I’ll be honest–the nicest-looking, best-aging characters in any MMO for me were the original ones from Final Fantasy XI. Never a clipping issue, fluid animations, no derpyfaces or cartoony misproportions.
No–BGs all give honor, and/or conquest points. Currently, if you run random BGs you get a bonus of 270 honor and 100 conquest points for the first win of the day, then it drops to 135 honor and 50 conquest points for additional wins. Honor/conquest points are used to buy pvp gear–like the Ruthless Gladiator stuff you have.
Justice points (and valor points) come from boss kills in dungeons/raids.
On the harassment issue, that was relatively mild. The comment he made was actually an emote, which he created by typing “/violin” without the quotes while having you targeted, I think. A GM isn’t going to actually do anything to the guy for that. Sorry. If you want to emote him back, try /rude or /fart.
Yeah, Oak. I know that, but to me it isn’t about “getting back” at anyone. It’s about “leave me the fuck alone and let me play the game!”
I also know y’all have suggested I do this “/rude” thing before, but I just can’t. What good would that have done right then and there as it happened?
So the GM (or whoever looks at this) will just consider what is written on the screen and not what actually happened? How my game came to a screeching halt, not once but twice? That’s not very encouraging, but I do understand it.
I also know y’all must be thinking, “Get a life, Quasi!, That’s just the way it is, so deal with it!”
Got one I can use for a while?
A life, I mean.
Thanks, Oak! You’ve always been the stabilizer for me here, and I know to appreciate it!
Q
Quasi, it’s best to just understand that those are simply miserable people with no joy in their hearts who can only find a semblance of happiness by attempting to make everybody else as miserable as they are. Pity them.
The “kids” I don’t get are the ones who think everything’s a freaking race/contest. They have to “beat” you to every mob, and “beat” you to every mining/herb node, etc. as if these things are limited resources that aren’t going to just respawn in a few seconds. Like, those spiders in Tol Barad Peninsula are all over the freaking place, but they have to “beat” you to the exact one you’re obviously going after.
I was on my hunter one time, had placed my Hunter’s Mark on a spider and sent my pet in, and a paladin ran up beside me, stood there for a couple seconds (so she couldn’t have failed to miss the fact the the spider was marked and a bright orange tiger was running at it), and then dropped her Judgement on the spider just before my pet got to it. Since my main is a paladin, I was tempted to educate her on the fact that Rule #1 in the Paladin Handbook is “Above all, don’t be a dick”, but decided I’d be wasting my time.
Back when I used to circle Sholazar Basin in search of saronite, I ran into these hyper-competitive freaks all the time. It always gave me great satisfaction when I’d see somebody scrambling to “beat” me to the nearest node, and I’d just let them have it and continue on and find a titanium node the very next thing. I’d sing quietly to myself as I dug it out, “Nyah-nyah, this titanium node could have been yours if you hadn’t been so greedy, nyah-nyah…” 
Thanks, buddy! You and all our Doper buds know how much this means to me (and don’t worry! I ain’t gonna get all sad and shit, okay?;))!
I have watched you, Rik, and although you didn’t know I saw, I noticed you throw a wave at a bunch of people you and I encountered while we grouped in TB or elsewhere, and I thought to myself, "This is what the game’s all about! Not neccesarily Chivalry or the medieval times, but cameradery and joining to fight a common evil - whatever and/or whomever it may be.
So… even though I’d been saluting and bowing and cheering up until then, when I noticed you doing it, and folks responding with a wave of their own, I decided I’m doing it right, even though I suck at it! 
Just got off another TB battle, and yeah, we lost to the Horde once again, but I connected with a lady I had been following during that battle, and just wsp’d, “Sorry, we didn’t make it this time, Ma’am”!
And you know what she said?
“It’s okay, Bill, ya done good just charging in and blade-storming every chance you had.”
“Bill”?
Okay, who’s fucking with me here, boys?
Look, I know I have the CRS (Can’t Remember Shit) disease, but even I’m not so stupid as to think someone in our raid group would know my real name.
This has happened before in a more tiny way, but still, what the fuck, huh?
Thanks
Q
Well, you have been featured twice on one of the most popular WoW Sites out there, your toon has a pretty distinctive name, and your story is compelling. I don’t find it especially surprising that someone would “recognize” you in game. Face it bud…you’re getting semi-famous.
And all the credit goes to you and all my buds here, Oakie. If you guys hadn’t very patiently stood by me, answered my questions ad infinitum and repeatedly, I’d either not even BE in the game anymore, or else still just be still hitting the keys willi-nilli, with no rhyme or reason.
Turns out the lady in question is one of the readers of the joystiq article. She just didn’t have time to properly introduce herself to me. I had written her asking why she knew my real first name, and that’s why, Oak. You nailed it, my friend!
Not really looking for anything but in-game friends, though.
Thanks, Oak and guys. You guys most assuredly do rock!
Q
Question: Now that I’m a little more at ease (!) with myself and Da Wolk in Battles and BG’s, would it benefit us to participate in a “___________ is under attack!” - event, or not?
Having never done so, I guess I’d just flag myself PVP and have at it, right?
When these attacks happen, are the Horde fighting NPC’s, or are they players, or both?
The drops are better, or not?
Thanks
Q
Okay, I just did a little research and answered the above on my own, and it looks like poor Wolkie might still be at a disadvantage because of his gear.
Thanks
Q
The drops in that scenario are pretty much non-existent. There are a couple of minor quest drops that you can that you can get from looting the bodies of dead hordies. You turn those in at the Darkmoon Faire, for gold, rep, and whatever they call that currency. The item itself will tell you “someone at the Darkmoon Faire might be interested in this item”.
