3.1 Dead Zone

So yes, I've been silent for a few days, my bad. I'm not slacking off I swear! Anyways, in case you didn't know, patch 3.1 is out. I'm not going to go over all the details and patch notes; if you wish to look up the patch notes, visit either WoWhead, MMO-champion, or for the more specific stuff, Petopia.

I'm busy still dusting off the chaos that ensued after the patch downloaded (more on that in the next post, just know it involves Vista, Battle.net accounts, and Firewalls). I'll also be providing my personal opinion of the patch soon.

College is an epic raid only this time I'm the tank....

What's it to Ya??

Unique. Such a dangerous word in WoW. Unique is something a great deal of players strive for in WoW. Just like in the real world, we all strive to stand out somehow (generally speaking). Some of us dream of being in the top raiding guild or top PvP guild. Many players obtain unique mounts, armor, tabards, shirts, mini-pets, titles- all to have something unique to them and their character After all, it would be rather lame if every Night Elf had white skin and blue hair right? Well, that's why we have the option to design our characters before their creation!

But Unique also has a dark-side. It can also sometimes make people assume your character is an elitist, "hard-core", or just someone who want's to be (and this is a phrase you see alot on the WoW forums) a 'unique little snowflake'*. I see this alot on forums and blogs, but sometimes I see it on WoW itself as well.

But despite all this, Hunters have one extra feature to make them "unique": Pets.

Which brings me to the question of today's blog:

What does your pet say about you? (If anything!)

You see alot of Hunters get put into categories just by their pet alone. Don't deny that you have. Perhaps you've been in a group with another Hunter who brought a Gorilla to your Heroic Nexus. You may have thought he was foolish for not bringing a Wolf. Maybe you thought that the Hunter who has a Spirit Beast is a fool for spending so many hours camping a pet that isn't better than a Devilsaur or a Cat. Heck, if you were Beastmastery after patch 3.0.8 and still in 3.0.9, you may have been on the receiving end of some taunts and overgeneralizations based purely on the fact you had an Exotic pet (which gave your spec away).

But does a pet say something about the Hunter? I'm sure some pets do, but not all. But the following over-generalizations are not fair to assume:

By owning a Boar or Bear from Elwynn Forest, are you automatically a Hunter who doesn't care at all about their companion?

By owning a cat like Rake and Echeyakee, are you just another "unoriginal" Hunter?

By owning a Devilsaur, are you just another damage-meter-watching Hunter?

By owning a rare-spawn pet like Loque'nahak and Old Cliff Jumper, are you just a showoff?

By owning retired pets like Gezzerak or Grimtotem Spirit Guide, are you just trying to be a unique little Hunter?


No, I think there's something much more to the choosing of a companion amongst Hunters. I know some Hunters who stuck with their first pet from level 10 and haven't glanced at other pets. Some people just love cats, others wolves. Maybe that blood elf hunter chose a raptor because he loves Jurassic Park.

Overgeneralization is something we don't like in real life, we call them stereotypes. So consider this my food for thought for today. Just what does your pet say about you?

But more importantly,
What does your pet mean to you?

Oldies but Goodies

Sometimes I wonder this. Am I old? Not physically, I mean I am only 21 after all; I'm one of the youngest members of my guild. I'm actually younger than most people I know on WoW, despite the stereotype that Horde/Alliance are 13 year olds (depending on your faction).

But I find myself often being the oldest character in most situations. I know about 6 other players who have been playing the same length (and 2 longer than me) of time on my realm. I'm sure they're are far more than that, but all considering, most of my realm are Burning Crusade Babies (as I like to call them). And now we have an even larger rush of Wrath of the Lich King Babies, and alot of these people are returnee's to WoW after TBC.

I've been playing my Hunter main, Rikaku, for 4 years. She's been the only toon of mine to actually hit the level cap, despite the fact I have over 20 alts of varying classes and levels. I don't consider myself a Hunter guru by any means (but ask me about the Lore of a quest, I dare you!), I'm just your regular Hunter casual who enjoys a good quest and loves mount-loot. But with this large influx of new players, I find myself often quoting things of the past that just go over newer players heads.

Does anybody remember Ragnaros? Those 3 days of Molten Core runs, hoping your Giantstalker peices would drop? Or maybe you'd finally get Tranquilizing Shot? It's funny how, now, when I mention it most Hunters don't believe me we had to get a drop to learn it. I also remember when Molten Core first came out how Hunter Pets and Warlock Demons could be "the bomb" and be dismissed; Only to be summoned in Ironforge and wreck havoc amongst the populace.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there isn't memorable stuff in Wrath of the Lich King. There is! Between fighting as Arthas against Illidan, to the Wrath Gate, to defeating Malygos; there's memorablia in it all. But sometimes, there's fond nostalgia. "Time makes the Heart grow fond", and I think that's true for the old dungeons. With the Achievement system implemented, there are daily Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, Ahn'Qiraji & Zul'Gurub runs, you name it.

