Tag Archives: fun

fun

Why Pike Is A Bad Example for Gems: Confession Time

22 Comments

I got a comment on one of my recent posts regarding some of the gem choices I made on my Armory and why they did not necessarily match up with what I recommend.

So I’m gonna let you in on a little secret.

Ready?

…

…

…

I am super OCD for set bonuses. I don’t care what the set bonus is, I will get it. I only made one exception once, it was when I needed to stick a +16 hit in there and I was crying inwardly the whole time and I replaced it as soon as I could. The little grayed out +4 stamina or whatever was killing me.

Is this smart? No. Does this mean I end up with wonky “+agi and +mp5” gems, despite the fact that mp5 is a bad stat to gem for? (Seriously, do not gem for mp5) Yes. Is this gimping my DPS? Probably a bit, yeah. Does this mean I tend to get a lot of comments and e-mails regarding my “special” gem choices? Yeah, and it’s kinda embarrassing.

But ya know what, tough. =P Besides, it’s better that my OCDness manifests itself in a video game than in a real life. (As someone who went through and somehow conquered the “write down every number I hear on some scrap of paper” phase… trust me on this).

This is why I squirm a little bit when people ask me if they should go for socket bonuses or not. Because I want to say “No, you shouldn’t,” but I always always do, personally.

I am a special case guys. Don’t be like me. Really. >.> Hey, we all have our little quirks, and that’s mine.

I’m Pike, and I go for socket bonuses. I also tend to go for what’s cheap because I’m cheapskate.

There, I said it.

/sits down

fun, stories, Uncategorized

The Fable of the Worst Bank Ninja Ever

16 Comments

This story posted over at World of Matticus reminded me of an incident that happened to me about a year or so back and that miraculously I don’t think I ever posted about. Now because this did happen so long ago, I’m a little iffy on the details, but for the most part this is all true.

Let me set the stage… I’m in my guild (the big one, from back in the day, which I was an officer of and, for a very brief time, guild leader as well), a good many of us are online and I’m sitting around in Stormwind doing something or other. Suddenly I get a whisper from some random level 11 priest or something.

“can i join ur guild plz”

I whisper back the standard answer for requests like that. “Sorry, we aren’t recruiting right now.”

“prety plz i am a wow gm, wuldnt u like a wow gm in ur guild?”

*blink blink*

Guild chat time.  “Hahaha, hey guys, I’m getting a whisper from some guy who claims to be a GM and he  wants to join the guild.”

The response?  An overwhelming “omg omg let him join let him join!”

And so, grinning like an idiot, I invited him. And we as a guild smothered him with over-the-top adoration.

“Wow a real GM! Joining our guild! Such an honor! This is the best thing that has ever happened to me in game!” and et cetera.

“ty ty”

We continued to make it a big deal but our newcomer was quiet for a bit. I found him in Stormwind and noticed he was standing in front of the guild bank.

“can i get promoted”

“Why?”

“can i just get promoted plz just for 2 secs”

“Sorry, you haven’t met the requirements for a promotion yet.”

“wut r the reqiuermants”

“Well… you have to be active in the guild, and you have to be reeeeeeeeally good at RP.” We exaggerated that last part out a lot.

“wut is rp”

“It’s when you make a story for your character and make your character act the way you think they would.”

“o”

Silence.

“ya i have a rly gud rp”

“Oh? Why don’t you tell us a little about your character?”

More silence.

“cant”

“Why not?”

“because I am a GM lol it has to be secret”

“Oh wow, Blizzard GMs have to have secret character backstories? That sounds hardcore.  Your character must be really awesome!”

“ya it is rly awesome.   so can i get promoted plz”

“Nope, sorry, we only do promotions once a week at our guild meetings.”

“prty plz just for 2 secs”

“Nope.”

“but i am a gm dont u want a gm officer”

“You have to wait until the guild meeting just like everyone else.  As a GM, you should know all about rules.”

Finally the guy quit trying amidst most of us giggling up a storm in officer chat, and he logged out in front of the guild bank. We /gkicked him afterwards.

The moral of the story is… if any of you aspiring *cough* Blizz GMs out there want a guild promotion, you’d better not only have a RLY GUD RP, but be willing to wait until the guild meeting! =P

The End. /bow

alts, fun, screenshots, Uncategorized

Round One: FIGHT!

