Random Babble

[Xanthippe]

I noticed that a couple of people had hit level 50 already. Presumably by doing round-the-clock dorm room shifts.

They're probably hunters.  And if you talk to them, you're likely to get a "ni hao, ma" back.

There are more random idiots on new servers, I think, than established ones, and I haven't noticed a difference in number of idiots on pvp servers than pve servers.  Harder to level up, also, because there are no 60s to throw gold away buying copper and other low level items.

Chuck Norris jokes were all the rage on Shattered Hand last winter.  I haven't heard one in a while.  Korgath seems to be a real nice server (I've been playing back on my main toons today and yesterday a bit - alliance side).  Tanaris is a KOS zone, more than SH was - but the two sides are more even than on SH too.

[Velorath]

I was only teasing you, Vel.  It was a fine move.

Just like when we kicked everyone out of the EQ2 guild.

[Righ]

I noticed that a couple of people had hit level 50 already. Presumably by doing round-the-clock dorm room shifts.

They're probably hunters.  And if you talk to them, you're likely to get a "ni hao, ma" back.

Level 51 elf warrior (called Xjgcbxf, so probably machine generated), level 51 elf hunter. Neither return calls. Six out of the next eight highest level are rogues, one mage, one hunter. Two replied, one with chinese. Hunters are most popular (19%) then warriors (18%) followed by rogues (12%) - pretty much the same distributions as every other server, elves and humans are fairly evenly split and account for 75% of Alliance.

[Signe]

I was only teasing you, Vel.  It was a fine move.

Just like when we kicked everyone out of the EQ2 guild.

That was FUN!

[stray]

Did you just crash, Righ? I got kicked and can't log in. I swear, it's those damn Elves. If I had a screenshot, you'd see why. It's like a small city just in the Elf log in area. :(

Anyways...

[Signe]

Righ didn't crash but I accidentally disconnected and the log in server let me down.  It's literally dead to me.

(why does the bloody spellamawanky agree with me when I fucking spell something wrong?  What the fuck good is it?)

[Righ]

No, but I did drop out to the login screen, so I picked Horde and did a census - down to around 400. I'm going to check Alliance and see how many dropped. However, its currently looking like Horde averages around 600, and Alliance averages around 1400 in prime time. Horde is also way behind teh levlling curve - fewer people, fewer farmers I guess. The top Horde is a troll mage, level 51 called Swxzbsr - presumably also machine generated. Only three other Hrde are over level 40, compared with dozens Alliance side.

[stray]

[edit] Heh, forget the previous question.


So, what are you running the census for, Righ? Trying to gauge which side is better to play on? I'd assume it's always Horde, except in rare cases.

[Flood]

1. - A few/a cluster/lots of servers are down.  The usual WoW forum feeding frenzy has ensued.

2. - I use WarcraftRealms Census+ plugin.  I've had it installed since yesterday.  I don't recall the numbers, I was more interested in the class percentages.

3. - WTH are yal, I was just on both of my AP toons prior to the server boom hehe.

[stray]

I was on a Druid. Didn't see you on the friend's list.

I ran into Righ though. He recommended (if I want to be "unique") that I play a Gnome Warlock. But I can't think of a damn name. I have "Shiver" on Warsong and Stormreaver though! -- Would be great for a Mage.

[Velorath]

[edit] Heh, forget the previous question.


So, what are you running the census for, Righ? Trying to gauge which side is better to play on? I'd assume it's always Horde, except in rare cases.

I don't know, I can see a population imbalance that big being a problem once they revamp world PVP.

[stray]

Btw, can you point me to some of their ideas about that? How will it effect PvE servers? If it's going to be better, I wonder if PvE is a bad idea...

[Velorath]

Haven't read any details yet, but then I mostly stay away from the WoW boards unless links are posted to something useful there.  So far all I've read is:

While the Battlegrounds are about to receive a major upgrade of their own, players interested in World PvP will be glad to hear that patch 1.12 will introduce a brand-new type of PvP content to the game. The stage is set for intense, objective-based land battles as Horde and Alliance vie for control over important strategic positions and resources around Azeroth. Stay tuned for more news about these new world PvP enhancements coming to World of Warcraft.

[Flood]

I'm not trying to be the Zen Bandit here, or tell anyone else how to have fun, but I notice we (me included) on the board are getting all worked up about server pops, class %'s, PvE versus PvP, blah blah blah.
 
