DnD Misadventures Part 1: Underestimated by that guy.

 

After a nearly 2 month hiatus, my DnD group finally got back together this past Friday night for a game session.  I was extremely happy to hear that we would be playing once again despite my frustrations with magic in the 3.5 system (Right now I am playing a spellscale bard/sorceress hybrid and have serious problems with the fact that the DC for my fascinate and other bard abilities would be no higher than they are now even if I had all 12 levels as bard instead of just the 6 I currently have).  But regardless of that I was looking forward to helping my group slay monsters and healing their wounds.  That is, until we actually started playing…

To be clear, I want state that I like the three people I play with.  They are all good guys.  You see, there’s just this one, though.  He has a habit of underestimating me.  I wish it was just limited to our game sessions, but this guy was surprised to hear that I had college degree, and a bachelor’s of science, no less. Strike one.   What gets under my skin the most, however, is when he says, ” I think you’re over thinking things,” before I even get the chance to get three words out!  And in defense of my “over thinking things” when our (or most any) DM takes the time to write down, and then read directly from,  what an NPC says, which is cryptic to begin with, I don’t believe there is such a thing as over thinking things.  Strike two.  Many times during lulls or breaks in our game sessions, we all stand out side talking while the guys smoke pipes.  Often the topic of conversation is politics or something closely related.  There have been several occasions where I have made a statement relevant to the topic at hand like “Monsanto pressures the government to put more pressure on private farmers through fees and regulations.” only to have him say that can’t be true until one of the others confirms what I said.  Strike three.  

I wish I could just chalk this one up to him discriminating against me because I’m female.  I really don’t believe that’s the case, though.  I don’t even think he has a sub conscience dislike of me.  It’s times like this when you look inward and start to question if there is any merit to the label on your folder of which you have been assigned in your friends’ and acquaintances’ mental filing system.  Am I a ditz?  Am I doing something that makes me come across as a ditz?  I don’t think so, but I can’t exactly be objective about the whole thing.

At this point one of two outcomes is likely. Answers will be revealed as to his behavior or I will adapt and ignore it.  Seeing as how blogging is the most confrontational I will ever get, I’ll wager that the most likely is that I’ll learn to ignore it and keep plodding on.

Some Hunters Want to be Pretty too, DAMNIT!

This gallery contains 3 photos.

So, you’re a hunter, you’ve found an awesome looking set of weapons (In my case, a bow and polearm [yes, hunters don’t use polearms any longer- this post was started long before patch 5.0.4] that match pretty well).  Excitement fills … Continue reading →

The 5.0 Hunter: Focus

With patch 5.0.4, hunters have been given some new and fun talents that at first may seem subtle, but in reality have a big impact on game play.  With this post I will be highlighting the effect that the choices in the fourth tier of talents have on focus. These talents include Fervor, Dire Beast and Thrill of the Hunt.

I personally opted for Thrill of the Hunt because of its passiveness (no extra button to push) and the increase in the number of multi-shots on AoE pulls that it allows.  While raiding in Dragon Soul with my new talents, I noticed something that I never thought would be a problem.  I had more focus than I knew what to do with.  Because of this, I was using Cobra Shot quite seldom which in turn caused serpent sting to not be refreshed and fall off.  While talking with my fellow Stands in Bad hunters Kat and Kia, I learned that the Dire Beast talent they chose had a similar effect on focus.  One can therefore assume that also with a cool down of just 30 seconds and having to do with focus regeneration, there will be a similar effect on focus if used frequently off cool down for Fervor.

The effects of this very minor inconvenience (if you can even call it that) will be somewhat lessened when we hunters are forced to break our 2 piece set bonus (for those that have it) as pointed out to me by Kat.  At this early stage, there is no certainty that things will stay as they are.  So, until I catch wind of a better way of doing things from the experts, I will be weaving in a Cobra Shot every 13 seconds whether I need the focus or not.

OMG I Can’t Decide

Mists of Pandaria is fast approaching and I still have no idea what race to choose for my monk.  I don’t want to level a Pandaren monk because I like being different, not to mention that the Pandaren starting area will be extremely crowded for a while I’m guessing.  And since I don’t ever plan on throwing out my “Alliance Card” the race will be limited to some of those races.  You must be this tall to ride, gnomes and dwarves need not apply.  That leaves Night Elves, Draenei, and Humans.  Each of these races has their own unique allure which is making a decision a bit difficult at the moment.