61 Comments

I really appreciate all the comments and ideas that were left on my blog post where I admitted that I was feeling sort of “lost in WoW” lately. After a bit of thought and a slight break, I’m thinking a major part of my problem is a lack of focus. I feel stretched too thin between my main character and then two level 74 toons– if I’m playing one, I keep thinking “I should be playing one of my others” in the back of my mind. Which is weird because I don’t really have any outside pressure to play any character in particular; I just feel bad when I can’t give them equal attention.

To remedy this, I am going to pick one alt toon to focus on and really concentrate on getting to 80. I think having that as a concrete goal will certainly give me something to do over the next couple of weeks.

And guys… I’ll need your help to pick.

/Announcer Voice On

lunapikerawr

And in this corner we have… Lunapike the Diplomat, level 74 Tauren Hunter. She was Pike’s second hunter to hit level 70 and is on the fast track to becoming her second level 80 hunter… and perhaps her second level 80, period! She resides on the RP-PvP server The Venture Co. (US) where she has resided since her mid-20s when she transferred there from a normal PvP server, and has a good half a level or so on our second contestant.

Strengths:
– Is a hunter, and Pike likes hunters. And playing another one would possibly give her more blog post ideas.
– Has tamed a Giant Enemy Crab which she named Genji
– Is the highest leveled Hordie of Pike’s, and as such has the drive and motivation to get to 80 so she can start collecting badges and passing out heirloom items, not to mention get sexy gear
– As a Hordie, gets to see the other side of the Northrend storyline which Pike hasn’t seen yet!
– Easier to quest with than the second contestant, in general
– Is a Female Tauren, the best playable model in game
– Pike is actually not allergic to cows

Weaknesses:
– Is dirt poor. Lacks epic flying and dual spec. (Not that dual spec is quite so important for a hunter, but ya know.)
– …is a hunter, and Pike already has one (or three, or four, or…).
– Is going to cause Pike to dissolve into fits of tears when she finds out dailies are a gankfest (sort of a repeat of what happened when she went to the Isle of Quel’danas with this character back in the day)
– Has a heck of a time getting into instances. Tends to get ganked by swarms of 80s at the meeting stone after finally finding a group (though she can take on most players of equal level).
– Has no “connections” to any raid groups

tamaryncast

And in this corner we have… Tamaryn, the… Tree! Level 74 Night Elf Druid. Though much “younger” than Lunapike, she has quickly climbed up the levels and currently sits a mere half a level or so behind the tauren, ready to surpass her at a given notice. She lives on the RP server Silver Hand (US) alongside Pike’s main, Tawyn.

Strengths:
– Is not a hunter and is thus an all new experience for Pike
– Has both Swift Flight Form and dual-spec thanks to Tawyn’s obsession with the Argent Tournament
– In Boomkin form, outDPS’s Lunapike, stupid Starfire crits (though to be fair, Lunapike is wearing a leveling spec whereas Tamaryn pretty much snatched something from Elitist Jerks)
– Is invited to instance groups within about thirty seconds
– Has the 10%-extra-XP shoulders
– Already has connections with various raid groups via Tawyn
– Is a Tree, the second best playable model in game

Weaknesses:
– May possibly cause Pike to start blogging about druidy things (on occasion!! Pike will still be playing her main.)
– Will be redo’ing a lot of leveling content Pike has already seen on Tawyn
– No real drive to get to 80 other than wanting to have a max-level healer alt since a.) Tawyn has already passed out heirloom items like candy on Hallow’s End and b.) it’s not like the way gear looks matters in tree form
– Pike has a deep-seated fear that if she gets a healer to level 80, she will never be allowed to play a hunter in a raid ever again
– Pike is allergic to trees

Who will win and become the part of Pike’s Next Big Project, and who will have to sit on the sidelines and be the “Third” (possible bad Ender’s Game joke not intended)?

ONLY YOU WILL DETERMINE THEIR FATE.

/Announcer voice off

Comment and vote today! *nod*

Note: Just to be clear, I really enjoy playing both of these characters and would be quite happy to level either. That’s why I can’t decide! >.>

fun, screenshots

Death Knight Starter Quests Improve With Age

17 Comments

(Warning: Possible spoilers ahead. Those of you who haven’t done the Death Knight starter quests, or haven’t done them in a long time, and would like to be surprised when you do them, feel free to skip this entry.)

Like most everyone else, I rolled a Death Knight the day after Wrath of the Lich King came out.

