I went home for lunch today, intending to fish and eat a sammich while catching up on ESPN. However, as soon as I got settled in, I knew I was in for a treat. An old former guildie of mine messages me saying "Hey, wanna come tank Sarth+3d for me?" I was like "Sure!". I have to say that fight is a lot of fun as the only tank. Managing CD's while dodging flame waves, tanking Sarth and his three pals, keeping whelps and fire elems off dps/healers, and managing to not get yourself killed in the meantime. It's a full deck of responsibilities that lands firmly on the shoulders of the tank. I'm glad I was up for the job. Victory [img]http://www.phreakre.com/images/screenshots/Achieve-Sarth_with_3d_10man.jpg[/img] Thanks for the invite, Baba.

Around the 29th of July this year (2009), I got it in my craw that I was going to become a fisherman. I had been wanting to do fishing since I got my [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/150/the-fishing-diplomat/]Fishing Diplomat[/url] achievement during a [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/619/for-the-horde/]For The Horde![/url] raid back in December. Since classic, the whole idea of fishing has been interesting to me but ultimately pretty boring after an hour. Cast, wait, click, repeat. It started out pretty innocently: a pole, some worms, and the nice expanse of water in the Valley of Strength in Org. Before long, I was talking about fishing hats, eternium line, and designer fishing poles. My wife remarked that all I talked about for a while was fishing. When I sat down to get started, I started doing research on fishing while skilling up my fishing. This is extremely easy to do while fishing as long as you have the sound on and two monitors. Eventually, I was pointed to a very helpful site called [url=http://www.elsanglin.com]El's Extreme Anglin'[/url] where other folks like me have gotten together to discuss this most strange niche of World of Warcraft. Like most landlubbers, I had no idea how deep fishing had become since it has few patch notes and where fishing was patched, it was generally on the back of a greater overhaul of something much larger [like WoW 2.0 and 3.0]. Fishing isn't just cast, wait, and click anymore. You have to know where to fish, what to wear, and how to get the right cast in order to be successful. The achievements for fishing are only the start. Catch a few thousand fish and you start to get an appreciation for people who have both [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/old-ironjaw/]Old Ironjaw[/url] and [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/old-crafty/]Ol' Crafty[/url] which is probably 3000 fish caught on average to get them both while ducking opposite faction members in their capital. I got lucky, I caught Crafty after only 154 casts. It puts me in the top 20% fewest casts to catch this particular fish. I'm 1900 casts deep into Old Ironjaw from three separate trips to Ironforge just to catch him and I still haven't bagged the bugger. [img]http://phreakre.com/images/screenshots/old_crafty_acheive.jpg[/img] My rare fishing fetish started in Dalaran before I had ever heard about the turtle mount or Old Ironjaw. Most of you probably know exactly what I'm talking about now. Yes, I was one of those zombies standing by the fountain next to the Alliance bank just casting, casting, casting. I counted around 2800 casts and many, many sessions by the fountain when I finally got my [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/44430/titanium-seal-of-dalaran/]Titanium Seal of Dalaran[/url]. I used to fish in the fountain whenever I had a few seconds of time. Ten to fifteen casts before getting and after turning in the fishing daily, a short five minute session while waiting on a group for heroics, another stand while waiting on the raid to start, a few minutes before I logged out netted me several casts and coins. When I finished, I realized I had fished on three separate computers for what must have been several dozen hours. [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/2096/the-coin-master/]The Coin Master[/url] got me from 150 to 450 fishing and easily helped my [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/1561/1000-fish/]1000 fish[/url] achievement as well. [img]http://phreakre.com/images/screenshots/1000_fish.jpg[/img] While finishing my coin collection, I started spending time in the sewers hunting down [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/1958/i-smell-a-giant-rat/]my giant rat[/url], but it still has not come up (938 casts later). Between ratting sessions, I started fishing Outland for shits and giggles. After a month out there, I came back with a [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/35349/snarlys-bucket/]sewer crocalisk pet[/url] and a large collection of junk from the pools and streams I had been fishing for the [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/outland-angler/]Outland Angler[/url] achievement. If one thing could define my fishing experience as a whole, it's [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/726/mr-pinchys-magical-crawdad-box/]Mr. Pinchy's Magical Crawdad Box[/url]. It has started to become the number one thing I talk to other fishermen about: Have you tried to catch Mr. Pinchy? What happened? The number one answer is always "I hate that damned crawdad". I, personally, had a great time with the Crawdad of Death. Several of my wishes were an enraged Crawdad Guardian that followed my Death Knight around several dungeons and waylaid mobs for lots of damage. My third wish granted me the magical crawdad pet. I was lucky. According to a fisherwoman in a former guild of mine, Mr. Pinchy is a curse upon her house. He has killed her multiple times and ruined many of her trips to great places like Gadgetzan [where he attacks the guards for shits and giggles]. Another fisherman has fished up Mr. Pinchy no less than five times and never been awarded a trip to the magical crawdad box. It took me three days to catch [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/27388/mr-pinchy/]Mr. Pinchy[/url] and