As of this writing, I am currently at 1.75MB of 77.3MB of Patch 3.3.3. Still a long way to go! If you’re on the same boat as I am and you’re noticing that your download is a bit slow, don’t panic, fellow WoW geeks. The patch download is only for preparation when WoW 3.3.3 actually goes live, which will probably happen in a couple of weeks. Like maybe next week, or next next week, or next next next week. I can’t really give a definite schedule since even Blizzard itself hasn’t given a specific date on when it’s going live. But at least we know Patch 3.3.3 really does exist! (Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus!)

Here are some of the few things we can expect from Patch 3.3.3:
PVP

• Increased Honor for an Honorable Kill for characters of all levels.
• Random Battleground system. Quite similar to the LFG system for dungeons and pretty much works the same way. No more Daily Battleground quests as well. Instead, you get bonus rewards for choosing the Random Battleground option

Dungeons and Raids

• Players can FINALLY skip initial introduction in Culling of Stratholme as long as you’ve completed it at least once. (Thank the geek gods! Good bye Arthas babblings!)
• World Event bosses are now accessible through the Dungeon Finder. We can finally get a chance to acquire those very rare World Event items even though they’re not in season!
• Dungeon Deserter debuff increased to 30 minutes from 15 minutes!

General

• Several raid buffs have their ranges increased to 100 yards, up from 45 yards.
• You can now trade your Frozen Orbs for other trade goods.
• Tier-10 4-Piece Set Bonus adjusted for some classes.

Looks like we’re in for a lot of goodies this coming Patch 3.3.3! For a more detailed look at the patch notes, you can visit the Public Test Realm Patch Notes.

Just the other day, I heard people talking in trade chat about how the Blizzard Authenticator was only good for getting the Core Hound mount. I was intrigued, since in my opinion, I think the Blizzard Authenticator was a good way of keeping your account secure. I thought they were just the usual whiney Azerothians who had nothing else to do but whine about how Blizzard is messing up the game in one way or another.

But apparently, someone created a trojan that could actually intercept the authenticator codes and enable the hacker to change your password, empty your account and sell your stuff! How interesting! The trojan works the same way key loggers work.

When you’re infected with the trojan, the following happens:
When you log in your WoW account and you’ve entered your authenticator code, the trojan will intercept the code, send it to the hacker and send a wrong code to Blizzard. When that happens, you’ll get an error and the hacker will get the correct code and use that code to access your account.

Tsk, tsk, and just when we thought our beloved WoW accounts (which we’ve probably spent a good chunk of our life on) are safe!

To know whether you have the trojan, be sure to check if you have the file name “emcor.dll” on your computer. It will probably be at “C:\Users\(Your user name)\AppData\Temp”, but if you don’t find it there, try to do a whole scan of your PC using your virus scan just to be sure. Better safe than sorry!

While this might discourage you from spending $6 on an authenticator, I would still suggest you get one. While an authenticator might still get hacked, it still gives added protection to your accounts. Also get/invest on a good virus scanner. Or atleast regularly scan your computer and update your virus scanner religiously so that your computer will be protected.

With the introduction of the new LFG system, Blizzard has changed the way of leveling from level 70 to level 80. Before patch 3.3.0, the best way to power level to any level is by questing. Just by doing quests the whole day and in the most efficient manner. If you don’t understand what I mean by ‘questing in the most efficient manner’, check out the quest leveling guides made by Joana. Her guides can get you to level 80 in the fastest way possible!

But with the new LFG system, people are leaning towards leveling thru instances. Just queueing the whole day, doing the same instances over and over until you ‘DING!’

While some people like to grind instances to level, I normally level by power questing. But after leveling let’s say, 3 or 4 other toons, you kind of get sick and tired of doing the same quests over and over and OVER, and reading the same stories and lore again and again.

I just finished leveling another toon to 80. I leveled this toon by instance leveling and it just makes me think of the pros and cons of leveling a toon by either power questing or by going to instances.

