If you have ever been out of the game for any period of time you were most likely pulled up pretty short when you logged back in again.

More likely than not you fired up the PC and WoW on a whim with the desire to have 10 minutes in game to see if the spark was still there (or had returned).

Of course, rather than getting right into it, you had to sit through the patch downloads.  If you were smart, you would have started the download just before you head to bed, but if you didn’t, you probably found yourself checking back in every 10 minutes to see that things had only progressed by 1%… then the installation starts…Finally the time has come to play… but your UI looks worse than your desk, you can’t remember which skills are attached to which keys, you heart sinks…

What do you do?

• Load up the character and just fumble about, maybe fixing one little thing each time you log in?
• Step back, and fix it from the ground up before frustrating yourself in game?

I know when I returned from India, I did a bit of both… I had* to play, but most play sessions were preceded with an hour of fixing… over a month or so.

Now one smart cookie is looking forward to his return to WoW after a long absence.

Previously the folk over at Three Druid Noob gave us blow by blow Multi-boxing tips, but right now, the whole “rebuild the UI” is happening in preparation for Razorbax’s return to WoW.

So if that sort of thing floats your boat, go and check out the regular installments, particularly if you are a Druid, but even if you aren’t it’s an interesting journey! There’s also been some very nice blog renovations over there as well… looking very sweet.

Gnomer and Out!

* If I wasn’t actually playing… my Wife would have taken me away from the PC… so I had to play a bit… tinkering with the UI for a night just wouldn’t have happened.

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http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/07/04/easing-you-way-back-into-wow/

The last installment in the Ask da Nome a Kwestion or 20 Bhlogdey Kwestions special involves some heavy duty questions from the heavy duty Gnome Fire Mage follower (and Fire Mage himself), Prelimar and the heavy duty Locktess with the Mostess, Syrana.

I will start of with Prelimar’s questions, then weave my way towards answering Syrana’s… assuming I have the energy… owwww, OK, I will find the energy….

Prelimar asks:

Q) I’m a recently-minted 80, and I need to start getting geared for endgame stuff. Where do you recommend I go, and what sort of pieces should I be looking for?

A) WoLK Gear for new level 80 Mages

There are a few schools of thought on gearing your freshly minted level 80 Mage. There is certainly no reason to worry about gear before 80, you could get to 80 in your starting (level 1) gear if you really wanted to, in fact I would recommend you keep that level 1 gray gear if you can… But I will come to that.

Probably the big warning is that some of the < 80 quest and reputation rewards are BiS for the new level 80, so don’t DE everything you pick up!

Same ol’ Fireball

I’m not going to reinvent the fireball, instead I will point you towards a couple of references I found invaluable.

Miss Elf and her guides: Guide: Pre-Raid Mage Gear in Wrath and Guide: Mage Enchants & Gems in Wrath.

The one thing to consider, especially if you follow the next gearing strategy, is that much of the gear, particularly the reputation gear will be irrelevant before you reach the required rep levels, or manage to clear the heroic more than once.

Now there are two other ways to get gear “starting” gear. The 1st is a hitherto undocumented reputation grind, which I will cover later under the M&S Reputation tag. The 2nd is the M&S mates rates method.

M&S mates rates gearing

Otherwise known as 6 degrees of separation gearing, this is the most sensible and most likely efficient method.

Required: Mates, mates with/in guilds, guilds with mates and mates with mates.

Strategy: Preferably before 80, but at 80 is fine, start buttering up everyone you know and thier pets. Make sure you are in a good guild, preferably friendly, but most important is progressed.

Hit 80 and sign up for every raid. 25 man Ulduar hard mode is not out of the question. Just camp the guild raid roster and make sure you are the 1st to sign up.

All being well, you will be invited and before you know it, you will be sporting T8.5 along with your TBC greens. Soon you will be as well geared as many of your guildies and no one will question your presence… In fact they will be begging your attendance.

All being well you will pick up so many achievements in the 1st couple of weeks you will be able to proudly flash your achievements at those PuG raid LFM requests. They don’t need to know you were dead on the floor within 5 seconds of entering combat!

I got lucky with this strategy when I was newly minted. I hadn’t even equipped all my vendor/AH gear, let alone gemmed and enchanted it before I was invited by my guild to Naxx 25. Within 2 weeks I had seen more Naxx bosses in general, Naxx 25 specifically and gained more iLevel 213 than my mates that had been at level 80 for months!

All being well you can skip Naxx and romp through Ulduar these days!

Q) Along the same lines,I also need to start grinding rep. besides the Sons of Hodir, who else should Igrind rep with? I’m definitely working on the oracles in sholazar basin, because I want a chance at the green proto-drake. Any others?

A) WoLK Reputation for mages

There area few reputation grinds that are important for you as a Mage. Some are practical and give gear or enhancements, others are important for the novelty value. Some people rightly rate novelty higher than practicality, we are Mages after all, thus more of a novelty than anything else.

Remember to equip your Reputation tabard of choice when hitting the heroics!

Kirin’Tor:

Practical: a weapon you will quickly replace, essential head enchants you may only get to use once or twice depending on raid progression and RNG – but they aren’t the sort of thing you can ignore.

Novelty: Spell enhancements, pay money to get new icons!

While Kirin’Tor should be a high priority, there is something to consider… You may be better off focusing on other rep gains.  The Cooking and Fishing Dailies both award Kirin’Tor rep… and you will be doing those forever.  I rushed my Kirin’Tor Rep, and now wonder why…

Wyrmrest Accord

Practical: Belt and boots. Both of which you will probably quickly replace. But if you are doing the plethora of dailies, this will come pretty quickly.

Novelty: Drake… Like there aren’t enough of them in the game.

Sons of Hodir

What a royal PITA!

There is only one reason to do these guys and that’s for the spell thread for your shoulders. In reality, the TBC Aldor/Scryer ones are just as good until you hit exalted. Even the Wintergrasp ones will do fine if you can’t be stuffed.