he capitulated to my achievement addiction shortly there after. I still have a lot of fishing left to do. I need to catch Old Ironjaw, the Turtle Mount, the Giant Sewer Rat, and one of the super rare fish that won't get away. Most of all, I need to win the Sunday Fishing Tournament in STV. I have tried a few different Sundays. After helping Drosophilia from the guild get his Salty title by harassing Alliance and Horde while he fished pools for tasty fish, I decided to start doing the tournament myself. A few Sundays later, I got my wife's paladin to help me since this seems to be more of a PvP event than a fishing tournament most days on Deathwing as of late. I have never come close (28 fish when the tournament was won on my last try). I think short of fielding half a raid to run pool recon, alliance bashing, and Horde-on-Horde bobber harassment, the tournament is not winnable. Too many people have too many friends trying to get this title and the pool only shrinks by one a week. As of late, my fishing has consisted of doing the Dalaran fishing daily in hopes of netting the designer [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/45992/jeweled-fishing-pole/]Jeweled Fishing Pole[/url] or the [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/45991/bone-fishing-pole/]Bone Fishing Pole[/url]. I also have been hitting Wintergrasp for combinations of glacial salmon, nettlefish, and musselback sculpin, which the expert anglers amongst you will recognize immediately as the recipe components to a vital raid buff. @Warcraft had a daily question via twitter concerning anglers and their fishing outfits. My outfit? Furious Gladiator's Dreadplate, cause fishing is a full contact sport on Deathwing. =) So when you see someone walking around with the "Salty" title, realize what an accomplishment it is. They have done something right up there with getting Celestial Defender. There are only, at most, 52 "salty" titles given out a year if none of the expert anglers decide to win the Tournament multiple times. I'm still working on my title. Maybe one day, I'll get lucky and no mammoth riding retards in will stand on my lure during the tournament, but I'm not betting on it..

Since I have been giving ram riding lessons on Deathwing outside Orgrimmar all week (starting with my wife), I decided I should post a picture of the path I use to run the keg delivery quest that nets me ~30 tickets per day. Basically, you only use two apple baskets, the one in the middle behind the rock on your left as you're traveling south to pick up a keg and the barrel behind the keg receiver inside the little pen by where you got the mount in the first place. If you are whipping the crap out of your ram, you will reach the first barrel in ~65 fatigue, it will reset. You will receive your keg with ~45 fatigue and get back to the barrel with ~75 fatigue, where it will reset again. Now ride straight for the barrel behind the turn in spot and loop by the goblin on your way out to drop it off. Violla.

Over the past three years, something has been bugging me about Warcraft. Before you tune out, this is not a waxing poetic about the glory days of vanilla. For those of you who remember the bad old days, you might remember with fondness the battles over Hillsbrad. Without a doubt, I have the firm belief that the SS/TM war happened on every single server in the game. For the most part, a great deal of fun was had by all concerned, except the poor level 20's trying to level amidst a field of god-like 60's rampaging the countryside. That was the basis of the Alliance vs Horde experience in WoW. When Burning Crusade dropped, we got to do it all over again in the appropriately named Hellfire Peninsula. Ever wanted to know what having every single player on your server in one PvP battleground was like? Hellfire Peninsula on 16 January 2007 was probably it. I spent more time killing alliance than leveling that week and probably was about the 900th person to hit 70 on my rogue, but I know for damned sure I was in the top 10 on HK's that week and didn't do a single battleground. Prepared for even more mayhem, I was sorely disappointed when the facts of level 70 life settled right on top of me: standing around Shat. Shattrath was the first "blue" zone. Sanctuary. No PvP allowed at all, period, no exceptions. Lore-wise, it didn't make much sense either. I can kill Archimonde and Illidan, but not Alliance newbs around Shat because a giant crystal snowflake said so? Nope, we must live harmoniously with the Alliance. As the Lich King started amassing strength in Northrend, little things started to creep out about achievements like: [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/619/for-the-horde/][For the Horde!][/url]. Could this be the face of the new war? Constant sieges and assaults on our Warchief, Alliance bodies littering the hallways of the Stormwind Keep and the Valley of Strength, murdering that s.o.b. King Wrynn? It was.. for a while. In reality, I have probably killed King Wrynn about 25 times in my entire WoW career, almost all of those before the Black War Bear mount was in the game when non-raid nights consisted of slipping a warlock (frequently my wife) and some rogues into Stormwind Park and summoning an entire raid army there. I think the mount was a great addition to that particular achievement, it keeps the raids going even if they are much less frequent now. Unfortunately, the only thing that I see drawing Alliance into Orgrimmar any more is the Lunar Festival. The Alliance have to ride right through Orgrimmar and next to the hall of our beloved Warchief to shake hands with a cow standing in a spotlight for 1/77th of an achievement. These poor bastards have to dodge a gauntlet of people, like me, who frequently stand next to the portal hut on the way to the back door of Org and hit them with slow over and over again while guards, newbs, and rampant Blood Elf Paladins murderfy them with no thought other than getting [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/1006/city-defender/][City Defender][/url] or