Hearken to the Echoes of Doom

by aerynn

I am feeling a bit edgy. I have purposely tried not to think too much about the reports that have come from the Beta Expeditionary Force. Not because I did not crave news, or that I am still bitter (was I bitter, or relieved?) about not being chosen to go with the expedition. But with all the conflicting reports from the front lines and widespread confusion because of such conflicting reports, I thought it may be wiser to just wait for the morrow, when the official muster comes on the day of Aman'Thul. Then, I can make sense of all the things that will change during the invasion. There are things which I look forward to and those which I do not—and what I do not look forward to, I will have to accept.

Some reports have caused me some joy—after being a rumor for so long it is now a dead certainty: the Death Knights are coming. It has been reported that these DKs have actually been joining up with the Alliance or the Horde against Arthas himself... it seemed too much too hope that they come not to oppose us but aid us but all the reports are unanimous. And it appears that, at the start of the invasion, we will have an army of them running around. It will be sweetly ironic that we shall invade Northrend and brave the wrath of the Lich King himself aided by individuals empowered by him.

And Dalaran has risen again! With the return of the Kirin Tor, I am also looking forward to the rise of another group of people to aid us: scribes. I have not investigated the matter fully, but I have come across a document with a list of the hunter glyphs they provide that, it is promised, will greatly augment some of our powers.

Naxxramas, however, is still where it is in the Eastern Plaguelands. I know that the current objective is to try and push the dread citadel off Azerothian lands, but I do not see how this will turn out. I have only ventured into the threshold of the citadel, but had not the courage or the power to venture deeper.

But when it comes to our powers, I am in more conflict. Ever since the war on the Lich King was declared, the Devas have been working hard to ensure that we can gradually become more powerful, with new abilities, new talents and an arsenal of new weaponry. But when the muster happens tomorrow, as a necessary consequence (and favor to us) we will be wiped of most of our talents and we will have to relearn them.

Which would not be so bad, except that they've also changed the way things worked for us. For instance, the hunter talent schools, while exciting and providing new possibilities, have switched talents around. Scatter Shot shall no longer be issued to marksmen but shall, instead, be issued to survivalists.In exchange, the Devas have given the talent to "re-use" some of our special abilities in a fight. A fair exchange, but still a minor annoyance, since I've gotten used to using my scatter shots to survive. And that is just one example.

The reason why I am in conflict is because, as you know, I've been trying to be a sniper/marksman for as long as I can remember. But with some of the abilities I've been used to switched to the other schools, I've been seriously thinking that, perhaps, my days as a marksman are over. I mean, yes, from all reports marksmen shall at last partake of some of what used to be the Beastmaster school's monolopoly—high end raiding. This is still a matter of debate, as I'm sure that enterprising beastmasters tomorrow will be learning to tame the more dangerous and, consequently, more powerful beasts. With more powerful beasts, maybe it will still be a beastmaster's world?

But as Sküld mentioned, this is the least of my concerns. I am in conflict, but I have determined that, should I switch schools, I shall endeavor to be good at it and enjoy it.

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Brewfest madness, Brewfest hangover

by aerynn

I had been eagerly anticipating Brewfest for an entire year. I had gotten my rams, the goggles, my souvenir brewstein and the life-time supply of Brewfest brew last year, when it first started. I found it to be the merriest occassion I have ever been in, so I had been eagerly anticipating this year's Brewfest. I hadn't realised that my own merriment had been so dependent on everybody else's merriment... and this year people in our realm weren't very merry.

I would have loved to tell you that, this year, I had gotten myself a nice kodo. Unfortunately, this was a temporary delusion brought on by some goblin drink, as temporary as me being a Dark Iron Dwarf (this time, courtesy of some dire brew). The merriment was temporary not just for me but a lot of others because the brewfest organizers no longer had their swift mounts to sell. Bummer... bummer... bummer. I mean, I didn't need a new mount, but seeing as so many people were looking forward to getting their own lovely tan mounts and getting their hopes dashed got me down.

Oh, there was plenty of other new items to be had... not from the organizers. Oh, no. Coren Direbrew provided me with most of the lovely new stuff, but I had to insult him and beat him up in front of his crew to get it. I normally wouldn't beat up the underdog (all he ever wanted was to have his brew showcased during the Brewfest), but I was drunk. Drunk on stuff I never thought I'd have to drink; more on that later. When someone told me that the only way I can get a Brewfest Kodo was to get it from Coren, I just beat him up every night. He kept throwing his coins, his pipe, some of his solid beer (I think it was solid beer... hic!) and finally even his mug at me... even his stupid mole machine remote control. He even brought in barmaid 1 and barmaid 2 to bribe us with drinks and stuff. But no kodo. Every night I left him lying down on the floor, groaning and cursing Ironforge. I eventually took his mug, his mole machine remote and his brew—I was so pissed (that is, angry and drunk) that I threw away the rest.

