Cataclysm Catharsis - Off Topic

I know it’s been awhile. Not that I have that many readers, but to those that do, I’m sorry I haven’t as much as dropped a line to say I wouldn’t be dropping a line for a while. And for my guild mates, to explain my erratic “weirdness”. You guys are fantastic and I haven’t wanted to inflict real life drama in any of our gaming, even though I know you’d be there in a heartbeat. You’re the best!

Fact of the matter is, the timing of the Cataclysm release was quite extraordinary, if not backwards. I’ll explain.

In WoW there was “The Shattering” which was then followed by the “Cataclysm”. Well, in real life it doesn’t always work that way. IRL, there was a Cataclysm which is followed by a Shattering.

Btw, if you were looking for World of Warcraft exploits and opinions, you can skip this post. This is simply an explanation of why I have been absent, as well as a selfish therapy of sorts. My blog, my therapy, so /raspberry.


Crises happen. Some are natural events like a blizzard, some are caused by people. Either way, people get hurt and need help. Usually, when the crises is a natural event, they get hurt physically. If the crisis is caused by people, then people get emotionally hurt. Lately, there have been a whole lot of both. Affecting the home, work, church, family, friends, relatives, co-workers. Yeah.

There’s usually one or two people who realize that no one else is capable of “holding things together”, so they take on that responsibility. Be the strong one, be there for everyone else, even if they are hurt, as well. Real life tanking. Be forgiving, keep the meals made, be supportive with everyone else’s healing, maintain the income, ignore your own wounds, make the necessary calls, make sure the paperwork is done, be the one to handle incoming confrontations, keep the dogs fed, etc. May as well throw a blizzard into the mix, too. Yep, death in the family. Wouldn't be complete without a death in the family. Mitigate the damage, survive. Mitigate the damage, survive. Like I said, real life tanking. And don’t forget the third aspect of tanking: threat generation. It’s hard to be the group’s tank AND healer without throwing out some dps of your own. So ... yeah.

Priorities change during times like these. Hence no posts.

So WoW had a new expansion released, requiring more experience, everyone’s gear became “non-epic”, new frontiers to explore. Instances are back to “wipe, wipe, wipe … upgrade … wipe, wipe, wipe”.

My life just had an expansion released. It involves patching after the release. The emotional gear I was wearing was not as formidable as it was prior.

“Experience is what you get right after you really need it”.

I am gaining experience. So as I “wipe, wipe, wipe … upgrade … wipe, wipe, wipe”, there won’t be many posts. Maybe in the future. Maybe even sooner than later. The fact that I'm able to write this is a good sign.

There is no need for concern. Every toon in WoW has a keyboard behind it with a real live person at it. We all have our periods of crisis. Remember that, next time you think ganking an entire lowbie zone would be fun. One of them may be trying to relax with a bit of escapism from a serious crisis in their life.

I wouldn’t be writing this if I hadn’t gained many upgrades, and have several slots “epic-equipped”. I’ve been to the spirit healer, taken the rez-sickness, and it’s just about worn off. Repair costs? ROFLMAO, I’m a level-capped plate-wearing tank. You do the math.

Standing in the Doorway

Here we are, in that short span of time between The Shattering and The Cataclysm. I feel as though I’m in a lobby foyer, behind me the door is shut to the “Old World” and in front is the shut door to the Cataclysm. There is much to be excited about with the coming Cataclysm and much to enjoy post-Shattering. This post, however is about the Old World. Fond memories, wincing reminders, and favorite haunts are what I shall dwell on here today.

I remember the first time I was in a raid. I was maybe level 45 and in a guild of several hundred named Body by WoW. There had been a guild meeting in Org, after which it was decided that the guild would take on a world dragon. The thrill of being in a group of about 40 other people, NOT computer characters, and galloping along down a road together with a common goal just blew me away! Mind you WoW is the first MMO I had ever played.

Thousand Needles. I know most people I’ve talked with hated it, but me? Loved it. Reminded me of the Grand Canyon, without the Colorado river. Can’t say that now, I guess. Side note: if you ever have a spare 12 days and want something to do, take a raft from Marble Canyon all the way through the Grand Canyon to Lake Meade. You’ll never be the same afterward. Anyway, most people hated it because of the distances you had to travel for every quest. I can’t argue that point, but I loved the terrain and, mind you, that was when your first mount was at 40, so I was hoofing it and loving every minute!

