Level 4!

We reached level 4 and we now have anyone in the guild getting an additional 10% xp for their hard work in the world.  5% at level 2 and another 5% for level 4.  The next one warms the cockles of my guild leader heart.  We will have 5% of the amount of looted coinage from anyone’s adventuring.  When I was a member of other guilds I thought this was stanky because I thought it took 5% away from me.  It does not.  It just appears as mana from heaven as an extra amount that goes into the guild bank.

It occurs to me this week that being guild leader is much like being a mayor in Star Wars Galaxies.  As the mayor you wanted citizens and you wanted them to be happy.  So you would provide all the city perks you could buy, at your personal expense.  And you would work hard to make money to pay the fees for having a city which could be huge, and you would never mention to anyone how much it cost to run the city, you’d just smile and be a good host, essentially.

Luckily there is no giant payment or fees to the upkeep of a guild. However if you want people to be happy you need bank tabs full of potions and scrolls and foods and resources.  You want to keep the guild bank balance at a comfortable level so everyone can get training money and money for mounts and whatever else the need without having to think about it.  That’s how I’m playing it anyway.

What I do is have my own characters put anything they make over a certain amount in the guild bank.  I try to sell things as I can but mostly it is dungeon run monies and questing monies.

It will take a little pressure off to have my own characters and everyone elses characters drop a few coins in the bank bucket as they merrily play.  Level 5 or bust!

 

Obligatory CRZ comment of the day:  I have been looking at the peeps around me in the world and except for right in Stormwind, every person is from another realm.  Creepy.  Am I in their world or are they in mine?  There was even someone from Farstrider at the cooking trainer in Darnassus yesterday.  Eerie.

CRZ: Cross Realm Zones=Crazies On the Loose

As we approach Guild Level Four thanks to lots of hard work by guildies, I’ve noticed even more annoyances with Cross Realm Zones.

My level 10 Priest was tooling along near the Eastvale logging camp when some bozoid from Farstrider kept running over and killing my murlocs.

Next, I was over at ye Brackwell Pumpkin patch getting the three baddies in the house for The Collector quest when here he comes again.  I made sure to tap all three of the npcs quickly and sure enough he runs over and starts whacking them.

Then he has the Big Ones to whisper and ask if I’ll heal for him for a bit.

“Are you kidding? I said.  You’ve been stealing my kills.”

“Ah, I was just helping you.”

The really annoying thing about this is that you can’t put this person on ignore.  You get “player not found”.  I found that to be the case when some bonehead challenged the same character to a duel.  Can’t ignore them.

One the plus side, I sent my druid to Northrend and since the place is so thick with baddies it is nice to have some people around to help clear the decks.  However, of all the people running around, not a single one was from my own realm.

I do think the realms have their own personalities, or did.  Now it seems like the lowest of the low are all running around everywhere.

I’ve been reading the forums about this topic.  I like the suggestion to be able to opt into them or not.

Level 3!

Guild moves on upwards

We hit level 3 guild status about a week ago but I have been busy trying to get caught up on everything and get my Panda lass out of the dread Wandering Isle.  I disliked the Worgen area after the first run through and found it torturously long but Pandaland is pure torture from the get go.

Our level three guild perk allows us to have a faster mount speed so that is nice for questing.  I think the next perk adds again to how much xp we get killing baddies.  I guess none of the perks are uber or anything except Mass Ressurection at guild level 25 but it is fun to see our work on our characters pay off and contribute to the overall guild.  I have still not done any recruiting.  I don’t feel like I can keep up crafting wise with more peeps so…I could pick up one of those guys with a name like SlapMeAgain who ask in trade if anyone is recruiting, but you know that would end in tears.

Speaking of Pandaland I still don’t have a character to send to Pandaland proper so maybe the real thing is heavenly.  I shouldn’t disdain Pandaland, noooo.

Tanking Round Two

I have a Brewmaster Monk that I’ve got out in the world and to level 15.  This means Dungeon Time.  She is a tank, and we know how hard it is to play that well.

This time I’m going to make sure she has every bit of armor and weaponry and scrolls and you name it before she goes in so that she isn’t “squishy”.  I am going to concentrate on the fine art of holding aggro, which is hard anyway but if you have some bozoid on the team who wants to steal aggro or hurry things along I am going to just let them die and move on through the dungeon.  The other fine art I’ll concentrate on is keeping a sharp eye on the healer and make sure she has plenty of mana.  I’ve been through all those lower level dungeons enough times so I know the maps and bosses.  Fingers crossed!

Screen Distortions Continue

Hubbie continues to have intermittent problems with screen distortions.  They clear up, a rolling restart happens, they’re back.  He has tried every solution.  Although Blizz keeps insisting it is his computer that is a problem, the fact that it works fine for a bit only to be ruined by one of their updates points the finger at them.  Luckily he can do dungeons because indoor environments display a bit better.

Cross Realm Zones

I understand that Blizzard thinks this is a good alternative to server merges as population drops.  What I have found is that you get increased competion for mobs and have a harder time completing quests and getting bosses and you name it because these folks are everywhere.  I have not seen a single instance where it has resulted in people working together on anything.  It is also a real problem that level 85 characters are in your zones standing around killing things off for reputation.  No chance beating them to anything.