I feel very proud when I’m in the top 3 DPS, but also very scared, because if I’m near the top, then it means everyone else is extra horrible! 
I understand the previous tier LFRs have a lot of new peeps coming in because of the Timeless Isle welfare drops, but SoO requires a higher ilvl.
Very true. I think it’s 500. (Can’t be troubled to look it up.)
But there were a lot of people in the raid I ran with gear levels far beyond their raiding skills.
I’m not a raider. Haven’t been for years. But LFR has definitely let in a lot of people who are worse at raiding than I ever was.
Fun, but it still surprised me to be one of the surviving 40% of the raid at the end of some encounters. (Protectors, I’m looking at you…)
ETA: I should jump into those previous-tier LFRs you speak of. I never tried any of them, but I have a lot of Black Prince questline to catch up on.
I think it’s 496, because my DK got in after I caught him up on Timeless Isle.
Amen. My DK has always been a tank but I went in as DPS because I’m not sufficiently masochistic to try to tank an LFR. My gear level for DPS is around 510 and I’m routinely in the top 5 DPS for runs (except when I get into one of those groups that’s all slumming raiders trying to fill out their voids).
I have kind of a love-hate relationship with LFR. I used to be a decently hardcore raider but gave it up because I discovered I like having free time, so LFR gives me a chance to see the content, get some gear, and do it on my own schedule. But wow-doggy, there are some doorknobs in those LFR groups. 
Totally sympatico. I liked raiding, but I hated not living up to the committment of raiding, so I don’t raid; having a life takes precedence. So, LFR is a great compromise. But, like most compromises, it has some interesting downsides.
Overall, first run of first wing of SoO was a positive experience for me. I look forward to putting the last bullet through Garrosh’s blackened heart.
My seven year old daughter told me, “I wish we could kill him (Garrosh) PERMANENTLY! So he doesn’t come back to life!”
I have to reassure her that critters accidentally killed by AoE attacks come back to life just like players do, and she knows that all the mobs eventually respawn. But she doesn’t like the idea of Garrosh coming back to life after you kill him, she thinks he should stay dead.
Spoiler for the end of Siege of Orgrimmar:
The sad thing is, we don’t even get to kill him impermanently. I was really looking forward to sticking my sword through old Zippy the Orc Pinhead, but alas, it’s not to be. I was disappointed when I found out.
Hey, has anybody else read Vol’jin: Shadows of the Horde? Easily the best WarCraft novel I’ve read.
Holy crap, I just noticed that my 90 rogue has been carrying around a Battered Hilt! I don’t know how I missed that - I last soloed the ICC 5-mans on her 6+ weeks ago.
s’what I get for playing drunk…
Okay, upon further review, the appearance of the Battered Hilt appears to be the result of a glitch that was probably rectified in the most recent patch/hotifix. Along with the Hilt, I discovered a number of other WotLK loot items in my bag that I’m pretty sure weren’t there a couple days ago.
He’s a rogue. He’s probably sleep-roguing.
He’s gotta cut back on the binge drinking. Those lost weekend blackouts are getting weirder and weirder. 
Seriously… does this mean you expect all that stuff to vanish like a dream in morning light?
I recommend starting on the Quel’delar quest chain pronto. I soloed that as an 80, back in the day, so it’d be a complete doddle for a 90 stealther.
This is, believe it or not, only the second Battered Hilt I’ve ever seen. One dropped the very first time I ran H:Pit of Saron, but it went to the group’s priest. Despite the fact that I ran the ICC 5-mans over and over again on my paladin and mage, I never saw it even drop again. Funny having it pop up again now.
Infovore, are you sure? Based on the Journal description…
Well, I’ve watched the YouTube video of the cinematic at the end of the Garrosh fight, and according to that, he’s defeated but not killed, and the Pandaren take him off to stand trial for his crimes. I guess they wanted to leave him alive for future story potential. Unless the Pandaren end up executing him and I missed that part. But AFAIK, the raid team doesn’t actually get to kill him.
Starting to burn out on Timeless Isle already. Still don’t have the legendary cloak, so that world boss is off limits for me. The rest of it is…meh. If you don’t happen to be standing nearby when a rare spawns, it is probably going to be dead before you can tag it. Burdens of Eternity almost never drop for me. Think I’m up to a grand total of 3 now, two on the hunter, one on the mage. Haven’t done the third stage of the new raid tier yet, so that’s something.