Ultimately you will feel the need to get a little bit more spellpower and this will be your only option, so here’s some tips:

• You need to do about 17 quests in three chains before you can start earning rep with these guys.
• Once you can, you only get a couple of dailies per reputation level, so get up the  early levels of reputation, so rather than 2 dailies, you have 6.
• If you are enjoying the grind (more power to you) go for it. However I would recommend you at least buy your way to Revered immediately so you get the full set of dailies.
• Hound the AH and your mates for the rep turn ins. Don’t waste your life, unless you are really, really enjoying  doing the dailies. Do you really have a month of dailies to get the rep?

Oracles etc
Pure novelty… Go for it, but be prepared to be frustrated with the RNG. Revel in every worthwhile egg you hatch. I haven’t even bothered, I am too busy shouftying raid spots.

The Kalu’ak
Practical: There is a cloak available at early levels, and the fishing rod is awesome. Not for fishing, who cares about that! No you want it for the underwater breathing!

Novelty: Penguin…

M&S reputation
Ultimately no ingame reputation matters as much as the one without a reputation bar. You need to be known in your guild and on your server.

While at 1st thought a good reputation would seem the best, a bad one is just as good, and is much easier to obtain.

Avoid ninja, magetard and thief reputation wherever possible, but ultimately as long as your name rings a bell, you will get plucked from LFG long before better skilled and geared characters.

Your name will live on long after your deeds are forgotten!

So troll the forums as your main. If you are trolling, you must be uber. Spam /trade and /general as much as possible. Be sure to blow your own trumpet. Link your Ulduar achievements that you earned through M&S mates rates raiding.

One thing to be very careful of, is to never display your real lackluster gear. This is where your starting gear comes in. If you don’t have that, pick up either:

• A set of RP gear. If you look good, you must be good!
• A terribad set of gear. As a Mage you would be looking for Agility, Spirit and Strength gear

Why?

Well you are smart enough to troll on your level 80… but you are also smart enough to be hiding your gear.  They can’ troll you back for having less that BiS gear, when all you have is level 1 grays!  That will stuff them, you will become a legend immediately!

Q) Any other things I should be doing as a new level 80? I’ve never been into PvP or battlegrounds, but I’d be willing to learn if I knew where to start, so if you are going to recommend something, consider me a total noob…

A) SHOULD?

Never should do anything! (Proper Grammar and all)

Just do what you want… whatever tickles your fancy… Have fun in your own way!

If you really want to do a bit of controlled PvP, then battlegrounds are a great way to learn the ropes of dying and running back into battle.  Wintergrasp will probably be more rewarding, and perhaps a bit more forgiving.  It really depends whether you really want to PvP, or just get a taste of it.  One of the reasons Wintergrasp is so popular is that it is silly rewards for bugger all effort.

To get you started I would suggest either having a look through my old battleground guides, or just wait a little for the guides Wonzy is going to write… I dare say he will say it much better than I can.

Syrana asks:

Blog Day Gift – Questions!

Q) If you could pass your WoW legacy/torch to another when you “retire,” who would you hand it off to?

A) A Gnew Gnome in da House?

Well, what a doozy of a question… one that I don’t really have an answer for.

I guess the best answer would for me to power level Odin and get him to carry on my legacy… but I can’t find the RL heirloom shoulders anywhere… and to be honest I m enjoying his leveling process too much.  I don’t want to wake up tomorrow an discover he is 18.

I guess I would hand it over to Prelimar… he has in the face of untold pressure to respec stuck with Fire… He may not be a Mage, but he’s certainly got the big balls Fire!

We shall see his “weekend that was” post next week…

Q) If Syrana could enslave Gnomes, would you replace her imp?

A) I think you have us Gnomes confused with Goblins!

Goblins could easily step in an replace your Imp…

Gnomes, well, there could only be one role for a Warlock’s Gnome companion…

Succubus!

Yep, we are hot, and funny, way too seductive… and we love to crack a whip!

Q) Do Gnomes really taste yucky?

A) Ask Rip!

Rip gave us the answer yesterday to this very question.

However, i would just like to point out for all you lovely Gnomettes, Night Elf Laaadddies, and Human Honeys, that we just rub sump oil into our skin to act as Horde Repellent (registered trademark).  No need to fear, us Gnomes are quite partial to a bubble bath, and we scrub up good… so feel free to come on down (to our level) for all your loving needs!

Q) Have you ever tried to get Mrs. Gnomer to play WoW?

A) Next Question…

Yes, many times.  She has even suggested that she is willing but:

• We only have one PC, and can’t afford a 2nd, or a second set of software and subscription.
• She fears that if she was to start playing, she wouldn’t stop… Odin and house would be neglected.  Admittedly if it wasn’t for her the house would be neglected… Odin can look after himself… we are toilet training him now, and he can make PlayDough hamburgers…
• If she was to play, I wouldn’t be… and that’s my greatest fear!

I have actually assisted her in rolling one character… but her attention had already waned before we left the character creation screen.  Give her Spider Solitaire, and she can play for hours, give her character creation and it’s snores before the faction has even been selected.

To be honest, I fear things would turn out as they have for Rhii.  She probably wouldn’t want me to play with her… but if I didn’t, I would be the worst husband on earth again still.

Q) Are you a one game kinda Gnome?

A) I’m a one everything kinda Gnome!

• One Spec
• One Button
• One Name
• One Haircut

But as for games, yeah I play WoW and that’s about it.  Even at LAN parties with my mates, more often than not I commit myself to WoW.

I don’t even possess a console type game.. I joke with my workmates that if I won one at our monthly raffle, I would have to trade it in for something for my wife… because there aren’t any power points in the gutter for me to connect it too!

