Happy Patch day - 5.2 is here!

Have a great patch day everyone - 

The Sons of Plunder Story - Part 2

Hello everyone, welcome back!

Once I logged on vent, I joined the channel with the others from the guild. A few names I recognized from the guild chat channel, others however I did not. There were around six or so when I joined. Eivom being the guild leader spoke up quickly once I had joined.

"Hello there Ciprano, can you hear us?" a deep raspy voice rumbled through my ten dollar headset. I tried to reply pressing my usual V hotkey but nothing happened.

I quickly went into the settings and changed it before replying, "Yeah, hello....can you guys hear me?"
"Yes, sir!" Eivom rasped, with the others following suit. Now that we could all hear one another the jokes started going off like a firework finale. Everything from typical, "Your momma's..." to some that could make a sailor cringe. I would have never thought laughing could be such a workout. Talk about thirty minute abs.

Forty minutes of jokes came and went in what seemed like seconds, then a mixture of a grumble and a grunt came over the channel. "Guys, I need another beer!" A deep and distant voice blared. Soon the Rattling of empty cans, many cans enveloped the channel. I assumed the owner was AFK once the scraping from the mic turned into a low roar from a nearby computer fan. I effortlessly alt-tabbed to see who this newcomer was. Glancing up and down the channel before coming to the green speaker symbol next to the name 'Ham'. I shrugged and alt-tabbed back to wow to continue questing. The sound stopped suddenly once Eivom pushed the sound intruder into the upper channel noted 'AFK.'
Before I knew it, it was that time again. I said my farewells and logged for the night.


The next day, I was very excited because I was about four bars from level 60. That could only mean a trip through the Dark Portal was near. It was a Friday night aswell, so no school for the following days. Who does homework when there's a horde of dragons running amok.

I ran through the Dark Portal to emerge in Hellfire. A barren wasteland, with a hellish sci-fi feel. I had my real life friend carry me through Hellfire Ramps with a few of his guidies (which was the first dungeon one could enter.) to get what he said was a bis polearm for leveling. I didn't even know what BIS stood for at this point but alas I came back to honor hold with the blue gem in hand.

'Ham' had returned to vent quietly.

A Crack of a beer and very few words. "Hey, you see how fast that Bungie Character is leveling?! You better watch out for him!"

Level 61 was approaching fast. I figured Zangarmarsh was my best bet to level quickly. I looked in the guild pane to check up on this 'Bungie'. He was already 56 and it had been only a few days since he was around 40.

This guy was a machine.
Ciprano out.


Thanks for stopping by!

- Larryfine

The Sons of Plunder Story

Hello everyone, welcome back!

A long while back I uploaded all of my screenshots from one hard disk to photobucket - I recently had an idea to share some of them and the stories they contain.

Every story has a beginning so that is where I will start for the sake of the readers - If your ever looking for the first post here it is. I will make it simple to find by putting these particular posts into another page for quick access over the months ahead for your viewing pleasure. Please sit back, relax and make sure you have a fresh cup of coffee or tea to enjoy while reading!

Without further ado, here is the story of the first screenshot selected.

We as players enjoy taking screenshots of our accomplishments. Reflection, on past events brings back some of our greatest memories. Each screenshot has its own story behind it. Stories that unfold, with characters, events and lessons to learn. This screenshot is no different, I chose it because it is the tip of the iceberg.


The Son's of Plunder, was the first guild I joined. I joined it while leveling through Stranglethorn Vale on my thirty something Paladin. I was still very very new to the game at this point. While leveling like cold molasses through STV killing pirates and the occasional gorilla, I got a whisper from some Mage asking me if I would like to join this guild. I said sure, and accepted the invite. Upon joining, guild chat was bustling. After the usual "welcome" initiation completed, I was prompted to join them on vent. I declined at first. It was a late night, I was tired. I also had school the next morning.  I told them in chat that I would catch them the next evening and be sure to join them on vent.

The next day I logged on to find around twelve members online, guild chat bustling just like the day before. I quickly noticed that they were not only talking about in game stuff but were openly sharing real life events to all. Two mid fifty members chatting about quests they were stuck on in EPL. A few higher levels talking about changes in the upcoming expansion - The Burning Crusade. Others chatting about Arathi Basin and entangling roots. In midst of all the "in game" chatter, a few outsiders would throw in bouts of inebriation, arguing that their beer of choice was better than that of so and so's. This quickly lead to stories being shared and very dirty jokes being told. I quickly became entranced in the conversations, occasionally laughing out loud to some of the things I was reading. I found myself at home in the guild, having worked it kitchens. I came to respect the debauchery they were describing in great detail. Into the wee hours of the morning we chatted in guild chat about everything from sexy models to favorite off the wall 40 ounce malt liquor names. Soon I was reading the start of college memoirs and military hazing stories. I figured some of these "guys" where much older than me, nothing much new here because I was used to hanging with the older crowd. I had been playing Battlefield with four middle aged men for months prior, this was nothing new. I was pleased with my choice to join the guild. I had found a great home away from home on the mysterious world of Azeroth.