Leveling by Questing:

• You get more money from the quest rewards and by selling the item rewards that you don’t need.
• If you’re careful enough, you spend less on repairs since you can avoid quests that are too hard to do.
• You don’t need to wait for anyone else.
• You get more reputation by doing quests for the different factions

Leveling by Instances:

• You get better gear from instances.
• You get to know how to play your toon in a raiding environment. It took me a while to get used to tanking on my paladin since I was playing him as retribution from level 1 to 80.
• You get emblems and other cool items like mounts (i.e. Oculus and Utgarde Pinnacle)
• No need to run all over Azeroth since all you have to do is queue. But then you have downtime since you have to wait in queues.

For now, I’ll probably be leveling with instances, unless I plan to level an alliance toon (since I don’t know the Alliance lore yet). But when Cataclysm comes, I’ll probably go back to power questing again!

Another World Event is up! The Lunar Festival is basically the WoW version of our Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is usually celebrated on the first day of the lunar calendar of the year. And for this year, February 14 was the start of the lunar calendar. Fascinating how Valentine’s Day and the Chinese New Year coincided, don’t you think so?

Anyway, there’s really nothing new about this year’s Lunar Festival. Same old, same old. All you have to do is visit all the Elders in ALL of Azeroth! I kid you not! As a Horde player, I had to brave the major Alliance cities namely Ironforge, Stormwind and Darnassus just so I could visit the Elders stationed there. Same thing for Alliance players. You have to go deep inside Orgrimmar, Undercity and Thunderbluff to get the coins from the Horde Elders.

Here’s a nice guide from WoWHead to make your traveling a little more efficient. Trust me, it’s going to make your life a whole lot easier!

After you’ve visited all the elders in ALL the zones, you’ll have enough Coins of Ancestry to buy yourself a Lunar Festival Dress or Pant Suit to complete another achievement.

You’ll also need to kill Omen to get Elune’s Blessing, but that’s pretty easy to achieve. You don’t even need a group. Just hang around as a group is killing Omen and when it dies, just stand on the corpse and you’ll get the blessing as well.

Well, that’s pretty much it for the Lunar Festival. Not exactly my most favorite World Event since it requires soooooooo much traveling! In the guide I shared, it said it’ll only take you 4 hours. Don’t believe it! It took me around 6-8 hours just to finish the whole thing, rawr! And since I’m a sadist, I decided to do it the whole day! Big mistake. I got a WoW overdose and had to take a day off from the game, hehe!

The Lunar Festival will be around for 2 weeks, so take your time in trying to complete the achievement!

It’s time for another world event if you guys haven’t noticed the sappy decorations in-game and people running around with hearts on the heads or little Peddlefeets following them around!

The Love is in the Air world event started a few days and I’m relieved they made a couple of changes to the activities. I remember the Valentine’s Day even was quite different last year, like you had to collect cards and stuff. I didn’t bother doing them since it seemed so hard and bothersome. This year, they made the [Fool for Love] achievement a bit more bearable to do.

Anyway, one of the more interesting changes they made is the addition of the new holiday boss called the Apothecary Trio. I’ve been religiously killing this boss since the world even started hoping to get the Big Love Rocket mount. Unfortunately, it hasn’t dropped for me.

I’ve tried pugging the Apothecary Trio boss yesterday and I wanted to bang my face on the keyboard like 100 times. The experience was horrible. The Apothecary Trio wasn’t your typical tank and spank fight and had a few mechanics you had to understand. Pugging it probably wasn’t the best decision but if you are desperate, here are the steps how to kill the Apothecary Trio, explained in the simplest way possible.

1. Talk to the quest giver. You will get a Standard Apothecary Serving Kit which contains two potions: the Cologne Neutralizer and the Perfume Neutralizer.
2. At the start of the fight, the tank and the healer should drink the Perfume Neutralizer, while the dps should drink the Cologne Neutralizer.
3. The tank will take Apothecary Hummel (purple aura) and face it away from the group. DPS group will take down Apothecary Baxter (green aura)first.
4. When Apothecary Baxter is down, dps should drink the Perfume Neutralizer and start killing Apothecary Hummel.
5. By this time, Apothecary Frye is running around and throwing vials of perfumes and cologne on the group. You can avoid the clouds, or just step on clouds with the same immunity. Adds will be spawning, too, but you can just ignore then and concentrate on getting Hummel down.
6. When Hummel is down, take down Frye, and then that’s it!