maybe some casual harassment. So I pose the simple question: Is the war over? The Alliance and the Horde have signed a de-facto peace treaty with one another by continuing to live in these sanctuary cities abroad and to the North in order to better pursue the extinction of our common enemies. I believe we have been at peace for too long. As I said on twitter earlier today "Death to the Alliance, full time, all the time. Dalaran should have streets filled with blood." Maybe the last half of that sentence is a bit of hyperbole, but the sentiment remains the same: We should be killing the Lich King *and* the Alliance. We are the Horde, we can do both. While making Dalaran/Shat a free fire zone seems a bit extreme, the war can be ramped up safely in the old world where we don't share a home and here is how: 1) Establish buffs to honor in battlegrounds, Wintergrasp, and world PvP (including capital cities) for killing a world faction leader in the past week. To aid the defenders, slow the respawn on Thrall, Wrynn and the rest down to 24 hours and reward everyone in the capital city zone with a set amount of honor every time a raid of significant numbers touches a world leader and he lives through the combat (with a proper cooldown to prevent exploits). Also, these events should favor the defenders by allowing them to use siege engines and other devices around the city to kill attackers at choke points similar to Wintergrasp walls with portals for defenders only. 2) Double honor gained for killing a player in a capital city. Also remove diminishing returns on players killed in capital cities. If two horde and two alliance want to farm honor for 19 hours by repeatedly killing each other and ressing, so be it, though I doubt many will sit by with reds in their capital cities. Honor for gear is not exactly valuable, with rated battlegrounds coming up, even less so. 3) Establish a criteria for city offense/defense as part of the new rank structure when it returns. Warlords should have been a part of many city sieges on both sides of the lines, not just over some timber hut in the middle of Warsong forest. Require world leader kills and player kills in enemy territory, just like with achievements now, but cumulative, in order to avoid the full time job with overtime that High Warlord became before. 4) Give honor/arena gear price discounts for players with city raiding achievements. There should be a reward, a real, tangible reward for taking the battle to the Alliance where they live and to keeping Thrall safe. This seems trivial but completely worth it. Now Gladiators, High Warlords, and newb level 70's have a reason to jump into the war with both feet, even if they're only in it for the honor. Additionally, make the discount expire every arena season, corresponding to new campaigns in the war. 5) [[ When this post was starting to be written, this said give world PvP'ers ways to get the gear that only BG marks received before, but that has since been put in the works via 3.3.3. Kudos, Blizzard, on finally killing BG Marks, I am not sad to see them go. ]] .. and that's it. The point is to make killing a world faction leader something to be proud of. The Lich King is very important, but so is Thrall. It's time it felt that way. #ForTheHorde!

I have to politely disagree with [url=http://cynwise.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/the-school-of-hard-knocks/]Cynwise's attempt to lure more people into the battlegrounds by placating the PvE Achievement Hunters[/url]. I think the battlegrounds are already weighed down by the inept socials who fancy themselves warlords. Children's Week has only exacerbated this situation by flooding Arathi Basin and Eye of the Storm with cross-faction communicated treaties and a weird form of flag detente. Needless to say, this week has been a real blast for me and I cannot help but think that it is because I am such an asshole. However, I would not want this to become the normal state of things. We already have 10-20% AFKers dragging the team down, people who fight away from the flag when they should fight on it, people who fight at the flag when they should be taking towers, people who fight in the middle of the field of strife when they should be fighting on the road, people who fight on the road when they should be fighting at the flag, and now you want to add warriors running the dragon slayer rotation wearing quest gear and heirlooms to the mix. My point is, we don't need to lure the PvE crowd into the Battlegrounds: Cataclysm will do this for us with Rated BG's. So, what has made this week so much fun? A few things that I have gotten kicks out of and a few easy achievements that have helped: - Killing Flag Carriers in WSG has gotten me a lot of the way toward [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/persistent_defender/][Persistent Defender][/url] and [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/Supreme_Defender/][Supreme Defender][/url]. - [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/frenzied_defender/][Frenzied Defender][/url] was also attained while pissing off pretty much every PvE achievement whore in the Horde Flag Room. - Set up detente in Tower Point spamming /wait to get my [url=http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/tower_defense/][Tower Defense][/url] achievement. - After finding the detente in AV around the towers, I have spent many games this week wandering tower to tower killing the lone red spamming /wait at me. - I have spent no fewer than 11 EotS games grabbing the flag as fast as possible and wandering around the whole game without capping it. What are the fun things you guys have been doing this week? Surely I am not alone in abusing the achievement hunters. Enjoy your saturday! * the observant amongst you would note that I have not posted in a while, unfortunately that is likely to continue through at least next week as my CISSP exam is a week from tomorrow and it requires much prep. Hopefully abusing carebears tomorrow in BG's courtesy of some nasty intentions will hold you over until then.