I played on and off through the next few weeks, going back and fourth to play Battlefield. I was getting burned on the slow pace of leveling and hit the wall in the mid 40's. Crawling forward a level every three or four days if I even played. I wanted to level up quicker but I just couldn't find the energy to push forward. I would spend most of my play time trying to figure out quests while being distracted by the humor ensuing in guild chat.

The Burning Crusade was coming out very soon and I wanted to hit 60 prior to the launch.

(I went back to playing Battlefield full time just prior to the release of BC - Returning a few weeks after the launch after being lured back in by my high school gaming friends) 

I got back into the game with a fresh take on leveling, with Outland looming overhead. Quite a few newcomers had joined the guild. The influx of new players brought even more banter, with a green wall of text filling my chat box I pushed into EPL to start questing. I figured by the way these people were chatting to one another they had some relationship outside the game. Possibly knowing one another from work or school, not totally unreasonable considering my friends got me into the game. I looked down to see that someone had just joined the guild, someone named Bungie. A level 39 paladin. This was not a normal paladin. He was a Draenei, one of the new races that had come along with the expansion. This expansion was brand new.

Guild chat erupted, it seemed to me that they knew this guy and this current character was some sort of alternate. They chatted back and fourth for five minutes or so. Bungie wasn't really chatting much, he only spoke up to say school was taking his time and finals were coming.

Time passed, the mysterious Bungie character laying ever low in guild chat only to exclaim DING - Level 40 a few minutes later. This level was met with a few Grats and the outlying WTF, HOW DO YOU LEVEL SO FAST!?!
The Bungie character replied only with a lol.

Guild Chat went silent for a few minutes, before a guild officer soon linked the vent info in chat, telling us to get on. This time I obliged, and logged in.

One Dun Dun DUN DUN later and I was transported into another world.

   
Thanks for stopping by,

- Larryfine

Shaman - 90: took long enough! Gold total and gear update!

Alright, hello and welcome back everyone!

I didn't post anything because between 70 and 90 due to the fact that I just wanted to get capped. Mists content has very little replay value on the third or fourth toon you level through it. Once I got into Townlong I noticed that almost every quest is just kill 12 of each different thing. Yeah, I know that is what questing is but seriously...that zone really hurts. Then we have Dreadwastes! What a slow moving zone that is. I am glad to be done!

The total amount of gold I made from leveling was 13,763 - not really bad at all concidering I didn't finish any zone 100 percent and just vendored most of the stuff I got. I do have a few stacks of random meat I will send to my rogue to get his cooking up and all the cloth from wrath on I sent to the warrior for the tailoring grind!

On to heroics! I want to get honor capped and get as much gear as I can between now and the patch - Since the pvp gear will be move to honor it will be much quicker to gear up to a healthy level once the patch drops.

Between Heroics and Bg's I will be grinding out professions - Thinking a second alch for more xmutes and Engineering - I don't have one yet and it seems like they will be getting some nice things in the upcoming patch to sell. I currently don't have any professions so I will be gathering all the mats myself. At least that is my thoughts for now. Things could change if prices drop, although the price of herbs has been climbing recently. I only spent 3k to level my alch on my mage now its pushing 7k, 2 days of farming between bg queues/dungeon running is much better since I am trying to save my gold.

Alright everyone, my heroic just popped so I will catch you later!

-Larryfine

Shaman Leveling Experience: Northrend Bound!

My Elemental Shaman has crossed the frozen sea and is making haste through Northrend. I just hit level 70 and I was thinking about how much gold I had spent leveling so far. I honestly haven't bought anything on my shaman - I sent gold for training my riding skills so the 1.8k in my bags is just from leveling and selling some cloth I didn't need on the ah. Since I will be leveling through the frozen wastes I can get my hands on much needed Frostweave for my Warrior who is treading in that area of Tailoring. I am going to send gold for my riding skills so I will be able to see just how much gold I will have when I get to 90.

As far as the shaman is concerned I am really enjoying it, much more than I would have expected!

Once I got over the mental argument I was having about binding my totems and just binding them all individuality my experience got much smoother around level 30 so from there to 70 its been a breeze. The talents I have chosen are just generic ele talents but I will go over each one for those who don't know!

15 - Nature's Guardian - Almost like a last stand, I really like passive talents like this so I took it. The other talents in this tier look good as well though.

30 - Earthgrab Totem - This seems like a pvp talent because mobs just target it and kill it right when they get rooted. It has saved me from dying though so I like it.

45 - Totemic Restoration - I took this because Totemic Projection seems wishy washy for leveling - Good for arena, or bg's with Capacitor totem in mind.

60 - Echo of the Elements - Like before, I enjoy passive talents but not when it comes to damage so much - This talent is pretty sweet though because the double can be of a heal as well as damage so If you get into a situation where you are needing to spam heal it can really help - I just love the damage you get from this one though! Chain Lightning spam with this is epic feeling. It procs quite a bit too so the damage is noticeable.

