World of Warcraft

[Astra]

Anyone else play? I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the Burning Crusade.

[aaron]

I've been off WoW-crack for 7 months now. I burned out reaching Lt. General and then just stopped playing.

[Astra]

Wow, nice. I only made Knight, but I just didn't have the time or the tolerance for the PvP grind. While I miss the ranks, I like the new system. I started playing last fall, so it's been just over a year with a couple of gaps where I got busy with school and had to take some breaks.

[aaron]

I can't moderate myself in any MMORPG. I've tried. The only way I've cut my time down successfully is to let someone else play my account. Then I'm satisfied that I'm still getting something accomplished in game.

[Astra]

I'm pretty good with it - I won't raid or go PvP unless I have everything else around the house done and I have a big block of time open. The biggest thing is that I quit when it stops being fun (hence avoiding the PvP grind).

I'm really looking forward to the smaller raids in BC. Much easier to organize and group up for.

[aaron]

What's BC?

[Astra]

What's BC?
Burning Crusade, the new expansion pack that comes out next Tuesday.

[aaron]

Ohh, thought you were talking about an instance.

[Thyssa]

WoW rocks! I play Greymane, Apocolypse is our guild. Recently re-organized but I love the guild I'm in. I've been playing since it started, however due to a break up and having both our chars on one account, I've had to start over...... I hate being a newb! :P

Currently working on a 43 Pally (human), 21 mage (gnome) Since BC came out and I was waiting for it... I love the tweaks Blizzard made to this one. It received a 9.2 from CNET too.

Not into the pvp grind, but will be doing the guild raids and looking forward to Outland. We use TS so in game play is much easier chatting with everyone rather than all the typing.

Jewelcrafting is new to me and my mage is doing quite well with it. had problems figuring out the socketed items but overcame that, and have been selling the items crafted at the AH since lvl 10. All in all I will be playing WoW for quite awhile yet.

The new instances and areas out there are awesome from what I listen to my guildies carry on about when they're out there....again I can't wait to get there. The items that have been dropped are pretty good but there are a few that state the high lvl gear received at 60 beats out some of the newer items.

The look of BC is fantastic, more defined and several servers have been "thinned out" due to server populations which makes for better play and not so much lagging like when in SW or IF. This was done by Blizzard and peeps were offered the transfer to another server free of charge.

Anyway, just some info on what I love doing in WoW. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do... and remember..." Everything in moderation, even WoW" "yeah right...and how long does it take to hit 70 now???"

Thyssa

[Astra]

I think I have about 20 hours into it since I got the expansion and I'm about halfway through level 69 right now. Originally they were saying that it would take almost as long to get to 70 from 60 as it did to go from 1-60, but I'm not seeing that. We had 70s running around on my server within a week. Experience goes fast when you're running instances, and the new instances go by quick if you know what you're doing. There's not a lot of extra trash mobs to fight through and there are only a couple of bosses instead of 7 or 8.

As for gear, it's insane. I was in Tier 0/1 when I started the expansion and most of it was replaced within the first few days. Freaking quest rewards were better than my Beaststalker gear. My guildmates that were in Tier 2 hung on to it a little longer, but it still pales in comparison to the new stuff. Trinkets and necklaces get replaced repeatedly - seems like every quest brings another possible upgrade for one of those slots.

The new battleground Eye of the Storm is neat, too. It's kind of like a cross between Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, AND Alterac Valley. Fifteen players on a team in a huge area, and you can earn points by either controlling nodes (like AB) or by capturing the flag (like WSG), but with lots of opportunities for HKs (like AV). Good way to rack up honor points and a lot of fun.

[Thyssa]

Yes, Astra, I've heard it's insane out there getting Xp but conficting reports on the gear...My goal once was the tier 3 dungeon gear Redemption for my Pally but the guys say when I get out there I'll change my mind... we'll see. So lvl 69!! WOOT!!! Right on hun :) I'm not able to play more than a few hours in the evenings after work and of course on weekends I'm attached to my puter but it's still taking me a longtime it seems but I love it. there are so many things to do and of course right now is the Love thing across the continents... LMAO...

The "Love Dummie" cracked me. A quest reward : "When thrown in the path of aggressors, the love dummie will enrage aggro by making them envious for 15 sec. " WHO thinks this stuff up??? LMAO

But the merry making is all in fun and it was a distraction from the grind. I hope to hit 45 this weekend!! ....we shall see...

Good luck on hitting 70 Astra!!!

Aaron... if you had a 60 how could you stop playing? I think my smoking is an addiction that I am dealing with and I am going through the quitting process right now... I just count each day is another I'm not inhaling that stinky nasty smelly smoke... and I'd much rather play and be addicted to WoW than to those damned cigarettes! I don't see anything wrong with playing and I tell the younger ones in the guild all the time.... as long as your homework is done and you've done your chores... there's no reason for your folks to bitch...Taking care of yourself and family always comes first.
Then Wow... :P

Thyssa

[aaron]

I'm just very competitive, and so I would spend hours trying to get the best gear, then spend all the rest of my hours in bg's trying to get the highest rank. But there was an alliance guild on my server that owned everyone. They always had the best gear, and would own our guild that was one of the best Horde guilds on the server. We started doing raid runs more to get more equipment, but by the time I was where I wanted, AQ came out and that Alliance guild got a bunch of that stuff. So, I decided that it would never end, and I couldn't just play casually, so I quit. If I had 10 or so friends in a server and ran a guild like I did in Asheron's Call, I'd probably continue playing, but the politics were just getting to me.