Usually that scenario means Horde are attacking Alliance NPCs. If it happens in a city, it means they are trying to kill the king–there is an achievement for doing that, and a mount for killing all city leaders/kings.
From a purely mercenary standpoint, it isn’t really going to provide much benefit–but from a roleplaying point of view, you can defend your homeland against the invaders. I’ll usually join in something like that if I happen to be on when something happens. I have not participated in an attack on Horde cities yet…but it is on my list of things to do sometime.
Outside of a city, it usually means the Horde are being dicks. Killing flightmasters, griefing low level players in noobie zones. I’ll usually log an 85 if not already on one and intervene to put a stop to it. Some Alliance guys do that in Horde noob areas too…I will not participate.
Heh. One time, back during Wrath, I was in SW on my then-level-80 paladin and I got a whisper from some random person:
Them: Hey we’re gonna raid Crossroads, wanna come?
Me: No thank you
Them: Why not?
Me: Because I’m a grownup
I’ve found that if it’s a serious attack on a king, it can compete favorably in HP-per-time-invested if you get in on the defense early.
Not to be overlooked–it’s great practice in target selection and crowd control, because if you don’t find and isolate the healers early you’re not going to accomplish much of anything.
My PvP guild on Arthas refers to this as “regulation”–and god help the hordie who ganks one of our lower-level members or for that matter attacks Ally NPCs, because he’s going to have multiple guys in Cataclysmic Gladiator drop in on him momentarily. 
I think I’ll try it at least once, just for some change-up.
Thanks, guys!
Rik, I just came from a lengthy daily/and fishing expedition, but maybe I’ll see you later this evening. If not have a great weekend!
Q
So far, I have had a pretty productive day, y’all:
-
I achieved MASTER status in my herbalism job
-
Cooked up some fish meals (surprised I didn’t get any points for those, though)
-
Visited Thousand Needles (gathered Sungrass), and didn’t realize it was a “contested” area.
-
Did my fishin’ in the TB Peninsula river. (I trade off one quest with one fishing trip, just for variety)
I know: It may not sound like a whole lot to you more experienced guys, but for me it’s an enjoyable day in Alex.
Also learned not to put my high-value items (phantom eel) into auction first thing in the morning, because then it’s just to easy to undercut me.
Beginning realize that Alliance seems to pretty much get their asses kicked in the battle all the time, because I’ve been watching for a “control” message for Alliance all day, and have not seen one, so that I can go in and quest.
Still at it with a lot more self-confidence! 
Thanks
Q
Every zone is “contested”, except for the starting zones (Elwynn Forest, Dun Morogh, Teldrassil, and Azuremyst Island, for Alliance). This only really matters on PvP servers, where everybody will be flagged for PvP when they enter a Contested zone.
I think I meant I might run into some elites there, while merrily skipping along, plucking for all I was worth, Rik! But anyway…
Needed some help with “toughened flesh” for cooking “Blackened Surprise”.
I googled for some sources where I could buy it, and one entry said to try the guy standing next to the cooking questgiver in SW, that he has boxes of “tasty meat” which also contain the toughened flesh I need for my recipe.
Well, no. He does have the boxes which one buys along with 2 cooking award points, but what they contain are eyeballs and soft things - no toughened flesh.
So thinking he varies what’s in those boxes, I tried again and failed again: no toughened flesh - same as (it ever was) before.
Next I got sent (by El’s Fishing Guide) to Katherine Lee at The Silver Enclave, but she just offered training and a few other cooking items. No toughened flesh.
So what I plan to do is head to Uldum tomorrow and kill some hyenas and cook my recipe so that I can advance a little faster than just getting one point exp and cooking award a day.
So all I am saying (did that one already) is - I’ve been to inns which have butchers down in the basement. It would be the simplest thing in the world to have them sell the meat. It also irks me to a high shine that I just now spent 1 hour trying to make this happen.
Okay, so I’m just gonna sit here and drink this Darkbrew Lager, which I brewed with ingredients I bought right there at the Old Town Inn. Didn’t have to run around picking hops or making bourbon. It was all readily available for purchase.
This has been mostly rhetorical, so no answer is needed since I also solved the problem myself, but it’d be nice if you all might feel a little of my “pain” with me? :):)
Thanks
Quasi
Heh. Welcome to PvP. On my server, Alliance usually takes TB in the wee hours of the morning. If you’re a night owl, or an early riser, that might be a good time to get your questing done there.
Quasi, you might find this cooking guide useful.
“Great minds, Oak”. That is the very one I’m using, although I forgot to mention it earlier. He/she does a great job (that’s where I found my Darkbrew Lager recipe), but he’s very vague on the Blackened Surprise. 
Thanks
Q
Whew
Well, we lost again, but we “came back” several times when it seemed we were doomed. I don’t know, but it seemed like the “clock” just re-set itself and here we went again!
Something happened tonight that I have never seen: Apparently, I am now a TOL BARAD ALL STAR. When I saw that, me and Wolkie worked all that much harder.
Again, such a calm leader. Just matter of factly stated what was happening and how to correct. He had me stay with the flag, and we fought from there.
Got a little over 100 HP, Rik, so that puts me over the 1K gold point and we can buy more gear for da boy?
I woke poor Dondra up, I’m afraid, with my “Godammit Wolkie!!! What’s WRONG with you? MARK your target and start slashin’ and bashin’”. She also didn’t like my “MOTHERRRR- FUCKKKKKKKER!!!” when we died!
Y’all should have heard her yellin’ at me from the bedroom: “You’re goin’ to the ALTAR, Bill!!! I mean it BUDDY!!!”
What a totally rockin’ evening! I am so glad I didn’t give up on the game, and that y’all didn’t give up on ME!
But I think I’ll turn the sound down now, and go fishin’
Thanks, guys
from me and Wolkie (The “Tol Barad All Star”)