The road to Shadowfang Keep. Celanna (the first), Sithpaladin and Zaph meet and realize that Pallys have to stick together! That road has certainly changed! Bus rides on coffin haulers?! What was that? Two, two and a half years ago? Three maybe? Whoa. At that time, Zaph was my only toon. Now we have handfuls of level-capped toons in Slice and Dice Champions. I repeat: whoa.

Back to Thousand Needles. I used to grimace at the thought of how many times I died from falling off the lift at Freewind Post. Now it makes me smile.

Arenas. There once was a time when Zaph and Celanna had formed an Arena team. Oh, what naïve plateys we were then! In fact that’s how I met Aradia. Cel and Zaph would go into an arena, get our butts kicked, come out, and there would be Aradia cheering us on! Telling us “You can do it!”. We’d go back in and get our plate handed to us, and there would be Aradia when we came out, saying, “You’ll get them this time!”. Out of 40-50 matches we won …. 3 maybe? Didn’t matter really because it was such good fun, until the dying became monotonous that is!

I had a Tauren once. His name was Zedzul and he was a Druid. I, however, was a Druidiot. Couldn’t get past the starting level without giving up! Maybe a Troll Druid now …. Hmm, maybe after the furor dies down a bit.

The first time I went to Undercity was quite memorable! First of all just trying to figure out how to get down there was a trick. Then, having finally gotten down there, I see this abomination lumbering along! The only abominations I had seen up to this point were Luzran and Knucklerot, so you can imagine my … umm … apprehension. Oh, alright! I hit my hearthstone like a scared little school girl! Happy?

Scholazar Basin is a great mining farm area now, but back when 100 gold made people drool, I used to love farming the Charred Vale in The Stonetalon Mountains. Aggroeing the harpies, elementals (darned elementals!) and basilisks. There be mithril, iron, tin, and sometimes some gold in them thar hills! A good run through there would net a hefty 5-10 gold!

Catching Old Ironjaw. For days I was logging in to my little fishing corner, logging out after having fished and fished … and fished and fished … and fished! Reeling him in was a joy! And no, I did not just hearth out, I hopped on the hog and rode out aggroeing as many allys as I could, laughing all the way! “Catch me if you can! You’re short, smelly and I got your fish! Bwuhahahahaha!”

The Charger. As soon as I was able to, I started going for that Pally Charger. Solo attempt after solo attempt. I had the key to the city so I could sneak in the back door and EVER so carefully get into the chapel, only to die again and again. Finally a friendly rogue, Rucrazy, hopped continents and came to help with that extra little dps I needed. Thanks again, Rucrazy. It’s a shame that the Charger is trained for now, that was quite an experience and a great quest (costly, but great).

The Isle of Quel’Danas dailies. I remember the first time I completed all the dailies without dying once! I was on a roll that day because I also completed both bombing runs on the first pass! I still like going back there every so often, riding the hog and scooping up the free-for-the-taking adamantite and khorium. No mining competition there now!

There are more memories, but at some point you have to say goodbye to the past and hello to the future as you’re enjoying the present. It’s called the present for a reason. It is one.

The Shattering

Zaph snorted and was startled awake. He sat at one of the feasting tables in front of the Orgrimmar gates. He rubbed his eyes and peered at the gates. “What in the … who in the ….”
He shrugged, chalking it up to the tryptophan in the turkey. He grabbed a turkey leg and asked the Rogue across from him, “Hey, can you sense your destiny?”, then bounced the leg off his head, roaring with laughter.
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Missuszaph opened her eyes and found herself on a sand bar, water lapping at her feet and Puddytat’s paws. Across a small bay was what was left of Grom’Gol Base camp. Scratching him behind his ear, she said, “Come on, boy, let’s go home.” And with that she took the hearthstone out of her backpack and thought of Silvermoon City.
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Cheekymonkey paid the vendor for the recipe book. Something made him pause. Something … was not quite right. Not wrong, just … different. With a strong sense of urgency to get home, he mounted up and rode for the Zeppelin tower outside of the Undercity. While waiting for the zeppelin, he chanced to look down. And there to his surprise were new buildings, much like New Agamand. He had to investigate. Jumping off the tower he ran over to the town center and found a statue of the Lady Sylvannas.
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That’s right folks the Shattering has come and gone. Deathwing LEVELLED 2/3 of the planet, tearing it asunder! 4 level 80’s and a level 39, and do you think at least one of them would have been awake for it? Oh nooooo. They slept through the whole thing! And kept right on sleeping until everything was re-built! Well that sort of laziness does not go un-punished! They’re going out and re-discovering this world, doing quest after quest after quest until they can quest no more!
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First to venture forth was Missuszaph. Zaph had always told her about Thousand Needles and she thought now was a good time to check it out. Standing at the edge of what was once The Great Lift, she decided to re-name it “The Great Diving Board”. That didn’t go as well as planned, yada-yada-yada, long story short, she winds up on this Bilgewater barge. It’s not what Zaph described but she really fell in with the locals and couldn’t do enough for them! She worked every quest she could find and wound up the Captain of her very own Steamboat! The good ship “Champion” is what she christened her.
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While exploring this new world we have been given, let us remember the words of our great ex-leader:

