The Mana Goal

I had a party when I reached 30k mana buffed in raids. It was early in ICC10, as I remember. The other day was the long-awaited 30k mana unbuffed. Grats to me and my 35k buffed mana. :D

Other than that, I've been spending a lot of time each week wiping on the Lich King. I've gotten used to the way this guild and group runs (both for 10 and 25) and it feels less and less like a pug every time. The first night I had actually forgotten that it WASN'T a pug. Heh.

With work and my commute and raiding, it seems I have little time to do anything else (including my laundry), I haven't had much time for Loremaster or alts. Only Ravindra is getting any extra time right now. He's level 48 and he's acquired a tank spec, although I'm too nervous to actually try it. We're hurrying to tree form before it's gone in Cataclysm.

Frost Tomb!

A True Companion

For some reason, I find it cute that my little robot was in the frost tomb with me.

The Lich King: Please don't slip on the defile.

Ruinous has moved on from Sindragosa to the Lich King (surprisingly enough we cleared Marrowgar to Sindragosa in three hours last night). I don't know about you, but Sindragosa was the bane of my existence. I'd rather wipe for hours on the Lich King than have to do Sindragosa for twenty minutes. Ugh.

Anyway, as a discipline priest, my job is OMGBUBBLENAO. And I finally decided to take some of these addons and really  make something of them, so pictured above is the VuhDo PW:S only health bars. There's only a percentage health display, with colored durations for PW:S and Weakened Soul. Orange is Weakened Soul, blue is PW:S. On the one hand, it's a LOT faster to see who needs a bubble. The flip side is that I'm trained to see those low bars and panic, so I bubble the whole fight in a frantic fit of nervousness. It's a work in progress, although I'm a bit pissy about Vuhdo not letting me assign profiles to mouse binds. When I heal, I want my left click to flash heal, but with this set up, I want it to bubble. And I just have to change everything each time, rather than having set profiles. I'm a bit annoyed by it, actually.

O.o

Here's something you don't see every day...

Server Transfer: Apartment Hunting

When Mouse and Ith told me they were quitting WoW last weekend a lot of what I had been debating for the couple weeks leading up to it resolved itself. No need to worry about not getting to raid with my best RL friends, no need to stay on the server that wasn't progressing fast enough. Frankly, I would normally not ever have considered changing servers. But when the boys were raiding with Mimic and I was with them, I met a very nice gentleman and so, 9 months later when he transfers servers, I decide to go with. I didn't know much more than what I'd been told: more progression, better server, PVP.

Maybe it's not the "right" reason to transfer servers...for a guy, but I am pretty impressed with what I've gotten out of it so far. The achievements above are a testament to Kil'Jaeden compared to Silvermoon. I'm pretty happy so far with the decision to change. Additionally, the real ID feature makes it more than convenient to keep in touch with my other friends.

There's a definite excitement to a new server, particularly when you're going with someone new. There's this fresh air of romance and flirtation with the added bonus of this entirely new server where you don't know anyone. The world is yours. Everything exists for your pleasure.

It has a lot to do with how I'm feeling outside of the game, too. With this internship at an advertising agency, I'm getting this hunger for more. I'm an art director. A designer. This job makes me want it even more and want success. I feel like the world is opening up to me and I want to just take it. Leave behind the old, dreary common areas. Like where I grew up and Silvermoon and the boys, for this fresh place where the people are more successful and desirable.

Interesting how life and WoW run parallel to each other.

The War Goddess

The name Vigdís is "derived from the Old Norse elements víg 'war' and dís 'goddess'." (behindthename.com) I'm not one for paladins. In fact, were it up to me, they'd never heal again. Tank healing is severely unbalanced right now and paladin healing is just ridiculous. But that's just my opinion as a Discipline Priest. Anyway, I rolled a paladin purely for tanking. And finding tanking jobs is a LOT easier now with the LFG system. I remember being so excited for level 20 because I was waiting for all those tanking goodies before actually setting foot in Deadmines. A few weeks later, the LFG system appeared and getting groups was SO much easier.

I've done a LOT of dungeons in the 30s. With the level range of my current alts, I think you can all believe me when I say I'm sick and tired of the Scarlet Monastery. I've tanked it, DPS'd it, healed it. Over and over and over. But in all my level 30 dungeons, I have yet to find a tank that looks quite as badass as Vigdís here. She's rocking heirloom shoulders and chest, plenty of LFG random rewards, a Hulking Shield, and Blade of the Basilisk. I admit to paying 60g for the sword on the Auction House. It's justified because Vig's coolness rating needs to be so high and because the axe she's been using is from the Deadmines. I don't really quest, I just do dungeons with her. She'll have it a decently long time. And it's just so cool.

30 Questions about WoW

By chance, I went down my pitiful blogroll and checked out Anea's "Oh, Look an Alt!" only to find out that she'd moved. The first thing I really see when I get to her new home is a bright new layout, new host, and...a meme. I stole it from here.