My hunter has had great luck on the Celestials so far. In consecutive weeks I got ilvl 553 pants and gloves for him. None of my other toons have gotten anything off those mobs.
The Halloween event starts next weekend. I’ve got 4 90s now, so I’ll be taking 4 shots a day at that damn flying horse mount I’ve been chasing for years.
Also slowly grinding Anglers rep on the mage. I want the waterbug mount to make Evermaw easier to do. Not sure why, but hey…new mount.
Speaking of mounts, will Houlon drop the mount for characters that don’t have cloud serpent riding skill? If he does, can they at least learn the mount for other toons that have it, or is it just going to take up bag space unless/until whichever toon has it grinds exalted rep with…whoever it is that gives the skill. My druid and mage can ride cloud serpents. The tankadin and hunter can’t. Naturally, if the mount ever drops for me, it will probably drop for a toon that can’t use it immediately…
Ah, that works. My inner gnome is even motivated by what might be needed for that arrangement…
I believe it will drop for you even if you don’t have Cloud Serpent Riding skill, but since Cloud Serpent Riding is a prerequisite for learning the mount, you will need Exalted with the Order of the Cloud Serpent on the character that gets the drop to learn it. It will then be accessible to all your toons.
On the bright side, getting Exalted with them is easier than it’s ever been, what with the commendations and Quivering Egg trade-ins for rep.
Well, I just noticed the other day that my human paladin has reached 120 days of /played time. Whoa, that’s four whole months I’ve spent on just that one character!
Given those conditions, I was a little surprised tonight when she dropped by the inn at Valiance Keep (Borean Tundra) to hit up the trick or treat pumpkin (farming guild XP), and the message popped up that she had just discovered Valiant’s Rest. “That can’t be right”, I thought. Valiance Keep was her point of arrival when she finally reached Northrend back in '09, and she logged out in that inn many times. Weird glitch, I guess.
She also finally found a plate helm token on the Timeless Isle, the last piece she needed to complete a full 496 set. But she hasn’t activated/equipped it yet, because she somehow has still not found a Burden. I want to upgrade at least one piece to 553, and it looks like the helm will have to be that piece.
Meanwhile, my priest/tailor had the cloth belt from the Timeless Isle equipped, and was, I think, 3 pieces of Celestial Cloth away from being able to craft a 553 belt (and has since crafted and equipped it). So what cloth armor did she keep finding? Belts. Twice. Oh well, into the mailbox they went, to my mage and my warlock.
Burdens upgrade to 535, not 553. The Celestials drop some 553 pve gear…gloves and pants, I think, as well as lots of pvp stuff.
I’m chasing the Headless Horseman and that #@$%^! mount once again. 4 90s, 1 run per day, 0-12 on the year, 0-infinity-billion over the last six years. Sigh.
Finished making the power sources for the new engineering mount, and could not buy enough living steel on the AH to make the thing today. There were only 24 pieces avaiable, not counting 2 that were absurdly priced at 5k each. Hoping I can pick up 6 more tomorrow, for around 4-500 each, as were the bulk of my purchases today. Probably going to sell the first mount I make. Think they’re going for around 75k or so. I can wait another month or so to make one for myself.
This is where having a complete in-house system of trade alts has paid off. My alchemist has been cranking out Living Steel like mad since 5.4 dropped, including burning up a lot of Spirits of Harmony to do the non-daily transmutes. I had plenty for the mount, plus my blacksmith’s progressive upgrades to his Reborn sword. (There, the shortfall is the one-a-day Lightning Steel production.)
The Sky Golem is a hoot. It’s like “I’m Goblin Ironman!” Ugly, clunky, and hella fun to fly.
I got the living steel i needed today, and made the Sky Golem, but I put him up on the AH at an 80K buyout, undercutting the next lowest price by about 2k. Was really tempted to keep him, but I figure the price will come down by the time I can make another, so may as well sell high.
Gonna have to look into that Reborn sword. My tankadin is a blacksmith, with tons of lightning steel saved up…