Petoholics Anonymous

So here’s the scoop…

// December 9th, 2008 // 6 Comments » // Random Stuff

I got a email from Tzia the other day, essentially poking me to see if I was still alive. I am very much alive and kickin’, I’ve just been crazy busy with RL. I’ve been writing resumes, filling out job applications, going to interviews, watching TV…okay, I’ll admit that ever since my brother got us cable again, the old boob tube has been sucking me in. But hey, we didn’t have any TV for about 6 months! And then there was the whole thing with Fable 2, which I still have yet to finish. Okay, so I did have some time, I just didn’t feel like blogging anything. Or when I did have something to write, more important things would come up and I’d have to push it to the wayside. But here I am now, feeling rather talkative when I should be snoozing due to a 8am interview and getting only 5 hours of restless sleep.

Let’s start off with an update to my last topic: Wrath of the Lich King. I had mentioned that since I wasn’t able to pre-order the Collector’s Edition, I was going to wait in line in the cold to snag one. It turned out to be very yucky weather, where it snows and rains at the same time while the wind blows it around everywhere. At least I wasn’t the only fool out there. I arrived at the store 1/2 hour before midnight, only to find about 50 people already lined up at the door to EB Games. I honestly hadn’t expected more than a handful. After all, Winnipeg is only a city of 1/2 million people and how many of those would be WoW players willing to wait out in that weather? It seems that I wasn’t alone in my obsession.

While I’m waiting and shivering, I’m half-listening to the two guys right behind me in line. Apparently they had never met before tonight. They had happened to be talking in Trade on the same server and decided to go grab copies of the expansion out of the blue. One of these guys was telling the other how WoW kept him out of jail, because he used to be a drug dealer but he was at home playing WoW when the cops raided a party that he was suppose to be at and all of his friends got arrested instead.

…I’d comment on that story, but I think it says enough by itself.

EB’s doors opened just before midnight and we all filed in. I had to stand in line for another 45 minutes or so but at least it was some place warm. The whole time I was sneaking peeks at the front counter to figure out if they would have a CE left for me but I couldn’t tell from where I was. Then I made it to the till and here came the moment of truth…I asked if they had any CE copies left.

I was then told that the ones they had were for all reserved people who had pre-ordered them.

…

Let me draw your attention back to a post I made on Oct. 14, and I quote “It turns out that they don’t take pre-orders for the Collector’s Edition which I want. They sell those on a first-come-first-serve basis.”

This is what the guy working had told me then. I explained that to the lady working now. She said something about the CE pre-orders selling out almost as soon as they came available…but that wasn’t what I was told. I could have argued with her but I’m too nice and I was cold and disheartened so I just bought the regular edition and left. I’ve decided that I will not buy anything from EB Games because of this. To top things off, my boss happened to be in EB the next day and saw that they had 2 CEs available, because it seems their number of reserved copies was less than the number of copies they had that night. So I could have gone back to grab one of those, but was it really worth it to spend another $70 at a place I didn’t want to go back to? I decided it wasn’t.

It could have been worse. Those guys behind me in line? They didn’t even get copies. Apparently EB’s midnight releases are only for people who have made pre-orders and these guys had only come on a whim. Disgruntled, they were heading over to a nearby Walmart when I left. Way to lose some more customers, EB Games.

Twas the night before release…

// November 12th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Hunters and Pets

And all through fair Azeroth,
Players were anxiously waiting,
Even the hunter with the moth.

Well, I never claimed to be a spectacular poet or anything. The point being is that I finally added all the new pet families to the Pet-o-licious Namerator, and just in time for the expansion. In a short little while I will be huddled outside in the wonderful Canadian Prairie winter, waiting to grab my own copy and hopefully, oh so hopefully, it will be a Collector’s Edition. Later I’ll have to make more posts about what I’ve been up to in the game. Enjoy the new names and wish me luck!

Updating Pet-o-holics Namerator for WotLK

// October 15th, 2008 // 9 Comments » // Random Stuff

So I’m reinstalling WoW on my laptop (don’t ask >.< ) and while I was staring at the progress bar inch ever so slowly along, I realized that with the new patch, there’s new pet families. Families that aren’t in the Pet-o-holics Namerator! This calls for an update!