• Night  Elves – The Quel’dorei culture and aesthetic, in my opinion at least, seems to mesh really well with monks
• Draenei – I just like Draenei, ok?  And they look damn cool kicking things.  Hooves make it hurt more, right?
• Humans – I don’t have a lot of human characters despite the face that I do like them as a race.  Plus female humans have ginormous weapons!

So your mission ,should you choose to accept it, is to vote in the poll below and leave a comment explaining your choice.  Also, in your comment leave a suggestion for a clever name.

How About a Quickie?

I just wanted to post a short and sweet update about my three newest friends.  I managed to tame them all in less than 36 hours and I am feeling pretty excited about that. (Despite the fact that we are on the eve of a new expansion.)

Named Claire, because spirit wolf lol And she jedi mind tricked me into looking for it.

Name creativity hadn’t kicked in yet.

I named him Squirt because I love Finding Nemo

A Whole New (PvP) Monster

Ok, so I left you guys, all three of you, in the lurch and quit posting stuff.  I was ok with this for the most part since I felt that my time would be better spent doing something that could actually net me some income.  Well a few applications and a resume later I’m still unemployed but I feel better about myself.  But all that is neither here nor there.  On to the topic that has me literally squirming in my seat in dread and apprehension.  Forcible pvp cuddles!  Not to be confused with regular forcible cuddles; those are what I give my cat when he’s being a dork.  Here is a picture of my cat being a dork:

Back to forcible pvp cuddles!  I am currently on a pvp server despite my fear and loathing of pvp.  Why? you might ask.  Because that is where my guild is and because I can avoid the pvp if I want to.  AND I VERY MUCH WANT TO.  But like so many other examples in the world, the loud minority is getting their way.  If I stay on a pvp server, I will be forced to pvp.  Thank you very much Mr. Tom Chilton!  That link right there discusses changes coming to pvp servers with the Mists of Pandaria expansion.

In the past I would have agreed with the intellectually challenged, knuckle-dragging mouth breathers who predictably respond with, “PvP happened on a PvP server,” and “QQ pvp server” and the other gems of their infinite wisdom.  However, with Blizzards upcoming changes to how people will interact with the world around them, they really are creating a whole new monster.   You guessed it.  Its time for a bullet list!

Reasons Why PvP Servers Have Become a Whole New Thing: and thus we deserve free transfers off of them.

• Cross server zones will make it so that there is no more late night/early morning uninterrupted play time.
• Weaker and less frequently spawning guards will encourage killing quest givers, vendors, and other necessary npc’s.
• An item that shoots people off of flying mounts is bound to be abused in group especially near choke points and raid instances.

Keeping all of that in mind, its easy to see that leveling and living on a pvp server will not be what it is now and has been in the past, thus a whole new ball of wax.  And truth be told I think that it is a good change for those who like that type of environment.  I am just not one of them.  It will be going from something that I can tolerate to something that could potentially keep me from playing.  

So Activision Blizzard, open up your hearts and your deep pockets and let those of us who do not wish to be forcibly squished by the opposing faction transfer off pvp servers so we can practice our:

The Skin is Always Greener on the Other Side

A few posts back I talked about burnout and a few ways of combating it.  In my time since then I have been toying with the idea of trying my very best to level a character to level 85 as horde before Mists of Pandaria hits.  I know that for many of you this isn’t much of a challenge.  So let me share what best summarizes my track record with you when it comes to leveling horde characters.  The highest level one I have is a 45 blood elf warlock that was created when Burning Crusade came out.  In fact, she predates my draenei hunter on the same server that I currently raid with in Stands in Bad.  So for me anyway this will be no small accomplishment.

My reasons for wanting to have a level 85 horde toon are pretty simple.

1. Experience more lore
2. Better questing experience
3. For some reason more attractive men play horde
4. More blogging material

When I start to undertake this self-appointed challenge I will most likely roll another hunter.  Because hunters are awesome!  And because it’s what I know.  As for the race I’m a little undecided.  At present I view my most likely options as being troll or orc.  I am currently completely undecided on server; I don’t know all that many people who play horde any longer after cancellations in subs.  And a guild that will let me mooch perks and fulfill my need for being social would be very very nice.  If you have any suggestions or feedback, please feel free to leave it in the comments section below.

And the Training Wheels are Off!

