All posts by Pike

“Connecting” to a Character – aka Yep, Pike Is Still an RP Nerd

Today’s writing prompt comes by way of Jaedia, who asks:

What is most important to you when it comes down to ‘connecting’ to a character you play? If you don’t tend to connect to your characters, tell us about the things that tend to carry over between your characters. Certain names/stories/personalities/appearance features?

I’m sure I have talked about this before, but I am definitely one of those people who puts a lot of thought into my characters.  Sometimes I already have a story and character idea in mind when I roll said character; other times it comes naturally as I play them.  But characters with a background that I can’t get into usually tend to get dropped after a while.

A picture of me, wondering when my MMO character will get interesting.
A picture of me, wondering when my MMO character will get interesting.

This may come as a shock to some of you (…like, one of you, maybe), but at the moment I’m, uh… kind of into blood elves.  This is because I feel like their story, as a race, is filled with copious amounts of pathos.  This makes it both easy and also a delight to make blood elf characters, because they come standard with loads of baggage.  Even a freshly rolled blood elf character is carrying around some serious backstory simply by virtue of being a blood elf.  I like this a great deal because it gives me a blueprint, if you will, for more character-specific stories and personality traits.

Because in case you forgot, every level one blood elf starts with this little event fresh in their memory.
Because in case you forgot, every level one blood elf starts with this little event from Warcraft 3 fresh in their memory.

I also like characters with traits that I can identify with (the techno-loving gnomes and goblins, for example, or my goggles-wearing-tauren) which similarly allows me to connect with a character.

Eventually I get to the point where I get really attached to my characters and, as I’ve mentioned before, they become the reason that I log in.  Other people may log in for their guild or raiding friends… I log in for my characters, who feel to me like friends.  It’s a silly thing, but it’s true.

Gimme fuel!  Gimme fire!  Gimme lore!  Gimme worldbuilding! …okay, that didn’t work out as well as I wanted it to, but hey, I tried.

Still Waiting For Account-Wide Tabards

Titles are account-wide.  Pets and mounts are account-wide.  Toys and heirlooms are account-wide.

But you know what I REALLY want to be account-wide?

Tabards.

Tabards.

Because as is I have two characters with Tabard of the Argent Dawn but my current main doesn’t have it.  Just my luck, right?  But yeah, I would LOVE to be reunited with it.  I’ve already been reunited with my Vampiric Batling and Spirit of Competition.  Tabards next?  Please Blizzard?

Melee Hunters are Officially a Thing, So Let’s Talk About It

Well, it looks like Survival is finally and officially going to be the melee spec.  And I don’t mean the weird sort of hybrid Lacerate spec from Vanilla.  A full on melee spec.

…and that’s all we know so far.  That, and they get a polearm or something for their artifact weapon.

I find myself wondering how they’re going to play out.  Will they play like a warrior?  Like a rogue?  Since we’ve got Focus and that works similarly to Energy, I’d assume it’ll be kind of like a rogue.  But I also think with large weapons like polearms, things’ll feel more like a warrior or paladin with a two-hander.

I also find myself thinking about the role the pet is going to play.  Maybe there will be combo moves where the pet and hunter act together?  Who knows!  There are a lot of possibilities.

ss538lJNj4cj18lAll I know for sure is that, even though every expansion I gripe like an old fogey about “hunters these days”, this is definitely gonna be the biggest change to the class we’ve had since mana was replaced by focus.  How is it all going to turn out?  We’ll just have to wait and see.

What do YOU guys think about Survival going melee?

Has Anyone Ever Successfully Managed to Navigate the Exodar?

I mean, seriously.

EXODARPic related, it’s an actual map of the Exodar.

Okay, seriously, I have never, in the eight years it’s been since Burning Crusade, been able to navigate this thing.  Ever.  It used to be I’d have to hearthstone to get out.  Recently I ran in as a Horde character with for the Midsummer achivement and guess what, I had to hearth out.  After spending like ten minutes trying to find the stupid bonfire to begin with.

