Waiting to exhale (fire)

Things have been rather quiet on the home front lately. Stuff has been happening, but the blogosphere seems to be collectively holding their breath for the world to end. I’ve been taking advantage of the time to level Bishamel - remember the CYOA paladin no one cared about? Well, he’s ret now, blasting his way through enemies 10 levels over him, soloing instances, and generally just being enjoyable.

Malacrass is decked out in just enough gear to probably go into Hyjal and only replace half of it. I might try and get him a pair of i213+ leggings just to finish up Epic, but it’s not a priority. Seriously, it’s the only reason to do so.

Builders League United

We’ve been pulling in a few more people here and there, including a few known bloggers. Most importantly, however, we’re roughly a week away from finalizing our raid days. The time, at least, is set: 8-11pm EST. Now to just pick between three sets of days: Sunday/Tuesday, Sunday/Thursday (my current favorite), and Friday/Saturday (which means I can’t raid with my own guild).

Decisions, decisions.

Also, we have a tabard, six bank tabs, and are friendly. Don’t all guilds have to say that nowadays? You’d think so from Guild Recruitment…

Running rampant through the hallowed Core

Last night, on a whim, I decided to rush up my Thorium Brotherhood reputation. This took all of a few hours, maybe 2-3 tops. Felt like I spent more time at the Auction House than actually questing.

So after robbing the Dark Irons of pillows and face-punching incendosaurs, I was left with nothing to do but go to the Molten Core. So I figured… why not? Worst case scenario, I continue to wipe on Gehennas like usual, settle for downing Garr and Geddon in hopes of finding the bindings, and go home with some rep items for the Brotherhood. Instead, I managed to down Gehennas (take that, longtime enemy), along with the rest of the Core up until Ragnaros - I had an unlucky positioning problem and went splat on the knockback, and by then it was approaching 2:30 in the morning.

Got my Sulfuron Ingot - hello, Sulfuron Hammer plans - and a few other goodies, including the formula for +30 spellpower to a weapon which works on heirlooms.

By fire be purged, indeed.

Good news, everyone! I’ve fixed the broken achievement!

You heard that in Professor Putricide’s voice. Or Professor Farnsworth’s. Either is okay.

The latest build in the beta no longer includes The Shen’dralar in the requirements for Insane in the Membrane. If that’s the case, and it stays that way, then I really just need Darkmoon and the goblins and I’m done. That’s refreshing, though it sucks for people who did do the Shen’dralar grind (and money sink) - hopefully they’ll get their own separate feat of strength.

Update: this is confirmed, and they will add something for Shen’dralar grinders.

There was a post here. Now it’s gone. Here’s why.

I apologize for the complete lack of posting during my first Blizzcon. – Actually, well, no I really don’t. I didn’t actually plan on writing anything, because Twitter covered most of my bases, and so this is mostly scattered thoughts.

Day 0 (Thursday)

• Trying to arrange meetups is fun. So is sprinting to the con in bad shoes to get there before 10pm to get your badge and swag. I don’t know how many of you know Daewin - he’s a pretty tall and broad-shouldered dude. He’s also really fast when he’s bookin’ it.

• Don’t be me: don’t forget your phone charger. Herp derp.

• WoW Insider meetup was pretty fun. Got to meet some awesome people, including Fox Van Allen (FIVE NEW BOATS!), who finally got that drink I owed him, and Greg Street, who vanished quickly with his entourage of 1 to go see the Lego dioramas before I could get a picture with him. Speaking of which: LEGO BOOTY BAY. It was fanfriggintastic!

Day 1 (Friday)

• Some people feel that Metzen’s long “Geek Is” speech was to cover a last-minute removal of the “new MMO” from their opening ceremony because it wasn’t ready. Some people feel that they didn’t have anything new to announce, and that bit was basically to chew up a required amount of time (because let’s face it, as much as I enjoyed it - heck, I recognized every slide - it went on way longer than necessary). I fall into the latter camp. I also feel it was a good reminder that as often as Blizzard announces new things at Blizzcon, Blizzcon isn’t really a PR event like E3 - it’s primarily a celebration of Starcraft/Warcraft/Diablo gamer culture.

• The Demon Hunter did what nothing else has done so far: get me interested in Diablo III. The presentation afterwards on the design of the Demon Hunter, along with the runes and charms, also pushed me towards playing. I think I’m going to try a Witch Doctor first, making this tweet surprisingly relevant. However, I still didn’t get to actually try the game - the line to try D3 was wrapped double around the Diablo III Demo Area at all times. Seriously, I could’ve gotten in to play Starjeweled three times in the time it would’ve taken me to get to try D3 once.

