It’s the time of the WoW Calendar when people are getting bored because there’s no new content and everyone is restlessly waiting for the new patch. People either take a break from WoW, or they start on a new alt just to keep themselves occupied.

I can’t say I’m an expert alt leveler, but I can definitely say I’m experienced in leveling an alt very fast, all by myself! I’m sharing with you guys 10 tips on how to get your alt to level 80 ASAP!

• Use a leveling guide. If you have money to spare, get yourself a leveling guide. The less time you decide which quest to do first, the faster you’ll get to 80.
• Use Light-Headed. With leveling add ons like Light-Headed, knowing where to go will be easy as pie. Just click the link of the coordinates and you’ll find where you need to go next.
• Use Heirloom Items. The faster you kill things, the better. And 2 pieces of the Heirloom Items (the chest and the shoulders) will give you each 10% more experience points when you kill mobs and when you submit quests. That’s 20% additional more experience points!
• Skip Group Quests. Unless you have a big bad level 80 nanny with you, then looking for groups to do group quests will definitely slow you down. Skip them.
• Arm your toon with bags with the most slots. The less times you go to town to sell stuff, the better!
• Don’t bother  with leveling your profession yet. Like I said, while leveling you need to tunnel vision! Level, level, level!
• Buy Cold Weather Flying Book at lvl 70. After the last patch, the Cold Weather Flying Book is now bind on account. You can actually buy the book with a level 80 toon and mail the book to your level 70 alt. Questing with a flying mount will definitely make going around way easier and faster.
• Use Auto Loot. Again, like I said, tunnel vision. Kill, loot, kill, loot, submit, quest, quest, quest.
• Always log off at an Inn. Blue Bar is GOOD, Purple Bar is Bad!

And the most important tip…

DO NOT TALK TO ANYONE. No guild chat, no PM chat or any other chat. Every second you type out something in chat, adds a second longer to your levelling! The only people you should talk to when you’re levelling are the NPCs and yourself, hehe.

I would say that my biggest noob mistake happened during Vanilla WoW days. My former guild was still raiding Molten Core back then and we’ve been spending weeks and weeks trying to get Ragnaros down. These were the days when summoning stones didn’t exist and every time you wipe, you have to run ALL the way back to wherever you wiped. These were the days when shaman ankhs and warlock soulstones were called “wipe-prevention tools”.

So after 3 hours of raiding on day 2, we reach Ragnaros. The Raid Leader briefly explains the fight for those who aren’t familiar. We all buff up (I remember the days when buffing was only group wide! Talk about spending so much reagents!). Soulstones weren’t given out yet since we had a couple of shammies in the raid.

We pull. Phase 1. Good!

Come Phase 2. We all /faceplant.

But that’s fine. A shammy anks up and starts ressurrecting people.

Take 2! Take 3! Take 4!

By this time the Raid Leader has asked the warlocks to put soulstones on healers. On the second to the last pull, the Raid Leader said, “Soulstone on Veeka pls. Make this pull count, it’s the second to the last!”

We pull. We all /faceplant.

I click the soulstone button, and pop up. I target another healer, click my ressurrect button and wait for the spell to finish.

Spell finishes.

And I get hearthed to town.

AUGH! Apparently, my res button was beside my hearth button and I clicked it accidentally!

So that’s my biggest noob mistake EVER.

Lesson learned: Never place your resurrect button near your hearth.

Luckily for me, my guildmates were forgiving enough that they found it quite funny. Or else I would have probably cried if they started screaming at me on vent.

Thank the geek gods I’m a female gamer!

Have you guys seen the new in-game pets at Blizzard Store? They’re soooo cute! I can’t decide which one to get! The pets are bought with real money, so if you have a couple of dollars to spare, then you’re in for a treat!

There are two (2) kinds of pets available at the Blizzard Store, the Pandaren Monk and Lil K.T. Both pets cost $10. The Pandaren Monk is like a little martial arts expert that makes weird sounds like Bruce Lee, while jumping up and down and making weird martial arts poses. Lil K.T. on the other hand kills nearby little critters and laughs out diabolically every so often. I personally like Lil K.T. more than the Pandaren Monk. There’s just something about tiny little creatures trying to be evil, haha!

Oh, if you buy a Pandaren Monk before December 31, 2009, 50% of the proceeds will be donated to charity. I’m just not sure which one, hehe.

But you know, as much as I’m thrilled about being able the new in-game pets, I’m not sure how I feel about it being purchaseable with real money. I feel like Blizzard is being a sell-out, for a lack of better term, haha. But hey, business is business!

Read more about the new pets at the Pet Store FAQ!

Patch 3.3 is just around the corner and here are five (5) features we can all look forward to!

