03.30.08
WTF!?
Despite the fact that it’s ten years old, my buddies and I still get together now and then for a rousing game of StarCraft. This last Friday was one of those days, and I had alot of fun during the matches, and even though I’m not a spectacular player, I still managed to do pretty well. But that’s not what this post is really about.
Before the event was supposed to start, I drove over to my friend Ulrich’s house and hung out for a bit; then we took his car to my friend Charlie’s house, where we got the party started. Now, Ulrich doesn’t live in the greatest neighborhood; it’s not awful, but it’s pretty close to the low-income housing developments. Anyway, while we were out getting our game on, someone swiped my windshield wiper blades.
Who the hell steals wiper blades? And they didn’t just take the blades, either, but the whole plastic assembly. I’ve got two metal arms attached to the rotors, but that’s it. I live in freakin’ Seattle! It’s almost April!
/sigh
03.28.08
Hello, my name is Shawn, and I’m a SHAMAN!
So, just a few updates on what’s going on right now with me.
Health and Life
- I finished all my treatments for my recent illness, and should be able to go back to work soon.
- I’m looking into several work-alternative options, such as going back to school with state aid, and applying for medical disability. I think I’d much prefer the first option.
Fuller
- Ran Wailing Caverns with the Yellow Pox yesterday. The Serpent’s Shoulders, Gloves of the Fang, and Worn Turtle Shell Shield all dropped. Blackmyst already had the shoulders and gloves, and Lazz already had the shield, so I happily picked those up. Robe of the Moccasin also dropped, grats to DeadRabbit for getting that one.
- After the WC run, I realized I really don’t like playing Elemental, and respecced to Enhancement. We’re running the instances enough that gear issues haven’t been a problem. Discussed with Blackmyst, and he agreed and was fine with the respec.
- I dropped Skinning. I make quite a profit on the AH, and can afford to buy my mats. Plus, Blackmyst skins a ton of stuff, and usually sends some my way. I appreciate it, and I keep him in some good gear (+1 Deviate Scale Belt for Blackmyst).
- I picked up Engineering. I LOVE the goggles/hats made by engineers, and I figure, despite the fact that DeadRabbit is an Engineer as well, we won’t be encroaching on each others profits, as there’s not much to be made from Engineering, anyway.
- I also made myself a Deviate Scale Belt, and picked up Razor’s Edge. I’m looking pretty good in my Blues. Now I just need a good chest piece. Hmmm, Armor of the Fang would be nice…
Uhtar
- Getting pretty close to 40! I’ve got four more levels to go, and have been doing a little prep work, like saving my money for my mount. Speaking of which…
- I spent the last couple days running around, doing some gray quests. Why?
- That’s right, I’m Exalted with Darnassus at level 36. I’m getting myself a Tiger mount.
- I plan on doing some SM runs with my 70 warrior friend today. He wants to get me some good mail armor for when I turn 40. In turn, I’ll be running his 20 druid through SFK and BFD. Tried to Solo BFD last night, got a little hung up near the end with the healers. But finishing the quests in there put me over the top for Darnassus Rep.
- Also, at 40: DUAL WIELD! I’m a little excited.
Oh, and as a Pink Floyd fan, this made me smile:
(If, for some bizarre reason, you don’t know what I’m referencing, you can find it here.)
03.25.08
Favorite 2.4 Shaman Change
I’ve been playing Uhtar, my Shaman, a bit more the last few days. Shaman strikes me as a more versatile class than the Warlock, and my Warlock is still sitting at 64. (I know, I should just make the push to 70, but I really hate playing him. It is not my style at all). I did a SM Lib run yesterday, that went really well (Priest, Warrior, Mage, and 2 Shaman. Totem FOREST), and managed to get 3 levels yesterday, with all my saved up rested Exp.
Anyway, I’m sitting here, waiting for the updater to finish so I can play today, and I’m looking over the Shaman updates. I am quite pleased at a few of them, namely:
- Elemental Focus: This buff will no longer be removed when Shamanistic Focus is triggered. This would happen to me all the time. I’d be whacking away at something, it’d proc, then proc again and disappear.
- Ghost Wolf: Cast time reduced to 2 seconds, down from 3. I wonder if, fully talented, this is now an instant spell? Edit: Fully talented, Ghost wolf is now an instant spell. I am very pleased.
- The Global Cooldown of all Totems has been reduced to 1 seconds, down from 1.5 seconds.
But my absolute favorite change so far:
- Totem timer icons will now show up under your player portrait when you cast totem spells. Right-clicking a totem timer icon will destroy that totem.
That’s right, no longer do we Shaman have to rely on our Totemic Call to squelch those aggro-drawing Fire Totems, we can turn them off individually. And, having never used a Totem Timer add-on before, I’ll probably find the UI addition pretty handy.
Well, I’m off to go play my Shaman.
03.18.08
WoWCraft 2
I’ve got Shamans on the brain. So, I couldn’t let my next WoWCraft not be Shaman-focused. It’s not quite finished; I’m going to do a little more detail work tomorrow, but it’s so close that I feel like it’s ready for pics.
And my reference pics:
I might finish it up with some swirly-deals tomorrow. Other than that, it’s time for me to move on to my next project.
