Skip to content

So here’s the scoop…

9-Dec-08

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.

Filed in Random Thoughts, Rantings, WotLK | | Comments (6) »

Twas the night before release…

12-Nov-08

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!

Filed in Name Generator, WotLK | | Comments (1) »

Warp Stalker Soloing Talent Build

16-Oct-08

I’m still downloading patches for WoW (sigh) so I decided to try my hand at some theory-crafting. Keep in mind that I’m not an expert or number cruncher unlike some people. I’m just doing what I think feels right so please give any comments, suggestions, or complaints you may have on this. It’s just a little test, nothing set in concrete.

I was playing around with the pet talent calculator and ended up with a build for Niqora’s warp stalker Grakoth. If I had to pick one great thing about Grakoth (and warp stalkers in general) is his Warp ability. It instantly teleports him to the mob, costs no focus and has a 15 second cooldown. It’s up for practically every fight and saves me having to wait for him to run over to the mob. It’s perfect for someone like me who does a lot of farming, soloing, dailies, etc.

So about the talent build. When I created it, I kept Warp in mind, as well as wanting Grakoth to keep aggro, stay alive, and maybe do a little DPS on the side. I used Big Red Rhino’s talent review and builds as a guide, making some adjustments for a warp stalker and the fact that Grakoth is only level 70.

Tier 1: The first 3 points went into Great Stamina for the health boost. I ignored Charge because of Warp and Natural Armor was put on the backburner due to it being useful but I think the points are better spent elsewhere. The next 2 points were put in Cobra Reflexes. Previous theory-crafting (not mine, I can’t remember where I saw it) concluded that Cobra Reflexes increased DPS because more attacks means more crits.

Tier 2: 3 points into Spiked Collar because hey, more damage is good. Boar’s Speed was ignored because again…Warp. I put 2 points into Blood of the Rhino for the extra boost it will give to Mend Pet. When I’m doing dailies, I sometimes find that Mend Pet does just a little less healing than I need to negate the damage Grakoth is taking.

Tier 3: More threat helps him keep aggro, hence the 2 points in Guard Dog. Intervene was ignored because I solo mostly and ahem…he’s got Warp. 🙂 Lionhearted would probably be more useful in PvP so I passed on it. 3 points were put in Avoidance because of the reduced AOE damage and it leads to Last Stand.

Tier 4: No points here. Great Resistance is more for instances and PvP. I was considering Grace of the Mantis but somehow it didn’t seem worth it. A small percentage to reduce the mob’s melee crits…I believe the points could be better spent elsewhere.

Tier 5: Taunt was taking to help Grakoth keep aggro. Last Stand is good for some temporary hit points, say for taking on 3 or 4 mobs at a time.

One of my options is to take the 3 points of of Spiked Collar and put 2 into Natural Armor and 1 into Pet Barding. But my way of thinking is the faster the enemy goes down, the less damage Grakoth has to take. So for now at least I’m willing to sacrifice some armor for the DPS.

There you have it! My patches are finally getting close to being done and I’m going to head off to download some addon updates so I can get right down to playing once everything’s ready. I welcome any opinions and suggestions on this build.

Edit: I forgot that in a comment, Tzia had asked me if Warp and Charge share a cooldown. As you can see, I didn’t take it here and a web search came up with nothing. Unless someone else knows, I’m going to guess that they don’t, because well…that wouldn’t make sense to me. Of course I could be wrong and the only sure way to know is to test it out in-game…which I may end up doing anyways.

Filed in Guides, Hunter | | Comments (6) »