1. Cross Server LFG – Just like the PVP Battleground, we will be able to group with other players from other servers in the same battlegroup! I’m a little intrigued with this feature since it was also mentioned that it works the same as entering a PVP battleground. If you use the LFG tool, you will be teleported inside the dungeon, same way when you queue for a battleground. Does this mean that we’ll be doing away from summoning stones in the future?

2. Vote to Kick Feature – Ah, thank God! Finally a way democratic and easier way of getting rid of annoying people in a PuG! 4 votes, and you’re out!

3. Disenchant Feature – Another interesting feature! As long as you have a disenchanter in the group (with the appropriate skill level, of course) you will get the Disenchant option when it comes to rolling for loot, aside from the usual Need and Greed. And obviously, if you roll for Disenchant, you automatically get the enchanting mats if you win the roll.

4. Smart Match Making System for LFG – This feature will help lessen the headache you can get from forming PuGs. It’s not a guarantee though, since you might still end up with annoying and immature players. However, least experienced or geared players can be assured that they’ll be paired up with atleast ONE experienced or geared player. Lucky for the noobs, unfortunate for the uber player!

5. Weekly Raid Quests – They’re scrapping out the current normal and heroic dungeon dailies. This actually makes me a bit sad. I actually look forward to doing heroics dailies, boohoo. Anyway, the NPCs in Dalaran will instead give out weekly raid quests and raiders will have to kill random targets from any raid dungeons from Naxxramas to Ice Crown.

Can’t wait for Patch 3.3!

How is everyone’s Hallow’s End coming along?

I’m practically done with my achievements. I just need to go throw some stinky eggs at the Alliance town and I’m all set. Then I can parade all over town with my “the Hallowed” title… since that’s the only thing I’m going to get, aside from a crappy pumpkin head gear (which I totally hate by the way, blech) and a pumpkin pet.

While it’s great that the Headless Horseman mount is free for everyone (but OMG, drop rate low much?!), what I don’t understand is why the Horseman’s Horrific Helm can only be used by plate wearers! The Horseman’s Baleful Blade on the other hand can be used only by tanks and sword handling dpsers. Sure, a mage can equip the sword but what the heck is he going to do with +26 agility?!

Unfaaaaiiir, I tell you. *whiney voice* I want a helm that laughs like the Headless Horseman, too!

Oh, in case you guys don’t know, I play a blood elf priest in WoW. So yah, Hallow’s End World Event is an injustice to all clothies! *rallies*

I find it hilarious that Blizzard had to bribe their subscribers to convert their WoW accounts into Battle.net accounts. Nothing wrong with that tho, just extremely funny (in an eye-rolling way).

Seriously, Blizzard has been asking people to convert their accounts for a while now. Probably a good 2-3 months. And I’m guessing a good majority of players still hasn’t converted their accounts. It’s either the players are really lazy, OR they’re too engrossed in the game that they don’t see the announcements all together.

So what do you get if you convert your WoW account to a Battle.net account?

You can:

• have a centralized account system for all Blizzard games. Single username and password for all-games! No need to remember multiple usernames!
• manage purchases at the online Blizzard store
• keep track of CD keys for your Blizzard games
• access Blizzard websites
• participate in upcoming beta tests for their new games
• chat cross-real in World of Warcraft
• chat cross-game (WoW player chats with Starcraft player!)
• have a real-life friends list (whatever that means, I’m guessing like a IM messenger list or something)

You NEED to convert your WoW accounts by November 11, 2009 or else you won’t be able to log-in the game unless your merge or convert your account. I say NEED since some people might nerd rage if they experience disruption with their game/play time, haha.

I’ll be expecting an attack of the killer penguins in Dalaran by October 15. That’s they day people will be receiving the pets in-game via mail. No announcement on when Blizzard will stop giving the free in-game penguin pets, but I say stop procrastinating and convert your WoW accounts to Battle.net accounts NOW! (Yes, I’m talking to YOU!)

Convert your account: US accounts / EU accounts
Read: Battle.net Account FAQ

It’s the time of the WoW year when everything seems to be slowing down. This usually happens when a new expansion is about to come out.  I’m guessing that Cataclysm will be coming out around December (this year) or January (next year, duh). I noticed those were the months when expansions usually get released.

By this time (considering you’ve been playing since the start of an expansion), your main toons are probably decently geared and you’ve probably experienced all the content already. By now, you’re probably asking, what is there to do now in WoW?

So here’s a list of things to do while waiting for Cataclysm (or any expansion for that matter) to come out:

1. Save your gold, and make more gold! Trust me, when expansion comes out, you’d want to have a lot of gold saved! I’m guessing they’ll probably introduce a new expensive fee to be able to use your flying mount in the old Azeroth.

2. Try to complete achievements. Especially those with rare mounts as rewards. Remember the rare bear mount in Zul’Aman? It’s highly possible that they might remove the rare mounts rewards if the achievements are too easy to achieve.