Still… I do sneak in the odd game on my iPhone… iMob, iVampire, iKnights and Crazy Penguin Catapult 2 FREE are my current addictions… although they are more to satisfy my gamers twitch than for any real enjoyment…

Closing the door on the behind the scenes Gnomeaggedon

Well, that’ it folks… my secrets all reveal, my wisdom laid out for all to read.

I hope you got as much joy out of reading the questions and answers as I did in reading the questions and writing the answers!

If anyone has better, or alternate answers for Prelimar’s gear, Rep and time consumption questions… please tell!

For now…

Gnomer’s Friends and Out!

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I’m thinking this blog needs a bit of discipline.

• Someone to show wanton Gnomes like me the way things should be done.
• Someone that knows how to get your PuGs in order.
• Someone that will tell you what to do when you are facing down those bosses in Ulduar, VoA, the battlegrounds.
• Someone that isn’t me!

Introducing Wonzy:

Greetings Gnome Followers,

I have been given the privilege and honor of guest blogging on everyone’s favorite gnome site.  I represent Wonzy, an undead gnome who was twisted by dark magics into the appearance of a Forsaken human.  Vowing to spend the rest of his life preventing such pain, he is dedicated to Elune and to healing his Horde comrades.

My contribution to this blog will fall under the heading [Epic PuG] and essays will cover how to make the most of your WoW time when it is scarce and unpredictable.  I look forward to writing for you all.

Wonzy and Out!

I’m excited, like Big Kev excited…

As you all know, I am a Pugger at heart, even if these days we are close to fielding 8/10 regulars, we are still pugging, and I have been for nearly all my WoW playing “career”.  I’m also a PvEer that loves a bit of PvP on the side.

I am also excited because Wonzy isn’t just any Forsaken off the lift of Undercity, he’s an experienced blogger that is looking for a less frantic blogging life than maintaining his own blog, thus his desire to contribute here at the Home of the Gnomes!

In his previous life he was SonnyFTW! (you may remember him) from Arathi Highlander: A PvP guideblog for the Warcraft PvEer.  He hung up his blogging boots about the same time as I nicked off to India for a couple of months at the end of last year, so I am very excited that he is reentering the WoWBlogsphere right here.

Look forward to his 1st post, which will be coming soon…

I know I am!

Gnomer and Out! (Note: he even has a great sign off… Wonzy & Out! lol)

PS: I chose the “Show me some discipline” blog post title because Wonzy’s main is a Disc Priest, and I am an old time fan of The Sunnyboys and their classic Show Me Some Discipline

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http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/07/02/show-me-some-discipline-and-ill-show-you-mine/

The final category, but not the final post of, my blogday gifts was:

Mages/Gnomes suck/are the best because…

30 words or less, why are we the best/worst?

Mmmm why would we be the worst… Oh well, I am sure there are some smart Hordies out there with an opinion.

The answers are all pretty definitive… only one that suggests Gnomes aren’t the best… but Rip can be forgiven, especially now I know he is a closet Fire Mage.

Rip answers:

Mages are the best because I said so.

GnomeReponse:

Couldn’t have said it better myself… I begin to wonder whether Rip and Jong are really the same person, a reverse Ferraro situation with one author playing multiple roles… after all, there is so much confidence it almost reeks!

Gnomes are the worst:

Rip answers:

Gnomes suck because, believe it or not, y’all don’t actually taste that great. Kinda like motor oil or engine grease, to be honest.

GnomeReponse:

Here we have the answer to a yet to be disclosed blogday question.

Personally I think this is a good thing, I don’t like it when I forget to release and find the Forsaken chowing down on my still warm Gnome body… mind you, the Forsaken probably don’t care too much.  If they are covering themselves in Drakkar Noir are they really going to care if I taste like motor oil… they probably think it adds flavor!

Larisa Answers

Mages/Gnomes suck/are the best because…

Gnome mages are best because we’ve got a brilliant disguise of innocence, covering for us while we’re secretly putting our plans to conquer the world in effect.

GnomeReponse:

Sssshhhhh… there are still some people out there that read this blog, don’t reveal our plans too early.  Now we have Dalaran back things are nearly ready, but we need that element of surprise or the Locks will get the chance to summon their felhounds!

Theerivs answers:

Why Mages Rock:

Fricking Teleports, hell I can be in 3 cities in a matter of seconds, I cant even do an alt anymore because I hop on the zeppelin and say, damn this is for suckers, then go back to the mage. They really have spoiled me. Don’t get me started on food/water conjuring either. I bought some food on my level 11 hunter, I deleted him I was so tired of it already.

GnomeResponse:

Ohh hell yeah… On the are occasion I drop in on my alts, it only lasts from the AH to the Bank… then I start thinking about where I really want to be… and then I log off and onto Gnomeaggedon.

Without Teleport I wouldn’t have achieved yesterday’s achievement spam… I screwed up so many times… I wore out that portal in Stormwind.

Prelimar answers:

MAGES ARE THE BEST BECAUSE… we don’t need familiars (like SOME caster classes, ahem), we can port, make our own food, and we kick all sorts of ass in a dress.

GnomeReponse:

Ohh I so totally agree… while some Mages may enjoy a bit of Frostbitten company, we really just consider pets a novelty… afterall, when we can conjure up pets with Polymorph at the flick of our fingers, why get combat pets?

As for kicking all sort of arse in a dress… have you ever lit a fart?

It’s so much easier when there isn’t cloth clinging to your behind!

Syrana answers:

Hmm…

If I have to be surrounded by Gnomes, I’d prefer them to be Mages.

Gnome Rogues make me /shudder.

Generally, I don’t like Gnomes. They used to creep me out… almost as bad as clowns.

But now… /sigh I’ve found a /little/ soft spot for a few Gnomes. And interestingly enough, all of them are Mages. Maybe it’s because Mages are wannabe ‘locks. Maybe it’s our fire power commonality. If Mages could do some “dark” magic, I think we’d be in cahoots together more often.