The Exodar and me just don’t get along.  We just don’t.  It’s probably because it knows that I’m actually a blood elf in real life and is doing this just to spite me.

Is it just me?  Please tell me it’s not just me.

Forget Demon Hunters, You Know What Class I Want to See?

Spellbreakers.

fanart-1243-fullSpellbreakers.  Do you guys see this?  You know what these guys do?  They’re warrior-mages and they interrupt and steal spells.  What if you could be, like… a mail-wearing melee mage who steals spells off of other people and then turns those spells against others?

That’s what I want to be.  That is 100% a class I would play.

Oh sure, I’ll probably make a Demon Hunter, the same way I made a Death Knight (that I stopped playing at level 58) and the same way I made a monk (that I stopped playing at level 7 or something).

But spellbreakers, guys.

Just… spellbreakers.

SpellbreakerWC3Oh and P.S. they also have the best quotes in Warcraft 3.  “Reincarnate.. man!  That’ll get you life!

So I’ve Been Playing This Quirky Retro-Style MMO Called Project Gorgon

Project Gorgon is currently in playable alpha, and because why not, I’ve been messing around with it.

I downloaded it intending to mess around for about an hour, but then I ended up playing it for like three hours.  And then playing it again the next day.  And honestly I’ll probably play it again later today, too.

cool afThis is a (primarily) two-person project crafted with a lot of love and the result is a delightful old-school RPG with a big focus on exploration.  Think Elder Scrolls.  Like, think early Elder Scrolls.  Daggerfall but with Morrowind graphics.  Add two cups of some other people running around, a pinch of Everquest, and then a sprinkle of great humor and hat-wearing bugs for spice.  This is what is currently cooking in the Project Gorgon oven.

GOTYAYI’m not exactly sure why I find this game so charming.  I think it’s because it just tosses you out in the world (well, it tosses you in a tutorial cave, but there’s a cheat to bail if you want to)  and gives you no other real direction.  There are quests hidden around, but there are no quest markers of any sort, so you actually have to learn the names of NPCs and what they do and where they are.  The game just revolves around the idea that this is a whole new world for you to explore, and it isn’t gonna hold your hand.  Like I said: old-school Elder Scrolls.

Anyways, it’s probably not to everyone’s style, but I just find it to be a really charming game so far, even if I have no idea what I’m doing!  Go check it out if it looks like your kind of thing.

Let’s Talk About Felo’melorn For Two Minutes

You know what part of the upcoming expansion I’m most excited about?

I’ll tell you what: Felo’melorn.

I don’t even main a mage and this is the most exciting tidbit of WoW info I’ve heard in forever.

So lemme tell you guys about this weapon.

Felo’melorn

 

WoW_Legion_Felo'melornThis weapon was originally wielded by a guy named Dath’remar Sunstrider, who was a Highborne night elf.  He was kind of a weird night elf, though.  For starters, the name “Sunstrider” was really strange for a night elf name.  Also his hair was golden.  Ever seen a night elf with gold hair?  I didn’t think so!

The Highborne eventually got kicked out of Night Elf World for magic tomfoolery, and they ended up far away where they founded Quel’Thalas and became the high elves.  Anyways, Dath’remar had a weapon called Felo’melorn, which is Thalassian for Flamestrike.  This was handed down through his family to his grandson, Anasterian Sunstrider, and eventually ended up in the hands of his great-grandson, Kael’thas Sunstrider.

Kael

Reborn from the Ashes

See, during the Scourge Invasion in the Third War, Anasterian Sunstrider wielded this legendary artifact against Arthas in one-on-one battle, but unfortunately the blade could not withstand the might of Frostmourne, and it was sliced in half.  Kael’thas took the two pieces, reforged the blade himself, and guess what?  When he went to fight Arthas with it himself, the blade held. Felo’melorn was stronger when re-forged than it was originally… just like the elves themselves.

