Brooding (Alysrazor Style)

It’s not very often some little item pops up that I think I have to have in the game.  A pet or a mount perhaps.  But they’re far and few between.  But a toy?  No, I just take those as I stumble upon them.  That was the case until yesterday when Tome talked about the new Darkmoon Faire daily.  I was instantly in love.

So off I went.  At first I couldn’t even find the bloody goblin…because I didn’t realize it was a daily.  Smooth on my part.  A short time later I had success.  Liouxpold got the Ringmaster achievement and so I stopped, brainfarting on what needed to be done to get the toy.  50, not 25.  So then I tried Tum.  Completely the daily, not even close to the achievement and didn’t feel like buying tokens with him.  Instead, I hopped over to Hartley, who the game apparently loves.

She picked up Lil’Bling, the Magic Broom, and the Pumpkin Bag in the span of a week.  In-game time it was probably an hour.  I don’t know what it is, but I have decent luck with her and the RNG.  So I figured if anyone was going to do it, it should be her. The first run I came out of the gate flying, no pun intended.  I made it to 42.  And then I got 3.  I had a few runs where I thought I caught the ring and it sure looked like I did…but the buff still wore off so I was out of luck.  I got fed up and even posted on Tome’s page that I didn’t have the patience to try and knock this off in the few remaining hours of the faire.  But I’m also a Taurus and decided that since I had bought the bag of coins, I would try my best.  So I devised an alternate route this time.  On the first crack, I got to 30-something and ended up at a dead end, but I realized it was because I grabbed an important ring at a time where I didn’t really need to.  Sure, enough, the next run was successful.

I have to admit, a Skeleton with blazing wings and a flaming skull for a shield looks pretty slick.  Oddly enough, this spot isn’t far from where you start and for what it is worth my initial strategy was to go right in front of me (which would be to the left in this shot), swing out along the water and curl in the south end.  What ended up working for me was going the other way, towards the tent you see there, hitting the rings around the fortune teller and turtle toss area before going into the woods, then shooting across the main entrance and out along the water.

Once you get a feel for the layout of the rings, I don’t think it’s a difficult achievement.  It’s just making sure you don’t accidentally miss a ring in the one instance where you have very little time between them.  I found what made the effort most frustrating was when you landed on the ground as far as possible from the quest giver.  But isn’t that always how it goes?

Abandoned Faire

It’s a surreal view isn’t it?  The Darkmoon Faire just doesn’t look right empty.  It isn’t as though I just snapped a shot at a quiet hour or that moment where no one was going by.  Look closely, there isn’t even any NPC’s.  Now you’re no doubt asking yourself the same questions I was, and others who saw me online (such as Kamalia), and that is how am I even there?  Well it was legit.  I had hopped onto Carrera last night to grab her for the pet battle circuit for some experience and knowing she was logged out at the Faire I expected Elwynn Forest to be perfect since I could start the circuit there.  Except that isn’t what happened.

When I logged in, there I was on an abandoned island.  It wasn’t a character fluke as Saintvache was there as well and the same thing happened when I logged on with him.  The simplest explanation I can come up with is that it’s so close to the Faire opening up once more that the servers have the location as being live, there’s just no one in it.  Normally it wouldn’t be an issue because the entry portals in Elwynn and Thunder Bluff aren’t up yet.  But if you’re on the other side of the portal it’s a whole different story.  Needless to say with both the Tauren and the Draenei I took the opportunity to shutterbug a little bit.  I’m keeping what I post to a relative minimum.  Enjoy!

Oh no! Here come the Tonks! Whatever will I do?!?!

The sword? Eh. Some of the ingredients don’t go in the pot so willingly these days…

Empty Merry-Go-Rounds that turn are CREEPY.

Really?!!? There’s no one on the island and I still can’t get in? ARGH!!!!

Would you like to buy a Gnome?

“I think we’re alone now. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around….”

Dark Phoenix. MINE!

Your pets serve a greater cause…and it’s purple.