The next morning, after Brewfest, I woke up with a hangover, two barmaids that I apparently promised to employ (Great! Will have to tell my banker that two more shares will have to be allocated to them) and the sinking realization that I destroyed any chance of diplomacy between Ironforge and Blackrock Depths. Good going Ærynn... such a nice example to Myrrh.

What got me so drunk that it impaired my judgement? With so many tickets from last year and plenty more tokens from this year, I bought myself a membership to the "Brew of the Month" Club. Well, there was nothing left to buy and I thought, what the heck, free brew with supposed beneficial side-effects. Not bad... not bad. I awaited my free brew.

What did I get? Some cheapo stuff, that's what. Some brew that made me speak nonsense and a syrupy light brown ale that made me see squirrels. What happened to all the fortifying stuff I had been getting? No added stamina, no spirit... nothing. They did get me drunk, though. And someone who was drunk, talking nonsense and seeing non-existent squirrels will beat up some neglected dwarf on the provocation that doing so will get me a kodo. Brilliant.

The thing is that I not only went down there, but I dragged Sküld and Dwarrow down there (along with their friends), too. I was uncharacteristically temperamental and mean to them, and for that I hope they someday forgive me.

I still look forward to Brewfest, but I should always remember that moderation is the key. Anyway, to cut a long story short—this year people weren't so happy because they were looking forward to finally purchasing their mount and instead learned they had to beat up a sad old dwarf until he coughed it up. All the other trinkets and stuff are fine, but what other thing can you get from Brewfest that can last you all the way to Northrend? All the other toys are nice, and some cheap alcohol every month is nice, but people were hoping to get the ram or the kodo this year for when we invade Northrend. This was the real reason why people had been racing and barking it up until the very end last year.

This year, there just wasn't any point.

Continue reading "Brewfest madness, Brewfest hangover"...

Are we still calling them "welfare" epics?

by myrrh

I still don't get it. Why is, like, military-grade, alliance-issue gear still seen as, like, "welfare epics". "Welfare epics"! As if! The last time I checked out what "welfare" meant, like, it would be the gray and white stuff the Turners give to guys without jobs and stuff, mostly, or what King Magni doles out to veterans with missin' limbs. "Welfare"! By Malorne's leafy horns! Does anyone know how wicked hard it is to, like, get these things?

And referring to those cowards and mercenaries afking and not contributing in a fight on the battlegrounds and still getting such groovy gear will not make getting this stuff easier. Adventuring raiders are just hopping mad that they have to put up with the perils (and costs) of their trade to get (can I say it?) their gambled loot and they think afkers can get something "just as good" for no effort.

Don't get me wrong, I'm with the adventurers here in that I hate the cowards and the mercenaries as well but, like, don't lump us in with them. For a lot of us, like, really, adventuring just isn't an option. At all. Us guys and gals who want to get bitchin' gear, for sure, we have to sign up for our tour of duty with the Alliance. We're not powerful enough to go to Outland and fight the Illidari or the Burnin' Legion, right? And you'd never willingly go down the bowels of the Molten Core or liquidate Onyxia with us because there's nothin' in it for you anymore, am I right? (My mum would go with me, she says, for sure... except that her peers are eggin' her about the coming invasion of Northrend next month. My mum and I just don't seem to be in the same place at the same time, no matter what we do. I see her sisters, for sure... but it's not the same.)

The thing is, like, it's not welfare! Even my mum who mostly gets some totally bitchin' stuff from her arena battles has to, like, earn every piece she gets. Fighting on the battlegrounds or the arenas, I mean, they're like, so personally taxing. Mano y mano, one-on-one, person-versus-person... that's mondo stressful, man! And you can't just, like, "pull it off" (even the cowards and the mercenaries have to keep a straight face when they, like, queue up to the gigantic dwarfy battlemaster to get their medals and stuff; and as an aside, that "dwarf" battlemaster is as tall as me so, like, you try staring him down). I was totally fabulous in Warsong for a while, but because I haven't fought in, like, two months I can't just wade in there and be fabulous again.

My old nelf says she gets a better chance to get more gear by just adventurin' with others in a dungeon on farm; eventually, you'll get something if you know it's down there. And if one uses the same set of rules for the sort of loot people throw dice on from raiding some old guardian's tower, one can claim that those are "welfare" too; but I'm not stupid enough to call it that. Even I know that Attumen can kill so easily the unskilled. But, in the end, there's nothing like military gear for, like, military purposes. They're more resilient, for one. Nothing is more resilient than the old army issue.

So it's totally not "welfare" epics. Whichever WoW God of the Freezing Storm who called it that was probably, like, just joking. I mean, he can't be serious. More like "insurance" epics... yeah... and the hours spent on our tours of duty is merely the premium we pay until with, like, enough honor and medals to our name,it matures in one piece of wicked armor. I divide my time now with the Sentinels and the League, mostly, and so far they have done good by me.

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Burning Dragoon Ærynn

by aerynn

I finally did as I promised my daughter and sister, and joined the guild of the Burning Dragoons today. They are very much like what Vendetta used to be, so I felt at home very quickly. I will, I think, never overcome the sense of loss for that guild... but as Myrrh would say it is time to move forward and leave the past behind.

