Category Archives: Uncategorized

Wrath of the Lich King Quality of Life Updates

I’ve been noticing updates to the game and I’m just going to keep a running list of them here. Watch this space! Crowds in Stormwind once again.

Stormwind Harbor now exists! It gladdens my heart.

This is now the way to get to Auberdine, Kalimdor. Take the ship at the far left The Bravery. The Menethil Harbor ship to Auberdine no longer sails.

Cooking

For “old world recipes” you no longer need to purchase spices for your recipes.

You can now place a campfire almost anywhere you’d like one, and you don’t need Flint and Wood.

Mailboxes

There are now mailboxes all over Stormwind, where previously there were only three. Still no Auction House, Tavern or Bank in the Dwarven District.

Dungeon Finder

I’m going to keep working with this. It doesn’t seem as bad as everyone has said, in their vague way.

You Choose Your Preferred Role or roles for the dungeon. The dungeon list will show which dungeons you are eligible for, and what all the dungeon levels are. This is a huge enhancement, as nobody ever seemed to know what levels could be in any given dungeon.

Check the boxes for the dungeons you want.

Once you do that, you can click List Self at the bottom and you’re added to the list of people wanting those dungeons. Grr. I didn’t notice that DPS is automatically selected. So I listed as a DPS Priest. To the dismay of the Shaman forming the group. I have not played Shadow in Classic at all, nor do I like playing Shadow. I offered to leave but we worked things out.

With this list, you can just invite people to form a group from those who also chose your dungeons. I didn’t try to form the group myself, but the group did form fast, so I thought the “finder” was workable. Then of course everyone needs to make their way to the dungeon. No insta-transport to the entrance. No queue, just a list of people also wanting to get in the same dungeons as you.

Dept of Not Such A Quality Update:

If you make a Dwarven Female, you can’t get the pretty gold color of hair in Wrath Classic my Rogue has:

Will add a pic, but on the good side: Plants and interactable objects sparkle, making them much easier to see in grassy and dark places.

Atheren 9/14/22

Blaugust Week Three In Review

(Not My Own Meme This Time)

Yay! We made it through week three of Blaugust! This was my favorite week for my own posts. It actually made me happy to write them. I really like all the posts and can’t pick a favorite. This is unusual for me.

Thank heavens next week, with it’s daunting “Staying Motivated” theme will be Easy Street. You just wait.

I think, however, my mind is erased from all my efforts.

As we know, Bhagpuss’s Law states “Nobody reads blog posts on the weekends”, so I’m home free with just these few lines. https://bhagpuss.blogspot.com/2022/08/closed-for-weekend.html

Also, as I read the Ancient Gaming Noob’s https://tagn.wordpress.com/2022/08/16/blaugust-and-what-is-content-anyway/ , why, even a weasley little post like this is almost certainly content and will count toward my dreamy Diamond Rainbow award for Blaugust.

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law: A Normal Amount Of Rage

Tatiana Maslany, the brilliant actress from Orphan Black takes on a new role in this series. She’s Jennifer Walters, a lawyer who lets you in on her secret: an auto accident involving a spacecraft and her cousin Bruce Banner leaves her with the abilities of a Hulk. She turns green, grows larger, has amazing strength.

Bruce takes her under his wing on an island he owns, trying to teach her what he’s learned about being a Hulk. In about fifteen years, she’ll be ready to take on the world.

Jennifer has no intention of giving up her law practice or her life. She learns the Hulk ropes with great speed and is able to take him on in a no holds barred fight.

It’s a super hero show played as broad comedy. Tatiana is incredible as always. As revealed in the last scene in court, She-Hulk doesn’t get to keep a secret identity. She will need to balance work and rage. This should be fun.

Blaugust Week 3: Creative Appreciation Week

An old GW2 cartoon I thought was clever at the time.

A Chance Card. Too bad the site isn’t up anymore, I could do a whole deck!

Apparently there was a problem with a quest. I think I remember this. I really couldn’t get off the island.

