Sunday 23 December 2012

Happy Winter Veil 2012

Happy Winter Veil from R&R!

I hope you have a lovely Winter Veil, and I hope you get lots of time to put your feet up and do some gaming or relax with your family!

Thank you all for being here this year <3

Ps. You may be able to tell that the lovely cinder kitty in the pic above was from Karegina, thanks very much! 

Monday 17 December 2012

Wow Secret Santa: Need Heals!

Do you remember how I posted a few weeks ago about Discopriest's Secret Santa? Well, after a long and rather hot day today, I got home to discover a parcel on the doorstep! Sproutling and I unpacked it and found all sorts of goodies from the awesome @noaidikins, thanks sooo much!

Firstly, there was a most delicious smell coming from the box - and in a shower of pretty leaves there was a snowman containing some bath bombs from Lush! I shall certainly be soaking my roots in those once I'm on holidays tomorrow!


Under all that was a box containing some gingerbread men in need of healing! Judging by the colours, there was an attack on a bunch of monks, warlocks and paladins.



Sproutling and I got stuck into those right away.



Thank you so much @noaidikins, and thanks to Liala for organising the whole event.

If you're interested to see what goodies I made for my Secret Santee, Cymre, check out her post about it at Bubbles of Mischief!

Friday 7 December 2012

The Daily Grind: Rep Priorities



Dailies - love them or hate them, they're an integral part of the Wow end-game these days. What I'm finding in Pandaria as opposed to previous expansions and content patches is that the sheer number of daily quests available is really quite overwhelming, especially for a casual player.

**Updated for patch 5.2, March 5**

I dinged 90 on Aoifen the other night, so it was time to ask the rather bewildering question - what next?


Goal setting

My goal is to heal heroics and eventually LFR raids on Aoifen. To do that I need a plan to upgrade my gear a little.

The first thing I did after dinging 90 was go to the AH and drop some gold on a set of Contender's Wyrmhide PvP gear to (hopefully) make me slightly less squishy while being ganked doing dailies. The joys of PvP realms, eh?

I'd like a few more pieces of healing kit before I go into heroics - the PvP gear is better than my quest greens but it has no spirit or haste and isn't really meant for PvE healing.

On average, I'm getting roughly 8 hours play time a week. Last night it took me two hours to complete my farming (on all toons), Tillers dailies and Golden Lotus dailies, and I only did the ones at the Golden Gate. So, what to do? The only thing I can do, as always for those with limited playtime, is to prioritise.

Let's take a look at the Pandarian factions to evaluate their reputation-based gear and other rewards.

If you'd like to know more about Resto gear or Balance gear, my full lists may help.

Justice Point Gear

Justice point gear no longer requires an honored reputation. Almost everything except the new Operation: Shieldwall and Dominance Offensive trinkets can be purchased from Quartermasters in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms and from Commander Lo Ping at Niuzao Temple:

Faction gear and other rewards

Golden Lotus
Need to get to Revered to unlock August Celestials and Shado-Pan dailies.
HonoredLeven's Circle of Hope
Revered: Whitepetal Shouldergarb, Mistfall Robes
Exalted: Riding Crane mounts

Klaxxi
Honored: Links of the Lucid
Revered: Klaxxi Lash of the Harbinger, Wind-Reaver Greaves
Exalted: Amber Spine of Klaxxi'vess, Reins of the Amber Scorpion (mount)

Shado-Pan
HonoredSagewhisper's Wrap
Revered: Snowdrift Helm, Scroll of Revered Ancestors
Exalted: Shado-pan Riding Tiger mounts

August Celestials
HonoredClever Ashyo's Wristbands
Revered: Boots of the High Adept, Ogo's Elder Gloves
Exalted: Reins of the Thundering August Cloud Serpent (mount)

