THIS is an axe!
and then after that:
Wicked L80 Gnome Death Knight Points: 1635 <Gunned Down In Reno> Unholy/Hybrid DPS/Tank 13/0/58 HKills: 394 HP 18451 Armor: 12420 Def: 400.00 Power: 2867 Hit: 179 Crit% 17.69 Parry% 10.98 Avg item level: 180 31% Purples 18% Greens 50% Blues
12/28/2008 6:28:24 PM
People seem to be getting hot and bothered about the addition of ads to the World of Warcraft forums. Immediately someone posted a smug tutorial on how to block the ads using Firefox.
Now, I do have Firefox, but I use it in addition to Internet Explorer, and I don't see the adds in either browser. It's really not that hard to arrange.
Still working on cooking, but after that I only need the 50 honorable kills while transformed.
I had an interesting run-in with a multi-boxer. 5 level 80 shaman named in very similar ways all flame shocked me at the same time. In Southshore. Because the asshole was running around killing players and NPCs there. I like the idea of multi-boxing, but ganking in Southshore at level 80 with it? Get a life. He killed me twice, then one or two more people landed and we took him down. Then I teabagged all of them.
In the screenshot below:
Kaililiah L80 Troll Shaman Points: 790 <Magical Liopleurodons> Elemental/SpellDPS 55/16/0 HKills: 848 HP 12465 Mana 14211 Resil: 0.00 Hit 0 +Fire: 1157 +Frost: 1157 +Nature: 1157 Avg item level: 158 88% Blues 11% Greens
Kaililah L80 Troll Shaman Points: 790 <Magical Liopleurodons> Elemental/SpellDPS 55/16/0 HKills: 843 HP 12465 Mana 14211 Resil: 0.00 Hit 0 +Fire: 1157 +Frost: 1157 +Nature: 1157 Avg item level: 158 88% Blues 11% Greens
Kaliliah L80 Troll Shaman Points: 800 <Magical Liopleurodons> Elemental/SpellDPS 55/16/0 HKills: 847 HP 12555 Mana 14331 Resil: 0.00 Hit 0 +Fire: 1169 +Frost: 1169 +Nature: 1169 Avg item level: 160 88% Blues 11% Greens
Kalililah L80 Troll Shaman Points: 800 <Magical Liopleurodons> Elemental/SpellDPS 55/16/0 HKills: 861 HP 13175 Mana 14751 Resil: 0.00 Hit 0 +Fire: 1253 +Frost: 1253 +Nature: 1253 Avg item level: 168 88% Blues 11% Greens
Not sure what's so magical about Liopleurodons. Oh - it's a band. The guild even has a website, which is more than I can say for my guild. Anyway - screw you guys.
Final stats for the night:
Wicked L80 Gnome Death Knight Points: 1295 <Gunned Down In Reno> Unholy/Hybrid DPS/Tank 13/0/58 HKills: 228 HP 17041 Armor: 12514 Def: 400.00 Power: 2788 Hit: 105 Crit% 17.68 Parry% 10.29 Avg item level: 179 25% Purples 56% Blues 18% Greens
So far so good - I'm working on cooking now, for the achievement where I have to make the Hot Apple Cider.
Operation Merrymaker: I am determined to earn all of the Winter Veil achievements this year, which means I have some work cut out for me.
Something has been bothering me about Wrath of the Lich King for quite a while now - the cruelty. Wired magazine recently published an article talking about the quest where you torture someone. I did the quest, and as a Death Knight I was just fine with it.
Back in Real Life though, I'm a bit saddened with Blizzard. They took it upon themselves to add what I assume is political discourse to a video game that I play to escape from dreary reality. I didn't personally enjoy that quest. I also didn't enjoy the quest that resulted in someone's soul being destroyed, having to kill someone's entire family, or the other various dastardly deeds I've been required to commit in order to complete quests.
(Note: The starter quests for Death Knights were just fine, because you're supposed to be Evil at that point.)
If, as the Wired article suggests, Blizzard were to make there be more important ramifications to doing that quest, people would happily do whatever got them the most benefit, including me. That's because World of Warcraft is merely a game. In a previous MMORPG, my entire guild and I all wore (seriously, I'm not kidding) woven straw chicken hats because they had great stats and could not be stolen from us upon death.
