In the on-going endeavor to get all the "Glory Of The...." dungeon achievements, this is the first where it was completed while still in the current expansion. I had to solo the previous ones. With "Legion" coming to an end and with most of us fully geared, it certainly makes it easier to get the achievements quicker when you are overgeared for regular Mythics.
Still, a lot of them takes coordination and some require multiple players. A lot of WoD or even MoP achievements can't be solo'ed due to mechanics - "Get in mah belly" for instance, from Gorefiend heh.
At any rate, I found "Stay Salty" to be the most challenging; which took quite a few tries. You have to make sure everyone is on the same page, and not to let the boss mechanic kill the adds too early (as well as keeping count on the adds). "Who's Afraid Of the Dark?" can be another tough one but just as simple at the same time.
06/20/2018: Summer Finals And Then....Blizzcon
This is the first year in which I watched almost all of the seasonal tournaments. The caliber of play certainly far exceeds that of a casual player. In fact, an experienced or rated Arena player
exceeds that as well (maybe not always the case). It's not just composition or knowing the abilities of every class, but it's also synergy and how well you can react in terms of offensive and defensive situations, capitalizing on mistakes, etc.
It's a team game - and finding good, long-term partners is crucial. If you are a solo / part-time player (or don't really interact or socialize), 3v3 competition might not be for you.
Whether it's a quick, fast-paced match or a deep dampening game, that's all a part of it. As they say, "NA All The Way!".
06/08/2018: And Tho It Finally Begins....On 8/13?
Blizz usually has a tendency to hype stuff up when it is not needed - but how can you go wrong with this tagline - "One Launch To Rule Them All" muhaha.
The 3 PM PST sounds good to me. Right, Bob? heheh.
I'll put up the new web page when pre-patch hits.
05/21/2018: 'Movin' On Up'...To Blizzcon?
The NA Summer Cup. I was looking for underdogs to root for, but apparently there were no surprises this time. Super Frogs weren't so super this time around, and it appears that the winner is going to be "movin'" on up...
I've won enough and done plenty to secure wins for random pugs over the years. Suffice it to say, I just take it for a grain of salt whenever there is an imbalance on both sides in terms of composition, or if a match starts without the same amount of players or healers.
I don't take it that seriously anymore or have a hissy fit over a damn random (if at all), since I've come to the point where I've reached my goal and somewhat bored. Of course, I'll still queue to win and rack up the HKs.
The number one priority of a BG is to play for objectives. New players to PvP should take note of that before being brain-washed or misled about racking up the damage instead.
Right now, I'm trying to focus more on raiding and mythic pluses now.
04/22/2018:
The tag line for my new BfA web page is going to be - "The Faction War Begins...". I probably should use a synonym for the word 'begin' as it is seemingly over-used heh.
Some affixes for Mythic Plus dungeons can be brutal - especially the trash-enhancement ones - making dungeon runs for dungeons with tons of trash quite a chore (not to mention wipes). Like high-end Arena or RBG's,
high-key Mythic pluses certainly would require high DPS, communicating / executing well, and possibly specific comps for a run to go well (especially to beat the timer). For now, the pugging experience is only tolerable
if you go into a group with like-minded individuals that want to just experience or complete the dungeon (and have a semblance of competency of course). That's where I'm at now, since I took a break from doing these.
The goal now is to just complete as many Mythic dungeons as possible for the experience (gear drops are still crap). Progression is not possible unless I join an organized premade or a guild dedicated to that.
04/14/2018:
Some of the questionable decisions concerning some characters and story-direction (that might not make any sense at all) should definitely be called into question or be brought up at the Q & A. Onward to Blizzcon '18 muhaha...
04/05/2018: The Battle Begins - 08/14/18
This was unexpected. I think most of us were expecting the release announcement during the summer. I'm sure there are misgivings and criticisms about an early release, especially after the WoD fiasco.
Nonetheless, at least there'll be new content. How much of it is going make it live or finished remains to be seen.
I've already declared my allegiance, and the countdown begins now. Blizz can vilify whoever they want, but the Horde have their own perspective. If it comes down to another Horde raid boss, it is what it is but we're hoping that Blizz won't recycle that old idea.
I'll definitely max prestige my main before then, and it's possible that I'll max prestige my alt-main (unless I am unable to log in for an extended period again). I'll eventually try to pug a full Heroic raid clear hopefully.
Arathi Blizzard just fits nicely for a Frost Mage. I like the visual effects when casting spells. Orb + Blizzard, ice lance procs, etc. Frostbolt needs to be buffed. I do miss shatter combo, and utilities like frostjaw.
Why not convert the warfronts into some sort of new battleground instead of a damn scenario? Oh right, this is a PvE game.
I'll eventually put up the new BfA web page for the transition.
03/30/2018: Prelude To Battle...
Instead of the Seething Shore, a good AV fight with the right strat is the way to go. It certainly gives "ThatsALottaDamage!" a whole new meaning muhaha.
Unfortunately, I had to BL Seething Shore since it's becoming another IoC in terms of lack of wins. When it was a brawl, I was ninja-capping left and right. And the Horde knew what to do.
But now, they can't win for crap - or I'm just continuously queue-ing into losing groups.
03/24/2018: 'That Which Has No Life'....
I heard about this player who unlocked every achievement in the game this expansion - PvE, PvP, Misc., etc. That's quite a feat - quite a few of them are not soloable and very time-consuming. He must have had a lot of time on his hands for sure.
Would he belong to the 'That Which Has No Life...' club? heheh.
Speaking of achievements, I used to be an achievement guru myself. Perhaps I should start picking it up again since we are heading into content drought before the next expansion. In terms of achievement points, my character profile page has not updated in quite awhile.