That’s the weapon that fire mages are gonna get in the expansion.  That whole story and legacy of at least ten thousand years.  And boy am I stoked that I’m leveling a blood elf fire mage right now.

So yeah.  Have a fire mage?  GET HYPED.

Not gonna lie, I’ve kind of been in love with this thing for a while.  Just a little bit.

phoenix petOne Last Thing

Someone got to my blog via the search term “how long ago was it that kaelthas went to outland?”  The correct answer is: lore-wise, it was about ten years ago.  Specifically, it was 22 years after the First War.  Hope that helps!

I HAVE SOME CONCERNS, aka Screw It, I’ll Play My Mage

There are a lot of things about the impending expansion that I’m not really sold on.  I don’t want to say they’ve turned me off of the game, because obviously we’ve only been aware of this stuff for 24 hours.  There’s a lot that can change between now and, you know, whenever this actually releases in the future.

But, okay.  Like.  Artifact weapons.  They are tied to your spec.  If I want the really cool phoenix bow with the really cool elf lore, I have to be Marksmanship.  But Marksmanship is confirmed for not having a pet in the expansion (similarly, Survival is confirmed for being a melee spec) and that does not appeal to me in the slightest.

So… wat do?

CLEARLY the answer is to play my mage.  At least he’s gonna get Felo’melorn, which I plan on nerding out over in a different post very soon.

Besides, once you start porting everywhere, you can’t go back.

World of Warcraft: Legion AKA World of Warcraft: Pike Likes Pretty Elves

So the new expansion has been announced!  Turns out my Council of Glaves guess earlier was wrong, but hey, I kind of sort of called Demon Hunter, right?  Granted I was off on the specifics, but you know, details.

What am I hyped about?  Well I’ll tell you what I’m hyped about BIG HUNKY TOPLESS ELF MEN.  That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

I saved this picture as CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS.jpg
I saved this picture as CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS.jpg

I’m also hyped about some of these weapons we’re getting.  Felo’melorn for my Fire Mage?  Some super awesome looking phoenix bow for Althalor?  Yes.  Sign me up.  SIGN ME UP.

Also Alleria Windrunner?  Only the return of the best Windrunner sister?  I am here for this.

I’m not 100% sold on the overall aesthetic of the expansion yet.  I feel like we’ve been fighting the Burning Legion for approximately 1295862345 years, and I’m not really into this dusky magical night elf stuff (give me more of my lovely blood elves every day).  But hey, I’m sure we’ll be getting more details in the future.  For now I’m sort of cautiously hyped more than super hyped.  Thanks to WoW Token I feel like I can sort of fund my sub indefinitely so hey, might as well play a new expansion, right?

What are you guys thinkin’?

Pike’s Gold Making Guide For People Who Suck At Making Gold

I’ve mentioned on Twitter a couple of times that, although I am not even remotely one of those hardcore gold-making people, I find it fairly easy to pay for my subscription via the gold I make with just one garrison.  Anyways, a couple of people have shown interest in a guide for that purpose, so here it is!

Before I begin, I want to note the following things:

  • This will not teach you how to min/max garrisons.
  • This will not teach you how to use those super fancy TradeSkillMaster addons or whatever the gold makers use these days.
  • This guide is not intended for people who find it easy to hit gold cap or who like to sit around on the auction house all day doing their thing.
  • This guide is intended for the little guy.  Someone who doesn’t really care much about being in-game rich but would like a couple of WoW Tokens.

So without further ado:

money-bags-psd65188

From One Garrison to WoW Tokens: Pike’s Gold Making Guide For People Who Suck At Making Gold

The set-up:

I use the following garrison buildings for my money-making purposes:

  • Trading Post
  • Inn
  • Salvage Yard
  • Herb Garden/Mine (of course).
  • Alchemy Lab (Optional)
Step One: Missions

I tend to send my followers out on missions twice a day.  Usually once before work and once after work.  Sometimes if I have nothing better to do I’ll do a round before bed but usually two daily check-ins suffices.  This ensures that you have people doing stuff for you and bringing you back things for delicious gold at basically all times.