Zzzzzzz……I know I have more.

Now stepping aside for the rest of the week for those who really are creative 🙂

Class Choice: Give Me All Of Them, But These Three First

The Way of the Warrior

If I’m playing an MMO, I create a character for each class in the game if there are character slots available to do so.

There are unfortunately games that allow you to have only one or two characters. I may try these, but I’m more likely to avoid them all together, or to only play for a short time.

In these limited character games, I’ll do what I do in single player games: choose some version of a Warrior.

A sword wielder can take on most enemies, even ranged types, by running up and whacking away. Give me my Claymore and stand back. The sword wielder almost always has the best, most protective armor. When there are multiple races available, you can almost always be a Warrior, or the games version of one.

Having this reliable character type allows you to jump into the world, learn the game play, and see if it’s a game you want to spend time in.

If you like the game but not how the class plays, you can wipe her out and try another class.

Rangers and Other Archers

If I have another choice it will be an Archer type character.

Usually you have a pet to assist you, and wear at least medium armor to help you in encounters. Hunter pets, unlike many other minions or companions, tend to be more useful, in my opinion. They will hold the enemy away from you, hopefully long enough to do most of your damage. They don’t tend to stand on top of your character. You can often give them a name.

It is a frustration when you shoot something at range and they’re instantly on top of you. I really like the WOW Classic version of Hunter, who can dual wield melee weapons once the enemy is in range. I also appreciate Lord of the Rings Online’s Hunter whose bow skills do not go away when the foe is at melee range.

Heal Thyself, and Don’t Let Anyone Else Die If You Can Help It

Here’s the class I always want to excel at. In single player games, it feels like you might have better survivability if you can heal yourself during fights with more than just potions. Unfortunately you’re almost always running out of mana or magicka. By design.

In MMO’s, I want to heal even more. I want to save the day! Keep everyone safe. Save the world one dungeon at a time. Let me help anyone anytime, is always my desire, but of course that’s not allowed.

As Cloth wearers for the most part, your healer is wearing paper with the protective qualities sacrificed for your ability to heal more effectively. It also seems, in World of Warcraft at least, that if you heal someone, all the monsters want to kill you all of a sudden. This hardly seems fair. The other drawback is, again in WOW (where most of my experience is), your character is not designed to be able to fight their way through the world. They are designed for group play. I certainly run them through the world anyway. I like my TBC Holy Priest quite a bit because she can fight really well in the open world. I dread whatever expansion takes that away from her.

All The Rest

We’re back to create all the character class types. I believe the more ways you can view the game the better. Each class plays through the content of the game differently. Using a variety of skills to make your way in the world gives you new challenges. Same content, different game, in effect.

Also, playing all the classes helps in group play, because you actually understand what everyone can and should do.

That Olde Chestnut…The Bartle Test

Every good gamer soul baring exercise must include The Bartle Test. How can you truly know your inner gamer if you haven’t been properly quizzed?
My spouse informed me that my result numbers added up to 200%. In order to be more accurate, I should slice each number in half. Sacrilege, right?

Below are the questions and my answers. I honestly was pleased as I was going along thinking I’m way more social these days, only to receive an extremely puny Socializer score. I am goal oriented, and I’m also, in games, something of a completionist, so I like my Achiever score. I’m really looking forward to Achievements in Classic Wrath. As with most of my time in Classic, I feel that I have the chance to do everything right this time. Getting all or most of the Achievements as they become available is an exciting prospect.

https://matthewbarr.co.uk/bartle/

I’m aware of course of the Gamer Motiviation Profile, but I think too many real life personal questions are asked. I understand it’s meant to be real analysis, as much as anything to do with having imaginary lives can be, but, nope.

https://apps.quanticfoundry.com/surveys/start/gamerprofile/

August Gaming Goals

See how flexible those post calendars can be? I like reading other people’s gaming goals. https://biobreak.wordpress.com/2022/08/01/syps-gaming-goals-for-august-2022/

In June, I even did my own, and was all set to make good progress when the real world intervened and I accomplished none of them.

https://thelastchapterguild.wordpress.com/2022/06/02/atherens-gaming-goals-june-2022/

Let’s try again for August.