[Thyssa]

Ahhh now that I can understand, being competitive by nature myself!! I think with age though I've mellowed out and can enjoy things now, occasionally I'll get the "I need to win this" bug but not often. Again, I think it comes down to finding something you enjoy as a hobby as it were. Games are for the side of us that want to win and enjoy the rewards, but my take on Wow is that isn't a game per say in the fact that there is no "end game".... " it's all about the journey, not simply the destination"...

I did play horde for awhile, had a 33 undead priest...playing horde was interesting but I still fall back on the Alliance side. And I think it's the guild I've found as well, we all just seem to click and know how one another play so it makes it all that much better:)

Thyssa

[LoneStarGirl]

Well I recently joined in on the WoW craze. My husband has been playing for forever it seems like. He is much like Aaron I'm guessing, it was/is almost impossible to get him away from the computer for anything which was starting to drive me nuts. The first week we moved here and had no internet I was in heaven! We actually spent time doing stuff together every night. Now he's gotten me addicted as well so playing is how we spend time together. He has a lvl 70 Orc Rogue and a lvl 60 Shaman so now he's making a new character with me. :smt038 I started out playing a Blood Elf Rogue, got her to 20 and decided to make a BE Mage instead which is now lvl 20. I'm still learning a lot about the game and if I didn't have him to explain everything to me I'd be totally lost! But I've had a lot of fun so far, and I don't complain about how much he's on the computer anymore so I'd say it worked out well.

[aaron]

If you ever are thinking about divorce, let me know...

[LoneStarGirl]

So are you telling me WoW is going to cause me to have a divorce or are you telling me we need to turn SB into a gamer? :smt118

[aaron]

SB won't be a gamer anytime soon, but I was just jokingly referring to the fact that if your ever in the market again...

[LoneStarGirl]

SB won't be a gamer anytime soon, but I was just jokingly referring to the fact that if your ever in the market again...

I got it, was giving you a hard time. :smt118

[aaron]

I got it, was giving you a hard time. :smt118

oops, ok, sorry.

[Thyssa]

Wow gamers....as I've posted in other places, my friend Mark who is in my guild is heading to Iraq for his 2nd tour. However, due to the lengthy stay over there, he has now opted to sell his account before leaving. He will be back and rejoin our guild but this tidbit had me floored. He is selling his account for $1200.00. Taken he has several chars most are lvl 60 and he is trying to get his main Omagadorn up to lvl 70 but I was shocked they are selling for that much now. I don't think I'd sell my account but it's nice to know money can be had for all the time spent playing wow!

[LoneStarGirl]

I've gotten my BE Mage to lvl 50 and haven't really been in the mood to play since then. I guess I just need a break. I realized that if I did what my husband does every day...which is sit around on his ass and play WoW then NOTHING gets done around the house. Needless to say I had to take a step back and cut down on my playing time, the house was turning into a disaster! Hopefully I'll get back into the mood to play some more soon.

[Astra]

I haven't been playing much the past couple of weeks either. School's just too busy. I miss playing with my friends (my guild is progressing through Karazhan right now), but sleep and homework are my priorities, heh.

Sounds like your husband needs a Fireball to the butt :)

[aaron]

I talked to my brother last night and he is talking about looking for another game. He says it's just too competitive in WoW these days. Something about having to be exalted with all 5 factions now.

[Astra]

Exalted? Only if he wants to get every available faction pattern or equipment from all of them. You do have to get Revered in order to get keys for the Heroic difficulty dungeons, but luckily that is something that can be accomplished in 5-6 dungeon runs. It does seem pretty intimidating at first, but it goes a lot faster than I would have expected. It would suck if you don't have a regular group to play with, though.

[aaron]

I want to say it was to get in some instance.

[Astra]

Probably for The Eye of Tempest Keep. You have to run 4 instances in Heroic mode (which means getting Revered with those factions) in order to get keyed for it. By the time you run a couple you might reach Exalted, but the reputation level itself isn't a requirement.

There was also a chart posted on April Fool's Day supposedly showing the requirements to enter The Black Temple. Those DID require exalted with every faction (not to mention downing EVERY boss in EVERY Heroic instance in under 10 minutes).

[LoneStarGirl]

Sounds like your husband needs a Fireball to the butt :)

Yes, he definitely does! :laugh:

I really should be playing more, the sooner I get to 70 the more fun I can have playing with the guild. They are also working on Karazhan. But I don't think we'll be together much longer. The original guild leader is quitting to finish school and spend more time with his family....AND if that wasn't enough a few other main characters are quitting or "taking time off" as well, so the guild is pretty much falling apart. I just started a BE Hunter since I've been bored with my mage, and I'm really enjoying it so who knows what I'll end up doing!

[Astra]

I think a lot of guilds are going through that right now. Mine is usually running two Karazhan groups, but lately everyone is really busy with the end of school and a lot of people are moving and working, so scheduling is kind of a pain. Plus some of them seem to burning themselves out on the Burning Crusade, heh. The raiding in BC changed a lot from the days of 40-man raids. Used to be we'd gather every warm body up and hit it, now classes and specs are a lot more important and people have to fill more specific roles in order to have a successful run.

[aaron]

Anyone see the WoW spoof on Simpsons last night?

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[LoneStarGirl]

WOOOO! Finally hit 60 and am thoroughly enjoying the Outlands! Now if I could just quit reading this damn site and PLAY!

[aaron]

Just buy a 70 and spend the spare time here.

[LoneStarGirl]

Now that's no fun!

Wait, I mean buying a 70 is no fun not that spending time here is no fun! :-D

[Astra]

Besides, it's a great way to get banned... or at least end up with a crap reputation.

Some moron on my server sold their account - the buyer didn't know they were buying a character that was previously played by a complete jerk and ended up wondering why nobody would group with him and people kept calling him a ninja.