Aaarrrrrrrrgh!

This is my second week of irratic game play time. Aaarrrrrrrrgh! Even Blizz is messin' wit me, can't make up der minds wit the maintenance schedual days. What the heck.

So it's back to work on a new blog header image today, along with some scattered readings. We all know I'm not a raider....yet. That doesn't stop me from reading blogs by people who do raid quite well and successfully. Someday, the information will come in handy I'm sure. This morning I was treated to a thoughful posting over at World of Matticus. Aygaren is 61 now, and still struggling to start tanking dungeons. Thoughts of Black Temple and Illidan are in the back of his mind, barely noticeable. I have to wonder though if places such as Ulduar, will amaze him as much in the future, as they did for those who saw them in real time. Maybe the LFR will be available for him by the time he gets to that level.

Having just started in Outland though, there are several other things on his mind. Such as the Bloody Rare achievement. Many of the alt kids have quite a spread of rare kills under their belts, but not one holds this achievement. He also got some kind of bug inside his new plate armor and feverishly traveled wide and far Honoring the Elders. There are a couple of stray Alliance ones still giving him headaches though!

Back to the Bloody Rare thing. By way of another blogger's blogroll, we've come across a little gem to help out clearing Outland of rares. "WoW Rare Spawns Guide." As luck would have it, she is currently posting the Outland zones. This is a great find. Very detailed information on the rares, spawn points and paths, and videos!

Transmoggie stuff: Sure, at lvl 61 and greatly limited dungeon experiance, Ay doesn't have a stash of great looking gear laying around. But his eyes are wide open watching for possibilities for future use. He recently made a special trip to Winterspring to find an out-of-the-way vendor who held a cool looking sword blacksmithing plan. Which he kindly shared for eight (8) shiny gold pieces. It's got a fair sized material list to smith one, but it does look really good and has potential. Ay's still holding on to that shield he likes from Feralas, it may or may not look so good with the sword, time will tell. He's also still at soloing earlier dungeons, so other stuffs may pop up unexpectedly. LOL, he may turn out to be hap-hazard unique looking!

Okay, as my rambleings finish up here and you're ready to move on to more saner readings, I'll leave you with this mornings' Breakfast Topic at WoW Insider. Going through the comments, I just had this: "OMG! I know all these people!"

Traveling through Darkshore

Have fun everyone, cyl!

Blogs and bloggers and commenters....

...gosh, does that sound kind of familure to anyone?


"I Haz Google Reader!" Yes, I admit to using such a convienance with wild abandon. So much so that at least twice a year I attempt to organize and clean it out from all the RSS feeds I aquire quite frequently. There is no hope. It is what it is.

I've been reading WoW blogs a whole lot longer than I've been blogging, although evidence of such is very scarce. All this blog reading though is why I enjoy the reader so much. It's just a nifty one stop shop where I can see anything anyone has possibly posted without having to go through an abundance of website visits. My reading time is generally pretty late in the evenings, if I haven't already tired to much, so it just sorta-kinda works for me. As the theory goes for "all that goes up".....the downside of a reader is that I seldom, rarely, comment on the blogs I read so regulary. In fact, I'm fairly sure there are some I've never commented on.

My readers' bloglist of feeds is concentrated on WoW blogs, which range from the technical theorycrafting type to the more personal outlooks of the game. I've long since gone through the tech phase of my game play, so those blogs generally get a glance over unless there's been a significant size patch or new Xpac. There's quite a number of class specific writers out there, which are always helpful in one way or another, especially when I need a quick once-over for a new alt. There's also a group of bloggers who have played the game forever, have gone through many changes over that time and their blogs are a mix of viewpoints which are always interesting reads. Lastly, but far from being the least, are the more personal blogs of tastes and insights over the game. I shouldn't forget to mention the story blogs. I've been enjoying these here and there, and try to keep up as best I can.

Obviously, I got quite a range of blog reading that I enjoy hours and hours of time doing. There's even something of a list of blogs which I only use the reader as a quick notice of postings, since I just click through to the site anyway. What bothers me the most some days though, is the realization that I seldom ever take a moment to, if nothing else, say "hello, nice post!", or something. Yes, I am one of those silent types who's been reading your blog and never leaving a comment.

I'm not sure if I could ever really change this situation to something more likeable, and I won't bore you with the why-fors. This just happens to be one of those things I always want to get around to but never seem to get there. For now though, I'm going to give out a little "link-love" as I understand it to be. A small peek at some of the blogs I read, and maybe a little 'why' mixed in.