 Many people wouldn’t know it now, at least that is what I tell myself, but I used to be painfully shy.  I would never have dreamed of running pugs back when my priest was my main.  And technically speaking, LFR is still the extent of my priest’s pugging but that’s because I’m so rusty (bad) at healing now.  For a while this was the case even on my hunter.  I was new to the class, hadn’t played in a year and half and those self-esteem and shyness issues were still very prevalent.  I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but at some point between then and now (not long after DS 5 man’s were released) I looked at how that kind of behavior was holding me back.  So what if I messed up.  That is how you learn.  And if anyone else didn’t like it, we didn’t have to group together ever again.  I was also reminded of how needy I was when it came to groups, a few friends and an ex-boyfriend can attest to that and I did not, would not be that person anymore.  So I queued for my first pug solo and it went ok.  No one yelled at me for messing up, in fact I didn’t mess up at all.

Of course I didn’t finish this achievement without the aid of guild members and friends.  Kialesse herself was grouped with me when I was at 99/100 for the final achievement.  But the fact remains that I overcame something that has bothered me about myself since my days of playing Dark Age of Camelot.  And now I even have a little, adorable companion to remind me that I’m not helpless (especially as long as I’m playing a hunter anyway).

Glyph of the Aspects – A Step in the Right Direction

The Blizzard hunter glyph fairies have sprinkled their magic dust and brought forth a new minor glyph, Glyph of the Aspects.  No, it won’t summon Ysera and friends to do your dailies for you, but it will cause a cute and cuddly animal representing each hunter aspect to follow you for 15 seconds.  That’s a tiger, fox, and hawk and no leaves (because leaves aren’t animals and Aspect of the Wild, it seems, is being removed).

I cannot emphasize enough how happy it makes me that the developers have been able to create a purely cosmetic minor glyph for hunters that is on par with the ones that have been made for other classes.  I’m crossing my fingers for now though, in the hope that Blizzard is able to come up with enough of these cosmetic minor glyphs for there to be enough variation amongst hunters.  Because let’s face it, things like that lose their novelty when everyone has it.  I also hope there are plenty of choices so that once I am bored with the ones I have made, there will other fun and exciting ones to choose from.

As it stands today on beta, this glyph will be available for Inscriptionists to craft at 175 skill with 3 Jadefire Ink and 1 common parchment.

My Desk Has a Head Shaped Crater

So, as everyone knows the Mists of Pandaria Beta has been out for a little while now.  For anyone who hasn’t been able to get in yet I though I would share some experiences and tips in the event that you do get that covetted invite.

1. Remember that this is the beta.  Fecal matter is broken. (What? This is a family, mostly hunter oriented gaming site.)  As of 7 April I was unable to complete any quest that required collecting items off the ground- the one exception being the quests in the Pandaren starting area.
2. Hunter pets are their original size after zoning, reloading, etc.  At first this sounds really cool, but trust me; after a while you come to hate that pet because it is always in the way.
   

   I started hating him after an hour of this.

3. Don’t bind in Pandaria, especially Alliance! As of April 7, the portals did not work without a rune of teleportation.  Alliance members who were able to teleport with the rune then found themselves to suddenly being taking on the role of Rapunzel as they were unable to leave the tower.
4. Set those graphics qualities to good or lower, unless you really miss watching Reboot.  Graphics on the higher settings caused many buildings to take on the appearance of giant pink cubes.  Unfortunitely they were not accompanied by Enzo and a female voice annoucing, “Warning. incoming game.  Warning, incoming game.”
5. If you’re like me, your “primary spec” isn’t your primary spec.  Your seconday spec (the one I use 99% of the time) is wipeed clean and your primary is the default.
   

   But I didn't know when I selected BM as my secondary!

6. Some hunters have been experiencing missing pets.  Basically, one is missing from the call pet ability on your action bar.  It has to be called from the spellbook.

So here is how all these discoveries unfolded in my beta adventures:  I logged in to find that I had no specialization. No problem.  I figured I would keep SV and change MM to BM to see what changes had been made.  Then I discoved that the other spec was not blank as I had thought. “Oh well!  Lets go play in Jade Forest! I’ll fix it later.” Only at this point you still can not change your specialization.  So off I go to Panda land.  I get there, things are cool and I start questing with a ginormous wolf because my cat is missing.  I bind in Pandaria.  I decide that the wolf is not working out, so I decided to take a portal back.  It doesn’t work.  So I quest some more with a very large wolf who likes to stand on top of the bodies I need to loot.   An hour or so passes and I ask around and find out that I need a reagent to use the portals, of which I can find none in Pandaria so I have my priest mail my hunter some.  Hurray! Hurray?  Nope.  I was stuck in the tower in Stormwind.  So what’s a girl to do? Level a Night Elf monk!  Then I saw that a quarter of the quests I came across were broken.  Be warned beta testers, be warned.