My Alternate Reality

Noblegarden. JUST SAY NO!

Okay. Take a look a this picture. A REAL GOOD LOOK. Here I am in Goldshire. I thought "what the hell, I think I will go hunt down some eggs and see what this whole Noblegarden thing is all about. I usually don't get too involved in these world event things but, since I'm not raiding much any more, I don't really know anyone in other guilds to run with and all of my good friends moved to SIlvermoon. I figured, what the hell. Let's collect eggs. I get to Goldshire. Grab a basket, a couple of quests and I'm off and running. After about 5 or 10 minutes, I was finding it odd that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find one single egg. "That's strange" I thought. I remember reading that the eggs could be found in and around Goldshire.

I kept looking.

No joy. That's when I noticed it. People standing very still in odd spots around Goldshire. Not moving, not saying anything. I decided to stand in front of Inn and watch these guys. Sure enough. One by one, they would kneel down and collect an egg. After making another round of the Shire, I realized that for every spawn point, there was one sometimes two or three people standing there, with finger on mouse button ready to snag that egg.

It was the most unbelievable thing I had witnessed in a long time and I've seen some doozys in my raiding career. I then decided to conduct a little experiment. I dismounted and walked over to a female draenai who was intently staring at a corner of the inn near a flower box. I stood next to her and waited.

Sure enough...

"Get the F*** out of here you Bi***! I was here first. Whispered this no life-having loser. I stood there for about a minute longer and even lauged a few times. This Draenai was SMOKING PISSED. She must have called me every name in the book. I finally had enough, mounted up and headed for Stormwind.

Well, needless to say, Nobelgarden is one event that I won't be participating in. Collecting those eggs in that kind of a situation is pretty much impossible and the rudeness of some of these players is almost unbearable. Blizzard really screwed the pooch on this event. The eggs really need to be zone-wide and maybe more difficult to find if they are way out in the zone. But hey, that's just me.

I've never been so dissappointed in a world event more than I have this one. I only hope and pray that Children's Week (one of my favorites) revives my faith in this game. Maybe I should leave BWR. I suspect however, the attitudes of these players spans realms. There is no escape.

All I wanted are some &#$^#%^@&#@! eggs. Why are people such pricks? I really try to see the good side in people but you know what? I'm finding it increasingly harder to see that side. I'm beginning to believe that it no longer exists.

Oh well, going to go be bored in Dalaran some more.

SjN

His TIME was up!

SCORE!

The winds howled through the vast canyons of the Storm Peaks. The cold early morning air felt like needles pricking Aurendar's skin. With each breath, a burst of fog swept past her lips.

"Where are you my bronze friend" Aurendar thought as she flew through the frigid mountain passes.

Soon, she caught the scent. The pungent odor of dragons began to tickle her nose. She was on track. She slowed her Netherdrake and approached with caution. The tell-tale grunts and growls of a drake could be heard in the distance. "Steady Azrael. Our prize awaits just ahead" Aurendar assured her faithful saber. Squinting her eyes, the glint of bronze scales could be seen flickering off the moonlight. "Okay Azrael, prepare yourself! We are about to do battle!" Swooping down, Aurendar rammed the drake broadside. The Proto Drake didn't know what hit it. The collision sent them both careening down toward the icy floor. Before the drake could gain it's composure, Azrael had it in his jaws. Garnering some range, Aurendar lets arrows fly.

Sensing danger, the local rhinos, gave us plenty of gerth. The drake, flailing around to engage Azrael, sent heaps of blood-stained snow into the air.  Azrael didn't let up for a second. With neck in jaws, Azrael had control of the situation. I have trained him well. Through much bloodshed, It wasn't long before Aurendar lowered her bow and eyed Azrael standing above their prize.

A slain Time-Lost Proto Drake!

Holstering her bow, Aurendar reached down and pulled the reigns off of the dead drake and slipped them in her bags. "Good work Azrael. That just scored you an extra slab of mammoth meat today!" Aurendar said as she scratched him behind his ears. With that, the two made off for Dalaran.

I gotta tell ya. This is by far the most difficult target Aurendar has ever gone after. Hours have been spent hunting this beauty down. The pay off was worth it. This drake is absolutely beautiful! I'm going to have LOTS of fun cruising Azeroth on him!