Again as I drag out the hoary old chestnuts, but we should just play to have fun.  In the end I doubt any of us are going to hit level 60 on any of these servers, or join a hardcore rading guild, or make High Warlord.  That being the case it doesn't matter what classes we all play, or if we are Horde or Alliance.

I catch myself doing it all the time.  I'm all worked up that there's yea hunters on the servers, but... why do I care?  Am I going to miss raid content that I'll never be able to access anyway? 

My point is: I just enjoy playing with my pals and the actual levelling process, not the end result.  I'm trying to practice this philosophy in my good ol' real life, so just thought I'd throw in my 2 copper.


Heh, anyway hope to see ya all online.

[Velorath]

Some of us worry about this kind of thing for fun.  It's a sickness really.

[Flood]

Some of us worry about this kind of thing for fun.  It's a sickness really.

I realize that, that's why I didn't want to don my white robe and start chanting just yet.  I guess my feeling is how can a person enjoy playing when they never let themselves get beyond level 7 because of restarting or server hopping or faction switching based on second-guessing.  Only my personal stand on the subject.

[Velorath]

I realize that, that's why I didn't want to don my white robe and start chanting just yet.  I guess my feeling is how can a person enjoy playing when they never let themselves get beyond level 7 because of restarting or server hopping or faction switching based on second-guessing.  Only my personal stand on the subject.

I don't know, it generally doesn't stop me from leveling up a character (not wanting to go through content I've already done several times before does that for me).

[stray]

Some of us worry about this kind of thing for fun.  It's a sickness really.

I have never, ever thought of this kind of thing until WoW actually. And not even that. More like, until I resubbed to it recently. I don't know why. I've become downright neurotic about it. This is my most unproductive month in a game ever. So many little things bug the shit out of me -- Server atmosphere, rulesets, hunting areas, and probably most of all, the shitty class and race choices. Pretty much the same problems with any MMO, I guess, but amplified for some reason.

That being said, I'm going to try to take your advice, Flood. More than likely, I'm not going to resub after this month goes out anyways.

[Velorath]

I have never, ever thought of this kind of thing until WoW actually. anyways.

It's second nature to me after having playing DAOC for a good while.

[stray]

At least you could /20 there 

I had a lot of alts in Shadowbane, I guess, but it only took a week for me to level them (except the first few probably). I also didn't have to drive myself crazy over equipping myself in that game. Gear was bullshit. "Which hunting area?" was a nonexistent question. It was all the same. ARAC made things a lot easier to mess around too.

[edit]

To further add:

I don't know if I suck at WoW or simply hate it.

[Righ]

Yeah, I just run Census+ for fun. It's one of those things that makes everybody on the server into microbes on my petri dish, and its at its best on new servers, because they have volatile populations. I like to see how many people are what classes, what imbalances there are, difference in AH pricing between factions, how many people run instances, and how this stuff changes over time, etc. It breaks up the monotony of levelling up characters. I guess it started with the problems ER had due to its huge imbalance (over 2.5:1 A:H originally) and was fed by the fun stuff that PARC published.

[Signe]

I was just playing on an Australian server.  I logged on in the middle of a huge fight between all the Americans who logged in because they couldn't log into their usual server and the Aussies.  The Aussies were telling the Americans to bugger off their server and the Americans were screaming "racism"... when did American and Australian become races?  They were all arguing about footie and Pussy.  Oops... I mean Bush.  It was very ugly.  It all took place on the /LFG channel.  I finally ditched the channel and joined a guild named "ZOMG - My server is down!  I was the 3rd person to join and when I logged out 10 minutes later, it must have had over 30 members.

I think I'll go sleep.   

[Jayce]

Swxzbsr
Xjgcbxf

Does the name generator know about vowels?

[Righ]

Swxzbsr
Xjgcbxf

Does the name generator know about vowels?

I presume the idea is that it makes a name that nobody has taken at the first attempt. If the name is unsuitable (such as on an RP server) they can just wait for a GM to rename them.

[Velorath]

At least you could /20 there 

I ha played for quite a while before they put that in.  Would have been nice to have early on.

[Xanthippe]

I would have preferred getting to 20 and then /level to 50.

