People are either raiding the hell out of ICC, or warming up alts for the Cataclysm.

The raiding isn’t happening for me. It occurs to me I haven’t even picked up this weeks weekly raid quest.

I’m not even chasing the Frost emblems in the daily random. There’s no question that they are a great way to augment your ICC emblem haul, but I’m not racking up the T10 gear, so my enthusiasm has waned.

As for leveling alts… It was raised the other day by one of my mates. My immediate “no” changed to a maybe reasonably quickly, but I’m stretched playing two characters… So 3 is pushing my luck and time.

Instead I am finding myself spending more time playing my alt…. errr my main… errr the one relegated to alt status, my original love, this blogs inspiration.

Yes, Gnomeaggedon has managed to push Squidly into a dark corner.

Sure Squidly gets let out for a run occasionally, particularly if my mates are looking for heals for a random etc… but otherwise Squidly is too far down the character selection screen.

What has brought on the change of mind?

A few things pushed me over the edge.

Cheap T9

At 1st it was just Squidly grinding out the emblems. Fundamentally instant queues encouraged me to stock up, fast.

Soon enough I realized that Gnomeaggedon could join in on the feast. The difference was the relatively (to Squidly) long queue times.

But with Gnomeaggedon, I got a breather from the PuGs, which even I admit can bring you down on occasions.

Relatively quick instance groups

Waiting 10, 15, 20 minutes for a group is such a pain and I was spoilt by Squidly. However, the reality is that I have stayed in LFG all night (yes 6 hours) without getting a group pre-LFD, so as long as I could find a way (apart from laps of Lagaran) I would be happy.

Raid tastings

Since spliting with my group of mates, Gnomeaggedon hasn’t raided… That’s since Naxx… 3 raid instances ago.

Squidly ran a few, people are always:

LF1M heals & G2G

Want Resto Shaman! /drool Heroism

However I have found spamming LFG, Trade and General chat:

Low gearscore, out of practice, low dps Mage LFG raid, pst

didn’t usually get me many spots… Maybe if I didn’t mention I was a Mage I might have more luck.

The weekly raid however has people filling spots with anyone, anything.

LF1M, Non-Combat Pet acceptable, owner must have GS > 0 (That excludes you Balth)

PvP goes Boom!

Then there was War… Gnomo a Belfo.

I lost my enthusiasm for BGs a while back. Squidly was the last nail in the coffin. I know I have complained in the past about dps forgetting the poor healer, but in hindsight Squidly has a life expectancy measured in minutes, whereas Gnomeaggedon’s is measured in seconds.

It frustrates me no end that Blizzard has 50% more HKs on Squidlys permanent record than on Gnomeaggedon, still maybe that’s true. I know Squidly just soaks up the Honor and kills when he’s in a BG, but Gnomeaggedon has to work at it… Maybe because Squidly is healing packs and Gnomeaggedon is /failsoloing packs.

Loremaster

The worst part of the 20 minute LFD wait was not being able to do anything. I’m still frustrated that I can’t queue for a combination of raid, BG & instance.

WSG is usually complete before an instance pops. I can normally do 3-4 before a raid invite pops.

So, desperate to do something, my attention turned to the Old World. Needing a reason to be there (no, 10 copper piece rewards are not reward in themselves), I pulled the achievement card.

Wondering how much time I have spent waiting for raids, instances and BGs… Eastern Kingdoms done and 150 quests of Kalimdor.

Love

Two types of love…

Love is in the air.

I’m not really fussed on getting the holiday acheivements with Squidly. If I have time and excess energy, sure.

Gnomeaggedon however seems to have 1/4 of each of the holidays done. Not bad considering I probably would have only dedicated 1-2 hours to each one and dedicated is an exaggeration.

Gnome love

• Well, love of my Gnome, Gnomeaggedon.
• When I put my PvP hat on and strut around the spirit healer, I feel alive.
• When I’m bottom of recount, yet still pulling threat on the bosses, I feel at home.
• When I get to the character selection screen and look no further than the 1st character, I feel releived.

