The Time They Are A Changing

Or rather the times they have a changed already.
The big class changes patch dropped last week and though I haven't taken the full amount of time I probably could have checking out the changes I have to say I am liking what I have seen so far pretty well. But before I get into what I do like I think I should get the bitching out of the way about the things I don't.

To start with I absolutely hate the Blizzard raid frames. Don't get me wrong, it was terribly nice of them to squeeze that in there but the things are more in the way than anything for me. I don't use the Blizzard stock frames for anything and I haven't for a long time. I'm not knocking them for being there but they just don't fit the layout I have for my UI theses days. I think they should have put an option in to turn it completely off rather than just a hide button that still shows a hideously big tab on the side. I haven't seen a way to move it either (not that blizzard's UI options have ever been movable without 3rd party help from what I have seen) but that would also be something nice for them to add in the coming expansion. That's about the only change I haven't liked so far.

The Blizz power auras have turned out to be pretty nice even if I am still getting use to them and what they mean. They provide a good start but it would be nice if they were customizable in some form like the addon they are based on but since they aren't they still work well with the original add-on for me. Overall I like them.

Now the thing I have been spending the most time on is getting use to focus on my hunter. I was one of the hunters that was completely hyped about losing mana and so far I still feel the same way. Its taking some getting use to but focus is working out fairly nicely for me. I am enjoying the more complex BM rotation (yes I went BM did you have any doubt I would) and also the new pet abilities. I cant even begin to express how nice it is to have such a large pet stable now. One thing I am missing I wasn't expecting to is my volley. I mean it was really only useful in WOTLK but as AoE heavy as Wrath has been it kinda sucks not being able to do a nice AoE like all the not as cool as me kids. Two places I came across that it really sucked badly in were the cleansing chamber going to Prof Putput himself and the damned gates in strat when I was farming something. Since our AoE is dependent on range AND explosive trap things that don't trip traps leave us a bit screwed. So I get to stand there and feel completely useless as I watch Snuggles spaz around the screen like a real kitty does and make random comments in vent. I am sure I will get used to things again though. Volley was fairly crappy in BC and so was rarely used and I am sure I will forget all about it once I am out of AoE fest Wrath for good. On the other side of the AoE spectrum, explosive trap and multi-shot proved way more effective than I was expecting in my raid last week. I wasn't as high as I used to be but I wasn't too far behind it either.

As for my other toons, I haven't taken the time to sit down with anything other than my DK at the moment. I've specced my paladin, warrior, and shaman as well but just haven't wanted to get into them just yet so I will give more updates as I do.

What I have been doing a lot of is enjoying how much better things are running for me in game now since the patch dropped. The water and updated graphics in some areas have been a welcome change for me as I often find myself wandering the landscape just to pass the time and get my memories in before they all go away. Sure the looks don't have all that much to do with how I play but you have to admit for a game that's nearly 6 years old, warcraft is covering her gray hairs very well. Still would be nice to get some character model updates but I can't complain too much about that.

All in all this has been a fun patch for me and given me a nice boost in my lagging desire to play these days.

- Eds

No Tears Here

So the news of the buff/nerf to my beloved BM has been out for a bit now and I admit I have some mixed feelings about the whole thing. You will not hear me cry about it though. My tears were shed when they leveled me with the 3.0.8. hunter nerf. Now for those that don't know Beastial Wrath and The Beast Within are undergoing some changes that have the hunter community all up in arms. For starters its getting a rather hard reduction from 18 seconds to 10 seconds of duration (that would be the part I don't like). On the flip side we are getting a 10% constant passive buff from TBW which wont put us that close to the other two specs BUT is a start and something I think they should have been doing from the start with the rebuilding of the BM spec. The problem still remains that out pets are still ever so fragile (something they are working on) and as such BM is the glass jaw spec of the hunter world. I will not be a flag waver about the pros and cons of this move for a simple reason, this Ed has no idea what it really means until she sees it for herself.