Any (reasonable) suggestions? (I’m looking at you, Dammerung)
03.10.08
Addict
I do this thing where, when I come across a new online service, I sign up, use it for a bit, get bored of it, and NEVER USE IT AGAIN. My mailbox is flooded with reminder emails and newsletters of services I no longer use. Most of the time, I can’t figure out how to cancel my account (they’re usually free, so at least I don’t have to worry about paying for them).
Anyway, I’m going through my mailbox, and realized that I need to do a little “housecleaning”. So here’s all the services (that I can remember) that I do/don’t use, and I’ll get right to work disabling my unused accounts.
Never Use
- Flickr – I know it’s a great service, I just don’t take enough pictures.
- Facebook – Seriously, after figuring out how to use Myspace, I never want to learn another system again.
- Stickam – I’m sure it’s a great socializing tool. I just get tired of listening to teenagers and their racist/sexist remarks.
- Pandora – I LOVE the idea of Pandora. I just rarely turn it on. Maybe this’ll get moved to my “occasionally used” in the future.
- Most IM services, such as AIM, Yahoo, Gtalk, etc.
Occasionally use
- Photobucket – I don’t know why I use this over Flickr. Old habits? I might make the switch.
- Google Desktop – Haven’t found any “must have” plugins for it yet.
- Myspace – Ugh, this is almost in the “never use” category. Socializing sites like this are so… I don’t know. Immature? It IS nice to keep in contact with some of my family, though.
- Skype – I’ve not used it alot, but it is nice.
Use Every Day
- Gmail – obviously.
- Google Reader
- Twitter – I absolutely LOVE Twitter. I wish more of my friends would pick it up, though. It’s so convenient, especially since I can Tweet from my cell phone.
- Last.fm – It’s always running in the background. I rarely check for friends requests and whatnot, I just like it to tell what my musical tastes have been this day/week/month.
03.09.08
WoWCraft
Fuller here, with a special guest: Voidwalker Minion!
F: It’s great to have you here, Voidwalker. How are you doing?
VW: WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?
F: Well, I was hoping you’d allow me a short interview. Would that be alright?
VW: IF I MUST.
F: Thank you. So, how does it feel to finally be on the material plane?
VW: I DON’T LIKE THIS PLACE.
F: You don’t like it? Then why would you come here?
VW: CANNOT RESIST.
F: …Okay. Moving on. Is there any possibility of there being more of you made? Maybe sold to people around the country?
VW: I… AM… VOID… WHERE PROHIBITED.
F: I take that as a no, then. Well, thank you for your time. It’s been an… experience, having you here.
VW: RELEASED AT LAST!
03.06.08
Pox Arcanum is accepting apps!
Pox Arcanum is in need of some more members. We’ve ended up with an odd number, and now we have an unbalanced group. If you’d like to apply, you can do so here (we’re not screening, or going to deny anyone. It’s just more convenient to have all the apps in one place).
For the Horde!
edit: removed the link due to Wow Insider post. Don’t want to break the apps page
03.05.08
Updates!
Just a little news as to what I’ve been up to.
Health
I tend to shy away from talking about my health problems, and I won’t bore you with alot of details, but they do take up alot of my time and energy. I have CVID, and have recently developed ITP, both of which require regular IV infusions. I had a few doctors appointments this week, and the ITP treatment seems to be going very well; I’m responding well to the treatment, and my platelet percentage is rising. I have 2 more infusions to go, one on the 7th and one on the 14th. My CVID treatments are every two weeks, and those are indefinite. BUT, I’m still feeling like things are getting better.
Rymes
I’ve gotten kind of bored of Rymes. He’s been sitting in the Hinterlands for a while, at 59. I did log in today, though, and got him up to 60. Woohoo! I also respecced to Destruction, and I’m going to try to see if I can AoE Solo some lower level instances.
Uhtar
I’ve been doing a lot of WSG with Uhtar, and feeling like I’m finally getting good at it. I actually captured the flag today, and, along with another Enhancement Shaman, defended myself and our base while Offense hunted down our flag. Two Shaman = AWESOME. The totem combinations are just amazing, buffs everywhere. I had picked up the PVP Cloak and slapped a +70 armor enchant on it; now I’ve got 20 more marks, and I’m wondering what the next piece of gear would be best for me to get.
I did some research for about an hour today, and found some interesting things about Ghost Wolf:
- Shamanistic Focus and Flurry will proc on crits while in Ghost Wolf form
- Crusader will not proc in GW. At all.
- You cannot get any weapon skill points while in GW. I tried for about half an hour to level 1-handed maces, and got nothing. Then I removed my weapon, to see if unarmed would level, and it did not. I shifted out of GW, and it started leveling.
Do Druids get weapon skill-ups in animal form? Why shouldn’t Shaman? I’m irked.
Fuller
Honestly, this is where I spend alot of my WoW time: searching the AH for deals to resell and leveling up my trade skills. I’ve now maxed out my Fishing, Cooking, and Leatherworking, and am working on my skinning (only killing gray mobs, I swear) and the last few points of First Aid.
Speaking of which, Pox Arcanum has had a couple of members drop out due to unforseen circumstances. If you’d like to join us, drop a line here, or at our blog. Or, just show up on Anvilmar, Horde side, and join our chat channel (/join Poxic) and ask for an invite. You don’t have to be a blogger, but we certainly appreciate everybody contributing to the group blog. Also, schedules are usually flexible, so if you have other obligations, arrangements can be made.