How To:  Sorting your characters on the Character Selection screen

Question: What would you do to get your characters in the right order on your character selection screen?

It’s frustrating that while you can sort on an iPhone app, you can’t sort them in game.

What a mate of mine did…

A combination of:
Deletion, Renaming and character transfer + renaming.

They are (for) now in the perfect order… Some people are too [anal] retentive.

Gnome taking 1st place again

So with the approach of Cataclysm I’m not racing to complete Arathas

(note to Aman’Thul – if you want a pug Gnome and/or Squid on a regular basis, then drop me a line. I’d love to see more, but my mates guilds are so far ahead of me that they only get me in for roflstomping content when 15 or 16 bodies in the 25 man raid make no difference – note, I’m not joining your guild, but I will roll on your phat loots).

Instead I think I will fill my time with all the other bits of the game, still plenty for this old Gnome to see and do before the world comes to a cataclysmic end.

Ohhh have you noticed how many Mage bloggers recently rerolled and loved healing?

Have you noticed how many are coming back to their 1st love!

Getting less Patient with Age.

PS: yes OK, Squidly got most of my weekend time… Something about an “Elder” title.. Squidly the Elder feels much more appropriate right now that Squidly the Patient.

Let me tell you how frustrated I am with the split holiday activation.  I realise most of you have no idea what I am talking about, but on the Oceanic Servers we get lucky.  Our events start at midnight local server time, so we had the Lunar Festival (the Love festival etc) start 3/4 of a day before any other US realms…

BUT…

We dont’ get the whole thing!

Our instances are on the Battleground time clock – which means we don’t get them until (at least) 7 pm.  It’s such a pain having to waltz around quests and achievements you can’t do.

Yes, the events do finish the “day early” (well, on-time server time) as well.

What are Blizzard afraid of, that we Oceanic types might get a world 1st? 1st Valentine’s delivered?

Let’s consider that a bonus for limiting us to playing 6 nights a week due to weekly downtime?

Europe already has the full event, so we aren’t going to spoil anything…

Gnomer and Out!

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

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2010/02/15/a-change-in-my-wind/

• I was upset when I went to roll a Shaman, that Gnomes weren’t an option.
• I was upset when Cataclysm was announced that there weren’t any Gnome Shaman (Gnome Priests… Pfffttt!)

It may come as a surprise to you that I like Gnomes.

No?

Well it surprised me. I only rolled one because the Human Mage looked like a dress wearing Chuck Norris.

Then came Christmas… and under the tree (outside Ironforge), was a little present just for ME!

Some people transformed themselves to go for the PvP achievement, I transformed For Gnomeregan!

Two whole weeks of Squidly the Gnome Shaman!

• Curse you Ghost Wolf and your Gnome clearing ways.
• Curse you Culling of Stratholme and your Human disguising ways.

I want to be a Gnome and I am not happy to lose the true look due to death, travel form or instances!

I’m hoping next year they have a personal Gnome-Transformation-Thingamebob. I will happily trade in my Winters Veil disguise kit. Happily grind snowballs to get a years supply. Anything to be able to adopt my true Gnomish form at will.

Some players will carry bags of consumables, others additional gear sets. I will carry snowballs!

Speaking of transformations…

Have you ever paid attention to the transformation that takes place with you enter CoT:CoS?

Gnomeaggedon was always transformed into a Gnome… Ohh hang on, there was no change…

Squidly becomes a HUMAN!

Generally I’d say it sucks to be human (actually I always say that), but here’s the Twilight Zone part (you do have the Twilight Zone music in your head now don’t you?).

Squidly doesn’t just become human, but he transforms into a nearly exact replica of ME… me the human player and blogger behind Gnomeaggedon and Squidly.

Sure there are a few slight differences…

• My red hair isn’t quite as long or as red (any more) as in WoW.
• My beard isn’t quite as long or as red (any more) as in WoW.
• My barrel chest has dropped slightly to be more of a barrel stomach.
• My totems click with the sound of empty stubbies and are probably the main cause of my barrel chest slipping.

But apart from that, he is an exact replica of me!