Like most everyone else, I finished the whole starter questchain because it was a rather captivating experience.

…and like a lot of people, my first Death Knight sits at level 58 because at the time, the Hellfire Peninsula quests were being camped so badly that it was like a foreshadowing of Noblegarden egg-hunting or something.

I always intended on making a second Death Knight sometime later, when all the initial hype and “PRESS 1 FOR HORSE” General Chat spam had died down, but I also wanted to do it when I knew I would have time to do it all in one sitting or close to it. So when I had a few hours to myself last night, I rolled up a shiny new Tauren Death Knight. Because I am an RP-geek, I wanted a name that was both Taureny and DeathKnighty, so I named her Bryonia, after an herb that causes “a profuse and uncontrollable diarrhoea, vomiting, vertigo, reduction of temperature, dilatation of the pupils, cold perspiration, extremely small pulse, colic, collapse, and death”. Sounds good, no?

Anyways the Death Knight starting quests were as wonderful the second time as they were the first, and I’d argue even more so. Ya know why? Cause now that I’ve played a good deal of Wrath of the Lich King, a lot of the references that I hadn’t noticed the first time are very potent and, in many cases, absolutely hilarious. Observe:

wow_thassarian

Oh my gosh! It’s Thassarian! You know, the guy who has a whole super long and awesome questline dedicated to him in Borean Tundra and who now flies around Icecrown! *gasp*

wow_razuvious

Show him what you’ve got!

wow_gothik

Poor Gothik. He finally gets a vacation and he’s still got work on the brain. For the record, and The Boyfriend can probably confirm– this made me laugh harder than anything else in WoW ever has, ever. Oh, and Gothik is also responsible for coining the phrase “Vacuum Cleaner of Souls” later on in this particular questline. Snaps for you, Gothik… snaps for you.

“Noth, where is Heigan?”

wow_noth1

wow_noth2

I’m thinking Noth is just bitter because he can’t dance. (In other news, I’d pay good money to see Heigan hosting an episode of Mousercise).

wow_mograine

ZOMG! Corrupted Ashbringer!

patchwerk

Aww, poor guy. /sniff. I gotta say though, what I wouldn’t give for a sound bite of “Loan make Patchwerk ANGRY!” to play over the phone to telemarketers.

wow_fightingpatchwerk2

Even in the DK starter zone he’s a tough cookie; enrages at the end and everything. Thanks, temporary invincibility buff!

Baron Rivendare was there too although I didn’t snag a screenshot, perhaps because it seems like he’s everywhere (Naxx, Stratholme, et al.) I did notice he’s actually pretty good looking though. I think it’s the hair. But yeah, good times, good times. DK quests are definitely worth a do-over if you’re someone who hasn’t visited Acherus since November; it’s better the second time.

My spec? Unholy, of course. Ghoul Frenzy is hot-keyed to my Bestial Wrath button. /grin

fun, movies

This Is What I'm Doing With My Film Degree

20 Comments

Before you ask…

– The song is called “Bucket!” and I wrote it. A 100%-Pike creation I made in 2003 when screwing around with a program that was then called FruityLoops. The original movie of this that I made used the songs “I’ve Been Everywhere” by Johnny Cash and “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers but YouTube threw copyright notices in my face and disabled the music, so in protest I am using an original song that I’ve been sitting on for years, waiting for a good time to use it. I think it works well.

– Yes I know there’s easier methods to get this achievement. Not nearly so fun though!

– See the big shadows on the ground starting at 3:38? There are supposed to be buildings there. And people wonder why I eat flame walls… *mutters*

art, fun

Tawyn and Wash do the Safety Dance

28 Comments

tawynandwashdothesafetydancefinal1

It all started when The Safety Dance came on my playlist and it got me thinking about the Heigan part of my “Eyes of the Beast” post… and then a light bulb went off in my head and I went dashing for the nearest pencil and paper. This was my first “real” try using a computer to ink and color a hand-drawn sketch (thanks once again to GIMP!) and it turned out a lot better than I thought it would. In fact, the hardest part was finding a good background of Heigan’s room that didn’t have a bunch of, well, people in it.

Next time I do Heigan I’m going to see if I can get a nice screenshot of the floor with the green fire on either side and I’ll set it to that, then I might try tossing it to the Blizz fanart folks just for the heck of it.

Anyways, I hope it made you smile. ^_^