GnomeResponse:

Gnome Rogues make me shudder too… almost as much as Gnome Warriors…

Mages are wannabe Locks?  Pffttt… Locks are Mages that can’t handle the power within, and have to draw upon the dark energies beyond the Dark Portal.

I do find is scary that we share a kind of synergy though… I also find it scary that us Mages seem to be gaining more dots… I think there is an undercover Lock in the Fire Mage Academy at Dalaran

That’s it for today… still working on the other posts, and I have a special announcement coming up, that all being well I will share today… and no Syrana, I haven’t rolled (another) a Lock.

Gnomer’s Friends and Out!

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It’s done Gnomeaggedon, and I think you’ll be satisfied with the results.

• If you aren’t into streams of achievement screenshots, then you may not want to read any further.
• If my post from yesterday about Achievement Envy rang some uncomfortable bells, likewise this isn’t the post for you.
• If however you want to live vicariously through my many minor triumphs, then read on.

It all started on Thursday, yes some of my playtime envy has been sated, I have had some bonus time online.

Hitting the Basin

1st order of the night was to catch me some fish down in Sholazar basin, somewhere that I hadn’t even flown over as yet.  Now I’m not sure about you, but when I am in the air these days, I find it hard to fly into an unexplored zone and just do my business… I need to take a quick look around.

I did me some looking, and with Sholazar basic explored, that capped off Northrend.  Outland yesterday, Northrend today. I has been a busy Gnome…

… and I appreciate getting the recognition I deserve, nay demand, from them Dwarves.

What was I doing in Sholazar again?

Oh yeah, fishing… not too much fishing, but just enough fishing…

Enough for what you ask?

To prove my worth as a Master Fisherman and show I had the skills to pay the bills…  Maybe Marcia will look at me in a different way from now on… or at least let me look at her in a different way

While trotting through Ironforge, I, for maybe the 1,000th time, passed by this beggar.  I see them a lot in real life, though rarely of the veteran variety.  I find it so sad that the veterans get forgotten after the wars are raged, they are left standing by the side of the road, hoping that someone will at least stop by and reminisce about the good ol’ days, when Dwarves were Dwarves and Orcs were KoS.

This Summer Scorchling reminded me painfully that I want one (curse you Prelimar for reminding me).

I especially want one if they go on these rants periodically.  I would love it if a semi-afk party member came back to Ragnaros sitting amongst the party… hell, it would be fun mid battle!

Mind you he does go on a bit… nearly as much as a Gnome we all know.

LFG /fail

There are a couple of things I want Blizzard to fix as a high priority.  Not because they are earth shattering, rather the opposite… how hard can they be, and why the hell don’t they work already?

So you are giving us a Midsummer event that requires us to get a group and go and kill a boss in an instance.

This would require a group, therefore we will all turn to Blizzard’s trusted LOOKING FOR GROUP tool… wont we?

Ohh, what do you know… the F’N! instance isn’t listed (I have placed the F’N in this post, because there was lots of F’n swearing going on in chat by me about the F’n LFG instance that didn’t list the F’n instance required to get a group for the F’n Midsummer quest that F’n Blizzard wants us all to have F’n fun while completing.  Mr. Z! pointed out I could just use /general or /trade when in a zone…  I did that, time and again…  Hopefully all my mates had their profanity filters on so they could appreciate the ends I was prepared to go to to circumvent the filter to express my F’n frustration.)

Soup Kitchen

So while traveling the Outland, spamming /general and /trade looking for a group that would hand over something more than F’n Cloaks of the Cheap Arsed Vendor, I did my Outland cooking daily…

Two recipes required to finish off the Outland Gourmet achievement

…Make that one more…

Heroic Friday

While we were futzing around trying to decide what we were doing on Friday night, my mate’s guild (most of them are in the same guild) asked if they wanted to come along.  They had 8 spots for Heroic Naxx, 1/2 the instance was already down, but since there were 8 of us, and 8 spare spots, it made sense to up things a notch.

For one thing, I managed to pick up some more Emblems of Valor, while they are still worth something and pick up an achievement to boot.

Then it was off to Spider Wing… you know, the one we have been struggling for weeks trying to complete the Arachnophobia achievement.  Funnily enough, the same discussion was had about whether we should try to combine a couple of achievements in one run, but the end result was just work on one.

So now I have a matching set, Normal Arachnophobia and Heroic Arachnophobia… kinda sounds like my phobia is getting worse, doesn’t it…

We called it at KT because it was getting late for some folk… and when it’s a 25 person raid, chances are there are more that have to go than in a 10 man raid.

But not before we took down Sapp, and more importantly I got a ride on a Spectral Tiger.

I did pick up a couple of items… a new Cloak and a new ring

Funny thing is, after the run, my Mate’s guild asked my mates to ask me if I would join the guild…

Why is that funny?

Well you see the guild was formed after splitting from my current guild (or one of it’s many incarnations), in part because of the previous Guild Leader (who has since left the guild and the server).  So I know (and are known) by many of the folks in my mate’s guild, yet I am playing with many of their original guild mates.

I like the folk in my current guild, and as much as I like the folks in my Mate’s guild, I figure there is no good reason to move over.  They know me.  I’m on their DKP list…. I figure I will join them when I can, and when I can’t I will be hanging with my guild.

This is what Ahune disappointment looks like

My mates generously took me to Slave Pens (OK I begged and begged, it was pathetic), both Heroic (for those with the key) and non-Heroic (for their un-keyed alts).  I lost count of how many times we did it… but later I realized I had a bag full of trash cloaks and needless to say, no fiery pets.

Still I had to find some fun in there somehow.  Apart from running off when no one was looking and pulling more mobs back (most of which would be dead before my return mind you), I was also really enjoying the catapult rides.

Find an incoming Ice spike, and ride it.  It wasn’t like I was slacking off, I was still popping instants, but I was just trying to make it a tab more fun…

I nicked on last night (Tuesday night Oz time) as my wife was going out and suggested I play… one more try at the pet maybe…

Server shutdown in 3 minutes…

I don’t think so!