Hopefully, all the people in your group will have their summons and you can repeat it 4 more times! Aside from getting a chance to get the Big Love Rocket mount, you can get The Heartbreaker, the Toxic Wasteling (pet), the Vile Fumigator’s Mask or the Forever-Lovely Rose. You can also get a ilvl 226 neck piece which is similar to the badge reward ones!

Amagawd! Every geek HAS to have PajamaJeans, I swear to the geek gods! It’s a must to enhance the lazy geek experience. Admit it, you guys have your slug days and moments, too. And slug days (lazy, do-nothing days) are never complete until you don’t take a bath, haha!

Rawr, I want one.

Just because I’m having a slug day doesn’t mean I have to dress like a slug! And sometimes, I have slug moments in my fiance’s house. I usually complain that it’s so bothersome to dress up when I’m just going to hang out at their place. What’s the point of me wearing uncomfortable denim jeans when all we’re going to do is lie down in his bed and watch DVDs the whole day. But then I really can’t dress down since it’s quite embarrassing if his siblings or worse, his parents see me in ratty pajamas. We might be engaged, but I personally think that’s way beyond my comfort zone, haha.

And the best yet, you can just jump out of bed, do errands and people won’t have to know that you literally just got out of bed! Unless they get a whiff of you, hehe!

Where to buy: PajamaJeans
Price: $39.95

Its the day after patch day! I call Patch 3.3.2 the 5-Man Dungeon Nerf patch. If you haven’t read the latest patch notes, the latest patch mostly dealt with the nerfing of some of the 5-man dungeons.

The Forge of Souls

• The Devourer of Souls will now cast Mirrored Souls less often.
• The Spell Reflect ability has been altered on several creatures. It now has a cast time, only has 2 charges, and has a 75% chance of reflecting spells.

The Nexus

• Anomalus will now use the Create Rift ability only once, down from 3 times.

The Old Kingdom

• Elder Nadox now only gets one Ahn’Kahar Guardian during the encounter.
• Jadoga Shadowseeker now only ascends once during the encounter.
• Several enemies between the Befouled Terrace and The Desecrated Altar have been removed or had their pathing altered.

Utgarde Pinnacle

• Skadi the Ruthless can now be removed from his drake with 3 harpoon strikes, down from 5.
• Svala Sorrowgrave now casts Ritual of the Sword 1 time during the encounter, down from 3.

I personally think the nerfing of some of the dungeons is a good thing. Badge farming is going to be so much faster, therefore making it easier to get better gear for our toons. And for those players who only log-in to do their Random Heroic Daily, its going to be faster for them to get their daily Frost Emblems x 2 as well. I know a few players who try to sneak in an hour of WoW playtime while at work, hehe!

My fiance was wondering why Blizzard making the game easier. He personally thinks its destroying the game. But I think that Blizzard is only doing this because the new expansion is just around the corner, and by nerfing something every patch day, it’s going to help new players actually catch up with the veterans, in terms of experiencing game content.

This is a post long overdue! The photo above was taken last December when we went to Boracay for our friend’s beach wedding.

Of course, being the geeky couple and avid WoW player that we both were (though if you ask us again, we’ll probably deny it and pretend to be ‘cool’, haha!) we decided to get matching Horde Insignia henna tattoos at the beach!

This is probably the closest thing I would get to a tattoo. I’ve been actually thinking of getting a tiny one, but the thought of needles and pain is giving me the heebeejeebies.

Getting His and Hers WoW henna tattoos is probably one of the geekiest things we’ve done as a couple, haha! My fiance’s henna tattoo turned into one big allergic reaction and turned into a big red Horde Insignia blister.

I actually find it cool, but for my fiance, it was a very itchy experience, hehe.

One of my guild mates got hacked a couple of days ago. Unfortunately for us, she was one of the officers of our guild. Our guild bank ended up getting hijacked. The hacker was able to steal all our pots, flasks and food buff that we have been saving for months. And then we were left with a measly 20k gold. I’m not sure how much gold we had originally but I definitely think we had more than that in our guild bank.

My guild mate on the hand had most, if not all of her toons (alts included) stripped down to the bone! And to think she was one of our main tanks in the guild. Ouch! The hacker also hijacker her account and change her password so she couldn’t access her account at all.

With that being said, I want to remind all WoW players to try to keep their accounts secure and here are a few tips on how to.