Tomb of the Ancient: This happens to be one of my regular click-throughs which I enjoy. Ancient, as I refer to her, seems to like going off on little WoW projects of sorts and writes about them as they are unfolding. She occasionally includes personal thoughts on game matters, but over-all, prefers to enjoy 'happy gaming time.' Her most recent successful project was Ironsally. Quite the challenging project and a great read, which begins here.

Red Cow Rise: I like reading Akabeko for several reasons, most always something there that sparks my interest. Lately, it's been "The Leatherworkers." Something of a story I've been enjoying, although I feel like I've missed some posts along the way somewhere and will have to go looking for them. Probably some of those nights I was too tired to read, lol.

Manalicious: Hmmm, I never miss her "art days." There is quite a bit more to Vidyala though. Okay, actually a whole lot more imo. So don't forget to check out the archives as well since there is a goodly amount of useful game info.

World of Saz: I first got to know a teenie bit about Saz through her blog when one of her "Horders" installments caught my eye. Then it was Fortune Fridays. And then....well...I don't miss any of her posts. A down-to-earth writer, in-game collecter of many things and always a pleasent read.

I think I can still refer to the next two blogs as being fairly 'new', at least for me. Both have been around quite some time although they've only recently have become regular reads for me. Who knows though? My memory isn't the best thing to rely upon :)

Kiss My Alas: Time to fess up. This is where lies the post that got me started on this self-analysis thing about not commenting enough. I have been reading Alas for a bit of time and enjoy the blog. I just fail at commenting. :(

The Rusty Blade: Another long time blogger I've only just come to know about and enjoy reading.

I guess that about sums up my little 'self-help' session for today. And no, I'm not going to add any insight about commenting as a whole since I obviously have to work on my own self. The above listings are in no way all-inclusive. I read A LOT OF BLOGS. I enjoy reading them, and appreciate the time each wonderfully talented writer sets forth to brighten my nights. "Great Posts- Thank you so very much!"

Still dressing it up

Just a little quickie update:

I'm still working on dressing up the blog a bit. Newly added things include a seperate page for "The Family". A brief description of my most regulary played characters in-game and a short 'why' I don't list everyone. Page tab at the top for ease of locating. I've also tried to include links for their most recent activities.

Another little goodie is that wowhead links should be mouse-over active. This looks like a great idea when I'm talking about more specfic items, quests and such that are part of the post.

Also in the mixer for near-future additions is a resource page. It is currently in the making and link checking stages and should appear before too awful long. There are so many great blogs and sites available for everyone and this seems like the best way for me to be helpful if even in a small way. Otherwise, MJ will pretty much remain as random and personal in it's posting as it has been.

Happy gaming everyone!

Sometimes, Elune smiles

I made a stop over at the AH yesterday to gather up another batch of mats for my gem transmutes. In doing so, I also made the ususal browze of available armor just in case something good might have found it's way there. Low and behold! Sheer luck or more likely Elune smiled upon me. But there sat the Professor's Bloodied Smock! This is a rare find as not too many ilvl 264 items make their way to the AH on my server. And when they do, the price is....breathtaking to say the least. I think our AH prices are so inflated that they border on the outrageous. (I've seen basic herbs like silverleaf jump as high as 10g a pop for example) None the less, there was the Smock. An item I most likely would not be able to obtain through any random pugs, and the buy-out price was only a mere 2900g! After I caught my breath and gave this some pros and cons thought, I pryed open my wallet and gave up the gold. /ouch! Now I just have to remember to add the extra gem socket, and gem, and I'm good to go until the next item finds it's way to me.


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I cannot stress enough to any newcomer to World of Warcraft, to get out in the internets world of game related blogs, websites and forums. Especially those pertaining to your particular class. There is just so much information available, and truly helpful people willing to answer your questions that you will discover many ways not only to make your character better, but find yourself enjoying so many more aspects of the game. A lot of which you could easily miss out on by not taking the time to read about it all. By far, I am not the best example of a well-played class, but even I have made great leaps and bounds simply by reading much of what is freely available. Just in the past day of reading, I've gained knowledge of two assets available to me which have gone un-noticed all this time. So, you just never know when or where Elune will be smiling upon you. Sometimes those small things can make a world of difference for you.

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Well, Sol is still grinding out some faction reps and farming some instances for gold value. (have to make up the 2900g expenditure!) He is also still busy in the off-time formulating the ground work for his guild, slowly putting all the pieces together to ready for Cataclysm. Sol has many visions for his guild, hopefully Elune will keep on smiling. Sol will most likely stop by in the next few days to talk a bit about his guild and visions. So if you would like to see a little background about it before then, stop by the guild website, Elunes Chosen. Feel free to ask any questions about the guild here at Moonkin Journeys.
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Until we meet again...
Sol