idol" contest and sing in English. My son was disappointed they didn't win.
When we got married, over thirty years ago, our musical selection was limited to what the organist knew and was willing to play. If you weren't a big fan of Mendelssohn or Wagner, too bad. It didn't matter if we were geeks.
My daughter had no such limitations. Since she severely disapproved of Wagner, she knew she was looking for something else anyway. As she and the groom were both geeks of the first order, here is what they selected
The Minister and Groom entered to the Final Fantasy I Theme:
Processional of Bridesmaids:
Procession of Bride, skip to 1:04
Retreat
At the reception, the first Dance of the couple was the Star Craft parody, SCV Love Song. It was NOT my favorite: Banelings.
Any suggestions on what YOU might have used in a wedding
There have been interruptions. Despite the distraction of my daughter's wedding, I'm reporting a better than average participation in a new expansion.
I hit 100 on 12/14, one month after the Expansion Release. As I was only playing on weekends, and not for long stretches even then, I was happy with my progress. I was not the quickest in my Guild, but I managed it before anybody dinged an Alt.
Ding with Yrel
I managed my Minions well enough that I had a good selection of Munificent items ready when I dinged and Turbulent soon after.
I max'd my Mining and Blacksmithing quickly and smoothly with a iLevel 630 Steelforged Greataxe ready by 11/29, when I dinged 98. I've since improved to Stage 3, iLevel 660. I've been prepared to craft other items, but haven't needed it so much yet.
Despite dinging, I returned to Nagrand for the Plainsthunder gear I could pick up. My rings were dragging my iLevel down, so I went after a treasure ring that needed a little special jumping.
Treasure location
This allowed me to have an iLevel 620 average right away. Again, this might not impress anybody except me. Kallixta was ready for Heroics sooner than I've ever had before.
It was at this point that even my weekends were no longer available for more than an occasional visit to managed missions. Actually, while this was all I could manage, I felt more engaged for the pittance of time allowed. I did manage to help my Guildies, typically when someone wanted assistance in tackling a tough rare.
The Saturday after Christmas, Matty sent out her OLRG notice and I looked over at my family, all taking a break from frenetic activity. I asked and received indulgent smiles. Yes, I could take the evening off to Raid the new Molten Core! I explained my excitement to my son-in-law. He was a Vanilla Raider (and BC and WotLK) and had helped me through MC my first time.
I think a few others can understand my excitement and pleasure this achievement gave me. It was a real raid and it took us hours and more than a few wipes. My family was helpful and I only needed to run and let the dogs inside once. I EARNED that Crown. My DPS wasn't near or below the tank except on the fight I died early. I might not have been in the Top Ten, but I wasn't embarrassed
OLRG in the Molten Core
Note: In general, Disco gets a bad reputation, but on the plus side the times allowed for Rock and Pop fans to discover Jazz! Let's hear a bunch of Scots teach us a thing or two with 'Pick Up the Pieces' from 1977