In the future I might go with either elemental mastery or ancestral swiftness because of the on use nature of those - I like being able to time my burst more than relying on rng most of the time. Ele seems like a very rng spec and playstyle though so echo just works!

As far as combat is concerned, keeping Flame shock up at all times on as many targets as you can is a must. If you have more than one target which you should be pulling more than one most of the time if able - Chain Lightning spam is very viable. If you happen to get low or over pull, just throw down
Earthgrab>Ghostwolf>Heal - Thunderstorm if you have to for more breathing room and mana = GG

Thank's for stopping by!

-Larryfine

5.2 Stock - Update - Diversifying the ore

Hello everyone,

Since my mouse won't be in until Monday  I thought I would go ahead and get my stock in order. Here is my general game plan:

Ghost Iron ore: 60g per stack
Ghost Iron bar: 120g per stack

That is what I have been paying for my ghost iron - Right now I have well over 6k ores so I was planning on smelting them into bars.

I took two tabs of ore and smelted them down then sent them to my alch to xmute into trill - each trill bar being 60g because it takes 10 Bars to make one trill bar.

(I will give the xmute total in the next update post - Because I am writing this in real time LOL)

My reasoning for xmuting these bars was to diversify a little bit more, the new legendary quest will take 40 trill bars to complete and living steel takes trill as well so I will be hitting three birds with one ghost iron stone.

I will keep stocking up on ghost iron if its cheap but I don't want to have only ores. Having one tab of each processed ore seems like a better option. If one tanks early on I might still be able to make some profits of another. Even if everything tanks for some reason I can still sell my stock slowly over the next few months as more and more people are going to need/want to push through the legendary quest chain and or make some of the new items.

I am going to start doing my living steel CD each day, I have been neglecting it recently but I feel like the price for it will go up as well. Its a little more risk but stocking up in general is risky enough I guess.

My pricing for Living steel follows my ghost iron because I will be using my available stock I have been buying to make them. Although i have gotten some ore between arena queues or whatever I still consider them to be the same price.

Living steel will be 360g - currently I could sell these at a small profit but with the next patch and all new sinks I think that the price will increase.

Other Stocks:

I was planning on stocking up on gems but I have been using my stock to get cuts - The gem market is very sour currently - Sure, there is money to be made but for such little profit the shuffle just doesn't seem worth it to me.

I also thought about stocking up on other useful items - Leg Patches, enchanting scrolls etc - I haven't gotten around to it yet. There should still be time though for some last minute shopping sprees as the speculated patch release date is on the 26th.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Larryfine

Shocking...Razer Naga Fried.

Yep, my second Razer Naga mouse died today. I took off my jacket, didn't ground myself on my computer case before touching my mouse. Zap, dead.

My history with Razer products is a good one, I absolutely love the Naga. I can't play without it. Once upon a time, I used a normal run of the mill mouse. Two buttons and the scroll wheel. Oh how times have changed. It's very hard to not become reliant on things that make our lives easier. Having a mouse with more than three buttons is something of that nature. Each class in wow has so many abilities now I couldn't fathom trying to bind and play half decently without my Naga. So, I bought another...until it arrives I will be stuck doing auctions.

Honestly though, I hate being reliant. Could I play without it, sure. It would take some getting used to again and I would have to change all my binds around. No. I will just be extra careful next time.

Auction House, 5.2 Stock and Shamans:

I am still selling quite a few pieces in my 83/84 market - Brought in 2k this morning, not half bad for making gold on auto pilot right now. I am still enjoying the market even though its just buying/selling at the moment without much other thought. I should start to look into what is really selling via TUJ and TSM to get a better picture soon. I will save that for another rainy day after 5.2 though because I need all the gold I can get right now.

My stock for 5.2 is growing everyday. I have almost three full tabs of ghost iron, and closing in on one full tab of bars. I have quite a bit of gold tied up in the stock, but I am not worried about selling it at a profit. I will keep stocking as much as I can. Each time I log in I am buying everything below my threshold of 60g per stack. Even checking twice per day although prices have seemed to rise a few gold over the last few weeks. Some folks are still selling for ~60g though and I will buy all of it!

I recently set the goal to level one of each class to 90. I want to have each profession covered on one faction and one server. So far I am making pretty decent progress and finding it pretty refreshing to just level. If someone would have asked me a few years ago to level each class to 90, I would have told them to take a hike. Certainly the times have changed. I am finding the driving force behind my leveling craze to be mainly gold because I don't really see myself really "Playing" any of the alts I level. My newest Elemental shaman is one exception. I can honestly say that I am having a blast just leveling him. In one million years, I would have never thought shaman to be even remotely fun. I was totally wrong! I am really enjoying the change of pace with the class.

That is all I got for the time being, not the most exciting stuff but moon landings don't happen everyday!

Thanks for stopping by,

-Larryfine