• “We could focus on making the numbers look better, or we could fill the screen with zombie bears.”

• I mentioned this on Twitter, but: I’m the guy who heckled Metzen with “Basic Campfire for Warchief!” in the lore panel. I also immediately got a withering stare from both he and Alex Afrasiabi because everyone in front of me was shorter than me, so it was kind of easy to spot me… but they took it in stride because Metzen is Geeky Henry Rollins.

• The TNB meetup was that night, and man was it fun. Tons of people turned out! I actually won something (namely an All Things Azeroth prize pack and Turpster’s real ID)! Here’s photos. Got to meet lots of people I’d only interacted with on Twitter, if that, so it was hella enjoyable getting to put a voice and a face with my imaginary friends.

Day 2 (Saturday)

• I kinda missed the Class (Q)Q&A panel because I slept in late. I blame Saresa; she was counting on her body clock to wake her up, and I was counting on her to wake me up - it worked on day 1 - and, well, we slept in til noon. At least I was well-rested, which came in handy later.

• Since they didn’t have the size of shirt I wanted, and they didn’t have much of anything else that I wanted, I was forced - forced, I say! - to “settle” for a Taverncraft limited edition Murloc stein (the middle one on the first row of this page). Tell you what - this bad boy is awesome looking (and slightly cheaper since I bought it at the con!).

• I tried to get into the Lore Zone “gameshow,” but no success. However, I did get juuuuust about every question right (I missed the one about murghouls, I think), so even though I didn’t win fabulous prizes, I still had a great time. Benjamin Brone is a hilarious host (especially with that ridiculous wig).

• Watched the first portion of the Tenacious D concert. It really emphasized that Tenacious D needs a new album. It was still entertaining, but I wasn’t exactly broken up when we left to go to the pre-screening of The Raid.

• Speaking of which, we went to the pre-screening of The Raid. It was pretty entertaining, for a short film - and I don’t suppose the fact that Double Dragon is a Hordeside guild hurts their case any with me. ;) The open bar was also nice. Drank probably more than I needed to, as did everyone else, especially Fim. Which was partially my fault. Sorry!

• Finally got to meet Brigwyn, who is about eight feet tall and funny as hell.

• Also got to try Vegemite, and loved it. DAMN YOU SARESA

• Stayed up til about 5:30 chatting, passed out, and…

Day 3 (Sunday)

• …somehow didn’t have a hangover. Win?

• Sunday we had a TNB “family” lunch. (The Family? I guess we’re going to make you a podcast that you can’t refuse.) Hydra made a bunch of awesome clocks - fortunate, since I need a clock - and it was really awesome just relaxing and winding down after the nonstop whirlwind that was Thursday through Saturday.

• I mostly napped.

• On the way to the airport, I talked to an awesome Hungarian WoW player - I wish I’d thought to get her character name so I could link to her - who managed to convince a gullible player that her Big Blizzard Bear (you know, the one with a murloc waving a big Blizzcon flag) was given to her for killing 50,000 gnomes in open-world PvP then opening a ticket with a GM to ask for it. Reportedly, this guy actually did it. The GM told him that it was past the deadline, unfortunately. Here’s to you, Zsophia (or Zsofia? I never got the spelling); you’re awesome (and it’s not just because you and your boyfriend play Horde - FOR THE HORDE!).

That’s really the highlights I can think of. I’m sure there’s more. I’d love to link to all the people I met, but I don’t think it would be possible to do so without leaving someone out, and I’d hate to leave anyone out, so: if I met you this weekend, it was awesome to do so! And if I didn’t meet you this weekend, sorry! There’s always next year!

Because hells yes I am doing this again.

Happy patch day, fellow Azerothians! 4.0.1 is upon us, the dawn of a new day full of changed game systems, shortened talent trees, broken addons, and (probably) bugs. Lots and lots of bugs.

Hope you’re prepared for the transition. If you’re feeling out of touch, you might want to check out Jaded Alt’s 4.0.1 survival guides - a compilation to posts about lots of other classes and specs. Of course, the usual suspects like EJ and PlusHeal and Totemspot and Mana Obscura and SP will be there too (and will probably be swamped in the next few days with the people who, somehow, got caught by surprised by 4.0.1).

The servers are down, and we’ve all got some time to burn, so let’s take a drive down memory lane. A lot of things are changing, after all, so it’s the perfect time to get nostalgic. Tell me this in the comments:

1. What’s one thing, if anything, that you’re going to miss the most from 3.3.5 (and/or older)?

2. What’s one thing, if anything, that you’re most looking forward to in 4.0.1 (and/or Cataclysm)?

I’ll go first: while I’m going to miss Zul’gurub, I suppose it’s a worthwhile tradeoff for a guild interface that isn’t a complete POS. Also, Earthquake.