Okay, for a few tips on bagging this yourself - Number 1: Do NOT go to Storm Peaks with the sole intention of scoring this Drake. It just won't happen. You'll end up kicking your dog and smacking your spouse around the house (I jest). At 5:25AM on Monday, I dedicated myself to Storm Peaks and evenutally came back a broken hunter at 10:00PM that night convinced that this drake was nothing more than a rumor. I was so pissed! Head out there, make ONE round of his pathing area. If he isn't there LEAVE. Do that once or twice daily. Eventually luck will swing your way.

That's what happened this morning. 3:00AM.  I was laying in bed. Couldn't sleep for crap. I thought to myself, hell, I might as well get up and kick it in Azeroth. I jumped on Aur and decided to take a quick trip to the Storm Peaks. As luck would have it, my Drake macro popped off that the Time-Lost was dead ahead! WHEEEEE!!!!

Oh Macros. Create this macro and spam it while flying around the drakes pathing area:
/tar Time
/stopmacro [noexists]
/tell YOURNAMEHERE > %t <
This macro will automatically target the drake and will whisper you that the drake is nearby! Eventually it will pay off! Oh. One other tip, get yourself some slowfall pots or items. I am exalted with the Skyguard in Outland so I bought the Skyguard drape that allows slow fall for 10 seconds. This will prevent you from falling to your death if you have to engage him high up!

I engaged him at 46,60 on the Storm Peaks map right near the Engine of Makers. He tends to pat in that area a lot!

With patience you too can sport your very own Time-Lost Proto Drake!

~SjN

No Time Like Time Lost

Okay. I've been giving serious thought this weekend on my future here in the World of Warcraft. Whether to quit the game all together or just change the way I play. My raiding drive just isn't where it should be, I find myself sitting around in Dalaran bored for the most part and I generally have a feeling of - 'meh' lately about the game.

Well, I've pretty much come to the conclusion that walking away from WoW is just out of the question. It is just too much a part of my life. So I think I will move from end game progression focused to a more casual approach to the game. Since I'm on an RP server, it shouldn't be too difficult to find a casual-based guild to pal around with.

But to more pressing matters. I need something to keep me occupied. Something to strive for. An objective. I think I found it.

The reigns of the Time-Lost Proto Drake! From the research I've done so far, this beauty is none-to-easy to score and should keep me busy for quite a while!

He pats around a specific area in the Storm Peaks and has a respawn timer of around 6-12 hours. I've actually heard rumor of a 23-24 hour respawn when he's killed.

Oh, he also shares a respawn timer with another rare in Storm Peaks named Vyragosa who, I just happened to kill this morning! So now it's just a matter of keeping my eye on the time table, and scanning the Drake's pathing area. This could take quite a while indeed!

Not to mention that since I killed Vyragosa this morning and if the 23 - 24 hour respawn is correct, that puts me into tomorrow morning. Right in the middle of Tuesday maintenance. Yep. Just my damned luck.

Well, I'll post my progression on this grand prize as time goes by (pun intended).

In the meantime, I think I will hit the official forums and see if I can't find a nice casual based guild looking for tired players to join their ranks. I'd love to do some runs again! Just as long as it's not every friggin night! Finding a guild that is balanced like that is no walk in the park. Azeroth is a land of extremes. Either you go balls to the wall raiding or you mingle endlessly in Stormwind RP'ing with nitwits. Sigh...

Nothing is ever easy.

Till next time!
~SjN

It's time to come to terms...

The World of Warcraft.

I remember when this game first hit the store shelves back on November 23 of 2004. Back then I made the conscious decision to avoid this game at all costs. During that time, I was eyeballs deep in games like Unreal Tournament, Quake & Counterstrike. I was an FPS fiend.

I knew the addictive personality I had when it came to video games so when this game hit, I walked the other way. FAR AWAY.

Enter October 2006. First Person Shooters began to lose interest and one of my good friends (Jalaxxel for those that knew him) was talking about picking up a new title to bring some fun back into his gaming sessions. He began talking to me about the World of Warcraft. He wanted to pick up the title but didn't want to dive into it alone. Being the good friend I am, I told him we'd do it together. We jumped in my truck, headed to Best Buy and soon we were installing the ends of our lives. 2 years. 2 BLOODY YEARS, I held this game at bay. October of 2006 was the end of my life as I once knew it.