Saturday Session

I wanted some Mammoth to feed my Achievement needs, just a couple you understand…

After the 1st couple of FFBs I though, why not speed up the process…

Before I knew it the Borean Tundra was littered with Mammoth corpses (both in size and biologically), and I was having fun… mmm I need some Rhinos too…

Get me for Free!

I had a quick look at my blog stats at one point, and noticed something a bit… well, strange…

A new GoogledGnome maybe? Armaggedons coming free download

Not one hit… but two hits!

Sounds like a great idea… I mean if I can save on travel time by having you guys download me somewhere else, then I am up for it.

And done

So I only need one more recipe….

Make that no more recipes…

I am a GourmetGnome! (Taste best with chilli)

On a roll…

Surely I can’t stop at just one achievement…

I still have to go back to Outland for the daily fishing quests.. there is more there I want, but not much now…

Looking for my beloved Squirrels

I have some time, so it’s time to go possum hunting!
Of course, that will require that I go a few places I haven’t been before, and you know how much I like unexplored bits…

No more sorrow in the swamps for me….

OK, actually there was…

I cleared the zone, killed a toad and went on my merry way…. only to discover later it was a Huge Toad I was after…

Gorge Seared and…

Pests controlled!
Who needs Dwarven rat catchers when you have a fire breathing Gnome?

Speaking of the dwarves, I cleared up a bit of their territory and while I was at it, I loved me some squirrels…

Then once the Ice Lance hit, I shared the love…

OK, I can be a sick Gnome at times…

WTB closet

I mentioned before that there were two things I would like Blizzard to fix.  One was LFG, the other is my clothing dilemma.

With all the tabards, tuxedoes, party hats, floral frocks etc I am picking up, there is no space left for my Epic offset pieces..

This is becoming a big problem… seriously Blizzard, give us an extra bank slot that only accepts tabards and gray or white cloths that expands like the key ring does.  One quick easy fix… please!

The reason I rolled a Mage

There are moments when I am playing my Mage that reinforce my love of the class.  More often that’s when I manage to squeeze off the sheep, or save the healers or do the rare but enjoyable silly DPS numbers that I used to expect.

In my Achievement hunting rush over the weekend, I ran a couple of old instances, and they brought such a rush…  AoE here, AoE there, AoE everywhere…

Not in the “Northrend we will clear the trash without skill kind of way”, rather the hordes of evil dungeon dwelling denizens rushing at the solo Mage while he raises is staff above his head and strikes them all down.

Shadowfang Keep was the 1st of these experiences.  As I weaved my way down the convoluted hallways, I remember how long this used to take, how precise we had to be in our LoS pulls, how careful we had to be…

As a level 80, it wasn’t hard, but it sure was fun, fun, FUN!

I finally found that mine that had been eluding me every time I ran through Silverpine forest…

… and dropped in on the Forsaken spawning point… I really should have gone in there and cleared them from the face of the earth… but let’s face it, 90% of those players will wake up to themselves an reroll Gnomes, so it wasn’t worth the effort.

Next stop was Scarlet Monastery.

Once again I got to experience the joys of being a Mage… I rarely stopped for loot, the main goal was Bosses and Books.

Books read, Bosses down, Achievement earned!

Time to trot over to Scholmance… damn, I knew there was a key I didn’t have… It never really mattered, Mr. Z! was always at our side and it was always too expensive… not any more!

Ohh yes, I am!

Ohh what an unexpected bonus (OK, I expected it, but hey…).

Time to put that key to good use…

Mmmm I forgot that 50% of Scholomance laughed in the face of Magic…

…looks like this little coven forgot too!

Unfortunately positioning of the rat, don’t you think?

Ohh well, I probably should have researched Scholo before I ran on in.  It’s not an instance I will be slaughtering this weekend, although I am sure it’s possible for a Mage to solo, I really had no idea where I was going… I think I have only been there half a dozen times in the past.  Maybe next time I will take Mr.Tree… he can change between physical DPS and healing as required… Maybe I will just take Mr. Z!, I dare say that between his daggers and my knives of ice and fire there wont be any need for heals.

Taking down Rattlegore was fun solo…

I seem to remember it was a pig of a fight.  I do remember a Mage (I think it was Faxmonkey) soloing Rattlegore over about 15 minutes back when level 60 was cap.  At level 80…. pffft… walkover…

How much of a walk over…

I popped my 3 little friends, just to distract him… He couldn’t even take down one of my mirror images!  Not one!!

Anyway, I gave up on the full clear, settling for a drop in to do my self a little reading…

Someone in the guild suggested it was a lot of books to read…

I pointed out that I wasn’t any more edumakated now that I had read the index pages…

Gnomer and Out!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/07/01/i-think-youll-be-satisfied-with-the-results/

Today’s contributions to my Blogday are all presents describing the influence, or Gnomefluence I have had on my readers.  My original request was:

Gnomefluence

No not Effluence!

OK, that’s two easy ones out of the way, an increase in difficulty now.

How have I influenced your WoW (or hell, Real) life?

Nothing too personal thanks, and nothing too long.. 30-ish words or less, what has Gnomeaggedon done for you in the last 12 months?

Jong tells me that I have “single-handedly changed my perception about male gnomes”, in a good way I think…

What about you?

Larisa says:

You have given me countless giggles and helped me keep up my blogging spirit for a year.  And you’re also a natural spokesman for the gnomish mage community. You may be small in size but great in effort and effect!

GnomeResponse: I’m glad I give you a giggle… that’s what I aim to do, give you all a giggle, while recovering from my own giggles!

More importantly, I have helped to maintain your blogging spirit.. I think without your inspiration, both in your blogging and your commenting, I would have given up a long time ago.

“Natural Spokesman”… You mean I have a big mouth, and like to shoot it off faster that fireballs… yeah well, OK.