So, take it from me, if you haven't ran any of these dungeons before and you're a BC/WotLK Baby, run one of these dungeons. If you're a mount collector, achievement-collector, aspiring Loremaster, or even just a collector of neat looking weapons, there's something for you in the old dungeons; Just gotta dust them off and experience it.

The Balancing Act: 3.1's Pet Standardization

In an effort to just understand the new PTR patch which includes pet standization, I decided to write a feedback thread on the WoW PTR. It seemed innocent enough, until I did the math. Now, I'm out on a mission to inform the other hunters of just the possibility of ramifications of this and I want to see their ideas! So maybe if you're interested, after reading this arguement, you'll drop by the PTR Feedback thread and give your ideas!


"Cunning, Ferocity and Tenacity pets now all have +5% damage, +5% armor and +5% health bonuses. This should make more pet families feel viable, while additional talents have been added to distinguish a pet’s abilities based on its specializations."

Perhaps it's only me, but this doesn't seem to make any pet more viable. The numbers and dps are what make pets "viable" to raid, solo, and pvp with.

Just because your Gorilla now does +5% damage more than it did before, and you increase it's damage with talents does not mean it's a viable choice to bring to a heroic and/or raid. A Ferocity pet will still out-damage it because the Cat or Wolf or Raptor talents just make it stronger than any "dps-specced" Tenacity pet.

This change isn't helping anyone. In fact it does more harm then good. It almost nullifies the bonus damage of the new talent "Shark Attack" (which was added as a 'perk' to taking the 51 point BM talent). Shark Attack increases damage by 6%, and by losing the extra 5% damage Ferocity pets used to get pre-standardization, you're really only getting a 1% damage increase compared to pre-standardization stats. That doesn't justify taking a 51 point talent at all.

Now it is only a 1% buff pre-standardization, along with the nerf to Wild Hunt (from 40% to 20%), I don't see how any of this is making the pet families more viable. It's the exact opposite. If anything this makes it almost mandatory to bring a Ferocity pet just to make up the loss of damage and dps.

If you were going to implement an idea where all pet families are viable, you should change the system to where players can choose the spec of their pet's talent rather than it be based on the family. Tenacity wolves, ferocity crabs (way better than thunderstomping crabs!), and so on and so forth. This sort of Pet Talent Spec system would work far better with a standardization. However, the system should be to where once you put a talent in a certain spec , you cannot change your pet's spec until you re-train it.

Such an example of this would be, once I put 1 point (In say, Cobra Reflexes) in the Ferocity tree, my Warp Stalker cannot put any points in Cunning or Tenacity. I would have to go to the Pet Trainer and re-train him in order to re-spec him.

In theory, pet standardization is a great idea, but as previous stated, it's not going to work with the status quo. There either needs to be all pets are standard, you choose your pets spec & thus have all pets theoretically viable OR no pet standardization, pet talent spec system is decided by the pets family & thus the viable pets are a select few for specific purposes. It can't be both ways or the entire idea is lackluster and falls apart.

From WoW PTR forums:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=15443420948&postId=154420134243&sid=1#0

The Battle for Dominance: Part 1

No other class seems so angry as the Hunters of World of Warcraft. Beastmastery Hunters are upset at the nerf, Survivalists are basking in the glory, and Marksman Hunters are feeling like they're lost in translation. The feeling of vindication fills many, while a few keep a level head. Of course, this is the cold hard truth. Never before have I seen a class with specs ready to jump at each other's throats. Sure, Ret Pallies get pretty darned close, but Hunters are a special bunch. As a lover of Hunter and one of it's greatest followers, I feel I have to post the following.

Too often are the specs looked at with vindication; quite frankly I'm annoyed by it. So many hunters who have only been around post-TBC launch have been spouting "Well BM was the top dps spec in TBC, it's time for another spec to have a chance." One, I do not agree with this style of thinking, and not because of my main spec being BM. Obviously most of these players were not around in "Vanilla" WoW.