These days when I am rushing for work and step out of the steamy shower (cold water + hot weather = steam) and can’t see myself in the mirror, I just fire up WoW, port down to CoT, enter CoS and marvel at how those 3 sit ups per month have improved my physique and how long and luscious my hair and beard have become.

I need to stop myself before I bolt out the front door, so I can put some clothes on, but I know my hair is looking good!

Gnomer and Out, Squidly and Stout!

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

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2010/01/13/all-i-want-for-christmas-is-a-gnome-shaman/

Let's see, Saronite, check....Thorium Bars, check check check

So..who is that handsome little guy?

Why, you’ve seen him before…only he was crowded by the Gnome mage and that other gnome…girl.

Does my hair look good?

But wait…that is not the only gnome invading...

Future Frost mage?

All your locks are belong to us...Don't mind the hair, it will change.

Gnome Rogue? How cliche' Also..hair is not right.

This is actually the gnome warrior.

Are you getting it? Rawr Tank!

How cool is it that I found a down under concert?  OF course…they made a mistake on the title of the song…

Oh and the future Gnomeggedon killer!

I <3 Mages....incoming stunlock!

So, yeah, not a lot of substance in this post, but hey, it’s my first time posting as a gnome.  It’s kinda tight in here.  Can a man get a big chair?

Here’s to everyone’s favorite Aussie Gnome Fire Mage for letting me invade his little world.

I want a real race.

I want one with class, with a back story everyone already knows.

I want one with radioactive super powers!

I want a Leper Gnome!

Balance?

Mmm OK, let’s give the Horde those annoying Razormane.

They already have those annoying cows, might as well make a farm out of the Horde!

It will bring new meaning to farming the Horde for honor!

Gnomer and Out, Squidly and Stout!

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

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/10/27/can-i-have-a-leper-gnome/

But there’s one thing I know I love…

Gnomes!

I love Larisa, Krizzlybear, Nibuca just to name a few

I love to toot the Gnomes horn, make sure that the message gets across that we are a much bigger force to be reckoned with than our 3 foot stature might suggest.

I like to think the reason the Orcs and Trolls and undead thingies at ForTheHorde handed in their smell clothing scraps and rolled Gnomes was because of the incredible influence I had on them.

So I take great pleasure in pointing out a new blog written by a Cranky Old Gnome, Thistlefizz.

Thistlefizz 1st came to my attention when he made a comment on one of my posts, but it took that new and exciting Azeroth United to bring me to his site.

So, thanks Azeroth United, you have already made your mark!

Thistlefizz, I’ll be watching you… as in watching your back, in a way that only Gnomes can do!

Gnomer and Out!

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

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/09/25/cranky-old-gnome/

It’s not that I am unhappy with the Major Glyphs, although I am sure we all have ideas on how they can be improved.

My problem tends to be with the Minor Glyphs.

I can’t find 3 I want as either Mage or Shaman.

So here’s my proposal to Blizzard.

Glyph of the Gnome.

I wouldn’t limit it to Gnomes, but this will do for illustrative purposes.

What does it do?

It changes your character appearance to a Gnome.

That’s it, nothing more, nothing less.

You maintain your original racials and class abilities, you just look like a Gnome (or race of your choice).

Why?

Well people want to be able to change race within a faction, but maybe they would cope with looking like the race of their choice.

Sticking with Gnomes, with this minor glyph you could have Paladin, Shaman, Priest and Hunter Gnomes,long before Blizzard develops them.

You could have:

• Gnome only Guilds – make the Guild name “Gno place like Gnome” mean something.
• Gnome only raids – imagine those boss kill screenshots without a long leg in sight.
• Gnome only battlegrounds – imagine 40 Gnomes rushing Drek’thor in AV, 40 Gnomes wiping Wintergrasp of that Horde filth.
• Naked Gnome races with a server full of Gnomes – Screw Gnomeragan, why not take down the server!

Spreading the Gnome Glyph Love around

Of course as I say there would be glyphs for all races.