Now on the PVP side this is hard hitting simply because its a big nerf to burst that came with BW. Though BW and TBW are getting a buff to what the rage breaks (basically all cc just like a trinket) you cant just get that kind of buff without having to pay some sort of price. So the cries are mainly coming from the PVP crowd as they see it as a slap in the face just after they found a spec for PVP that wouldn't simply be run into the ground. Now I too am upset but I look at it as just another hurdle to clear for my beloved class. Nerfs and buffs come and go some you like some you dont, its the passion that keeps one going (else the great controller probably would have let Edy go not long after BM was all but killed). This is simply another puzzle to be solved over time. I will admit it sucks as I had begun committing myself to a 3s team with two good friends and part of this nerf makes me want to tell them "you gotta look elsewhere" since I have never truly loved PVP from the start. On the other hand this almost makes me what to do it more, just to say I can still hold my own even if you take my thunder.

As it stands the changes are still to come and not the present. I for one will worry about them more when they arrive. Yes I know I haven't talked about all aspects this change will effect but I don't feel the need to with not even seeing them and getting a feel for them myself. You will wait with me to see how I feel. I will not let my emotions get ahead of what is to come.

An Edy Filled With Glee

So for once this break in posting has nothing to do with having nothing to do but more so excitement and busy-ness stemming from 3.2. For the past week I have been wrapped up in running the new 5 man and Ulduar attempts with friends as well as hardcore heroic farming I just haven't had the time to break and actually write anything. I am having a blast. Much more so than when 3.1 hit. So what is it that has me so happy?

Well I love the little things in the game. As much as I love PVE, I love to hunt down things for collecting more. First thing up I log in Wednesday and BAM I get my green proto-drake after months on months of getting the stupid oracle egg and hoping against hope it would drop. On top of that I have gotten the Argent warhorse from the tournament vendor (something nice about seeing Edy on what is basically a pally mount) and begun collecting the super adorable baby raptors that have sparked that "I must have" part of my mind that clicks when I see dangerously cute things.

Been having fun with my druids and their beautiful forms when I have had the change. Not too keen on having to get use to retadin again but thems the breaks. Surprised beastmastery buff was as good as its turned out to be. Its not the tops but by God it feels good to compete again in a spec I truly love.

Now I have done all this. Downed bosses I never thought I would. Grabbed gear for both my pally and hunter. Run myself tired with heroics and see no end in sight. One thing makes me giddy like a school girl with a new glamour magazine though. I mounted my netherwing drake to fly out to all this new goodness and what should my eyes see but my drake GLIDING. I am a simple woman of simple pleasures but damn if it doesn't feel weird that thats the thing I was most exited about patch day. I wasn't lying when I said the little things make me the happiest in this game.

The Low Time

So its been a while since I've posted here and with good reason. Nothing of interest to me to write about is happening at present. Been running Naxx 10 with guild with mixed results thought mostly positive but at current I have seen no reason to post about that. I haven't run anything for myself in about 2 weeks now, not playing low level alts at the present since (I'd rather wait for 3.2 to get the new mount pricing) and am just starting to bring Tytanya back into action. Is this saying I am bored with WoW. By no means there is just nothing pressing for me to write about, however I need to keep the habit up so lets see what I can scrounge up.

Patch 3.2

Overall this patch is mostly a disapointment to me but rather than spend weeks bad mouthing the changes here I am more interested in waiting to see what happens when things hit the live servers. Many things make little sense to me and at the moment seem to be making an easy game even MORE easy. Lowing mount costs yet again ticked me off more than the first time they did it but thats more killed my desire to work on alts than anything and if you think about it isnt really gonna make anything that much easier as people still have to earn the gold to get the mounts even if it is cheaper and at level 20. My hopes for beast mastery changes are dying pretty fast as the only changes coming are the very things that get us nerfed in the first place, buffing the pet more. Ret changes have me a little more happy as that pain in the ass Seal of Blodd is going bye bye and Seal of Command and Coruption are getting buffs as well as some changes to our mechanics that I am eager to see in action. There are some healing changes I haven't been playing a ton of attention to that I plan to look into soon. There are more mounts for me to work on getting Edy and more small pets to drool over. Blah blah blah. I am really just not that concerned with whats in the patch currently like I was in 3.1.