I'm actually 3K+ more than it is actually stating. They need to fix this shit.
I do not care if they add any more prestige levels (but I certainly wouldn't mind at all), but at least they should make the ones that are already created live. As of now, there should be up to 29.
03/06/2018: Seething Shore, Furthermore....
With shorter queue times and quicker games, I spent most of the weekend in this new battleground. This is a battleground that can either drive you nuts, or you can have fun ninja-capping nodes.
The random spawn points can be a source of frustration - a player can parachute off their respective ships only to have the nodes spawn on the far end, or they can all spawn on the side of the enemy (or near the enemy). The element of uncertainty
is what keeps players on their toes, but it certainly favors high-mobility classes. Nonetheless, it's about the three D's - distracting, disrupting and damaging. You do not need to be a rogue to ninja cap.
What the hell is 'Zounds'? heheh. It's about as amusing or tedious as the Coven repeating the same one-liners in their raid encounter heh.
One thing at a time. I finally finished a full clear of Normal Antorus. The RNG crap is why a lot of players have misgivings about this expansion. Itemization is important per spec in terms of maximizing DPS but unfortunately, we get the same, useless crap (or gear that never drops on Argus the Unmaker).
Bring back gear vendors!
02/28/2018: The Seething Shore Begins..
It's been awhile since we had a new battleground - not since MoP I reckon. And it's about time. With resources devoted mostly to PvE, it would have been rash and lazy
to just create another carbon copy of an existing BG. With the new expansion BfA comes a new battleground, and it'll be part of the BG rotation soon. We got a sneak preview for this week as a brawl.
Seething Shore appears to me like a combination of Kotmogu and Arathi Basin - you have to capture nodes (in this case, mine Azerite) and anybody can do it without having to rely or wait for others (since the spawn times are random it seems). It's an offensive-minded game,
and distracting appears to be the name of the game. You can get right in the fight, or look out for nodes. It can seem disorganized, but it's more of a brawl than anything with an objective of course. I think PvP'ers have been asking for something similar like this that is akin to a death match but with an objective.
My gripes - a match can be too brief or quick. I'm not too keen on the 100K requirement for the "Good Start" achievement, as it appears excessive. But with the downtime and content drought before BfA, some players might have plenty of time. Still, I think it's a bit unreasonable. Remedy it by either reducing the amount, or increasing the
resources needed or earned from mining.
In the meantime, I've begun to learn the nuances of other specs. The grind for more AP as well as itemizing gear has been disincentive to do so. But it is necessary for full-time competitors. For now, I'll just stick with what I'm most experienced with.
01/24/2018: Seat Of The Pantheon
The Antorus raid is epic in scope, whether you have only time to see content or an actual raider on all levels. The final two bosses - Aggrammar and Argus The Unmaker - have definitely been interesting and fun.
It's been a damn while, but I guess we were all sort of sick of seeing green. In general, most of Antorus have been worthwhile. However, the intrigue and new-ness is going to going to wear off. There might be another content drought, and it's anybody's guess as to why BfA is far from a finished product.
Nonetheless, there are still things to do. For instance, conquering and mastering different alts and classes. Continuing to move up in the Mythic plus dungeons. And continue kicking ass in PvP - whenever fights are fair that is.
Holy latency and lag, Fatman! muhaha. But the issue of lagging has been persistent, unpredictable and frequent recently. Can't pinpoint the exact cause - whether it's the shoddy network connection, lousy modem, game servers, etc. At this point, I can't really continue doing Mythic plus dungeons or any other competitive ventures until
this is smoothed out. Perhaps we'll have to change network services in the near future. But that might not be the main cause.
Favorite Titles:
Battlemaster
Conqueror
The Bloodthirsty
Legend of Pandaria
Characters:
Mains:
Undead Frost Mage
Pandaren Shadow Priest
Alts:
Blood Elf Affliction / Demonology Warlock
Favorite Battlegrounds:
Arathi Basin
Temple of Kotmogu
Warsong Gulch
Battle For Gilneas
Strand of the Ancients
Favorite Dungeons (Mythic+):
Neltharion's Lair +16
Court of Stars +15
The Arcway +15
Favorite Raid Bosses:
Gul'dan "Betrayer's Rise"
Spellblade Aluriel "The Nighthold"
Star Auger Atraeus "The Nighthold"
Cenarius "Emerald Nightmare"
Sisters of the Moon "The Wailing Halls"
The Desolate Host "The Wailing Halls"
Portal Keeper Hasabel - "Antorus"
The Coven of Shivarra - "Antorus"
Aggramar - "Antorus, The Burning Throne"
Argus The Unmaker - "Antorus, The Burning Throne"
MULTIMEDIA
(Click image for video)
BLIZZCON '17: WE MISSED YOU, RED SHIRT GUY! (UNFORTUNATELY, BLIZZ DID NOT ALLOW THE RSG TO STUMP THEM AGAIN). HERE IS A 'THROWBACK' OR 'CLASSIC' RED SHIRT GUY IN 2011 -
BLIZZCON '16: HI IAN!....HEHEH
BLIZZCON '15: ONCE AGAIN, BLIZZ HAD NO ANSWER OR JUST GIVING GENERIC EXCUSES HEHEH
BLIZZCON '14: APPLAUSE FOR THE RED SHIRT GUY! (BLIZZ, JUST CALL HIM "LOREMASTER" FROM NOW ON MUHAHA)
BLIZZCON '13: APPARENTLY, BLIZZCON '10 and '11 WAS JUST THE BEGINNING MUHAHA
AT BLIZZCON '10, A NEW LEGEND BEGINS: THE RED SHIRT GUY!
WOW FAT GUY RELUCTANTLY RETURNS FOR LEGION...BLIZZ, DON'T FUCK UP MUHAHA
