IntPiPoMo: Theramore

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

The Theramore scenario was available just before the release of Mists of Pandaria, and can still be repeated now at levels 85 or 90.

Not having read the Tides of War book, I was pretty hazy on what was actually happening during the scenario. Basically, the Horde drops a mana bomb on Theramore, destroying most of the city. Jaina does some heroic stuff (at least in the Alliance version, she does), and fights off the Horde invaders. The Horde storyline is even more vague, with your character helping with the invasion, but then once you get into the keep you just free some Blood Elf in the dungeon and that's the end (I apologise for missing an important story here, somewhere).

I did the Alliance side first, which was all rather exciting even if I wasn't sure what was going on most of the time, but then was a little disappointed by the Horde version. Compared to the other pre-expansion events that have happened within capital cities, I felt it was a shame that Blizzard didn't use the event to lead us further into whatever conflicts were happening between the factions as they start to set sail for Pandaria.

Storytelling problems aside, it was rather heart-wrenching to see the wrecked city of Theramore afterwards!

What did you think of the introduction to scenarios?

Theramore, before.

Geotag from WyriMaps

Theramore, after.


Geotag from WyriMaps

IntPiPoMo 2012: Beginnings

Welcome to IntPiPoMo for 2012!

What is IntPiPoMo, you may ask? Well, November is the month of NaNoWriMo. If a picture is worth a thousand words, and the NaNoWriMo target is fifty thousand words, then surely we can post fifty pictures and be winners as well!

I'm also very pleased to be able to include geotags for my images from the awesome WyriMaps.net! I first saw these over at Postcards From Azeroth, and being a big map geek, I wanted to join in. If you'd also like to use the geotags, you can use the tool on the WyriMaps site to create the image links.

Here are my first two pictures. Click them for a full-sized image.

View of Shang Xi Training Grounds from the Temple of Five Dawns, Wandering Isle.

Geotag from WyriMaps

Temple of Five Dawns, Wandering Isle.

Geotag from WyriMaps

So far the IntPiPoMo participants from other blogs include:

• Classy Plays WoW
• Navimie @ The Daily Frostwolf
• Erinys @ The Harpy's Nest
• Spellbound Saga
• Kamalia et Alia
• The Godmother @ Alternative
• Akabeko @ Red Cow Rise
• Casadella, Champion of Concur
• Elfindale @ Elfi's World and All for the Wookiee (SWTOR pics too!)
• Velidra @ Emberstorm
• Effy @ Awaiting the Muse
• Shoryl @ Tiny WoW Guild
• Cymre @ Bubbles of Mischief
• Pando's Lighter Side of WoW
• Eva @ Image Heavy
• Neri Approves
• Amateur Azerothian
• Chatmay, The WoW Debutante
• Holy Nova
• Jstmel's MoMaR
• Syrco Owl
• Amerence Love WoW
• Jojo @ Admiring Azeroth
• Nica @ Adventures of the Hex Machine

Make sure you stop by to see their contributions and let me know if you're posting pics too so I can add you!

IntPiPoMo 2012

It's almost time for the annual collective word dump that is National Novel Writing Month, usually known as NaNoWriMo.

This November I am actually going to attempt to write something, even a little something... but I have found once again that exploring a new continent has filled up my screenshot folder something shocking.

So, once again, I'd like to invite you to join me during November for:

International Picture Posting Month

or

#IntPiPoMo

What is IntPiPoMo, you may ask? Well, a picture is worth a thousand words.  The NaNoWriMo word target is fifty thousand. That means our IntPiPoMo target is fifty pictures, over the thirty days of November. We can be winners as well!

You can see all of my IntPiPoMo posts from last year plus links to the other bloggers who participated by going to my IntPiPoMo tag. Last year we had over twenty other bloggers taking part with some amazing pictures, real world, Wow and other games too!

You're welcome to join in if you're so inclined! Take a button, keep a tally, post fifty pictures starting November 1st and make sure you tell me that you're getting involved so I can link to you!

My pictures will mostly have a Pandaria flavour, but you can post pictures of whatever you like - doesn't even have to be WoW related.

Update: Here are the bloggers who are joining in with IntPiPoMo 2012! Make sure you visit to see their contributions:

• Classy Plays WoW
• Navimie @ The Daily Frostwolf
• Erinys @ The Harpy's Nest
• Spellbound Saga
• Kamalia et Alia
• The Godmother @ Alternative
• Akabeko @ Red Cow Rise
• Casadella, Champion of Concur
• Elfindale @ Elfi's World and All for the Wookiee (SWTOR pics too!)
• Velidra @ Emberstorm
• Effy @ Awaiting the Muse
• Shoryl @ Tiny WoW Guild
• Cymre @ Bubbles of Mischief
• Pando's Lighter Side of WoW
• Eva @ Image Heavy
• Neri Approves
• Amateur Azerothian
• Chatmay, The WoW Debutante
• Holy Nova
• Jstmel's MoMaR
• Syrco Owl
• Amerence Love WoW
• Jojo @ Admiring Azeroth
• Nica @ Adventures of the Hex Machine

By the way, I dinged 90 last night and tried to get a picturesque achievement shot. The area around Niuzao Temple in Townlong Steppes didn't quite give me enough exploration areas for the ding but I was so close it didn't matter! From what I hear, it's time to start a long, long list of dailies.

Hallow's End 2012

Hallow's End has arrived again - my favourite holiday! Sadly I can't actually get in to see my favourite part just yet - you need to be level 89 to queue for the Headless Horseman and Leesah is still lagging at 88. I'll get there soon though... very soon I hope! It runs until October 31 so there's plenty of time!

If you're hunting candy buckets this year, my maps from last year still work - All The Candy Buckets.