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Who's the noob?

by aerynn

One of my frustrations as a hunter is that we are always assumed to be dumb and stupid even when they don't think we're dumb and stupid. Let me say that again, they think we are dumb and stupid even when they say they think we aren't dumb and stupid. How do they do that?

By ignoring the fact that our traps can do lots of lovely, useful things.

A paladin tank that Sküld and I once regularly quested with, for instance, does not respect hunter trapping at all as a means of crowd control until we basically forced him not to ignore it. He would pull 4 or 5 mobs onto himself and severly tax Sküld's healing prowess instead of at least trapping one. Between an experienced trapper and a newly dinged level 70 mage, for instance, he will insist that the only crowd control allowable is the polymorph.

Sometimes, I'd purposely multi-shot, pulling the mobs toward me and one on to a trap, swoon, and let the others go back to the tank... and try to chain trap that mob away from the little dwarf who does all in his power to break it. He says that CC means Constant Consecration and that's it. Sküld eventually learned to despise him when he became a follower of Leeroy Jenkins.

But what took the cake for me was an ignorant elemental shaman we used to regularly quest with also. We once found ourselves deep in the bowels of the Steamvault of Coilfang Reservoir. My younger druid sister Dwarrowdelf was the healer, one paladin of the protection order, and then the shaman, another hunter and I as the main damage dealers. This group was already composed of veterans, and our armor and weapons were those won from the more dangerous places in Outland or bestowed by G'eras the Naaru, and we assumed that this little quest for Zhareem will be a case of getting in, doing our jobs, and getting out.

Except that the shaman was, on principle, opposed to us using any traps whatsoever. "Trapping are for the undergeared," he quipped. We had two hunters who can trap and a druid with the power to envelop antagonists in a whildwind—we need not have feared wandering squads of 5 mobs. The hunters that we had, furthermore, was a marksman and the other talented in survival. Therefore we collectively had better traps that lasted longer, and a way to pull spellcasters onto these traps.

Instead, he insisted that the best way to do this is for him to "tank" the spellcasters from afar while we just concentrated on killing the ones we've marked. Lucky for us that Alliance had captured the Twin Spire Ruins that day, because "caster tanking" was not working—he would fall too quickly, leaving the spellcaster free to snipe at Dwarrow. Grudgingly, he allowed us to trap, implying that if we are so unskilled as to need traps, he's just going to let us do it.

Unfortunately, he was one of those temperamental people who makes sure that, if his plan didn't work, he'd make sure our "plan" didn't succeed either. I saw him purposely break the frozen spellcasters out of their traps several times, leaving even more loose with our traps still not properly cooled down to be laid a consecutive time. Purposely, I maintain, because (as any hunter worth her salt knows) we were pulling away from where the main action was happening and they were still getting hit. He would then go on to say "See, we're worse off. Let's just do it my way now. I'm doing more damage than any of you..." (true) "... and yet you don't trust me!"

We eventually went back to his way, but still laying our traps around for just in case we "accidentally" become too threatening, and make sure we chain-trap the melee fighters behind his back while he was engaging in a spellcaster duel (his vaunted "caster tanking"). As soon as we killed the Warlord, he immediately left our fellowship and triggered his hearthstone. I have not seen him since. To this day, I think, he believes that if we weren't stubborn and eschewed trapping altogether, then we wouldn't have been haunted by the Spirit Healer so much.

I can't blame them, really. That is, I can't blame them all the time. Because even if we can do lots of useful things with our traps (not just crowd-control) since we are not called to use it often when we party up to tackle a dungeon we have no practice. When I was levelling up in my late 30's, I watched a vision of a hunter kiting one mob from a group of 3 by using the mechanics of a freezing trap. That day I learned that traps were not mere gimmicks but important tools, and I quested all the way to the 58th level with that skill, mostly when I was questing solo.

But without much practice after that, or not much practice in group situations, the one or two times we are asked to trap (usually to freeze a mob) it doesn't go as smoothly as a mage who already has their polymorphing technique already rehearsed to boredom. But, really, when some people are more than happy to see a hunter fail, and actively try to make them fail, how can one fight that? And just to maintain the huntard stereotype they cherish in their heads, too?

Because of that, I made it a point to practice chain-trapping and theorycrafting the various situations when my other traps are useful. I don't want to give them the satisfaction of saying "See, hunter traps are for noobs."

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Some instances need two healers...

by aerynn

... It is not hard to understand. While more than one healer is not necessary for some instances, expecting just that just one healer to heal in every instance is just nonsense.

And little sissy excuses like "But I'm not specced for healing!" or "I'm no good at healing!" are just that: sissy excuses. If the main healer is down or not able to heal, those who are used to just receiving the healing should step up to give it.

Or a wipe ensues.

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Pirates of the Azerothean

by aerynn

Yarrrr, I be shanghai'ed by the Dread Captain DeMeza to join her crew fer a day. T'was a terrible thing that I didn't get to keep this bonnie pirate uniform when she left port at day's end.

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