• Fill a paddock in AV with Cows.
  Return undercity to the Forsaken.
  Orgrammir full of Orcs!
  Make Stormwind a pure Human only zone.
  Do back flips like a Night Elf
  Preen like a Blood Elf
  Go Rasta Troll
  Drink yourself into a Dwarf skin

Maybe, just maybe, Hunters should also be able to receive a Glyph of the Gnome Pet.

Tell me you wouldn’t run in fright if you saw a Big Red Gnome coming right at you!

Gnomer and Out!

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

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/09/24/glyph-of-the-gnome/

Gnomeregan

It’s not why you think!

• It’s not to remove the dishonor of its occupation by filthy Troggs.
• It’s not to save our poor leprous cousins.
• It’s not to save the environment by stopping the seepage of radioactive wastes through the sewers of Azeroth.

The Goblins are not the only small race to be subjugated by oppressors!

We’re being Repressed, We’re being Repressed!

It’s because of the Dwarves, and to some extent those upstart humans are oppressors through supposed friendship!

Have you ever had that situation where while you smoke your Fitzgadget’s smokeless, tobacco-less, cancer-less pipe while rocking your stone chair on the front porch of your Ironforge abode that it occurs to that the Dwarves aren’t really as helpful a bunch as the make out?

Fake Friends

You have probably had similar experiences in RL, where that friend, colleague or family member makes a slip and you discover that their intentions aren’t all that holy.

They’ll follow it up with one of those statements…

Gnomes, I love Gnomes, some of… Err one of my best mates is a Gnome… Sure I haven’t spoken to him in years, but if I did, I would assure you he was my friend.

Have you ever noticed how we are relegated to one little street corner in Ironforge… One place to set up our 7/11 of tinker tools?

Tinkertown

Have you ever noticed how we are tarnished with the Engineering brush…

Ohh yeah those Gnomes, they’re all engineered, that’s all they’re good for.

Even in Stormwind we live in squalor, in the dirtiest part of town, right at the back corner.

Dwarven District

Have you ever notices how Old Town virtually smells of roses in comparison to our filth refugee camp?

Old Town

But Gnomer, what would you have the Dwarves do?

We for starters they have whole uninhabited part of Ironforge that would have made the Gnomes feel right at home.

Old Ironforge

Old Ironforge!

Yep, why didn’t they give us the keys to the “undercity”. Sure the Dwarves couldn’t make it pretty, but give 1/2 a dozen Gnomes a chance and Old Ironforge would have come up a treat.

The Gnomes would have put in:

• Elevators
• Central heating and cooling
• Fast and efficient mail delivery systems
• Transport systems
• Luxury stainless steel accommodation suites for Dwarven holidays.

But no!

I dare say that the Dwarves and Humans have been receiving some sort of Alliance Refugee Assistance Payments, keeping it for themselves to fund their exploration and war efforts while the Gnomes sleep rough on the streets and get relegated to corner shop owners.

I bet Tirion Fartface didn’t fund the Argent tournament… I bet it was the relief supplies that he sold on the neutral auction house via those dastardly Goblins. He probably used our blankets to make the tents!

No we don’t need to reclaim Gnomeregan to right the wrongs of the past. We need to retake Gnomeregan to escape the injustices of the present!

Rise up fellow Gnomes!

Raid your oppressors storerooms.
Take their picks and shovels now.

You can be assured that the only reason they will join forces with us to retake Gnomeregan is to pillage out rightful homeland!

Be sure to strip them of all our prized Gnomeregan artifacts before they leave your party… For rest assured, they will just trade them on the Goblin Markets!

Gnomer and Out!

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

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/09/09/why-we-must-reclaim-gnomeregan/

Onyxia and AQ20 down already.

 We picked up a 72 DK for the night…

He’s totally owning me on the Damage Meters!

Who says DKs are OP?

Might keep him I think…

Gnomer and Out!

The dislike Gnomes!?

• They have grudging respect for Dwarves and their beer swilling antics.
• They lurv the Draenei chicks and their tentacles (especially in plate)
• They envy The Human relationship skills, and the reputation that it brings.
• They hate the Night Elves, but then, who doesn’t?