[stray]

Update on my hunter (btw, me, Righ, and Flood rolled horde hunters on AP):

Just spent 2 hours trying to get Rake. The Mulgore plains is aggro HELL. It was not meant to be (yet). Got close to him once, and tried to tame, but for some reason unknown to me, it didn't work. Then I died. Then I ran back to my corpse and he was never seen again.

[Xerapis]

Yeah, sometimes the taming just fails.  Haven't seen a pattern to it yet or anything.

Not interrupted, like when my troll got Mangeclaw (had to burn a pot and try again right way to get him), but just plain fails.

Tends to result in death.

Then of course, there is always the evil Alliance puke who sees you trying to tame and then kills the mob in question.  A nice griefing move available to PVE servers.  Quite unpleasant.

I've never had a problem getting Rake.  He's just not that cool, though.

On the other hand, surviving the trek from Happy Happy Hordeland all the way to North Gate Pass in Dun Morogh to tame one of only 3 white bears in the game?  Totally worth getting killed four times in the attempt.

After all, for the next 40 levels or so everyone KNOWS that I made it all the to the Dwarf lands to get my pet and survived.

That, and bears eat EVERYTHING.  Gotta love that.

[stray]

Sweet, I just got him right after I posted that  .

Anyways, I'm only Level 10, so even if he isn't that cool, it's a great pet for now.  I'm also a Tauren, so getting a rare spawn in Mulgore is convenient.

[Phred]

Yeah, sometimes the taming just fails.  Haven't seen a pattern to it yet or anything.

Not interrupted, like when my troll got Mangeclaw (had to burn a pot and try again right way to get him), but just plain fails.

Tends to result in death.

Then of course, there is always the evil Alliance puke who sees you trying to tame and then kills the mob in question.  A nice griefing move available to PVE servers.  Quite unpleasant.

I've never had a problem getting Rake.  He's just not that cool, though.

On the other hand, surviving the trek from Happy Happy Hordeland all the way to North Gate Pass in Dun Morogh to tame one of only 3 white bears in the game?  Totally worth getting killed four times in the attempt.

After all, for the next 40 levels or so everyone KNOWS that I made it all the to the Dwarf lands to get my pet and survived.

That, and bears eat EVERYTHING.  Gotta love that.

I used to be a huge bear fan until I got a boar. Boars own, they come with charge at L8 or less. They eat anything. Bears need a species specific buff.

At the high end, I've switched to a buzzard, or flying wolf as I like to call it. Buzzards have the best hp and ac of all the flying pets and screech gives them enough extra agro that I don't have agro the first time I crit. With screech being an ae debuff I can even multishot later into a fight without pulling agro from any of the mobs.

The flapping still annoys me but it's not so bad outside. For instance runs I pull out the boar or my wolf if I want the dmg buff.

[Lantyssa]

I like Dishu, the deviate dreadwings, and the albino crockolisks.  Since I like to fish I always had food handy for them.

[Flood]

That's cool Stray, The Rake is a great DPS pet.


Just a note on rare pet catching:  While you're out in the wilds searchin' high and low, make a macro for the specific mob you're looing for.  Let's say Broken Tooth as an example.  So - /target Broken Tooth.  Make youself a little macro button, then put it in your hotbar and walk around spamming it.  That in combination with tracking and your own eyeballs helps a lot.

[Xanthippe]

Rake is the fastest attack speed pet you can get until you hit 30s or 40s.  Unless that's been nerfed.  (I don't know, even though I should because my main in a 60 hunter.)

Here's a nifty hunter pet link.

[Flood]

Some of the info is a tad dated but I've known Brash for awhile and she has a great site too: http://petopia.brashendeavors.net/

[Righ]

With the demise of the old spirit bond talent, I'm not so interested in fast attack speed pets. Slow is where its at, as it means bigger crits, and less loss of dps due to shields. For the ultimate beastmaster big bang pet, get a slow attack speed cat with prowl, and get the pet hunter trinket (guaranteed crit - and therefore frenzy on next attack) from the level 50 quest.

But I like the wolf howl - both the racial skill and the wolf's howl emote. And dark wolves like Snarler and the Vilebranch wolves look so cool. Shame worgs don't have the emote. Boar charge and its wide food variety are awesome at low level though. If you want a neat looking one that few people seem to tame, get a Rotting Agam'ar at level 28 from RFK.