Shadowlands (WOW)

I have characters on Blackwater Raiders ranging from level 56-60. I want to get everyone to 60 this month. I’m sending my Druid Atherne ahead as I’ve done in the past to assure I have at least one character who has done all of the Shadowlands content before Dragonflight is released, but the others will keep inching along.

Atherne is in Revendreth. I like Revendreth so much better than Ardenweald. I can manage to play a little in Ardenweald, then I think, I should move forward in Revendreth. Yeeeesssss.

In The Burning Crusade Classic

I have A Warlock and Hunter in Outlands I’m hoping to get to 70 by Wrath’s release so I’ll work on those.

Working their way slowly towards Outlands are the other characters I’d like to see at 70 when Wrath releases: A Druid, A Holy Priest and a Protection Warrior.

In Elder Scrolls Online

I’ve got my Blackwood girl and I’ll move a higher level to High Isles. If the game ever updates…..So five levels each, how’s that?

Secret World Legends

My gaming laptop has long been a disappointment, and tonight as I’m writing this it won’t boot up properly, nor bring up Secret World Legends.

So. Put it on my main PC, you say. Installation/Update Hell night continues.

This will be a GREAT gaming month! I can feel it.

As far as Steamies (My Steam Library) go, I think I’ll look at a few new to me titles and perhaps revisit some I haven’t looked at since Blaugust 2018.

The Tomb Raider Anniversary game version is the one I’ll delve into.

Lord of the Rings Online—I can’t face Mirkwood where my Hunter is mired endlessly, so I’ll move my Loremaster forward in Moria.

That should do for a dazzling day two post. I’m off to finish downloading SWL and frankly, the dogs are whining at the door to come in and there’s no room in here for them. Good excuse, right?

Welcome to Blaugust Week, Last Chapter Edition

My Monday morning posts will all feature the Blaugust theme of the week. So Happy Monday everyone! I’ve only participated once before, and my favorite part was reading a wealth of posts on a topic always of interest to me, gaming. Everyone, particularly the newbie bloggers, write posts during this week with great enthusiasm.

There are a few new folks who write something along the line of “Hi, here’s my blog”. And that’s it. Don’t be discouraged. I think sometimes there’s the impression that these posts should cover serious important gaming topics, or nothing. Pssst…no, we like whatever you have to say. Oh wait, there was a mean person one year…. You know what to do, (forward slash) Ignore Mean Person. Poof.

Consider, if your blog is new, or even if it’s been around for awhile, that creating or freshening up your sidebar with blogs you read and gaming or other sites you use all of the time and recommend for others can make everything look shiny and new. That will give you ideas for posts right there.

In any case, these are Game Blogs, or are written by people who play games but have many other interests. Enjoy!

My Blaugust is pretty much planned out. I created a Post calendar. Sketched in a few notes. For me, it helps to have a few days that are pre-planned topics. This year it’s the theme of the week on Mondays and everyone’s secret favorite, Screenshot Saturday.

Here are my loose topics:

TV Fair Game

Dungeons

Shadowlands (WOW)

TBC (WOW)

Lord of the Rings Online

Elder Scrolls Online

Tomb Raider

Look at Steamies! (All those charming things I keep collecting in my Steam Library during the sales.)

I see I still have Secret World Legends installed on my laptop. Let’s just see where we left off, shall we?

There is a whole page of writing prompts at Tales of the Aggronaut (Blaugust Boss and Host Extraordinaire). I printed out the list and have marked the topics I’d like to write about.

https://aggronaut.com/blaugust-prompt-list/

Also, all the other Blaugusters will be writing and sharing ideas, so snare those ideas and make them your own. Write in advance and pre-post whenever you can to give yourself thinking and playing space.

I’m looking forward to what everyone has to share this month.

Atheren Lightrunner, Star Wars Galaxies Ranger, Retired