1. Change your password regularly. This does not only apply to World of Warcraft. It’s actually applicable to all your accounts online, especially the more important ones like Paypal, credit card accounts and bank accounts. Its healthy to change your password at least once a month. And when changing passwords, remember to make them ’strong’ by using combinations of words and alphanumeric characters.

2. Use a different email from your regular email. As much as possible, don’t use the email that you are using for your social networking sites as these sites are prone to security breeches.
3. Buy an authenticator. Blizzard is selling these gadgets called authenticators. They are small, tiny gadgets. As small as a keychain. You link one to your account, and every time you log on, you press a button and it gives you a series of numbers that act as the password. Without authenticator, you will not be able to log in your WoW account. With that said, make sure that you don’t lose the authenticator or else, you will have to email or call Blizzard so you can be able to access your account again. The authenticators cost around $6 if I’m not mistake. But if you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch, you can actually get the World of Warcraft Authenticator App for free!

Anyway, do you have a special way of keeping your WoW account secure? Tell us how!

I’m sure a lot of you WoW geeks out there have seen this video already. But it’s the first time for me to see this and for those who haven’t seen this extremely hilarious and entertaining video (like me!), then I believe you shouldn’t miss out on seeing this!

Spacebar Clown!

I’m sooo guilty of this compulsive habit! It just comes naturally, you know. If you’re a WoW player, you’d understand when I say that. Imagine this. There you are, mindlessly leveling and the next thing you know, you’re hitting the space bar and jumping up and down across the fields of Mulgore, like a guy high on caffeine while killing mobs.

The Spacebar is your bestfriend! When you’re bored in WoW, being a Spacebar Clown is the next best thing to keeping yourself occupied and entertained. Well, maybe next to hunting down little gnomes. Hahaha!

For the Horde!

Considering that you have a couple of alt toons already in WoW, I have 3 ways for you to earn money fast in Patch 3.3!

And if you have alt toons like me (I’m sure you do!), these tips are going to be most applicable to you!

3. Sell Your Emblems For Gems. I try to regularly do Random Heroic Dungeons on all my toons ever since that feature came out, and as of now, I’ve amassed quite a number of Emblems. Like on my priest, I really don’t need any Emblem of Triumphs anyway. So the number just keeps on growing and growing and growing. Last week, my Emblem of Triumphs were around 300+. So what I did was buy gems worth around 200 emblems. I got around 10 pieces of gems. Then I used my other alt which was a JC to cut the gems and sold them gems on AH. Each gem was priced roughly around 180-200g so I pretty much made around 2000g on those. Not bad! If you don’t have a JC, I’m sure you have a guildmate or friend who can help you out.

2. Sell Your Emblems For Primordial Saronite and sell the Saronite! With my priest, I make it a point to save my Frost Emblems for the tier 10 gear. But with my other alts, like my druid and my paladin, I use them as Frost Emblems farmer so I can buy Primordial Saronite to sell. Just the other day, I bought two (2) Primordial Saronite with I sold for 2300g! If you do Random Heroic Dungeons everyday, you get 2 Frost Emblems then do the Weekly Raid Dungeon and you get 5 additional more emblems for the week! It’s pretty easy to get 23 Emblems of Frost for the Primordial Saronite. What if you want to gear up your alt toons? Don’t worry, you’ll be getting a lot of Emblems of Triumphs as well, so you can use to buy gear for your toon. If you don’t need any more gear, go to tip #1, haha!

1. Sell A Battered Hilt! One of the fastest ways to gear up your toon aside from farming for badges is to keep on running the new Ice Crown Citadel 5 man dungeons. The normal mode drops level 219 gear epic gear, while the heroic mode drops level 232 epic gear. Chances are, if you’re there practically 24/7, you’ll have have higher chances of having a Battered Hilt drop! Hopefully you win it too. A Battered Hilt is an item that starts a quest so you can get a nice epic weapon for the melee. But pfft, screw the weapon! Do you know that each Battered Hilt costs around 15,000g in the Auction House! Woohoo! Moneeeyyy! Shiniesss!