But Gnomes…

It seems to oscillate between complete hatred to complete ambivalence.

They either target us immediately as pet food, or look straight over our heads, like our punching their kneecaps is nothing but a minor annoyance.

Recently Jong emailed me and told me I had single-handedly changed his opinion of male Gnomes.

I assume for the better… But what did he think was so bad before?

Repgrind loves to toy with my bruised Gnomish self respect, by taking little Troll nibbles out of me like a stoner with the munchies.

Telanarra doubted that a Gnomish Taxi Cab service would be reliable…

4TheHorde, all 5 of them, or 4 of them, or 3 of them HAD a mutual hatred for Gnomes, until they saw the light.

While I can’t be sure of this, I dare say Ratshag probably tucks the Orgrimmar Orphans in at night with taxidermied Gnome “teddy bears”

So what is it about Gnomes that makes you want to puke?

Do you see the ponytails and tiny bodies and think: KIDS?

Do you think of Kids playing Gnomes or “I am just trying to get away from the kids for an hour” and run in guilt ridden panic?

BTW, while I may not think Gnome Warriors are Oxymorons… I do feel a little queasy when the Gnome warrior is a cute-as-a-button girl… That’s just not right…

Tell me, what makes you run screaming from the character creation screen at the sight of the Gnome?

I guess alternatively you can tell me what keeps you coming back for more…

PS: Terror Gnomes

Ohhh… OK, I just noticed this possibly related article (and the one that was related to it)

• Argentinian “gnome” scaring the bejezus out of kids
• WTF // THE TERROR GNOME

Maybe there is a reason not to like Gnomes…

Gnomer and Out!

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

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/06/04/ so-whats-not-to-like-about-gnomes /

I can sit online for hours per day just chatting to mates and making money.

Ok, so I have two dreams.

Sitting online hours per day, chatting to mates and making money, and…

Becoming the CGO (Chief Gnomish Officer) of my own transport company.

I would call it...

The Gnomish Taxi Cab Co.

We would have two arms of the business, all provided by Gnomes of course.

Gnomish Portal Division

Gnomes would be spread the length and breadth of Azeroth, Outland and Northrend.

Their role will be to spruke and sell Portals to all the major cities, and maybe a couple of minor ones.

For a small fee, let’s say 5 gold (group discount for 5 or more), my Gnome Mages will Port you to your desired portal equipped city.

I would even put one in Dalaran, right next to the incoming spot… Why run to your factions portals when you can just port to Dalaran and open a trade window.

Value Add
What’s more, for a low additional price, you could pick up some Mage food for your journey.

My other division would be:

Gnomish Summon Squad.

This division is primarily staffed by Warlocks, who generally located with the Mages, can call for support in fulfilling all your summoning needs.

Middle of nowhere, yet you need to get a “port” to Ironforge?

Don’t waste time searching your zone for a Mage, a friendly Mage, a friendly helpful Mage…

No, just put in the call to the Ironforge Summoning rank, and get yanked direct to your destination.

Mid raid and the Uber Item of Superior Upgrade drops… Prove your need to NEED by calling on our friendly, yet satanic, Lock crew to summon you directly to the AH. That’s right, no need to run from the Mage quarter, go straight to the Auctioneer.

For those of you that are really lazy, we can even arrange a continuation of your journey from the AH to the mailbox.

Lockulance

Cursed in the field, desperate for a decurse? Call on our emergency Lockulance to get you to our friendly Mage decursers… Yes our Mages not only know they have a decurse spell, but they know how to use it!

For a low introductory price, we will throw in the odd curse or two!

Of course our Warlock’s services do come at a price, and that price is your soul, just one or two teeny weeny pieces of your soul…

But hey, isn’t your soul worth it for the convenience?

Holiday Rates

I must warn you up front, during holiday events, the price of Ports and Summons will increase, but once again, don’t you want to get to Ungoro crater immediately? Don’t you want to get back to Stormwind and offload that annoying orphan?

Specially priced Round the WoW fares will be available, but book early!

Gnomer and Out!

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Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/06/02/gnomish-taxi-cab-co/