My Balls of Fire are also great… never forget that folks!

Theerivs says:

Well I used to hate gnomes… a lot.

I used to kill on sight, and it’s all I can do from keeping myself to teabag, and spit on them.

But from reading your blog I learned that Gnomes are people too, and that they are fun and frivolous people.

Oh sure I still kill them on sight, but now I wave to them goodbye….excuse me…I’m getting all choked up with emotion…I promised myself I wouldn’t cry….it’s well I care too much really.

GnomeResponse:

Me thinks you still hate Gnomes… deep down… you are just trying to get into our psychi, understand how we operate so it is easier to take us down.

Still, I hope that at least you hesitate when you see a Gnome with green hair… maybe give them a second or two to get out of range…

Sounds like I need to lend you my “All the Squirrels I’ve loved before Macro” (soon to be my pure Ice Lance Macro for Battlegrounds)

/love

/hug

/cast Ice Lance

Seriously, how frustrating will it be chasing down this Gnome in a Battleground while I /hug you, /love you, and maybe in future, /lick you…

Prelimar says:

By continuing to represent fire mages everywhere, and spreading the word about our awesomeness, you have inspired me to ignore people who tell me to respec to lesser trees, and to just keep on dishing out the heat with my great balls o’ fire and the massive DPS that goes with them.

GnomeResponse: I may be FrostFire spec’d these days, but it’s still the Fire that keeps me loving the Gnome, and I am so happy that I can provide the Mana Shield that enables you to resist the stabs of any Fire opponents!

I would also like to say that it is readers like you Prelimar, pure readers rather than blogging readers, that really makes blogging worthwhile.  I know many bloggers read because they enjoy, many others read because they are a part of the community, but when a pure reader reads, and more importantly comments, then it makes it all worthwhile!

PS: Remember folks… don’t drive under the Gnomefluence!

Gnomer’s friends and Out!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/06/30/ gnomefluence-the-culumative-effect-of-12-months-of-gnomeaggedon /

v.

One of many envies, but one I have felt recently and, as is often the case with envy, for no good reason.

Achievement Envy

My recent envy attack was based on Larisa’s comment. Yes I am envious of Larisa, in more ways than one. But, this is about achievements, in the1st instance, so let’s start there.

I am an achievement addict, and I need help.

If I am honest with myself, when I read/hear about someone else picking up an achievement, I shrivel a little inside.

Tiddlywinks makes me /cry.

I want it all!

I try to stay sane and remember that I don’t have the time to devote to the task, but it is still eating away quietly inside…

There are other envies.

Pet envy

Prelimar spurred this post. All the talk about the scorchling made me realize I had to have it. No matter how hard, no matter the RNG, I want it. I will cope if I don’t get it, but I will /cry a little inside when it doesn’t drop. Or worse, it drops and I don’t win the roll.

No, I don’t have one yet, and doubt I will get one… I have lots of 3g cloaks… but that’s about it.

Mount envy

Did you see my post about my bronze drake? Mount envy!

I wanted a Netherwing Mount, but that was never going to happen. Run a 30 minute instance to get one? Hell yeah!

Every time I ran it, someone else would win it, and I just /cried

Gear envy

iLevel what?

200 not cool?

I want more. Luckily Blizz is delivering via emblems. I know some people out there are pissed, but this isnt about you, it’s about me. I need to feed my envy

Gold envy

Greedy Goblin may think he is doing the community a favor by disclosing his secrets, but in reality he is just fueling greed…

Envy…

I am happy with my relatively meager stack of gold, but I would never speak of the ever diminishing number. No, then the M&S would be after me.

Playtime envy

Oh how I envy the people that can choose when they play and how long they play. Whether they have no other major real world obligations, are able to build a steady game filled schedule, or have an accepting (or better yet WoW playing) partner, I envy them.

Heroic Envy

I /cry a little when I log on and ask who is up for the daily, only to find everyone has already done it and one or two others. How I envy those that have dome Oculus, at least once and don’t have to sit in LFG for hours praying that 4 other miserable souls will go for a run.

Raid Envy

• Done them all? Not me!
• In a raiding guild doing 3 nights a week? Not me!
• Got a secure spot and not praying for no-shows? Not me!

How I envy you!

I look at guild app requirements and envy those that can meet the minimum raiding requirements. I envy them knowing that by meeting those requirements there is a good shot at Ulduar, at EoE, at OS+3. Yes, I envy you!

Quest Envy

Daily quests, egg hatching, mammoth cut scene chain quests. I envy you all. I look at my quest achievements and wonder how I will ever complete all the quests required. I’m not worried about finding the last quests, I’m worries about finding the time to complete any of them.

It’s my lot.

I know it’s my lot to only play casually, to only see portions of the content, and I know I have and will continue to see more than many other casual players.

I know I am lucky to have such a fantastic wife, to have the awesome experience of raising a great son. I wouldn’t give up either for all the achievements, quests, gear etc in the game.

But that doesn’t stop me being struck by the odd case of envy, and some days I’m not just struck, I’m king hit!

How about you?

Gnomer and Out!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/06/30/achievement-envy/

I wanted to know who you are and see you in game.

Thus I asked for you to grab a screenshot along the lines of:

• Shows you in game doing something you love.
• Shows you in game giving me a shout out.
• Shows you in game NEXT TO ME on Aman’Thul.
• Shows you in game next to a Gnomeaggedon impersonator
• You don’t have to be a Mage or a Gnome, but bonus points for Mage &/Gnome

The “ if you are looking for lurv from another one of me readers… Your phone number (not recommended, but hey, your life, your choice)” bit was ignored… so I assume that means you are happy.. or not wanting a ton of emails and phone calls from complete strangers whose only connection with you is seeing a screenshot here… can’t blameyou really.

I will leave the screenshots to do the talking…

Eury Submits:

Eury fills us in…

This pic came about last night as a graphics error while we were in Ulduar. I was in the process of posting on my blog when the caption popped in my head.