Operation: Shieldwall (Alliance) / Dominance Offensive (Horde)
(new factions added in patch 5.1)
HonoredBand of the Shieldwall (Alliance)/Dominator's Band (Horde) or
Loop of the Shieldwall (Alliance)/Dominator's Loop (Horde)
ReveredStatue Summoner's Treads (Alliance)/Treads of Rejuvenating Mists (Horde)
Soothing Straps (Alliance)/Bambrick's Striking Strap (Horde)
Shock-Charger Medallion (Alliance)/Static-Caster's Medallion (Horde)
Heartwarmer Medallion (Alliance)/Cutstitcher Medallion (Horde)
Exalted: Grand Armored Gryphon/Grand Armored Wyvern mounts

Shado-Pan Assault **New in 5.2**
Neutral: Mender's Battletags
Friendly: Hearthfire ArmwrapsSoothing Talisman of the Shado-Pan AssaultRing of the Shado-Pan Assault  or Signet of the Shado-Pan Assault
Honored: Dreamweaver DrapeGloves of Enduring RenewalTrousers of Waning Shadow
Revered: Raiment of Silent Stars , Martiean's Splitleaf Girdle
Exalted: Heartroot Shoulderguards


Tillers
Revered: The ability to grow consumables of all sorts on the farm, eg. Motes of Harmony, herbs, ore etc.
Exalted: Black Riding Goat mounts

Order of the Cloud Serpent
Exalted: Cloud Serpent mounts

Lorewalkers
Exalted: Flying Cloud mount

 

Priorities

So, what to work on first? Aoifen is already Honored with the Klaxxi and almost Honored with the Shado Pan through quest lines in Townlong and Dread Wastes. I don't think it's worth finishing the quest lines just for the rep, since I wouldn't be getting Valor Points at the same time. I may finish them for story purposes in any case!

I think it will be important to get Golden Lotus to Revered first, then see what needs upgrading from that point on. I'll probably only work on one set of dailies a session to keep my sanity a little. It's going to take me a while, but I'll get there.

Did you have a plan in mind for attacking dailies? Do you have any advice for a new 90?

Friday 30 November 2012

InPiPoMo: Finale

This post is part of IntPiPoMo: posting 50 screenshots in 30 days.




And so another IntPiPoMo has come to an end. Thanks so much to everyone who took part this year, and all those who visited, commented or retweeted!

I think some people hit their 50 images way before today (eg Navimie, Godmother, Akabeko!) and others didn't quite make it, but there have been some beautiful contributions from Pandaria, the old world and real photos too, not to mention other games!

I've added some of my pics to my Gallery page. You're welcome to download any you like for your own desktop.

There are some fantastic bloggers and (in-game and out, sometimes) photographers in this list. Please pay them a visit if you can.


I hope you've enjoyed the event, and if you're a NaNoWriMo winner, congrats!

Thursday 29 November 2012

IntPiPoMo: Contemplation

This post is part of IntPiPoMo: posting 50 screenshots in 30 days.

Lianbao visits the Shrine of Inner Light, Wandering Isle


A storm rages in Valley of the Four Winds
(loving the weather of Pandaria)

Tuesday 27 November 2012

IntPiPoMo: Townlong Steppes

This post is part of IntPiPoMo: posting 50 screenshots in 30 days.


Looking up at the Serpent's Spine from Dampsoil Burrow


The Sumprushes

Geotag from WyriMaps

Call to Arms: Secret Santa 2012


This is a quick call to arms for all you Aussie and Kiwi twitterers and Wow players out there!

Liala, or @Discopriest as she is also known, is organising a Secret Santa for Wow players. She will be pairing up those living in the same country where possible. Here's where I come in - I'm the only Aussie to sign up so far, so I have no-one to send to!

If you're an Aussie or a Kiwi (or you're from any other country for that matter!), you can join in with this exciting event. There's just one catch - the deadline to sign up is November 28th! That's the middle of our Thursday, Aussies and Kiwis, so get on it as soon as you can!

Sorry for the late notice, but I only found out there were no Aussies on the list this morning!

To sign up, enter your details into Liala's mailing list, here. You should get an email or two with some more details about the event, and a short questionnaire to fill out that will be sent to your Santa.

Incidentally, I would be more than happy to adopt a Cinder Kitty...

