WoW

Still Collecting Pets

stargrace December 22, 2015 0Comment

This weekend I finally completed the 150 Draenor pet battles required to purchase the T3 pet home for my garrison. I had been procrastinating for quite some time, for whatever reason. Probably because I was just burned out. I updated my pet collection this morning and that brings me to 530 unique pets, 80 of those are level 25. I still have a long way to go in terms of leveling and in terms of pet quality. Now that I have a few characters at level 100 it makes things a bit easier as they can each do the garrison dailies, but of course then there’s the chance that I’ll burn out and just stop all together. Thanks to the Pet Battle Teams addon from Curse I just create a team for every fight, and it makes things much smoother. I don’t have to guess at who I need to use to defeat the team of the day.

My gear has slowly been improving, too. I spent a lot of time in Tanaan Jungle so that I can work on my factions, and this has resulted in me being able to buy the apex upgrade item for 20,000. I also looted one off of an encounter yesterday which I didn’t know was a thing. My ilevel is still not over 700 yet, but I feel more confident with it sitting around 685. I’m still sticking to my priest as my main, but I also have a level 100 paladin, and a 97 hunter that I’d like to level up eventually. There’s always so much to do that I never really wonder about what I should be doing or what I want to do.

I’m slowly working on the navel battles. Once servers reset today I should have my first 15 battles completed. I’m hoping this opens things up a bit because so far they’re incredibly boring and I just don’t understand why they were even added. I suppose we’ll see.

Holidays are almost here! Time for families and food and lots of gaming. I hope everyone has an amazing week, and happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Working Towards Flight

stargrace December 15, 2015 0Comment

Things have settled into a nice routine in World of Warcraft. My ‘main’ character is still my priest, and while in the past I would spec her as a holy / shadow combination in Warlords holy is sort of .. not that great, so I’ve just been focusing on shadow and going with DPS. I ran all of the raids except the very last one over the course of the week / weekend, and got a few pieces of 685 gear, including a new staff. I upgraded the staff with valor, and next I’m going to try to get the flight ability because I really dislike running around, especially while everyone else is flying. There’s a very easy way to see what you still need for this achievement here. I need to complete ‘Securing Draenor’, Master Treasure Hunter, and Tanaan Diplomat. I’m going to try to get the treasure hunter portion done today since that’s pretty easy, just running around collecting treasures that are marked on my map, and then I’ll work on securing Draenor and Tanaan Diplomat.

I also have a level 100 paladin, and I have a retribution spec there but I’d also like to create a tanking spec and maybe give tanking a try. I’d rather do this with friends, so I may try to ping some over the weekend who are playing horde and see if anyone is brave enough to group with me. The paladin is just wearing 640 gear, so there’s a lot of upgrade potential.

Next up is my level 96 hunter. She’s been stalled there for quite some time. I’d like to reach at least level 98 because that’s when she can unlock the next part of her garrison. I tend to procrastinate and haven’t gotten anywhere with her in quite some time, though I do log in daily for crafting purposes.

Trailing behind is my 91 deathknight, and 90 monk. I have barely played either character since WoD released, though they do both have a garrison started. Once the hunter is at 100 I may start leveling them up, but I’m unsure. I’d also like a shaman, but mine is 97 and on the alliance side which I haven’t visited in quite a while, along with my warlock.

I certainly can’t say that there isn’t anything to do. Between leveling, questing, trying to get flight, and pet stuff alone my game schedule is nice and full. That doesn’t even take into account my ‘other’ interests like collecting pets, mounts, and recipes. I’m still delving into EQ2, EVE, Wurm Online, and even a steam single player game from time to time. It’s nice to be a gamer.

Just Trying to Fit In

stargrace December 14, 2015 0Comment

Playing video games in a lot of ways is still like high school to me. There are cliques everywhere, and being the awkward introvert that I am, I find it really hard to fit in any place. I know a lot of people, but don’t dig down into personal stuff about myself, and we (“we” meaning the folks I know on various social media platforms) never seem to play the same game, and when we do, we never play at the same time. Then there’s the whole “I’m awkward” thing. I don’t really feel that I fit in and I never have. People used to ask me if I wanted to do stuff, but me  being me, after so many declines they’ve stopped asking. Trying to find a guild to fit in is a futile effort. I normally end up creating my own guilds with a tiny selection of ‘closer’ friends. Eventually we all move on to other games, having never grouped up or done anything together.

There are exactly three steady played games of mine where this isn’t an issue. One is Wurm Online. I’ve been in the same alliance for years now, and we get along pretty well. People come and go, but the core always remains. Today someone who merged with our alliance mentioned in chat “you guys are weird” – and I said yes, we were, but that I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s completely true, too. My Wurm Online alliance is completely comfortable, and I really treasure the people in it.

The second game is EVE Online. I’ve been in a guild there for about two years now if I recall correctly. I don’t play as often as I’d like to, and my time doesn’t always (ever) match up, but when I’m on and members of the fleet are on I feel comfortable. I don’t end up grouping up very much – but the fleet is alright with that, and they haven’t kicked me out. I like that. I like that they understand.

The third game would be World of Warcraft, and this isn’t because I already have a well established guild or friends playing. Nope, this is because of the LFR mechanic. Blizzard doesn’t let me feel left out of anything. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on something because I’m too awkward to fit in with a crowd. I did join a guild, but they’re completely anonymous to me and go about their own thing. They also never kicked me while I wasn’t playing, which I appreciate. I see friends on my bnet list doing their thing, and I sometimes wish we could all group up and play together – but I know that’s just not how things go for me. I’m always going to be that socially awkward girl who declines invitations but still secretly wishes she got them.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.