So I had to send!

Eury

Rhii Submits:

Hiya to my favorite gnome, and happy blogiversary!

Rhii fills us in…

I made you a little something, and while my photo editing skills aren’t necessarily top quality, I think it gets the sentiment across.

Plus, I looked like a lunatic all over Azeroth (and beyond) getting the screen captures, and I know you’ll appreciate that.

-Rhii

Larisa Submits:

It sucks, I know. I’m awful, just awful at screenshots and artwork. So sorry. But you asked for it, so I enclose one.

I say…

I was thinking about seeing if a mate still had his EU account, so I could hijack it for an hour and drop by.. I never did though.  After reading about Ixo’s drop by, I am thinking of downloading the EU trial… just to say hello…

Theerivs submits:

Theerivs fills us in:

Gnomeshot, it’s what I call Gnome Love…Enjoy

That’s me and a little gnome in the tailor shop in Dalaran.

Prelimar submits:

Prelimar says…

Gnomer 4 Gnomeageddon

I say:

Gnomer 4 Gnomeageddon 4 Ever!

Syrana submits:

Syrana fills us in…

Here is a screenie of Sideshow and I working on the fires together.

~Syrana

I say… WoW, both of you, I is a special Gnome!

PS: Cathy (Justamom) has also submitted some shots, but I am going to wrap them up in a nearly-weekend-that-was post… cause they are too good to just leave on their own.

Gnomer’s Friends and Out!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/06/29/gnomeshots-blogday-screenshot-submissions/

Rip asks:

Q) Given a choice between being a zombie in the next George Romero film, a soldier in the next Michael Bay film, or a pirate in the next Pirates movie, which would you pick and why?

And if you have no idea what that means, go with this (next) one instead:

A) OK, I admit it… I have no idea.  Need to spend some more time watching movies…

Q) Which would you rather see in a movie? Undead getting dispatched with great dispatch, buildings getting dispatched with great dispatch, or seagoing wooden structures getting dispatched with great dispatch?

A) Zombies are great, Buildings a bit overdone.  seagoing wooden structures… That I need more of in my life, and not just in the movies… I want it in WoW!

Q) QUICK! The king of the universe is about to pay you a visit! What do you serve him for lunch?!

A) Gnomes! Errh… no, not Gnomes… ummm Elves, lots of Elves, the whole Elven kingdom… both of them, Night Elves and Blood Elves… Of course if the King of the Universe isn’t into white meat, and prefers a diet of red meat… well, there’s the whole zone of Mulgore for his finger food pleasure.

Q) And finally: Have you ever considered letting your son write a blog post? Even if it’s total gibberish?

A) Ha, yes, I have considered this… I took a shot at this from his perspective a week or so ago, but I intend to let him write an entire post in future, ala Ratshag (Well, Galertruby)

Larisa says:

OK, Gnome, you prefer gifts from non-bloggers, but here are a few lines from me anyway.
Couldn’t leave my favorite blog without birthday gifts, could I?

To which I say.. It’s not a preference… I luvs you all!  I just didn’t want to disturb your own creative energies… luckily you have more than enough to share!
Larisa Asks:
Q) You seem to have a blast every single second in the game. Is that your blog image or is it true? Are you entirely honest on your blog? Don’t you ever feel bored, pissed off or even a bit sad and lonely? If you do, how do you handle it?

A) Honest… generally. Bored… Often. Pissed off.. Frequently.  Sad and lonely… don’t know if I want to admit to that one, but yes, definitely lonely on occasions.

How do I handle it?

The blog gives me an outlet to amplify the “blast” and reduce the “pissed off” by getting it out there and sharing it… or getting it off my chest.

I am frequently frustrated in game, and the various chat channels just don’t give me enough opportunities to shout:

I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it any more!

The blog on the otherhand allows me to rant in the 1,000’s of words and provide images to emphasize my anguish (as well as breaking up the walls of text).

I am lucky as I play with friends, and have been a member of a few great social raiding guilds.  I often note that the random instance invite actually contains a current or ex-guildy, so that helps.  The biggest frustration is when I want to play with my mates (outside of regular Fridays) and I am either the 6th, or they are already tied up… Ulduar is a curse.. lucky them!

Q) I guess there will be one day in a distant future when you’ll quit WoW. Will you keep playing MMOs or is it the end of your gaming career? Is there any other MMO – existing or upcoming – that you’d like to try out?

A) A big question, with a bigger question mark.  Ultimately it will depend on my reason for quitting WoW.  If I quit for real life reasons, then most likely I wont go hunting for another MMO.  If something else/better comes along, ultimately I will follow my mates.  I play to catch up with my long term real life friends, if they are playing something else, even Diablo (I was never a huge fan), then I would move too.

I haven’t seen anything that grabs me but I know my mates will frequently check out options.  I don’t have the time to experiment, so I will just wait for the call.

Theerivs Writes:
Thought I would forget. I am Forsaken, we do not forget, nor do we forgive…sorry just watched the Wrathgate movie for the 800th time. That said here’s your blog gifts.

I say… lol, how could you forget… you have been listening to the gleeful chatter of Gnomes for decades in your shallow grave… and why would for forgive that?

Theerivs Asks:

Q) How is it looking at peoples crotches all day?

A) At times a little smelly, in a bad way, but generally it’s smelly in a nice, inspiring way.  It also allows for easy upskirting, which I particularly enjoy around the female toons I run with…

It also give me an incentive to bring the mobs down onto their backs faster… thus my passion for fire… A couple of fireball to the crotch and we are all eye-to-eye!

Q) Are there some crotches you do enjoy?

A) Human females are nice, any variety of Elf.

Taurens are great, I get milk and meat (well, once I cook it!)

Q) When you fall off a very tall building does it take you longer to fall then say a Tauren?