Now don't get me wrong, this game is one hell of a good time. Good friends are made and good times abound! But that's the problem. You soon find yourself consumed. Nothing else matters but bagging that next quest. Downing that next boss and scoring that next Epic. It has to stop somewhere, sometime. It just has to.

That time, I feel is creeping up on me quickly.

For anyone who doesn't believe that this game is a problem is lying to themselves. I was at a point where I was raiding Monday through Thursday from 6:00PM to 10:00PM. Friday, Saturday & Sunday were my only reprieves but I was online that whole time none the less. While those raiding hours may not seem like a long time, in a sense it was. You see, in the mornings, I'd get up, farm gold and materials for that night's raiding. Get showered, go to work, come home at around 5:00PM. Just enough time to run into the house, say HI to the wife, run upstairs get changed, log in and get to the raid. Wife would end up sitting alone downstairs all evening, eating by herself and kids wondering where daddy was. By 10:00PM, everyone was in bed.

Next day, rinse and repeat.

This kind of schedule along with some personal strife on the homefront caused me to drop out of raiding status in my guild, even caused me to leave the guild a couple of times. Each time however, I'd come back for more punishment. Any psychoanalyst will tell you that this is a problem.

With the transfer of my guild to another server, I feel that this is probably as good a time as any to explore the possibilities of shelving this game. Already this morning I was guild searching to see if there was a suitable group (Last Exile?) to hook up with and run. Then I thought to myself, "Wait dumbass, you don't even WANT to run! What the hell are you doing?" I shut down the 'puter and walked away.

I don't want this to turn into a wall-o-text so I will end for now. I'm so miserable right now it isn't even funny. For anyone considering picking up this title, do so with caution.

Don't be me.

~SjN

Out of the Mothballs

Meet my lovable Draenai hunter Razorwyn.

The poor thing, I feel so sorry for her. She's such a great hunter and with my loss of interest in the World of Warcraft lately, I have neglected her.

That is about to change.

With her step sister Aurendar's uncertain future, I think it's about time that Razor here, gets some much needed attention.

This pic is actually a bit old in that she no longer adorns those Beastmaw Pauldrons upon her shoulders. She is now sporting the much less exotic Spaulders of the Black Arrow that you pick up from the Ebon Blade Quartermaster. Less fancy schmancy but much better numbers.

Anyway, I'm having a problem with Razor that I don't think I had with Aur, well at least not to this extent. For the life of me, I can't seem to get her hit rating up AT ALL! Right now she is at a dismal 42 hit rating. Not quite sure what is going on there but I think it's time to correct that. Maybe some heroic runs will take care of that problem as she really hasn't had any 'facetime' with any of those heroic bosses.

Aurendar was a much more "raid-centered" character while Razor is quite at home mostly in the RP world. I can't help but inject some more instancing or raiding into her future. She's an absolute blast to play and I'd like to balance her out a bit more. I gotta think doing so will address that ((ahem)) hit rating issue she seems to be having.

Being an RP character, it was necessary for Razor to have a backstory. I decided to tie her into my main's character, Aurendar. The two really do fit well together. Razor at age 12, left Azuremyst Isle to learn more about this mysterious land she found herself on and soon sought refuge with the Nightelves in Teldrassil. Razor was quickly adopted by House Moonstrider and raised as their own. Her step parents live in the small hunting village of Dolanaar just outside of Darnassus. In keeping with the Moonstrider tradition, she followed in her stepsister, Aurendar's shoes by learning the ways of the hunt.

Day after day, month after month, Razorwyn soon became proficient in all manners of beast mastery. Word of her accomplishments and uncanny abilities spread through out the realm. Little did she know that the legendary hunters of Dun Morogh would soon seek her out. Emissaries of Ironforge soon called upon her and she felt compelled to answer that call. It wasn't long before Razorwyn recieved word of Aurendar's disappearance through the Dark Portal, never to be seen again. Razorwyn made it her mission to discover the fate of her beloved sister Aurendar. Thus an adventure begins.

Well, keep an eye out on further entries of 'The Adventures of Razorwyn Moonstrider'! I'm sure you'll be seeing a bit more of her here in the pages of Alternate Reality!

~SjN