Back when LFG DM didn't mean LFG Deadmines, back in the original days of WoW, there was only one spec; Marksman. Sure, you could level as BM, but endgame? Not happening. Back in my day (wow that makes me feel old O_o) our guild leaders told us "Dismiss pet!", if we didn't, we got kicked. You want to talk about cookie cutter specs? Try cookie cutter class. It wasn't until the pre-TBC patch 2.0 that everything changed.

But should this really be how Hunter specs work?
Survivalists are an interesting lot though. Beastmastery has always been a favorite, and I think that's something that won't change among MANY of players. Hunter is about the pet, it really is what makes us different. You don't see Warlocks with "pets"; you see warlocks with "minions". Sure, according to game tactics and playstyle there is no different between "pets" and "minions"; however to some players there is a difference. Many BM hunters treat their pets like another person. Honestly, who hasn't heard a BM hunter on vent say (or in party chat) "dammit they killed !" Many players who play Hunter get attached to their pet, and irregardless of a nerf, many players will stand by their pets side.

BM have been the "All-Stars" for awhile of Hunter specs. But now, we're looking at SV. SV was the oddchild of Hunter specs. I can honestly say that if someone told me a year ago that SV would be the current DPS king of Hunter specs, I would've died laughing. I'm all for equal specs, but even I know that in Vanilla WoW there was NO SV hunters, and even in TBC they were but a whisper.

Some of these SV hunters are now upset they are being nerfed and even more upset that BM is getting buffed. Even though this has the possibility of making all specs viable, there are still several hunters very upset about this change. Yet, I don't see many BM hunters cheering at the nerf of SV. I'm sure they're out there, but I haven't seen them yet.

Perhaps I'm just ranting aimlessly, but this is my blog and I can do that. But, here's some food for thought. Shouldn't we have a class that allows you to choose your spec purely based on playstyle and your skill with that spec? And still be competitive? Shouldn't we, as the Hunter community, work together to make all our specs viable and not just burn the spec we don't want to be, who is the top dps, at the stake?

5 Weeks in a Jungle

5 and a half weeks ago, I began to camp Loque’nahak. Ever since I first saw him in the beta, I knew that Loque’nahak was the pet I wanted by my side when I went to face the Lich King. For all that time, I spent roughly 4-6 hours on average in the Basin camping every day. People began to notice me in the Basin, and soon, I had all but memorized the Basin’s soundtrack so well I whistled it as I drove. I also noticed parts of it sound an awful lot like Disney’s Jungle Book…

However, I never saw Loque’nahak. I spent 5 weeks before I even saw one of the rare spawns, King Krush. That sub sequentially led me to be eaten by said Devilsaur until a Death Knight/Hunter team killed him for timers. As the weeks went by, I talked to several other hunters who were camping the zone. To my dismay, I’d see them 3 or 4 days later with a Spirit Beast by their side. Saddened but not deterred I continued my hunt for this cat I had yet to see dead or alive untamed.

Thursday morning, New Years Day. I decided that my New Years resolution would be to get the Spirit Beast (and on a lesser note, stop being late to morning classes at the college; but I’m on Winter break, that can wait)! I went to the Basin and offered my usual reward for any help capturing this beast; A Blizzcon Mount or 1000g. Yes, I know, frown upon bribery. But I was going mad! And it didn’t seem to help that every Hunter aside from me (on my realm) managed to snag it in hours as opposed to weeks of trying.

Then I got it. A purple-colored whisper from a Paladin. He found Loque’nahak! He was watching him! I hopped on my drake and flew as fast as I could over to the location. I cursed as Blizzard decided to make my Riding Crop useless. I could taste victory in my mouth as I neared the Goretalon perch.

I tasted it until a Forsaken Mage decided to Pyroblast Loque’nahak into oblivion. I stared at the fallen corpse with a literal broken heart. The first time I saw Loque’nahak, and now, I was seeing red. I felt numb and decided “You know what, forget it. It’s just a cat.” And with that, I logged off.

But Hunters never give up really. I found myself in the Basin later that night, talking with friends and receiving their condolences for my loss. I listened as some of the people in the Basin who knew of my endeavors gave me words of encouragement and whispered me they’d be happy to help. Little by little, I gave into my dirty glee and renounced “giving up”. In the next 24 hours, I would log into seeing Loque’nahak be killed by more players as I logged in. But I didn’t dwell on it. I couldn’t I picked up the timer and moved on.

Fast forward to early morning Saturday. My 120lb German Sheppard, Heero, decided to wake me up by jumping on me. Once awake, I was awake. I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I decided to log on to WoW and see what my friends were doing. I logged in at the gorilla spot and looked around. Not much to be seen. I stuck around for 30 minutes patrolling, deciding I would leave and go do my cooking dailies in Dalaran. I flew over the Maker’s Perch, heading Northeast, when suddenly Illidan began yelling through my speakers.

“YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!”

I looked. I was prepared. My macro had just targeted a freshly spawned Loque’nahak under my drake, just past the river. I dismounted in air (in such a rush I took fall damage), threw down a freezing trap and hit tame. I watched in pure shaky bliss as Loque leapt at me, stuck in mid air in the trap. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1….Mine.

I ran around the house! I squealed to myself in a child-like glee. My dog watched me looking at me as if I had lost my mind, and I had!! I hugged him, it was all his doing I got Loque’nahak. I shudder to think what would’ve happened if he didn’t jump on me as I slept.

And with that thought, I renamed my Spirit Beast “Heero”.

To those camping alongside me, Good Luck! Don’t give up! Even when it seems its worse, just remember it can only get better! To Mythdragon, Reikao, and the many many other “citizens” of Scholazar Basin, I thank you for the conversations! To my great friends, Kinzen, Hallock, and my guild, thank you for putting up with my Loque-obessesion the past near 6 weeks. I can finally raid now! Yanno, once I level him up.

One Chapter Ends, Another Begins

And so, on Saturday, the wonderious glory of Blizzcon ended. It all seemed like a wonderful, dark, bright colored, neon tinted and mythical dream. In a stupid way, I keep finding myself saying "Did that really happen?" Yes. Yes it did. Blizzcon did happen; and from Friday the 10th to Saturday 11th, Blizzcon didn't just raid Anahiem, it conquered it.


For those of you who don't know, Blizzcon is a celebration of love for Blizzard's games. While World of Warcraft is most certainly it's poster child of success, the older children came back with their shiny new jobs to show off at this years dinner table. Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 certainly held the show's attention, and made this Blizzcon the biggest one ever. With over 12,000 attendants, you can be certain that Anahiem's nerd-rate quadrupled over the past 5 days. Of course, I say that absolutely lovingly.

"So what?" You ask. "So what do I care about stupid scantily clad elfs running amok a convention center?"

Well, you probably don't, but this is my blog and if you clicked it. Deal with it.

So what was all announced at Blizzcon? Well, Starcraft 2 will be a trilogy for one. I guess that's a big deal to all the Starcraft 2 fans, though I am not one of you. I'm not keen on the RTS games. Diablo 3's big announcement was the release of the new Wizard class. It seems most weren't too impressed by Wizard, but I found it pretty cool. Though I must say Barbarian takes the cake of awesome. Especially since I can play a girl Barbarian, well that makes it all the more appealing to me. She-rah for the win!

So it brings me to the final point; Wrath of the Lich King. The Wrath of the Lich King we got to experience was a pre-made level 80 Wrath character. While I played a Hunter with a Devilsaur, I found Death Knight to be so fluid and amazing. I really felt like I was someone important, wailing my angry vengeance upon the frozen wastelands. This was the World of Warcraft we've been waiting for. The return to a dark gothic world of Azeroth, where the world is in danger thanks to Arthas, the Lich King.

Of course that wasn't the only "Star of the Show". Other big news, the public appearance of Ghostcrawler, Everyone's Favorite Blue! Yes, Greg Street is the amazing little crab that most beta testers have come to know and love. Ghostcrawler released what was probably some of the best news to WoW players. The new "Water-proof Mounts" and the "Dual-Spec" System. Both of which I'll elaborate on later. Ghostcrawler is perhaps the best person Blizzard could've chose to represent them at this convention. Even when he got a "boo" from the audience over an upcoming change, he got them laughing again. Great guy, great choice Blizz!

So, what about me? Well, between all the loud noises and excruiating long lines, I found myself at home nestled amongst the loud noises, bright computers, and brillant lights. Even now, as I wait for Blizzard to update WoW tomorrow so I can ride a polar bear, I'm still going over Blizzcon in my head. Mrgl, my talking plush Murloc (who will soon grow to site mascot no doubt!) is still my prize from Blizzcon, along with many others. To the Alliance I met from Phoenix and Canada, it was great talking to you, and may we meet again sometime! To the Horde from New York and Minnesota, you guys almost made me wish I was Horde. From the beginning of Blizzcon and screaming bloody murder when I felt the creep for the first time in my "Zerg Creep Goo" to weilding Frostmourne and sitting on the Frozen Throne; Blizzcon will be memories I definitely keep with me.

Although, I now find myself not wanting to shoot the Horde! *wail* What if they're one of the cool people I met at the con? *sigh* Oh well. ;)