SWTOR and other Hooha

World of Warcraft: Really I Didn’t Need Another One, This Was SO Not Planned

So I already have two devilsaurs in the bank pet stable. The black one with blue stripes (which is happily easy to get), and the white one, because it was just walking along, and I just happened to be there, and so why not?

It was not in my plan to get another one, and I hadn’t really looked at the new models. Because we were standing near these black and gold ones (while getting the book drop) I considered them, but then decided nah, triceratops were the dino of choice.

Then while getting ready to tame a triceratops I backed up just a little too far. And had my first look at the blue devilsaur I’d just aggro’d. Ok yes, that one I wanted. I even got the one that tried to nibble me to death, since it made itself available. (It is SO handy to have a priest along. Did I mention this was a level 90 elite?)

Then afterwards I had to go check out the colors of blue against various backgrounds, and various lighting. Because screenshots are very important.

In the lower left is the non combat pet - I think that’s the Anklerender, but they all look very similar so it’s hard to tell.

World of Warcraft: Wait, Am I in Dinotopia Now?

So we went off to the Isle of Giants - which is off the northern coast of Pandaria, so go there, fly to northern Pandarian fp, then fly to island where bam, suddenly you can no longer fly. Also everything there is level 90 to 91 elite, many of them mobbed close together. And the island is small, so running means you’ll just bump into other mobs. And there are flying pterosaurs you do NOT want to aggro because they can kill you. (There were two of us, we walked into a 91 elite one, and bam dead.)

We killed humanoids for like an hour until the You May Now Tame Your Triceratops (Direhorn) book dropped - from what I’ve read we had a bad drop rate compared to others. On the upside we each got multiple dino pets (4 versions, they’re all under the first-name Zandalari) - on the downside those are just like the dino pets we already had in game, baby devilsaurs. I think.

Since husband was there in priest form I tamed more than one of these guys because hey, we were there. There’s a blue one (which doesn’t look that blue on the island), but I liked the green and red ones better. (I saw multiple people with blue ones running past, so I’m thinking I’ll happily see others around. Yes, I pet-oogle, I confess it.) The green will probably be my keeper.

These are taken on the Darkmoon Faire island because it was the best lighting.

Warcraft: You Are Such an Odd Game These Days

So I have a panda monk named Tumshie, because that’s Scottish for turnip (and all other forms of Turnip were taken), because yes indeed, pandas are shaped like turnips on legs and about as graceful, no matter what the cutscenes may do with them. (I couldn’t do a female panda, they simper, and do the shy fidgety thing. I don’t do simpering female characters.) Anyway, Tumshie looks particularly hideous in hand-me-down heirloom gear. (But then all the alts do as well. He’s just got it worse because of the turnip shape thing. He makes up for it in heavy drinking, and beer related fighting skills. Actually that last bit is true.)

On the plus side if you make a monk of any other race the fighting animations are indeed kickass looking. I recommend a blood elf or human, just to take a look. I sense that gnomes or goblins will look even more humorous at them than pandas.

The hunter Stampede ability (I never remember this name, to me this is the Bring Out The Posse spell, because that amuses me more) is something I pop every now and then just for giggles. For shots like this. Also because it’s the most exciting thing you can do while gardening because…gardening. (Wow, I hate you, you have made me play Farmville. I will not be forgetting this. And I say that as someone who likes to fish in game.) (Ok, I will forgive only for a millisecond in that it’s gotten my husband to farm in game too, and because that allowed me to hear him actually brag about his ingame irrigation system and scarecrow and that was high level ridiculousness which is still making me laugh hysterically. Because my man the raider, he has an uber garden. *Chortle*)

World of Warcraft: Druid Gives Gnome a Lift

Yesterday I used the glyph for “give party members a ride in travel form” because it sounded humorous. Thus here I am giving my husband’s gnome priest a ride - not that you can see much of him around the horns, but that’s gnomes for you. Yes, there was much snickering during all of this, mostly from me.

Even better was when husband mentioned “um, I can’t seem to get off…lemme try dropping party.” Nope. He was stuck there. At which point I ran and bounced about a little, as one would have to, of course. He could finally escape when I went indoors and broke travel form. Of course I could have just shifted and let him go. Wouldn’t have been as much fun though.

World of Warcraft: Just When I Was Sure I Wouldn’t Get Sucked Back In

Because you see the pokemon minipet battling isn’t in game yet - that’ll come in September. So I was sure I’d just log in tonight, twiddle with things a bit, and go back to my reading. Erm, nope. I have a handful of characters not at 85 yet, and of course there are all these new spells now, and the urge to try them out is apparently one I can’t resist.

My now level 80 warlock looks completely befuddled as to how her Felhunter turned purple, learned to dual wield, and is now called something non-felhuntery. (Which of course I forget.) But that’s demonology for you. With the talent choices she made, anyway. (Yes, I’m snickering at his armor too. Really bad armormakers, those demons.)

Also fun is the fact that every time she uses a certain spell an imp spawns. Until she has a little posse of five around her. And underwater they do odd water ballet swimming in synch. Deeply strange.

Oh and in that second underwater screenshot? Yes, those are purple horns growing out of her head. That’s yet another weird thing that happens when she uses one of her spells.

And that’s how you get reabsorbed in the Wow.

World of Warcraft: Druid Travel Form

Hello there. I’m a druid. This is my new travel form. I’m apparently a deer wearing… antler jewelry. Because the Pandaria patch downloaded today. (Some new stuff, the rest in about a month.)

I also seem somewhat grumpy about…something. I seem to glare a lot in this form.

Meanwhile I can also give party members a ride in this form. (Which works for all druids who use the glyph for it.) Not that I’ll use it often, but it should be hysterical. At some point.

Wow Beta: Damn You, Blizzard, Stop That

So I thought I had the wow thing under control. I’d hop in and mess about with my hunters (I have ones on Alliance and Horde that I putter about on), and then that’d be it for a week or so. And then the husband began to mess about with the non combat pet battles. And became addicted and talked about it. So I had to go see what he was grumbling about.

Must note here that while I may own a Pikachu toy I was never of the age to get into Pokemon. So I assumed the pet battles wouldn’t suck me in. Wrong wrong wrong.

How did it wrap its tentacles around me - let me count the ways.

1) My mini pets now have attacks! Must see what they all look like! Curiosity explosion!

2) There are pets all over the map now (which you can track on your mini map). To capture them you just click and then fight. For each fight you have 3 pets on your team that you can pop in and out - for instance if one is getting the snot kicked out of it you switch to another with better health/attack. You can kill or capture your foe.

3) Out of every so many pets you capture you may get an uncommon or a rare pet - not anything special to look at necessarily, but good fighting stats. Better than the pets already in your collection for instance.

4) You go to different zones to fight higher level pets and get new ones with different attacks. And capture new kinds of pets. The pet level increases as the mob level does, so in theory you could do this bit by bit as you level.

5) Some of the attacks are hysterical. A rain of eggs. A rain of nuts. Rat stampede. Roach stampede. I have been laughing a lot.

(Will note which attacks or pets in the screenshots. Realize that I don’t remember the exact names of the attacks.)

It is deeply fun to watch the Zergling/Panda/Mini Diablo fight. MiniD is way squishy and not the terror you’d think he’d be. If I get the Zergling up to a high level it will do a Zergling Rush. I may have to see that one day. (Yes I have the collectors edition. Yes, I’ve been playing this that long.)

So this is all in the beta. My big question will now be whether we’ll get this in the patch coming up the last week of August or we’ll have to wait til Sept. I’m bettering Sept. Sigh.