1. Raider, farmer, PvPer, or altoholic?
I've never gotten into 25m content (seems more impersonal) so I don't like to call myself a raider...I'd say an altoholic, but I have a definite main. An altoholic who achievement-whores on a main? I think so.

2. Favorite raid or dungeon?
Deadmines. I think. Or Naxxramas. Or...I find that I like the ones I did when I first began playing, so Zul'Farrak. I like the Scarlet Monastery now only because it's short. However, with four different chambers, it becomes repetitive to a point where I'm just spamming Scorch/Auto-shot/Melee until everything goes away. However, having done Mauradon, I can appreciate the simplicity of the short dungeon.

3. Number one choice for a new playable race?
 Dryad. I'm a typical girl; I like the pretty races.

4. Class you suck the most at?
I can't tank on a warrior, which I understand to be difficult anyway (a lot of people claim to not be good at it), but I can get the hang of it after a long time. Mages are the ones that no matter how long I play I still can't balance it right. I die easily and began to hate myself. Nadejda is really just a shrewd businesswoman who became a mage to make it easier to get around Azeroth.

5. Original UI or modded UI?
Mitternacht's UI is modded to hell. It's built off of Aliena's UI, with some additional addons. The font is reskinned to Insomiax. Everything is purple/light blue/pink. It's a delicate healing UI which I've tried to use on my alts, but it just isn't good for DPS.

6. Profession you’ve never levelled past 200?
I'm trying to remember if Vigdís's blacksmithing is over 200 yet or not. That'd be the lowest one...

7. Favorite flying mount?
 I just got the pink proto drake a few days ago, so I'm pretty excited about that. I could never really choose a favorite. My answer is "everything but the gryphons."

8. Nozdormu — friend or foe, you figure?
No comment!

9. Useless item you have in your bank that you’ll never get rid of?
I need some sort of in-game housing, so that I might have a closet and subsequently be able to properly house all of my past tier gear and holiday items, along with pretty or sexy dresses I find along the way. I just don't have the space for everything when I'm only living out of some bags. Mitternacht is one of those women who travels with everything she owns, especially her bunny ears.

10. Most expensive thing you’ve ever bought?
The mats for the 245 healing bracers and 226 healing boots for Mitternacht. It was sad when she had so little gold left after that.

11. Favorite starting area?
Elwynn Forest, most like. I haven't played too many humans and the area just works well. I level more Draenei and Night Elves though. Azuremyst just tends to remind me why I shouldn't like it and I really hate Teldrassil.


12. Inane goal you worked hardest to achieve?
I'm guessing an inane goal is one where you don't get loot or something to better your ability to heal, dps, or tank. So, I'd have to say all the holiday quests, particularly for Cucchiaio, since Mitter has now completed all of them and now as the drake, where as Cucchi started holidays two years ago and has only actually completed two. Hers seem the most pointless.

13. Darion Mograine VS Tirion Fordring, gloves off — winner is?
...I couldn't say, but my gut is Tirion. No idea why.

14. Game music or your own playlist?
Almost without fail my own music, but then I very rarely just play straight WoW, without doing something else in the middle (I count chatting via WoW not really *playing* WoW). For instance, I'm trying to get Ravi to Tabetha in Dustwallow Marsh, but yet I am drawn to finish up these questions. Run a bit, answer a question, run a bit, answer a question. So, I really like to have my own music to chill to.

15. Particular option or setting that you always toggle on a new alt/server?
I have to turn off most addons, otherwise I get this.

16. Highest amount of levels gained in one play session?
Four or five in the 40s. In Mitter's last days of leveling, she was doing two levels a day through the 70s. Her last day of leveling was this chant of getting through 78, through 79, and onto 80. I remember hitting it at 4 in the morning and immediately going to heal Violet Hold.

17. Thing you’d most like to experience or see in-game?
*All* of Ulduar. I've done the Keepers several times, but I really want to see Yogg-Saron.

18. Worst PuG moment?
I have the Curse of Fail Pugs, so I try not to pug much anymore. Most of the funniest experiences have actually been in lowbie dungeons with the dungeon finder. Paladins who said they were healing in prot because it meant protection, which is what healing is. Druids who queue to tank, dps, and heal and try to tank in kitty form because they didn't realize they were the tank (this happens more than I'd like to think about).

19. Best dungeon/raid moment?
I've always raided regularly with people that are actually my friends. Daze was never a big raiding guild, but we knew everyone really well and almost everyone was tied to someone in RL for some reason. Near the end, though, we got more and more people we didn't know personally, but that's because the content was harder. So, even now that's still important to me. Best raid moment is probably the night we downed Putricide and then put in a couple tries in Lana'Thel and downed her. Those moments are just fantastic. And it's great to see how far everyone has come since they started (particularly me).