Gold … More is Better, I Say

So if you read the previous post, you know how to find stuff on the cheap and you have stuffed your bags with … stuff. Well if it’s in your bags it’s not making you gold. Time to post on the AH.

In the last post you started using the searchers like Resale, Vendor and Snatch. Those are part of the Auctioneer add-on. Now it’s time to start using Auctionator. You’ll notice that after having installed these add-ons you have many more tabs at the bottom of the auction house window. Click the one called “Sell”. It’s pretty self-explanatory from here. Drag and drop the item you want to sell and it will scan the AH for that item and list the auctions currently up, with the lowest buyout price on top. It will automatically list yours for less, under-cutting all of the other sellers of that item. You can configure how much to under-cut, but I just go with the default. You can also choose the length of time your auction will go. I always choose 48 hours and have configured that to be my default.

Now sometimes you will drop an item on that window and will get no results because there are none being sold. You have a one-of-a-kind! Well, for the moment at least. Back to Auctioneer. Drag the item back into your bags and then click the tab on the bottom called “Appraiser”. Now drop the item in the square and it will appraise it and give a suggested bid and buyout pricing (which you can always change) then click post item(s).

You have now bought and posted. Time to go do other things now. Sip honeymint tea in Dal and watch the purdy sparkle ponies go by. Steal some britches. Spend the afternoon perfecting your gnome-punting. Or ….. go fishing in Wintergrasp. That’s right guys and Galadins! PvP with fishing poles! Actually, my gold comes in by some farming and crafting, as well as the AH flipping. So why Wintergrasp? All the mats for the Fish Feast are there (except the Northern spices) and fish feasts go for around 10-14 gold …. each. I sell them in stacks of 5. You could also check the AH for the cost of the mats and if they’re “on sale” then “buy / cook / sell”. The key with fish feasts though, is to post them Tuesday after maintenance because raiding folk will usually pay top dollar for them because their lock-outs have expired and they need them NOW! Many times I have bought fish feasts off the AH on the weekends and then sold them all for a profit come mid-week. Let’s see, sometimes 12-16 stacks of 5 at 70-75 gold per stack …. By my calculations that equates to a happy mailbox on Wednesday night!

So far I’ve described AH flipping (buying low/selling high), some crafting (feasts, drums, and of course Da Hog). There’s another method I use and that’s playing the market trends. Here’s an example: Titansteel bars. They range in price from 85 gold to 135 gold. So when they’re around 85-90, what do you think I do? That’s right, I buy. And when they’re around 120-135? Right again! I sell them! Unless I used them to make a bike, but that’s another whole source of income. The same with Arctic furs. They go from 50 gold to 85 gold. Buy low, sell high.

So let’s re-cap what we have so far:

Add-ons. Auctioneer and Auctionator. Check.

Scans. I scan once a day, but 4-5 times a week is good, just make sure that before you run any searches, scan first so it’s all current. Ok, check.

Searches. Play with them and get familiar with them, but take care and don’t get scammed because you were click-happy or greedy. Check.

Posting. Except for a few cases, keep your inventory on the AH. You’ll get a lot that “fall off”, aka didn’t sell. Just put them back on, they’ll sell eventually and if they don’t, and it’s gear, have them DE’d and the mats WILL sell. Roger.

Crafting. You know what you can make. Find a couple of things that sell reliably (mine are drums and hogs) and get the mats on the cheap. Then make them and sell them. Okey-Dokey.

So there you have it. Making gold has become a game within the game for me and has helped to relieve the “Pre-Cataclysm” doldrums. Besides, I want to be ready for the expenses coming up in Cataclysm. I don’t want to get there and have someone tell me, “You are not prepared!”

I mean c’mon. That’s been done.