I figured it would be best to not only include the Patch 3.0 pets but also the Wrath of the Lich King pets. After all, it’s less than a month away now. I’ve already added those families to the suggestion form on the Namerator’s page. This is where you come in, my fellow Petoholics. I need your name ideas for all these new and wonderful pets that Blizzard has given us. I need at least 10 for each family before I can add them to the Namerator. So please do flood my inbox with your suggestions!

While I’m at it, I want to link you to Big Red Rhino, a hunters blog that specifically covers tenacity pets both on the live realms and in the WotLK beta. Personally I love Grakoth, Niqora’s warp stalker, and I used Ihlos’s review of the tenacity talent tree to help decide where I should put his talent points.

And here’s a quick callout to Snake in the Grass, who listed me in her blogroll as a Pet Master, right under Mania. I don’t know if I’m so much a pet master as a pet fanatic. But I can quit whenever I want…really. >.>

*goes back to staring at the progress bar*

Shiny

// October 14th, 2008 // 3 Comments » // Hunters and Pets, Random Stuff

I especially like the roaring bone dragon. Very nice touch. I don’t suppose I can tame one…

Unfortunately all the realms I play on are still down. So I can’t log in and get Niqora a nice new chimera or core hound. I’m not really interested in any of the other new pets. Okay, maybe the moths. Brighit might get one of those. And possibly devilsaurs too. I suppose time will really tell.

I am really looking forward to the new pet skills and talent trees. Every family gets a focus dump and its own special skill, Dash/Dive/Charge is now universal, pets have their own talent tress, new pets are auto-leveled to within 5 levels of your hunter…and last but not least, no more traipsing all over Azeroth to find that rank of whatever pet skill you need.

I remember not so long ago when there was a certain rank of Dash Blacky needed, but the lowest level beast with it was in Blackrock. Niqora tried to venture in there on her own, and then later with a druid friend…only to die repeatedly. I decided it was easier just to wait a few more levels. But now I will never have to do that again!

In other news, I reserved my copy of WotLK a couple days ago. It turns out that they don’t take pre-orders for the Collector’s Edition which I want. They sell those on a first-come-first-serve basis. So I’ll be hanging outside my local EB Games come November 13. With the expansion, I’m looking forward to new areas to explore and, as always, new pets! I’ve basically been glued to Mania’s Arcania for latest pet updates. Will I be trying out the new Death Knight class? Most likely but I doubt I’ll stick with it. After all, I’m a hunter and pet lover at heart!

Wrath of the Linkbacks 2.4.2

// May 13th, 2008 // 6 Comments » // Gripe, Hunters and Pets, Random Stuff

What’s up with the title? I was trying to get WotLK, linkbacks, and patch 2.4.2 all in there and epically failed

First up, some long overdue linkbacks to:

Laser Chicken – This poor guy has has Petoholics on his blogroll forever but I only found it out after he left the game. But now he’s back and it’s about time I pay him his dues!

Warcraft and Other Hooha – I’m not exactly sure what “Hooha” is but it seems to have lots of pretty screenshots and interesting topics so I like it

The Troll Hunter – Again, I’m not listed as a “Great Hunter Site”. What does a girl have to do to get recognition around here? On second thought, don’t answer that. I kid of course. Friendly /wave over to Wolfrider!

Next, Patch 2.4.2. It’s live now (or so I’ve been told; I’m at work right now) and the issue that’s been up on my mind is the Growl changes. Blizzard said “Growl now scales with Hunter RAP, not pet RAP” but Mania, Znodis, and others have responded with “Umm, nothing’s changed. Here’s the data from all the tests we’ve performed.” Blizzard then stares blankly at them for a moment then says loudly to no one in particular “Growl now scales with Hunter RAP, not pet RAP.” Hilarity ensues, or at least it would if this wasn’t just plain irritating. My Mr. Paladin has a saying: “If you say something loud enough and long enough, people begin to believe it.” Okay, maybe that works with some people but reality can’t be convinced no matter how loud you yell. I don’t know where things are going awry but something’s not right and I hope Blizzard can at least straighten things out.

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