Black Temple Attuned

Well we got there in the end and were the first horde raid group on our server to get attuned to Black Temple - It's taken lots of work, late nights and patience .. At one point before we killed Kael we were all getting tired and stressed out with each other .. The Kael fight is known to be a guild breaker - which has happened on our server some of the other raiding guilds are now breaking up and we are seeing applications to join ours ..

I feel like I can now relax and catch up on some work now .. Blizz really are genuis when it comes to the design of this game and the way it makes you feel you need to keep playing .. Two and a half years I have been a slave to world of warcraft ..

Incubus - Look Alive

YaY - have just got my new Incubus DVD - Look Alive - awesome!!

Ofc I went for the Deluxe Edition which includes

• Full Concert
• Live performance of their hits & previoulsy unreleased songs
• Behind the scenes footage
• 5.1 surround sound (dang dont have 5.1 set up on my puter right now)
  

I went to see Incubus at Brixton Academy back in September of this year .. Awesome gig however I had got seating and the security were mean they would not let us stand .. so kinda rocking out with Incubus when you have to sit down is not the best situation :(

Watching this DVD makes me jealous - not only do they get to play infront of zillions of people who think they are fantastic but as they are traveling around they get the chance to see some of the coolest places .. So its like a massive holiday where they get to rock out .. What an awesome job .. Although I wonder do they consider it a job or a hobbie ? ..

I used to have a hobbie which has now turned in to my job .. Although some days hate working .. In general I love my job .. The boss although he can be a NOL (nagging old laydee) he is ok I guess (I can't big him up too much .. he might read this and I don't want him getting a big head now do I) ..

Back to this DVD .. I highly rate it .. tis an awesome DVD .. and if you have no idea who Incubus are go You Tube them defo worth checking out ..

And if you are reading this and a massive Incubus fan Brandon is auctioning his surf board and mini on ebay and is going to give the keys in person - so my next question anyone can lend me enough money to win the highest bid ? .. The money is going to their charity .. I once one a bid on ebay for an item they auctioned - It was a signed baseball hat they had all signed .. the madest £200 quid I'd ever spent .. however they money went to a good cause so I felt I was doing a good thing ..

After Hours...

What can be worse then being stuck at work after home time..? Being hungover, tired and aggy and still in the office. I'm still in. It's dark outside, but XFm and the mood lighting in here interrupts my anxiety of the dark windows surrounding me. So far two people have banged on my office door. For your information I work in a 'Goldfish Bowl' aptly named for its gaping windows. Feeling like I'm being exhibited like the sleeping David Beckham... talking of... in fact, let's not mention the football. My voice still aches from screeming at the non - repsonsive widescreen at our union bar. "Where are ya?", "Come on boys", and "the referee's a w**nker" spilling out of my obnoxious boysterous gob.. yet to no avail. evidently.

Anyway, I'm scared, exposed and somewhat dopey. And furthermore... Going home.

Kael'thas Sunstrider Pwn'd

YaY tonight we killed him !! after weeks of trying Great Horde managed to kill him !!

This was a first Horde kill on Thunderhorn !!

So YaY 24 of us are attuned to Battle for Mount Hyjal .. wait !! surely I mean 25 ? .. Nope .. let me explain ..

You at sometime must have played WoW and been thrown into some vortex which you can't get out of .. Examples are falling through the floor etc

Well one of the group got this happen .. just before we kill Kael .. We waited for him to relog and come back but when he did he was still in the vortex .. He tried again but in the end we had to loot Kael before the loot disappeared ..

This guy got all the loot come up on his screen ..

So he ticketed a game master who told him that due to the fact he wasn't present at the time of the kill he can't have the quest item to make him attuned !! Serioulsy WTF .. if he wasn't present at time of kill why the hell did he see all the loot .. So basically Blizzards bad coding which can randomly kick people in to a vortex which only a game master can get you out of means if your doing a really important fight you're screwed !

But anyway we killed him YaY .. Greathorde FTW !!

Life after QVC

The guy chatting over this video is proof there is job prospects after being a QVC presenter !!

You can see alot of NPC's fighting each other .. In most games NPC's are just sort of standing around ..

In our game it's different .. in our game they are always doing something .. There is a war going on ..

So thier fighting that war ..
Thier programmed to fight each other
Thier programmed to seek out and hold control points.. Thier, Thier controlling, Thier ambushing .. Thier always doign stuff !!

Suzy McDress

AMG! this sim gave me 24 hours worth of hassel ..

Let me go back a few steps ..

Dr. Feelgood wanted me to get curry but of course I didn't have the recipe or the pot so I knew I needed to do tasks for Chef Butcher.

Chef Butcher wanted me to craft him a new fire but I needed materials I didn't have .. First of all I needed to grow some more bamboo .. I needed a metal pole which Suzy McDress had but I needed to clear some tasks for her first before she would give it to me ..

Suzy McDress is not the easiest to get on with .. My friend rating with her was bad and I tried giving her fish, bugs, I even offered her cheese but she was so ungrateful she just hated me more for it ..

So I got bored with my task list and decided to go fishing and plant some more seeds and just go around collecting things and digging to see if I could find any new items.