What’s yours?

Proving that I, too, can be years behind all the cool kids, I got my second level 80 character last night at around 2:30 AM EST.

A little background: This is Malacrass. He started life as Kallech, a draenei shaman, in January of 2008 - my first character upon my not-so-triumphant return to WoW. Kallech was ostensibly to level up with my cousin, but I neglected to remember that my cousin has waaaaay more free time than I do, and so around the time Kallech hit his late 40s (46 to be exact), my cousin’s mage was strolling into Outland - or maybe even further by then.

And so Kallech took some time off while I discovered the joys of the Horde. That character, Queklain, a Forsaken warlock, would be my first (and, for the rest of TBC, only) character at the level cap, and my initial raider. Kallech chilled in the Hinterlands, dusting things for the Wildhammer and wondering if he’d ever get to go out and hit things again. He did hop over to Silver Hand at one point to say hi to Tawyn, only I never did because she was important people and I was just some guy. Yes, I was too shy to say hello to someone on the internet. I did at least play him a little bit there, gaining him a level or two.

Then came Wrath, and then came death knights. Duskwalker (née Ambassador, née Rajaat, née Zulfon) raced to the cap during the days when Death Knights were overpowered and I could solo 3- and 5-person quests to my heart’s content, and raided. Raided Naxxramas and Ulduar, while my little alts sat forgotten. Took some time off for basically all of ToC, and came back for ICC. Kallech waited, still hanging out in the Hinterlands, until the first signs of burnout began to set in, at which point I transferred him to the same realm as my death knight, bought him some mail heirlooms, respecced him elemental, and sent him to finish killing wolves or whatever it is one does in the Hinterlands.

From there, Kallech continued on to finish up his time in Azeroth, then went and fought the Burning Crusade, spending an extended amount of time in Hellfire Peninsula before moving on to Zangarmarsh. Finally, to Northrend!

About this time I relocated both to Cenarion Circle and to the Horde. I forked over the cash to do both, bringing him to a happy state of trollhood, only to discover that the only other toon named Kallech in all of WoW was already on Cenarion Circle. /fistshake

So I named him after my favorite troll. :) And then he pew-pew’d his way to 80, and here we are. Just in time for everything to change! I tell you what, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on Earthquake - and everything I need to know about elemental in the days to come, I learned from Binkenstein. (By the way, Totemspot has a really nice theme. I’m not biased or anything. ;))

But first, exposition

Some of you may remember me briefly posting about some burnout associated with raiding as a member of Caffeine; those who watched my posts carefully (like stalker-level careful) might have noticed when the word officer got crossed out and replaced with member. Not long afterwards I reappeared as a member of the Horde again. This is all related. We had a guild merger, it didn’t go quite as planned, guild went kaboom, I left (though not without a bit of soul-searching, and a contact to my GM and ex-GM). Caffeine was good while it lasted, but I knew something had changed it from the guild I liked being in to one that I didn’t, and I knew I had to pin down what it was.

The first step, however, was going Horde-side again. Sorry, Alliance - I did an extended tour of duty on your side of things, I saw Outland and Northrend as a member of the Alliance, but I’m back where I belong now. Lok’tar ogar and all that.

The second step was figuring out what I really wanted.

What I really wanted

Looking back, all the times I had left a guild could really be boiled down to short list of flaws:

1. Guild attempted to transition from a 10-man guild to a 25-man guild, and did so by absorbing anyone and everyone who would raid, bringing in unfamiliar and often non-meshing elements to what had been a small, familial guild.

2. Guild had gone from casual raiding times to hardcore raiding times, affecting my sleep patterns and thus my actual, outside-the-game life - including work.

3. Guild master had in fact gone insane.

Barring number 3, I knew the best way to avoid the flaws I didn’t like was to start a guild that would start with the principles I wanted to install in a guild. Hopefully that would keep #3 from ever happening. So, settling in on Cenarion Circle, I grabbed a guild charter and started forming an idea.

Enter BLU

Starting a guild is the easy part.

I took a look around at other guilds that seemed like they probably would satisfy what I wanted, and examined some of their principles. Of particular inspiration was House Stalwart of Argent Dawn, which I learned a good deal about from Belghast (who probably never knew I was cribbing ideas from him – thanks Bel ;)). I also had a read through Scott Andrews’ The Guild Leader’s Handbook on my lunch breaks (thanks, Kindle version). Here’s what I had in mind:

• I wanted a guild without a huge, crushing amount of rules that a member has to obey or suffer the gkick. Basically, BLU’s two rules boiled down to -

  1. If you want to join, someone in the guild has to vouch for you, and

  2. Don’t be a dick.

• I wanted a small, familiar guild. I like people saying hi to each other, congratulating each other, partying up and just generally doing stuff. I want to know who people are when they sign on. Rule #1 would help with that, but I think it helps to narrow the focus more: Builders League United will be a 10-man raiding guild in Cataclysm. I prefer to wrangle that number of cats, plus it means we don’t have to get huge before we’re able to do anything.