It shouldn’t have been that hard.  I was already more than halfway to Exalted with my Blade’s Edge guild.  So, more rep granting quests (such as Elders and dailies) and I would be there in no time.  When I got up this morning, I think I was actually about 75% of the way there.  So I figured I would knock off the Kalimdor Elders and see where that left me.  Turns out I missed a few.  It wasn’t a big deal, as there are plenty of ways to nab some quests.  I decided, for a change of pace, that I would head to the Isle of Quel’Danas and do those dailies.

I rounded them all up and handed them in…only to find those quests don’t actually grant any reputation outside of the Shattered Sun Offensive.  Hrmph.  So, off I went again.  This time I headed to the Darkmoon Faire and did the quests there.  When Saintvache was done there I was so close, yet so far.  So I circled and picked up a few more Elders and did some pet battle dailies along the way.

Must get rep. Must get rep.

At long last I was a single quest away and I had to head back and hand in a pet battle quest in Orgrimmar.  Huzzah!  Exalted.  Gimme my Dark Phoenix!…it’s not there.  Neither is the Scorpion.  Frustration begins to kick in and I inadvertently close the Guild Vendor window.  I whisper Repgrind for advice but she doesn’t know either.  Reopen the window and low and behold it’s there.  But I don’t have Artisan Riding, which is required.  Are you kidding me?  Off to the flying trainer I go…

I have flying, but need better flying for a flying mount. Just take the damn gold already.

Alright.  So, I’m Exalted.  I have Artisan Riding.  I…no longer have the gold on this toon.  Oh come on already!  Look at TitanPanel to figure out where my gold is.  Wonder why the hell my level 40 Warrior has 2,000 gold and proceed to shuffle most of it, and some from my banker, back to Saintavche.

Guild Rep?  Check.  Artisan Riding?  Check.  Money?  Check.  Hand it over.

Damn right.

Indulging In The Efforts Of Others

We’re turning the page on the calendar yet again (Gong Xi Fa Cai!), and that means a number of things.  For starters, the Lunar Festival ends on Monday.  Remember what an easy source of XP and guild rep it is if you happen to be looking for either.  Also, with February now upon us Tycer has a new list for a screenshot a day.  I haven’t previously taken part, but I decided to give it a go to give myself a little something different to try out creatively.  I’m sure some days I will admittedly mail it in, but others I want to see what I might be able to achieve.  It might also mean daily posting again, which has been gone a long time around here.

Speaking of taking part, a friendly little reminder that Dragonray’s Mog The World In 80 Days entry deadline is coming to a close.  I think you’ve got a few more hours to get the first entry in.  You need an entry in every week to have a chance at winning the contest, but can participate as much or as little as you like.  I believe there are six of us confirmed thus far.  Yes, I say us because I managed to get my entry in earlier today.  I didn’t go with the original country I had planned on and while I’m not 100% satisified with what I did, I still enjoyed it.  I think there could be some fun tales to tell about that particular character.  Can’t wait to see what the others have done, and I also need to get to work on the next couple because ideas are brewing in my head.

Where I need to get a transmog idea at the moment is Saintvache.  He’s picked up some nice gear along the way but only bits and pieces and I really need to give him a look that’s “him.”  Tum, Siori, Carrera…no problem.  Elcombe?  We’re good.  Saintvache?  Not so much.  Perhaps I’ll focus on that after I finish grinding out the reputation for that Dark Phoenix mount with the guild.  It’s one of a number of things I want to accomplish this month.  None of them are major items, but if I put them down on…erm…paper, then I might have a greater chance of completing them.

What about you?  With a fresh month that brings closure to a World Event and the start of another one, the Darkmoon Faire, and more out there…what does February have in store for you?

Faire-ly New Changes

The Darkmoon Faire ended for another month this past Saturday.  I managed to spend some time at the Faire last week…on Saturday.  It was just one of those weeks that included a brain fart the Faire was even going on.  Still, I made it with several toons and that’s what counts most.  In doing so, though, I noticed some changes.

