WoW

[Measure Zero]

you didn't get it to 9,000 so it doesn't count.

And there was no flying either, but it was still hilarious.

[kenada]

Max level raiding sucks.

It’s changed a lot from classic. There is pretty much no consumables to farm, and the only major requirement beyond the first raid instance (other than gear) is that the raid be composed of mostly non-retarded people. Of course, people who enjoyed ridiculously difficult content that most people had no hope of ever seeing or doing are pissed off by that.

[BobChuck]

So. I'm level 42 now. I've got all the pre-Dark Portal teleports and Portals except the Portal Spell to Thunder Bluff, which is nice. speeds things up.

Tailoring is still sitting a bit above 175 (i think 181 atm), due to lack of Mageweave. Enchanting is stuck at 200, as I lack a Truesilver Rod. I'm not as worried about this as I was, since I found out Truesilver comes from level 50+ areas - a level 42 isn't SUPPOSED to have a Truesilver Rod yet.

This weekend, I plan on forcing my brother to grab his level 60 Death Knight and follow me around for 4 or 5 hours - I could probably hit 50 doing that.

[Measure Zero]

Max level raiding sucks.

It’s changed a lot from classic. There is pretty much no consumables to farm, and the only major requirement beyond the first raid instance (other than gear) is that the raid be composed of mostly non-retarded people. Of course, people who enjoyed ridiculously difficult content that most people had no hope of ever seeing or doing are pissed off by that.

I raided before you needed masses of consumables to do it (besides a few mana potions sometimes).  What sucks about it is waiting for 30 minutes for people to get situated and buffed, then wiping in 5 minutes, then waiting another 30 minutes for everyone to get back in place.  This repeats until everyone gets it right, which could be a while if you are just learning an encounter.

[kenada]

Max level raiding sucks.

It’s changed a lot from classic. There is pretty much no consumables to farm, and the only major requirement beyond the first raid instance (other than gear) is that the raid be composed of mostly non-retarded people. Of course, people who enjoyed ridiculously difficult content that most people had no hope of ever seeing or doing are pissed off by that.

I raided before you needed masses of consumables to do it (besides a few mana potions sometimes).

I wasn’t sure if you had raided Naxx or not, but I would guess no. Naxx was the first of many raid instances that assumed you had and used consumables in its design. Consumable use has been minimized to the point where it’s mostly a non-issue. For example, only one potion may be used during combat; elixirs are broken into defensive and offensive buffs, and offensive and defensive elixirs don’t stack.

What sucks about it is waiting for 30 minutes for people to get situated and buffed, then wiping in 5 minutes, then waiting another 30 minutes for everyone to get back in place.  This repeats until everyone gets it right, which could be a while if you are just learning an encounter.

I didn’t raid all that much in classic, so I can’t say whether that was the norm or not. Downtime is no where near as bad now that buffs are homogenized and usually buff at least a group if not the entire raid at once. Most fights in Ulduar are pretty easy to learn, so the era of wiping for weeks on one boss is pretty much gone.

If I weren’t such an achievement whore, I could probably get away with only playing on raid nights* and not have to worry about consumables or repair costs.

--
* Progression raids in ABS are Tuesday and Sunday and last from 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM server.

[BobChuck]

level 47 now.

Enchanting is at 335, and all my Runed Golden Rod recipes are green or grey, so it's not going higher until I get that truesilver rod. I cannot wait to put the speed enchant on my boots.

Tailoring is at 323; two more points and I can make 12 slot magweave bags and 16 slot enchanting bags. I ran out of mageweave.

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna make it to Outland before going to Australia, which is really my goal.

[BobChuck]

another update: technically I'm level 50... one bar away from 51.

Water Elemental = awesome.

tailoring is 230ish, enchanting is 260ish. Not worried about these at this point: gear I can make with Tailoring is just about even with what I'm getting from quests, and I don't expect that to change. When I'm in town and my stack of Mageweave has overflowed, I make bolts, check the Tailoring trainer, and create some disenchant fodder. There's only like a half-dozen enchanting recipes I haven't learned yet, so that's right where it should be as well.

Fishing is 210, cooking is 250+. I spent a couple days getting those up.
Sagefish Delight also = awesome.
First Aid is at 117. the Wool Shortage is painful. I've gotten this far without it anyway; just a cheap version of healing potions.

My last quest turn in yesterday evening gave me [Nat Pagle's Extreme Angler FC-5000], which is a very spiffy pole.

Hopefully I can FINALLY get my brother on his level 60 DK for more than 15 minutes, and then maybe I'll hit 60 come Monday. At this point I'm not gonna make it all the way to 80 before going to Australia on Thursday, but I would REALLY like to get to 70 before I go. I want my flying carpet. I don't think I'm gonna make it though; not enough time.

[BobChuck]

SO.

*cough*.

Level 54.

spent a good 16 hours killing level 44 mobs that gave no XP in an effort to find "OOX-17/TN Distress Beacon". I found the other two while questing, so I figured I'd go ahead and accomplish this one, then turn in all three and get the Mechanical Chicken.

It took at least 16 hours of killing things, plus all the questing I did in the area for a few levels in the 45-50 range. I know it took at least 16 hours because I went from 52 (when 44's still give a little) up to 53 while doing this, and my /played at 53 was more than 16 hours.

But I did find it. In a Group running through Zul'Farrak. We hit a big patch of trolls, had some exciting times, and we were looting when someone said "found the beacon". And then "me too". and then "here's another one". THREE OF THE DAMN THINGS HAD DROPPED in that one encounter. The game is mocking me.

But I did get the Beacon. And I did the quest. And turned in all three. And now I have a Mechanical Chicken.

And it is GLORIOUS.

[Measure Zero]

The Yeti is better.

[BobChuck]

LIES.

Also, level 57 now. gained 3 and half levels in four hours. I got my brother to hop on (finally).

[Measure Zero]

Go get a Yeti.  You are high enough level.

[BobChuck]

So. I did not make it to level 60.

I'm currently in Australia; these updates will stop at least until I get back, and probably for good. Rather than go over the whol thing, I thought I'd just link my Armory page:
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Sisters+of+Elune&n=Amerith

[BobChuck]

so. Midsummer FIre Festival. Any advice? anything I should know?

Obviously, I need to get to level 66 to attempt the biggest of the quests, and I should go for the achievement, and try to nab the scorchling. And I need to get to level 66 to attempt any of that.

sigh.

I do NOT want to miss this... after I get back I only have like 5 days to try and complete the achievement and get the pet, or I'll have to wait a whole year. That would suck.

[kenada]

The bonfires are apparently worth a couple of levels worth of XP, so they're worth doing.

[Measure Zero]

so. Midsummer FIre Festival. Any advice? anything I should know?

Obviously, I need to get to level 66 to attempt the biggest of the quests, and I should go for the achievement, and try to nab the scorchling. And I need to get to level 66 to attempt any of that.

sigh.

I do NOT want to miss this... after I get back I only have like 5 days to try and complete the achievement and get the pet, or I'll have to wait a whole year. That would suck.

Wait, what is the pet you get?  The only fire festival pet I remember was intensely creepy.