Professions Dilemma

I'm at a bit of a crossroads. While I've been questing, every goblin I meet on the way is creating wonderful toys. They 're blowing stuff up, rocketing me through the air and over land. I feel a strong urge to join my fellow engineering goblins. Originally, my plan was to take up mining and skinning to accumulate gold while I level. It's worked so far. (Someone actually paid 17 gold for a stack of copper bars.) Having no sugar momma on a new server means I have to make gold on my own.

The dilemma is this: I know engineering is super fun and also a potentially huge gold sink. I'm in no hurry to level, so in theory, I could spend time farming my own mats. I'll have to do that anyway to level my mining anyway.

I've posted a poll in the sidebar over there. ------> Help a girl out, would ya? What do you think I should do?

Introducing Kibbly!!

Please give a warm welcome to Azeroth's newest goblin shaman, Kibbly! She posed today in her fabulous Awesome Party Ensemble for the party thrown in her honor in Kezan.

More screen shots, first impressions, and hilarious adventure stories are coming soon! Right now, I'm headed back to Azeroth to help the Horde in Azshara. Until then, keep it real!

The Final Countdown

By this time tomorrow, Kibbly will be a reality. I am so frickin' excited! I wish I could come up with a good excuse to ditch work, but, alas, I need the money so I will go in. I am going to wake up early, though. Hopefully by the time I do get up, the servers will at least be stable enough for me to get a few screenshots in.

*crosses fingers*

Happy Cataclysm Day everyone!!!

Essential Addons, Part 3: Combat

This is Part 3 in a series of posts concerning my addiction to addons. The original post was extremely long, so I split it up to avoid td:lr syndrome. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

Tidy Plates

The default nameplates, like many other default ui elements, leave a lot to be desired. With Tidy Plates, I can customize them to exactly how I like to see them. I have targeting issues and nameplates help me find the right one. Yes, my screen looks a bit crowded with them, but I really need to have them out.

Mik Scrolling Battle Text

I like seeing all the pretty numbers fly around as I do damage or toss out heals. I just don't like them all spammy on top of other important information in the middle of my screen. With MSBT, I can pick and choose which information shows, how it shows, and where it shows.

Omen

My little enhancement shaman needs to know just how pissed off mobs are at her in dungeons. I'm not a tank, nor do I want to be. Omen will help me keep track of threat and let me know when to lighten up. I firmly believe that while it is the tanks responsibility to hold threat, it is also a my responsibility as dps to control mine. But that's a post for another day...

That's it for addons that I will use early on with my shaman. As I level up and get more spells and totems, there are a few more that will be added to the list. I'll post about those as I start to use them.

Essential Addons, Part 2: Utility

This is Part 2 in a series of posts concerning my addiction to addons. The original post was extremely long, so I split it up to avoid td:lr syndrome. You can find Part 1 here.

Today, I will talk about utility addons. These are addons that aren't really necessary, but they enable my laziness and make some parts of the game more of a no-brainer.

Fortress

This little addon is similar to FuBar and Titan Panel. It is a display addon for LBD data feeds. I like it for the quick access to frequently used utility addons as well as two broker addons I use.

Broker_Repair

This is the first of two broker addons I use. It's configurations include auto repair, both from your character as well as guild repair when available. You can set it up to auto sell junk items. When you visit a vendor, a message will show up in the chat box telling you how much you sold and repaired for.

Broker_Currency

This is the second LBD addon I use. It enables you to track any and all currency for all of your characters on the server. Mostly I use it so I don't have to open my bags to see how much gold I have, but it has much more functionality than that.

Atlas Loot Enhanced

So, you're in the dungeon queue and want to see what yummy stuff drops in the dungeons you may get put into. But if you alt-tab out of the game to check it out, you might miss the queue invite. Atlas Loot solves that problem. This addon lists all drops from every encounter in the entire game, as well as crafted items, rep rewards, and more. You can set up wish lists for different characters, too. Atlas Loot is a great addon to play with when I'm on flight paths.


That's it for part 2. Stay tuned for more addon goodness!

Essential Addons, Part 1: The Must Haves

This is Part 1 in a series of posts concerning my addiction to addons. The original post was extremely long, so I split it up to avoid td:lr syndrome.

I'm an addon junkie. Every patch day, I play the mini game of "fix the ui," downloading updated addons, disabling broken addons, and discovering new addons. I've been customizing my ui since very early on in my WoW career. This character will be no different. Even though she doesn't even exist yet, I'm planning out which addons I will use at which stages of gameplay.

The first week will be rough. Most addons will be broken. There will also be frequent updates which I will have to download and install every time. So, I'll probably start off addon free. I really hate the much of default ui, but it will be sufficient for the first few levels. Once everything is settled, here's what I'll have going.

Must Haves

Addon Control Panel

This is a must have for anyone running multiple addons. It allows you to turn them on or off without logging out of the game. I can enable memory hogs only when I need them and turn them off when I don't. If you use addons and don't have this one, get it. You'll thank me later.

Ark Inventory

I used to spend a stupid amount of time organizing my bank and bags. I'm a total pack rat, so trying to find anything required a much higher level of organization than I can achieve. Ark Inventory does all that work for me. With just a little configuration, everything is nioce and neat. If I still can't find what I'm looking for, there's a handy search bar to help me find stuff. Oh, and you can search the inventory of any other characters on the same server without logging on to them. That's an added bonus.

X-Perl

XPerl is a unit frame replacement addon with amazing costonmization capabilities. I like my unit frames to be mobile, resizeable, and have more and different information that the default frames cannot provide. This addon is somewhat more advanced in terms of configureation, but not as intense as other similar addons out there. I've been using it so long that I know exactly how I want it set up, so it only takes me a couple of minutes to get it configured to my liking.

SexyMap

The default mini map is ugly and uncustomizable. This is the best addon to fix that. Mine will be set to Simple Square with all buttons showing only on hover. The clock will always show, however. I, like many out there, can lose track of time while ion Azeroth, so having the clock showing helps me remember to log off when I need to get going for real life things, like work.

Auctioneer

I haven't used this addon in a while because it was severely broken after 4.0 hit. Once it's updated for Cataclysm, I will install it immediately. Since I won't have a sugar momma with tons of gold, I'll have to earn it on my own. Auctioneer will make earning that gold faster are more efficient. Addon newbs beware: there's a bit of a learning curve for this one. The best advice I can give is to do a scan every day. The data will be much more accurate. 

That's it for part 1. Stay tuned for more addon goodness!

A Fresh Start

After playing World of Warcraft for four years, I am about to take on a challenge I haven't attempted since I first installed the game. I'm starting fresh. New server, new character, no heirloom items, no max-level sugar momma to help me out. Well, that last part is only somewhat true. I do have a death knight on this new server who has about 50 gold to help out. That's nothing compared to the thousands I usually have to spoil my alts.

Why am I doing this? I want to see all that the newly shattered Azeroth has to offer. I want to level at a normal pace so I can fully experience all the new quest zones. Being unspoiled, I will also have to learn how to fend for myself again.

I am not completely abandoning my grownup shaman, however. I really, really want the "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" achievement. So, during all holiday events, I'll be logged in on that character trying like hell to get it.