3. Max out your professions, if you haven’t. Admit it, some of you guys are slacking off with their professions. Like me. Haha. My enchanting is stuck at 420 at the moment. I know right, just a couple of more points. But then like I said, I’m a slacker, haha. Oh, and that reminds me… my cooking is at 0. Haha.

4. Level a new alt. You can take this time to level a new alt, especially if you plan to roll another class. But then, if you’re planning to make a Worgen toon or a Goblin toon, you may want to save your energy for the grind.

5. Go around old Azeroth and take photos! As you all know, when Cataclysm comes out, Barrens will be transformed into an entirely new place! Take as much screenshots as you like ’cause you’ll probably never see the old Barrens ever again. Atleast you’ll have photos to show your future WoW babies!

6. And lastly, take a break from WoW! As much as it saddens me when people stop playing the game, I suggest you take a break from WoW, or else you’ll get burnt out and probably leave the game altogether. A month or two before an expansion comes out is the best time to take a break, since you’ve probably experienced most of the game content anyway. Just don’t forget to let your guildmates and friends know, or they will most likely kick you out of the guild if you just disappear so suddenly. AND MAKE SURE YOU COME BACK TO PLAY!

I know I should be writing about Brewfest or maybe even Onyxia 3.2.2 going live but you can practically read about those things in other websites already, like MMO Champion. I haven’t personally gone on an Onyxia run with my guildmates so I really can’t share any new and fresh information.

As for Brewfest, there’s really not much difference from last year, except that it’s more achievement based now and the drop rate for the Brewfest mounts have been increased significantly.

What I really want to talk about is the possibility of the different tokens (Emblems of Conquest, Valor, Heroism, Triumph, Champion’s Seals and Stone Keeper’s Shard) being Bind on Account.

Blizzard made leveling alt toons more convenient and easier when they came out with the Heirloom items. They also made Cold Weather Flying available to level 70 alt toons. As long as you have a level 80 toon, you can buy the Cold Weather Flying book from trainer in Dalaran and then pass the book to your alt by mail, as long as the alt toon is on the same account.

If Blizzard can make the Heirloom items and Cold Weather Flying Book Bind on Account, I’m sure it’s very possible for them to make tokens Bind on Account as well. I mean seriously, I raid with my main toon around 3-4 times a week. And from those runs, I pretty much get upgrades for my gear. I don’t really get to use tokens anymore and they just end up accumulating (see image above!). The next thing you know, a new expansion comes out and say goodbye to my gazillion, hard earned tokens. What a waste!

If you’re a regular WoW player, you know where my frustration is coming from. You probably have an undergeared level 80 alt or two that you want to bring to your guild runs, but your guild won’t allow it since they’re pretty much undergeared. And by now, you’re probably so sick and tired of running heroics over and over every single day just so you can get enough tokens to buy emblem gear. Am I right or am I right?! RIGHT!

So there. I’m waiting for the day when tokens becoming Bind on Account. But for now, I guess I can buy those BoE bracers from the Valor Emblem vendor and sell them for gold. Or maybe the raw epic gems. But I have a huge problem tho. I’m ridiculously lazy when it comes to selling stuff off the auction house, hahahaha!

[ Image courtesy of author ]

World of Warcraft has been offering a lot of re-customization services lately. It started with the Renaming service, then Male to Female (and vice versa) re-customization. And then they also offered re-customization in-game where you can change your skin color, hair, accessories and even your toon’s face by just visiting the in-game Barbershop.

And then lately, they offered the Faction change re-customization where you can go from Horde to Alliance and vice versa. And soon, even race change is going to be available in 3.2.2! (Crap, I re-levelled a BE priest just so I can have a pretty toon. I used to have an undead one. Bleh)

With all these re-customization features, I’m surprised they still haven’t offered a REAL customization feature wherein you can actually change your toon however you like it. You know, like change the shape of the nose, of the eyes, of the mouth, the face and the body.  A customization feature wherein you can actually make your toon look exactly like yourself!

That would be an awesome feature, I would think. I always make it a point that all my toons in every MMORPG I play look a bit like me. And the blood elf is the closest toon in World of Warcraft that looks similar to myself since it’s the skinniest! I’m so glad they have that short bob cut with bangs (see image above!) since I’m sporting that hairstyle as well in real life, haha.

I really think a full customization feature is a great idea! It would definitely change the feel of the game! Imagine a fat blood elf, or a fat undead (though that would be weird), or maybe even a skinny Tauren! Or a tall gnome, bwahaha.

That would be sooo hilarious!

But I guess that would be hard on programming, designing and all that stuff since they have to customize all the gear to fit as well. Oh well, a little musing doesn’t hurt!