I currently have three (3) level 80 toons that I regularly play: my priest (my main toon specced with both healing spec, hehe), my druid (tree/boomkin) and my pretty little paladin (retadin/tank). I use my paladin and my druid to farm for badges. And honestly, it’s safe to say that these tips worked for me! In just a matter of (2) weeks, I’ve managed to earn around 15,000 gold with just following tips #1 and #2. I’m currently trying to sell the Battered Hilt I’ve managed to snag in one of my PUG runs. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get rid of it soon. More money for meee!

For the wives and girlfriends who have “lost” their significant others to World of Warcraft, here’s a little something to get them back, even for just a few hours or so.

I guarantee you that this WoW Epic Cooking Apron will catch his attention, even for a tiny bit. Trust me, any WoW player will want to check out epic gear that comes their way. (Ooooh, PURPLEZZZ, LEET!!!) And when you’ve gotten his attention and successfully lured him away from the computer, that’s when you attack! Stun him and tie him to the bed, hehe!

If all else fails, you can always try wearing this apron… NAKED. Hehehe!

You know what they say, if you can’t beat ‘em, then join ‘em! You don’t necessarily have to play the game, but if you want get him to talk you, then try to at least talk his “language”.

Hmmm, makes me wonder.

To all World of Warcraft widows out there, would you rather have your husband stop playing WoW (and be normal human being husband) but he ends up cheating on you anyway? Or have him be addicted to WoW and be faithful?

Because honestly, since your significant other is always in front of the computer playing WoW, it’s so much easier to keep an eye on him, haha!

Where to buy: Cafe Press
Price: $22.00

[ Image courtesy of Cafe Press ]

I can’t help but laugh at how definitely geeky I can be. I’m getting married in a few months time (more specifically August, 7 more months to go!) and I guess (as much as I don’t want to admit) I have wedding on the brain.

So when I saw this WoW Collectible Coin Set, the first thing that came to mind is “Omigod, wedding arrhae!”

According to the dictionary, Arrhae (n.) means:

Money or other valuable thing given to evidence a contract; a pledge or earnest.[Webster 1913 Suppl.]

In the Philippines (where I live!), during a wedding, the groom presents arrhae to his bride after it has been blessed by a priest, and it symbolizes the groom’s unquestionable trust and confidence. By giving the arras, the groom surrenders all his material wealth into his bride’s care. (YAHOO!)

Hahaha, so that’s it for your Philippine Wedding 101! Talk about off-topic, haha.

So let’s go back to the WoW Collectible Set, shall we?

A set has 3 coins each (gold, silver and copper) and each coin in the set is plated in precious metal and features a major Horde or Alliance leader. The box set also comes with a non-removable commemorative metal Horde or Alliance emblem plaque.

Any WoW fanatic would probably love to get one of these! They’re currently available for pre-order and will be available by June 2010. Each coin set costs $76.99, but if you pre order now, you can get them for $61.59 and save $15.40!

Where to buy: Horde Coins / Alliance Coins

Last weekend was my guild’s first official 25 man of the year. We’ve been raiding ICC 10 mans beforehand though, so we were able to breeze thru the first 3 bosses of the first wing of the Ice Crown Citadel, namely Marrowgar, Lady Gaga Deathwhisper and the Gunship Battle.

When we reached Deathbringer Saurfang, however, we spent a significant amount of time wiping and wiping and wiping (probably around a good hour or so). I guess it was a bad combination of being undergeared and management of the Blood Beasts. Well, wiping isn’t exactly that bad since it was a progression run. And usually, my guild and guild mates are pretty good in handling the nerves and stress during wipes.

But OMIGOD, can I just tell you, that there was one thing that totally sent us all off the ledge of Deathbringer’s Rise.

I swear to the geek gods, the Saurfang Father and Son Duo TALK TOO MUCH! I was already half-wishing that I was the one being deathgripped by Deathbringer Saurfang so that my suffering would end, haha.

But seriously though, I personally think that the Blizzard team is going a little too overboard with their cut scenes and dialogues. Its cool during the first few times (gives you goosebumps!), but if you hear the same thing over and over (and over and over), it kind of makes you go insane. I probably have it imprinted in my brain that “Dranosh” means “heart of Draenor” in Orcish.