You’re going to want to use your Inn here to recruit followers with the Treasure Hunter trait, so you can double the gold you get back on missions.  The Scavenger trait is another good one to have a couple of followers with, because we can turn garrison resources into more money.  (More on this later.)

Remember to send all your guys out on missions even if the only reward is experience.  This will get you salvage, which we’re going to cover riiiiiight… now:

Step Two: Salvage

This is the part where your salvage yard becomes your best friend.  You can turn around and sell just about everything you get to the vendor for money.

Occasionally you might get things you want to hang on to.  Herbs and ore, of course, but sometimes equipment can be sold for a better price on the auction house.  This does tend to be finicky.  Blues– even good ones– don’t often sell particularly well in a post-heirlooms world.  Epics do tend to sell but they can be slow-moving.  Keep an eye out for things that might make useful transmog gear.  I once sold an eyepatch with terrible stats for several hundred gold because hey, it’s an eyepatch, and those are cool now.  Kind of like fezzes.

full

Step Three: Mine and Herb Garden

Every single day go hoover up all the mines and herbs that you’ve got and then stick ’em in your bank.  Once you’ve got about 300 of a single kind of herb/ore, take a 200 stack and stick it on the auction house.  (The reason I wait around to hit 300 before selling is because that way you always have extras for when the Ore/Herb/Whatever Trader shows up in your garrison.)

Step Four: Savage Bloods

The cost of these is down to a mere 25 Primal Spirits from your Primal Spirit trader and they’re still selling like hotcakes on the Auction House.  If you’re doing your dailies every day (in Tanaan or what-have-you) and hitting up the Ore/Herb traders, you should have no problems being able to stock up on Savage Bloods and re-sell them all on the Auction House.

Optional Step: Alchemy Lab

I keep my alchemist well stocked with frostweed and she provides me with tons of Alchemical Catalysts and Sorcerous Waters/Fires.  All of which goes straight onto the Auction House.  I have this listed up here as optional primarily because you may prefer to have a different building related to your profession or whatever.  Me, I just have it here for the extra money (and the flasks/potions are a nice bonus.)

941075__safe_solo_card_filthy+rich_hearthstone_super+richStep Five: Convert Garrison Resources into Sellable Things

If you’ve been playing for more than a few months, then you probably don’t really have much to use your garrison resources for anymore.  This is where your Trading Post comes in handy, because you can use it to turn your garrison resources into ore, herbs, Draenic Dust, or whatever is selling on your server.  For maximum profits, be sure only to buy what is on sale rotation for four resources a pop that day.

You can also experiment with converting garrison resources into rush orders for your mine, which gets you more ore and thus more things to sell.  I honestly haven’t looked into which method is more effective yet.

Step Six: Do Your Tanaan Dailies Every Day:

For Primal Spirit drops, as well as getting a chance to mine/pick/skin/fish everything you see for Felblight.  Which you sell, of course.

Step Seven: Make Out Like a Bandit

By following this guide you should not only be getting money back from missions and salvage every day, but also be able to successfully toss stacks of ore, herbs, and other assorted items (like Savage Bloods, Felblights, Alchemical Catalysts etc.) on the AH basically every single day.  Upon taking all of this into consideration I’d say I average about 1200g a day in profits (give or take), or about 36k in a month.  A WoW Token is ~25,000g so that leaves me with 11k extra every month as well as a paid subscription.  Honestly looking at it now I probably average even more money than that.

And all this with just one garrison!

So yeah, that’s how I do it.  Like I said, this isn’t going to tell you how to min/max, how to have ten alts, how to play the Auction House, or whatever.  It’s just tellin’ ya Pike’s Tried and True Method to get WoW Tokens with Minimal Effort.

Hope this helps!

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