• I want the game to remain a game, without impinging on real life. If people want to have marathon 8-hour gaming sessions five days a week, far be it from me to discourage it - but it won’t be because they’re raiding that much. BLU is going to have intentionally few raiding sessions, with the idea being that during raiding time, Serious Business takes place. Show up, know your spec, know the fights, execute well, and you don’t have to have marathon raiding sessions keeping people up until 2, 3, 4 in the morning.

So that’s the core ideas I had in mind when I started Builders League United.

Technically recruiting

My joking reply when someone says, “what do you need?” is “warm bodies.” I’ve done little to no promotion of BLU until this post; we’ve mostly been growing by word of mouth. Still, there’s only so far word of mouth can go. So here’s the deal. If you’re interested in

• a non-enormous, friendly, Horde-side guild

• raiding 10-man raids in Cataclysm (and, most likely, heroics before that)

• doing other fun stuff (for guild achievements!), even if it’s not cutting-edge

• hanging out with fun people online

• not feeling pressured to raid for huge amounts of time per week

• being a cool cat

then Builders League United is interested in you. On the other hand, if you’re interested in

• raiding exclusively 25-mans

• being a dick

then I recommend you look elsewhere. ;) However! If you’re looking for an Alliance guild like this? I encourage you to check out Pix’s Hilarity Ensues - it’s a lot like this, but Alliance side.

Oh, and since everyone on the Guild Recruitment channel seems to think it’s necessary: we do, in fact, have a tabard. Five bank tabs, too. Most of ‘em even have stuff in them.

Let’s talk about the guild

Are you on the fence? Got questions? Need an invite? I’m really, really easy to contact, I promise.

• Email: stop@thestoppableforce.net.

• Google Talk: stop@thestoppableforce.net or phil.ulrich@gmail.com.

• AIM: stoppableforce1.

• Blog Azeroth: I still hang out in the Blog Azeroth chatroom on a daily basis (in fact, its server software runs on this server!), and you can catch me on there, but since other people hang out there, it might be best to get ahold of me one-on-one if I’m the only one you’re looking to talk to.

• Twitter: twitter.com/stoppableforce and twitter.com/BLUguild.

• In-game: Check out the “Team TSF” page to see all my alts. I’m most likely to be on and about on Malacrass, as I’m trying to push him to 80. Duskwalker and Bishamel are also common. Padmon and Nocteria are rarest.

That way I know who to come ninja from.

Kidding!

But I have to admit, I’m curious how other people organize their guild banks.

Until last night, BLU had exactly 1 tab; thanks to Vander’s contribution by his newly-joined DK, we now have all but one. Previously the very silly “I Haz a Tab” with an icon of a shark seemed sufficient, but now I guess I should figure out a way to actually use this stuff.

However, I’ve never actually been in charge of running a guild with a guild bank that didn’t belong to solely me, so I figure I’d turn to people who know better.

Help me out here:

• What does your guild put into each tab? Is it organized? Carefully partitioned? Or is it just a messy, chaotic free-for-all?

• What kinds of rights does your guild have on each tab? Can anyone withdraw a certain number of stacks per day? No one but officers? No one but the guild leader?

• For bonus points: do you have any particularly amusing tab icons or names?

(pic courtesy of Cas)

This post has beta stuff in it (not including the picture). If you’re reading this on the site, don’t click any further. If you’re reading this via the RSS feed… go to another post, because the “More” link won’t show up there.

So evidently QQing about the beta worked.

JUST KIDDING.

I’ve been repeatedly entering the beta key contest that @nowgamer_dave has been tweeting about:

And I won! Huzzah.

So while yesterday’s “what do you want to read?” post is still in full effect, now you can ask me about beta stuffs too.

BRB, going to go grin madly and maybe dance a little.

It’s no secret we’re in a bit of a slump here. (I say “we” like there’s more than one person writing this. Hah.) I can’t do any death knight beta testing for you, or any other class, plus there’s already loads of people who beat me to it anyhow. :) It’s a little depressing, to be honest.

So what do you want to read here? We’ve probably got another two or three Cataclysmless months to go - at a minimum - so I’m putting the call out there. What do you want to read on this blog?