But yeah, that’s definitely one thing I noticed with the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. All the NPCS talk too much! There’s Arthas in CoS (Culling of Stratholme), then the NPCS in ToC (Trial of the Champion), the Lich King in ToC (Trial of the Crusade, before the Anub’arak fight), Lady Sylvanas in the new ICC 5-mans. (Anyone else?)

I love the Warcraft lore, but I hope Blizzard comes up with a patch update soon and gives us an option of skipping all those cut scenes and dialogue. I know it’s possible since they were able to do it for ToC 5.

But for now, I guess I’ll have to figure some way to keep sane while listening to Saurfang Father and Son duo blab on and on and on.

You think that only kids collect dolls? Think again. BJD collecting has a very big but niche market and is most popular mainly with Otakus. There’s just something very anime-ish with most BJDs. Big eyes, skinny bodies, colorful hair. You get the drift.

Anyway, these miniature acrylic Apple gadgets are perfect for BJD collectors who are obsessed with Apple products (simply put, Apple Fan girls and boys!)

I’m actually considering collecting BJD but I think they’re a very expensive hobby. Yah, I’m not a BJD collector but I definitely can’t help but admire and

Anyway, you can buy these over at Lilushop’s Etsy page.

Visit: Lilushop

[ Image courtesy of Lilushop ]

Admit it, like most people, you probably drop from your daily dungeon group when you see the Oculus loading screen come up after you get teleported to a dungeon via the new LFG system. And this will result in the annoying 15 minute dungeon cooldown, preventing you from queuing for the next 15 minutes.

I’m occasionally guilty of this, especially when I’m in a hurry and I just want to do the random daily dungeon for the Emblem of Frost quickly. I do the Random Heroic Dungeon on three toons everyday so sometimes I just want to get it done and over so I can do other things.

You know, when you really think about it, Heroic Oculus isn’t exactly that hard anymore, unlike before. It’s been extremely nerfed and it’s actually really quite easy if everyone knows what to do. But the idea of summoning and dismissing your drake to get around a dungeon gives you this really uncomfortable feeling that just makes you want to avoid the dungeon altogether, hehe!

As for me, the first time we did Heroic Oculus during its earlier months, we spent a total of 3 hours inside the dungeon and spent hundreds of gold for repair bills. That pretty much left a bad taste in our mouth, and every time we see or hear Oculus, we kind of remember how it was.

But anyway, Blizzard has decided to give a little incentive to people who decide to brave Heroic Oculus when they get it from a random heroic dungeon queue. After you’ve killed Ley Guardian Eregos, each player will get a loot bag as a special reward. The loot bag will contain the following: Emblems of Triumph x 2, rare gems and a chance to get the Reins of the Azure Drake. (You can also get the Reins of the Azure Drake from Malygos in the Eye of Eternity as well, for both 10 and 25 mans)

So how’s that for a bribe? Is it enough to make you go in and raid Heroic Oculus? Maybe, maybe not!

Official Blizzard News: Oculus Loot Improvements

[ Image courtesy of WoW Head ]

I was able to watch the movie Avatar around 2 weeks ago when it was fresh from the movie oven and I have to say, it’s probably one of the best movies I’ve watched so far. Admit it, I bet you either said, “I want to be a Na’vi!” out aloud, or thought of it secretly if you’re still hiding your geekiness, hehe.

And since I play World of Warcraft, there were just so many things from the movie that could be related to the game! From the land mounts to the flying mounts, and some of the places like the floating mountain (Hello, Nagrand!). The movie was definitely an eye-candy and a enjoyable experience for me.

But for some people, they’ve taken up their interest in the movie to whole new level!

Take this website for example, “Learn Na’vi“. Omg, you can actually learn the Na’vi language!

Na’vi is a a constructed language spoken by the fictional indigenous race (the Na’vi) on Pandora in James Cameron’s 2009 film Avatar. The language was created by Paul Frommer, a professor at USC with a doctorate in linguistics. This website exists to share this beautiful language with all who want to learn.

I’ve downloaded the Na’vi Pocket Guide and it’s fascinating to see that the Na’vi language actually has some grammatical form and structure! Best to see if for yourself, haha! My eyes almost popped out of my socket as I tried to pronounce some of the words, like, “fngap” which apparently means “metal” or “tskxe” which means “rock”. Seriously, my tongue is doing a lot of acrobatics just trying to pronounce those words, hehe.

