My new home...

Well, Sorta.

I finally decided to take the plunge, and pay to transfer my level 70 Hunter off the PvP-Bleeding Hollow server, and move it to the PvE-Trollbane server.

And I couldn't be happier.

I was able to, in one hour, run 20 daily quests and get over 100g for my time. Something that would have taken me at LEAST 3-4 hours (if I didn't give up) on the PvP server.

The process was pretty painless as well. From the time I put through the request to the point at which I could actually play on the new server was about 45 minutes. So 25 dollars and 45 minutes later, I was actually having playing again.

I also took the gold and purchased a Guild Charter, got my 9 signatures, and started up The Dragon Guard on the new server. So when Damastus, Pipsie, Rellas, Ransue, Grothen, and Arlilith get the money to come over, the guild will be ready for them to go.

You know, I really am looking forward to running the guild for the time being - Most of the people that signed are low-level characters, so I think it'll be great to help them out, and hopefully they will like the gameplay that we (the guild) are accustomed to.

Wow Addons Part Deux - a relief to the insanity

Back in January, I posted about my unbelievable frustration with maintaining the addons for World of Warcraft. Finding the right places to download mods, installing them correctly, making sure all the libraries are up-to-date... it was a mess.

Now my friends have shown me the light - WowMatrix.

Here is the best, easiest, and by far most conveinient way to download, install and maintain AddOns for World of Warcraft.

And it's easy - Go to the link. Download the program (no install needed, it's self-contained), extract the zip to your desktop, and run it.

It scans your AddOn Directory, matches up what you have with what it has in it's database, and tells you if you are running any outdated AddOns. Click on "Update All" and.. Viola! Instant upgrades for all your installed mods.

You can also download new mods from the program, but the only downside to that is you have to go online to get screenshots to see if it's something you want to install.

I found 5 new mods that I now can't live without, and I'm really glad my friends pointed me to that program.

WoW AddOns - The Truth behind the insanity

I love playing World of Warcraft.

It's a fun game with loads to do. And it has a thriving 3rd party scene that create AddOns for the game that either make the game easier to manage or give you information about the game.

For the most part, AddOns are easy to use. Download the AddOn, install it into the Interface\AddOns directory, start WoW and off you go.

I have 2 AddOns that work extremely well - TitanBar (which is a useful tool that tells you all about how much gold you are making, how much XP you need to get, etc.) and Auctioneer (which helps price items going on the Auction House). They work flawlessly and are easy to use.

Now Cartographer on the other hand is a different story.

What Cartographer does is allow you to add notes to the map and reflect Points of Interest. Great for someone who is just starting out and has no Idea where anything is. Just Shift-Right click on the map where you want the note to be, type a description, and POOF! Instant Map note.

But the downside of Cartographer is that if you decide to download extra Modules for it, you may need an AceLibrary in order for them to run. BUT, nowhere in any documentation of any of these extra Modules does it say that you need AceLibrary!

So you go through the frustration of trying to figure out why Cartographer_Mailboxes (a Module that shows where Mailboxes are on the Zone Maps and the Mini-Map) doesn't work at all when it was recently updated.

So after 2 hours of searching websites, checking forums, and even going as far as logging onto a IRC channel to find ANY help, I finally figure out on my own what exactly needed to be done to get Cartographer working again.

A night wasted (I could have hit Level 59 by now), and a few lessons learned. Oh well, Live and learn, Right?

World of Warcraft Part Deux

Well It's been a month or so since I made my initial WoW post. Here's an update.

My Night Elf Moha... err... Hunter is now Level 42, and I'm currently try to raise gold to get my mount, so I can actually keep up with my guildmates. I have just purchased the Riding ability (which was 76 gold - and where the majority of the money went), and I have about 3 gold left. AND, I only need 9 gold to purchase my mount - SO CLOSE!

Basically, what I've been doing is farming the Deadmines. The Deadmines is an instance in the game that if taken at the level it was meant to be taken at (levels 18-24) you would need a 5-man group in order to make it. I, however, am at level 42, and I soloed it easily. And there are a lot of Green drops and a bunch of Epic drops (that soulbound, sadly, so I can't sell them at the Auction House), but I figure, I'll auction what I can, and probably someone will want the equipment.

I'm almost there. Once I get the money for my mount, I can start doing quests again. And keep up with the rest of my guild.

Sigh... It was BOUND to happen...

I blame Hope.

Hope being my supervisior.

And blame meaning she sent me a 10-day trial to World of Warcraft.

And now I'm play a level 21 Night Elf Hunter on the Bleeding Hollow server. And actually, I'm loving it. Blizzard has always had a knack of making good games that anyone can pick up and play, and caters to the casual and the hardcore gamer. I'm really impressed with the amount of detail that is in the game, and it's a blast to play. And it's 20 bucks for the original, and Walmart is selling Burning Crusade for 20 bucks as well. And since you can get game cards to redeem instead of using a credit card, it's really easy to get cards to use (and game cards make GREAT Christmas/Birthday Presents).

And I always thought it was weird that people had formed WA (WarCraft Anonymous) groups. But after playing the game for 3 weeks (give or take a day), I can fully see why some people take the game to a bizzare level of obsession. Blizzard made the game so easy to pick up and play, but so deep that you could probably play it forever and not be bored with it. I can understand how some people have lost their jobs, their spouses, their kids, their friends, etc. to the game. It's addicting. They combined the cool weapons and armor like you'd find in Diablo II, mixed in the world they created and then make it a MMORPG. And made it so simple to play that once you start playing, it's not easy to stop.

During the week, I actually have to force myself to stop play around 10pm, because I have to work the next morning. And actually, it works out great. That way, I know that I have X amount of hours (usually 2-3) of game time, and that I'm not letting the game take over my life. So far, it's been working out great.

Now if I could just level up to 22, i'll be all set :)