After placing the SOS stones on the beach you get a supply every few days drop down .. There has been some really random items in there but I am sure they will have some use at some point.

Every day I check back to the washed up crate on the beach .. The most random item I have had from that is a pair of teeth ..

With an abso stack load of items I decided to go crafting and cooking .. I had a recipe for sushi so I made some of that and various other food items ..

I decided to go to Suzy McDress and give her the sushi because it rhymes with Suzy (yes I was that stuck) anyway it worked she accepted the item and went from out right hating me to hating me a bit less .. On a side note have you noticed how when you give gifts your sim seems to pull them out of her arse? No wonder Suzy McDress is not keen on me tbh .. Anyway because the sushi worked I decided to bombard her with all the other food items I had made and I went from hated to friendly and able to pick up the task she had for me .. Which was to get her some silky material which I knew Dr. Feelgood had in her trade list .. I went straight to the doc and got the item she needed because I had the trade goods due to spending so much time collecting ..

Suzy McDress then wanted some bugs which again I had .. At this point she wanted a flag made and had given me the woodern leg which meant I could now craft my axe .. Then of course I could now cut down trees and get the wood I needed to create my house upgrade and make her flag pole .. So she gave me the metal rod I needed which ment I could now go and chop down my bamboo and go and craft Chef Butchers fire .. He was now happy with me gave me a cooking pot and curry recipe .. So I then went and upgraded my fire created the curry and gave Dr. Feelgood the curry .. To which they returned the favour by giving me a bit of map .. Which I have no idea what these are for .. I have 3 bits now ..

So in short if anyone else is having grief with Suzy McDress hating you and don't know what gift to give her .. shes a greedy cow and wants your crafted food items ..

Loosing sight of the game.

Right I thought I would write something during my lunch hour as Sabbie has sent me a nice email describing me as her most random friend? Not sure if that is an insult or not.

I thought I would talk about gaming (just for a change) and in particular WoW (World of Warcraft) and raids. I’ve been raiding in WoW on and off for about a year now and I’ve noticed a trend with our guild. This is a bit of a rant but also a warning.

When we first started raiding it was fun, it was new and it was a laugh. We’d kill bosses and be killed about as often (ok a lot more often but we didn’t care). We took pleasure in everyone getting an item and we’d share the items so everyone would get something nice and we’d all improve our characters. Rules what rules…it was turn up and do whatever we had enough players for. It was about seeing what was new and having a laugh with a group of friends.

Over time though that has changed. We’ve slowly become obsessed with progress (We have to be the best on the server!), rules (You must sign up to a raid 24hrs in advance and be in the correct place 10 minutes before it starts with the correct equipment.) and loot (Got to get that item that adds 10 extra damage to the 1200 I’ve already got.). The change was gradual but it happened. We now have a list of rules that would do any lawyer proud. We only fight those bosses that will progress the raid i.e. the hardest, longest and toughest fights. Loot is now decided by points (awarded for attendance) and tends only to go to a select few (those who get the most invites due to better equipment…..see the flaw?) while the rest get the leftovers.

Somewhere along the way we lost the fun and we lost sight that it is still a game. When we started down this path I brought the matter up. I remember having a nice argument with officers in the guild when I was told that the game came before real life. Hmm I don’t think so. But we carried on down the path.

We now have a group of players who are stressed, introverted and scared of putting a foot wrong. They turn up for raids out of duty and obligation. There is no laughter. There is no excitement at seeing something new. There is no fun! And we still keep playing saying that WoW is the best game ever…..Even worse is we also have endless recruits willing to join in the grind.

Me I just do the odd raid now as a reserve (covering for people so they don’t break The Rules) and have a laugh doing my own thing. Would I do full time raiding if it was offered to me? Probably if I’m honest….but then again I am random!

Everquest was the first game to introduce raids and it got the name “Evercrack”. Should it now be “World of Warcrack”?

Sims 2 Castaways DS

On Friday I got The Sims 2 Castaways for my DS .. I wasn't sure about it before I had bought it I didn't read any reviews .. I am totally hooked the gameplay keeps you busy .. It's not really like the Sims 2 where you can slap in a money cheat build a big house and then get very bored fast ..

The game has you go on missions .. you speak to people and they need you to hunt something which will send you to another person who can give you the item but will need you to collect items for it etc ..

For example you come across some guy called Chef Butcher and at first he just wants a peach from the tree next to him .. So you have to shake it and a peach drops .. Then he is bored with the food on the island and requests you find him some peppers .. I had lots of problems with this though .. When I tried to give Chef Butcher the Peppers he wouldn't take them .. My Sim kept mocking him and our friendship went bad .. However you need to give him bird eggs to get him friendly again then he will allow you to give him the peppers ..

Ms. Weeder wants me to get her a mango and atm she is not friendly with me however because I have done the banana tree mission (which is next to her hut) I can shake that tree and give her bananas to get back in her good books .. I now need to get Chef Butcher some limes - but Ms. Weeder does not have any in her garden .. I am wondering if I now need to create a boat or something ..

I am going to go back and play the game .. I shall post back with my castaway stories :D