To quote part of the Wired article:
I guess to the Wired article author, that's really exciting. Personally, I'm paying to play this game, and I'd like to not have horrible reality shoved in my face while I do so. WoW is not Star Trek - I haven't been enlightened, just pissed off.It's quite possible Blizzard has a much larger, slow-moving point to make about torture. If true, that's great. Because personally, I'd like to see games that had more torture — and better torture — in them. In this alarming chapter of American history, they might wind up fueling the best public debate yet.
Ran instances last night, mainly on heroic. 
Here's the Lich King again - always with the sword pointing. We keep foiling his plans, we're probably not too popular with him now. Then again he betrayed us first, so this is what he gets.
Shockingly, the monster statues come to life and you get to kill them. (Utgarde Pinnacle)
In the Culling of Stratholme, you get to help a young prince kill off the population of one of his own towns because they're infected by the scourge plague and will soon become undead.
As in other time-traveling dungeons, the Infinite Dragonflight shows up to stop you and alter time. Chromie explains why that's bad.
Well well well if it's not Mal'Ganis behind everything again. We really need to kill that guy.
Ran this place again, on heroic this time:
Finally got to run Azjol-Nerub for the first time, and it was on heroic.
Finally, random shot of a siege engine in the new battleground.
At some point, also did this:
Ending stats (won two epics, one for DPS and one for tanking)
Wicked L80 Gnome Death Knight Points: 920 <Gunned Down In Reno> Unholy/Hybrid DPS/Tank 13/0/58 HKills: 218 HP 18371 Armor: 12293 Def: 400.00 Power: 2069 Hit: 0 Crit% 9.32 Parry% 16.45 Avg item level: 159 75% Blues 18% Greens 6% Purples
Days 21-present
It's been a busy week of questing and working.
Got to be a proto-Viking and ride a bear, and use it to beat up a giant troll of some sort.
Later on I got to ride a wolf. I guess I'm too big of a Tolkein fan, but if I had my way I would always ride on a wolf and fly on an eagle.
At one point we helped some sad guy perk himself up, and even get his mount back. That's her, below.
Insert Coin...
Get boss! (and kill him) (Scrap-E not involved)
Got to ride another giant, this one looked cool. You get to use his abilities to fight, like all the other times you ride giants.
This quest was fun: Become (ride) a burrowing worm, then use it to kill this guy here.
I greatly enjoyed the quests with the "Makers" which I think might be the Titans, because in other incarnations I've run Uldaman a ton of times, all the way to Uldum etc. and always wished I could know more.
Got the Storm Peaks quests achievement
I got to revisit that odd giant hole in the ground I'd found earlier, completing a fun quest there. You then fly up in his flying machine with him while mobs jump onto the wings and attack.
Another quest line (won't spoil it) involves the King of Ironforge.
I don't remember who this guy was, but the mobs aside from the death knight guy were on my side and we killed him.
Later on we helped another Death Knight get some information. Unlike most good guys, the Death Knights don't mess around: He destroyed the bad guy's soul after saying he wouldn't. That's one guy who won't be coming back.
Mal'Ganis makes an appearance. When you defeat him, he basically says, "Screw it" and leaves. You don't get to actually kill him.
I found an NPC who looks just like me. I'm the one on the right.
This fight was truly epic. The quest is listed as a group quest requiring 5 people, but we were able to do it with just us two, an unholy death knight and a holy paladin.
It was still a very close call - I technically did die, but was able to stand triumphant as a zombie while the Lich King showed up.
Which meant there was only one thing to do - blow myself up at the Lich King!
(Then Glow rezzed me)
Another quest, another appearance by the Lich King - which is always well done and awesome. (and yeah, we kicked the giant's butt.)
Another quest with a creepy little boy whom I suspect of being something or someone more nefarious involves you stepping into Arthas' shoes and killing his men, then turning them into the undead.
Late you are shown what happened when Arthas summoned Sindragosa.
Recent achievements
Ending stats: Wicked L80 Gnome Death Knight Points: 860 <Gunned Down In Reno> Unholy/Hybrid DPS/Tank 13/0/58 HKills: 216 HP 17651 Armor: 11126 Def: 400.00 Power: 1907 Hit: 0 Crit% 10.08 Parry% 11.52 Avg item level: 149 81% Blues 18% Greens
Next up my quest buddy is going to visit his family for Christmas, so I hope to run a bunch of instances for gear.