How Does This Secret Santa Work? 
Each participant will send out a Christmas gift package to a randomly selected WoW/Twitter friend. You'll keep your identity secret until your recipient gets their gift. The value of the contents should be around $20. Festive wrapping paper optional.

You will receive your Secret Santa gift recipient's name and a copy of their questionnaire on Friday, November 30th, and will have between then and December 15th to mail your gift to your recipient.

All of the gift givers and getters (Twitter identities only) will be revealed on December 24th on DisciplinaryAction.org, along with links to related blog posts and any images of gifts/happy people enjoying gifts that anyone wants to send in.

What About Privacy? 
The only people who will see the address of your package are the person who is sending it to you and @Discopriest. If you would like, you do not have to give your actual name; however, you will have to provide an address where you can pick up your package. Because otherwise, well... it would just sit in package limbo somewhere. If there is someone you definitely do not want to receive from for reasons of security, please let @Discopriest know immediately.

Monday 26 November 2012

IntPiPoMo: The Vale

This post is part of IntPiPoMo: posting 50 screenshots in 30 days.

Pandaren refugees enter via the Gate of the August Celestials

Looking west toward the Serpent's Spine



Mogu'shan Palace


Sunday 25 November 2012

IntPiPoMo: What's in a Temple?

This post is part of IntPiPoMo: posting 50 screenshots in 30 days.


Dragon details, Temple of the Jade Serpent, Jade Forest



The Library, Temple of the Jade Serpent, Jade Forest


Geotag from WyriMaps


Healiss, Hackiss and Tankiss - part of the August Celestials daily [The P.U.G.], in the Temple of the White Tiger, Kun-Lai Summit



Window detail, Mogu'shan Palace, Vale of Eternal Blossoms


Friday 23 November 2012

IntPiPoMo: Wyrmrest

This post is part of IntPiPoMo: posting 50 screenshots in 30 days.

The Wow 8th Anniversary [Celebration Package] has encouraged me to dust off a few alts. Angelya, my baby shadow priest, has been languishing in Northrend for a while. Today I took her through the Wrathgate quest chain, and while I tried to take some screenshots during the cinematic, they didn't work!

I did get these few snaps of Wyrmrest Temple, though.


Wyrmrest Temple, Dragonblight


From the Ruby Dragonshrine, Dragonblight

From the Azure Dragonshrine, Dragonblight


Thursday 22 November 2012

IntPiPoMo: Jade Panoramas

This post is part of IntPiPoMo: posting 50 screenshots in 30 days.

I'm a little out of inspiration tonight so here's a few views of Jade Forest. Definitely one of my new favourite zones!

Near Emperor's Omen, Jade Forest


Geotag from WyriMaps


View through the stone at the Shrine of Twin Serpents, Tian Monastery


Geotag from WyriMaps


Mountaintop temple near Tian Monastery


Geotag from WyriMaps

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Shared Topic: Thankful

Blog Azeroth Thanksgiving Event 2012

I'm taking a little break from my IntPiPoMo posting to bring you this post as part of the Blog Azeroth Shared Topic for this week. This particular topic was brought to you by Amerence!

It's Thanksgiving over there in America this week, and although we Aussies don't celebrate it, it's still nice to reflect on things we are thankful for.

I'm coming up on my third blogaversary here at R&R and although I've been very quiet during this year, I am soooo thankful for all the readers that are still dropping by and saying hello from time to time. I'm not going to name anyone in case I miss people, but you make this all worthwhile! Yes, you! I don't tend to get a lot of comments but I love it when I do, so thank you all!

I hope, whatever you are up to this weekend, you have a lovely time in your Heartland with your family, friends or whomever you spend it with.

The Heartland, Valley of the Four Winds

Monday 19 November 2012

IntPiPoMo: Mantid Lands

This post is part of IntPiPoMo: posting 50 screenshots in 30 days.


Sra'vess, Townlong Steppes


Klaxxi'vess, Dread Wastes

The Heart of Fear, Dread Wastes