Guild Raiding

Since we started Naxx 10 as a guild weeks ago I have been pretty pleased with over all performance but that performance has a few kinks in it. As a whole dps is rather low but is being offset by me running Edy in her raid spec and 3k to 3.8k dps definately pulls up dps numbers to about where they should be in there. That sadly is my problem. There hasn't been any change in the people consistantly doing low numbers and it has nothing to do with the fact until last week we were only downing spider and nobody would try for later in the week to get more down. Naxx 10 gear is pretty equal to heroic gear however I haven't seen the low numbers doing there heroic homework either to improve their numbers and hinting they need to seems to not be working. So what to do? Well Ty needs gear and is very Naxx ready for dps and ok for healing (I have done both on her before) so I am thinking its time for people to see for once where they REALLY are and take Ed out of the equation.

Well there is your update. Other than being sad I could never get my worgen pet and never will there is only the same shit on a different day. Here's hoping things pick up.

Hmm to Feral or ....

I been kinda quiet in the lands of Azeroth for a little bit now that my anime habit is back in full force. I think Edy needed a little personal time and with as much as she has been up to I am sure she would agree. Now something I have been wanting to talk about for a while now are the new druid forms for cat and bear and I guess what I think about them. So far I am in love with what I see. Taurens are finally getting some improvement over that damned mangy thing they called our cat form and the new kitty is something I am pleased with. Seriously its like they found the sickliest lion in the zoo and taped some horns to the poor thing. The new catcow is definately a huge improvement over the ribs showing stragly furred ancestor. Of course this leaves me with a bit of a question as to what I am gonna do with lil Annie-o as I get back into lvling her. She will be a healer for sure but it might not be a bad idea to dual spec and keep a feral tree I can tweak for tanking and dps as needed. We no longer have a druid tank and honestly looking at the bear makes me wanna tank just cause its so sexy. Anyway time will tell as 3.2 is a long way away. I can only hope my hunter life also improves for my beloved Beast Mastery tree to make my happy complete.

Blizzard We Have a Problem

Well I was gonna post this yesterday....and I would have. I ran into a problem however. Naxxramas decided it liked me and my raid. It wouldn't let us go. FOR HOURS. I must have set a record for continuous volley at somewhere around a hour and 30 mins. Nothing like lagging out when you have full on aggro with a horseman on a trash pull. Oh by the way, this happened to us about 4 times. Gotta love patches.

All bitching aside (I have to stop now I or I will start grumbling about that damn sword that refuses to drop for me) 3.1 has brought me some happiness. Dual spec has arived and Ty has gone ret/holy and I can't wait to start learning. Edy has the Argent Tournament to keep her busy as I countinue to feed her need for mounts and pets. I feel refreshed for now. Its not all roses however. The Naxx thing wasn't really that big a deal to me honestly. Instance lock-up are just a fact of life for WoW life after a patch and I must admit with all that this patch has brought with it. Add-ons authors where on the ball and have updated everything in a very timely manner which I will admit blows my mind (specially with all the ungrateful users that seem to think the people have nothing better to do that be bitched at cause the didn't have a fix the very minute the patch hits) and i had all mine I use working in a matter of an hour. My main gripe is that dual spec really doesn't work for a hunter too well. Yes we can ds and I have it however the problem that is killing me and preventing me from actually using my ds is that my pets dont work as well. I have to go through a lot of hell to get my pet's spec to match mine. Most of the time the spec wont change like it is suppose to when I say go from BM to SV. Well what is suppose to happen is say Snuggles is out his spec would change with mine too. That doesnt happen. I switch several not suppose to do that things happen at random. ONCE it worked right. The very first time I used it. After that I have had my pet lose all his points when i switched (which i prefer of the things that have happened) and had the talent points carry from one spec to the other which in turn WIPES all my pet spells and makes me have to go all the way to a city with a pet trainer and respec my damn pet. I mean come on why has it got to be that hard to do a simple dual spec switch????

Now what is it I can do about this? Well first off I could just use that nifty new spell I just got, call stable, and just have a pet I specifically wanna use for my off spec. Oh wait, that has a frickin 30 minute cooldown. Hmm so since I set up my DS so in a fight when I cant really depend on my pet I have an out I would basically be stuck for 30 minutes in one spec while others dance from spec to spec on the fly. I call BULL. So here is what I do. I stay BM and wait a month (hopefully just weeks) for Blizzard to say "hmm we might wanna fix this" so I can affectively switch my specs or I just keep looking for another way to make it work for me. Oh well I still have the tournament.