A) Well, ultimately we all reach the same terminal velocity, it just takes Gnomes a little longer to reach that velocity.  This is great for me as it allows me some extra reaction time to fmble for the Slowfall button.  Unfortunately I can never catch my Dwarven mates, they drop like rocks!
Q) When a gnome goes into a Barber shop do you have to ask for those haircuts?

A) Last time I went to the Barber shop, I went looking for a Perm… what I got was a bald patch and a mohawk.  I really don’t recommend messing with your hair!

Q) Gnomes seem happy all the time, Why?

A) We drink the water… it’s just water, but while water may make others want to pee excessively, it is like nitrous oxide  mixed with a little Helium for Gnomes, we get high and squeaky!

Well, that’s about it for this installment of Ask da Nome a Kwestion.  I still have some doozies from Prelimar and Syrana, but I will tackle them next week.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Gnomer’s Friends and Out!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/06/26/ask-da-nome-a-kwestion-or-20-bhlogdey-kwestions/

Hey Folks,

I know I was a little negative yesterday about the Bonfire reset, but in reality that has worked out very nicely for me… it means that I have been able to clear up the Midsummer Festival in just over one day without relying on dailies…

I know I should be doing another blogday post… but that will have to wait, as I am at home looking after the young Gnome…

Anyway, when I started this midsummer jaunt, I was relying upon the great strategies of other bloggers… then at one point when I was struggling to find a bon fire, I hit WoWHead and discovered TomTom settings…  Most of them were all over the place, so I started compiling them, only to find one post with most of them…

Anyway, reproduced here for your lack of searching pleasure, the Tom Tom coordinate commands for the Mid Summer Bonfires.  Note, for a nice path to Alliance success, check out this blog post at Pookies Is Not A Bear.

Just paste each line into your chat window, or create a Macro and throw each block in.

TomTom Bonfire Coordinates

Eastern Kingdoms
/way Arathi 74 41 Horde
/way Arathi 50 44 Alliance
/way Badland 4 49 Horde
/way Blasted 58 17 Alliance
/way Burning 80 62 Alliance
/way Burning 62 29 Horde
/way Dun Mor 46 46 Alliance
/way Dusk 74 51 Alliance
/way Elwyn 43 65 Alliance

/way Eversong 46 50 Horde
/way Ghostland 46 26 Horde
/way Hillsbrad 50 46 Alliance
/way Hillsbrad 58 25 Horde
/way Loch Moda 32 40 Alliance
/way Redrid 24 59 Alliance
/way Silverpi 49 38 Horde
/way Strangle 34 73 Alliance
/way Strangle 33 75 Horde

/way Swamp 47 47 Horde
/way The Hint 14 50 Alliance
/way The Hint 76 74 Horde
/way Tirisfal 57 52 Horde
/way Western Pla 43 82 Alliance
/way Westfall 56 54 Alliance
/way Wetlands 13 47 Alliance

Kalimdor
/way Ash 37 54 Alliance
/way Ash 70 69 Horde
/way Azuremyst 44 53 Alliance
/way Bloodmyst 55 69 Alliance
/way Darkshore 37 46 Alliance
/way Desolace 65 17 Alliance
/way Desolace 26 76 Alliance
/way Durotar 52 47 Horde
/way Dustwallow 62 40 Alliance

/way Dustwallow 33 30 Horde
/way Feralas 28 43 Alliance
/way Feralas 72 47 Horde
/way Mulgore 51 60 Horde
/way Silithus 57 34 Alliance
/way Silithus 46 44 Horde
/way Stonetalon 50 60 Horde
/way Tanaris 52 29 Alliance
/way Tanaris 49 27 Horde

/way Teldrassil 55 60 Alliance
/way The Barrens 52 28 Horde
/way Thousand 42 53 Horde
/way Winterspring 62 35 Alliance
/way Winterspring 59 35 Horde

Outland
/way Blade 42 66 Alliance
/way Blade 50 59 Horde
/way Hellfire 62 58 Alliance
/way Hellfire 55 40 Horde
/way Nagrand 50 70 Alliance
/way Nagrand 51 34 Horde
/way Netherstorm 31 63 Alliance
/way Netherstorm 32 68 Horde
/way Shadowmoon 40 55 Alliance

/way Shadowmoon 33 30 Horde
/way Terokkar 55 55 Alliance
/way Terokkar 52 43 Horde
/way Zangar 69 52 Alliance
/way Zangar 36 52 Horde

Northrend

/way Borean 51 12
/way Dragonblight 75 44
/way Dragonblight 39 48
/way Crystalsong Forest 78 75
/way Crystalsong Forest 80 53
/way Grizzly Hills 34 61
/way Grizzly Hills  19 61
/way Howling Fjord 58 16
/way Howling Fjord 48 13

Fire Warden Gnomeaggedon

Unlike Kriz, I love fire… I can’t imagine anything better (apart from being of Gnomeregan) than being a true representative Fire Mage and being known as a Fire Warden.  So Yes I pushed this, and hand some fun and surprises along the way.

I am a Bad Gnome!

Home lands Protected

Home Lands Cleared

You think Murloc Mondays are bad.. Try Crabby Thursdays!

Looking after my Peoples!

I’m not the only one infiltrating the Horde bases

The best escape route from Thunder Bluff… don’t try this at home kids!

Man I am bad! I am the only one allowed to play with fire!

Friends lost… luckily they dropped back in to spread the news.

I is a red hot dancing Gnome!

Have Pole, will dance!

Outland is sooo easy…

Even under enemy fire!

Ohh and what do you know, I have seen some new sights…

Umm I wont normally do this… but this was one happy /random

Umm I don’t think so!

Down Icy Down!

I am the King!

But I definitely aint Gnome Angel!

Killing time waiting for Mr Tree! and a few of his spare branches to burn and juggle

So easy when you are not under a stair case

My destiny fulfilled!

Gnomer and Out!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/06/25/midsummer-festival-win-with-tomtom/