Now when you’ve mastered the Na’vi language, the next step ofcourse is to look like one. Here’s a really funny make-up tutorial video on how to like a Na’vi.

Na’vi Make Up Tutorial

Funny!

Links: Learn Navi
Download: Na’vi Pocket Guide

It’s January 1, 2010! If you’re a true-blue geek, you’ll understand why I find ‘010110′ remotely funny.

This year is going to be a very geeky year. I can feel it! I woke up to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland this morning. Bits and pieces of the trailer was shown on some morning show and I can’t help but get all giddy excited about seeing it this 2010.

I’m also very excited about the upcoming geek flicks and TV shows this year:

• Caprica – BSG fans! The first official episode of Caprica is coming out this January 21st! I’m so excited! I watched the pilot episode around 6 months ago and gosh, talk about teaser! I’ve been counting the days till the series officially rolls out. Now it’s coming, I can’t wait!
• Ironman 2 – Coming out May 2010. The first was pretty much kick ass, I hope the second one is up to par. My geek crush, Robert Downey Jr.
• Prince of Persia – Coming out May 2010. I’m very intrigued with this movie. I used to be so addicted to Prince of Persia when it  came out in AT Computers in VGA resolution, hehe.
• Johan Hex – Coming out June 2010.  Honestly, I’m not really familiar with this character but hard-core comic collectors will probably be looking forward to this movie. If I’m not mistaken, Jonah Hex is a DC character?
• Predators – Coming out July 2010. Gorey Alien movie! Think the days of Arnold Schwarzenegger  but with better effects and more realistic gore! I hope. Oh, and Topher Grace is starring, too.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One – Coming out November 2010. The last book in the Harry Potter series will be divided into 2 movies! Talk about prolonging it. The last book was pretty graphic so I’m not sure if kids will be even allowed to watch this movie.
• Tron Legacy – Coming out December 2010. Let’s see how this really geeky game will translate to a movie.
• The Green Hornet – Coming out December 2010. Seth Rogen is going to be the Green Hornet. This I have to see! Cameron Diaz is also supposed to star in this movie as well.

There’s also been talks about the Oscars going geek this 2010. Geek flicks such as Star Trek and District 9 have good chances to be nominated this year! Go geeks!

[ Image credit: Miami MiddleTown ]

I can’t really say I’m elitist, but if I were to run chain heroics or join a 10 man or 25 man raid,  I would definitely prefer to run with my guildmates than with PUGs (or Pick Up Groups). For one thing, it’s less painful and if you do end up wiping and dying a lot, it’s not that stressful since you know you’re on the same level as your guildmates. In a PUG, you never know who’s super hardcore and who’s casual. And if a hardcore player joins with a casual player, you know that their ideals will never match.

But just because I have a preference, it doesn’t mean that I won’t ever join PUGs. In fact, I believe that PUGs aren’t THAT bad. Here are my reasons:

1. You get to meet new friends. Well, that’s pretty much self-explanatory! World of Warcraft is played by a million people of different races (and I’m not talk about Horde or Alliance races!) It’ fascinating when you get to talk and bond with people who are so different from you!

2. It’s better than waiting for hours and hours for guildies to show up. If you come from a small, tight guild, you know what I’m talking about!

3. There’s always a diamond in the rough. Some of the best players in our guild, we discovered them via PUGs. Sure, there are a lot of noobs in PUGs out there, but there are also a lot of players with great potential! If you’re a guild who needs to recruit people, then joining PUGs are the best way to go! In a PUG, you’ll be able to gauge their skills and their personalities, too. Especially when you keep on wiping.

4. PUGs are always good for entertainment. If you get stuck with a noob PUG, just suck it up and enjoy the ride. Second to guild chat, PUG chat is probably one of the most entertaining things in World of Warcraft.

5. PUGs are an excellent venue for improving your skills. I speak from experience as a healer. If I always ran with my guild who are pretty much leet great players, I probably won’t learn much as a healer. I’ll probably just slack off, and heal mindlessly while I watch TV, hehe. But if you always join noob PUGs, you’ll end up trying your best to keep everyone alive!

So join a PUG today! But don’t say I didn’t warn you!

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!

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!

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*

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 ]

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!