I was also rather surprised to have my maps posted up on /r/wow this week, but I was quite happy to be linked and credited. It all belongs to Blizzard anyway I suppose, so it wasn't my work in the first place ;) Heyoz created a similar map for Pandaria bucket locations so head over there to check it out.

As usual, there's an awesome Guide to Hallow's End on Wowhead.

Happy Hallow's End!

Mists of Pandaria Balance Pre-Raid Gear List now available!

So, it's been about a week and a half since we discovered the shores of Pandaria. (Has it really only been a week? Feels like we've been here for ages!)

I've spent a total of about 10 hours playing and reached the grand old level of 86.5, but I wanted to let you know that I've completed the...

Mists of Pandaria Balance Pre-Raid Gear List!

Moonkin, get your gear in order!

My journey so far...

I started leveling Aoifen first, doing the Alliance quests just to the first Pandaren village, but after I heard my Horde guildies were planning to play more I switched to Leesah and have stuck with her - she's my "main" after all, my archaeologist, my fisherwoman, cook and general punching bag so I'm comfortable with leveling on my own for now.

The early introductory quests are very similar between Alliance and Horde, but the locations each arrive in Jade Forest are quite different. I hope the pathways within and between zones aren't too similar - it's great to see unique stories for each faction.

Instead of babbling on with details I'll just list what I've loved so far.

What I've loved

• Jade Forest - so beautiful!
• Alliance/Horde biff - I love a bit of a battle now and then, don't you?
• The Pandaren - they're just awesome... so laid back! The monks kept encouraging me to pass out drunk though. I'm a cheap date.
• Did I mention Jade Forest?
• Pet battles - Omg, I can so see Poké-wow being a new obsession! As soon as I've finished exploring Pandaria, I'm all over this.
• AOE looting - As little hard to get used to at first, but honestly, what did we ever do without it?

Alright, that's enough from me for now - back to leveling. If I'm lucky I might get to level 87 by the end of this weekend. Yes, I'm the slowest leveler ever.

What's your favourite thing about Pandaria so far? :)

I'll be posting a load of screenies soon, but here's my new favourite fishing spot.

Mists of Pandaria Resto Pre-raid Gear List Is Available!

Can you believe that Mists of Pandaria is releasing tomorrow? Tomorrow!

I'm celebrating early by releasing my:

Mists of Pandaria Pre-Raid Restoration Gear List!

The list contains leather caster gear that will be available from quests, factions, BoE items, crafted items, Justice and Valor points, both normal and heroic dungeons, world bosses and "Raid Finder" raids.

It's meant more as a list of what's available, rather than a best-in-slot list. I hope it helps you gather some gear to get ready to raid!

It's still a work in progress as I update links to more info, add missing items, etc. Please let me know if you spot anything incorrect or missing.

Mists of Pandaria is quite an exciting expansion for me, mostly because apart from the gear list, I have barely looked at any information about what is coming. I've been too busy to read blogs lately, much to my disappointment, and I wasn't part of the Beta and purposely stayed away from reading about Beta stuff.

I'm going into this one in a strange position since I have two Druids to choose from. Which to level first? Leesah is back on her home server but unless the guild there picks up again, it's looking like Aoifen will become my proper main. I suppose we'll see tomorrow night.

Whatever happens, I'm super-excited to see all the new content. I hope I'll get a chance to share my thoughts with you all a bit more often!

Have a fantastic time in the first few days with the Pandaren! You might find Derevka's tips for staying healthy helpful if you're planning to power through to level 90 ;)

The Missing Ang

Hi! Long time, no see eh?

Now that the craziness that was July has finished and the release date for Pandaria is closing fast, I thought it was time to get back into Warcrafty things!

So, what have I been up to lately?

Spamtastic
Firstly, I got Navispammed! I had enjoyed seeing all of Navimie's other posts about visiting all sorts of bloggy people so I was rather excited when she wanted to come visit me! My toons are kind of spread over several servers now, but she came to visit Aoifen and my lovely adopted guild, Vitare.

A new Home
I've decided to make Aefa my Horde Loremaster, or at least see the quests in zones that are very different for Horde. My Horde guild on Nagrand is pretty much deserted most of the time (come baaack!) so I made the tough decision to move Aefa and Leesah over to Saurfang, to join my sister-in-law's guild. They are still raiding and are quite active on off nights as well, although I'm back to feeling like the new kid in school. The name Leesah was taken on the new server so I had to change it - I didn't think of adding an accented character to the name until it was too late so she's now Lysah. I don't think she's too happy with the new name.

Mogginess
I've finally got Aoifen's mog set in a state I more-or-less like. If you're interested in what she's wearing now, it's:

Head: Nordrassil Headguard
Shoulders: Puregrove Spaulders
Chest: Malfurion's Robe of Conquest
Back: Netherwane Cloak
Hands: Glovelettes of Opening
Waist: Gryphon Master's Belt
Legs can't be seen with a robe!
Feet: Luring Footpads
Main hand (mace): Hammer of the Thorium Brotherhood
Off hand: Globe of Moonlight

Lysah, on the other hand, could use some Mogging love. I'd really love a full set of T5 for her - she has the head and shoulders, but I'd love the chestpiece, legs and gloves. Anyone for a go at Kael'thas? Perhaps a bit of SSC?

What's next?
I'm planning on creating new pre-raid gear lists for Mists of Pandaria before the expansion arrives, based on the PTR items. They're looking pretty nice so far - lots of Asian-inspired names at least. I haven't been part of the beta at all so I'm not sure what the new items look like!

I'm also planning to get back into updating this blog a bit more often, although that really depends on time which is rather precious at the moment! Why so little time? Well, it's mostly down to this little guy:

I hope you're all well and that your plans for Mists of Pandaria are coming together!