20. Worst quest ever that you totally hate doing?
I have a ton of these and I won't bring them up for fear of bad memories.

21. First thing you do when you hit 80?
Mitternacht put on her Naxx25 BOE boots from Hiryuu, then she queue'd for Violet Hold and had a helluva time. After Cucchi hit 80, I went to bed. I had no idea what to do with my first 80, whereas with my second I had notebooks of gear that I wanted from heroics and how many badges it would take for the best emblem stuff. Mitter had notebooks when she was only level 65.

22. Character (of yours) you would RP as if you had to?
Mitternacht, of course. She's peaceful and a bit maternal, most akin to myself I think. Way more than my other characters...I just love her so much. Cucchiaio always reminds me of how stupid I was about WoW when I first started...

23. Keyboard, mouse, or both for using abilities?
I heal via VuhDo, so I'm a clicker. I started with HealBot and tried Vuhdo twice before disregarding Healbot. I have an iMac, so I have the Apple keyboard and the response time on it is great, however I notice that the keys are starting to stick, so I don't like to spam on it. There are almost no gaming keyboards for Macs anyway and I really love the one I have. It's why I bought a Razer Naga mouse, so that I could reliably toss my spam heals on my mouse. I don't use the number pad on the side for anything more than DPS. My dots are 1 and 2, casted spells 3, 4, and 5. I do use both, though, for healing. Button5 is target for all of my healing characters, which allows for me to use the keyboard for a lot of my other heals, like PoM, Penance, Pain Suppression. The things I wouldn't spam. I think it's a good system, and one that makes me feel that Grid can't compete. I don't have to go far down my action bar to access everything I need regularly. I admit to being a keyboard turner though, but I also run compulsively while I heal.

24. Thottbot or WoWhead?
Wowhead. Thottbot's layout makes me cry.

25. Acronym you’ve seen in chat but don’t understand?
If there's one I don't know, I usually check it at urbandictionary.com or something. One I still don't get is 'imba.' I guess it's imbalanced, but that just feels silly. Another thing I'm not getting is the "r?" for ready along with its reply of "y." What, you couldn't just say "yes"??

26. Plot point you’d like to see resolved someday?
I'd like to see Jaina not be such a typical, crying girl and I'm a bit curious about the dwarven princess in BRD and her Dark Iron lovechild. I'd like to know more about the races in societal terms, how they breed, raise their children, marry...Regards to parents, etc etc....Another big question, how will the Goblins being Horde affect Alliance transportation in Ratchet, Booty Bay, and Gadgetzan?

27. Biggest thing you’re looking forward to in Cataclysm?
Everything, save for the disappearance of mp5. I want to fly in old world, see the new zones, new races. All of it is very exciting.

28. Guild event you’d like to see?
Not quite sure what this question is looking for, but I'd like to see guild runs for vanilla and BC content.

29. Level range you hate being in?
I'm leveling a lot of characters in the same leveling range, so I'm getting sick of a LOT of the dungeons and zones very quickly. I really hate the twenties. I love the 40s right now. I only play Alliance, though.

30. Favorite map to quest in?
Duskwood, I suppose. It always me of the Nightmare Before Christmas. I also love Sholazar, Zangarmarsh, Tanaris, and Nagrand. I kinda like Shadowmoon Valley, though. I can find reasons to hate all of them, though....

I've been thinking a lot about the changes to restoration in Cataclysm, where tree form because more like a paladin's wings than an actual form they stay in. I've always liked tree form, particularly the idea of playing it myself. My motivation to get Ravindra to level 50-ish for tree form has skyrocketed.

Despite its feminine sound, Ravindra "means 'lord of the sun' from Sanskrit रवि (ravi) 'sun' combined with the name of the Hindu god INDRA, used here to mean 'lord'." (from behindthename.com). I don't quite remember why I gave him this name, but I do like the nickname Ravi. He's often thought to be a girl, but his maleness makes the likelihood that I'm a girl slimmer, which intrigues me. I was very interested in feral and cat form, but with the LFG tool being as awesome as it is and kitty DPS being as bad as it is around where I'm at, I've taken to healing. Like Mitternacht, Ravindra dual specialized at level 40, convinced that he would need to protect himself while adventuring. He hasn't really looked back though. I only ever play him with the intention of healing, so his kittyspec is mostly useless.

Call it a self-fulfilling prophecy, but Ravindra has found comfort in relaxing activities. It's why he's turned away from bear and cat form to the subtle art of healing. Ravi is relatively private with his personality. He keeps to himself, and says little in groups. His overwhelming personality factor is that he's a bit flamboyant and gay. I'm not entirely sure why, but as a young druid he took a liking to leather harnesses and never looked back.

I'm really liking druid healing in the sense that it's easy to chill out while I do it. I like priest healing more, but this isn't too bad. :D