4.0.3a!

Been running around doing a few things. I don't know where to start, really, so I've just been picking something as I go!

Made my dwarf shaman and quested through the revamped Coldridge Valley. The new music (especially the gnome music!) is awesome.

Went and did some quests in Darkshore on my hunter. Eight seems to be the magic number there; kill 8 of this! Save 8 of that! A few of the quests felt monotonous, but that's probably because I'm 80. Other quests were still great, especially saving all the people along the shoreline. And the whole time... I couldn't help but want one of those new snails as a pet! Wonder where we'll get one.

And of course, I went over to Hillsbrad to get my sunflower pet! Sucks that there's no flightpath in that zone... but I guess it's just not for alliance anymore.

There's a zombie on your la-awn... la dee dee dee, dee dee dee dee!

Unfamiliar Imp-osters!

I love the puns that were brought to light with the warlock demon-name fiasco of 4.0.1. However, I don't love the name mixup! Fehima dearly misses her imp Zilloz; or rather, she would if I weren't too afraid to check whether or not her demons were replaced.

The good news is that Blizzard was on the problem quick, announcing that the demon names are fixable, and will be put back to normal with the next maintenance day.

Sick Day

There's never a good time to be sick, but there are bad times to be sick.

I wonder what a sick day would be like for a hero in Azeroth...

"Hey guys, I know you're off to kill the god of death and all, but I'm not feeling too well tonight. I've got an awful cold coming on. You don't need my heals, right? You'll probably be better off without me. I think I'll just hang out in the inn here and drink my Honeymint Tea. But good luck! Let me know how it goes."

If you couldn't guess, I've got an awful cold. Mid-term is not a good time. It is a bad time.

Unrelated: Apparently 4.0.1 ends the Gnomeregan event, and I'm super bummed about it cause I only did it on one character. I thought they'd give some notice. I wanted more gnome costumes and achievements!

A race against the clock.

With 4.0.1 sending the servers down early tonight, my boyfriend and I went on a speedy adventure through Molten Core to try to get my hunter the Ancient Leaf. I really wanted the 24 slot bag from the quest! (Not to mention doing the rest of the hunter quest chain -- I hope it's still there tomorrow.)

However, I was at work until 10pm, so we had less than two hours to stumble through the instance and hope that Majordomo dropped the Leaf and not the Eye of Divinity (though I need that, too, for my priest!). We made it, and I looted my quest-starter with about 40 minutes to get to Felwood. Of course, I'd forgotten to grab my years-old Mature Blue Dragon Sinew from the bank; after retrieving that from Everlook, thinking I needed the Flute of the Ancients to talk to the Ancients (dur, no, I remembered as I hopped up the hill later, flute in hand, that they just appear), I flew all the way down to the southern flight point to get the flute, then flew back up. I made it to the Ancients with about 10 minutes to spare, picked up all 3 quests, and turned in the Sinew for my shiny new (soon-to-be) 24 slot bag!

I was happy to get that done. :)

Release Date!

Cataclysm was officially announced today for release on Tuesday, December 7th!

To me, this means AAHHH ONLY 9 MORE WEEKS OF FARMING!!! Also, my classes end on Dec. 10, so thankfully I'll have lots of time to play once it's released. :)

MMO-Champion is guessing 4.0.1 will not go live this week, but next week.

Test realm invites, ho!

So I finally got a beta invite for Cataclysm as the PTR realms for 4.0.1 go live. Go figure!

What was missing.

I realize now what I thought was missing from defeating the Lich King. There was nothing wrong with the cinematic; in fact, the cinematic was great. What's missing is the after-story. So far in the story, there has been no resolution.
I'm not an English professor, but this is my take on what has happened. For the Wrath of the Lich King story, the exposition would be our first steps into Northrend, seeing the scourge's effect on the world. The rising action would be our encounters with the Lich King himself: tension is building and we're being given reason to resist him (at Naxxanar, Angrathar, Utgarde, and any quest involving him). The climax is our fight against him in ICC, and the following cinematic is a mix of the climax and the falling action. But... how does the story end? What happens afterward, what does everyone think, where do they go? Where is the resolution?

For example... what if The Lord of the Rings ended at Mt. Doom, with the Ring being destroyed -- and that was it? We don't know that Frodo goes back to the Shire, that Aragorn and Arwen get married, that Bilbo+crew go to the Undying Lands, that Sam has a gaggle of Gamgee hobbit children. There's no cool down! The story isn't over!

Aside from the fountain in Dalaran, nothing changes after we defeat the Lich King. I didn't go back downstairs afterward to Light's Hammer... was there some party that I missed my invitation to? What do Jaina, Muradin, and Varian have to say about his death? Sylvanas, Saurfang, Thrall?

What do Darion and his death knights do now that they've had their vengeance? Do they even feel that way? Maybe they're still burning with rage... or are they just empty now? Where does Tirion go, now that he's defeated one of the Light's greatest threats?

And oh gosh, where's Old Blanchy??? :( Shouldn't she have her own pasture in Westfall by now or something? I think she deserves it.

Maybe there will be a bunch of story updates in 3.3.5... but so far all I've heard about are the Ruby Sanctum, Real-ID, etc. At least now I know what was missing, feeling better about that. Now I know what I'm waiting for: the end of the story.

3.3.3 Launched

I should have known weeks ago that this would be patch week. Patches always come out on days/weeks that I'm extremely busy with schoolwork, work, or anything else that means I won't be playing the game much/at all.

The most memorable time of this occurring was when Burning Crusade came out. I'd bought tickets for a concert in Vancouver, and not too much later, it was announced that the expansion would be released on January 16th... two days before the concert date. Great.

Then again, it's not like anything major really happened with this patch. Aside from all the "big" things mentioned in the patch notes (like Frozo), so far my favourite addition is the LFG timer, telling you how long you've been in the queue.

That way, I can know how long I've been "taking a break" from the paper I should be writing....