I don’t remember creepy lady…

After the new welcome sign that genuinely feels like I’m violated just looking at it, it was off to the usual NPC’s.  I grabbed my profession quests and knocked them off and then headed straight to the Turtle Toss.  Let’s face it, it’s the only game at the Faire that is guaranteed to only take one token.  A moment later I was done, and…what’s this now?

I get a present now?  No more tickets?  Upon opening the present it turns out you do still get a ticket.  Emphasis one.  So if you pump a whole pile of tickets into the cannon now (and the teleport back), you may waste that money on gaining a single ticket towards your heirloom, pet, or whatever it is you seek to buy at some point.  Now, the good news is that you can actually get a pet in these presents.  The chances, like everything else, are pretty slim.  Mine were actually worse than slim once I logged off Saintvache.  The two he got were two more than my other toons combined.

I haven’t tried either one out just yet, though Mrs. Amateur says the Top Hat is fab-u-LOUS!  In the meantime I haven’t checked to see what else is possible from the presents but it’s definitely a big change to how things work.  Farming tickets just got a lot harder and will take a lot longer.  I’m not sure if it’s because pets and mounts are shared, and now heirlooms can be too, that they feel folks don’t need to be stockpiling the tickets as much.  If each toon focuses on something different to buy then you can still acquire things somewhat reasonably.  But for those that want things sooner than later, this will no doubt upset them.  I’m fortunate in that when I logged in, Saintvache had 89 tickets.  Once he picked up another ticket, I sauntered on over and got myself a monkey.  Named him Sallah (points if you get the reference).

My First Concert

So I hopped on Saintvache yesterday. Figured I would take him to the Darkmoon Faire for his turn at the easy profession-quest experience. First thing I noticed was that his tabard was bland. At a glance it would seem his guild is no more, but even if it existed I wouldn’t blame them for removing someone who may or may not have ever come back. So after I took the tabard off and he looked his handsome Tauren self, it was off to the Faire.

Booting around doing the Herbalism and Enchanting quests, I couldn’t help but notice an insane amount of fireworks going off.  Of course, yours truly notices these things but keeps right on going.  Eventually I started to wonder about what was going on and then in my travels got close enough to hear music.  Hrm, could it be?

Off to the stage I went and behold, there was L90 ETC playing on the stage.  Now, I’d heard of them from day one being in the game pretty much, but despite being around the World’s End Tavern and such I had never actually heard them in game (I’ve caught I Am Murloc on YouTube more than once).  So as you can see, Saintvache got his groove on.  I do almost wish I had taken someone else and not tainted his Paladin status with those moves.  Still, I hung around for a good chunk of it and enjoyed myself.  Could be just revisiting seeing P!nk this past Saturday night, but hard to say.  Either way, it was one of those unique in-game experiences that come along rarely.  They have nothing to do with anything and we get the chance to enjoy them for what they are.

Heroic Darkmoon?

Finally got a chance to get some time in around Azeroth this morning, so I took a few toons to the Darkmoon Faire.  The profession quests are an easy 5 points (Saintvache needed it to hit 325 and start Disenchanting a bunch of gear he’s had for ages), to say nothing of ridiculous xp at low levels (well, it’s good xp at any level to be honest).

Saintvache had the Monstrous Egg and Ornate Weapon from dungeons and I was going to sell them for some easy gold.  Then while puttering around I hit the heirloom vendor just to see what the damage is for shoulders, as I don’t have any on my Horde server.  110 tickets?  Hrm…well, those two quests are 20, so I kept them and did the quests rather quickly.  I also decided to do two easy games: the ring toss and the humanoid cannonball.

Attempt No. 6

Now, granted, I’ve not done any of the carny games in a couple months but it would seem to me they’ve gotten more difficult.  The ring toss used to take me 3-4 tosses and today it seemed to take all my rings.  Then there’s the cannonball venture.  Seemed each time I clicked the descent button I fell at a different rate.  Probably just my imagination from taking more than once or twice to complete.  This time it took six times.

So, is it just me or did they make the games harder than when the Faire first opened?